That cold/sore throat I complained about last post, came back with a vengeance! All I could think of, was to start singing, "Smelly caaaat, Smelly Cat. What are they feeding youuuu?". Yes. That is a Friends reference.
Growing up, I had a dad, who would literally tape every single episode. Now when I say "tape", I mean the old fashioned VCR, with an actual video tape. None of this DVR, and burning to DVD's nonsense. Nope, good ol' fashioned. If you search my dad's belongings, I am just sure, you will find BOXES of Video tapes with every Friends episode...along with some George Micheal's performances...don't ask. I try not to, myself.
Well anyways, one of the most memorable episodes for me, is when Phoebe gets a cold. She still has to sing for her gig's at the coffee shop, so cold or not, she goes on. Instead of being horrified at her sound, she's actually thrilled! This "cold", has given her a "sexy" singing voice. The Smelly Cat song I referenced above, is the song she sings. It's great, they make a video for it and everything. Now I"m beginning to feel nostalgic...I think I may need to re-watch the entire series again...
To spare you all from having to hear my "sexy" voice, I just waited it out. I DID make a video in fact, but I couldn't bring myself to post it. It was just far below the standard of what I'm willing to post. Along with "squeaks" on some of the higher notes of the song. Not good.
Well here is the version I finally was happy enough with, and hopefully you'll be too. Enjoy, and Au Revoir!
Can I just say....Thank God whatever it is that's going around my house is hopefully coming to an end!
Things have been exciting. First you get woken up in the middle of the night, to a child who is complaining of sickness...then within' days you're stricken "ill" as well. From wonderfully horrendous migraines, to gut-wrenching pains that won't even let you bend your abdomen, my household was on a constant roller coaster. Following this, is a sore throat that, when you try to sing, makes you cringe, and I'm sure a few dogs howl. Thus being the reason for me NOT putting people through me singing anything. My poor kids had to deal with a bit...and I'll admit, I heard them giggle at my expense. Can't say I blamed them either.
I'm still feeling that grogginess in my throat, and unfortunately a cold coming on, but so far, this looks like the "calm before the storm" of sneezing, coughing, etc, etc. Gotta love it!
In this minor break, I decided to sing Lana Del Rey's, "Off to the Races". I will admit, and I'm sure most of us can, that I in no way relate to this song. It's catchy. I know, I know..."ewww catchy"....but I finally decided to check Lana Del Rey out after hearing her compared to just about every artist out there. Or more like after seeing most Artists out there being accused of copying off of her. As always, I anticipated being disappointed. Unfortunately having the bar set incredibly low for others, seems to keep me safe from feeling bad for getting my hopes up. In this case, I was pleasantly surprised. While I'm not a fan of every single song, I did generally enjoy her, "Born to Die", album. (this is the point where you ask, "Rachel....do you EVER listen to ANYTHING uplifting???". To which I would most likely reply, "probably not". I just can't help what I'm drawn to.)
Much like other albums that I'm drawn to, you'll find melodies more along the minor scale, and darker themes in general. Then there are the "happy" more "upbeat" songs, that until you actually read the lyrics...you have no idea just how utterly macabre the song really is! Love it. I love the irony in it, so much. Well I found a lot of this in "Born to Die". Two songs stuck out to me, one being the song which I performed this week, which is "Off to the Races". The next song that really stuck to me is called "National Anthem". Which I plan to accompany with the piano, instead of using an instrumental or karaoke. So wish me luck on that! Anyone who has read my past blogs, or in general "knows" me, knows that singing and playing piano all at once, is a bit of a challenge for me. (Think "rubbing tummy while patting your head") Which is why I've set that challenge as a goal for me to get over. Wish me luck! Also, here is my latest video!
Hopefully everyone got out and voted today, you may not think your opinion makes a difference, but it does. It's almost electrifying watching the number of votes flash up on our screens, and you know millions of people in America are all anxiously awaiting. Then you realize that you are a piece of that puzzle that helped make this all happen. When they announced Obama as the winner, you saw the screen flood with tears, joy, and confetti. I was never big into politics, and for the most part, I remain "mum". This election was very undecided for me. We'll call it a circle if I may, and say that half of that would belong to the beliefs of a republican candidate, and the other half to democrat. Quite frankly I just can't sign my name over to one party. I have very religious beliefs, but I also believe in supporting the working man. Congratulations to President Obama on his re-election.
Either way, can I just say, THANK GOD THIS ELECTION IS OVER! If there's one thing I hate, it's all the bitchy Ads putting the opponent down. The last thing I want to deal with...ever...is something that resembles a bitchy teenage girl who is putting another girl who is probably equally pretty (if not more) down, just to make herself feel better, and in some phony attempt tries to raise her self-esteem.
So Thank you God...I have made it through this election.
Now if I can just hold off a little longer while a lot of angry Republicans start flipping their lids all over every social network....
(because "Arrested Development" happens to be one of my favorite shows...)
On a completely different note, below I have posted a video of me doing a monologue. This monologue is the latest piece assigned to me for my Acting class. Have some mercy on me, this is "Acting 1", and the character is very out there, and mentally ill. So just so no one is alarmed, I don't start off talking in the beginning of the video like normal. I just go right into the piece, and talk afterwards. The play that this monologue is taken from is called, "Getting Out". In my (the character) youth, I was referred to as "Arlie". She was a prostitute, and lived a rough life with her pimp Carl. Who unbeknownst, to him, impregnated Arlie, and of course her child was taken from her. When thrown in jail, she's still wild, violent, and doesn't have a problem inflicting harm on someone. She was abused by her father, and had a negligent mother who was in denial. Well a chaplain starts visiting Arlie, and helps her find her way to getting saved. After taking drastic measures herself (as you'll find out what that was exactly in the monologue), she rids herself of "Arlie", and goes by her full name "Arlene". From there on out, she tries to live a changed life, all while being tempted to go back to her old ways, and longing for who she really is. So Arlene is completely torn.
I will say, I loved this play. I had a week to read it, and read the whole thing within' a few hours. I still don't feel like I do Arlene's character justice. When I think of the perfect person to resemble Arlene, I think of Lindsay Pulsipher, who plays Crystal Norris in True Blood. Just look up some clips...you'll see why.
(In the video I mentioned that I did not post this on my youtube, turns out the blogger.com won't let me upload my video directly. So I will upload it to youtube, then share to my blog. It will be "unlisted", so only people given the link can view it. Aka, you guys!)
