Now I can die happy!!

Yesterday I met one of my favourite childhood heroes... Charmian Carr, Liesl from The Sound of Music!!! Jimmy and I went to The Sound of Music Singalong and Charmian was one of the guests. I'd love to tell her that I've had 10 lizards named after her, ha!!

Jimmy knows of my oddness in being able to quote the most random things, especially dialogue and music from old musicals, The Sound of Music being probably the #1 victim of this oddity. While The Sound of Music holds a place of some description in the hearts of so many of us, for me as a young thing it inspired such questions as "Mum, how does the Baroness get her eyebrows like that?" and "Can all nuns sing like that, or do they teach you to sing like that if you become a nun?" So, when Jimmy saw the Singalong advertised a few months ago, he had to snap tickets up for us. Little did we realise what would be awaiting us!! I warned him that I might become rather embarrassing with my quoting, not only of the words, but also of the tones, inflections, and it was just lucky that my brothers weren't there to join me!! Well, even though I don't think a complete sentence went by in the whole 2 hours of the movie without me chiming in, let me just say that I was one of the more sane people in attendance!! Seriously!! Haha. I had the most awesome time, there were 12,000 people there and stacks of people were dressed up as something from the movie. There was a parade and competition for best costume, and Charmian Carr, Liesl from the movie, was there to help host and judge. While heaps came dressed as characters from the movie, some of my favs were the more creative costumes, like a string of cross-dressing nuns with cigars, grog bottles and beer bellies, a tranny Baroness named "Betty Zaman" (bwahahahaa), people dressed as raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, brown paper packages tied up with string, snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes, and all the other favourite things, there was even a lady wearing drapes with children cutouts in them, with her two twin girls dressed in play clothes made from the drapes, two boys portraying the pinecone on the chair, and the winner was a very creative little guy who came as "moonbeam in your hand." Too funny!! Very clever. It was a whole communal experience, people cheering, and booing and hissing whenever the Baroness and the Germans would come in. The crowd were given party poppers, which everyone popped when Maria and Captain Von Trapp kissed, and when Rolf produced the gun towards the end. Some people had laser pointers to strike the Baroness and the Germans when they were on screen. The coolest part was during Edelweiss when everyone started waving the lights of their mobile phones in the air. I mean, try 17,000 mobile phones alight in the dark at the Hollywood Bowl swaying to the tune of Edelweiss. Overall, quite the experience! I don't know if something like that would have worked out quite that way in Brissie! I just loved seeing Charmian Carr though, and especially to hear her sing "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" and "Do Re Mi." She looks fabulous and still has the most beautiful voice. Visit her cute website here.