American Pie?

I missed you again. Summer is kicking my rear end. There are so many things to do on the weekend that suddenly it is 8:30 on a Sunday and I still have not sat down to do the blog. A during-the-week blog is definitely out of the question. I get home a little after 6:00, meet Bev in the den for a martini; kiss her on the cheek, compliment her on her dress and pearls. I comment about the kids and wonder aloud where the paper is and what time supper will be ready. It takes its toll. Then there is the little bit of gardening and I am off on my bike ride which has become a bit of an obsession. That is a lot to get done and get into bed by 9:00 for the 5:00 am alarm. I do need my eight hours of beauty rest.

So with that busy schedule, I will continue to do the best that I can. delivering the blog with the knowledge that, before I know it, September will be here; the grass will stop growing and the days will become shorter and I will have more time to write.  I love summer.

A You-tube video of a lip dub in Grand Rapids Michigan has also been consuming vast amounts of my time the past two weeks. It is so cool. In three weeks it has gotten 3.129 million hits. Actually 3 million are unique. I have watched it 129,000 times. I just cannot get enough of it. The whole idea came from a 20 something named Rob Bliss who took umbrage when Newsweek said that Grand Rapids was one of America's top ten dying cities.  I didn't know you could be the top ten of a negative. I suppose Lizzie Borden had to be one of the top ten axe murderers. Adolf Hitler a top ten genocidal megalomaniac. Anthony Weiner a top ten tongue twister repeater. If Tony typed a peck of twitter tweets how many tweets did Tony Weiner twitter.

Rob Bliss was not impressed by Newsweek declaration. I was reading an interview with Mr. Bliss and he had the greatest comeback in the world. "Newsweek declaring that Grand Rapids is dying is like visiting Lenin’s tomb and having Vladimir sit up in his sarcophagus, point at you and say, ‘you look a little pale.’" Simile and irony all rolled into one.

So Mr. Bliss had an idea. Let's put a call out to the greater Grand Rapids population and have them come downtown and we will use them to film a lip sync of American Pie. On May 22, 5000 of Grand Rapids finest gathered and sang and frolicked their hearts out. The scope is what amazes me. They have a parade float, a marching band, a concert, wedding, and pillow fight. Over a course that runs five or six blocks; people come in and out of the frame in almost perfect synchronicity. One singer comes on with his tableau of people; does his part; veers off to the side, and then their replacements come right in.

Waldo is there. . .Three times. I like the pillow fight and love the green pickup truck with a couple riding in the back in blatant disregard to OSHA's safety rules. As the segment is finished she leans over and plants a peck on his cheek. The football scene is ballet on asphalt. They did not reach perfection which is one of the things that makes it so great. There is the old guy in the convertible who loses his place in the lip sync and gets behind and struggles to keep up. Then there is the band kid who is so self-conscious that he has all of the ease and fluidity of a 2 by 8. It isn't pretty but they didn't try to hide him. He is right out there in front.

My favorite? Without a doubt is when this Satan character (my description; most of my family doesn't see it, but they’ve watched it only 2 times) flips his wrist and a wall of fire goes up 600 yards away on another bridge in perfect time with the lyrics. Then he follows the camera across the bridge but stops just as he gets to the seam of the bridge like he can't go further. Like he can't intrude on the raucous joy of the swing dancers that come into the frame as he turns away and stomps off. I love that. Like danger is close but we are going to bar its way with our robust participation of life.

And it goes on. For nine minutes it goes on. From the imagination, through the will and into the camera, it is a testament to people who enjoy life and don't pause to think that it can't be done, or it is too hard or too complicated.

I like to think that at our finest we can listen to the Nannering Naybobs of Negativity and say nuts to them.  We have the faith to start down a long and complicated road, hoping that others will come along side us.  The next thing you know, you have yourself a parade. At our worst? I suppose we just twitter our lives away.

Take care.

Roger

PS link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI