May23

Getting To Know You, #692

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Staff training has begun!  Yep, it’s officially camp season, and the next couple of days is all about getting to know new camp staff and reuniting with old ones.  I love working with counselors, because it’s always a fun energetic group.  For many of them, it’s a first job, and I feel a responsibility to make it a great experience for them.

This is what I love about camp song leading.  To me, it’s the glue that brings a camp together.  Singing and sharing music is bonding, and I am honored to have this job.

The beautiful thing is that I know that even if I don’t get a chance to sit down with each staff person individually during training, once we start singing together, the music will bring us together naturally anyway.  That is why I love camp so much!

So, my song of the day today is for all of the new people I get to work with.  ”Getting to Know You” from the “King and I” seems like the sweetest and perfect piece of music for the occasion.  Click HERE to go to Youtube and watch this charming scene.  The strange thing about the song is that Debra Kerr plays the part of Anna in the movie.  The “King and I” was made during a time when lead characters were often overdubbed during the musical performances.  I thought Marni Nixon overdubbed Kerr’s part in this song, but the Youtube video is of Julie Andrews singing.  Julie Andrews can do no wrong in my eyes, but I am against overdubbing.  Seriously…why couldn’t they have just cast Julie Andrews or Marni Nixon in the part.  Fortunately today, overdubbing has become taboo.  I prefer films to be honest with its flaws and all…..just like I prefer the people I sing with, too.  Looking forward to getting real with a lot of new and awesome people this summer!

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May22

Kobi’s Lullaby, #691

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Last night, I participated in a Kindergarten graduation ceremony.  This particular ceremony happened to fall on the same day as my own children completed their last day of their school year.  My daughter completed 2nd grade, and she has learned and grown so much this year.  It is my son’s completion of his own Kindergarten class, however, that brought tears to my  eyes off and on all day yesterday.

There is nothing like Kindergarten.  It takes a very special teacher to work with that age group, and the projects and learning that happens all year-long are enough to tug on your heart strings.  Author, Robert Fulgham, summed up Kindergarten with his book, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten:”

1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don’t hit people.
4. Put things back where you found them.
5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
6. Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
7. Say you’re SORRY when you HURT somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life – learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.”

My son’s school didn’t have a ceremony for their Kindergarten classes, but the Kindergarten class that I sang with last night is a group of children that I have gotten to know well over the years.  My son attended preschool with them, and we have many shared experiences under our belts now.  The truth is that I love each one of them, and as I feel the same for my own son, I am so sad this year is over.

The best I can do is wish them well and let them all (including my son) spread their wings and fly.

My song of the day is the one we sang at Kindergarten graduation last night.  I am singing it again with another Kinder class this week, too.  The song is “Kobi’s Lullaby” by Rick Recht, and it is a perfect song for this very occasion, as Rick wrote it for his own son.  It is such a beautiful and inspiring melody and lyrics…so much so that it was recently made into a children’s book.  Click HERE to listen to Rick Recht perform it for a PJ Library, Jewish literacy, annual conference in Baltimore, MD, and I’m sure that you will understand why I am feeling so emotional today.  Congratulations to all Kindergarten families out there as we share the end of a very special year together.

May21

Light My Fire, #690

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From nndb.com

From nndb.com

The news of the death of the Door’s keyboardist, Ray Manzerek, left me reeling with sadness and Doors nostalgia yesterday.  I began to be a fan of the Doors in college spending hours listening to the fine details of their music and the poetic lyrics of Jim Morrison.  When I moved to Los Angeles in 1995, I found myself walking on Venice Beach with the thoughts, “This is where Jim and Ray met.”  I went to the Whiskey-A-Go-Go just to feel the history of the walls knowing that everyone from the Doors to Guns and Roses had played there.

I do believe that Ray Manzerek lived quite a full life, but when I read that he died from bile duct cancer, I was baffled.  That was something I had never hear of.  So, I’ve been reading about this awful illness that took the life of a musical icon, and I thought I’d share what I found for anyone else who is also curious and needs to know what took Ray from us.

First, according to cancer.net:

The bile duct is a 4-inch to 5-inch long tube that connects the liver and gallbladder to the small intestine. The bile duct allows bile, which is made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder, to flow into the small intestine. Bile is a liquid that helps to break down fats found in foods and helps the body get rid of the waste material that is filtered out of the bloodstream by the liver.

Bile duct cancer begins when normal cells in the bile duct change and grow uncontrollably, forming a mass called a tumor.

The prognoses of bile duct cancer is grave.  According to Wikipedia:

Surgical resection offers the only potential chance of cure in cholangiocarcinoma (or bile duct cancer). For non-resectable cases, the 5-year survival rate is 0% where the disease is inoperable because distal lymph nodes show metastases, and less than 5% in general. Overall median duration of survival is less than 6 months in inoperable, untreated, otherwise healthy patients with tumors involving the liver.

For surgical cases, the odds of cure vary depending on the tumor location and whether the tumor can be completely, or only partially, removed. Distal cholangiocarcinomas (those arising from the common bile duct) are generally treated surgically with a Whipple procedure; long-term survival rates range from 15%–25%, although one series reported a five-year survival of 54% for patients with no involvement of the lymph nodes. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (those arising from the bile ducts within the liver) are usually treated with partial hepatectomy. Various series have reported survival estimates after surgery ranging from 22%–66%; the outcome may depend on involvement of lymph nodes and completeness of the surgery. Perihilar cholangiocarcinomas (those occurring near where the bile ducts exit the liver) are least likely to be operable. When surgery is possible, they are generally treated with an aggressive approach often including removal of the gallbladder and potentially part of the liver. In patients with operable perihilar tumors, reported 5-year survival rates range from 20%–50%.

It is so sad that Ray Manzerek passed away from such an awful cancer with a terrible prognosis.  His music will live on forever and has become his legacy, however, and that certainly brings a smile to my face.  My song of the day is The Doors playing “Light My Fire,” because this song really showcases his keyboard.  That musical riff is infamous, and for me, I will always think of him every time that I hear it.  Click HERE to go to Youtube to listen to “Light My Fire.”  RIP, Ray Manzerek.  Your music will always be a part of my life’s soundtrack.

May21

The Color Conductor

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Happy Top 10 Tuesday, Tucson Songstress friends!  It’s time for another fun music activity for you to do with your children at home.  For today’s activity, we will be using shaker eggs.  About two months ago, there was a recall on Basic Beat Shaker Eggs.  By now, I hope that if any of my readers had these eggs at home, they checked the serial number and returned them to Basic Beat for a replacement.  To read about the recall, click HERE.  Just to be on the safe side, however, I am going to ask that this activity is not tried at home with children younger than 3-years-old.

To complete the activity, you will need multi-colored shaker eggs.  Here is a picture of the eggs from Basic Beat.

Shaker Eggs

To purchase them from Amazon.com, click HERE.  The newly made ones are all corrected and safe!

You will also need some paper and crayons or markers.

The Activity

This activity is intended for children ages 3 and up.  It is best played with 3-5 players.  To begin, have the children draw a picture of an egg.  Each child should color a section of the egg the same color as the egg they are using.  Here is a drawing of the one we used.

ColoredEggPic

For the first round of the game, choose a child to be “it.”  They are the musical conductor.  They will hold the egg drawing, and the other children will sit on the ground in front of them with their shaker egg.  The conductor will point to a color.  The child with the same color egg will create a rhythm for the other egg holders to follow.  The conductor will decide when it is time to change the rhythm by choosing another color. As the rounds go on, the conductor should choose the colors faster.  If a child can not come up with a rhythm, simply have the conductor choose another color.  Make sure each child has a chance to take a turn being the conductor by playing several rounds of the game. This activity will help teach your children rhythm, to follow music cues, beginning reading skills and staying focused.

Thank you so much for visiting The Tucson Songstress for another Top 10 Tuesday music activity.  Check back every Tuesday for some more musical fun.  Click HERE to see the complete list of Top 10 Tuesday musical instruments under $40 that will help promote music education at home, and please click HERE for an archive of all previous Top 10 Tuesday music activities, too.  Until next week, don’t forget to play on!

May20

If Today Was Your Last day, #689

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I think that “last days” are hard.  I hate saying goodbye to people especially if I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again.  As an adult, it is emotionally hard for me to deal with, and I wonder how much last days hit my children, too.  Do they feel it like I do or does the emotion of it all not register as much?  As a parent, it is really hard to gauge, but as tomorrow is their last day of school for the year, I must remember to be sensitive to my kids.

This is a short blog today, because it is more of a question than a commentary…something that I really don’t know the answer to.  Do you all think that children get as sentimental as grown ups do recognizing that they won’t be seeing certain friends again for a long time and most likely will not have all of their buddies in next year’s classes, as well?  Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

My song of the day is by Nickelback.  ”If Today Was the Last Day” was certainly not intended for the last day of school, but I think it can easily be related to it.  Click HERE to go to Youtube to hear the song as I am preparing myself for a gamut of emotions in my house.  I am ready for it all!

May19

I’ve Got to Have Friends, #688

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My son had his very first sleep over last night with his best buddy from birth.  Seriously, his friend was born 6 days after him, and they began their schooling together at 6-weeks-old in an infant day care room.  They’ve been friends ever since, and boy, was my little guy excited to be able to sleep at his house last night.

While he was there, my husband, daughter and I attended a bat mitzvah party.  Every bar/bat mitzvah party we’ve been to has a slide show set to music of the honoree throughout their 13 years of life years.  I love these little presentations, and often, they make me cry.  Last night, I took in all of these photographs and watched the sweet little girl I met at 5-years-old blossom into a beautiful young lady all on a screen before my eyes.  My husband turned to me when it was all over and said, “We’ve got to appreciate every moment, because before you know it, their childhoods will be over.”  He was referring to our own kids.

I thought of my son as he said those words achieving the milestone of “first sleepover” right at that very moment.  Are those “firsts” really few and far between now?  With a 6 & an 8-year-old, perhaps we really do only have a good 5 years to go.  And then…..teenage years…..OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so grateful and blessed to be living these beautiful moments with my kiddos that will eventually be the captured moments of their bar & bat mitzvah slide shows one day.  My husband is right.  We must appreciate them, because yesterday we were putting my child in infant day care, and today he’s having his first sleep over with his best friend.  Time flies!

My song of the day is Bette Midler vintage.  ”I’ve Got to Have Friends” is one of the songs they used in the slide show last night, and I also thought it was perfect for my boy and his pal, too.  So, click HERE to hear the Divine Ms. M sing her heart out while I wait for my little boy to come home from his evening out.  I can assure you, I will hug him and my daughter a little tighter today, as I hope and pray they still accept my hugs when they’re teenagers.

May18

Moonlight Sonata, #687

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“The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes—ah, that is where the art resides.” – Arthur Schnabel, in Chicago Daily News, June 11, 1958.

We got a new piano a few weeks ago.  It is a beautiful 1920′s Kanabe, and it is really a stunning instrument.  My husband has played his whole life, and he is now teaching my kids to play.  They are all taking it very seriously, and I love hearing the music in my house.

Last night, we went to Shabbat services, and as they lit the Shabbat candles, the words in the prayer-book compared Shabbat to the pauses between the notes as a pianist plays.  I’ve always loved the quote, and it prompted me to look it up.

Arthur Schnabel, the great Austrian pianist said these words that resonate in so many ways.  Those pauses between the notes is where beauty resides, and I am happy to tell of you that as crazy and hectic as my home gets, there are many many pauses between the notes happening all of the time…especially musically.

Today, during Shabbat, I am celebrating the pauses.  My song of the day is Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” performed by Arthur Schnabel and often heard in my home, as well.  Click HERE to listen to this infamous piece, and may you all appreciate your own pauses today. They certainly are lovely.