Cuba Doings

If you want, slide over to Megh's Cuba Blog (click here) and follow their trip!

Actually, you can't really follow them, because they couldn't call or email me for the entire week. But that didn't stop me...I made all manner of things up for your entertainment and possible education!

The real stories will come after they've rested and had some McDonald's.

Enjoyed my "quiet time" but I can't wait for them to be home at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Friends...I'll Make My Own Peeps!

(BTW: These pics are from our peep-making session!)

This landed in my email. It made me laugh and so we tried it. If you want to see really good instructions with pictures and everything click here. Also the website has a bunch of other really cool stuff on it.


Make Your Own Peeps Recipe

Ingredients
1/3 cup water
1 package gelatin (2.5 tsp)

1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 T vanilla (1/2 or less T homemade vanilla)

Sugar
Food Coloring

Directions
Step 1: Soak the gelatin for 5+ minutes in the 1/3 cup water til "soft." Start on the next step while it softens.

Step 2: Stir the 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar on medium high heat until sugar is dissolved. Boil until the mixture becomes syrupy and reaches 240 degrees with a candy thermometer. It will take 5 to 7 minutes. Stir often.


Step 3: Pour hot syrup into gelatin mixture and mix on low for 5 minutes.

Step 4: Add vanilla. Mix on medium high for 10+ minutes until mixture forms soft peaks (peaks droop after being made).


Step 5: Meanwhile make your sugar by mixing in some food color. We like sugar so we made plenty.

Step 6: As soon as your mixture turns white and hits soft peak stage get ready! Line your cookie sheets with wax paper. Fill a gallon bag quickly, clip the corner and then start making shapes!


Work fast! The marshmallow begins to set up quickly. And it can be a bit messy.

You could also smear the marshmallow goo out and cut shapes out with cookie cutters.

Sprinkle the colored sugar as soon as you possibly can so it will stick.


(If you don't put sugar on top, they make great marshmallows for hot chocolate!)

Give it a shot and ENJOY! HAPPY EASTER!

Sticky Joyfulness From Us To You at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

NEW PROMO

Meet City on a Hill Productions from City on a Hill Productions on Vimeo.

Kevin's brother David actually put this together...

I want to say that I taught him everything he knows but with one look at the video you'd know that isn't true...I only taught him the important things.

It's Still Hard To Believe We Worked On All Of These Pieces (I Was The Groupie, and the Homeless Person, and the Accuser) at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

Satan Is My Friend

Here’s proof:

And so is Jesus, but I don’t have a picture of him. The line was too long.

The Pharisees were fans of mine (or was it the other way around?)

John the Baptist (a.k.a. the Cowardly Lion from “The Wizard of Oz”) took a break from crying out in the wilderness to give me a hug.

The Apostles hung out with me (because my computer was streaming "March Madness")

I got to joke around with the guys who executed Jesus. This is their leader. Beware his vicious Tiger on a Golden Chain...Russell Crowe's got nothing on him!

Of course my favorite characters at the SECC Easter Passion were never seen...if they did their jobs well.

I'm Still Tired But It's A Proud Kind Of Tired at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

The Above Family Picture was taken on the first balcony of Southeast Christian church, current residence of the Bryan Family and 997 other people who are putting on a little "skit" called the Easter Passion.


It’s Saturday, one of only 3 “day’s off” if you are part of the Southeast Easter Passion Team. “Team” should be used loosely here since the entire group of volunteers that put on the show each night numbers around 1,000. There are around 260 "cast members" (meaning those who daily cover their bodies with makeup called either “Light Egyptian” or “Dark Egyptian” depending on whether you are playing a Jew or a Roman and flit about in hot, rough costumes that resemble artistic burlap sacks). Those who help put on said makeup run from 50 to 100 volunteers and there is a team of costumers who turn all of those burlap sacks into something nearly enviable.

Among the other batches of people there lies the “tech team." This group numbers “only” 40 crew members but includes all of audio, video, and special effects...a.k.a. the "Geek Zone," except for Julie and I who would be called "groupies." Megh and Kev are part of the Video Crew…they run 2 of the 11 cameras that are used each performance to project close ups of the show onto IMAG screens.



The IMAG screens are approximately 12 foot wide by 9 foot high. The camera crew has a team of people who sit up in a booth and who chooses which shot will be used and then sends it to the three IMAG screens. Kev and Megh are up front right next to the stage, which means there is no end of the “friendly” rivalry of who will get the best shots and who will have more “screen time.” As you might imagine, I stay out of anything that has “friendly” and “rivalry” in the same sentence since I can tell (being the astute linguist that I am) that “friendly rivalry” means that I, personally, will be in deep doo-doo no matter who I pick.


The little IMAG screens projecting the show (they are the ones that say "Jesus" in the family photo) are only impressive and huge if the other screens are not lowered. When we remade the Easter Pageant several years ago, we decided that it would be cool to attempt “mixing media” as part of the Pageant. “Mixing media” is nice to say in a sentence, but in practical application it means that we not only have a ridiculously huge cast (one of the largest in America) to put on this little skit, we also bring in live donkeys, doves, camels and a flying dove that lands (like the Holy Spirit) on Jesus, a good sized orchestra (I’ll have to count how many tomorrow night), and a backstage choir of over 150 people than come and sing into microphones to help fill out the sound but who are NEVER, EVER SEEN. And (here’s the “mixed media” part) we have two completely ridiculously huge retractable screens that are 52 feet wide and 31 feet high. The two screens together make a standard IMAX screen (about 72 feet wide by 52 feet high)…in other words the auditorium at Southeast Christian church is large enough to unfurl an IMAX-sized screen (divided in half) and still have room to see a bunch of other stuff besides!

This year I have added another label besides "groupie" status. I am also a "newbie mic-person." This means that I come in an hour earlier than the "groupies" to put on mics onto bodies. You can read about that in one of my previous posts but I thought you might like an artistic picture of what assails me each evening:



Meghan has also added another title to her belt; she is Check-In Trouble Shooter. All of the folks in The Skit and all those who help put on The Skit or who do makeup or play in the orchestra or sing backstage or work with props or feed those who are in anyway involved in The Skit come in through one door and check in. Megh helps to manage that area. The best thing about doing this present job is, as best as I can tell, is the walkie-talkie. She gets to run around and talk to everyone. Isn't that fabulous? I will get a picture to show you just how fabulous that actually is, but for now you'll have to settle for this:



I So Wish You Could See Our Little Easter Skit at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

It Must Be Late

Because this man's blog fascinates me.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A MAN RUNNING FROM CAMERA. It's More Interesting than it sounds. Trust me.

I know it sounds weird, but it's so stinkin' artistic in a pseudo-ghetto sort of way...

I must go and sit on my non-momentum at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

Meghan--Then and Now (part deaux)

I really don't have all the good pictures of Meghan I would like. Meghan has them. And has put them on her Facebook page.

But here are a few more I found:






It's hard to believe that when we arrived this beauty was an adorably pudgy child...and now she's a...sniff, sniff...a (gasp!) TEENAGER!

How can she be growing like this when I've quit having birthdays at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

I Just Read My Last Post

...And I want you to know that it was not I who wrote it! It must have been my evil (and uneducated!) twin...who obviously isn't getting enough sleep and who must have been nodding off at her keyboard because otherwise she would have at least spell checked the stupid blog entry before she posted it!

Sigh...what is one to do?

Favorite quote of the moment: “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”
from E. L. Doctorow, American Author

I write, therefore I am insane at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

Meghan--Then and Now

You might remember by daughter:







But OMG You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (b-b-b-b-baby) as sung by the Bachman Turner Overdrive

There's this:



More coming...but must get to bed before I lose Teacher of the Year along with Neighbor of the Year!"

Ugh! Why Am I Not Aging As Gracefully (or Beautifully) As She Send Formulas for Fountain of Youth to: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com

Chocolate and Roman Soldiers...It's That Time of Year Again!

It’s that time again. Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching L’ville and with it comes chocolate hearts, talk of snow and/or tornados, the traditional Taking Down of Our Christmas Tree, and the Easter Passion at Southeast Christian church.

Feel Free to check it all out here. From there you can see more pictures, cool stats, etc.

There’s a cool time-lapse of the set being built here.

Practice starts (for the Tech Team) March 1st. Actors and the choir have been working on their parts since January. The show runs from March 10th through March 27th every day of the week except Saturdays.

Last year over 80,000 people attended.

This year why don’t you be one of them!

We’d love to have you…although we will be only mediocre hosts; Meghan runs one of the eleven live cameras for the show and Kev’s been asked to run one as well. (Last year, Kev ran the video segments). Someday I’ll tell you how Megh ended up as a cameraperson…you’ll laugh.

I am, increasingly, the perpetual groupie; driving a cameraperson into town each night (Kev doesn’t drive much since his heart surgery… LOL!!) and I help clean, prepare, and secure the “snack room” while protecting the dinner reserved for the “Techies” from marauding bands of teenagers, townspeople, and Roman guards.
The Romans are the most threatening since they’re a hungry lot, plus they like to hang out in our room s to participate in the other seasonal religious experience…of course I mean March Madness.

In Kentucky, there are two reasons for such devotion: here and here.

This is of course, only the first of at least several whine-fests informative, and uplifting blogs about the Easter Passion. Come and experience it yourself.

But bring snacks…in case the Romans are restless.

~m

An Alternate Universe

Please visit www.scaredsilly.blogspot.com. Now. Click here. You'll be glad you did. Or you might be offended. But it's entertaining offensiveness, in a soft and happy package.

I promise.

I am currently,

Snowed In And Loving It

blogReporter Marcy...um...Reporting

President Obama declared Kentucky a "state of emergency."
More than 1 million people were out of power.

The water company in our county lost power putting everyone but our neighborhood (it seemed) without water, and then on a "boil alert" until further notice.

We were able to host 2 1/2 families and three dogs for the 5 days it took to get power restored to their area.

Our cat hates us.

Libby is shedding profusely because she thinks she's next to be booted out.

Being the type of reporter that does more than simply reports I including a few more pictures of the carnage.



Miss Annie and Mr. Van came to stay with us. This is one of their trees. It shouldn't be dragging the ground.



This is a view down their street. A lot of trees had already snapped. At times it sounded like popcorn popping (towards the end of the popping stage when you should be taking it out of the micro but you want to "free" as many "old maids" as possible.



This is our park in our back yard.



This is our baby apple tree. It was amazing how each twig or blade of grass was encased in ice.

Click on each picture for eye-blinding detail.

Must run. Kevin's flying in from "chilly" Houston (whatever!) and I've got more "refugees" (in the form of some folks from my Bible class)coming for the Big Game and to do laundry (if their power isn't on by kickoff).

L'ville Intrepid blogReporter Marcy signing out.

And So It Begins

As promised in my email, here is the incurred damage as we now stand.

In our neighborhood the damage from Hurricane Ike (September 1-14, 2008)

And now it's being reported that we've survived the worst ice storm in “recent memory.’

I must say, their “recent memory” is pretty short because I remember an ice storm right after we moved here that made the entire city an veritable ice skating rink. It was at that precise moment that Kevin decided to take Meghan "sledding" on the largest hill in L’ville. There were only 12 people on the hill at the time. Two of them ER docs and their families. Megh’s first run resulted in her hitting a tree traveling at terminal velocity (while going backwards)splintering her saucer, and severely bruising several guardian angels. Ah but I digress to blame…

Here are some examples:





In the next installment, Pictures! Of! Meghan! Because I'm Not Putting Up Pictures! Of! Me!