One of the coolest nuns that I ever knew when I was in high school, was Sister Mary Abram. She was cool for two reasons….First, she stimulated my interest in History and current events, and second, because she played the Mandolin. Now, as a gamer, I have to confess—yes, I am a fan of the Silent Hill series,
James, set to attack, encounters a Lying Figure in the foggy streets of Silent Hill. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
and even if Silent Hill is not for you, you have to admit that there is something hauntingly beautiful about the main theme form the first game in the series:
No, wait…Sister Mary Abram was cool for a third reason…One time in class, she announced, “Michael Meyer—Starting today—you will have a three question a day limit!” You see, I have a very analytical mind, and I love to take issues apart and hack an idea to death, even long after others in the class have moved on to the next paragraph, page or chapter. But I can’t leave an idea alone, so one day, I actually decided to push the envelope, and dare to ask more than my allotted three. Well, I’ll be damned if Sister Mary Abram didn’t in fact say to me,
“No—you had your three questions, no more today!”
Now, some of you might think that she was a jerk for saying that, but I respected her for it because it showed that she was a person of her word!
Now, getting back to point number two—Sister Mary Abram played the mandolin, and one time, before an all school mass, I was treated to her rendition of “Lara’s Theme” from “Dr Zhivago”:
In case you haven’t heard of this amazing young man, his name is Nick Pitera
One Man Les Miserables Nick Pitera Medley
Songs included in this Medley (in order)
I Dreamed a Dream
Who am I
Master of the House
Stars
Red/Black
A Heart Full of Love
One Day More
On My Own
Bring Him Home
Epilogue/Do You Hear the People Sing?
WANNA SING ALONG WITH NICK WHILE YOU READ THIS POST? HERE YOU GO!
I dreamed a dream in time gone by When hope was high And life worth living I dreamed that love would never die I dreamed that God would be forgiving And still I dream he’ll come to me That we will live the years together But there are dreams that cannot be And there are storms we cannot weather I had a dream my life would be So different from this hell I’m living So different now from what it seemed Now life has killed the dream I dreamed
JEAN VALJEAN:
Who am I? Can I condemn this man to slavery Pretend I do not feel his agony This innocent who bears my face Who goes to judgement in my place Who am I? Can I conceal myself for evermore? Pretend I’m not the man I was before? And must my name until I die Be no more than an alibi? Must I lie? How can I ever face my fellow men? How can I ever face myself again? I gave my soul to God, I know I made that bargain long ago He gave me hope when hope was gone He gave me strength to journey on Who am I? 24601!
THENARDIER:
Welcome, Monsieur, sit yourself down And meet the best innkeeper in town As for the rest, all of ’em crooks Rooking their guests and crooking the books Seldom do you see Honest men like me A gent of good intent Who’s content to be Master of the house, quick to catch yer eye Never wants a passerby to pass him by Servant to the poor, butler to the great Comforter, philosopher, and lifelong mate! Everybody’s boon companion Everybody’s chaperone Everybody raise a glass Raise it up the master’s arse Everybody raise a glass to the Master of the House!
JAVERT:
There, out in the darkness A fugitive running Fallen from God Fallen from grace God be my witness I never shall yield Till we come face to face Till we come face to face Lord let me find him That I may see him Safe behind bars I will never rest Till then This I swear This I swear by the stars!
ENJOLRAS, GRANTAIRE & MARIUS:
It is time for us all To decide who we are Do we fight for the right To a night at the opera now? Have you asked of yourselves What’s the price you might pay? Is it simply a game For rich young boys to play? The colors of the world Is changing day by day… Red…I feel my soul on fire! Black…My world if she’s not there! Red…The color of desire! Black…The color of despair!
MARIUS & COSETTE:
A heart full of love, A heart full of song, I’m doing everything all wrong, Oh God, for shame, I do not even know your name, Dear Mademoiselle, Won’t you say? Will you tell? A heart full of love No fear, no regret My name is Marius Pontmercy And mine’s Cosette Cosette, I don’t know what to say Then make no sound I am lost And.. I am found!
JEAN VALJEAN, MARIUS, COSETTE, EPONINE & JAVERT
One day more. Tomorrow you’ll be worlds away And yet with you, my world has started! One more day all on my own. Will we ever meet again? One more day with him not caring. I was born to be with you. What a life I might have known. And I swear I will be true! But he never saw me there! My place is here, I fight with you! One day more! I did not live until today. One more day all on my own! (Overlapping) I will learn their little Secrets, I will know the things they know. One day more! Watch ’em run amok Catch ’em as they fall Never know your luck When there’s a free-for-all! Tomorrow we’ll be far away, Tomorrow is the judgement day Tomorrow we’ll discover What our God in Heaven has in store! One more dawn One more day One day more!
EPONINE:
On my own Pretending he’s beside me All alone I walk with him till morning But without him I feel his arms around me And when I lose my way I close my eyes And he has found me I love him But every day I’m learning All my life I’ve only been pretending But without me His world will go on turning A world that’s full of happiness That I have never known
JEAN VALJEAN: God on high Hear my prayer In my need You have always been there You can take You can give Let him be Let him live If I die, let me die Let him live Bring him home Bring him home Bring him home.
JEAN VALJEAN, FANTINE & EPONINE:
Take my hand And lead me to salvation Take my love For love is everlasting And remember The truth that once was spoken To love another person Is to see the face of God.
EVERYBODY: Do you hear the people sing Lost in the valley of the night? It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light. For the wretched of the earth There is a flame that never dies. Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see? Do you hear the people sing? Say, do you hear the distant drums? It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes… Tomorrow comes! Tomorrow comes!
BIO:
(Wiki)
“Nicholas Joseph Pitera (born March 7, 1986)[1] is an American vocal artist who gained his popularity by the release of his YouTube videos, several of which have gone viral.[2] As of May 2011, Pitera also works as an animator at Pixar Studios.[2]
Pitera has also appeared on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show as one of the audience acts. He sang “A Whole New World” from Disney, with himself singing both Jasmine’s and Aladdin’s parts.
He released his first self-written original single “Better Days” on iTunes and Amazon on December 4, 2012.[3]
Pitera gained his popularity for his extensive vocal range and his unusual feminine falsetto, as he first demonstrated in his most popular video, a cover of “A Whole New World“, from the movie Aladdin where he sings both Aladdin and Jasmine’s parts.[2] He is also capable of hitting high notes in covers of songs by Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston. He is known as a trap singer meaning he can sing both a male voice and female voice.
In 2011, Pitera released “One Man Disney Movie” using a “‘Brady Bunch’-style grid” to perform “an eight-minute-plus mashup of songs from various big-screen musical fairy tales, from “Beauty and the Beast” to “Enchanted,” taking on the roles of the heroes, heroines, villains, sidekicks and their furry choirs.”[2]
In 2012, Pitera released a medley cover of Andrew Lloyd Webber songs entitled “One Man Phantom of the Opera.”[4] This was followed in August of the same year by “One Man Les Miserables”.”
…So good to see a fellow mid-westerner make it big…So proud of you, Nick–Wish you were my kid!
About 12 years ago, I started formulating a children’s story….I’m still writing it! But I’m not in any hurry…after all, it took Margaret Mitchell 10 years to write “Gone With The Wind”, and look how that turned out. Naw, I’m not worried. Just taking my time. Like Michelangelo said to Pope Julius, “It will be finished when it’s finished!” So, in the meantime, I’m writing this blog as a means of gathering ideas and developing characters. It’s also an escape from the stuff that I usually bitch about on Facebook. With the exception of a future posting an essay that I wrote 20 years ago about my father’s death from cancer, I want this to be 30-60 minutes a away from the serious things in life to take a moment and laugh at the fun things in life…things that make you be a child again. Hopefully, when I post snippets of chapters, I’ll get feed back from you, my readers. Can I get you to do that? Thanks, I appreciate that!
"Adventures in the Psychus Suphomas" 