Some might say I never could find my singing voice.
I have noticed, in the last five years or so in particular, that I am no longer able to sing as well as I used to. My voice has grown a little deeper and my range is not near what it used to be. Notes in songs that I used to be able to sing along to in a high tenor voice are now unreachable. I have to actively find the notes in the limited range I now am forced to sing in. This can lead to some fugly sounds as I fail to find a register that I’m comfortable in.
It’s like my voice is between floors
Is this just a result of growing older? I assume it’s common to lose range in your singing voice as you age.
PEI: 25% Wrong
from CBC News Island MP’s 3-1 For Same-Sex Marriage
Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay is now the lone dissenter. I’m confused. Larry wants us to have Ferries, but he doesn’t want them to marry?
(see, what I did there, was I made a "play on words". See, there is controversy here on PEI regarding cut-backs to funding for our Cardigan area car-ferry service, and there is also a national controversy regarding homosexual marriage. Homosexuals are sometimes referred to as "faeries".)
Chicken Finger Update
Today:
a huge heaping helping of fries
and
6, yes, six, fingers. Large fingers.
Server: The Guy
Bit The Seabiscuit
You all had better sit down.
I just read a report in the "Movie News" section of my MyWay homepage: Horse That Played Seabiscuit in Film Dies
Now, I know this is a shock to you, but after reading the report, I can tell you that it’s not as doom and gloom as it seems. See, the dead horse I Two Step Too, was merely one of ten horses to play the part of Seabiscuit. So, we still have nine of the Seabiscuit actors left. Still, though, a tough way to start our day, huh?
I did some research and came across a transcript of an upcoming segment of The Actor’s Studio. The following are excerpts from that interview, the final interview that I Two Step Too gave.
James Lipton: We now come to that career-defining moment in your life. Seabiscuit.
(Audience applauds)
James: Were you surprised to be one of ten actors chosen to play the title character?
I Two Step Too: Neigh.
James: I understand you are a big fan of that wonderful, gloriious TV series The Wonder Years. Who was your favorite character?
I Two Step Too: Winnie.
James: …my hero, Bernard Pivot…I Two Step Too, if Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say upon your arrival?
I Two Step Too: (stomps front hoof four times)
James: Well said. I give you your students.
Goodbye, Seabiscuit horse number three. May we someday meet up over a bottle of Elmers, as I build a popsicle stick dish.
What Are You?
I’m a monstrous fruitcake who likes to discover buffalo.
An Axe, worthy To Grind
It seems every week, I’m reading or hearing or seeing something that makes me glad to live in Canada.
This week it’s this published letter to Condi Rice, from Lloyd Axworthy.
I liked this paragraph, particularly:
I invite you to expand the narrow perspective that seems to inform your opinions of Canada by ranging far wider in your reach of contacts and discussions. You would find that what is rising in Canada is not so much anti-Americanism, as claimed by your and our right-wing commentators, but fundamental disagreements with certain policies of your government. You would see that rather than just reacting to events by drawing on old conventional wisdoms, many Canadians are trying to think our way through to some ideas that can be helpful in building a more secure world.
Amen, brother.
Spree-ality TV
Too many reality shows to keep tabs on right now. I may have to vote one of them off the island.
Here’s my oh-so-important opinion of the current slate that has me in rapt attention:
American Idol – I still don’t know why I watch this show. It’s young quasi-talented egotists singing songs that I’d never put on my iPod. Why watch? It’s not so much for the "you were a bit pitchy but you were a’ight" Randy, dawg. It’s not for the "your aura was im-magnificantacular, and I love your look, but you have to work on your look, and on how im-magnificantacular your aura is" Paula. It’s for the "If I was being honest, I would give an opinion that so often is exactly what needs to be said, and that mirrors what Rob thinks" Simon. I feel like a school girl typing this, but Simon is so right-on so often. Plus, I watch for the pathetic "my world just ended" dramas that happen every "results show" Wednesday.
Amazing Race 7 – a scant 3 weeks after the end of AR6, it’s back. Looks like a great bunch of competitors. I’m surprised that I find myself cheering for Boston Rob and Amber. I think it’s because so many of the other teams have marked them as the enemy. They really are a pretty entertaining couple. I hated to type that. When did gay boyfriend couples become the joke? I like them all, except the "Suck it up" guy. Does anyone else think that the old guy, Meredith (get beat up as a kid much?), look like Larry David when he’s wearing his cap and sunglasses. Spitting image, I say. For that reason alone, I cheer him on. Not so crazy about his wife, whom I’ll dub "Dagnabbit". Anyone else interesting? Probably, but not worth mentioning right now.
Survivor – I’m liking the gang they’ve coralled onto the island this time around. A good bunch of people, all seemingly knowing how the game is played. Except, you know, for the fact that they all still seem to get upset when they, you know, learn that the people they’ve begun to trust are, like, you know, actually trying to win. I thought they were all everyone’s friends!
The Apprentice – I so hate this show. Arsehole business people doing whatever necessary to kiss the ass of the biggest arsehole around, Donald Trump. Stupid arseholes who continually let picky picky picky stupid non-game stuff get in the way of their success on the show. Stupid contests whose results are basically at the whim of the producers so, really, they can pick and choose who goes on and who gets fired. Contests that are nothing more than advertisements for products. I so hate this show. I hate it. Can’t wait til it’s on again Thursday. Damn you, Trump.
Cluck Cluck Cluck Cluck…and Cluck
This week’s Chicken Finger Conspiracy Update:
Today, the guy served and he gave me 5 Huge chicken fingers. Not so many fries, though. Hmmm.
Added intrigue: I didn’t have to place my order. He just said "Chicken, right." I nodded. Later, he tried guessing my finger sauce: "Sweet and Sour sauce?" he asked. "No", I said, "Honey" I added. Whether he took the "honey" the way it was intended, I don’t know. But he did say "Right. Guess I should know that by now." I replied, so coyly: "Sometimes I like to mix it up." I can’t wait til he tells the girl about that. Surely that will fire up her jealousy and garner me five fingers from her next time she serves me. (and it’s true, about the mixing it up. The time before last time, I got Sweet’n’Sour sauce. Last time I got No Sauce. Today, honey.)
Dead Wrong
Well, now that the US Supreme Court has ruled that juvenile execution constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, I suppose we can expect some of those juveniles who’ve been executed to ask to have those sentences retroactively revoked.
Oh, wait. Never mind.
…And The Oscar Pool Goes To…
I had 24 contestants in my Oscar pool. I had a pink highlighter and 12 sheets of paper (2 contestant’s lists per) on which I checked the correct guesses. I found that it would pretty much take me the entirety of an acceptance speech to check through all 24 guesses for each category. This made watching the Oscar ceremony much more of a task for me than it was in years previous. However it made the 3+ hours fly by.
First, before I get to the results, a few comments on the entertainment value of the broadcast: I was a bit disappointed in Chris Rock’s monologue. I didn’t find it that funny, and I didn’t appreciate the "wait for A-list actor" jokes. While I didn’t really find him all that funny, I did appreciate the pull-the-pants-down-on-Hollywood tone of his performance. His "streeter" video where he got the opinion of black theatre-goers was not very good, but I did like the surprise of Albert Brooks showing up at the end of it (although I didn’t think what he said was all that funny). After the monologue, Chris Rock was pretty much invisible. While I appreciated him keeping things moving briskly, I could’ve used a few more attempts at jokes throughout the broadcast.
I was disappointed in the choices for Best Songs, and the performance of each was pretty much unremarkable. All five songs were pretty blech and having Beyonce sing three of them seemed like an odd thing to do. Five opportunities for bathroom breaks, as far as I was concerned. Having YoYo Ma perform live for the memorial video was nice. I am always saddened for those who appear on the list and then the applause dies down to nothing, only to resurrect itself for the next person.
As a watcher of the Oscar broadcast, I appreciated the efforts to speed up the evening. Having all the nominees (of "lesser" categories) on stage was a good move, however as a human being with empathy, I felt bad for all the losers who were shuffled quickly off the stage.
That’s about it. A fairly bland show, I thought. Now, on to the results:
While I certainly don’t think I made any mistakes in my tabulations, I certainly don’t guarantee my results, since I’m not going to double check them (I was kind of double checking as I went anyway). If you have a problem with your score as compared to what I proclaim it to be, too bad.
I was disappointed in my picks. I submitted my picks early. In fact, mine was the first submission. If I had waited until this week, many of my picks would have been different, after checking with odds-makers and getting a feel for the buzz of the awards. Still, I stayed with my original choices and only got 10 correct. Usually I average about 13-15 correct.
Rather than list all the contestants by name and their results, I am going to go this way:
2 people got 5 right
4 people got 7 right
2 people got 8 right
4 people got 9 right
3 people got 10 right
4 people got 11 right
2 people got 12 right
1 person got 13 right
3 people got 14 right
2 people got 15 right
and, the winner, with an amazing 17 of 24 guesses correct…
Matt Rainnie
Way to go, Matt. You nailed it, my friend. Your mix-cd is being conjured up in my brain as I type and live and breathe. I’ll get it to you shortly.
If you entered this contest and would like to know your score, just make that request in the comments of this post and I’ll post it there, for all to see.
The Annekenstein Monster 