Carmen and Madonna

Hey all, sorry I've been M.I.A. yet again. Paul is back in town so I've been a little busy.

Anyway, I'm gonna try to get back on track with the blog. I have nothing much new to tell you all about aside from the new tour which I mentioned yesterday. I'm pretty excited about blogging on the road, though, cause in a way it'll be like you are all coming with me. And on this tour I'll be going even further than I did on the Willy Wonka tour. I'm going to California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado among other places. I'm even going to Everett, WA! Paul's hometown!!! I can't wait.

And onto a completely different subject.....flamenco. Sitting at work today I got a very random memory. For some strange reason, I began reminiscing about living in Bolivia. And for some even stranger more random reason, I thought about one of my Spanish classes. In that class the teacher showed us Carlos Saura's 1983 film adaptation of the opera Carmen. I can honestly not remember why she found it necessary to show us the movie. I think she even had all of our parents sign permission slips since the movie contains nudity and murder and all sorts of good stuff teenagers wanna watch. Whatever reason she may have had, it was probably really important. The permission slips are hardly what are important now; what's important is that years and years later the film has somehow eased it's way forward in my mind and I feel compelled to share a bit of it with you.

This is the opening scene of the film. If it isn't the opening scene, then it's really near the beginning. I remember watching this scene and being absolutely amazed and fascinated. Unfortunately, mostly everyone in the class (most of the boys anyway) thought it was incredibly lame. For some inexcusable reason I felt forced to agree with the boys and scoff at the amazingness I was witnessing. Instead of arias and ridiculous waves of vibrato, though, the director decided to use flamenco dancing. Fabulous idea. The dancers are actually rehearsing for their own production of Carmen in the scene. It works brilliantly. Watch!

I.Love.It.

And now for something completely different. A New York City moment! I was walking with Paul through Central Park yesterday trying to find some friends. After walking around for awhile and getting all sweaty and gross we decided it was time to call it a day and head home. We hadn't found our friends, it was hot, I was tired.....it was time to go. On our way out of the park we passed by a bunch of runners and cyclists. All of a sudden, among the sounds of running feet and whirring wheels we heard the sound of a distant soprano. WHAT? The source of the aria came into view a moment later. She was dressed in running gear, headphones on (blasting some sort of opera, I guess), and fully singing an aria.....during her run. What made it even better was the fact that she happened to be a pretty busty lady and she was fully aware and proud of this fact. Her girls were out and about, waving hello, and chatting up everyone around them. Paul said her boobs were a-flappin'.....I say she had ba-boo-ba-boo-ba-boobs. My goodness, we're nuts. Only in New York.

And here's some Madonna for good measure. 32 days till I get some Sticky&Sweetness! For those of you who don't really like Madonna or don't really understand my appreciation for her, I really recommend you watch the following video. It is, in my opinion, one of her most understated and honest performances. And there's no boobs or butts or anything like that! The song is called Mother and Father.....


Bye!