Happy Birthday, Frederic!

Tomorrow is Frederic's birthday. He's turning 39, which is still pretty young considering the fact that he was born in 1856.

As Rapunzel said, "That's the funny thing about birthdays - they're kind of an annual thing." However, Frederic's birthday occurs less often than Rapunzel's (or most other people, for that matter). Poor guy - he was born on February 29th, which is a fact that plays a key role in his story, the light opera The Pirates of Penzance.

The story centers around young Frederic, who, at the opening of the opera, is celebrating his 21st birthday. This event frees him from his indentures as a pirate, which as we soon learn, was an accidental apprenticeship. Long story short, he is later approached by the Pirate King and his nurse, Ruth, who tell him that since he was born on February 29th, he isn't actually 21 yet. Poor lad.

The Pirates of Penzance is one of me and my sister's favorite light operas, with the others being other Gilbert and Sullivan operas such as The Mikado and Patience. That's the reason that I'm writing a happy birthday blog post to this young man, who is a slave of duty. I mean, what is there not to like about light operas? (Unless, in fact, you don't like musicals or something crazy like that....) Light operas are the exact same thing as musicals except that there's more music!

The following are a few of our favorite videos. (A slight caution, though - the Jon English version of The Pirates of Penzance is not totally clean. It's funny and some of the videos are hilarious, but there are a few inappropriate things sprinkled throughout that keep us from buying it.) These are taken from the movie version with Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast), Rex Smith, and Kevin Kline (Phoebus from The Hunchback of Notre Dame).

'With Cat-Like Tread'


'The Pirate King'


'Paradox' (or 'It Really Doesn't Matter')

This is the song when they explain the paradox of Frederic's birthday and age. (As a side note, aren't Frederic's pants AWESOME?! I keep on asking Arwen to make me some, but she's too busy...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FREDERIC!!!

~Eowyn~

Edit: Sorry the videos are off! I can't figure out how to make that work. If anyone knows, please comment. : )

You Love Me Anyway

I got the WOW 2012 CD for Christmas last year and have loved listening to it in my free time. (It's a must-buy if you like Christian music!)

Anyway, I have quite a few favorites and this 'You Love Me Anyway' one of them. I absolutely love this song!! It's so true and more theologically correct than a few other songs I've heard on the radio lately (such as the one that goes "I'm someone worth dying for..." I'm like, "Nope, you're not! It's called grace." That song drives me crazy....)

The question was raised
As my conscience fell
A silly, little lie
It didn't mean much
But it lingers still
In the corners of my mind

Still you call me to walk
On the edge of this world
To spread my dreams and fly
But the future's so far
My heart is so frail
I think I'd rather stay inside

But You love me anyway
It's like nothing in life that I've ever known
Yes, You love me anyway
Oh, Lord, how You love me
How You love me!

It took more than my strength
To simply be still
To seek but never find
All the reasons we change
The reasons I doubt
And why do loved ones have to die?

But You love me anyway
It's like nothing in life that I've ever known
Yes, You love me anyway
Oh, Lord, how You love me!

I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas' kiss
But You love me anyway
See now, I am the man who yelled out from the crowd
For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking
ground
Yes, then, I turned away with a smile on my face
With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace
And then alone in the night, I still called out for You
So ashamed of my life, my life, my life...
But You love me anyway!
It's like nothing in life that I've ever known
Yes,You love me anyway
Oh, Lord, how You love me
You love me, yes, You love me

How You love me
How You love me
How You love me

*sigh* I love this song... Hope that blessed your day! Now go listen to it on YouTube. : )
~Eowyn~

A little late, but still funny...

Poor Jason... he doesn't know anything about football!