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oh that is so sweet Robin.

What a great story, Robin. That groom sounds like a keeper, for sure. And my hat's off to you and all the other performers who can sit down and improvise a concert with no preparation! Yikes!

Jeff, your story of the wedding photographer made me remember my own wedding, many years ago. The photographer took what seemed like a gazillion shots of me alone, hubby alone, the two of us together, and just about every permutation of us standing with various family members and in-laws. Weeks after the ceremony when she sent us the proofs, I was surprised to see that there was a much smaller number of shots of me alone compared to hubby et al, and certainly MUCH fewer than I remembered standing around for. It finally occurred to me that the photographer--bless her heart--had undertaken a prescreening of the shots and held back any unflattering shots of me with eyes closed, stomach not held in, etc. And apparently there was a large number of such shots, but I'm just as happy to go the rest of my life without having seen them.

One always hopes that marriage is not catch and release!

"Today in Wedding Jeopardy History:"

September 15, 971 AD (old calendar)- St. Ludmilla suffers an untimely decease when her mother-in-law wrings her neck, over a difference of opinion about her influence over grandson, King Wenceslaus.

No comment on this one, except that when you hear, "But Grandma said I could," be extra-careful of your neck.

And, "Today in Wedding Future History:"

September 15, 1984: The birthday of Prince Harry of Wales. Still single, and no mother-in-law to worry about.

Monica, love the photographer story!

That King Wenceslaus was obviously a lady killer, Jeff!

I attended the wedding of a friend on Sunday. I have come to the conclusion that playing a three hour wedding gig is MUCH easier than attending one of these eight hour social marathons. I found myself longing for a piano, a corner, and an escape from the festivities.

Also, when you play the gig you don't have to bring a present.

There were no weddings booked at the castle on September 11---the only Saturday in recent memory that was was nuptial-free and rightfully so.

Hi Everyone!

Wedding fever continues here in Germany. Tonight is an odd Monday evening wedding soirée. Love Monday night gigs. Wish I had more of them.

Good news. I write lyrics for an amazing Brazilian jazz singer named Joyce Moreno. A prolific writer, and excellent guitarist, she is often called the Joni Mitchell of Brazil. She's in her sixties and sings with one of those effortless Brazilian voices that makes everyone go AHHHHH. She writes her own lyrics in Portuguese but asked me several years ago to write two original English lyrics for her, for her newest album, which is called Slow Music.

Guess what? "Slow Music" one of the five nominees for a Latin Grammy (!) in the Best Brazilian Album category. My lyrics are on two tracks---the title track "Slow Music," and "Convince me" (below) which I wrote when I was in the middle of a crazy wedding season a while back. Rest of the CD is in Portuguese.

So here you go. Maybe this will become a new wedding favorite, for those marrying in Bahia.

Convince Me
©2009 Robin Meloy Goldsby
Reprinted with the permission of Bass Lion Publishing

Love is inconvenient;
It’s a scene I should avoid,
I’ve been trampled down by romance,
I’ve been hurt; I’ve been annoyed,
Please give me a reason to jump back into the void,
Convince me I should fall in love with you.

Passion’s a distraction,
Worth a fraction of the cost,
Just because there’s an attraction,
Doesn’t mean the stars are crossed,
Look into my eyes before my common sense is lost,
Convince me I should fall in love with you.

Too chaotic, too hypnotic,
An exotic silent race,
I’m resisting, you’re insisting,
I’ll survive your next embrace.

Love is too quixotic,
An erotic treasure chest,
Perhaps I should leave town,
And give my heart a needed rest,
Or I could simply kiss you,
Put my judgment to the test,
Convince me I should fall in love with you.
Convince me I should fall in love with you . . .

Oh, that song sure resonates with this middle-aged woman's heart who didn't find (and marry) her hubby until her 30s and after a long string of disappointing relationships... Thanks, Robin! I'll be rooting for the album to win the Grammy.

Hmm... like a Tom Waites lyric with a high-dose estrogen drip. But that's ok, I like Tom Waites, and you certainly deserve the recognition. All that alliteration will come across in the song, even if the listeners don't understand English. There's your international cachet.

Brazil--- not so shabby, either; long the home of some of music's finest. Congratulations on the nomination. Have you picked out what you're going to wear to the awards? No? Still thinking it over, then.

Of course, what better excuse to go shopping when you get there...

Thanks, Monica and Jeff!

The awards ceremony is in (of all p[laces) Las Vegas in November. I'm just the lowly writer, not the nominated artist, so I doubt I'll be attending. Plus it's right in the middle of my busy holiday season. Besides, I looked at a video of last year's awards, and trust me, I have NOTHING to wear that's snazzy enough for the Latin Grammy Awards. Sequins! Fringe! Ruffles! Plunging necklines! I'd look like a nun in one of my castle outfits.

I went to Brazil on my honeymoon. Only spent two weeks and I've been trying to get back there ever since. I guess this recording is a way of doing that, even if it's just in my mind.

BTW. just heard that the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas is closing. Now there's a reason to get there fast! What a character. My mom once met him at a charity ball. He was wearing an ermine cape.

A nun? No, Robin. Tell that to someone else.

Besides, nuns don't get themselves up like they used to (I used to live next-door to a real one)... though I suppose that attire for the Latin Grammy awards does rise to a different standard.

Interestingly, when I think of Brazilian fashion wear, I think of those beautiful prints, and the sophisticated and flattering drama of cut. My thinking may be somewhat outdated, I admit. But if you want to talk about outdated, let's talk ermine capes--- can you imagine the fuss PETA would make.

I suppose the announced closing of the Liberace museum might motivate me to fire up the retro-rockets and escape from the gravity well. Since I tore up my knee I haven't done much of that sort of thing, but such fall color as California has, exists in the transmontane river valleys across the Sierra scarp. I've meant to go at just this time of year for a long time. And, the oldest living thing on earth is right on the way--- I could drop in. You're probably thinking I mean the Bristlecone Pine stands in the White Mountains (and I do), but even older are the more humble Creosote Bush rings which have survived as individual, genetically-identical plants for over 10,000 years.

An acquired taste--- I admit it. Not much to look at, many would say.

But then... dragging across two very large Western states to visit a shabby strip-mall on the backside of Las Vegas (an acquired taste of its own)... and then back. Oh, I don't know.

I could picture a museum of Las Vegas memorabilia being a big attraction--- showgirl's outfits, gangsters, the various acts and venues that have come and gone, videos of the blowing up of some of the big hotels to make way for even bigger ones, the photos of people watching the test-firing of nuclear bombs which were visible from Las Vegas, the building of the big dam across the Colorado. Lots of material there. Why, slot machines and gambling devices could have a wing of their own. That junkyard that has all the big electric signs which have been replaced--- that has considerable impact, all by itself.

Ok, so I've strayed from the subject of weddings (although it's quite an industry in Las Vegas). Every bolt is not going to hit the bulls-eye.

On the whole, if I were going to make a trans-atlantic flight to attend an awards ceremony, I'd probably rather go to Rio.

Closing the Liberace museum??
I went to it once; a setting and building too small and ordinary for the extravagance of its honoree, but still enjoyable, and a decent look into a unique cultural phenomenon.

That is awesome. You really have a gift.

Now, don't take this the wrong way.

When I was reading it, another song popped into my head, because the last lines match:

Release me, and let.......me love again!

i hope hope hope it isn't the same tune!

Funny, Tim! No, not the same tune at all. Joyce wrote the music, so no chance of that happening.

Elecmuse3, wow, you actually went to the Liberace Museum! Cool.

Jeff, if I ever get to the West Coast, YOU are going to be my nature guide. Oh my, the things you know.

I will bet that Liberace played his share of weddings, but I'll also bet he angered some brides by wearing outfits that upstaged them.

Monday's wedding was a gay wedding. Very nice!

somewhere i have a Best of Liberace CD... got it at a garage sale.

I saw him at Radio City Music Hall in the 80s.. quite a spectacle, but I love his playing. My teacher was the regular organist there at the time.

Took a quick look-up on B&N--- 16 different Liberace CDs, DVDs, and multi-disc collections still in print. In theory, at least; I find they list many things which they are not able to fulfill if I actually order them.

Still, it's a respectable offering, after all this time.

I can't say I personally remember any of his performances, except for a YouTube clip of him performing with Phyllis Diller--- she on harpsichord. She is (if I remember right) a Curtis graduate... maybe I have the school wrong, but she is a more serious musician than most know.

As for that performance, well... pure ham, I'm afraid. But I guess it worked for the B&W TV of the era. You have to give it some punch to put it across, even some Punch and Judy.

Bad wedding karma this weekend:

Played the cocktail party for a wedding last night. A small group, maybe twenty people or so. They were nice, but spent the entire time with a commando photographer who shouted orders at them about posing. I guess that photographers have to take charge to get the shots they want, but this was a little extreme.

The result was less like an elegant cocktail party and more like playing for a military drill.

But what could I do? The bride had hired the photographer, so it wasn't my job to tell him to chill out. Not a great situation, but I can deal with an hour of just about anything.

The wedding party for tonight balked at my price (I have a two hour minimum, even if I only play for twenty minutes) and decided to go with a "friend" who plays a little piano. Fine. These people were difficult right from the beginning, so aside from the paycheck, I'm not really missing much.

So wish me well, my friends—I have a Saturday night OFF!

I have Saturday night off, too. Good thing, because I have an 8:30 am tuning for a 11:00 am show!

Well... people have been known to perform the Wedding March on paper-and-comb and kazoo at a pinch.

I don't know that anyone would want to listen to as much as twenty minutes of it, let alone two hours. But for tonal variety, the recessional could be scored for Marine Band harmonica and didgeridoo.

Tell me, at least, that you didn't give them your demo CD. The Special Edition.

Ooh! If you are stuck for ideas, you can always do what our family does on Saturday nights: Enter into spirited debate and negotiations regarding what DVD to rent (it can be hard to find the perfect action movie/post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller/romantic comedy/Spongebob epic combination to please all four of us), change into jammies, and crowd into the family room to watch the movie, with the highlight being the ice cream break halfway through. We're such a wild and crazy group.