Virginia Breeze

The boxing analogy was working pretty well as American Idol had it’s biggest night of the year. This is what it’s all about and why we have been patiently listening to “pitchy” notes and half baked versions of songs we have always loved. And things were going well until the introductions when David Cook announced that it wasn’t a competition for him. He was going to have “fun”.

If losing is fun I guess he must have had a great time last night. In any case he started with I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Lookin For. And it was a solid if predictable performance. His second song was something written for the program called Dream Big. And I am sure the writers and their families were excited about his performance of it.

And his final performance was The World I Know. This was his choice and his voice was in great shape but he should have sung Billy jean again. Perhaps he would not have had enough “fun” performing the same song twice.

If he was competing he would have done it. He would have stirred the soul of the audience by singing it even better than he sang it the first time. Perhaps that would have solved the problem of singing the same song twice.

Because there is always room for improvement on this show. But he didn’t and so he lost his best chance to win the competition. And I’m not sure he even had much fun because he cried after finishing his last performance. Why did he cry? Possibly because he threw the fight. It must hurt terribly to not show everybody what you can really do.

Archy on the other hand came out to win. He wants to win. You can tell. He sang Don’t Let The sun Go Down On Me for his first number. And the nerves were evident but then he picked it up a notch and really got into it. He goes somewhere when he sings. We just hope he will keep his eyes open so that he doesn’t fall off the stage.

For his second song he did something called In This Moment. Once again we had a song created for the event and he pretty much did the same thing that he did for the first number. Except the nerves were gone. Same genre, same emotions. And the same little girls screaming at him from the front of the stage.

And for his third song David once again sang Imagine. And while he was singing I was imagining him challenging himself in the way David Cook did earlier. David C noted that he had never performed his third song before.

But Archie did a nice job. He is totally committed to that song and he can claim the prize for being the very best vocalist of the evening. It was absolutely beautiful.

But I was vaguely disappointed by the whole thing. I would have liked either of them to sing something like Billy Jean. I would have liked to see a star born right there on the stage. And I don’t think it’s ever going to happen on this show. Because a real genius is not going to give it up. He or she might tease us a little bit during the season with flashes of brilliance but then will clam up during the finale and avoid the trap.

Archy wins tonight. He will be happy. David Cook will be happy to go off and explore on his own. But he still has to deal with the tour and singing the same songs every night. Bummer. He better have his pirate joke working really well.

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David Cook

Brilliant

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Billy Jean

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Update: So David Cook is the new American Idol! And the show tonight was inspirational in a way that last night’s show was not. I am happy that America got it right in spite of the fact that Mr. Cook played a little hide and seek last night. He certainly had Simon fooled. Apologies all around!

David did show flashes of genius during the season. And maybe he DID want to win. He certainly seemed very happy after he found out about it. Maybe he simply didn’t want to see Archie disappointed. This is one very intelligent, talented and caring person.

And maybe American Idol has learned a little bit about letting these young people go out and explore their talents in ways that make sense to them. The well documented dust up between the first winner, Kelly Clarkson, and Clive Davis may have led to some discussions in that regard. And allowing Fantasia to do her thing last week certainly gives credence to this notion.

All I know for sure is that I am very happy David C won. Archie is a nice kid and he has a bright future but he is not ready for New York, New York. He needs to finish high school in a way that Jordin Sparks did not. And speaking of Ms. Sparks it certainly was wonderful to see her back after the doctor imposed hiatus. She looks and sounds great. And so does Carrie Underwood.

The show has been over for about ninety minutes and here is what it says in Wikipedia about all of this.

The program seeks to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the later stages of this competition are determined by public voting by phone. The format features three judges who give critiques of the contestants’ performances in order to facilitate the voting: record producer Randy Jackson; pop singer and choreographer Paula Abdul; and music executive Simon Cowell. The show is hosted by former children’s game show emcee and television personality Ryan Seacrest; comedian Brian Dunkleman cohosted with Seacrest in season one. The American Idol band is led by Rickey Minor. The show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the US and Thursday and Friday nights in the UK (two days after the US airing). In its seven seasons, its winners have been Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks and David Cook. Hicks was the oldest winner at 29, Sparks the youngest at just 17.

Congratulations David Cook. It didn’t take someone long to add your name. And congratulations American Idol on a great show. You are showcasing our young people and their talent in a very positive way.

And the final shot of the show could not have been any better if it was scripted. David Cook’s brother looking into the camera a proud and happy guy forgetting for a moment his fight with cancer.

“That’s my brother!”

Perfect.

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Well we have all made it to midweek and around noontime it will be time to head back towards the barn again. Sure it may take a few days to get there. But the important thing is that we all have a barn and a horse to get us there.

Henry our Tudor friend has many barns and many horses. I hope you have been watching him on Showtime. On the last episode he dispatched Thomas More and Cardinal Fletcher to their Heavenly rewards. More was possibly his best friend and a father figure too. We can see the king screaming with pain and regret when the axe falls.

Thomas More refused to take an oath saying the King was the head of the church in England or anywhere for that matter. I was caught up in the scene where his wife pleads with him. She comes to his dungeon cell and says “Thomas, please! Just say the words. We have all done it and we will forfeit all our possessions if you remain stubborn.”

Clearly she will miss him but right at this moment she has other concerns. And he says “Yes you and the children have been my greatest concern. But I can’t endure an eternity in Hell even if it means you all become paupers” or words to this effect.

Makes sense to me. Besides shouldn’t God be the one who takes care of them? Especially since Thomas More has gone the extra mile for Him. Have faith woman and go get a job! You too kids! Let’s worry about dad because at his trial he nearly faints when they tell him what they are going to do to him.

He has this thing about Pain! And I am right there with him at this moment. He will do anything to avoid FOREVER burning in the devil’s workshop. But on the other hand the guys are going to hang him until he is half dead, cut out his bowels and burn them while he watches with interest, tear him into four pieces with wild horses and then cut off his head! Talk about being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea!

How do people even think up this stuff? But then his good friend Henry shows his soft and caring side by commuting his sentence to simple removal of the parts that have been causing him so much trouble.

Much much better! Thomas goes off after a nice speech to the crowd and Henry gets to suffer for many more years with gout and whatever else. He probably gets sexually transmitted diseases. Because he can’t control himself. He is riding through the woods with his guards when this guy and his wife come along. Immediately they are stopped and questioned. Henry goes up to the wife and sees she is young and beautiful. So he gives her a big kiss and carries her away while her husband stands there steaming.

What’s he going to do? He probably heard about what they were going to do to More! I always try to put myself in some of these unique circumstances. What would I do?

Beth! Please write when you get a chance.

I love you!

And so it goes. Human history is full of sad episodes like this. It’s a shame really. Thomas More had it about right. And so he gets to ride out the remainder of the series in his Heavenly abode in comfort and peace.

Hopefully he will somehow help his wife and kids as they struggle along the road. But they could have refused to take the oath too! I wonder what he would have said if they all came to his cell one day and said they were going with him?

Great! But I hope for your sake Henry likes you as much as he likes me?!

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Here is the list (so far) of bloggers whose comments I appreciate so much based on the things they have said and the fact that they came back and said some more. Remember who you are dealing with here in the event I have left somebody out. It will dawn on me one of these days when I am driving down the street or taking a walk. “Oh no! I’ve forgotten about “Joe” ! “

I haven’t gotten all of these up yet but I am working on it. And the ones I have completed can still hold lots more stuff. If you have something in your blog that is very cool let me know and we can add it. Or maybe make a future post out of it. This is not a one time deal! I am opening this PR 4 blog up for bloggers who comment regularly here. That sounds like a cool thing to me. But I also realize I march to a different drummer much of the time. So time (and you guys) “will tell”.

And I don’t mean to be presumptuous. If you want me to take some or all of it down let me know. I don’t know why that would happen but it could happen. Adding stuff would definitely be more more fun.

The Middle Way

Creative Blogger

The Seeded Earth

Everest by climbers blog

10,000 Birds

The blog @RTD 13

BFK Photography

Helena’s Blog

Emma Alvarez Site

Your Caring Angel

Scenic Adelaide

WebPrepPro eTutorial

Political Rogue

CharlesHamel.com

I have also included blogs that I enjoy but do not know the author. Maybe I have commented and not heard back. But it is alright. This is a good exercise in not expecting anything in return. Just go out and enjoy Blog Land! So that’s what I am going to do!

And they get Stumble priority too.

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Part II/ Here is Part I

http://davidnotes.com/2008/02/11/1967-and-life-in-the-city-the-who-come-to-town/

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Grab a RSS feed and follow our path

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Cathy was full of surprises. She would be running around (or driving around in her Cutlass Convertible) with her business school friend one minute and then she would be at my door the next with much to say. Her major was sociology and she was always very curious about people. She liked to report on things she had discovered about them. As I look back it becomes clear that she was curious about me. I did not fit the BU mold. Perhaps I was a lab rat disguised as an unhappy boyfriend.

When she was happy we would often go off on long conversations about life as we explored the city. We would sit by the Charles River and study while the sail boats flew past. And then one day she surprised me with an invitation to come home with her for a weekend and meet her parents. I wondered how we would get there and she said her father would come get us in his private airplane. So we were off to Pennsylvania in a small airplane and since I had never flown before I was amazed by how peaceful everything looked far below. I glanced back at Cathy and discovered she was studying a small paper bag. We arrived and she did not seem to be her usual bouncy self for once.
Her parents seemed very nice although I did annoy her father a couple of times. I told him I was trying to convince Cathy to become an English major. It was a joking remark but I could tell he was not amused and I would not have been either under similar circumstances. We went out to dinner and he let the bartender give me a few drinks. This was before they dropped the drinking age to eighteen and then recognized their folly and pushed it back up again.

And then it began to snow. And it snowed and snowed. Soon we were buried beneath several feet of a cold blanket of the stuff and there was no way we would be able to fly back to Logan airport the next day. So we said good-bye and climbed aboard a Greyhound bus for the very long trip back to Boston. It was a day dedicated to long waits with an brief introduction to being together when you don’t necessarily want to be together. Because maybe you disagree about a few things and you are bored. In other words it was like being married for a few hours.

Spending sixteen hours side by side in this stressful environment following a weekend with the parents tested our relationship as it had not been tested before. We arrived home eventually and ran back to our apartments. I felt for the first time what it might be like to have a more permanent relationship with someone and was disturbed as if by a bad dream. Cathy was way ahead of me as most women are in similar circumstances. I went back to my books.

She no doubt called her business school buddy and went cruising in her car as soon as the roads became passable. But we were not done with each other. Our ride in the back of a bus through the snow fields of Pennsylvania was only a brief moment of inconvenience compared to what was to come. We could run but we could not escape the awful moment that would send her crashing to the floor and end our relationship as I looked on in horror.

I wanted to protect her but this was something I was utterly unprepared to do. I wanted to hold and comfort her but she was beyond caring on this terrible night.

We were still children. Sometimes young people marry and learn about adulthood as part of a package of both joyous and difficult times. Our education took little time and involved no ceremony at all.

And they forgot to include the joyous moments as well. I hope that somewhere down the road she did find them. I pray that she did. Because she certainly deserved to enjoy them all after her time dating me and the young Wall Street businessman.

I doubt he even remembers her today as he marches down Park Avenue in his platform shoes.

The last part:

http://davidnotes.com/2008/03/17/a-college-romance-reaches-its-limits-part-3/

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