I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I am a huge fan of the late, great Bob Fosse, love his loosey-goosey choreography, the languid limbs of the dancers, the nonchalance and the same time furious precision of his dance steps. Cabaret, Sweet Charity, Chicago, Pippin! Oh, my gosh, Pippin. Anyway, I to0k a bit of time off for Christmas and New Year's and I decided to watch a couple of movies I hadn't seen in a while. One was All That Jazz, in which the brilliant but self-destructive, workaholic (and other-aholic) Fosse is played by Roy Scheider (probably better known for Jaws). Hadn't seen that movie in ages, but in most ways it held up for me.
Not so much the subplots about the Gideon and his various dalliances, but the dancing and the music.
Now as the new year has begun, there is a song, Everything Old is New Again, (Written by Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager) that for me sums up the beginning of every year. In part the lyrics say:
"Don't throw the past away
You might need it some rainy day
Dreams can come true again
When ev'ry thing old is new again"
My philosophy is that you keep the stuff that worked and jettison the rest.
As we begin the year there so many things I am looking forward (baseball spring training before too much longer and by association, spring!). In March, I am going to North Dakota to work at the Resource Shop held during their all-state conference. MENC's biennial conference is in Milwaukee in April. Check out the conference Web site if you haven't already. Good stuff.
Oh, and yes, my annual obsession with American Idol (cannot believe it is time for that already.) January 15 and 16. And by the way, did you see Jordin Sparks on the 30th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center Honors? CBS broadcast the event, on December 26. I look forward to that ever year, an after Christmas present
The 2007 honorees were Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, Martin Scorsese and Brian Wilson. Jordin sang a tribute song for Diana Ross and not only did she sound great, she looked great, too. But then ditto for another favorite of mine Vanessa Williams.
Hope the time off allowed you to recharge your batteries, jettison what doesn't matter and look forward to finding out what does.
Hope the new year brings you good things.
Til Next Thursday
RF
