12 Days of Rickman

Watching Alan Rickman's movies over the holidays inspired one family to fulfill a quest... of sorts.

See ya....

Lovett or Leave It

For someone who pales at the thought of cinematic blood and gore, my viewing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street sounds like a torture I would avoid at all costs. I easily eschew the much esteemed Coen brothers, hide from all Halloween and Jason type slashers as well as miss many well done films because of their violent and bloody content.

I have a hunch there may be some other's like myself who will choose to be bold and attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. It is not for the popular Johnny Depp that I brave this genre rather Stephen Sondheim. I am thrilled that more and more musicals are making their way to the screen and wanted to see first hand how it was presented.

I was dubious as to how it would come across. Although Burton was a natural choice as director his transparent nepotism in casting Helena Bonham Carter and crony Johnny Depp made me want to pocket a razor just in case their acting drove me to slicing my own thrown in the middle of the film. The roles of Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd are meaty (pun intended) and require depth as well as amazing singing voices. Depp and Carter have never struck me as good actors and imagining them singing was the more frightening than the fate of Judge Turpin himself. Casting for all other roles promised to be much better. Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin (mea maaaaxima culpa!), Timothy Spall as the Beadle (perfect!), and Sacha Baron Cohen and Adolfo Pirelli (how cool is that!?) had me hoping that I wouldn't be wasting my time.

Many reviews warned of two things; it was a real blood splattering arterial spray film and that lovers of musical theater were cautioned to go into the film with an open mind. Depp and Carter are no Lansbury and Cariou and no CG on the big screen was going to magically make them sound like broadway stars. To prepare myself, I viewed as many trailers and video clips of the new movie as possible. As to avoiding the gore, I relied on my memorization of the original libretto.

Although all of the characters were markedly less passionate in Burton's bleak London most of them did a fine job with the singing. All of them could carry a tune and Sweeney even turned out to have some Deppth of character. The caution that some songs were cut or edited was really unnecessary, each editing or omission was thoughtfully done. The ballad which typically opens the opera was used as the main score during the initial credits. During the time when the giant butcher block of a set would have been rotated to change the venue from sea port to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop, Burton gives us a scuttling rat's view of the streets of London. It was a perfect screen adaptation for this transition.

Highlights of the film (or what I saw of it) were the younger actors. Child actor Ed Sanders was chosen to play Toby and sings a flawless Not While I'm Around. Perfect casting for Turpin's ward Johanna (Jayne Wisener) and sailor boy Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower). Well done new comers! Just a month ago I was forced to watch Borat so was not surprised that Cohen could pull off a foreign accent (or two) as Pirelli. What did surprise me was how well rounded he was able to flesh out (pun yet again) this character in the brief time he interacts while with Depp during the blackmail scene. Bravo Mr. Cohen!

The biggest disappointment of the show is Carter's two dimensional Mrs. Lovett. Weilding her cleavage as opposed to a cleaver she failed as the entrepreneurial shop keeper. The only thing flatter than her sorry meat pies was Carter's two dimensional performance. Goth and a bit too evil to be lovable at all, she should saved the Bellatrix Lestrange gaze for the next Harry Potter film.

My knowledge of the the stage version was a help and a hinderance. It was enough to allow me to close my eyes (and ears, good God!) at the critical moments without missing the rest of the film but made me long for some real vocal quality to back up that amazing score or humor to season those pies. Over all a job well done in representing and amazing Sondheim musical.






1996 - Ravenboy as Sweeney Todd

Pivotal Moments

This weekend is the beginning of winter and the length of daylight will slowly increase everyday from that point until the middle of June. I haven't noticed the like of sunlight this much as in years past. I have had plenty to distract me. I have missed the longer days but the overly warm late autumn must have helped me this year.

With the returning of the the sun is the returning of our son. Tomorrow we will travel to NYC for our 23rd anniversary and to pick up our son. There are still a lot of unknowns in his situation. Paperwork delays have not allowed him to get an MRI yet but his physical therapist has allowed him to start working and putting weight on his leg since he has no pain. The work is very limited until swelling subsides; there is serious risk of re-injury until then.

Thank you to all of our friends who have sent well wishes and prayers for him. He has a lot of work ahead of him but we will at least be spending some time together at home. We feel very fortunate for all that we have and happily face the winter ahead.

Thanks to Janila for sharing this inspiring video.

Crayola Posse Winter Wishes

Have a Merry Yule!

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Superstitions

In times of elevated stress I have been known to try to tip fate's scales in my direction by trying to manipulate my physical environment. I have looked around me and tried not to repeat anything that surrounds me during moments that have been traumatic. At it's most tame, it's like wearing a lucky shirt but at it's worst it can be like an OCD person making sure things are just so to keep the universe from coming apart at the seams.

Back in 1999, there was a terrible day while I worked in my son's ballet studio office. I came running when someone yelled for me that something was wrong and saw my son lying in a crumpled mass on the studio floor. His body was lying at a really odd angle and for the longest second of my life, I thought he was dead. He soon shifted a little to his side when one of his class mates became hysterical seeing the twisted angle at which his leg stuck out. His knee was dislocated and, because of it's shape, the patella was stuck near the side of his leg. This was a horrible moment that I will never forget and never wanted to repeat. I could never again wear the same sweater I wore on 12/2, it felt like I would be tempting fate to do so.

When he had an almost identical injury with his other leg four months later, it got worse for me. Although his first injury hadn't required surgery, the recovery had been difficult over those months. I was a nervous wreck and irrationally started looking for coincidences that linked the events. Both times he hadn't really been focusing on what he was doing, he was goofing around to a certain extent, pushing his limits as teen athletes will do. I became extreme in demanding that he never lose focus as to repeat any injuries. Another thing I fixated on was the date, 4/4. For some reason I started to dread dates like 5/5 or 6/6. Wasn't 12/2 pretty much the same thing? The patterns and coincidences haunted me sometimes.

The final year he lived at home was stressful on a lot of levels. His training was progressing to a level of competency that was difficult to accommodate outside of a school geared to training professionals. This caused frustration and urgency that he secure a scholarship in a prestigious school and remain injury free while doing so. It was his hard work that got him just that, all of my superstitious angst was certainly wasted energy.

Years passed and my son secured the job with the company he had always wanted to be in. Living a dream, lesser injuries came and went along with the frustrations of each. Over the last few years I learned to take things in stride more or less. When we got a phone call last night, it was not to the normally cheerful son we know. He had seriously dislocated his right knee again at work. This time he is surrounded by the best dance orthopedic surgeons, dance therapy and dance medicine in the country because of where he works. He is also supported by a close network of friends and people.

It is upsetting for us not knowing what the doctors will tell him today and frustrating on his part knowing, no matter what is determined, he has a lot physical therapy lying ahead of him. Although he knows I will be there for him if he needs me, he assures me things are fine at the moment. He doesn't want to be an inconvenience to anyone and is trying to take care of himself.

So where is my head at? Do I worry that he should have been more focused to have prevented injuring? Yeah, but there isn't to much I can do about that. As to the date, 12/12, I can't do too much about that either.

Twisted Traditions

Having Ravenboy home for a week was very special. He finally got to meet Miles and helped us decorate for the upcoming holidays.

We have many family traditions, most of them silly and origins so obscure that they are hard to explain. One is playing cassette tapes of old Christmas LPs while we decorate our home for the upcoming Yule Tide. Many readers can probably relate to that tradition and having been raised as Christians, RGBisMe and I have plenty of great childhood memories of the tunes. Ravenboy, however, was raised in an eclectic neopagan home and will raise a questioning eyebrow at some of the traditional lyrics.

Over 2 decades ago, one lively holiday medley became the victim of an oddly choreographed dance. I don't know what possessed me to start doing this high stepping jig that looks more like a fit than anything graceful. It is so aerobic that I swear that no matter how many times that I hear it in a season, I will only perform it once. As the years passed, I added the rule that it would be only the first time I heard it during the holiday season. My annual performance is usually in the privacy of our living room but fate has also required me to perform at Toolman Luke & Maga11's. Then there was a year that I heard the strains of the medley very early in the season in a department store! Not wishing to break the tradition nor experience public humiliation, I quickly exited even though I was alone.

I think the next twist in the tradition was influenced by the recent ease of recording the event. Disposable cameras at the ready, my family would anticipate the event with glee. Digital cameras and eventually the ease of digital movies with sound made each year a little more um... humorous. I resorted to trying to put off the performance for as long as possible. One year, I hid the tapes to delay the inevitable. The next year, I hid just the tape with the energetic music. Next time I switched the labels on the tapes. Their one weakness is they forgot which tape it is every year. It always amazes me because I certainly remember. Each year the tapes are hunted out and all the songs played through until the right tape has sent me into my annual cardiac workout.

Last year, I went to great lengths. I secretly duped the tape then copied a song (I could only find on VHS)that Ravenboy hates over the original tune. Mouths gaped as they thought the song was lost forever. I pulled out the duped tape and began my performance with a grin, knowing I had "got" them.

I had no great ideas this year, no grand schemes. I was at a loss as to how to put off jumping around my living room until my chest wanted to explode. We had limited time to decorate and celebrate, RGBisMe was taking the afternoon off with that in mind. Just before he came home, Ravenboy jumped into the shower. Finally and idea came to me. I popped the offending cassette into the player and fast forwarded it to just beyond the song I wanted to avoid. The moment the shower ended, I started the tape and gently turned up the music. RGBisMe came in all smiles and our afternoon of family fun started.

When the side of the tape ended, Ravenboy made his move to flip the side and noted what tape it was. After that, both sides had seemingly played completely through. As the afternoon progressed, their annual realization that they had forgotten which tape it was played to my advantage. Ravenboy tried to logically deduce which tape it was on by looking at which labels I had erased one year. He narrowed it down to 2 tapes. I tried not to flinch when he insisted on playing the on tape again. He eyed me carefully and put in the correct tape.

I tried to make a graceful exit to get into my costume (Did I mention there is a costume?) as my family smirked in victory. I did not sprain my ankle this year, I am not in as good shape as I was last year but my heart didn't explode. They smiled down onto my prone sweating form and congratulated me on a year well danced. I love our holiday traditions.

Steppin' Out & Stayn' In

The past couple of weeks have been busy. RGBisMe and I have been on the road a lot but our down time has been spent happily at home. We have found a few letterboxes and are trying not to "ReLive Stress" on trail or off.


A couple of weeks ago, RGBisMe and I made a trip to Pittsburgh for an alumni reception at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. One of his recent works was featured nicely at the showing of alumni work and we went out to celebrate the event. We arrived a bit early to try a few of the new letterboxes in town. Although we found many of the landmarks the clues made reference to, we came away with no new stamp images.

The early evening was an enjoyable time to walk around his old stomping grounds. RGBisMe lived on the North Side and trekked across the 6th Street bridge to get to and from school during all seasons. It was near the Byahm Theater that we got a call from Ravenboy to let us know that he was able to swap out house duties and could get away the next day. We were glad to know that because of an impending ice storm that weekend.

It was pleasant meeting some of the staff that RGBisMe knew from years ago. We hope to tour the school sometime in the upcoming months.

Ravenboy did come home for a week. We had a great time visiting at home before his rehearsal schedule required him to return to the city. Our return trip included our regular stop for food and fuel at Wawa. When we got into the city, we got a look at the new Apple store on the corner of 9th and 14th.

A final funny moment on street near Ravenboy's house was a cross walk sign that had both the stop and go signs lighted up at the same time. One might be confused with it's message but we turned it into a good joke.

On the Cutting Room Floor

Some of the most interesting stuff can be found on the proverbial cutting room floor. Mistakes, things that aren't relative to the big picture and excesses can be extremely interesting when viewed by themselves or with the knowledge of where they had fit into the grand scheme of things.

My recent hair cut has left all but a smudge of my vibrantly colored hair literally on the cutting room floor. A radical edit visually but needed change allows my hair to actually fully dry in these cold months. My long hair, almost always pulled back, never seemed to dry and blow drying was out of the question for my wild mane.

Now an inch long in the back and face framing in the front, I am sporting the 'do that I have known for most of my life. The change has reduced my shower time by 75% . Although trim maintenance will increase greatly, time allocated for hair styling in the morning has been reduced by the same amount.

It has been just the past 15 years in which my locks were longer. During that time I have met a lot of folks who have only known me with long hair. Last night I got together with my good friend, DaBraLady, who has known me since we were in junior high school. She smiled broadly and told me it made me look younger. A more humorous reaction came from her 19 year old son. His eyes popped and he said, "Wow!"

My family was with me for the big change. I could see RGBisMe behind me through the salon mirror supportively beaming with every snip. Ravenboy sat looking through the styling books at the beautiful young ladies with meticulously coiffured cuts. As my own style took shape, I glanced sheepishly at myself in the mirror. "I remember a much younger face sporting that style," I mused. A few more snips, a quick blow dry and a little product were the finishing touches. "I like it," I smiled. RGBisMe returned my grin and Ravenboy said, "You are beautiful."

It might not be the final release of my production but I thought I would share the current work in progress.

Jennifer Alexander

Ravenboy's coworker, Jennifer Alexander was killed yesterday and her husband, Julio Bragado-Young, was critically injured in a multi-car pileup amid icy conditions on Route 3 in East Rutherford, NJ. They were returning to their residence in New York City after performing in a Nutcracker production in Williamsport, PA. Newspaper article here.

Please keep Julio in your thoughts. He loved Jennifer very much.

Rochester Nuts

A road trip to Rochester called this family of nuts together the day after Thanksgiving. It was very cold outside but the vehicle had a great heater. It even had controls so that the passenger and driver could choose different temperatures. I started out sitting inthe back, I was in the sun.

We had a nice stop for a break in Corning, NY. We were trying to find a Mexican restaurant but ended up at a new Chinese restaurant called Corning Class. The staff were very friendly and the food was good.

Not too much farther down the road, we stopped at a road side rest stop that had a really note worthy fence and warning about rattle snakes. Not that we thought any were out in the freezing weather but we checked the seat of the port a potty just the same.

The rest of the trip to Rochester went really smoothly. Just one more stop was needed to stretch our legs before we made it to our hotel, The Strathallan. It was an older hotel that is being taken under the Hyatt group's wing. We were glad our Chinese meal stayed with us, the food at the grill downstairs was very pricey.

It was Rochester Ballet's Nutcracker production that brought us into town. Ravenboy was hired as a guest artists along with his friends from American Ballet Theatre, two of who are Rochester natives. Ravenboy was cast in the role of Russian and had been in Rochester rehearsing all week. Two of his friend, Sara and Luis, are getting married next week. Sara's family was kind and invited Ravenboy to Thanksgiving dinner.

We had some "merde" gifts to drop off at the stage door for Ravenboy. When we asked if someone would be able to take them to his dressing room. They gasped, "Are you his family!? You are on our list!" We all took a step back and asked, "List?" It turns out we were ona VIP list and welcome to wander freely around backstage. We quickly thanked them but reassured them that we would only be in the way and wanted to grab a coffe next door. All I could imagine was us 4 walking to his dressing room as he is trying to get ready! Not hat he wouldn't have been gracious but who needs your parents and grandparents watching you apply stage make-up!?

The Nutcracker was, the nutcracker with a few additions. The added sweet of Enlgish toffee was a woman with a riding crop. RGBisMe looked at me and said, "She was SCARY!" She was.

Ravenboy's performance was as entertaning as always within the confines of some quirky choreography. I found each time the excitement mounted in the dance, somehow he would have to put on the breaks and do something oddly anticlimactic, like slap the floor. It was fine though and he pulled it off.

The highlight was having booked a room right beside Ravenboy's in the Strathallan. Back when real keys were used between rooms, we could have unlocked them and wandered freely between his suite and our room. Now using swipe type keys for the entry doors, this was not possible. Not that we didn't do it anyway. Did you know that one year Maga11 and Toolman Luke got Ravenboy lock picks for Christmas? He is very adept at many things. We spent the evening laughing and catching up with our favorite young man. Gosh I miss him so much!

The next morning, Ravenboy had to leave early to get ready for the matinee so we hit the road at the same time. We broke up the trip by enjoying a slight detoour to Wellsboro and eating at the Wellsboro Diner. It had the one thing that Toolamn Luke had actually wanted for breakfast that day, a chili dog!


This quaint diner, established in 1939, doesn't feel like it has changed all too much since the 1950s. It has a great small town feel to it, regular diner fare and the wait staff is blistering fast getting your food to you. Toolman Luke fondly rememebrs stopping there in the past. Although they were not doing it while we were there, he said the waitresses used to call out and the kitchen would be cooking it up as they yelled out the orders.

We browsed through the adjoining gift shop to extend the break. We had spent a lot of time sitting over the past couple of days and it felt good to walk around a bit. If it wasn't so chilly, we might have explored the town some too.

The weather was fine for our whole trip and we had plenty of laughs over the many miles. It's great to have good friends in family. It makes the time pass quickly.

Many Faces of Thanksgiving 2007

Young and old, near and far, somehow we all get together for Thanksgiving.

Less Than an Inch Predicted

We woke early this morning and thought we might grab a series of letterboxes close to home. Indigo Vulture's Teen Girl Squad promised a nice hike but were would have far to drive and could get home in time to start preapring for a crazy week ahead of us.

When we looked outside, a steady snow was falling but not really making much of an impact accumulation wise. We checked the online weather information and although it was a good chance it would continue to snow, it was not to accumulate more than an inch. The temperature was not too bad so we decided to go for it. Above are a series of photos of our hike in "less than an inch" of snow. The hike was over 3 miles with one side track we made and a few hundred feet in elevation gain. The view would have been more spectacular without the precipitation but we had a grand time ever step along the way.

Central PA Event Poll

A group of letterboxers are trying to get a clear idea of what everyone would most like to see represented in a future event that is being planned in Central Pennsylvania. If you letterbox in Central PA or have plans to in the future, please join us and share your point of view so that we can get the best idea of what might suit everyone's preferences.




Click to join centralpalbx

Thoughtful letterboxing discussion is encouraged

Mundane to Madam

Well you all wanted to know what I do to make my income right? Well it might not be what you are thinking from the title of this blog entry. I am not any kind of prostitute but I am a Reader and Advisor and my professional name is Mdme. Teresa (say it like you would Mother Teresa.)

I was hired to read at a man's surprise birthday party in Allentown area. There were to be 30 guests and I had 2 hours to read tarot cards for all who were interested. That, with transition times between reading, does leave much time for each person. I practiced many of my shorter readings, being clear and concise when I started letting them know it would be a brief overview then stopping each reading and encouraging them to take my business card if they were interested in more.

As the weekend approached, a cold I had hatched early on in the week took a turn for the worse. The most disappointing thing about that was that Maga11 and I had planned extra visiting time with Tracdc. We made the trip without incident but I spent most of my time at her home walking around like a drugged zombie.

The day of the party dawned and I had been hacking all night. Maga11 even left to sleep on the couch in the living room graciously saying she needed to change position. I downed some more cold meds but neglected to eat first. I was all of the sudden queasy. This was the first time I was ever struck by the realization that I might not be able to do my job and I knew of no one to take my place. I looked at Maga11 and said, "I'm scared." I was. I had no idea what to do in this situation. I had already received an email from the hostess telling me that half of the guests RSVPed "no." I couldn't let her down.

I went back to bed after forcing myself to eat something. I turned on the little tv in the room and watched part of a dog show on animal planet. Tracdc and Maga11 came in to keep me company. I asked Tracdc for my tarot cards. I shuffled them dealt out a spread and asked her to read them for me. I asked her, "What should I do about my job?" She looked down at the one card and said, "Well this guy is juggling balls so it must mean that he has to many things going on," I smiled and silently nodded in agreement. She looked at the next card, The Hanged Man - inverted, "This card... I have no idea what that means!" She kind of flicked the card away and we all cracked up, it was clear Tracdc was not going to take my place that night.

Although my voice kept cracking and failing me, as the day went on I did feel somewhat better. I took a shower and we all went out to a local tack shop's Breyer Horse open house. We made it just at the end. The models were all awesome with a $90.00 one of the great Barbaro. Too pricey for us. Tracdc and I went to look upstairs at the bargains and close-outs and found that was where the kids had some activities earlier in the open house. Coloring contests and painting miniature models had been something that was offered. We looked at the left over paint and a few scattered models and promptly sat down and painted a couple for ourselves. We were halfway done when a store representative came to clean up. Tracdc said, "We know these were for the kids but today we came with our mom, so we are kids." Oh no, Mom! We had left her and plopped down to paint without telling her where we were. There was no leaving until we were done because the lady would clean up the stuff we were using. Thanks goodness Maga11 found her way upsatirs and joined us. She painted a mule!

I knew I was going to make it through the evening and we returned to Tracdc's house so that I could take a nap and get ready. I thought the two photos of me that day were a real juxtaposition. So, know you have a better idea of what I do and who I am. Which one is the real me?

Feeling like the Devil

After an exciting weekend, I was feeling like the devil. My knee hurt from who knows what, I was depressed with nothing but work to look forward to for at least a week ahead of me and to top it off I was getting a really sore throat. I had my fun all weekend but the week was a demon to be faced.

Over the weekend, we had a great time watching jbzfarm unwrap the last of a gift that was given to them for their 15th anniversary. They took great care, had been carefully unwrapping and enjoying it bit by bit since February. Crystal is the traditional gift for one's 15th anniversary and they were careful to enjoy every facet of it without damaging it. Unveiled in all of it's glory, from many good people, it was a massive thing. They will have to share it with you sometime.

Although that took some time, we had plenty of time to enjoy some sweet food and sweeter letterboxes. The kids led us to find the 3 froggy boxes by Hopping Along in Hummelstown. We also visited a hitch hiker hostel along a neat trail in that town that was lonely for hitch hikers. After being tossed out of the Hershey Hotel and onto the fitness trail we found A Kiss for you From Hershey. Very cute stamp.

The rest of the day was spent biking with the kids on a local rail trail, hanging out at their wonderful farm, being treated to video games, you tubes videos by Rainbow Girl and then torturing Truck Jumping Boy with a video of the Nutcracker that put him to sleep. He was just getting an early start so that he could rise and make us a wonderful breakfast before the naughty adults ran out and bushwhacked around a lake.

With gimpy knee for no apparent reason, it was no wonder that coming home and getting to work was hard. I put my nose to the grindstone filling orders and preparing for a working weekend ahead of me. No fun to be had in sight, Tuesday brought an election day and the sore throat thing was in full swing. I was not cheerful in the long line of voters that stood in the cold outside of the door. I had been trying to get warm all day and this was the last thing I needed. I finally made my way inside and then to the point where I gave my name in a cracked voice. They called out my name and the what number voter I was for the the day. Immediately the woman swung her head back to look at me and apologized. The fellow sitting next to her tried looked concerned and tried to console me by showing me that if I turned my card upside down, the number would read differently. I chuckled, "No it is perfect," I was voter number 666.

Trick or Treat

We surprised some friends by playing a trick on them this past weekend. It was a real treat to get a tour of their home and farm. With the frost coming on, the Elephant Ear plants were soon to die so we had some fun with them. Afterward, we went to a great restaurant for some RHINO FRIES! Below are a bunch of great memories of the day.