musical musing

"Storybook Love" from The Princess Bride came on the radio during Classics by Request this afternoon. When I heard the first strains of the music, I got a little chill. Then I thought, "That's dumb. I just listened to the entire soundtrack yesterday!" So why is it that I get so much more excited when hear a song I love on the radio than I do when it's on my iPod? Maybe it's because it seems so much more coincidental and unexpected when it's on the radio ... or maybe it's that hearing the song on the radio is confirmation that someone else likes it, too ... or maybe it's a little of both!

What songs do you get excited about hearing?

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what's the score?

Recently, I heard someone say that movie scores are the new classical music. I'd have to agree. There's something about a film score that draws me in. Our Nebraska NPR station has a program called "Classics by Request" on Friday afternoons, and we almost always listen to it in the office. Quite often, they will play music from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings, Titanic, and virtually anything by John Williams.

Last Friday, I spent about three hours working on yearbook pages. For some reason, there is no radio reception in the yearbook room, so I set out to find classical music on an internet station. I ended up finding a wonderful station--Cinemix. (I'm actually surprised Cinemix isn't blocked, since it's so close in spelling to Cinemax . . . and our firewall is annoying like that.) This site has a huge catalog of music, and it's really easy to make requests. In fact, I requested two things while listening this afternoon, and both played within 20 minutes of the request. This is great music to have on while studying, reading, working in the office, or even sleeping. Check it out!

In the spirit of my movie music obsession, here are my top six scores (I couldn't keep it to five!):

• While You Were Sleeping
  by Randy Edelman. You knew this would be there! I play this in the office at least three times a week--I call it my "happy music" :-)
• The Lake House
  by Rachel Portman. Yeah, another Sandra Bullock movie! Portman is quickly becoming one of my favorite modern composers. She also composed the scores for Emma, Chocolat, and many others, and she won an Oscar for Emma.
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
  by Klaus Badelt. I don't know why, but hearing a Pirates song in the middle of the workday just really perks me up!
• The Return Of The King
  by Howard Shore. I love all the Lord of the Rings music, but The Return of the King is slightly happier than the other two scores.
• The Man From Snowy River
  by Bruce Rowland. I bought this for "Jessica's Theme" and fell in love with the whole score.
• Ever After: A Cinderella Story
  by George Fenton. My favorite track is "The Royal Wedding," simply because that scene in the movie cracks me up! It's a wonderful score--just be sure to turn it off as soon as track 21 is over; the final song is a horrible song by Texas. I've just about killed myself multiple times as I vault over things trying to get to the cd player in time.

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Prince Caspian & other musings

I saw Prince Caspian with friends last night. Entertainment-wise, I'd give it an A. But in terms of staying true to the story, a C- would be generous. (If you haven't seen the movie yet and plan to, it'd be best to skip to the next paragraph now!) I fell in love with The Chronicles of Narnia at a very young age. I've read the books (or had them read to me) three or four times, and I've seen the BBC version of Prince Caspian many times. I'd heard rumors that this movie changed many story details, but I had no idea how many! From a completely invented "storming the castle" battle to Caspian and Peter almost "freeing" the White Witch to Aslan not appearing until the very end of the movie, I couldn't believe all the changes. The last straw, however, was something I'd generally be all for: romance. But a romance between Caspian and Susan? Give me a break! When they kissed at the end, one of the guys I was with said (a bit too loudly) exactly what I was thinking: "Now they've ruined the movie!"

I used part of my economic stimulus money to buy myself a keyboard. Wait a minute, Becky plays the piano? Yes, albeit poorly. I've been having a blast messing around on it. I bought a book called The Ultimate Pop Sheet Music Collection with songs ranging from the '60s through '04. I've discovered that while I detest The Notebook with every fiber of my being, the music is actually really pretty. And then today, I came across the song "Dreaming of You." Check out these lyrics from the chorus: "And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than here in my room, dreaming about you and me." Um, there's nowhere else you'd rather be? How about actually with the person?

School's out for the summer! Since we can dress more casually during the summer (and since gas prices are insane), I bought a bike to ride to work. It's not a pretty bike, but I got it for $19, so I can't complain!

My boss asked me to consider being the yearbook sponsor next year. I don't have to make a decision for a while, which is good. What was funny, though, was how my boss asked me. He started talking about how the yearbook sponsor needs to be organized, and then he said, "And you are so organized." I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing! I was thinking, Haven't you seen my desk???

You never know what you'll hear on the radio. Mom & I often listen to "Classics by Request" on Friday afternoons on Nebraska Public Radio. Some songs are requested just about every week, like "The Flower Duet" (on Superman Returns) or "Fortune--Empress of the World" (from that Captial One commercial). Every so often, someone requests something . . . different. Like last week, when we heard "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem"! At first, I was stunned that they would be playing anything "Christian" . . . and then I realized that the even crazier thing is it's not anywhere close to Christmas! And then they played an orchestral version of "Bohemian Rhapsody"--and I think I giggled through the whole thing! My mom really enjoyed it--but she would loathe the actual song!

My 11-year non-vomiting streak is over. Prior to a week ago, the last time I threw up was my sophomore year of high school. I was dreaming that Mr. Musgrave (our Bible teacher) was driving the school bus, and he ran over my stomach. I woke up, rolled over, and puked. You don't want the details of this recent bout with the stomach flu, but one good thing did come of it . . . I lost 13 pounds!

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