Short People

...at least short people of the kid variety, LOVE Randy Newman.



Well, truthfully, I think it was inspired by this...



although his music was most accurately summarized in this Family Guy (a show I mostly loathe--it's pretty often just one more bout of awkward than I can handle--though sometimes love)... --this is the only video I can find at all of this episode... it's got some grammatical errors, a plea for subscription, and some bad words... but, aside from that...



Anyway, all this to say... John and I saw Randy Newman this evening. He, like every other performer, seemed genuinely surprised by the turn out in Anchorage. Anchorage concert-goers are some of the MOST appreciative audience members ever. They applaud, tap, sing, dance, whatever will show a performer that they love being there. Performers who make the journey are always rewarded with support.

Of course, we were sitting in the row with Randy Newman's biggest fan-- a 6 year old. He sat down a few minutes after we did and began bouncing on his chair. When I looked over to do a teacher grimace at him, I heard him say, "Wow. Look at all the fans! I love Randy Newman and I love all the fans." And this child genuinely love Randy Newman. Randy Newman only played one of his Pixar songs (You've Got a Friend in Me), but this kid loved all of his songs. At least, he loved all of his songs in the first act. Randy Newman post-intermission, but pre-encore, was pretty dreary. Lots of sad and sleepy songs. He pepped it back up for the encore and everyone, including the 6 year old fan club president, enjoyed the finale.