Today is a busy day. I am preparing materials for Jimmy Chapel so that he can present some promotional materials for both musicals and "First Mother" and also preparing an entry for the Fred Ebb Award. Fred is pictured here. Fred was an incredible lyricist who is best known for his association with composer John Kander. Their best collaborative work together was of course the classic "New York, New York" Most people do not realize that this amazing song was not introduced and sungfirst by Frank Sinatra but rather by Lisa Minelli in a motion picture of the same year that co-starred Robert De Niro. Ebb was an amazing lyricist who could be very clever and cynical in his wording and structure in a lyric. He wrote the lyric for one of the most famous Christmas songs of all time "Santa, Baby!" Kander and Ebb wrote the incredible score for Cabaret, Chicago, The Rink (my favorite) and "Kiss of The Spider Woman" Believe it or not one of his first jobs was bronzing baby shoes-- and you thought you're first job sucked! Kander & Ebb's first important musical was "Flora, The Red Mennace" starring Liza Minelli. Tim and I are entering "The Traveling Companion" to the Fred Ebb Foundation Award. The prize is 50 grand-- so we shall see what happens. One thing before I sign off today-- the proposed Constitutional amendment that would have made it illegal to destroy or deface the American Flag has failed to qualify for consideration of the 50 states by ONE vote in the Senate. So to all of you gentleman and ladies who voted against this amendment-- do me a favor-- stay home on July 4th-- don't celebrate like the rest of us. Stay in bed! SLEEP IN! Why do you want to defend and protect what the flag represents if you don't think we should defend and protect the flag itself! Both Mark Twain and Will Rogers would have had a field day with this one! Of course Twain said it best "It's man's idea you see that the deity sits up night and admires him-- and it's Congress who thinks God writes down every single word that they say! " Ha! Oh well, politics win again over conscience! By the way, the recording mixing session yesterday went off without a hitch! We completed the storyteller reel for "The Traveling Companion" Bill Lewis' narration was perfect and the songs sound great! Bye for today!