A Little Housecleaning...

Usually when there is a huge uptick in visitors around here, it's because Mark Evanier has touched his magic wand and recommended to his blog readers an article I've written.  There has been a HUGE increase in visitors here today -- hi, folks! -- but nothing recommended by Mark on his site.  Visitation Rights are double today what they've been the past two weeks, the second most here ever at Elisberg Industries, and it's only 4:30 PM in Los Angeles.

The best I've been trying figure is that the people at Schick got all excited that someone was talking about their razor blades and have been sending customers this way, perhaps for a free shave.  But nope, checking the Stats page, there's nothing that shows visitors being directed here from any other particular website.  As a result, my guess is that today, for some reason, people are more bored than usual and looking for something to do.

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Speaking of the good Mr. Evanier, I'll send some visitors his way.  He has a little piece here and a quite wonderful video that's gone viral the past few days of a vocal teacher, Sarah Horn, who got called up by Kristen Chenoweth during her weekend show at the Hollywood Bowl.  It's something Ms. Chenoweth seemingly does in her concerts, to find someone in the audience who knows the song, "For Good," from the musical Wicked (that she starred in) and perform the duet with her.  This particular performance blows away the audience -- and Ms. Chenoweth, too.  Deservedly so.  This young woman's career as a vocal coach just exploded.  There's a link in Mark's article to very nice article on Broadway World.com that Sharon Horn wrote about her experience -- I read it after watching, but I think it almost might be better to read it first.  It sets up the story well, and also makes more clear some words that get lost in the audio.

(By the way, the next night the young girl that Kristen Chenoweth called up did a nice job, as well, Kellie McKay, a student at Boston Conservatory.  There's a video and article, as well, on Broadway.com here.  You can see that Kristen Chenoweth has similar reactions at various points -- though in fairness, both performances deserve nice reactions, even if some of it is prepared.  And it's clear that her far-greater response is for Sharon Horn.  Deservedly.

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If you read the first two parts of my friend Michael Katz's article about life at Northwestern University and its woeful college football team, he takes us up to the present day in Part 3 here, which includes some years of actual success.  This includes getting in the Rose Bowl and Alamo Bowl -- both of which they lost. (This qualifies as success at NU.) 

I was at both games, and they were painful -- the Rose Bowl because it was so close, and the Alamo Bowl because it so wasn't.  (losing 66-17 to Nebraska)  What particularly stands out from that blowout was not that it was played indoors or that the team got crushed -- but that when the game was FAR out of hand and nearing the end...Nebraska ran a trick play and scored yet another unnecessary touchdown.  When I got back home from Texas after game, I watched it again on television -- yes, I know it was a huge loss, but still, it was the beloved Northwestern, and at that point they didn't get in many bowl games -- and it was so comforting to see the national announcers as pissed off as my dad and I had been at Nebraska for running that trick play.  I've always considered that a moral victory...

It was therefore with amusement that I read a comment in Mike's piece that references the fact that Nebraska, now in the Big Ten, used the same "N" logo as Northwestern, and how his friends at Nebraska say that the "N" stands for "Nowledge."

By the way, I can't leave this without noting that last year Northwestern finally won their first bowl game since 1949, 64 years!, when they beat Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, 34-20.  Huzzah.