Do you hear the people scream?

As a musical enthusiastic (my family uses the term "fanatic," and I've told them not to, saying "I'm not obsessed with musicals...I'm just enthusiastic about them." Whenever I say that, they laugh. They all have sick senses of humor,) I have a great interest (NOT OBSESSION) with Les Miserables. 

I just watched the movie with a few friends. Before, I'd never actually seen it, the movie or on stage, but I knew every song down to the last beat and knew the story line. Well, thought that I knew the story line. My dear father told it to me long ago, but when I saw the movie, I was in for a real surprise. Dad must have seen a Muppets version of it or something, because the way he told it, one would have thought, as I did, that the story of Les Miserables was an innocent, wholesome one.

For the first half of the movie, I kept waiting for Cozette and Jean Valjean and their puppy dog Marius to teach Javert the true meaning of Christmas!

Despite being ill prepared for this Goliath of a musical, I fully enjoyed it. I loved the deep characterizations, how the characters dealt with inner conflicts, and the ongoing theme of redemption.

But all that my friends watching it with me got out of it was how cute the French revolutionists were. Observe this conversation that I had with Della:

"My favorite character is Marius!"

"Is this because you admire his strength and willingness to sacrifice a peaceful life of ease with his true love for fighting for the liberty of his country, and because he demonstrated compassion and love to the lesser peoples of France?"

"No, I like him because he's hot!"

Here my friend Roseanne joined our conversation: "I know! I wish that I lived during the French Revolution so that I could hang out with all of those cute guys!"

I couldn't take it after that. "You guys," (yes, I call a group consisting of females "guys,"), "don't you know that Les Miserables doesn't take place during the French Revolution? No, it follows the events culminating up to and throughout the duration of the 1832 June Rebellion."

But of course, nobody fully appreciates a useful and completely applicable history lesson.

Here's an excerpt from my diary that I wrote before seeing the movie:

The Les Mis album that I have (original London cast, of course) is however, edited, because according to my dear father, there are some "inappropriate" songs in it. Apparently, one of them is sung by a couple of innkeepers in a tavern. I don't comprehend what could be the matter with this, because in all the musicals I've seen, (Oliver, Fiddler on the Roof, and various Disney films) the tavern scene is the best part! I don't quite understand how people dance and sing so adroitly when they're drunk, but somehow it works.

Having now seen it, I think that I follow my dad's thinking about this subject.

Dictator of Eritrea's Identity Revealed

Well, it's me! Duh!

But apparently, the public has been a bit...slow about uncovering the truth. Check out this recent article from the selfsame world renowned public newscast:

March 31, 2013

The secrets behind the happenings of late regarding Eritrea are beginning to be revealed. The most recent reports confirm Rosetta Ever Johnson, a U.S. citizen, as being the nation's currant dictator.

"Well, I've always wanted to DOMINATE THE WORLD, and so I've been diligently keeping a look out for opportunities to begin my reign. It soon came to my attention that-HEY, you're supposed to write  'DOMINATE THE WORLD' in all capital letters! You know, like how I always do it on my blog! Oh yes, that's more like it. Any way, it soon came to my attention that Eritrea's 'president' (cough, dictator, cough) hit the pasture recently. So I suggested to his minions or whatever they call themselves to make me their dictator! It'd save them all the trouble of electing a new 'president'  or killing each other all over deciding who was to rule next," Johnson reports,"So yeah, I've basically been dictating it from here. All I have to do is tell 'em what to do through E-mail and Facebook!"

The causes of Eritrea's unexpected and sudden economic spurt are yet to be explained, though according to Johnson, "Well, obviously the country's skyrocketing because I'm in charge of it! Get with the program here!"