Command performance at Moiola

After deciding not to sub in middle school today, I set out to be a dad for my kids. First, I took Tim's car in to my local shop, trying to figure out why it won't pass the smog test.

Then Jen called about 9:15 and asked if I could run down and pick up their video camera so she could tape Jeslyn's performance at the Moiola variety show today.

Since I am such a lover of the arts, I decided to allow you to vicariously enjoy the variety show through my eyes.

The first performance was a jump-rope duet. Now you don't see those every day. These two girls jumped to the tunes of the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." I don't think Bruno would have many good things to say about it. Don't understand why he wasn't there since DWTS ended last night (don't get me started on that). Unless it was their plan to hit their foot on every third jump, they could have used a bit more practice. The positives were that they correctly spelled YMCA correctly both times, and they didn't break their jumpropes.

Next was a young man, aided by his father, who demonstrated what he had learned in his self-defense. Unlike dance, voice and jumprope I know little about self-defense, so I wouldn't presume to critique his performance, except to say his dad's in a lot of trouble when the kid gets bigger.

Next was a little girl who sang. I forget the name of the song. For awhile, I was afraid she did, too. I'm going to give her Chelsea's (voice teacher friend of mine) number.

Then a sister duet of "Mammie's little baby loves shortnin bread." They were pretty good, as were their costumes. The little sister did an excellent job in her role of mammie's little baby.

Then came a couple of girls in cheerleader uniforms. They had a "W" on the chest, so either they weren't Moiola outfits or they put them on upside down. They did a routine to the "Macarena". (Where was SB 1070 when the Macarena came across the border?) The nice thing about the Macarena is that we could have guessed the song even if the CD player stopped working.

Then came a pair of sisters who were apparently the stars of the last 2 shows. They did a dance/hula hoop routine, and would have been the stars of this year's show except for the performer that followed them.

The little first grader did a solo dance routine the "My Friend the Witch Doctor." The choreography was impeccable, her energy level was so contagious that the audience got caught up and began to clap in time with the music. I won't bore you with the technical names of all her dance steps. Let's just say her walla walla was full of bing bang. Standing ovation at the end (OK I made that part up). Did I mention this performer was my granddaughter Jeslyn?

After that I, and much of the audience, lost interest. There were still a few acts to go, but like a good Angel fan I left with the program about 70% completed. I vaguely remember a 5 year old boy doing karate and another playing the piano, but they were so depressed at having to follow Jeslyn that you could tell their little hearts were not in their performance.

Back to other child, Tim's car still wasn't fixed, still didn't pass smog so I took it to a GM dealer in town. This was 2.8 miles from home, so I disdained their shuttle and walked home to help prepare me to watch my friend Bob walk 60 miles on his 60th birthday, and many of my friends run the July 4th 5k in Huntington Beach.

All in all, a good Daddy Day.