You know there is a saying
That sunshine follows rain,
And sure enough you’ll realise
That joy will follow pain;
Let courage be your password
Make fortitude your guide,
And then instead of grousing
Remember those who died.
Poem (from Prisoners of War) by an unknown prisoner, written on the wall of his solitary cell. The poem was taken from the book, Prisoner of War: My Secret Journal, by Squadron Leader B. Arct.
Another health post. Sorry but that’s the way it is.
I had several (innocent) lumps between my eyebrows and the corners of my eyes, and some under my left eye, which turned out to be “clotted cholesterol”, according to the doctor. Nothing serious and I could have lived to be 100 with them, but they kept growing with no signs of stopping and sometimes my view was restricted because they were pushing my eyelids down, so it was best to get rid of them. Last Monday the dr. cut them out. I’ll spare you the gory details, but the injections hurt like… (fill out the dots). I didn’t feel anything of the procedure itself, so that’s a bonus. The wounds were too big for a band-aid, so I have 8 stitches in total.
I honestly can’t understand why people would undergo this voluntarily. I don’t want to feel those injections ever again, so let’s hope the cholesterol will keep flowing and not clutter up again! No botox for me either, wrinkles or not!
I looked and felt like a boxer who lost a fight. My eyes were swollen and I didn’t have to use eyeshadow as my skin turned different shades of blue and purple during the week. Monday the stitches will be removed…. so I have something to look forward to :p
It’s tiresome, in the last four months I have seen the doctor more than I have in my whole life. I think I’ll just wipe 2008 from my memory and skip to 2009. Or maybe the good times are coming now?? Well, those have to be brilliant to make up for the last few months!
I saw Les Mis about 40 times over the period 1986-1992. In Holland as well as in London. I know the CD by heart, every word, every note. I know exactly where there’s a pause, or where the singers take a breath. In short, it’s like a second skin.
For the new production the composers worked on a modernisation of the score, they took out the ’80s sound effects’ and changed the feel of it all, so it would fit in this time and age. To emphasize that, they weren’t looking for ‘classical’ voices at the Dutch auditions, but rather more ‘pop’ voices. I have to say, it worked for some characters, but not for all, although I have to add that I must give it another chance. Knowing the previous productions so well, I wasn’t really willing to accept the modernisation… so I will be mild 🙂
In all… it was beautiful. I laughed, I cried, I had goosebumps and went through many emotions.
Jamai Loman (former winner Dutch Idols) is perfect as Marius. “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” always does it for me and I had to grab a tissue this time as well.
Jamai’s voice blends well together with Suzan‘s, who was offered the rol of Cosette after she came second in the TV-Show “Search for Evita”. I am sooo glad she didn’t win the part of Evita, 1) it is one of the few musicals I don’t like, 2) Cosette fits her like a glove, 3) Les Mis is the musical of musicals, no better place to be!
A standing ovation from me for Wim van den Driessche – he IS Javert, obsessed and scary, but vulnerable as well. “Stars” made me cry, powerful voice and a beautiful song.
Nurlaila Karim was the perfect Dorothy in The Wiz (reminded me of a very young Diana Ross – but more beautiful 🙂 ). She’s not my choice of Fantine though. Maybe it’s the change of the score, I don’t know, but “I dreamed a dream” was not the moving experience which it should be. I kept noticing differences and Nurlaila’s voice is definitely ‘pop’. It was disappointing to me – but she got a big applause, so I’ll take the blame for not liking her version of Fantine.
I never saw Freek Bartels perform before, it’s nice to see a new face in the theatre business. He has a great voice, the youth and ‘drive’ needed for the part of Enjolras and he’s a very nice guy as well!
After the show we waited at the stagedoor and – excuse the language – it was bloody cold! The people we met were all very friendly. Although they must have been tired, they posed for pictures and were happy about the positive comments from the fans.
All in all, it was a moving and wonderful theatre experience and I really hope to see it again…. *making notes* must save money!
Sick as a dog – got the stomach flu that has been floating around the area for months now. I thought I was lucky, being the only one in the family who didn’t catch it, where others have been down with it two times. But nope, it hit me anyway.
Apart from the long hours I spend in a certain small room, I sit here, browsing without any enthusiasm, waiting until it’s time for me to go to bed again. The kids will expect dinner, I suppose – but I officially declare today is Sandwich Day! Don’t want to think, smell, eat, let alone prepare food!
We never got the snow the weather-people predicted (see my previous entry). It was such a disappointment. Oh there were snowstorms, but as soon as it hit the ground it turned into water *sob*
Now there’s no chance of snow I suggest we skip the rain and cold and move on to Spring! I can’t wait for the chirping birds and the buds popping out in the garden. That reminded me of a layout I did, which fits perfectly with Karen’s (Scraps of Mind) request to post a Nature layout.
I was so proud of the beautiful flowers in our garden I had to capture them and preserve the moment for days like today, where everything is grey and cold and wet and windy and… gotta run… nature’s calling!
In all… it was beautiful. I laughed, I cried, I had goosebumps and went through many emotions.
