The hills are alive with the sound of Jake, Elwood, and the blues

We were watching The Sound of Music a few days ago, and we realized that The Blues Brothers movie is basically The Sound of Music, set in Chicago with the blues.
Eerie coincidences, woooooo:
It's a musical.
The protagonist(s) are on a mission from God, each directly from Catholic school/abbey, and sent by Mother Superior.
The Von Trapp children are essentially Murph and the Magic Tones. 
The kids/musicians are being promoted for a big show, throughout the entire movie. 
They're being chased by nazis. 
Cab Calloway parallels the Von Trapp uncle who is a concert promoter.
There's also the jealous and evil girlfriend in each film: The Baroness in TSOM, and Carrie Fisher in TBB.
There's a happy ending in both, except for Jake and Elwood ending up in jail... But -- the Von Trapps escape into the mountains and Jake and Elwood get the money needed for the orphanage.
See, not so weird, is it?  It would have been kind of fun if the Blues Brothers and their band did a puppet show.  But instead they crashed a shitload of cars in a shopping mall.  So there's that.

Happy Chronica

This here's my stepkid with a gorgeous new 12-string.
The guitar count in the house is steadily rising as the teen years manifest.

Llamas and cheese

A few years back, my husband and I went through a funny Peruvian phase.  We wanted to decorate with pan flutes and miniature llamas and brightly colored woven yarn sculptures.  We bought a CD from those Peruvian dudes that always have their table set up next to the Space Needle.  We also bought some Peruvian doodads from a some other Peruvian guys' table at the Houston Science Museum.  I frequently imagined my whole house covered in decor from Cost Plus and went completely coo coo for cocoa puffs over any sort of llama art. Sometimes I wore a Peruvian crocheted hat.
I have never been to Peru.
Neither has my husband.
I'm not sure either of us will ever go there in our lifetimes.
I doubt it.
We got over the Peruvian thing, but we still have one pan flute hanging in the bedroom.  Just to remember.

All you need

I am fairly certain that everything that a person will ever need to know about being a decent human being can be learned by repeatedly watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory back to back with Groundhog Day.

What channel are you on?

I read that making art creates a channel for truth.
I believe that.

Another successful camping trip with a toddler

We are back from Twin Harbor State Park.  I invented a totally awesome and delicious, yet-to-be-named breakfast item: 
Scrambled egg sandwich with mayo on Franz' Milk and Honey bread, stuffed with with Fritos and sharp cheddar.
Crunchy, cheesy proteiney goodness.

Complete breakfast, yarp.

The Mysteries of the universe

Just out of curiosity, I wonder what the most complicated instructional video is on youtube.  I have plenty of friends who have taught themselves to crochet, cook, paint, draw, program, understand math, fold diapers, and so much more - all thanks to the magic of youtube and other peoples' willingness to share their skills through tutorials.

Yesterday, I was wondering to myself how far it goes.  I had to have 2 surgical procedures in the last couple of years.  I looked them both up on youtube before undergoing them.  Yep, they were both on there, being used as teaching tools.  It eased my anxiety to see actual videos of what was about to happen to me.  I also wondered if there's a limit.  Brain surgery?  Rocket science?  YES.  It is all there.  Carl Sagan will explain the cosmos to you from the grave on youtube.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Youtube, I would like to be your girlfriend.