Danny Kaye: Storyteller!

OK - so the kids are "acting", but if you watch the audience carefully, you can see that some of them are truly enjoying themselves.  This feels like a live performance in so many ways.  I love when they all pounce on him!

Cat Walking

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Here are some stills of my friend Sarah T. and I singing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" for a local news blog (I just love Sarah's face!):









Catch the full performance here (hopefully)....

"I'm Checking Out"

Just found out this song (at least the lyrics, not sure about the music) was written by Shel Silverstein and it was nominated for an Oscar. It loses something on YouTube, but Meryl still rocks.

Lyrics to "I'm Checkin' Out":

Pull back them dark and dusty drapes,
And let in some light.
Tell the bell-boy come and get my trunk
'Cause I'm leavin' here tonight.
I packed my bags and paid my bill,
And I'm turnin' in my key.
And if those sad souls down in the lobby ask for me,
Just tell'em
I'm checkin' out of the heartbreak hotel.
I ain't gonna live on lonely street no more (no more).
I've found a new love and a new place to dwell
Where teardrops ain't soakin' the floor.
So, take down my suitcase and hand me my hat.
I'm goin' from sleazy to swell.
Give that desk-clerk a dime.
And you can just tell him that I'm
Checkin' out of the heartbreak hotel.

Well, you can give that sad bellboy
My old blues guitar,
'Cause I'm only gonna sing them sweet songs
From now on, yeah.
And you can tell that old bartender
He might as well close down the bar,
Cause "Chug-a-Luggin' Sally's" (Charley's) packed an' gone.
Through that gray windowpane,
It always looked like rain,
But there's sunshine outside I can tell.
So open up that door, I've leavin'
An' I won't be back no more.
I'm checkin' out of the heartbreak hotel.
Checkin' out of this heartbreak hotel.
Pull back them dark and dusty drapes,
And let in some light.
Tell the bell-boy come and get my trunk
'Cause I'm leavin' here tonight.
I packed my bags and paid my bill,
And I'm turnin' in my key.
And if those sad souls down in the lobby ask for me,
Just tell'em
I'm checkin' out of the heartbreak hotel.
I ain't gonna live on lonely street no more (no more).
I've found a new love and a new place to dwell
Where teardrops ain't soakin' the floor.
So, take down my suitcase and hand me my hat.
I'm goin' from sleazy to swell.
Give that desk-clerk a dime.
And you can just tell him that I'm
Checkin' out of the heartbreak hotel.

Well, you can give that sad bellboy
My old blues guitar,
'Cause I'm only gonna sing them sweet songs
From now on, yeah.
And you can tell that old bartender
He might as well close down the bar,
Cause "Chug-a-Luggin' Sally's" (Charley's) packed an' gone.
Through that gray windowpane,
It always looked like rain,
But there's sunshine outside I can tell.
So open up that door, I've leavin'
An' I won't be back no more.
I'm checkin' out of the heartbreak hotel.
Checkin' out of this heartbreak hotel.

and puppets now hmm...

This is my friend Karen helping her pal strut his stuff.

Crazy Pet Guy

Marc Morrone has often been a guest on Martha Stewart's shows, but before that he was on local cable out of Long Island. People would call in for pet advice. The chaos was magnificent ("Let me just get the cat out of the iguana cage here" and "Don't bite the puppy's head!") and the suspense always kept us watching.

Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future

I loved this show so MUCH!

A Buffy Moment

Giles has just discovered that the ominous-looking mask hanging in Buffy's house is the reason that a (smelly) dead cat was resurrected in Buffy's back yard. Buffy's mom had brought the mask home from the art gallery where she works. As Giles races to Buffy's house to warn them (he couldn't get them on the phone), he says something that makes me explode with laughter every time I hear it, "Do you like my mask? Isn't it pretty? It raises the dead! Americans."

Dance Ditties

New Wave sound, cute guy, festive medievalesqueness (what's not to like?):

(better view here)


Still the best girl power anthem on the planet ("I want to be the one to walk in the sun"!):

(better view here)


Oh Kate! This woman can do no wrong. Check out the whirling dervishes that first appear around 1:28 ("Don't ever think that you can't change the past and the future."):

(again here)

Listen to Hans, LeMans

OK-I know that my rhymes are getting really lame...anyway, here is an interview with children's author and illustrator Hans Wilhelm, in which he is SO articulate about the value of REAL fairytales - in all their gory glory - in the lives of children. Yay!

Hans Wilhem interviewed by Christina Haskins from Hans Wilhelm on Vimeo.

Why Don't You Show Us, Lois

One of my favorite picture book artists is Lois Ehlert. Last week I read Snowballs three times! We have a giant edition of it at work which I love to use because the illustrations of the snow people are about as tall as a two-year-old child. You can view the wonderful cover and the first few pages here. And here is an interview with Lois, a gentle soul for sure:

This Makes Me Happy, Slappy!

What's the Object, Science Project?

OK - I just spent way too much time over on my other blog and now I have no time left for any Morning Glory updates. Did you know that storytellers are extraordinarily busy in the autumn? Fall festivals, Halloween, etc. It's dizzying. In a good way.

Just for fun, here are some Perrigo scientists hard at work (chuckle chuckle) and I think that the red-haired guy looks like a younger and taller version of Phil:



I haven't done a lick of anything useful today.

Take a Chance, Hamster Dance!

For me, it all started back around the turn of the century when my cutting-edge sister was visiting with her laptop. We plugged into a telephone line and, amid much giggling, Julia turned me on to the original Hamster Dance. We listened to it a LOT (remember Sarah?)

Years later, it took me a very long time to track it down again because the original website (which I won't even dignify with a link) had, in the words of another fan, "'evolved' from pure simple joy to, to this this weird Livin-the-Vida-Alvin-and-the-Chipmonks-and-buy-the-CD thing." For those of you who need context, you can get the big picture here. Heaven's blessings fall upon Lee for being a visionary. He was the first person I'm aware of who thought to rescue one of my favorite memories by archiving it in his domain.

There is actually a really funny tribute on YouTube in which people of all ages dance for the camera in public places (airports, shopping malls, street corners, driveways, scenic overlooks, restrooms - obviously a lot of it was filmed on family vacations) and it is all set to the music of Hamster Dance. This is YouTube at its best; creativity, community, humor and family fun all come together here.

Thanks to Alice for suggesting that we all need some Hamster Dance!

Will You Marry Me, Harry Carey (gee) ?

OK - It's supposed to rain more this weekend (jeez!) so I thought I'd give you all one of my favorite movies to watch. John Wayne is very appealing in this movie, but let's not forget what a cool dude is Harry Carey. He's also wonderful in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which you may remember him as the sympathetic but stern presiding officer of the Senate who sits up front with a gavel. He was a leading man himself in several cowboy movies during the early silent years of film and John Wayne really admired him. He's right up there on my short list of skinny old men that I love and would gladly marry. [The other people on this list include: Fred Astaire (dead), Pete Seeger (beautifully alive) and Leonard Everett Fisher (alive & well and living happily in my town with his lovely wife, so shhhhh!]

John Wayne produced this film himself and I think he did a pretty good job. He chose a nice simple story (innocent but clever Quaker girl falls in love with wild but good-hearted outlaw and reforms him), a beautiful and sweet leading lady and a good supporting cast (the doctor bugs me a bit, but I love Penny's family...and did I mention Harry Carey?) The opening scenes are filmed in Monument Valley (probably the Duke's little tribute to his friend, director John Ford) but then we switch to Sedona, Arizona. Now THAT'S a little town that has changed...nobody could go to Sedona to film a wide-open-spaces movie like this now.

The quality of the recording is fuzzy in the beginning and you have to wait a bit patiently for the movie to begin - hope it improves.

Get a Move On, Tucson

This was April 2007 B.C. (Before Cats) and we haven't taken a big trip since then. We are itching (ITCHING!) to travel.

Listen Hear, My Dear

Isn't she pretty? This is Beryl playing a piano somewhere, sometime. Is it the 1950's? And where is this piano? Maybe she can provide me with more information to post here. Meanwhile, let's all wish her a Happy Birthday today with Many Happy Returns!

Have a Banana, Hannah!

Have any of you received Christmas cards from me yet? No? That's because I'm wasting my time futzing around here. I know I'm becoming the video queen, and I apologize for my lack of creativity. I know that this stuff is basically the equivalent of junk mail (or empty calories) but I can't help myself!

For my birthday, Jeff gave me a second visit to the land of Slava's Snowshow. We saw it a couple years ago at the Union Square Theater and again last night at the Helen Hayes Theater. As a result, this morning I became fired with the ambition to use Slava himself to exemplify and share some essence of clowndom. Most videos of the Snowshow focus on the special effects, the mayhem and the wild blizzardy finale, but I was able to find one clip from the show that is both touching and funny and conveys some of its quieter charm:



I thought I gave up clowning long ago in favor of pursuing storytelling (from totally nonverbal to totally verbal!) When I've revisited clowning in recent years, I've enjoyed myself, but I've had a hard time reconciling my old makeup to my new face. When I first became a clown, my makeup was based on a face without glasses. And yes, I know that I could get clownish frames with my prescription (contact lenses won't work, trust me), but that's kind of a big commitment for the occasional festival appearance or classroom demonstration, don't you think? Also (and this is really weird) - I have wrinkles now. That old white greasepaint just doesn't spread as smoothly as it used to...

Plus - are you aware of how many people are afraid of clowns? When they say that they are "freaked out", it really means they are afraid. And who wants to go around scaring people? It can be very isolating.

However, here's something from Slava's earlier career that makes me think maybe clowning is not so much in my past as I thought:



Finally, I'd like to leave you with a little ditty called Blue Canary. The song has been a signature of Slava's and his compatriots for years. This is an older clip. Slava is not one of the trio. He's the one in yellow blowing bubbles with a red pipe (and I suspect he's also a guy in the audience.) I LOVE the way the tall clown in the middle is just oodles of thrilled with his singing friends:

In a Zoo, Kangaroo!

Back in the summer of 2007, BooBoo used to be called Smokey and SissyCat used to be called T.C. They lived in isolation in a cage in the back of the pickup truck while they had shots and got tested for ferocious diseases. BooBoo now lives with Jeff and SissyCat lives with Sailor and me.

Don't Be So Bashful, Nashville

This is the first digital video that I ever took. It's at least a couple years old. I uploaded it to YouTube only minutes ago--my first time! The floodgates are open (now you're really in for it.) Sorry for the off-key singing.