LIFE IS WEIRD......AND THAT'S ALL I KNOW

MUST I DISCUSS SPORTS TODAY?

I've tried not to discuss personal issues on this blog but damn....sometime my life is so weird I feel that it would fulfill a good day of entertainment to share some of my stories with others......oh...don't worry - I'll give you my NCAA College Basketball bracket picks tomorrow. But as I was getting ready to type the picks I heard this adorable little girl in the hallway saying "mama?...mama?"........well an hour later, after hanging around with lost girl, we finally found crying mama. It's ok - it was a mistake....mom in shower, little girl somehow gets out of apartment....but damn that's scary. Kids like me...I'm cool to hang around with. My little friend had no problem chilling out with me for an hour as we walked around the complex. But it brings up an interesting point......life is weird. Do we ever really know what will happen five minutes from now? I mean....I'm minding my own business in the comfort of my apartment playing online poker for the evening. The last thing on my mind was being the adoptive temporary father of an adorable blond haired, blue eyed girl five minutes later. Oh, don't you worry - I got better stories for the future....stay tuned for "Guy laying down sleeping on the highway".

CUTE KIDS IN MOVIES

So since I'm done saving the day for mom and her little girl I thought I'd mention some must see movies that have adorable kids or really great kid actors. If you can stand not to cry through half the movie "The Champ" with Ricky Schroeder is about as good as it gets with kid acting. Of course "Sixth Sense" has to be right up there and .....drum roll please...it's Spike Lee time again. See Crooklyn. The kids dominated that movie and it is a really cute portrayal of life in Brooklyn in the 1970's. Don't let the title scare you away - really an adorable film with kids that carry it all the way.

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO PETER AND HIS WOLF?

So we had sight reading as part of our percussion mid-term at my university last week. The sight reading were excerpts Peter and the Wolf....some of the most famous themes. Exactly one person out of about thirty knew where the music was from. What the hell happened? Do we need listen to Peter and the Wolf in the public schools any more? Must I program it every year for the next five so that everyone from 14 to 30 that does not know the piece becomes familiar with it. Not only is it a good story but the music is fantastic. So here are my top three pieces for the kiddies and they very obvious to those of us in classical music:

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals
Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

The three pieces should be on recording in every child's bedroom.

GRIPE OF THE DAY

Schools that get upset that they don't get invited to the NCAA basketball tournament. Listen....I'll say this slowly.......IT'S BASKETBALL......how about instead of sitting around releasing statements for the press about how bad you feel for your basketball players you spend that time buying some new beakers for the science lab on campus or inviting kids to campus to go to see student art works or hear some of the student ensembles. St. Mary's.......you're a good university.....yes, your basketball players worked very hard.....now get all your asses back into class and graduate instead of worrying about playing a few more basketball games and getting more time off of class.