Behold Tracy with a Large Gift

We have just finished a marathon Christmas morning that extended well into the afternoon. Much music was heard and many gifts were had. In a few minutes we will enjoy a meal prepared by the Norens, whose centerpiece is a large turkey.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We have been to a Christmas Eve service. We are now driving around seeing 1) Christmas lights and 2) smokers who have been kicked out of their families' homes.

Rob and Win

We've been at the church this afternoon. I shucked oysters and carved the left half of a turkey.

According to Bev and Stan's Refrigerator . . .

they are taking the same things to Tulsa that we are. Except they are also taking wne and cranberry sauce.

Now we're at Tracy's mom's

We are spending the night with Tracy's mom and her husband, Stan. Because we are a little early, we have intruded on their Christmas celebration with Stan's son, Steve and his wife, Linda. They have, however, been very gracious and welcoming. Above is Bev with one of her home's lovely bookcases.

Rehearsal

The wedding rehearsal was interesting, as predicted. (This is Tracy with her step-sister Liz.) We spent most of our time trying to figure out where to plug in the microphones.

On our way

Tracy and I are on the road, headed to Oklahoma for her step-brother's wedding. It should be an interesting affair. Tracy and I are singing 3 songs in the wedding.

We just stopped for gas and I went to the restroom. Surveying the long line, I was reminded that Oklahoma's primary crop is polyester.
The rehearsal is tonight, and we will spend the night with Tracy's Mom.

As always, know that even though we aren't at home, we have hired seven armed security guards to forcefully protect the premises.

I Give Up

I started by drafting a post about the idiocy of our President, but got too frustrated to continue. Many have done and will do it better than I. So, I have moved on to something relatively lighter.

As some of you know, I'm a big fan of the "About Last Night" blog from Terry Teachout. If you haven't checked it out, please do so. Terry has had some health trouble recently and has retreated to his family's home in Southeast Missouri. As such, the site is being (wo)manned by OGIC (Our Girl in Chicago), who presented the following questions, to which I offer my own answers (a meme).

Four jobs you've had in your life:
Radio Announcer, Graphic Designer, Actor, Attorney

Four movies you could watch over and over:
The Usual Suspects, Elf, To Kill a Mockingbird, Bad Day at Black Rock

Four places you've lived:
Kansas City, MO; St. Joseph, MO; Fayette, MO; Indianola, IA (not for very long, but its the only non-Missouri answer I have)

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Good Eats, Arrested Development, Alias, Lost

Four places you've been on vacation:
London, Rome, Hot Springs, the Amana Colonies

Four websites you visit daily:
cnn.com, city3.org, snopes.com, blogkc.com

Four of your favorite foods:
Frozen Custard, Corn Dogs, beef, whipped cream

Four places you'd rather be:
With Tracy, in a house with a fireplace, Alaska, Scotland

Once Upon a Mattress

Disney presented a TV version of the above musical on ABC last night, and although I didn't care for a lot of it, it exposed a lot of new people to that musical, and for that I'm thankful.

My biggest beef with the production is that it was cleaned up. The original musical was a fairy tale about sex, and its incidental cousins, marriage and pregnancy. It was chock full of double (and sometimes single) entendres. Disneyfied, this version is just about marriage and pregnancy.

Due to time and plot restraints, some great songs and characters were cut. "Very Soft Shoes," and "Jester, Minstrel and I" fell under the axe, as did the entire character of the minstrel.

Tracy Ullman played the lead, and did fine, but she's no Sarah Jessica Parker or Carol Burnett, who herself played the role of the queen. Tom Smothers was the king, which was choice casting.

Even though toned down, the book revisions were still quite funny. There was as much dance as was required by the plot, and not too much more, which demonstrates some admirable restraint on the part of the director, a choreographer.

In short, don't be tempted by the DVD of this production. Instead, go with the cast recording of the '90s revival with a post-L.A. Story, pre-Sex in the City Parker.