Just a-ramblin'

Oh, for heaven's sakes! Balkanarama, a Balkan group on my list of my top three favorite groups (Atwater-Donnelly, the folk duo I keep mentioning, and the Crossing, a wonderful Celtic group, are the other two. Lower than three I can go if I must, but only if I must), has just lost their talented guitarist, Amir Arslanagic. Just when I think I have the spelling right, too. It seems like this happens every time they make a CD. Now they're a group of six again, and I don't know what they sound like without this guy.

Correction. I do. I saw them once back when they had two folks they don't have now, Jana Rickel and Tym Parsons (Tym Parsons' father-in-law actually had something to say about my dancing). That particular time their violinist couldn't make it due to traffic. But they did have a CD out recently, and, wonder of wonders, soon afterwards, Jana Rickel quit. Tym Parsons was not far behind. The second time I saw them, Jana Rickel had quit and their violinist was with them, sporting a beard that wasn't in any of his pictures. Then Tym Parsons quit and they got this new guy, Amir Arslanagic. At this time, two of the band members took on stage names. Anyway, pretty soon after that, they got this guy, Kevin Stevens on bass guitar. I saw them once with just him and not Amir Arslanagic. Well, it sounded just fine to me. Mum said there was something lacking, and it is true that there was a voice that wasn't in the singing and no guitar solos. Well, we'll have to get used to it. I sure hope they don't fold anytime soon, or at least until after I've seen them at least once. Drat! These are the times I wish I were on the other side of the Pacific for other reasons besides regular.

The other thing I had to say was, I had something to show you. My sister and I played this game where we think of a favorite movie and then decide, who would you like to play if you were all of a sudden an actress in this movie (it can be anyone). Then, if you can't be so-and-so, who would you play? And finally, those two choices are taken, so what would you play last. I'll give you three:

Star Wars: 1st choice was Leia, though I'd really prefer a different hairstyle. 2nd choice was Han Solo, 'cause he's just kind of fun. Susie and I do this one scene with Luke and Han and we fight over who gets to be Han. 3rd choice was Aunt Beru because she has a short part and I don't like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, or Darth Vader very much. And I love to imitate the way she goes, "Loo-ooke! Loo-ooke!" at the start of the movie.

The Sound of Music: 1st choice was Liesl, not cause I want a boyfriend, but because she's the oldest and I'm the oldest and she gets to be a caring sister in one sequence. She's also kind of the leader of the kids when Maria goes away. 2nd choice was Maria because she gets to sing and play the guitar a lot. 3rd choice was Max because he's funny.

Sense and Sensibility: 1st choice was Margaret because we both are geography nuts, have big imaginations, and she doesn't have to fall in love. 2nd choice was Elinor because she's straightforward and very serious--I'm not like that, but it's a sort of thing I like to play--and Elinor is again the "big sister" character in some scenes. 3rd choice was Marianne because I don't want to be Lucy Steele or Fanny Dashwood, or, hey, the only other person I'd want to be is Marianne, so that kind of precludes any questioning.

Anyway, that's my rambling. A swallow flew past the window a while ago. Maybe it's telling me to do my English assignment.
Adios.
Saro