Monday, March 21, 2005

Now on line: The Trailer for Rock School - The Movie!



Okay, how excited am I! Apple.com now has the official Rock School movie trailer on its site and oh god, it features a very young looking Eric and Julie. Eric is on drums both opening and closing the trailer with such short hair I don't recognize him. You can see both Julie and Eric interviewed together briefly about hating the band Bush, there are a couple shots of Julie with her long curly hair playing bass and a couple more of Eric on drums banging himself in the head with his sticks...and that outside scene is when we were at the Zappa festival in East Germany. By the way, that's Julie's bass playing boyfriend Matt with the short dark hair in the light gray t-shirt sitting down who is interviewed a couple of times saying "I suck". (Trust me, Matt does not suck, and when you see the movie and hear the soundtrack, you'll agree.) Anyway, I'm so psyched! I'm at work and I keep watching it over and over again...my boss is going to kill me in about two seconds. Here's the link!

Oh god, it's Monday again...



Sorry to make everyone sick on a Monday, but he's really going too far now. Getting involved in the Schiavo case? Fucking asshole

"The fate of Terri Schiavo once again was in the hands of a judge early Monday following an extraordinary, day-long political fight over the brain-damaged woman that consumed both chambers of Congress and prompted the president to rush back to the White House.

Taking the Senate's lead, the House early Monday passed a bill to let the woman's parents ask a federal judge to prolong Schiavo's life by reinserting her feeding tube. President Bush signed the measure less than an hour later.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "This is about defending life."

No, it's about dignity, something you tiny dick Republicans know nothing about.

Here's what else that tool did last week:

"As U.S. oil prices soared to a record high on Wednesday, the Senate gave President Bush's energy plan a major boost by voting to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling.

Republicans have tried for more than two decades to open ANWR to oil exploration. The Bush administration, which views ANWR as the centerpiece of its national energy plan, was blocked in the past four years by a Senate coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats.

Pete Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, led the fight to defeat a Democratic effort to strip ANWR drilling language from a broad budget resolution funding the federal government in fiscal 2006. The vote was close, 51 to 49 in favor of keeping the drilling provision in the bill."

What a douche bag. And of course that one per cent of wealthy America who think they are better than the rest of us and don't want to pay taxes and Bible belt middle America are cheering him on.

Let's not even talk about what his election will cost women in the way of freedom of choice.

Sigh...

Anyway, the pics of Eric and the other four Rock School kids who played Las Vegas last week are finally available on the web, but they cost $12.00 a piece and won't allow me to copy them here...first time I ever right clicked on an internet picture and was told "forbidden access" but anyway, I can post the links to the photos, which are fantastic and will be up for a few days. They start right here and then keep clicking on the subsequent links to pages on the top of the page - the pics continue at pages 97-128 all the way to page 192. There are incredible photographs of all the kids both solo and in group shots and oh my God, I'm probably going to spend a fortune today ordering every one of them.

In other news, Eric's band did in fact sell out The Fire Saturday night and the take at the door was $700.00. They also sold their CDs to the audience so they made some money and The Fire invited to come back again! Nice first gig, huh.

Okay, I have to shake off this latest Dubya news and get back to the business of writing.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Of Flamingo, my writer pals, and coffee cups



Well, proud mother moment here. Last night I went to The Fire to see the debut performance of my son Eric's new band, Flamingo, and it was AMAZING. They are so sophisticated, so talented, and just so fucking awesome I had to fight back those embarrassing tears. They do all original stuff, no covers. What also touched me beyond belief was how all of the other Rock School kids, many in bands of their own, and even their parents (!) came to the show in support. The room was completely sold out, everyone cheered and clapped like they were the Beatles on stage, and not to use a cliche, but I thought I would burst. I give credit to Paul Green and Rock School for that; as I've explained over and over again, despite my problems from time to time with his teaching philosophies, this man has worked magic and his students, both former and present, have a closeness and comradery that I've never seen equalled anywhere. Some old friends of mine who I haven't seen in a few years showed up as well and they went crazy over the music and we ended up eating dinner at this incredible Mexican restaurant, Las Casuelas, afterwards -- anyway, it was just a fantastic night. (I had grilled shrimp and a dessert of a three milk cake which was to die for).

In other news, I don't know what to say about my gal pals from Zoetrope, my on-line writing group. Ellen, Jordan, Myfanwy...I owe these women bigtime. I ran the completed synopsis for my book, The Tour, by them for some fine tuning and they came through like you wouldn't believe. Again, big teary eyed moment for me. I was stunned by their generosity. But now that I think of it, I shouldn't be surprised; I've known these women for a few years now and we've met in the real world and connected just as we did on line -- they are truly special, wonderful people as well as incredible kick ass writers. Ellen Meister has a new book which will be published next year (a hardcover deal!); Jordan Rosenfeld is just completing her MFA in creative writing at Bennington and is a rising superstar; Myfanwy Collins is a brilliant poet, writer, and editor of Ink Pot...you will be hearing these names in the future for sure - they are magnificent. Links to all three of their websites are to the right and please have a click and treat yourself to some really enjoyable reading.

Continuing on, both of my stories are now officially on coffee cups for sale at Flash Fiction Cafe and may I respectfully suggest you buy the white mug because it's easier to read the story though the morph mug is very cool (but the story doesn't show up unless you heat the cup pretty hot in the microwave). C'mon, you know you want one. Or eight. Ha.

Ah well. I actually think I may go back to bed now. The dog was restless last night and for some reason decided to come up on my pillow and sleep on my freaking head. That's the first time he's ever done that in seven years. I was worried about him but he seems fine this morning. It was raining pretty hard and I think he got scared and wanted his mommy. But holy cow, he weighs like sixty pounds and he positioned himself right on my head with his face hanging and pressed over mine. He had me pinned down; I couldn't move. I'm sure it would have made a lovely Kodak moment if anyone was nearby with a camera.

Right.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Tonight at The Fire!



Think I'm psyched? My son's band Flamingo, has their very first gig tonight at The Fire and these flyers are hanging up all over downtown Philly. How cool is that. I can't wait; except for one little problem. They have over 100 people coming and the room only holds 100 people and there are no advance sales. So I actually have to stand in line to see my own son play and pray I get in. Arghhh....well, I know me, I'll probably be in line at 5:00 p.m.

Other than that, I've spent the entire day writing a synopsis; I'm finally happy with it but of course that could all change tomorrow.

It's my daughter Julie's one year anniversary with her boyfriend, Matt, and they're going out to dinner at the same restaurant where they had their first date. Aww...

That's all for now. Can't wait to report on Flamingo tomorrow. Knowing me, I'm sure I'll have a story though of course it can't be as good as the time I got moshed. Yep, thrown up in the air and passed from kid to kid. I was praying for death.

Oh, this just in. Found a little article in the Hollywood Reporter which briefly mentions the kids performing at ShoWest in Vegas:


New Movie Reviews - New Upcoming Movie Releases
March 16, 2005

'Shrek 2' promos win big at Showmanship Awards

By Sheigh Crabtree
LAS VEGAS -- Ambitious, creative grass-roots marketers from local theater chains nationwide were honored for their innovative and philanthropic promotional initiatives in 2004 as the 24th annual Hollywood Reporter Showmanship Awards took place Tuesday at a ShoWest luncheon.

Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller presided over the event, which was kicked off by a throbbing live performance by Paul Green's School of Rock band, which will be featured in Newmarket Films' upcoming "Rock School" documentary.

"Teller and I set up a school of magic, but all we were doing was killing rabbits," cracked Jillette, before introducing Robert J. Dowling, editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter.

Dowling highlighted the importance of local movie promotions during a time when consumers are increasingly distracted by emerging forms of digital media.

"If you think about it, one of the most challenging words in business today is fragmentation," Dowling said. "The consumer market is becoming so fragmented by choices, but the thing that isn't changing is the amount of time that the consumer has to invest in what they're going to do. And you are competing for that time -- both their entertainment time and the entertainment dollar. What you do at the local level has a lot to do with driving home the message and the excitement of the movie. So it's our ambition to honor you and honor the creativity that you bring to your communities."

Eight awards were given from a pool of 200 entries that Dowling noted he would like to see increase to a pool of at least 1,000. Dowling encouraged attendees to submit their work for Showmanship Award consideration "so you can demonstrate to the rest of your community what it is you're doing to make the film business that much more successful and fun for the consumer."

California's Kirkorian Theatres picked up the top Showmanship prize from DreamWorks exhibition exec Pat Gonzalez.

Kirkorian's Reynee Scofield was honored for an exhaustive "Shrek 2" promotion that involved local charities, such vendors as Baskin-Robbins and CompUSA, a raffle, a costume party and a movie-themed look-a-like white steed and a miniature donkey.

Dale Hurst of Carmike Cinemas 9 in Georgia was honored for best use of newspaper for a promotion that published winning "Shrek 2" attendees' names in the classified section of the local paper.

"We're proof that a small theater in a small market can win big," Hurst said.

Local Las Vegas theater owner Johnny Brenden won the cross promotion award for a communitywide outreach around the release of "Catwoman" at Brenden Theatres. Brenden and his team worked with the Palms Casino, the local Jaguar dealership, comic book stores, a local animal shelter for an adopt-a-cat program and a Ducati motorcycle dealership in order to build excitement and bring more patrons into his auditoriums.

The best use of media and stunts award went to Angelique Brunsman from Hollywood Blvd. Cinemas in Illinois. Brunsman hired three of the original dwarves who played munchkins in "The Wizard of Oz" for a rerelease of the movie. The actors were subsequently front-page news and lead broadcast news stories before "Oz's" opening.

The best community outreach award went to Jeremy Kress of Studio 28 in Michigan for a local promotion of "Shrek 2." The theater used "Shrek 2's" release to produce an array of charity events -- from a barbecue to a children's walk-a-thon -- to raise money for the local Cancer Society.

The best presentation binder award went to Pamela Wampler of Premiere Cinemas in Texas. Wampler designed a large scrapbook to tie in with "Ladder 49." Part of the promotion was aimed at bringing in more volunteer firefighters into the local ranks.

The in-theater display award was given to Jodi Pine of Muvico Theatres in Florida. Pine built a scale "Shrek 2" model in the theater lobby complete with a life-size onion chariot and a replica of Shrek's swamphouse staffed by costumed performers.

The gold heart award for philanthropy went to Canada's Famous Players in recognition of the nearly $1 million the movie chain raised for charity.

Jillette closed the event with a fire-eating act assisted by The Hollywood Reporter's Dawn Allen, who lit a cigarette from the magician's flaming mouth.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Different Voices, etc.



So being the Queen of Google, one day a month or two ago I googled my own name and saw it come up on something called Different Voices. Naturally, I clicked on the link because I was curious and wondered if a magazine had picked up one of my stories without me knowing it. (Sigh...this does happen. A porn magazine featuring obese women lifted my very mainstream story, Picnic, from it's original home, Smokelong Quarterly, because there are mentions of a "pretty plump wife" throughout the piece. Wherever the words appear, they have "pretty plump wife" linking up to pictures of fat naked women. I kid you not. I'd post the link to prove it but it's pretty gross)

It turns out that Different Voices is a really cool blog, a community effort, which features Philadelphia writers and they'd read some of my stuff and decided to link me. This is one hell of a project - it's sexy, it's controversial, and I have absolutely no clue who is behind it though I do have my suspicions. They invite writers to "join the revolution"..hahahaha...you know I love that premise and when you click on their link, which is to the right with my other links but I'll make it easy for you and put another here, you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, they were kind enough to write to me and offer to promote Three Days in New York City this weekend and how could I refuse? So even if you already own the book (ha), take a click over to Different Voices for an interesting read.

In other news...

I'm featured author this month at Red Hot Romance and they have a pretty cool page for me and a review of the book is forthcoming so I'm pretty psyched about that.

And yes! My son's band has their website up, and it's a work in progress, but here it is and there's some information on tomorrow night's show. In case you haven't heard me broadcasting it enough or read the billboards I've posted everywhere, his band is Flamingo.

More later...

Thursday, March 17, 2005

My own personal pot o'gold...I have an agent!!!!



Okay, I'm not Irish but I seem to have stumbled onto my own personal pot of gold. Yesterday, not only did I get the news that Three Days in New York City is going print, I officially have an agent! Britta Steiner Alexander, of the Ned Leavitt Agency in New York City, will be representing my book, The Tour. The contract is signed, and I will now begin the joyous process of a rewrite, and no, I'm not being sarcastic when I say that -- one of the reasons I decided to go with Britta is that she shared my same vision for the book. When I first started writing The Tour, it focused on Rock School and was going to be a daily chronicle of events and even a mini travel guide of the cities we visited. Instead, it evolved into something quite different -- a baby boomer mother who realizes her kids are now adults and ready to fly while facing her own demons that she's getting older and no longer cool. So I need to hunker down and start the revisions, and to say I'm psyched is putting it mildly. I could not have asked for a better agency to represent me than The Ned Leavitt Agency - they are small, friendly, and very, very successful. Here's a link to their site.

And if yesterday wasn't cool enough, I just got an acceptance at a really neat magazine, Ken*Again, for one of my short stories, Big Head, which is a creative non fiction piece about a "legendary" character in my childhood.

Finally, I would like to introduce you to my good friend, brilliant writer Alicia Gifford.

Alicia wrote what I think is the most incredible story of 2004, Toggling the Switch, which you can read right here.

I'm not the only one who feels this way, Alicia's story is in fact nominated in the Million Writers Award, Top Stories 2004, where she is one of ten finalists. After you have read this amazing tale and are completely blown away as I know you will be, please vote for her here so that she can take home her own pot of gold!

Anyway, everyone enjoy your day, don't drink too much (Okay, drink a lot but please don't drive afterwards), and for the love of God, stay away from any and all green bagels.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Yay!



Okay, that drink is for me. I came downstairs this morning to this email from my publisher:

Hello authors,

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Three Days in New York City has just reached the print benchmark!

I'm working on getting it ready to go to the printer as soon as Dan (Dan Reitz, publisher of Mundania Press, LLC) gets back from Long Beach!

Congratulations, and have a wonderful day, authors!
Stacey

(Stacey is also publisher and editor in chief of Mundania Press imprint Phaze, who were kind enough to publish Three Days in New York City in January of this year)

So if anyone is in the St. Louis area from April 27-May 1, I will be at the RT Convention autographing copies of my real live paperback book for one and all!

In other news...

Eric returned from Las Vegas really late last night -- too late to give me the goods but of course I'll be reporting on that later as well as posting some incredible photographs sent to me by Rock School great Madison Flego taken at the last BB King show. I asked Eric if he would allow me to name some names here of any stars with whom he rubbed elbows at ShoWest in Vegas and he told me he had dinner...and was seated next to..."Bob", President of Newmarket Films.

I said: "Eric, so then I can at least say you had dinner with the President of Newmarket Films?"

He replied: "Dinner at THE PALM, Mom."

Heh. Excuse me.

More from and about Eric to follow.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Whilst I wait...



While I wait to hear from my son, Eric, as to what it was like performing and partying today in Las Vegas with Jennifer Aniston and Matt Damon, and also while I vomit over the fact that U2 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night (is it just me or does every fucking song sound the same; is the Edge not the world's worst guitar player EVER, and other than Sting, is there a more pretentious performer alive than Boner, I mean, Bono), here's an interesting article just published regarding the kids' upcoming soundtrack:

Trillion Records Aims for Soundtrack Market Domination

(PRWEB) March 9, 2005 -- Soundtracks have long been an important part of the music industry, but few record companies were formed to cater exclusively to this niche market. Trillion Records is correcting this oversight. Trillion movie and television soundtracks will cover all musical genres, from rock to rap to adult contemporary.

The label's upcoming first release is the soundtrack to the documentary 'Rock School,' which was screened recently at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT.

Several highly successful and respected music industry veterans are behind this new venture. The main person is Mike Catain. He was vice president of A&R at United Artists Records, where he supervised soundtracks for United Artists studios' movies including each release in the 'Rocky' and 'The Pink Panther' series.

Catain went on to form Liquid 8 Records and Calvin Records. Liquid 8 and Calvin are based in Minneapolis. Calvin is a front-line label and Liquid 8 is home primarily jazz and gospel releases. Calvin is also entering the lucrative videogame soundtrack market. The label is partnering with Fear Factory member Raymond Herrera's company 3volution to release the Rainbow Six Lockdown soundtrack. Rainbow Six Lockdown is an eagerly awaited new videogame from Ubisoft. Mark Heyert works closely with Catain on Liquid 8 and Calvin projects; he is a 20-year veteran of the music business and has worked with artists including Jethro Tull and Ian Hunter and companies such as Oglio Entertainment, Ubiquity Recordings and Fuel 2000 Records. Catain's other business ventures include the Macintosh computer technical support company Doctor Mac Direct and a luxury resort in Costa Rica named Casa Tranquila.

Trillion, based in Hollywood, is an equal partnership between Catain and Jonathan Platt. Calvin provides the financing, infrastructure and distribution for Trillion. Platt and Jonathan Miller contribute their sizable A&R abilities to Trillion, while Catain and company supply the marketing muscle.

"Both Calvin and Trillion are brand new labels. Jonathan Platt and I specialized in soundtrack work when we were at other companies," says Miller. "We first crossed paths when working on the soundtrack to last year's hit horror film 'Saw.' Fear Factory, which is signed to Mike's other label, Liquid 8 Records, was on the soundtrack. I was impressed with all the various marketing angles Liquid 8 devised for the 'Saw' soundtrack. It was decided that with Mike and Mark's marketing expertise and our creative direction in assembling soundtracks it would make a great team."

"Everything about the 'Saw' soundtrack marketing campaign impressed me. The street team and radio efforts were fantastic," says Platt.

"As for the Trillion business model, it's a joint decision among all of us if we think we can create an appropriate soundtrack for the movie or television production. We all do a little bit of everything," Miller says. "Mike and Mark are brilliant with marketing but Jonathan and I offer ideas too, and they also present us with creative suggestions."

More than 25 years ago, the 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Grease' soundtracks were phenomenal hits, but they were successful in parallel with the movies themselves. Gradually, the soundtracks themselves were promoted ahead of the movies, and sometimes overshadowed them. It can be argued that soundtracks such as 'Footloose,' 'Flashdance,' 'Purple Rain,' 'The Bodyguard' and others are more memorable than the movies themselves.

In the modern music world, soundtracks fill several important roles. In addition to enhancing the stories on screen, they definitely promote their respective movies and virtually function as advertising. Also, they serve as a perfect platform for unknown artists.

"In today's market, it's really hard to develop an artist and get exposure. A soundtrack is great because an artist can do a song that they enjoy and that helps tell the movie's story. In turn, the fans will remember the music. We have just then exposed the marketplace to a brand new artist," Miller says. "Soundtracks are incredibly important to a movie or television show's story. Music brings out the emotion. We want Trillion soundtracks to push that to the next level."

"The creativity involved in conceiving a soundtrack is incredibly rewarding. The end result is that a soundtrack becomes the driver of the movie or television show," Platt says. "The music on a soundtrack becomes so intertwined with the message of the story on screen."

One of the major advantages Trillion has over the major labels is expediency.

"We work a lot quicker than the majors. Since soundtracks are all we do, we can work with the studios, producers and directors and turn them around fast. At the majors, soundtracks are still just one department. They can't work quickly under that kind of corporate structure," says Miller. "It takes a major label anywhere from six to 12 months per soundtrack. We can complete a soundtrack in a fraction of that."

That turnaround time is crucial. Movie soundtracks are often the very last thing studios and directors address when completing films, and more often than not it's precariously close to opening day. It's not that soundtracks are an afterthought, but budget limitations and other business factors come in to play. ("It's scary to have a band you want for a soundtrack, and then the deal falls through," says Miller.) Television soundtracks are the opposite. They are put together first, usually with the artists selected based on the target demographic of the television show. For these reasons, Trillion is the perfect solution. When the right songs are matched with the right veteran or developing artists, the films are the winners. The soundtracks stand as evidence.

"We definitely want to build an image and brand Trillion as the go-to record company for soundtracks," says Miller. "To give you an example, we want the public and the film and music industries to immediately associate Trillion with soundtracks the same way that Windham Hill is associated with new-age music."

Movie soundtracks today have two lives. First, there is the marketing and promotion tied in with a movie's theatrical run. Then, another blitz follows to keep the awareness level high when the movie is released on DVD. Nowadays, most movies are released on DVD just a few months after they have left theaters. Trillion intends to take advantage of that momentum. Consumer awareness will remain consistent.

The Trillion team is thrilled about launching the label with the 'Rock School' soundtrack, scheduled for release on May 10, 2005. The documentary, directed by Don Argott, is about the Paul Green School of Rock Music founded in Philadelphia in 1999. It is set for release this summer. Green teaches youngsters between the ages of 9 and 17 all about rock 'n' roll and how to play the classics. It is a real music school. The soundtrack features Green's pupils re-recording hits alongside legends like Alice Cooper, Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, The Ramones' Marky Ramone, Heart's Ann Wilson, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine, and Billy Idol.

"This soundtrack is a dream come true for both the kids and Paul Green. Paul is a true rock historian and you get a real sense of his passion through the soundtrack and the film," says Platt. "Teen-agers today are really getting back into rock music and are discovering the classics. This music stands the test of time, and the 'Rock School' soundtrack proves it."

Monday, March 14, 2005

Living vicariously again...



So the photograph above is the Paris, Las Vegas, where my son will be staying tonight - he hops a plane at 1:00 p.m. today - because he has a gig there tomorrow for this little get-together.

Here's just a partial list of the stars for whom he'll be performing:

2005 ShoWest Award Ceremony Honorees

ShoWest Galactic Achievement Award - George Lucas
Distinguished Decade of Achievement In Film - Drew Barrymore
Supporting Actress of the Year - Rachel McAdams
Male Star of Tomorrow - Hayden Christensen
Animation Director of the Year - Brad Bird
Female Star of Tomorrow - Jessica Biel
Comedy Star of the Year - Bernie Mac
Director of the Year - Rob Cohen
Male Star of the Year - Matt Damon
Female Star of the Year - Jennifer Aniston

Sigh...

Then of course this Saturday night, he has his first gig with his own band, Flamingo, at The Fire in Philadelphia, and naturally I'll be broadcasting more news about that as well as ticket information throughout the week.

And what is daughter Julie up to? Oh well, this week she has finals, next week she takes off for seven days in Costa Rica with her boyfriend.

As for me, I continue to talk with agents about my memoir, The Tour; I've been writing my ass off - both the sequel to Three Days in New York City and a short story about baseball and my mother which I've been dying to write for years and finally got around to doing this weekend, and much to my happy surprise, I'm still number #1 rated in erotica at Fictionwise where I'm also #6 in sales at the moment so I expect Three Days in New York City to be at a bookstore near you sooner rather than later.

I'm still on a high from Rock School's astonishing production of Jesus Christ Superstar Saturday night and as always, I am the first to admit when I'm wrong because I was really dreading going and I was against it from day one. First of all, I thought it was totally improper for a School of Rock performance - to me doing Jesus Christ Superstar was more on the order of a cheesy suburban high school production like CATS (oh god, I don't know that there was a worse evening in my life, when I had to see CATS on a class trip with the kids...maybe followed only by the night I had to see Grease on a double date); I'm used to brilliant classic rock and roll performances from these kids; secondly, I always hated that show...when it first came out I was a die hard hippie who only loved Brit rock and Jesus Christ Superstar was, well, fucking Broadway and as stated above, we all know how I feel about that...Broadway show tunes and country western music will be the soundtrack in hell when I die (if I believed in hell, that is). It's a good thing I don't because it's surely where I'd end up.

If I'm not there already...

Plus there was that whole Jesus factor, which, even as a lazy agnostic, still turned me off because, well, I'm Jewish by birth and I remember back when it first came out, Jesus Christ Superstar for some reason brought out all the Jesus freaks and there was this whole new weird movement of former stoners who suddenly walked around with bibles and would come up to me with glazed over eyes and ask "Have you found HIM?"

And of course I'd be like "Who the fuck do you mean?" even though I knew exactly what they meant but then I'd run away before they could say another word.

So anyway, that's the news for now. I wanted to elaborate further on the show Saturday night because it was really, really fantastic but neither Julie or Eric were around yesterday to give me names of kids I didn't know and titles of songs, etc. but in any event, the Philadelphia Daily News was there and they are doing a big spread this week and there will be a future broadcast on WXPN so I'll provide links as soon as I find them.

Happy Monday.(Yeah, yeah, an oxymoron for sure)

BREAKING NEWS: BIG PHOTO SPREAD IN TODAY'S DAILY NEWS OF THE KIDS' PERFORMANCE OF JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR AT THE THEATER OF LIVING ARTS SATURDAY NIGHT (It's not on line yet but as soon as it is, I will post it here. I just picked up 87 copies - it's fantastic and for once I can clearly see my drummer son!)

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Quick note



Okay, I have to run because the Reading Terminal Farmers Market, which is never open on Sunday, is in fact open today because of the Flower Show nearby and Julie and I have plans to stuff our face for breakfast at Down Home Diner and then doing some awesome shopping there.

But I do want to say this: Jesus Christ Superstar was FUCKING AMAZING. I want to go into more detaiil later and name every kid and how unbelievable they were and I need my kids around me for that because there's some newbies I don't know, but let me say this. Max DiMezza, you fucking rule. Joey Randazzo, Dom Milandro, Maureen Hayes, Allie Hauptmann, Larry Allen - you guys made me cry. Jeremy Blessing - not only are you one of the best guitar players on this continent, your singing and stage presence last night blew me away. You have a Muddy Waters thing going on you should work on - who ever guessed that voice would come out of you! Cameron, I was teary eyed to see you back; you are one of my favorite unsung heroes of Rock School, a really great, soulful guitar player who doesn't always get the attention you deserve due to all the talent surrounding you.

Teddi Tarnoff, former Rock School diva, as musical director, you blew me away. How the hell did you do that???

Okay, more later.

And Madison, one of my favorite Rock School vocalists though not in the show last night, took some awesome photos and I am begging her now to send them to me so I can post them later today. Okay, Madison?