sheppard :: Say Geronimo

at any given moment in our house, one of the three boys will be singing, "Say Geronimo" or "can you feel it?"

This song may have become their new theme song.  It's catchy.  It's fun.  It's Australian.

We like it.





Can you feel it?
Now it's coming back we can steal it.
If we bridge this gap,
I can see you
Through the curtains of the waterfall.

When I lost it,
Yeah you held my hand,
But I tossed it,
Didn't understand,
You were waiting,
As I dove into the waterfall.

So say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!

Can you feel my love?
Bombs away,
Bombs away,
Bombs away.
Can you feel my love?
Bombs away,
Bombs away,
Bombs away,
Say Geronimo!

Well we rushed it,
Moving away to fast.
That we crushed it,
But it's in the past.
We can make this leap,
Through the curtains of the waterfall.

So Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!

Can you feel my love?
Bombs away,
Bombs away,
Bombs away.
Can you feel my love?
Bombs away,
Bombs away,
Bombs away.

Well I'm just a boy,
With a broken toy,
All lost and coy,
At the curtains of the waterfall.
So it's here I stand,
As a broken man,
But I've found my friend,
At the curtains of the waterfall.

Now I'm falling down,
Through the crashing sound.
And you've come around,
At the curtains of the waterfall.

And you rushed to me,
And it sets us free.
So I fall to my knees,
At the curtains of the waterfall.

So Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!
Say Geronimo!

Can you feel (Say Geronimo! [x4]) my love?
Bombs away! [x3] (Say Geronimo! [x4])
Can you feel (make this leap [x3]) my love? Make this leap.
Can you feel my love?

New Music (for me)

Not a huge fan of the Neon Trees, or this video for that matter.

But...

BUt....

BUT....

This song, blasted as loud as the boys and I can handle it, on repeat, is totally awesome and rocking our Saturday morning!

So are the sleeping bag sleds for that matter.


 

Dance Dance Revolution

It's been a while since my boys and their amazing dance moves have graced the blog.

You wouldn't know it by looking at the dazzling moves and high spirits in the video that shortly after, literally within minutes, both boys were screaming slobbering messes and went to bed early.

It's a holiday week.

Go figure.

Oh, there is music in the background even though you cannot hear it. I have no idea what the group was but when I asked Ross he said, "two white guys who think they are black."

You can try and figure out who that is.

Christmas Songs

it seems that the last few years i've posted some of my favorite christmas songs. this year is apparently no different.

the first song, i never thought of as a holiday song, but in searching out some new tunes last weekend it was on a bunch of albums....performed poorly. the rufus wainright version is my favorite - and after listening to almost a dozen last saturday/sunday night i think i'm an authority on that now.

hallelujah
rufus wainright




now this song? it has become an obsession. admittedly, i'm not a huge neon trees fan. that bieber cover is completely awesome and the trees have jumped up a wrung on my music ladder with this christmas tun.

how much do i like it? enough that i've memorized the whole thing and driving home from a hair cut on monday, in the car by myself i listened to it for 30 minutes straight. my husband is definitely rubbing off on me after nearly 8 years of marriage - i have officially driven a song into the ground.

but it's so awesome. i love the word selection - that it's "darling" instead of "baby". that he says "animal" and "adorable"

christmas spirit - just knock me out now.

wish list
neon trees

New Music

While shopping for some new holiday tunes today through amazon and itunes I came across Ben Rector.

I seem to have fallen in love with the music of Ben Rector.

Take a listen to this Tom Petty cover.



His renditions of some classic Christmas tunes are spot on. Find him and download some music now.

I can't stay

The emotion it was, electric
And the stars, they all aligned
I knew I had to make my, decision
But I never made the time
No, I never made the time

In the dark, for a while now
I can't stay, so far
I can't stay, much longer
Riding my decision home

Exoneration lost his, eraser
But my forgiver found the sun
And there are twisted days that I take comfort
Cause I'm not the only one
No, I'm not the only one

In the dark, for a while now
I can't stay, very far
I can't stay, much longer
Riding my decision home

There is a majesty at my doorstep
There is a little boy in her arms
Now we'll parade around without game plans
Obligations, or alarm

In the dark, for a while now
I can't stay, very far
I can't stay, much longer
Riding my decision home

In the dark, for a while now
I can't stay, so far
I can't stay, much longer
Riding my decision home
In the dark

**

Every once in a while a song finds me.  Regardless of it's intended meaning, it hits my life and my meaning like a ton of bricks.  This week has had highs and lows.  Expectations and disappointment and severe exasperation.  Have you ever wanted to punch someones lights out and curl up in a ball and cry at the same time?   Or, just want to twirl and dance and sing with whisks as your microphones the whole night through with the little boys that you love (and sometimes wish their dad would join in the fun)?

That's where I'm at.  The land of extremes.

I think that this song is about transition.  Transition and change are good things.  This song is a good thing.  It's been played out loud (not counting all the times it's been sung in my head), maybe almost 100 times this week.  Seriously.

One day it was the only thing we listened to.  Thank you ipod for the magic repeat button.

When your little boys don't tell you to find a new song - they either "get it", or the song is speaking to them, too.

Have a good weekend.

Go and find yourself a song.

I wish I had this kind of talent

I read a blog post here yesterday that spoke to my heart. 

People (including my husband on occasion) mock me, but if I really could have a wish, it would be that I could sing and dance.  Not just the glee club kind of sing, but really belt it out, knock peoples socks off kind of sing.

And dancing?  Fuhgetaboutit!

When I was younger I always took dance lessons.  When I was 12 I joined a teacher who had big recitals and got us dancers into parades.  No one ever told me (thank you!) that I didn't have the talent and finally, when I was 12 or 13 I realized that I was just too tall (6 feet tall) to be a dancer.  And, the fact that I was often asked, after tripping on an invisible pot hole, "Hey Grace, how's charm school" helped me make my decision.

I'm not big on dance recitals, think clogging and other specialty type dancing is dumb.  But, having the ability to groove to music without looking like a fool - that is something I'd love to have.

My boys and I have regularly scheduled, weekly dance parties.  We have a play list on the ipod called, "Songs to Dance To" and we'll rock out until all three of us are sweaty and just cannot move anymore.  Our moves are signature and our passion for dance is strong.  We sing along, and dance our large, and tiny booties off.  Some day soon, my boys won't want to dance with me, they'll realize I'm a dork.  Right now, I'll take all the dance parties I can get. 

I remember as a little girl my mom trying to get my dad to dance with her.  He would stand still and she would try to lead - but ended up just sort of dancing around him and singing along to the music.  We laughed and probably joined in.

If you're still reading after all this dancing nonsense, watch this video.  Not only is it dancing from some of my favorite films (Footloose, Dirty Dancing and Grease), but there is a lot of John Travolta dancing and come on!  It's John Travolta dancing.

Need I say more.

Preston and Katie

Last Thursday my cousin Preston got married.  It was sort of crazy to participate in his wedding. He's only 22 and I've grown up with him around.  I used to babysit him and we'd watch Hatari and he'd go to sleep in his cowboy boots.  He was a student of mine in high school and even my aide.  For about 6 months of that school year, he thought he was Napoleon Dynamite - permed red hair, moon boots, wolf shirt, the works.

We were happy to participate in their happy day and I was even more happy to take some pictures.  It's hard to focus on photos where you've got two monkeys around, but I tried. 

Enjoy the video.  It's a very small sampling of some of the pictures I took on the wedding day.

preston and katie from Annie Howden on Vimeo.

Single Ladies

Okay.  You know I like "Glee".  The new season starts soon and I'm so excited.  Not excited about Britney Spears coming onto the show, but excited about the songs that the cast will be singing this year.

As part of the "Glee" phenomenon in our house, we've become a bit obsessed with Beyonce's "Single Ladies" as seen here:



and here:


Well, we know the song, we sing the words, we have the hand actions down pat. Even little Chicker does the "single lady hand" as we call it.

Thanks to Billboard, we have a new version of "single ladies". This whole Mash up Monday thing is just about making my life worth living (remember the Neon Trees from last week).

Okay, it's not that big of a deal, but really, it's pretty cool.

Listen to this version of "Single Ladies" and not only will you be singing it all day, but it's actually clear enough that you can hear and understand the words.

It's nice when the hair isn't there

I'll admit that I only learned who Justin Bieber and his hair are a little while ago.  Yes, I've missed the internet sensation.

I also think I just barely learned what "Viral" means when in reference to something online.  Like, "it went viral".

Anyway, my husband likes the Neon Trees.  I just learned about them a little while ago, too.

What can I say.

I'm a dork and I live under a rock.

Keeping all my lack of knowledge in mind, listen to this. It's cool.

musicals - the elliott edition

As I was writing all these musical posts last week, Elliott wanted to know what I was doing. My brother and I told him that we were writing about musicals.

He then said to us, "I have favorite musicals."

"Really? You do?" we inquired.

"Yes", he said. "Rock Lobster, Bust a Move, and Don't Let Me Down."

Well, there you go.







Boy oh boy my kid has varied interests in musicals.

Musicals: Day 4, Any dream will do

Everyone knows the story of Joseph from the Bible, right?

You know, mean brothers - sell their younger more favorite brother into slavery. Then Elvis comes, blah, blah, blah.

Joseph isn't my favorite, but the music is good. I asked my brother, Will the Thrill, what his favorite musical is and he said this one. When asked what his favorite song is, this is the one he told me. As we watched it on YouTube together he said, and I quote, "Doesn't it just give you chills". Yes Willie. Yes it does. Nothing like a lot of good la, la, la's to get the chill factor up.

Musicals, Day Three: A day at the beach

Okay - most folks have never seen a Frankie and Annette beach movie.  It's okay.  You probably aren't missing out on much because the movies really weren't that great.  Poorly acted, bad story lines (check that, no story lines), and bad editing (sometimes you can see the film splice).

That being said, the movies were a fun part of my childhood, the best being "Beach Blanket Bingo". My sister and I watched this countless times where we were much younger than we are now.  I haven't seen it for years, but this song often pops into my head at strange times.



Like I said, classic cinema.

And who doesn't like a movie where the girl is named "Miss Sugar Cane" and it's the chick from Dynasty.


And, if I havent' sold you yet on adding this to your Netflix que, there's even a mermaid.

SOLD!

Musicals - Day Two: Sincere

Oh, Conrad Birdie!

Who knows the first time I saw the movie "Bye Bye Birdie" but it was magical. When I was in Jr. High the high school did the stage version and the guy who played Conrad Birdie was a ringer. There weren't any guys dreamy and talented enough to play the part so they brought in an older guy who could do it. It was awesome.

If given enough time, I probably could recite this entire musical to you - or at least sing you all the songs. In order.

I'm hip like that.

My favorite song from the musical is, "Honestly Sincere".


The opening and closing credits always embarrassed me a bit. Ann Margaret's boobies were a bit too pointy and because my mom is my mom, she somehow managed (at least in my mind) to embarrass me about the part where she squishes and growls the words.



See what I mean? A bit embarrassing. Even so, it didn't stop me from singing the title song to myself in the bathroom mirror when I was twelve.

No, I don't do it anymore.

Musicals - Day One

I'm completely inspired by "Glee" and music and singing and all that junk.  This inspiration has transferred to the blog and this week will be dedicated to MUSICALS!  My favorite musicals.


Can you even stand it?

Some background:
When I was a kid, my mom made us watch musicals.  She probably said it was to keep us cultured, but I think it was more to feed her desire to partake.  She made us watch some doozies (State Fair, The King and I, Oklahoma) that I really didn't enjoy but others like "Bye Bye Birdie", Beach party movies and Elvis movies became family sing alongs.

My parents were even in charge once of a church musical - the directors/producers and my sister and I spent what felt like months sitting in the gym watching the same lines be repeated over and over again.

"Keep your eye upon the donut, and not upon the hole."

So to start the week off with a bang, I'd like to dedicate the day to RENT!  A million years ago, when we still lived in Mildred, my childhood home, and bought music at the record store owned by one of our neighbors, I discovered the story of RENT.  The playwright who died right before the show went live on Broadway, the sensitive topics of HIV, AIDS, and drug use and the even more sensitive topics of gender relations.  My sister and I bought the soundtrack.  We listened in the car.  We were nervous what our mom would think about all the "f-bombs."

Even so, we were brave and played the music for our mom.  She was okay.  She liked some of it even.  Next, it was time to see the show live.  I've seen it three times and the touring group is coming to town a year from now.  I'm sure my sister and I will see it again.

To commemorate - here are a few of my favorite songs - from the movie "RENT".


La Vie Boheme - one of my favorites


Take me or leave me - yes, it's two girls singing to each other, but I sort of thought of it as my personal, split-personality theme song back in the day (Can you believe I just said, "Back in the day"?)


I'll cover you - one of the prettiest love songs ever

Your "glee" moment

Obsessed?

Maybe.

I'm in no way a fan of Les Miserables. For me, it is, well, miserable. I went once to see it with my cousins and I fell asleep and missed the whole middle. The high school I taught at did the abbreviated version. It was okay.

I have however, always loved the song "I dreamed a dream." It's beautiful when sung well. This week on Glee, it was sung very well.

Enjoy!

Music

We've got some songs that are getting us in a dancin' groove lately. 

I hate that I like some "popular" stuff these days but...

when you've got to dance, you've got to dance.

Weezer


Train


The Killers