this is ina — one plus one makes three

I have a ton of updates to catch up on (Halloween, etc), but we just saw the Michael Jackson movie/documentary and I just had to blog about it.

Even if you’re only halfway a fan of Michael Jackson, go see it. It was like watching an almost-concert of the King of Pop with a behind the scenes look at what goes into a concert like that. Every song number was a huge production number, with movie footage and outlandish props and crazy lighting and moving stage parts. The bits we saw made us go wow, I can only imagine how much MORE everything would be had MJ actually been able to perform in concert. You could see Michael Jackson was a true artist, from his perfectionism with the music to his flair for entertainment and bringing drama into his performance. Oh, and the dancing! He was a 50 year old dancing with 20-something year old dancers, and he was matching them with stamina. I can imagine his concerts would have been equivalent to 2-hour workouts!

As a child of the 80’s, it feels like Michael’s music is part of the soundtrack of our lives. I had forgotten that some of the songs were his, even though they were all instantly familiar. And I appreciated Michael’s effort in making his concert songs as close to the records as possible, so even after hearing the first few bars of music, you were instantly taken back in time. One of my favorites was the Thriller number, with all new footage of zombies coming out of the ground. I loved their plan to have ghosts floating in the aisles in the actual concert. I also enjoyed the choreography of They Don’t Care About Us, the black and white movie in Smooth Criminal, and the save the planet footage and stage props of Earth Song.

And even if he was a huge star, you could also see Michael’s humility. You could see how much his dancers and staff loved Michael, as fans and as family. You could see that he was willing to share the limelight with his guitarists and his band and giving them time to shine.

One thing we also noted was that Michael Jackson didn’t really have any guest stars at his concert (at least none that we were shown), but he really didn’t need any. He could carry the entire concert by himself, and you would be entertained every minute of it. The King of Pop was truly in his element on stage, performing. Go see it. Just go and see his final curtain call. It is totally worth it.

Today I am grateful for:

1. Chocolate chip cookies
2. Getting lots of laundry done
3. Freshly uncluttered surfaces
4. Photos from the LA county fair (coming soon!)
5. Dylan’s laughter before bedtime

I am grateful for:

Yesterday:
1. Sleeping in
2. Long naps (Dylan, not me)
3. Target
4. Hanging out with my sister
5. Delicious dinner

Today:
1. Chocolate chip cookies
2. the Getty Center
3. the cutest matching sweater and beanie
4. Holding hands
5. Peekaboo Barn

Yesterday I was thinking about a word for the month that I would focus on. I picked Acceptance, but I got over that quickly. I’m thinking about a phrase instead, and this definitely fits what I want to do in this month. So for October, the phrase is:

Action vs. Reaction.

I want to act on the things I want in my life, not just react to whatever happens to me. I want to take the reins, not just let life take me where it may. So that is my phrase for the month.

Today, I am grateful for:

1. Late mornings
2. Norah Jones on the radio
3. A no-show patient so I have an hour to catch up on paperwork
4. Dennis cooking dinner
5. Breastfeeding while lying down

What is it about new months that inspire you to fresh beginnings? I figured I didn’t want to wait till the new year, so I’m starting afresh today.

Goal for the month:
30 min of exercise twice a week.

There. I said it out loud, said it to the world. That should hold me accountable.

I wasn’t able to blog last week about the Phoenix auditions, even if we watched it since I was too busy feeding Dylan to watch the majority of it. So yesterday I rewatched the episode for a quick recap.

It started off with Biggy and Shorty, who turned out to be entertaining and better than I thought they would be, but nowhere near good enough for Vegas. Loved Sasha in the white, the one who did the routine with the chair. Spotted a likely Pinoy named Elie Soto, could be Latino though. We’ll see.

The hearing impaired girl who had spinal meningitis, Allison Becker, was touching. I especially loved her answer to Nigel’s question, “How are you going to be if we put you through to choreography?” “I’ll be great.” Love that confidence.

Then came the aliens from Roswell. I had a good feeling about Kelsey initially, even if she did say she had been kidnapped by aliens once. Didn’t make it to Vegas though. But crazy Jarvis “I am so excited” from another planet was something else. Too much drama in the choreography round, he just couldn’t hang. Asthma attack, whatevs.

And this week, Boston!
I loved how it started off with whimsical Teddy in the plaid pants. He was unique and likable, but I couldn’t get past the song. That was Jason & Janine’s! Still liked Teddy though.
Jean Lloret, the breakdancer, just makes you go whoa! Instant ticket to Vegas.
Channing the ice cream scooper, I just liked how she moves. Glad she got through.
The 6′8″ tapper was just too gangly for me.
Gene with the chest hair has too much attitude and off-put me immediately. He moved on to choreography though, and ultimately made it to Vegas.
And here comes blue spandex tights! My eyes were burning. Looks like Tyce had the same reaction. And I’m sorry, “Wherever I dance, people stop and watch”? We all just laughed out loud at that one. Train wreck anyone? Train wreck in blue spandex tights at that.

Sorry for the quick notes, Dylan is sleepy now, so till next week!

Nananana, nananana… here comes SYTYCD Season 6!

I know I volunteered to blog this season, hope I don’t disappoint!

This season was kicked of by the “off-off-off-Broadway” guy who wanted to be unique. No music, and it turned into some sort of freak performance art without an ounce of dance. If you want to do it acapella, do it the Ryan “The Other Brother” Kasperzak way with lots of rhythm and lots of talent. The tappers are out in full force this year. LOVED the tap battle a.k.a. trading, loved the spontaneity and the playing off of each other.

Besides the tappers, looks like the Pinoys are out in full-force as well. We spotted a Dumlao from Concord, CA that made it to Vegas, as well as an Agdeppa from Rowland Heights. And of course, Christopher Aguilar, the “Drum Song” film guy. The pre-commercial previews had us cringing already, we likened him to AI’s “I am your brother” dude. I’m surprised his backflip didn’t break his toes.

As for other notables, I really liked the girl with the mom in the wheelchair. Her mom must be so proud of her!

That’s it for now, see you right here next week!