Rock of Ages - the musical

Ok, I have a confession. Sometimes I skim read and jump to conclusions. When I saw that I could review Rock of Ages for One2One network I leapt at the chance. How cool to review a musical based on hymns.

Or not.

Because that is not what this Rock of Ages is. Boy do I feel dumb. For those of you like me, Rock of Ages is the new five time Tony nominated Broadway musical starring American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis. It is set in 1987 on the Sunset Strip in a club where a small-town girl meets a big-city dreamer and they fall in love to some of the greatest metal songs of the 80's. It is told through the hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and more.

These are songs I remembered from Jr high (even though I wasn't a metal head). Some of these I haven't heard in 20 years so I really enjoyed listening to it.





Here is the tracklist:

Just Like Paradise / Nothin' But A Good Time
Sister Christian
We Built This City / Too Much Time On My Hands
I Wanna Rock
We're Not Gonna Take It
Heaven/More Than Words / To Be With You
Waiting For A Girl Like You
Wanted Dead Or Alive
I Want To Know What Love Is
C** On Feel The Noize / We're Not Gonna Take It (Reprise)
Harden My Heart / Shadows Of The Night
Here I Go Again
The Final Countdown
Any Way You Want It / I Wanna Rock (Reprise)
High Enough
I Hate Myself For Loving You / Heat Of The Moment
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Can't Fight This Feeling
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Oh Sherrie
The Search Is Over
Don't Stop Believin'

I really enjoyed it. I could see myself continuing to listen to it except it does have some non-family friendly bits and I am usually with my littles. There are things I don't want to explain yet to them. Like what a strip club is.

I have recommended it to some friends but just those that don't spend all their time with kids (or have older kids).

Some added info:

Making of Soundtrack video

Link to buy album

Just so you know, I get no payment of any sort for the review. I do get the CD but that is only so I can do the review. These are my thoughts and opinions on the CD. I also get no payment of any kind if you chose to buy the disk.

Listen to the radio

Hmm, it seems like there are some songs that say that.

Oh well. I thought I would tell you about my newly discovered favorite way of listening to the "radio".

I suppose it isn't a true radio because you don't tune into ninty-eleventy FM.

And you have to have internet access.

And you get to say that you never want to hear a song again and they won't play it anymore.

Ok, maybe it is not so much like a radio.

Anyway, it is Pandora.com - I really don't know what radio has to do with a girl who opens a box and lets all the evil things in the world escape but anyway.

You go to Pandora.com and pick out a musician you want to hear (you can also do a song but I don't suggest it.) Pandora will then play that artist and other music that is like it.

For instance, I put in Journey and I have heard

• Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive,
• Journey's Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin',
Aerosmith's Dream On,
• Kansas' Carry On My Wayward Son
• REO Speedwagon's I can't Fight This Feeling Anymore,
• Journey's Ask the Lonely
• and of course no play list from that time is complete without The Eagles' Hotel California.

Each song you can vote on whether you like it or not, if you like it then they play more songs similar.

Like I said, you can put in a specific song and they will play music similar to it but if you are wanting to hear that song, you will have to wait awhile. Something about their licensing laws that they have to wait a certain amount of time before they can play that song. For instance if you want to hear The Search is Over you are better off imputing Survivor because it might come up.

And the music selection is much wider than you might suspect. I have found Christian artists (Chris Tomlin) as well as old stuff like Gene Autry (I have very eclectic music tastes).

Do I get any benefit from saying all these nice things about Pandora? Yes! I get free music to listen to, and it is music that I like.

Of course, you do too. And you don't have to review Pandora to get free music. And they probably don't care that I have said all this. And they didn't ask me to do it.

So really I don't get a thing.

Diane Birch - Bible Belt

I suppose she thought the title was appropriate having been raised as a missionary kid. I disagree. While I like the CD, it is not christian.

On the other hand, I feel ok with my kids listening to this one.

Now that I got that outta the way, Diane Birch does have an amazing voice. The songs on the album transported me. Fire Escape made me think of sitting outside on a hot Mississippi night sipping wine (I don't know exactly why). Valentino made me think of 2 little girls in the 40's dancing around in the kitchen to the music on the radio.

I am not sure exactly what genre of music this would be, iTunes classifies it as pop but I would say closer to jazz or blues. She also reminds me of Norah Jones so Diane Birch could be in the "vocal" category.

This is my first review for One2One, unfortunately I was not able to get it in quite as timely as I would have liked. I was supposed t be doing the review while the CD was delayed in the mail. It arrived after we left for a nearly 2 week vacation so at first I thought "oh well" but then I got to thinking about it and realized that I needed to do the review even though it is well after when they wanted it.

Anyway, if you like jazzy, bluesy pop you ought to check out Diane Birch's CD Bible Belt.

Despereaux and Marley and Me

After hearing our weather reports for the weekend, I thought that some movies sounded nice. We enjoy having "Family Movie Night" when we can, maybe once a month. No one is allowed to do something else, no playing on the computer, no reading a book; to be honest these rules are for the grownups though.

So Friday night, we popped some popcorn and settled down to watch Despereaux. All in all we enjoyed it, some parts were confusing - what was the deal with the magical man made out of vegetables? - but the kids gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up. We may need to read the book. I was a little worried this would turn out to be a Ratatouille makeover since there is a rat and food in the beginning. It doesn't take long before you forget Ratatouille though.

Would I recommend it? Yes, we enjoyed this movie and there was nothing really objectionable.

The other movie was Marley and Me. I should have known better. Stacey had mentioned a language issue but you know different people have different definitions of words they don't want their kids to hear. And it is rated PG but they are apparently alot more lenient than I would be. Among other terms there was S.O.B. (not abbreviated), b*st*rd, B*tch, *ss, etc. Not to mention there was also discussion about "making a baby," activities that lead up to making a baby, and a scene with a squeaky bed. Yep, lottsa stuff I wanted to explain to my kids.

Actually Junior got bored and left the room, which is good because he wouldn't have wanted to see the ending. Daisy did watch the ending, but she didn't like it.

Would I recommend it? Ehhh, it was ok. If I was watching it with teens, sure. With younger kids, no.

Homeschool Freebies -- not just for homeschoolers

There is a great resource that is for homeschoolers but those who don't homeschool might find some interesting things. Each day there is a link to a new freebie and the old link doesn't work. You really ought to check it out. Here is what they are doing this coming week.

Monday, Feb 16th:
Great President's Day Resource Links! (links)

Want to make the most of President's Day? Check out these
Lesson Plans, virtual tours, poetry & the actual papers
of presidents Washington & Lincoln!


Tuesday, Feb 17th:
A Chinese Wonder Book (PDF ebook)

This fascinating collection of Chinese stories and legends,
edited by Maggie Hogan of Bright Ideas Press, is a great
literature-based introduction to the rich history and
culture of China. Includes a read-aloud guide.


Wednesday, Feb 18th:
"Harriet Tubman & the Railway to Freedom" (MP3 audio)

A classic old time radio dramatization of the story of
Harriet Tubman and the activities of
the "underground railroad" during slave years.


Thursday, Feb 19th:
Blessed Is The Man: High School Unit Study Sampler (PDF ebook)

"Blessed is the Man" is a wonderful High School Unit Study
geared to Christian young men, and based on Psalm 1.
Today's resource is this extensive 74 page preview
of the complete four year curriculum - normally $10 on the
publisher's website - but yours to download today!
If you have growing boys in your household, DON'T MISS THIS!


Friday, Feb 20th:
Creatively Simple: How to Make Butter in the Blender (PDF ebook)

Learning to make butter is something everyone should do at least once.
This simple ebook by Penny Raine can teach you how, using items you
probably already have in your kitchen. Detailed instructions and lots of
pictures.

You can get all of these on their respective days at

www.HomeschoolFreebieOfTheDay.com

Die hard fan

Grateful for Grace has asked a question on her blog, which product are you a die hard fan of. Which products do you insist on having a certain brand, no other will do.

So I suppose I ought to confess.

I have a thing for hot tea.

I like a wide variety of hot tea for different moods, time of day, etc. Celestial Seasonings Peppermint tea makes me smile to smell it; their Tension Tamer tea is wonderfully soothing; I love the floral notes to a jasmine tea; gunpowder tea is just fun and flavorful; I have some wonderful green tea brought from China that tastes fresh picked. . . . and on and on.

But the tea that I drink every day, my absolute favorite is English Breakfast.

Not any English Breakfast, but Twinnings English Breakfast.

If I don't have any of it for breakfast, I will just have coffee.

So I am not completely loyal as in I buy no other tea; but for for my morning tea, no other will do.

Oh and I am completely with Grateful of Grace on the Luzianne thing. Their ice tea is way better, although I prefer it with caffeine.

Let's be scientists -- December Module

I just got the newest Old Schoolhouse Module -- Let's Be Scientists and it looks great. Rather than focusing on one specific branch of science, this gives you a great overveiw. There are sections on weather, astronomy, chemistry, and anatomy.

Let's Be Scientists also has great experiments like "Ice Cream in a Bag" and "How Do Your Taste Buds Work". There is also an introduction to gross science which most kids will love.

As always, there are great quizzes, copywork and coloring pages. There are also recipes included that I can't wait to try.

Check out Let's Be Scientists.