Happy Halloween!

Tremendous talent!

Anyone who knows me knows I have a younger brother who I am quite proud of, for so many reasons. One of which is his incredible musical talent.
Which he is putting to good use at college in the Music Education Department.

And so as not to embarrass him too much....

Oh forget it Bill - I'm gonna embarrass ya!

This past sunday night was his Senior Recital at Marwick-Boyd Auditorium on the Clarion University campus. This means JUST HIM - alone, on stage, playing piano for a half hour with a room full of people there just to hear him and only him.
Lots of family and friends were there, besides his professors, to lend him support. Even his piano teacher that taught him from when he was a wee lad through high school and beyond, was there to witness the event.

And he was...Wonderful! Impressive! Top-notch! Sensational! And a hundred other adjectives I want to list here. But won't.


tickling the ivories

Seriously, he did a fabulous job and I know he feels an incredible weight lifted off his shoulders, having this recital behind him now. Now he can relax!

The program included selections from Scarlatti (Sonata in D Major), Haydn (Sonata in E Minor, Hob 34), Bartok (Sonatina), and my absolute favorite - Chopin (Polonaise in C-Sharp Minor, Op.26, No.1).... I almost wish I was renewing my vows or having some kind of formal gathering so you could play that just for me.


concentration is KEY.

The difficulty of the pieces was staggering, in my mind. Perhaps someone with more music in their background than high school band and chorus and a few years of piano lessons may not think the complexity was that demanding, but I found the arrangements quite merciless as well as intricate, and cannot imagine learning it - let alone memorizing them.

That's right, folks - he had to memorize every agonizing bar of music. During the third selection (the Chopin), my husband finally looked at me and said "he doesn't have any music in front of him!"... he had just noticed.
Simply amazing.


That smile is one of relief - he's finished!

So many congrats, Bill - you did such an outstanding job!

I'll stop going on about it now...
But that Chopin number....simply DIVINE!

Euro-Saturday! Breeders' Cup re-cap...

First, let me just say this:
I Still Love Curlin!!


Curlin
photo by Barbara Livingston/BloodHorse

That said, Curlin did not win the Breeders' Cup Classic today at Santa Anita Park.
I was pretty bummed out, but there was always this big question mark for him (and many other horses) about how he would handle the (artificial dirt surface) Pro-Ride track.

Obviously, it did not agree with him. He led coming down the stretch but was then overtaken by eventual winner, Raven's Pass. Euro horse Henrythenavigator placed second and Tiago got up for third.

I can't really say much more about it.
Except this:

Curlin came in fourth (the only time he's finished out of the money) and when he headed back to the barn, he passed the grandstands and got a heartfelt standing ovation from the very appreciative crowd. They know he nearly didn't come to this year's Breeders' Cup, and they know what he's already accomplished in his career.
The fans LOVE Curlin, and seeing as how this might have been his last race, they wanted him to know how beloved he truly is.

On with the racing recap.
I won't go on about all the various races - there were 9! You can read all about them here or here. Suffice it to say, the idea that the Pro-Ride surface was alot more like turf than dirt was right on the money, because in 9 races, 5 of them were won by European horses - who are obviously turf specialists! Hence the term 'Euro-Saturday' was coined.

Anyway-
I just want to post some pics - cause I love the horses!!


European invader Raven's Pass defeating Curlin in the Breeders' Cup Classic
photo by Rick Samuels/BloodHorse



Another European, Conduit -winning the Emirates Airlines Breeders' Cup Turf .
photo by Rick Samuels/BloodHorse



Midnight Lute wins back to back Breeder's Cup Sprints!
photo by Rick Samuels/BloodHorse

This race meant a little something to me...
First of all, Midnight Lute has been in my fantasy stable for three years.
Second, he is a son of one of my favorite horses: Real Quiet (who was nipped by a nose to lose the Triple Crown in 1998). He is owned and trained by the same connections also.
Third, he won this race last year as well as this year. Super cool in my book!
Fourth - he's freakin' American.
And lastly, let's face it - he's gorgeous - and huge - he barely fits in the starting gate and is over 17 hands high... that's big, folks.



Donativum (Euro) scores in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf
photo by Z/Matt Barton/Thoroughbred Times



Midshipman sails to finish in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
(look for him to be tagged the early Kentucky Derby favorite with that win)..
photo by Rick Samuels




Albertus Maximus defeats two longshots in the TVG Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile
photo by Z/Matt Barton/Thoroughbred Times




Desert Code, the biggest longshot on the board, wins the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint
photo by Z/Matt Barton/Thoroughbred Times



European Muhannak triumphs in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Marathon
photo by Rick Samuels/BloodHorse



Goldikova -a brilliant Euro filly!- wins the Breeders Cup Mile
photo by Z/Matt Barton/Thoroughbred Times


All in all, a fine day of racing!
And the best news: it went off without a hitch, and without an incident - no injuries (or worse)...

I went to the OTB with my dad as usual and we bet each race after careful studying of the Daily Racing Form.
We got excited after I hit the winner on the first race (Muhannak) - I mostly only do 2$ bets, I'm not that brave with my money. But Muhannak went off as something like 15-1... so it at least paid for my other bets.
Then we got even more excited when Dad hit Desert Code - he was a major long shot - like 36-1, so that was a nice payoff.
However.... our luck ended with that.
We didn't win anymore on the day - but we had a great meal & dessert and had a blast watching all the races.

Post script: I didn't actually bet on Midnight Lute because he was the favorite, as was Curlin, but I wanted both to win.. and at least Lute scored me some fantasy points.
Curlin won my heart a long time ago and had nothing else to prove.

*So now there's the long wait to the spring and the Triple Crown season...
Thankfully, horseracing is a year round sport - so I won't get too wistful!

Filly Friday!

It's Breeders' Cup Time!!


The call to the post...

It was Filly Friday today at The Breeders' Cup World Championships of Thoroughbred Racing.

This is the first time they have split the Breeders' Cup races up according to sex, and it is a nice way to give the fillies and mares their dues.
And it was a spectacular day of racing, no doubt!
Capped off by a win in the Ladies Classic by the absolute PHENOM, "Zenyatta"!


ZENYATTA!!!
photo by Charles Pravata/Horsephotos


Zenyatta is a perfect 9 for 9 after today's run, and has wrapped up year end honors for champion older fillies & mares (she's 4)... and quite possibly is a big candidate for Horse of the Year if Curlin doesn't fire tommorrow in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

She is a force to be reckoned with. She broke last, which is her norm.. and around the far turn and into the stretch, she opened up and started passing horses like they were standing still (also her norm!)... It was a sight to behold.
Awesome!

Of course there were four other races today and they were equally as thrilling (ok, well - nearly as exciting).

Some pics of the other winners:


Forever Together wins Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf
Photo by Rick Samuels/BloodHorse



Maram (#3) wins Breeders' Cup Juvenille Fillies Turf
photo by Charles Pravata/Horsephotos



Stardom Bound wins Breeders' Cup Juvenille Fillies
photo by Rick Samuels/BloodHorse




Ventura wins Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint
photo by Z/Matt Barton (Thoroughbred Times)

And to finish, another photo of the brilliant Zenyatta, doing what she does best.

Zenyatta wins Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (formerly BC Distaff)
Photo by Rick Samuels/BloodHorse

Wrong on so many levels...

When it comes to Halloween, I'm all about having fun.
But some of these pet owners are really out there...
In the spirit of the silly season, I present a photo list of unbelievably ridiculous dog-parents.
After all, it's not the dog's fault that they are dressed like this!



My favorite - easily the best one here.



Second fave. Mucho originality!



Kinda an odd couple - Superman and Darth Vader?



Don't give them any chocolate!!



Ok, now we're starting with the weird stuff...




I've actually seen cuter spiders!



If I saw this coming down the street, I'd run!




Does one person own all these dogs?



This bothers me.



So very sad, and the dog even knows it.



Marty Feldman eyes...


>
The scary part? This probably wasn't even for Halloween.


>
See why I don't like clowns?




Whoa! Is there anything but the head in there?




Not even remotely funny.


>
They'll be lucky the dog can walk with that on his head!


>
Kinda funny, actually...




I'll just take mine plain, thanks.




Yoda, right?



And our grand prize for the saddest act here.
Have you EVER seen a dog look more pathetic?
I just want to rip it off him and give him a hug.
His 'parents' should be shot.

For a Halloween laugh...

Check out my other blog for more canine costumes!!




People that do this aren't right in the head.

Let the countdown begin...

Twilight opens 11-21-08

One month and counting....

Indy goes X-Files

Read with caution: some spoilers ahead....



I love Indiana Jones!

Everyone always picks a favorite between the (now) four movies and if I were to do that I would pick The Temple of Doom simply because it's usually everyone's least favorite and I like to be different. I'm weird like that. Besides, it's the darkest of the foursome, and that suits me.

But on my homebound vacation, it was Indy 4 release week, so I ponied up - not for the two disc set, only got the single disc. Call me morbid, but I'm not buying any box sets till Harrison Ford is dead and gone so I know they won't resurrect the character yet again, at least I hope they wouldn't..... "Indiana Jones and the Lazarus Effect", anyone?

Anyway, I've heard lots of mixed reviews. "Predictible", "unrealistic", "ridiculous"... is what alot of people said. Well I don't care. I always like to see a movie myself before I make any snap judgements. Then I can judge to beat the band.

In this case, however... I cannot complain too much.

I mean, isn't Indiana Jones supposed to be unrealistic? I mean, how many large balls of concrete chasing people in caves have you heard about on the news? Stones that protect a city and it's children? Eons-old guardians protecting the cup of Christ? How many faces have you seen melt off lately?

Come on people... it's just fun!

Who doesn't like Harrison Ford as Indy? One of the most fantastic and iconic characters in all of film if you ask me. And he can still pull it off. A little more rugged around the edges than usual, but it still works!
Though I would be wary of him waiting another 19 years and making another one... (lest he plays one of those very anciently old guardians...)

Not much use in me reiterating the plot. But I will.

Indiana is captured by evil Russians (it is the 50's - Cold War time) - they want him to find one of the crystal skulls that supposedly has some kind of magical powers that lead them to a city of gold. Yep. Gold.

The main Russian hard-ass (for lack of a better word) is played by Cate Blanchett, who had to have just done this popcorn flick for fun - it's so unlike her style. But she did a bang-up job.

In his adventures in escaping from the Soviets, he meets a 20's-ish lad who everyone already knows ends up being his son with Marion (from the Raiders movie)... Shia LaBeouf plays Mutt (seriously - I mean, these people have dog fetishes. First Indy's nickname comes from the family dog, then his kid just up and uses the name Mutt...) and Karen Allen returns as lost love, (and mighty spitfire) Marion Ravenwood.

Many 'unbelieveable' and 'ridiculous' stunts and antics ensue, and you know what? It's pretty fun to just sit and enjoy its absurdity.
I mean, even though George Lucas has become somewhat of a hack, you've still got Steven Spielberg at the helm. That counts for something.

And in case you haven't heard.... in addition to Nazis (Raiders and Last Crusade) and child-napping headhunters (Temple of Doom), we now have aliens. There, I've said it.
Sorry if I ruined it but I think you gotta see it to believe it.

Maybe that's what people thought was so preposterous.
But they sneak it in with a kind of Area 51 feel to it, so it works.

So, still my least favorite of the lot, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still a feel-good, throw-your-brains-out-the-window-and-enjoy-it kind of film.

I like it, so sue me.


Still looks good in the hat...

Pic of the Day

How sweet is that?
I love bears. Not necessarily in my backyard, but they are sooo good looking.

Pic of the Day

Couldn't resist this furry happiness on a monday!

Wistful thinking...

I've been on vacation (from work, didn't go anywhere) this past week, and it's been great, of course.

One of the things I did was go to the movies with my mom.

Now, she said she would go see 'Quarantine' with me, but after thinking about it, I didn't want to be responsible for the bad dreams I know she would still be having if we'd seen that horror movie. Horror movies are not something my mother relishes as much as her daughter does.

Hence, we went to see (at a $4.75 early bird price - I was stoked!) Nights in Rodanthe.

It was Richard Gere and Diane Lane's third movie together (after The Cotton Club and Unfaithful) and you can tell - they always seem like old friends.

More on the movie synopsis in a minute.

I had read the book when it came out some years ago (2002) - Nicholas Sparks is one of the most prolific contemporary (romantic drama in my opinion) novelists of these times.
He has written something like 14 novels - all best sellers.

His very first book would be on the top of my most loved books (The Notebook). Read that one if you haven't. It's great.

Anyway, another engaging aspect of this movie is that it was literally filmed in Rodanthe (pronounced row-dan-thee), which is a small oceanside village on Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks (N.C.).
I was so excited when I learned early last year that they were making this movie - I hoped they truly did use the location specific to the story and not some place in Canada, filling in for the Outer Banks.

When Todd and I went to Hatteras Island last May, they had just wrapped the movie shoot. There were signs and pictures here and there on the island of the stars, sets, and what-not.
I was actually glad they were not filming anymore once we got there, or travel around the undersized island might have been wretched.
After all, there is only one road (and it's a two lane) in and out of Hatteras. Good old Route 12.

The beach house used in N.I.R. is, indeed, in Rodanthe. It is the very first house you come to in a bevy of beach houses in a new-ish development called Mirlo Beach. Most of these houses are quite large, and almost all are for rent. They typically sleep 8 - 10 people, but there are many that sleep 14-16!!
In the movie, the house is called "The Inn At Rodanthe". In real life, it is called "Serendipity"...

You can read a bit about it being used for the movie here.

This is what it currently looks like. And yes, it sits directly on the sand at the edge of the ocean.

It is one of several homes that the hubby and I always gaze at in wonder.
As in, 'wonder what it would be like there in a hurricane?'

For the movie, it got dressed up a bit. Here's a few photos from the set.

Daytime.. with bright blue shutters.

And at night.

And yes, it is always that beautiful there.

What can I say about the plot?

OK...

I have heard alot of negative reviews - saying it is too sappy and predictable. Well it isn't anything the book isn't. It is a romantic story, just deal with it and get out your tissues.

Adrienne (Diane Lane) is going through a separation with her unfaithful husband when she agrees to take care of her friend's coastal inn.
Before she leaves, her husband (played by Law & Order SVU's Christopher Meloni - whom I kept expecting to yell at me or get out the handcuffs...) asks to come back, saying he made a mistake. Adrienne isn't sure that is what she truly wants, despite the children's urgings. She leaves for the inn and says she will think about it.

At the inn, there is already bad weather forecasted when the first and only guest for the extended weekend arrives. Dr. Paul Flanner's life is in turmoil as well (of course)... he is there to meet with a man (Scott Glenn) whose wife died on Paul's operating table during a routine surgery. There is a pending lawsuit and the blame has been placed directly on Paul. He is there thinking he may be able to talk his way out of getting sued.

Paul and Adrienne bond over chicken and wine and the beautiful scenery.

They tell their life stories and feel sorry for each other.
A hurricane strikes and they bond some more over their fear of.... well, DYING I suppose!
They fall in love - (albeit rather quickly!).

There is nothing really new going on here, plotwise. We've all seen this kind of movie before. You know where it is going. Right down to the corner of Sentimental Street and Emotional Alley.
But for me, even though I knew the ending (and I won't spoil it here) I was caught up in their quick love story and the coastal vistas that I have walked myself.
There are some inconsistencies that I could point out, but if you've never been there, you'd never know.
And just as I figured, I was teary by the end. Damn that Nicholas Sparks!

On a side note: The song from Nights in Rodanthe - the one they've been playing on all the commercials - is a great one. 'Love Remains the Same' by Gavin Rossdale (from the band 'Bush', and also Mr. Gwen Stefani) .

So it was a decent movie and it also brought back good vacation memories for me, because no matter which village you stay in on Hatteras Island - they all look just the same when you're down by the water...

I'm sure there are lots of lovely beaches on this continent.
But I don't think I'd stay anywhere else that has such undisturbed, stunning natural beauty.
Matter of fact, I just don't think I'd stay anywhere else, period.

Yes, it always looks like this.