68 posts tagged “life”

I've got to be slick doing this because I'm at work....I'll keep it short and sweet....

I thought David Cook seemed kind of sad and distracted. I kept wondering if his trip home and seeing his gravely ill brother had left him really not wanting to return to the show. I cannot even imagine how much of a distraction that must be for him. He still did good and I voted for him about 500 times. I did think his second song was WAY shorter than the other contestants! I'm  not sure what was up with that!

David Archuleta was wonderful on the first song, cute on the second and horrible on the third (plus I hated his shirt, it looked like a straight-jacket).

I thought Sayesha did great on the two of her songs. I wasn't crazy about the Happy Feet song.

As far as who goes home, I HAVE NO IDEA! So I'm not even gonna cal it! Everybody on the internet is predicting Sayesha to go but at this point last year NOBODY predicted Melinda Doolittle would get the boot...this is too hot to touch so I'm not going to!

Good luck to all three contestants!

 

I know I talk about my city a lot but that is because I love it so much! It's a fantastic city with a real community sense about it and it has one of the best school systems around. Everyone else that lives here loves it too! They loved it so much that about 25 years ago they dubbed the first Saturday in May 'We Love Homewood Day'. I don't know the details of it's origin because I've only lived here for 7 years but today it is a huge fund raiser for the Middle and High School band programs. It starts out at 8am with a carnival and arts and crafts thingy at Patriot Park. At 6pm the We Love Homewood Day parade steps off from the library and marches down Oxmoor Road ending in Edgewood. Edgewood is a little neighborhood in Homewood that is as quaint as quaint can be. All of the streets have sidewalks and the homes are quaint cottages (the property values are through the roof in Homewood, especially in Edgewood so house flippers have descended upon the neighborhood and demolished the original homes, replacing them with gargantuous, multi-story homes that are too big for the modest size lots, this is unfortunate but many of the original homes remain). When the parade ends there is a 'dance in the street' in Edgewood for everyone to celebrate the city they love!

Hailey has been involved with We Love Homewood Day since she was in the 7th grade. She was in the H.E.A.T. group in 7th and 8th grade and working the carnival rides was part of the community service that the middle-schoolers in this group do. H.E.A.T. stands for Homewood Exploration Adventurer Team. The group was founded by a member of the Homewood Park and Recreation board specifically for Homewood students in middle school. In return for the community service they provide the group gets to go on various adventures. During Hailey's 2 years in this group she went white water rafting, snorkeling with manatees in Florida and skiing in Gatlinburg, among other things.

Of course, since she's been in High School she has marched in the parade with the High School band (that's one of my pictures by the way). The whole town comes out to watch the parade and always gives the band tremendous support and cheers! When I'm walking along side them, trying to video/photograph as much as I can I see the parents with their little kids, holding them up and pointing and saying "Look! There's the Band!". I can't even describe in words how PROUD it makes me feel that my daughter is a part of this!

So this year, Mother Nature played a dirty trick on us and decided to rain and I mean pour down rain on Saturday morning. The carnival and arts and crafts thingy was cancelled. But, by parade time everything had dried up, the sun was shining and it was absolutely perfect weather for a parade!

So here's my pics and one video that I made:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice Hailey telling me (nicely) to go away LOL!

Well, there's not much to say about last nights results show. I loved seeing Maroon 5 and Bo (love, love, love that guy).

I got the go-homer correct but I'm definitely not jumping for joy. I am content and assured that America got it right. Jason will be fine and I wouldn't at all be surprised to see him involved in a revival or reggae music. He seemed relieved to be going home. So, I guess we won't get to see him interact with his hometown but that's OK. Sayesha deserved the 3rd spot.

Good luck to Jason and also the top 3 when they go on their wild homecoming tours. We've experienced it here in Alabama and it is crazy! I hope a lot of the tours will be streamed online so we can all watch. Of course, the homecoming tours will be re-capped on the show next week.

Onward and forward, only 2 more weeks!

 

Well, Haiiley and I are both home sick today....yucky but at least it gave me some time to finally upload my videos. For anyone that has ever been involved in high school band you know that spring is concert season. Each band class performs songs that they performed at district and state competitions back in the winter. This is concert music and if you don't like concert music you probably won't like these videos!

The Jazz band is not a class but more like a club. They meet to rehearse before school every morning. This year's jazz band was the smallest I've ever seen but they still played very well. The band director is a trumpet player and he often jams with them. The Jazz band plays while everyone is still arriving and while the different band classes are changing out from the stage to their seats.

I had to be careful not to film too many videos so my memory card wouldn't get full before Hailey's band performed.

 

The percussionists performed one song with the percussion director standing in for someone who wasn't able to make it to the concert.

 

Next the Freshman band performed and they did very well. One of their songs featured a girl singing. I didn't video them though.

Next was the Symphonic band which is the band Hailey is 2nd 1st chair clarinet. They played five songs but I only filmed 3 of them and during the last song my memory card got full so it cut off the last couple of minutes (these are in no particular order as I can't remember the order).

 

 

 

After the symphonic band played the honor band performed. Honor band is mostly Seniors and I hope that Hailey makes it for next year.

As I was sitting in that auditorium I began to realize that my times there were limited. I've been coming there since Hailey's first middle school concert when she was in the 6th grade. How time flies!

Hailey met up with her friend Cami (who she's been playing in band with since 6th grade). Cami missed most of this school year due to illness but now she's back. She had to play with the Freshman band but at least she's still performing.

 

Here's a picture of them together before a middle school concert when they were in the 7th grade.

 

Well I was basically underwhelmed by the performances tonight. I figured with them having the huge catalogue of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that everybody would dig deep and blow us away. Well, they didn't.

David Cook - He's my guy but, although he was good on both of his songs I was slightly disappointed. I was expecting something of the same caliber as Billie Jean. Well, maybe that level of greatness isn't meant to be achieved more than once while on the show. I'm not sure. I voted for David for a solid hour and did not get one busy signal. I think (hope) that David C will be safe this week.

Sayesha - Wow! Who'da thought she had that kind of hottness in her? I don't care what the judges said, her performance of Proud Mary was hot, hot, hot! The second song was also great and I was really feeling for her as she broke down on stage. I think Sayesha will be in danger this week.

Jason - Man! I love Jason! I've loved him throughout but tonight I think he was very weak on the first song. Then he forgot some words on the second song. He owned up to it in his own Jason way, but still I thought his were the weakest performances of the night. I think Jason will be in danger this week.

Little David - He really stepped it up this week. He sang wonderful, showed us just a smidge of personality and appeared to be having a good time. He used his falsetto in both songs (which he hasn't done very much) and it worked, worked, worked! Archie was the class of the field tonight and will definitely be safe.

So, now to pick the go-homer. Well at this stage it gets really difficult. There's nobody left that I hate. I have my favorite but I really love them all. It's going to be hard to see any of them go.

Based strictly on performance I have to pick Jason as the go-homer; HOWEVER, like a pebble in my shoe, VFTW has Jason as their chosen one so who knows? Are they capable of saving Jason after his performances tonight? I personally would be very upset to see Sayesha go home because she gave 2 stellar performances and you can just FEEL her passion and desire to do well when she sings. On the other hand I really wanted to see Jason make the top 3 just for the hometown visit. He's somewhat of a mystery and I would like to know more about him and his life.

Both Davids' hometowns have been contacted by Idol to go ahead and plan top 3 homecoming festivities. I'm sure that all 4 hometown's are making plans because they will have a homecoming celebration regardless. Basically, this week, everyone will go home but only 3 will fly in private jets and have the Idol cameras and crew in tow AND get the opportunity to return to LA and compete for the 2 spots in the finale. Oh boy it's getting intense!

We will find out tomorrow night....get tissues!

 

Friday night Hailey attended her first prom. She went with her friend Brittany to her prom. Brittany's school is very small so they allow Junior's to attend the Senior prom. Hailey's school is very large and does NOT allow Juniors to attend the Senior prom so she went with Britt. I didn't get to see much of nothing because I didn't even go there but Britt's Mom and I took a couple of pics before they left and she took some in the car on the way. She said she had a good time although I don't have any pics to prove it. The best part of the night for me, besides her getting home safely at 1am, was her walking up the stairs saying "I can't believe I have to go to work tomorrow (today)!" LOL! Welcome to the real world my baby girl!

 

 

 

She's wearing her seatbelt like I always taught her! Good girl!

Well, I was wrong yet again but, as they say, justice was served. As I stated last week when Carly was handed her walking papers, VFTW may keep people on the show for a couple of weeks longer than they should be. This is seemingly such a negligent effect on the outcome on the show that it's hardly worth mentioning; however, in these past two weeks that Brooke survived under the umbrella of VFTW two very talented people were sent home. Brooke should have gone home earlier and possibly even before Kristy, but VFTW had Kristy as their gal so you can see how the whole thing snowballs and skews the results. It's really, really lame.

So Brooke is gone as she should be. As bad as I wanted her gone I cried for her. At this point in the competition you get so personally involved and develop a feeling for all of the contestants. It's hard seeing them eliminated and it just gets harder and harder as the weeks tick by.

I'm cautiously predicting an all guy top 3 but it really depends....we will see.

This time last year the demographics were reversed. Last year the guys were dropping like flies and the top 4 landed with 3 girls and Blake. People probably thought he would naturally go home the next week but he did not. He survived until the finale and scored runner-up to Jordin. In a way Sayesha is in the cat-bird seat. She's the only girl left so does she naturally inherit Brooke's voters? Will VFTW pick her up as their new candidate? Do the guys start cancelling each other out in the same way that the girls did last year? We will see....it's getting good now! (and I'm already feeling the withdrawal....Gawd it has gone by so fast this year!)

Well tonight was Neil Diamond night and quite frankly NOBODY absolutely blew me away. At this stage in the competition I either want to get goose bumps and feel weak in the knees, get teary eyed or suddenly flushed with attraction or be moved to break out in full dance. I want to be affected by the performances!

David Cook - I liked his first song but wasn't blown away. I LOVED his second song and definitely got that weak in the knees feeling (but not as much as last week). David Cook is my guy and I think he is well on his way to winning the whole thing. I'm phone voting now and I probably got in 100 votes for David Cook tonight. That is small potatoes but I haven't even begun to power vote yet. I'm afraid that David's fans are becoming too comfortable and thinking they don't need to vote. I've seen this happen before and the results can be devastating. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE! BTW, David will be safe this week!

Jason - I can't help but be mesmerized by this guy! His smooth 'Don't worry, be happy' swagger along with his smooth voice and those georgeous blue eyes. I especially loved the way he puffed his cheeks out while Randy was judging him. So cute! I'm not sure exactly who is voting for Jason (in addition to the entire state of Texas) but he obviously has some fans out there. In polls he's ranked just beneath the two Davids. I think Jason is in danger of going home this week or at least being in the bottom 2.

Brooke - Well I didn't exactly hate Brooke this week. I really hated her first song and those weird Elvis faces she was making, but the second song I really, really liked. I can't help but admire someone who can sing while playing the piano or any instrument for that matter. Both acts require such concentration to me, having played the piano, I can't imagine trying to do both together. It would be like trying to walk and chew gum, or something like that. Anyway, I think that Brooke will be safe this week (although I could definitely be wrong).

David Archuleta - Lately I've really been noticing that there is something that is just not right with Little David. He just seems oppressed and robotic in his lack of emotion and his programmed responses. I just get the feeling that he is a very unhappy kid. He is only 17 years old. My kid is only 17 years old and I can't imagine how she would handle such pressure. Not to say that a 17 year old can't handle it, Jordin handled it just fine but her family was supportive. I just get the feeling that David's family is banking on him. That's a hell of a lot of undue pressure added to the pressure he's already under just doing this show! That is so cruel and I think it's a subtle form of child abuse. I've been noticing in the photos on AI.com and if he's not singing or smiling he seems to have this blank look (when he's listening to the judges). His smile is a flatline and his eyes look fearful yet deader than dead. He seems to say the things that his family expects him to say. He sings the songs his family wants him to sing in the style that they have formed him in. I'm tired of the cyborg, I want to see a 17 year old kid get out there and belt one out in his own style! I didn't really like either of David's songs tonight because they sounded like the same song we've heard for weeks and weeks. I wonder if he would do better if his Father weren't in the audience intimidating him? I think David will be safe this week, luckily.

Sayesha - I loved both of her songs tonight! She has a beautiful voice and is a great performer. I would rank Sayesha second to David Cook in not only their ability to sing, but their ability to perform well. Like David, Sayesha knows how to work the camera for optimum effect. Although I really liked Sayesha this week, she just cannot seem to gain 100% approval from the judges, and based upon her record number of times in the bottom I'm going to rank her there once again with Jason.  I also pick her to be going home.

We will see...results tomorrow night on FOX at 8pm CST.

Don't mess with Alabama and don't mess with Nascar in Alabama!

**Accompanying, post appropriate music**

On or about the third Sunday in April Nascar comes to Alabama to take on Talladega Super Speedway, the biggest, baddest racetrack in the entire world (really it is)!

 

Although I can't go to the race this year I'm still EXTREMELY excited about it because this is Junior's debut at Dega in his new Hendrick ride. Alabama has always been Earnhardt country! People here loved Earnhardt Sr and now they love Earnhardt Jr. The two Earnhardt's have a combined 15 cup wins at this track! 5 of Junior's 17 cup wins came at this track and his Dad paved the way before him with a record 10 cup wins at Dega, including his last one.

Dale Sr's last win at Talladega (this was Junior's rookie season and he actually led the race for a while)

Dale Jr's first win at Talladega (I was at this race and it was INSANE!)

Although Junior Nation shows up at every racetrack the Dale Earnhardt Jr fan to All other drivers combined fan ratio is about 80% to 20% at Talladega. It will be very interesting to see if the sea of red in the grandstands has changed to a sea of green. It will also be very interesting to see if Earnhardt Nation cuts other Hendrick drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson a little slack. In the past they have been vehemently hated at Talladega, booed during driver intros and pummelled with beer cans and water bottles if they win the race. It will be very interesting to see how Junior's move to Hendrick changes the atmosphere at Talladega, also known as 'The House the Earnhardt's Built'.

Junior is ready...

 

And so am I! Go Junebug Go!

 

Here's one more song for the road! Boogity, boogity, boogity! Let's go racin boys!

 

 

 

OK. I'm gonna post this just one more time because it is a classic! This is me rooting Junior on at Dega last year. If you've never seen this before let me explain. This is what happened: My camera was on the video setting but I didn't know it and attempted to take a picture, but what I actually did was start recording a video. The camera is hanging around my neck swaying back and forth as Junior almost takes the lead (and I attempt to render myself voiceless), it was just getting good when the caution came out.