I love 4th of July weekend in Austin, there is so much to do!  Below is the current list off all the 4th of July events in and around Austin this weekend courtesy of the Austin American Statesman!  Don’t forget the Kim and Alex Morning Show will be at the H-E-B Austin Symphony July Fourth Concert and Fireworks at 8:30pm at Auditorium Shores!  Details below.

Wimberley Independence Parade and Jubilee — 10 a.m. Friday. Parade route starts at Lion’s Field parking lot No. 1 on RM 2325 and ends at the First Baptist Church parking lot, 501 Old Kyle Road, and is followed by a jubilee with live music, food and games at Blue Hole Park. 512-847-2201, www.wimberley.org.

Saturday

Lago Vista July 4 celebration — Begins at 6:30 a.m. with registration for Firecracker 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run. Sports, games and other entertainment including fireworks display at Bar-K Park from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Parade begins at 10 a.m. and will travel along Dawn Drive. www.lagovistajuly4.org.

Hutto July Fourth events— Parade at 8:30 a.m. starts at Fritz Park, travels down Park, Taylor, Farley and East streets, and returns to Fritz Park via Live Oak Street. 759-4000, www.huttotx.gov.

Lakeway July Fourth celebration — 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Kicks off with parade down Lakeway Drive at 8:30 a.m. Pageant begins at 10:30 a.m. at Lakeway Activity Center, 105 Cross Creek Drive. Live entertainment, including laser light and fireworks from 4:30 to 10 p.m. at City Park, 502 Hurst Creek Road. 314-7530, www.cityoflakeway.com

Spicewood Fourth of July Parade — 9 to 11 a.m. Route starts on County Road 408 (Cypress Mill Road) and ends at Spicewood Community Center, 7901 County Road 404. www.ourspicewood.com.

Elgin Fourth of July Celebration — 10 a.m. Parade begins at Elgin City Hall, 310 N. Main St. and ends at Veterans Memorial Park, Main and Depot streets; patriotic program follows. 512-281-5724, www.elgintx.com.

Fredericksburg Independence Day events — 10 a.m. Parade from Courthouse Square to intersection of Bowie and Main streets. Live music and patriotic program immediately following the parade at Marktplatz, 100 block of West Main Street. A patriotic concert begins at 7 p.m. followed by a fireworks display at Lady Bird Park, 432 Lady Bird Drive. www.fredericksburg-texas.com.

Wimberley Independence Day celebration — 10 a.m. Flag ceremony, recognition of World War II veterans and flyover at Veterans Memorial Plaza, near EmilyAnn Theatre, 1101 RM 2325. www.emilyann.org.

Round Rock July 4 Frontier Days Celebration — 10 a.m. Starts with parade from Interstate 35 and RM 620 down Main Street. Festival starts at noon at Old Settlers Park, 3300 E. Palm Valley Blvd. The Austin Symphonic Band performs at 8:30 p.m. and fireworks display at dusk. 512-218-5540, www.roundrockfrontierdays.com.

Pioneer Farms Independence Day Celebration— 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Activities include hayrides, demonstrations of branding irons and other historical items, live music and more. Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farms, 1400 Pioneer Farms Drive. Children: $8, adults: $10, families: $40 maximum. 837-1215, www.pioneerfarms.org.

East Communities YMCA July Fourth Family Fun Festival — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Swimming and other activities, food and contests. 5315 Ed Bluestein Road. 933-9622, www.austinymca.org

Invincible Czars— 1 p.m. The band performs a rock interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture,’ plus original material and other classical works. Wooldridge Square Park, 900 Guadalupe St. www.invincibleczars.com

Johnson City’s Fourth of July Spangle Dangle — 3 to 9:15 p.m. Live music, children’s activities and more at the Blanco County Fairgrounds. Grand Spangle Dangle Parade begins at 7 p.m. Route begins on Pecan Avenue in front of the Blanco County Courthouse and ends at the fairgrounds. 830-868-7684, www.johnsoncitytexas
 www.cedarparktx.us

Pflugerville Pfirecracker Pfestival— 4 to 9:30 p.m. Entertainment, food, games and children’s activities; fireworks at 9 p.m. Lake Pflugerville, 4600 Pflugerville Parkway. 990-6101, www.cityofpflugerville.com

Fourth of July East-West Game Day— 4 to 8 p.m. Participants can choose to compete as teams of east- or west-side Austinites in friendly competitions of tug of war, sack races and other games divided by age groups. Goal is to encourage residents to preserve Palm Park, 601 E. Third St. www.austinparks.org

Leander Liberty Fest — 5 to 10 p.m. Live music, children’s activities, vendors and fireworks display. Crystal Falls Golf Club, 3400 Crystal Falls. www.leandertx.org.

San Marcos Summerfest 2009— 5 to 11 p.m. Event begins with children’s parade and costume contest, and includes various patriotic programs, children’s activities and food booths. Live music begins at 6:15 p.m. Fireworks at 9:30 p.m. San Marcos Plaza Park, 401 E. Hopkins St. www.summerfestsanmarcos.com.

July Fourth Freedom Fest— 6 p.m. Jerry Jeff Walker, Kellie Pickler and others perform, plus fireworks display. Dell Diamond, 3400 E. Palm Valley Blvd., Round Rock. $19.50-$39.50. 512-255-2255, www.roundrockexpress.com

H-E-B Austin Symphony July Fourth Concert and Fireworks — 8:30 p.m. Symphony under the direction of Peter Bay performs patriotic music; fireworks display from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Auditorium Shores. www.austinsymphony.org.

Michael Jackson by Jennifer Jeffery

I like many of you grew up with Michael Jackson.  The first record I ever purchased on my own with my hard earned allowance money was “The Love You Save”.  I saw the Jackson 5 perform this song on” The Ed Sullivan Show” back in 1969 and I will never forget it!  I will also not forget yesterday June 25th as the day we lost this musical icon.

I was luck enough to see Michael Jackson perform in concert several times.  The first concert I saw was at The Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.  It was the Triumph tour and Michael was performing with his brothers, though he had just released his first solo album “Off The Wall” at the same time.  This was in 1979 and to this day it is the BEST concert I have ever been to.  It was in a word “Magical”.  Every time I went to a Michael Jackson concert I would get butterflies in my stomach with anticipation…he was that good!

I believe we will never see another talent like his in our lifetime.  Whatever his problems were, you can’t take away the genius that was Michael Jackson as a performer.  I believe he became a star on the night of “Motown Live 25″ in 1983 when he performed Billie Jean and introduced the world to The Moon Walk …unforgettable!  I have posted links to the video of that performance and a link to an article in Time Magazine on how to do it!  Enjoy them both and the picture of Michael taken by my good friend and talented photographer Jennifer Jeffery!  Feel free to share your memories too!

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1907320,00.html

How do you sum up the life of someone like Michael Jackson in a few short paragraphs? I’m not sure that’s possible, but he certainly had his share of extremes.

His life was eventful but tumultuous. He had millions of fans worldwide, and many critics. He was one of the most brilliant musicians ever, but , well, had one of the most bizarre personalities you’ll ever find.

He was rich, and he went broke. He was idolized for the many monster singles and albums he put out, and was made fun of for his many plastic surgeries, exotic animals, and other eccentricities.

Michael will be remembered as much for his troubles with allegations of child molesting and other personal troubles as he will his music. Onstage, he put on a show you could never forget; offstage, he was painfully shy. As an entertainer, he was as big as life; physically, especially in recent years, he was so frail you were afraid he might break in two. Despite the many people who adored and even idolized him, he was once quoted as saying to one of his close friends, “I’m a very lonely man”.

Many reports about his death and what caused it will probably come out in the next few weeks and months. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Michael Jackson will be even more well-known years from now as he was when he was alive, like Elvis is. The day of his death will be one that we’ll say, “I remember exactly what I was doing when…”

No, Michael Jackson’s life may not be accurately summarized in a short blog posting. But whether you like him or despise him, one thing’s for sure: you’ll never forget him.

Enjoy the music.

Ever since I came to the great state of Texas over 3 years ago I have wanted to visit Corpus Christi!  Finally over Memorial Day Weekend, my daughter and I took the short drive to the beautiful Texas coast!  I must tell you that in one word Corpus Christi was…Fantastic!  We had a chance to see the Texas State Aquarium and the beautiful and new Botanical Gardens which are just a short drive from downtown.  The food and local people were incredible!  I plan to visit Corpus Christi again soon.  If you would like to plan a fun Summer getaway Corpus Christi is perfect.  Check out my fun pictures and to plan your trip visit http://visitcorpuschristitx.org

Visiting the beautiful Botanical Gardens

Beautiful Monarch butterfies at Botanical Gardens

Fun photo op at the Botanical Gardens, ready to fly away!

Had a wonderful Cobb Salad and Key Lime Pie at this wonderful Corpus Christi restaurant.

Remember the 33-RPM records, or albums? Seems like forever since those of us who grew up with records used to play them on those wonderful turntables with the tone arm that had to have needles changed now and then.

It was this week in 1948 that Columbia Records started the first mass-production of the 33 LP. Those records could contain up to 23 minutes of music per side, instead of the measly three minutes that would previously fit on a 78-RPM disc.

Sometimes, I miss those old records. Ask today’s generation if they know what an LP, 45, or 78 record is, and chances are they’ll look at you like you came from Mars. Those days have now been replaced by Cd’s and Mp3’s. My, how far we’ve come!

Enjoy the music.

If you watch to the end to see what’s really going on,
you’ll want to watch it over again

Summer is here!!  I used to groan when I heard those words, but no longer now that I have found Premiere Lady Fitness and Spa!  After losing 45 pounds the hard part has begun for me…keeping it off!  I wanted to find a place that offered me a lot of choices and Premiere Lady does just that.  They of course have the standard equipment to tone and get us in shape, but they also offer yoga, pilates , spinning classes, bootcamp, body sculpt, Nia, Zumba, Salsa and Belly dancing!  They also have a wonderful pool and large , spacious dressing rooms.  Premiere Lady Fitness and Spa has it all and they make it so affordable!  Right now two can join for the price of one or you get 50% off of a single membership!  What a great way to get in shape for the Summer!

I know you are going to love Premiere Lady as much as I do!  In fact all this week I am giving away a 1 month membership!  That way you can see how fantastic it is!

Premiere Lady Fitness and Spa is Austin’s only full service fitness facility for women only!  They have two convenient North and South locations.  Call one of their fitness experts today to find out more at 916-36-36!!  Let’s work out together and look and feel our best this Summer!  I hope to see you soon!

www.premiereladyfitness.com

I love clouds.  Clouds can tell of impending rain, snow or wind.  There are summer clouds, winter clouds, happy clouds and scary clouds.  I thought you’d like to see these new kind of clouds.

From  http://www.guardian.co.uk/

No new cloud type has been officially classified since 1951 but Gavin Pretor-Pinney who runs the Cloud Appreciation Society believes that there is a new cloud that deserves international recognition. He calls it asperatus, which means rough in Latin, and he is working with the Royal Meteorological Society to have it officially classified by the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva

  June 2 was both a good day and bad day for Paul McCartney, for different reasons. 

  In 2002, it was reported that during an argument with his then-fiancee Heather Mills, McCartney threw her engagement ring out the window of the Turnberry Isle Resort in Miami.  Guards at the resort recovered the ring, worth over $25,000, using metal detectors. 

  On a much happier note: On June 2, 1973, McCartney hit #1 on both the U.S. album and singles charts.  His album “Red Rose Speedway” reached the top of the album chart, and one of the songs from that album, “My Love” went to #1 on the singles chart, and stayed in that spot for four weeks. 

  Ah, the ups and downs of a superstar’s life.  Enjoy the music! 

  June 2 was both a good day and bad day for Paul McCartney, for different reasons. 

  In 2002, it was reported that during an argument with his then-fiancee Heather Mills, McCartney threw her engagement ring out the window of the Turnberry Isle Resort in Miami.  Guards at the resort recovered the ring, worth over $25,000, using metal detectors. 

  On a much happier note: On June 2, 1973, McCartney hit #1 on both the U.S. album and singles charts.  His album “Red Rose Speedway” reached the top of the album chart, and one of the songs from that album, “My Love” went to #1 on the singles chart, and stayed in that spot for four weeks. 

  Ah, the ups and downs of a superstar’s life.  Enjoy the music!