Category: Movies
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A Thursday Serenade for an Early Autumn Afternoon
Thursday, September 24, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hello, friends. I’m running fashionably—well, unfashionably—late on my usual blogging schedule. I normally start drafting my WordPress posts between 10:30 and 11 AM, but it’s already a little past noon. Since a decent-sized musing takes me an hour or two to coax into existence, that would push my…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Little Scene That Became a North Star
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Creative Writing, Films by Steven Spielberg, Melodies and Memories: Music, Songs, and Singers, Movies, Music, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, West Side Story (1961), West Side Story (2021), West Side Story – Original Broadway Cast (1957), West Side Story: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2021)The Little Scene That Became a North Star Every long‑form project has its origin myths — the moments that, in hindsight, shaped everything that came after. Sometimes these moments are deliberate. Sometimes they’re the result of careful planning, thematic intention, or structural foresight. And sometimes they arrive quietly, almost innocently, in a first draft written…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Why “Somewhere” was the Only Song Jim and Marty Could Sing
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Books, Creative Writing, Films by Steven Spielberg, Melodies and Memories: Music, Songs, and Singers, Music, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, West Side Story (1961), West Side Story (2021), West Side Story – Original Broadway Cast (1957), West Side Story: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2021)Why “Somewhere” was the Only Song Jim and Marty Could Sing Every writer knows the moment when a story makes a choice for you. You think you’re the one selecting the detail — the street name, the shade of blue, the song on the radio — but in truth, the story has already decided. Your…
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Say It with Music: A Saturday Musicale
“Music, once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies.”― Edward Bulwer Lytton
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On Writing and Storytelling: An Unexpected Boost in Sales!
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Epinions, Life in Florida, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Summer 2026, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Writing as a CraftWednesday, August 26, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone — and happy Wednesday from the land of iced drinks, sunscreen, and weather that still hasn’t gotten the memo about fall. Well, folks, summer may be winding down on the calendar — meteorological fall begins on September 1 — but here in Central Florida, the weather…
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Seven Albums for a Penny: Remembering Columbia House
Seven Albums for a Penny: Remembering Columbia House Wednesday, August 19, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. Well, another iconic brand from my misspent youth is about to disappear into the mists of history, taking with it a particular kind of mail-order anticipation that younger readers may know only from old magazine ads and family…
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A Sunday Musicale for a Sweltering Summer Day
Sunday, August 16, 2026 – Orlando, Florida “Where words fail, music speaks.” ― Hans Christian Andersen “I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.”― Tom Waits “Beethoven tells you what it’s like to be Beethoven, and Mozart tells you what it’s like to be human. Bach tells you what it’s like to be the universe.” ― Douglas Adams…
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Billy Joel: Greatest Hits Volume III — A Retrospective Review
Billy Joel: Greatest Hits Volume III — 1985–1997 Year of Release: 1997 Record Label: Columbia Genre: Adult Contemporary, Pop, Soft Rock I’ll admit it freely now: I almost skipped this album. When Billy Joel Greatest Hits: Volume III arrived in 1997, I was deep into my classical music phase, spending what little discretionary money I…
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A Monday Musicale for an August Afternoon
Monday, August 10, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, there. I’m still on a longish break from Professional Daydreaming™. I also don’t have any interesting life updates to share, so how about some music videos instead?
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Music Album Review: ‘Yo-Yo Ma & Bobby McFerrin: Hush’
Yo-Yo Ma & Bobby McFerrin: Hush Artists: Bobby McFerrin (vocals), Yo-Yo Ma (cello) Year of Release: 1992 Record Label: Sony Masterworks Genre(s): Classical, Jazz Some recordings earn their place in a library because they’re impressive; Hush earns its place because it’s disarming. More than three decades after its release, this collaboration between Bobby McFerrin and…
