Brain in a Pretzel!

Phew!

Hello there, everyone!! You'll have to forgive me, my mind is still a bit topsy turvy from watching last night's episode of LOST, you see. If you're a fan, then CERTAINLY you know what I'm talking about today!! What an AMAZING show! (forgive my picture tribute above! haha) Ok, no more derailing now, I promise...

On to more important matters! Like aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaappropriations!! Waahoo! That's right ladies and gentlemen, as of today, MENC is officially seeking a brand new appropriation request (for something very, VERY exciting!) through the congressional office of Virginia Representative Jim Moran! Congressman Moran has been a big education supporter in the past, and as many of you probably already know, MENC resides in the Congressman's district (Virginia's 8th), so hopefully he will have a very special little place carved out in his heart for music education! Sorry to be so secretive, I promise that there will be more to report on this exciting new government relations project in the near future, but you'll have to stay tuned to MENC Legislative ALERTS for more on that! (ooooooh what a tease! haha)

One final note for today as the wind howls outside my window here in Reston: At today's staff social I realized something kinda neat. This month marks my one year anniversary here at MENC.

Wow.

A YEAR has flown by?? Incredible! And what an awesome year it was! I've made so many terrific new friends, gotten to be a part of so many inspiring projects and initiatives, and I get to come to work every single day fighting for a truly amazing cause! Thank you to everyone who has made this such a very special year for me, I can only hope and look forward to more of the same in my future!

Ok, well have a wonderful weekend everyone, and if you're out on the roads, be careful not to get "LOST!" haha

P.S. This week marked our favorite little red friend's (Harley!!) b-day! A happy happy to MENC's most beloved (and only) animal staff member! ;-)

MMMM50: Music Everywhere!

HI Everyone,

No doubt you've heard that the New York Philharmonic just played a concert in N. Korea.

If you haven't had enough of this news, you can read more about it at the links below! And they will be broadcasting the concert Thursday Feb. 28 on PBS. It will also be available on the NY PHIL website - read all about it and get links below!

I'm also blogging ecstatic about PBS' "Month of Music"! Their musical offerings for MARCH are diverse! Check THIS LINK for your local listings, and the additional links below for details about the programs I list here!

Coming to PBS in MARCH!
American Masters: Pete Seeger

American Soundtrack: Doo Wop's best
My Music: Doo Wop love songs
My Generation: The 60s

Bruce Springsteen with the Session Band: Live in Dublin
The Clash Live: Revolution Rock
Celtic Women
The Gospel Music of Johnny Cash
The High Kings
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: a musical treasure
Osmonds 50th anniversary reunion
Sarah Brightman

Great Performances:
Andrea Bocelli
James Taylor One Man Band
Peter and the Wolf

Great performances at the Met: Great Moments, Viewers' Choice:
Hansel and Gretel

Live from Lincoln Center: NYCity Opera: Madama Butterfly

Hope your week goes well, and see you next! SR

NY PHIL articles:

Washington Post

New York Times

Wall St. Journal

Bloomberg

ON PBS

ON NYPHIL site

Busy Time for the Little Guy

Harley is gearing up for a number of tasks this week and next. He is working hard at “starting” the Board Book. Just remember “starting” is the operative word here. Although the NEB meeting is not until April 5-7, the Board Book has to be mailed no later than March 10. Deadline from NEB members for information going into the board book is Friday, February 29 – LEAP DAY! (Harley is anticipating that a number of his lady friends will be asking him out since it is Leap Year!) He remembers the last time he worked on the Board Book and to make sure all the papers stayed in numerical order and then he had to not let anyone near them in case they might fall on the floor and his trusty ally PS go off widely in search of the perpetrator responsible for this gross ugly situation (He’s been watching way too many crime shows no cable). He loves his PS since she is the one responsible for all that copying and copying and copying…… Harley thinks she dreams about copying during the time surrounding the board book creation. Lucky it only happens three times a year – Spring, Summer, Fall.

Next Wednesday, March 5, President Brinckmeyer visits MENC along with President-Elect Geer. They will be meeting in the office discussing a range of topics and meeting with a variety of individuals including the executive director of the National Art Education Association, MENC legal counsel, various staff members, etc. Discussion will be held on the upcoming 2008 National Assembly meeting.

Registrations for the 2008 National Assembly meeting to be held April 8-9, 2008, are “rollin’” in like crazy. There will be a good showing of the state and national leadership in Milwaukee. Right now (of course, subject to change) topics will include a session on the “State of the Association,” breakout groups on Advocacy; Curriculum and Assessment in Music Education; Serving the Profession; Organization and Governance; and Long-Term Financial Stability of MENC and Alliances, Partnerships, and Sponsorships. Division Board Meetings are scheduled to take place the evening of April 8. On Wednesday, April 9, there will be additional breakout sessions by state size, and information on the new MENC Website and Performance Events Department. Harley thinks it sounds like a really exciting meeting. Well off the little pup goes off to work with PS. Have a great week.

Ice, Ice, Not So Nice!

Good morning all!

Much of MENC's staff is missing in action this Friday A.M. as the greater D.C. area was walloped last night with a messy ice storm! We're all kind of waiting with bated breath now to see if the worst of this sucker is over, or if there is even more drive time madness to come! We seem to have a habit of getting hit with ice instead of snow around these parts lately, which can be very pretty, but also VERY VERY unsafe. NOTE: All MENC staffers be extra careful out and about today! How about some snow Mother Nature?!?! Give us a break!!

Anyways, today is a crazy day with lots of work to get done in spite of the outside conditions, so I'm going to have to keep this short! Let me leave with a really interesting article on campaign music recently tracked down by MM, however, to keep you in the "primary" season! haha It's definitely worth the read! Have a great weekend everyone! Stay warm!

MMMM49: Diversionary Musical Notes!

HI Everyone,

Nothing real eventful or newsworthy in my neck of the woods at the MENC national offices, so, let me move RIGHT on to a few bits and resources I found of interest, perhaps you will too!

Hope your week goes well, and see you next! SR

Travels with Music: Ran across this item by accident, I personally thought it sounded like a cool resource for learning about world musics...(in other words, this does not mean MENC endorses or recommends this product...it's this blog writer's two cents!). The website says: "a comprehensive educational tool for all grades, but for entertainment and music enthusiasts as well. " CLICK to watch a demo and preview 2 units!

There is a wonderful article about COMMUNAL SINGING and Pete Seeger's influence on group singing....(it's worth taking a moment to do the free registration on the NYTIMES website.)

According to the article: "communal singing isn’t a class or a choir; the singers, not the leaders, choose the tunes. " Community sings, or singalongs, "draw together the average-voiced and bring old songs into common memory." (SEE NYT SOURCE LINK BELOW!)

The article goes on to say: "Pete Seeger...... championed the cause of group-singing for more than 60 years." ...... Seeger says: "I think that singing together gives people some kind of a holy feeling. And it can happen whether they’re atheists, or whoever. You feel like, ‘Gee, we’re all together.’ "

The NYTimes continues: "In 1945 Mr. Seeger founded the People’s Song collective, which disseminated its own songbooks, thereby helping to popularize songs like "We Shall Overcome."

" In 1943, when he was in the Army, Mr. Seeger conducted an experiment on his fellow soldiers, asking them to write down the names of the songs whose words and tunes they really knew. In his own memory file he counted about 300, but he was impressed by the competition. "

More recently, Mr. Seeger explained that he believes the number of popular, common songs known by the average person today is far less than what the average person of 1943 knew. Seeger still leads sing alongs every month, and loves hearing kids sing in the group - read the article to hear how he describes kids singing!

CLICK HERE for the FULL ARTICLE

For more info on PETE SEEGER, click HERE

"COMPANY" is coming!
on PBS great performances..... you can find out more about the "show that broke the traditional rules of musical theater", and see excerpts of this current revival, see the song list, and other helpful info about Sondheim and theater, at THIS LINK

For your local listings, CLICK HERE!

CLICK HERE for more info on musical theater!

Finally, heard one of my favorites over the weekend, incredible beat, horns, live crowd whooping it up...for a real musical treat, learn more about LOUIS PRIMA, "The King of Swingers" and his crazy, delicious singing and instrumentals at THIS LINK and THIS ONE

SEE Prima on YOU TUBE: Just a Gigolo/I ain't got no body Medley
and Oh Marie! (1957)

Read about "ANGELINA, the Waitress at the Pizzeria" , HERE!

Tuesday Update

The day is almost gone and I have not found a moment til now to think about blogging! That's what happens when Monday is a holiday.


So, quickly, check out Sunday's 60 Minutes report on Gustavo Dudamel, the new conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I found it a fascinating profile. He is a product of "El Sistema" -- the Venezuelan innovation that takes children (a quarter of a million so far, almost all from poor neighborhoods), and teaches them how to play instruments. This has now led to hundreds of youth orchestras sprouting up all over the country.


El Sistema has been mentioned in the MENC blog before so I felt very well informed as I watched the segment!


Onward -- EWL

It's a Holiday in Our World - Mr. President!

Tomorrow (Monday) the MENC offices are closed for the Presidents' Holiday, otherwise known as George Washington's Birthday! Mr. Harley will be taking the day off to sleep in. He knows that after Monday there are no holidays until the end of MAY! Yes, he will survive -- the little guy always does! Here is wishing you a happy day wherever you may be - at work, at play, at home.

Thursday Interlude: Stating the Obvious

Happy, you know what. I know some people love, love, love Valentine's Day while others believe it is a day that is a worldwide conspiracy promoted each year by greeting card companies, florists and chocolatiers. I personally love Valentine's Day, because I think it is a great time to let people know you care about them, whether significant others or others in your world at large. That said, I hope you have a good day, whether you celebrate or not. Every day is great when you get to do something you like. Hopefully like me chatting with you on the blog today (shameless pandering).

I really liked SR's posts yesterday about songs. I have mentioned previously that I love all kinds of music. I don't know a lot about many of them and that is when I need to do some research. Opera is one of those genres.

I found the Aria database Web site a while back where you can find information. The Web site includes a description of the opera plot, characters and links to where you can buy sheet music or recordings. My favorite operas are Aida , Carmen
and A Midsummer Night's Dream?

We have talked the past week or so about our new MENC Web site and our Web writing training. I am so psyched that I will be able to give you news more quickly than I do now. I will continue to provide the news for our two magazines, Teaching Music and Music Educators Journal, though, which also will be fun.

The discussions have been fun and we have a great group of MENC staffers working on the Web project. I already enjoy working with this enthusiastic group.

Oh, before I forget, are you getting into American Idol yet? I find it slowly reeling me in. Comment and let me know what you think about this year's crop of singers. Among the top 24, my favorites so far are Amanda Overmeyer, Syesha Mercado and Colton Berry, who is 17. He is from Staunton, Virgina, where he has performed in community theater productions like :"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

Gotta go. April Teaching Music looms, as to do various other projects related to the MENC Conference in Milwaukee in April. Visit the conference link to see the cool array of events and sessions.

Til Next Thursday, Happy Hearts Day
RF

MMMM 48: Musical Valentines: Popular song in America, an amazing band leader, and Darla!

Everyone is busy these days, but here's something that made me stop and pause and absorb for more than a minute!

A headline in our local paper jumped out at me:

"Gabriel's Music Heard Round the World: from D-Day to musical Hall of Fame - a life of ying and yang"

The article is worth a read (HERE)......you'll learn about a still very active 82 year old, WWII veteran of Omaha Beach, who earned his music ed degrees at Ithaca after the war, and lead the USAF band, Symphony Orchestra, and Singing Sergeants from 1964-1985, bringing it to military and civilian events in all 50 states and 50 countries.


Ran into a copy of the the Stephen Foster poem/song, "Beautiful Dreamer", which seems appropriate for Valentines day.....to read the lyrics, CLICK HERE!

For those curious about Stephen Foster, (1826 - 1864, known as the "father of American Music"), there are some links below, as well as links to American Popular song.....

To whet your interest, PBS calls Foster "the first great American songwriter". PBS goes on to say: "His melodies are so much a part of American history and culture that most people think they're folk tunes. All in all he composed some 200 songs, including "Oh! Susanna" "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair," and "Camptown Races." Though he virtually invented popular music as we recognize it today, Foster's personal life was tragic and contradiction-riddled. His marriage was largely unhappy, he never made much money from his work and he died at the age of 37 a nearly penniless alcoholic on the Bowery in New York." (SEE REFERENCE LINK BELOW)



Alas, while Foster's music is to be honored, all I could think of after reading "Beautiful Dreamer" was ALFAFA, from the Little Rascals (Our Gang). Alfafa singing (warbling) "Beautiful Dreamer."...which lead to images/sounds of Alfafa warbling "I'm the Barber of Seville" as as way to show off to Darla to lure her away from Butch! (if my memory serves!).

(that's tall, bow tied-Alfafa, next to horn playing Spankie; and skeptical Darla with the chalkboard to Spankie's right)

Have a look at the links below, and have a good week too - see you next! SR

RESOURCES

PBS American Experience: Stephen Foster
time line, teachers guide, listen, sheet music

Many additional Stephen Foster links and info: see WIkipedia

Public domain music: midi music and lyrics to Foster's songs

Collection of American Popular Music

Kingwood College Library: A Chronological Subject Guide To AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC BEFORE 1900

Kingwood College Library AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC 1900 to 1950

Making Sense of American Popular Song

Icy & Rainy & Ugh in our world

Be patient today trying to get in touch with us! It is awful out there - brave Harley made it in but as you can see from his ventures the trees are bent with ice and the plants are caked in it.

Just wanted to let you know, some of us are here and others aren't. Hope your day is going well!

In our world, “the fragrance always remains

In the hand that gives the rose.” Although a few days away, Harley just wants to send his love to everyone out there. Harley is feeling the season’

On to mundane stuff in the real world – or not so mundane – in our world we leadership state reports for the upcoming National Executive Board meeting are due online by Feb. 15. At that point Division Presidents will review all of the reports and write their very own division one to be included in the Board Book. The Board Book deadline is February 29 (LEAP YEAR) and the book will be mailed out on March 7. This gives the NEB a chance to review all materials well in advance of the meeting on April 6-8 at the national convention. Whewwww, Harley better get his nose out of them thar roses before a thorn pricks him……..

It is an exciting time in our world: 1) Lost; 2) Survivor; 3) Project Runway; 4) Jericho and the DVR in perfect working order. What more can you ask for – not much in our world.

Homework for the week: Give a rose to someone who is not expecting one and do it anonymously! Spread the fragrance……………….

Mad Season

Hello there music education lovers!

I hope that everyone is doing well today! I am particularly excited for this evening, when my girlfriend Emily and I will be attending a Matchbox Twenty concert at George Mason University's Patriot Center. I've actually seen Matchbox Twenty several times now (note: I've never actually seen them as Matchbox 20, only as Matchbox Twenty -- there is a difference, you see) and they never fail to impress! I'm personally the biggest fan of Rob Thomas and the boys' second album, "Mad Season," which was an orchestra pop/rock record, with a heavy tinge of jazziness mixed in -- good stuff!

On the work front, Government Relations Department assistant HLS recently attended a fascinating multi-day web writing training class designed to prepare us both for a brand new day of MENC advocacy hoopla upon the launch of our new web site (we're all pretty durnn excited about the new site, new stuff rocks!!) Anyways, HLS learned a ton during the web writing class, and has now taken it upon herself to correct my supposedly "antiquated and longwinded" writing style at every possible opportunity. I FEAR CHANGE!!! Nah, but seriously, this is going to make us all MUCH MUCH better writers, and help to provide YOU (our members) with an even better quality batch of music education support materials in the future! WOOHOO! What could be better??

Let me close by giving you a brief "2008 Prez Primary" update:

Well, Mitt Romney dropped out. And he did it in surprising fashion too. That leaves John McCain and Mike "I can wail on a guitar" Huckabee remaining as the only big time choices in the GOP field (with apologies to the Ron Paul supporters). Maybe Huckabee should start playing guitar at campaign events. Maybe he could give his stump speech in a song. That would actually be pretty cool... I'm not sure how John McCain could compete with that. After all, who doesn't like a person that can play guitar? I don't know about you, but when I was in college, if you could play a guitar, you definitely had about a million friends. And about a million requests to play Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash Into Me.” Gag. I'm just sayin'.

As for the Democrats... the battle royale continues! No more John Edwards, but Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton (look at me! it's like I'm writing for The New York Times!) continue to duke it out in several upcoming weekend primaries and then... (drum roll please!)... THE POTOMAC/CHESAPEAKE/BELTWAY/WHATEVERYOUWANNACALLEM’ PRIMARIES!! YAAAAY FOR ALL THINGS LOCAL! Note to all local Democrats: THAT MEANS THAT THIS YEAR, YOUR PRIMARY VOTE REALLY WILL MEAN SOMETHING! SO GET OUT AND VOTE!

*If you’re a Republican, you should remember to vote too, because if this race has taught us one thing this year, it’s that it ain’t over til’ it’s over!!

OK, well I guess that's all for now! I'm still working on patching things up with Harley, who as ML reported, recently contracted my horrible bout of the black plague (poor little guy!). I couldn't feel worse. In my defense, however, Harley is already red, so it can be pretty hard to know when he's burning up!!

Hmph.

Have a musical weekend everyone!!

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany 47: WEBifying....and, HEALTH!

Three of the MENC bloggers (SR, EWL, RF), and seven other MENC employees have been in a four day training session this week learning to write for the web. The new MENC website will have staff written "articles", and we're learning the ins and outs of how to succinctly provide MENC members with information they can use. Stay tuned in late spring to see how we're doing, at http://www.menc.org/!

Below are a few helpful tips from MENC members responding to January's Question of the Month on Health for Musicians (for full results, write info@menc.org).

Also, see below a few links to resources on health for musicians.

Have a good week, see you next! SR

Comments on health in music education, from MENC members:

I taught general and choral music for more than twenty-five years, and my voice range drastically was lowered. I had been a soprano in college, but became an alto. . . very gradually. I often had colds and sore throats which also affected my singing. Because of this, I began to include more directed listening lessons. I created lessons using all styles and genres, while still of course using instruments, creating, reading notation, etc. I saved my voice and I know that the students appreciated the lessons.

I find that using a wireless microphone attached to my stereo system is a wonderful voice saver, especially since I am singing in a difficult part of my range while teaching (in the area of my break).

Every music educator should have the availability of a sound meter and teach their students the nature of and effect of loud sounds upon their hearing.

Teachers who teach large groups of students should use an amplification system to make it less stressful to speak in classrooms.

I teach at the elementary level. Modeling good vocal technique is imprtant at this young age. Explaining vocal qualities so that they are conscious of using their singing voice when singing vs. speaking, whispering and shouting is also important. We work on breathing for both singing and speaking. We often warm-up with a brain dance -- technique learned at an Orff conference. It relaxes them and me while also engaging the different hemispheres of the brain. We discuss the importance of drinking water for vocal and overall health and the PE teacher stresses this too.

If children are not afforded the opportunity to perform alone when they are very young, it seems to be much more difficutlt for them to perform when they get older. Over the years I have learned that having students begin the practice of performing alone as young as possible helps to alleviate much of the performance anxiety they begin the experience as they become older solo performers. The less fuss or "big deal" YOU make of it, the less inhibited they will be too.

Do some warming up before playing as you would if you were going to do any exercise, not playing warm up but physical, ex. roll shoulders forward and back gently roll neck etc. also for clarinet, oboe and english horn players use the straps and stands available to support your instruments as you play.

Taping yourself singing, demonstrating a song, etc., when you are needing to teach Concert songs to elementary-aged students. This way, you do not have to sing every class period. My voice really took a dive this winter season when every grade level (class), was preparing for something musical (concert, musical DVD greeting for troops, caroling for shut-ins, etc.) I literally had to rest my voice when Winter Break came. I could have saved my voice if I would have just taped myself singing and had the students sing with my tape recording. Sometimes you learn the hard way...

If I feel my class is high stress (end of the quarter with lots of tests) or needs they need to focus I say, "stop and breath." This means close your eyes. Sit relaxed in your chairs and clear your minds. I avoid words like mediation and yoga, because when I first tried this techniques telling them it was mediation, the middle school response was giggling. Instead, I tell them it is a time to calm themselves, to stop everything- all thoughts of test anxiety and performance woes etc. and just feel their breathing. Over time they have grown to enjoy these short moments of doing nothing.

SCROLL UNDER Dr. Duck for HEALTH RESOURCES!

RESOURCES ON HEALTH for MUSICIANS/MUSIC EDUCATORS

Performing Arts Medicine Association

U. N. Texas Center for Music and Medicine

George Mason U. (VA) Center for Arts and Wellness

U. North Carolina Greensboro

MENC Position statement on Health in Music Education

January Music Educators Journal features articles on vocal health for singers; musculoskeletal health for instrumentalists; preventing music-induced hearing loss; and stress in the lives of music students (including performance anxiety).

Surprise Visit

Last week we were pleasantly surprised to get a visit from MENC member Janette Harriott, of the University of Nebraska-Kearney, who is also chair of college/university affairs for Nebraska Music Educators Assocation.

Marketing manager BS snapped these photos of Janette with yours truly, fellow blogger RF, and executive assistant CW (aka SW). It was so nice to get the chance to chat with a member for a few minutes right here in the office!

Have been in an intensive Web writing seminar for the last three days (what, you can't tell???) so must push on to the work that is piling up.

Onward!

EWL

L O S T and sickly in our world.... OH NO

Yes, Harley and I have joined the ranks of sickly employees. Poor CW. He was really sick. In fact the more we think about it the more we think we got a little bit of his gunk since we went out to coffee with him prior to our horrendous sore throat, upset tummy, cold-like flu-like symptons' hit. Yes, when in doubt blame CW. Harley was out the same time as CW -- last Monday, Tuesday, had to leave early on Wednesday, and just kind of floated through work on Thursday and Friday. This is not good since it is a busy time of year. BUT, we are both feeling a lot better today (Harley and me) and I am sure a good dose of LOST helped last Thursday.

Ballots are rollin' into the office. Have you voted? Remember the deadline (altho a while off) is March 21. Yes, folks we are talking about the MENC elections -- not the other (and not to be confused with "the others" on Lost). Yes it is easy to place that ballot aside and then BAM - the deadline is past and you did not have a chance to have your say. Kind of the same with national elections in the United States. If you don't vote, don't criticize the leadership. If you did vote, have at it! Been my philosophy since I voted in my first election (no that wasn't when Moses was running for whatever......).

The board is working on developing an agenda for the upcoming National Assembly meeting to be held in Milwaukee, WI, prior to the convention. Delegates to the Assembly will begin meeting at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, and end their meeting on Wednesday, April 9, at noon time.

WHICH REMINDS ME -- February 15 is the deadline to get the Early Bird special rates for the convention. Go to the MENC web site now and register. Take care this week and stay well. The cold bug is rampaging around so you need to keep up your defenses. You will be happy to know, Harley has been declared well and able to work the rest of the week. Take care!

L O S T and found...

Hello again everyone!

Wow what a crazy week! I seem to have kicked off 2008 with some sort of nasty, nasty mutant virus, so I spent most of Monday and Tuesday trying to fight that sucker off. Alas, I am now back in the saddle, however, and excited to be back at work!

This week has also been very exciting for a number of reasons:

First, and most importantly, on Thursday morning I attended an NCLB panel discussion on Capitol Hill entitled "Improving No Child Left Behind: The Cost of Waiting." More on this in an upcoming MENC Legislative ALERT (please tell me that you've signed up for them by now riiiiiight?? ;-)), but for the time being, please just trust me when I say that this was several hours of my time very well spent.

The panel featured opening remarks from Secretary Tommy Thompson (Co-chair, Commission on NCLB and former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Also speaking was Governor Roy Barnes (Co-chair, Commission on NCLB and former Governor of Georgia). These two gentlemen set the tone for a conversation that would proceed to feature various high level majority and minority level staff members brought in to discuss the "ongoing" (try to excuse me if I'm a bit if a cynic at this point) reauthorization efforts.

Following the first panel discussion and a lively Q&A session, the audience was then treated to a series of local education reports as delivered by a host of bright, articulate, grassroots level education leaders. Eduardo Angulo, Chairman of the Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality, and a local education advocate in the state of Oregon, was particularly impressive in his remarks. Overall, the dialogue was upbeat and inspirational, and it gives me (as it should give you) hope that perhaps 2008 won't be a lost year after all in the fight to reauthorize America's most important education bill. Hope is the message to be had here!

Now, on to only slightly less relevant fare...

The presidential primaries!

Phew! These babies have really heated up since last time we left off (and things were starting to bake back then too!!). Just to recap, we're pretty much down to two candidates in each of the major parties, Senators Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, and Senator John McCain and Governor Mitt Romney on the Republican side, respectively. A brief side note: Mitt Romney's son's name is Tagg. Tagg Romney. Oh what I would give to come from a family that named people things like Mitt and Tagg. Awesome.

Anyways, to make a long story short, all of the candidates duked it out in their respective party's California debates this past week (hopefully you caught some of the action on CNN!) and are now waiting with fingers crossed for Super Duper Tuesday next week when voters in 22 states (a record amount) will all cast their votes or caucus on the same exact day (absolute HEAVEN for political junkies like me!).

Once all of the dust has settled, we FINALLY may very well have our two presidential nominees. If not, however, then it will be on to "Chesapeake Tuesday," when those of us in Reston and elsewhere in the greater Washington, DC region will have OUR chance to play a role in this seemingly never-ending soap opera that is the 2008 presidential nomination process! WHAT FUN.

Ok, and now lastly, on to some COMPLETELY unrelated but totally awesome fare...

L O S T returned this week. DUN DUN DUN.

Yesssssssssssss.

For those of you who follow this drama-filled island mystery (and as several of us loyalists here at MENC can safely attest to, you don't just watch L O S T, you sleep, eat, and breathe L O S T), its return has seemed like a long time coming. And with absolutely ZIPPO (other than those wonderful presidential debates!) else on TV right now, what could be better than a heapin' helpin' of this consistently amazing Robinson Crusoe meets Swiss Family Robinson meets Survivor meets the X-Files tropical brain cramp?!?!

The answer?

NOTHING! (Tune in next Thursday night for more of the action!!)

Ok, well that’s all for now gang… have a wonderful weekend and blog with you soon!!