School Library Journal Gives "Weird Things" a STARRED review

I'm just honored and so happy to let you know that School Library Journal has given my latest CD, "Weird Things are Everywhere!" a starred review in their August issue!
This is one of the most wonderful things that's happened in my career and a great reward for all the hard work I put into the CD over four years, but a raft of credit has to go to my producer and co-conspirator, Jim West of West Sound and Video in Londonderry, NH. He's THE best!!


Multimedia Reviews: VIDEO/DVD/AUDIO

More About My Great In-Laws: Nick's Ride for Kids

My wonderful brother-in-law, Nicholas Pancoast, is the GeneralManager for the Hampton Inn, Boston Logan Airport and the Area Director of Operations for The Linchris Hotel Corporation. He will be riding his bicycle 630 miles in 10 days in an effort to raise funds for three New England Children’s Hospitals.

On September 3rd Nick will leave the northwest tip of New Hampshire and spend the next 10 days traveling to all 22 Linchris hotels throughout New England. He will leave Littleton, NH, riding along northern Vermont from St. Johnsbury to Colchester. He will then ascend down the western part of the state through Rutland and over to the east side in Springfield, at which point, Nick will then re-enter the state of New Hampshire. He will ride along the southern border from Keene to Manchester and visit Salem before entering Massachusetts. Nick will cover the east coast, stopping at 13 Massachusetts hotels before ending his ride in Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Co. on September 12th. Nick will also visit the three children’s hospitals along the way and I will be doing concerts for the kids at all the hospitals as well.

This is a wonderful project and I am so proud of him. I hope you will support his efforts by visiting his site and leaving a note of encouragement, and perhaps donating as well. The website is http://www.nicksrideforkids.com/

Thanks!

The International Appalachian Trail

As you know, the name of this blog is "Judy's Notes, Musical and Otherwise." Today's entry is one that fall into the heading of "Otherwise."
I'm so proud of my father-in-law, Richard Anderson, that I want to share this article with you. Richard has been in my life for 25 years and during that time I have learned so much from him; most importantly, that no idea is ever too big to accomplish if you forge ahead and create a team to help you. And that even if people snicker at your idea, if you believe in it and work hard you can prove them wrong.
You'll understand exactly what I mean when you read this article:

	THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

VOICES

Across the great divides

A movement is afoot to extend the Appalachian Trail all the way to Morocco

By Alex Beam, Globe Columnist | July 23, 2010

Not so long ago, South Carolina’s “love guv’’ Mark Sanford extended the Appalachian Trail when he claimed to be hiking the famous Maine-to-Georgia path, while in fact he was dallying with his mistress in Argentina. Catcalls and guffawing ensued.

Now there is talk of pushing the AT beyond its northward endpoint, Maine’s Mount Katahdin, through the geological continuation of the Appalachian range, which rises in Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, and Morocco. And yes, a bit of tittering has been heard.

Author Simon Winchester, who lives near the trail in Sandisfield, explains the geology for us: “About 350 million years ago, there was a huge mountain building episode on the supercontinent Pangea, before the Atlantic Ocean came into being. It occurred in the Appalachians, along Nova Scotia and the West Coast of Scotland, all the way into central Morocco,’’ says Winchester, whose next book, a “biography’’ of the Atlantic, will be released this fall. “This great arc was created, so yes, there is a geological symmetry between the Appalachians and the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa.’’

Whose idea was the International Appalachian Trail? “It was my idea,’’ says Richard Anderson, Maine’s former conservation commissioner. Anderson and a group of like-minded Canadian colleagues have already tacked on AT hiking trails in New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland/Labrador. Now they have begun discussions with hiking types in the British Isles and elsewhere about creating a geologically correct Appalachian Trail.

“Thinking beyond borders is our basic philosophy,’’ Anderson says. “We’re not trying to sell anything, we’re just proposing the idea.’’ They’ve had positive responses from Spain, and will be talking to the Norwegians about trekking on the Svalbard archipelago next month. “We’re waiting for somebody from Morocco to call us,’’ Anderson says.

Anderson and his crew say they aren’t exactly “extending’’ the AT, which has federally protected status and is co-managed by the National Park Service and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Brian King, associate director of the Harpers Ferry, W.Va.-based ATC, wrote in an e-mail that “we do not support any of the talked-about extensions of our responsibilities (there is a proposal from Alabamans) for a number of reasons, not least of which being we and our volunteers have all we can handle right now in present and planned programs.’’

Winchester recently attended an International Appalachian Trail gathering in Maine, and reports that “they are the most wonderful enthusiasts. Most of them are geologists or scientists, and who is going to complain about the idea of walking, anyway? One can envision the Northern Irish walking community working with the Republic of Ireland on a trail from the North Antrim coast to County Cork. It would be another way to bring peace and harmony between Northern and Southern Ireland.’’

What about the many bodies of water that have interposed themselves among the Appalachian mountains during the past 200 million years? “That is a bit of a problem,’’ Winchester allows. “Hiking the whole thing would require a logistical sleight of hand, and several short-hop airplane rides. But it’s doable, and someone will do it. Maybe Bill Bryson [author of the mega-selling AT book, “A Walk in the Woods’’] will do it and be eaten by a camel.’’

I hope not!

Rain Rain ...

This summer the Massachusetts libraries are using the theme "Go Green" for their Summer Reading Programs. My presentation is called "Come Outside and Play" and it encourages kids to spend more time outdoors, because I believe that fostering a relationship between children and the Earth will help them become more invested in its care. I presented this program twice yesterday, and it got me thinking....
It rained nearly every day in June 2009 here in NH....this summer things are quite a bit different. We've hardly had any rain at all, and you can tell by the looks of our front lawn...burned to a crisp. We don't believe in watering our lawn, but we do water the fruit trees, flower and vegetable gardens. We use a hose for the fruit trees and watering cans for the veggies and flowers.
Why am I telling you this?
Because it's important to conserve water, and nothing drives me crazier than driving down the street and seeing automatic (or even non-automatic) sprinklers going and WATERING THE SIDEWALK OR THE STREET!! You can probably tell that I've seen this quite a bit already this summer. Please... if you use a sprinkler make sure the water is falling on plants and not on tar.
And if you live somewhere where there is sparse rain please consider purchasing a rain barrel. They usually have them at the local hardware or agri-store. That way, when it DOES rain, you can recycle the rain you catch to water your growing things....or, as I say in my song "I Love the Rain," to wash your car.
Now, if it would only just rain.....

Another CRAZY Idea

Since "The House on Christmas Street," (my tribute to the folks who decorate their houses to the MAX every Christmas season) has become such a hit with decorating enthusiasts I've been on a non-stop campaign to bring it to the attention of the mainstream public.

For those of you who don't know, the song is used in animated lighting displays at homes far and wide (even in Australia and Germany!). This phenomenon began in 2006 without my doing a thing...suddenly I began to discover videos of houses "playing" my song. At present there are 68 videos on YouTube alone and from what I hear this coming Christmas that number may more than double. Because of all of this I've networked with lots and lots of people in the Christmas decorating community and made many wonderful friends. Yes, there is a Christmas decorating community, and if this is news to you then you ought to visit some of their websites, like www.planetchristmas.com, www.lonestarholidays.com, www.doityourselfchristmas.com, and www.constantlychristmas.com. These folks think about decorating their houses 365 days a year!

Their enthusiasm for my song has led me to cook up a crazy plan to gain more attention for "The House on Christmas Street" this year. Time's a wastin' (I'll be 51- aaaaagh--on Sunday) and I decided I can't let another year go by without doing something wild to try to push it over the edge into bonafide Christmas-hitdom. So here's what I've planned.

This year I'm heading out in my 2004 Toyota Sienna (which already has over 300-K miles on it) and traveling from state to state to visit homes where the song is being used in a display. I'll be singing the song on the front lawn (driveway...roof...whatever!) at each house while their synchronized light show runs. I've got houses lines up in NH, NJ, PA, SC, FL, TX, AZ and WI so far! I told the folks that if they wanted me to show up and do this they have to get as much publicity going as they can for it via local radio, TV and newspapers. This is not a problem as a lot of the people who are into mega-decorating love publicity. I've had a couple of Christmas festivals invite me to perform along the way as well.

At the last stop I am going to go for the world record of the most times the same song has been sung in a row by one person. I've already applied to Guiness and am awaiting their approval.

I'm hoping you will want to be involved and maybe brainstorm some kind of promotion for this. If you use the song in a display and would like a visit, send me your email address and we'll talk about it. If there is a Christmas festival in your town that might be looking for entertainment, let me know about it. And when I publish the schedule, if there's a performance near you, come out and meet me! If you have a good idea of another way to promote the song, I'm all ears!

You probably think I'm nuts...and you're right! I'm not getting any younger and I've been in the music business professionally since the age of 16. My dream is to make this song a perennial Christmas hit. I'll do just about anything to make it happen!

Bless you for your support in 2009. I hope we can do something together this year!


Oh..and by the way...for the latest most up-to-date news about this and other Judy Pancoast stuff, please join my fan page on Facebook.
THANKS!

BUSY Summer! How's Yours Going?

Hi Everybody...
My summer has taken off at a whirlwind pace. Has yours? It just seems to be flying by. I do try to take a couple of minutes whenever I pull into my driveway to take a look at my perennial garden, however. It's in full bloom right now and it's really beautiful. I keep reminding myself that these are the moments I look forward to all winter and I should really take the time to enjoy them now!
I'm very excited about the NH debut of my new band, The Groovy Dudes, tomorrow night in Manchester, NH. I hope tons of people come out! It's going to be a great time!
Later this month I'll be heading down to Gloucester, VA for a "Christmas in July" concert sponsored by XTRA 99.1. I'm really looking forward to meeting a lot of my fans down there. XTRA 99.1 plays "The House on Christmas Street" every Christmas season and it's a big hit down there, so it should be a packed house and I can't wait!
Please visit my calendar to see my schedule and plan to take the kids to one of my concerts this summer. It's always more fun for me when you're there!
Happy Summer!
Judy