Mostly Sunny - Hi 86 Lo 62 for Baghdad, IraqSunny - Hi 81 Lo 60 for Northern KY, USA
Song of the week: Defying Gravity, From the Musical - Wicked - Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth
Last April I went with a few of my favorite women to Chicago to shop and see Wicked. The sets, the costumes, the story line... so much fun. The song Defying Gravity was the climax of the production--- our hearts were soaring by the time this song started and when Elphaba defied gravity by flying... well, I left the show feeling anything was possible.
Ramble:
Thoughts of the massacre at Virginia Tech have had me preoccupied. So much has been said and written...news, opinions, blogs... I really do not have much to add to the discussion.Let me just say this... I agree with those that state if someone had been carrying a firearm there is no doubt fewer souls would have been lost. However, I believe the bigger question and debate is over something else that I have not seen covered anywhere-- I suspect because it is such a taboo topic. I also suspect I will get some serious hate mail for this, but I qualify my thoughts based on personal experience (the liberal way of having a debate--I have personal experience...therefore I can talk about it)... This massacre is what happens when we are not given the opportunity to institutionalize people that can not be left on their own. It has already been established that this young man was disturbed. I don't know what the right answer is... Asylums of yesterday were inhumane... would we as a society allow that to occur today? I imagine a good percentage of homeless folks are mentally ill. Is it humane to allow someone that is mentally ill to live on the streets- homeless? The question has been asked "Why did he do this?" The answer is pretty simple. He was demented... disturbed... sick... mentally unstable... and needed to be institutionalized- he was a threat to himself as well as others.
In Memoriam: Virginia Tech Remembers
I was saddened to hear that one of our finest and elite was lost in South Carolina on Saturday. The Blue Angels have always made my heart soar. The entire team is from the Navy and Marines... our finest...I was surprised to hear that the pilot was killed, but after reading this most recent report, I have no doubt this pilot stayed with the jet to minimize injury to civilians.
BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) - A Navy Blue Angel jet crashed during an air show Saturday, plunging into a neighborhood of small homes and trailers and killing the pilot, the county coroner said.The complete article from AP
Witnesses said the planes were flying in formation during the show at the Marine Corps Air Station and one dropped below the trees and crashed, sending up clouds of smoke. At least one home was on fire.
Raymond Voegeli, a plumber, was backing out of a driveway when the plane ripped through a grove of pine trees, dousing his truck in flames and debris. He said wreckage hit "plenty of houses and mobile homes."
"It was just a big fireball coming at me," said Voegeli, 37. "It was just taking
pine trees and just clipping them."
The following video is about 16 minutes long... I hope the Blue Angels do not cancel the remainder of their schedule. I am sure they will have to investigate what occurred and caused the accident, but we need these ambassadors of our military to tour our country... airshows are the best place to go to feel American... to get a sense of patriotism... to tear up while singing our National Anthem... and most importantly to thank these fine men and women.
Everyone deserves the chance to fly!
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity
Defying Gravity
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!
It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!
Quick - come with me. Think of
what we could do together.
Unlimited
Together we're unlimited
Together we'll be the greatest team
There's ever been
Glinda - Dreams, the way we planned 'em
If we work in tandem:
There's no fight we cannot win
Just you and I
Defying gravity
With you and I
Defying gravity
They'll never bring us down!
Well? Are you coming?
I hope you're happy
Now that you're choosing this
You too I hope it brings you bliss
I really hope you get it
And you don't live to regret it
I hope you're happy in the end
I hope you're happy, my friend:
So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
"Everyone deserves the chance to fly!"
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!
I hope you're happy!
Look at her, she's wicked!
Get her!
Bring me down!
Have a great week everyone!
2 comments:
My daughter just saw WICKED in Los Angeles the first week of April, with Carol Kane and John Rubenstein in the cast. She and her friends were able to get autographs at the stage door, too! She thought it was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen. When she came home Easter weekend she went right out to buy the CD. Looking forward to seeing it myself one day -- enjoyed your reminisces as well as your other thoughts on recent events.
Best wishes,
Laura
(Almost exactly) A year before this tragic accident occured, I watched the Blue Angels rehearse their routine from a window in the downtown Louisville office where I work. I've watched them several times (almost all of them with you and Michael) and I'm always amazed at the emotion they stir in me. Like the way you felt in Chicago, the Angels make you believe that anything is indeed possible. They are more than aviators, they are magicians who seem to bend and twist the laws of physics at their whim. All to entertain us and more importantly say, "When you go home tonight, sleep well. We're here and you are safe."
Thank you for taking me to my first Blue Angels show and thank you to Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J. Davis for his devoted service and one hell of a show. Godspeed to him.
Post a Comment