CHANGE OF PLANS...

THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE! Change of Plans' Set to Air on Saturday, January 8 at 8/7c on FOX

Walmart and P&G Unveil the Fourth Installment of "Family Movie Night" CINCINNATI, Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) will premiere their latest made-for-TV family movie, "Change of Plans," starring Brooke White, Joe Flanigan and Phylicia Rashad on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 8/7c on FOX. "Change of Plans" demonstrates how our lives can be turned upside down with a single phone call. When Sally Danville(Brooke White, "American Idol") finds out that her best friend from college died in a tragic accident while serving in the Peace Corps, Sally also learns that she has been named the legal guardian of her friend's four children - three of whom were adopted from third-world countries. Now Sally and her husband, Jason (Joe Flanigan, "Stargate: Atlantis"), must quickly learn to parent this instant family and help the kids deal with culture clashes and life in America. The story is both humorous and heartwarming, revealing how fulfilling life can be when you look beyond your own plans and invest in the lives of others. After a successful run in season seven of "American Idol," White makes her acting debut and performs songs throughout the movie. The movie also features a star-studded cast, including cameo appearances by NASCAR driver Jeff Burton and "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, who has produced all of the "Family Movie Night" soundtracks, including the one for "Change of Plans." "Brooke has been featured on the soundtrack for two of our other 'Family Movie Night' films and we immediately thought of her for the character of Sally Danville, the free-spirited, kind-hearted guitar player," stated Executive Producer Brian Wells. "This was an ideal first acting role for Brooke and we knew from her audition that we made the perfect choice." "As a singer-songwriter, I never expected that I would be acting; talk about a 'Change of Plans!'" said White. "I love this story, because it is emotionally-driven, yet light-hearted and fun. It also shows us that the family comes in all shapes and sizes, and reminds us that sometimes life doesn't turn out the way we planned, but it can be even better. It's a great lesson that I learned firsthand!" Phylicia Rashad, best known as Clair Huxtable from "The Cosby Show," plays social worker Dorothy in her return to television after spending time on Broadway and most recently in the film, "For Colored Girls." The dynamic and diverse children include Jordan (Jayme Lynn Evans, "All My Children"), Javier (Bobby Soto, "Brothers & Sisters"), Kaleb (Jakobe Dempsey, "Barney & Friends") and Sung Lee (newcomer Clarissa Suwoko). The "Change of Plans" soundtrack includes three songs from White, as well as tracks from various recording artists. The "Change of Plans" DVD and soundtrack will be sold together in a bonus pack exclusively at Walmart. More details will be announced in 2011. For more information visit www.familymovienight.com. When research revealed parents across America are seeking more family-oriented entertainment options, P&G and Walmart made a commitment to be part of the solution. "Change of Plans" continues P&G and Walmart's "Family Movie Night" initiative, which strives to produce more quality entertainment options families can enjoy together throughout 2011. "Family Movie Night" launched in April 2010 with the film "Secrets of the Mountain," followed by "The Jensen Project" in July, and most recently "A Walk in My Shoes" on December 3. All three movies celebrated success with high-rated tune-in from viewers and associated brands seeing increased sales during the promotional time surrounding the films.

LET IT SNOW...

Woke up in Nashville this morning to snow falling out side my hotel window... this is of course not a common occurrence for me, having been born and raised in the Arizona desert and then moving to southern California. I've never experienced a white christmas, let alone a real change in Seasons. No fall leaves or dramatic temperature change... just sunshine most the time, I can hardly complain, I live for the sunshine. And anyone that knows me knows that I have little to no tolerance for cold weather... I just don't know how people do it. I suppose they acclimate, but really, do they? I mean having lived in the opposite extreme, I never could get used to burning my hands on the steering wheel of my car during the summer time. Even still I think the cold would be harder. Thankfully I live in California where it stays pretty close to my favorite temperature of 78 degrees almost daily.

That all being said... their was something so magical about seeing the flakes of white flutter to the ground so gracefully. I felt like I was in the middle of a snow globe, though it didn't really stick to the ground. I was so excited that I did a little dance around the room and shouted "It's snowing!!!", kind of reminded me of when I was a kid and we would go up North to the cabin where there would be a few inches of fresh powder on the ground this time of year. And we lived to go play in the snow, from the moment we woke up until it became dark outside, completely undaunted by our frozen fingers and toes. We would sled down into the green belt, sometimes making sleds out of strange objects, such as the large crisper drawer out of the refrigerator or plastic bags... slightly dangerous at times now that I think about it, but the fancy sleds were few and there were dozens of cousins, we had to get creative and resourceful. It was fun, nowadays however, I find that I enjoy the snow much more from the indoors, close to the heater, looking out the window with my hot chocolate in hand. I spent most the day just snuggled inside, playing my guitar, writing songs and mezmorized by the view... made me happy. Tomorrow is my last day in the Winter wonderland and it's back to SoCal, where I will be dreaming of a White Christmas...

(picture is from Idaho last year when I did a show... might be the coldest I've ever been... ever)

THE SILVER SEAS...

I found out about these guys a few days ago while I was writing a super duper heartbreakin' throwback song with my new pal Emily West, she said "Brooke White you are going to love this band" and she was right... all it took was 30 seconds, it was love at first listen. So I walked on over to the itunes and downloaded "High Society" on the spot, which is their sophomore release from a few years ago. There really isn't a bad song on the whole thing, which is a rarity these days. There is one song about an infinite number of monkeys thats not my fave, but other then that it's solid from start to finish. I've been listening to it on repeat for the last few days and I just can't get enough of it, so much even that I decided to go and download their latest record "Chateau Revenge" and their first album "Starry Gazey Pie". I haven't had a chance to dig into them yet, but if they are anything like High Society then I won't be disappointed.

So why do I love 'em so gosh darn much? Well maybe because they sound like a 70's band but with a modern treatment with dreamy ooh's and aahh's and lots of luscious harmonies and the lead singers voice is rather romantical. But it's really the songs that have got me smitten, The melodies are just so stinkin' catchy and instantaneous. You feel like you know them already and I love when songs just make you want to sing along right away really loud, kinda like "and he's hard luck Tooooommmm... and he's got a haaaard life!" that song would be called "Hard luck Tom" and you're gonna wanna sing along too when you hear it, trust me. Though my favorite songs are "High Society", "We'll go Walkin", and "I wanna live"... though I like all of em, except the Monkey tune. In a nutshell it's artsy fartsy easy breezy hip with out trying to hard real good music and it pretty much owns my heart right now.

oh music you are just my favorite.

YOU ARE LOVED FOR FREE...

Because it's the Holidays, and the Holiday's are a time of giving, we wanted to give to you, our newest little song, "YOU ARE LOVED" for free in exchange for just a lil' tweet or facebook post to help spread the love! All you have to do is follow the link and follow directions...

http://trkurl.com/yjOcY8

THE COWARDLY LION, ART AND COURAGE.

There are some days that I feel like I could hang out with the Cowardly Lion from the wizard of oz, we could sit around, drink hot chocolate and talk about all the things we are afraid of and all the reasons that we can't do the things we long to do, be the people (or lions) that we need to be, and then maybe we would take a road trip down the yellow brick road, to go visit the Great OZ, and see if maybe he could loan us a little bit of courage. Only to have the OZ inform us that we already possess the courage we were looking for and that we needed to dig down a bit deeper to find it. This of course, was not the answer we were looking for... kinda just hoping we could pick some up, as if courage was like a gallon of milk from the grocery store or something. We're probably a bit disappointed and decide to just get back to doing what we do, we'll have our brave moments, but still have those times when we're still just big scaredy cats.

I love being an artist, I couldn't imagine being anything else. It is who I am and what I'll always be, and pretty much my option in life, and a good option, I'm grateful. And I don't mean "artist" as in a "job" or "career", though it does come quite handy in my line of work, but as an inseparable part of my identity. Being artsy fartsy is fun and stuff, but at the same time feels so very vulnerable, even torturous on many occasions. You've got to put yourself out there, because art is such a reflection of ones self, soul, perspective, beliefs, upbringing and life. It's tough to have secrets, or protect your insecurities. There must be honesty, there must be transparency or a confession of some sort. And when there is transparency, people will see right through, to you, to your core, to your goods and your bads. And there is some kind of bazaar need to share it, art just can't be kept to ones self. There is really no way of getting around this. It is a risk that one must take in order to create. And when we do create, we find great joy in the process, that is of course until it is time for the great reveal to the rest of the world, that is when the fear settles in, and we aren't content, or our creation is not complete until it is shared, displayed, performed etc. And then that's when you wait... for either the applause or the boo's, or equally bad... silence. It is a challenge to disregard judgement or response of our art, or the need for approval. I've tried, I still try. Not generally successful, sometimes. Truth is, we're just asking for it really, again we must get some kind of kick out of it, or a kick in the pants. The rewards of positive approval of our creations can be so satisfying to our ego, that it can fuel our creative fire, almost as if it can not survive with out it. This is not the purest source of inspiration, it's counterfeit and selfish , and nonetheless can be an effective motivator for a while. And it can have positive effects if you keep proper perspective, and using art to better the lives of others. If your art is your business, then your lively hood depends on approval, and that is a crappy head game. As well the completely opposite thing can transpire if the response is negative enough or silent, it can shut you down, shut you up, make you want to run and hide under the bed and never come out... until you decide stop being such a cowardly lion and then get some darn courage to try again.

As you can imagine, this all creates an overly heightened sense of self-awareness, or self centeredness. And if one isn't careful, it can turn an artist into a real monster. This scares me, and even dwelling on the fear of becoming a self centered monster, is actually in itself... being self centered. aaahhhhh!!!

That is when you have to decide to snap out of it, don't take your inner artist so seriously. Maybe it would be nice to volunteer at a elementary school, or go mow the neighbors lawn, call grandma or let a friend talk about their problems or successes and just listen. I very recently had the experience of getting to go sing at the Bethesda Hospital in Washington D.C. and visit with wounded soldiers that had just returned from Afghanistan. Probably one of the most impacting experiences I've ever had. These young men, were lying in beds after just loosing a leg in an explosion, or both legs, or an arm and a leg, some had survived a serious head injury... all as a result of their conscious and selfless decision to put their lives on the line in order to serve our country. Looking into the eyes of these strong and severely injured fellows was both emotionally overwhelming and truly humbling. One guy in particular had lost both of his legs and a few fingers just two weeks previous. He was just twenty one years of age, he was an athlete and loved to play guitar. His biggest regret was that he was unable to continue his service in Afghanistan with his "brothers". It was hard to know what to say, what to talk about, they don't want you to feel sorry for them, when of course you do. They want to maintain their dignity, I wanted to honor that. We talked about his family, his ipad, and I then asked him was how he was doing with the realization of what had happened, He said "I've come to terms with it, I've made peace. I'm not angry, I'll adapt". He smiled, I believed him. Talk about courage.

For the last few weeks I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Changed my perspective. Today I started feeling a cowardly lion artist ego attack and I had to stop myself, I thought about those soldiers, it put me back in my place... I've got my limbs, and all I've got to do is go out and make art... it's not war.

Geez-louise, This blog post was heavy. They won't always be. Oh and please remember the military in your prayers.

YOU ARE LOVED...

So I have been working and typing away tirelessly on two very long, lengthy, wordy blog posts in true Brookie Babble fashion, which I entirely intended on posting tonight, but then just five minutes ago Summer, aka my fellow girl with glasses sent me the final edit of our newest magical musical video creation that we quite literally threw together over the Thanksgiving Holiday on Monday before I hopped on my 6 o'clock flight to Nashville, and with it being the start of the Christmas season and Hanukkah today, December the first, I thought it was perfectly perfect. And that my friends was a prime example of a run-on sentence that would have been quite unacceptable to my High School English teacher and probably your high school English teacher, or middle school English teacher for that matter.

Anywho, I believe we were able to write a song, find some jingle bells and a random studio and record it, shoot the video in a big ol' desert dirt field in Arizona with an adorable Famous the dog and funny hats in just under five hours because it honestly comes straight from our hearts. Now it's not some big time flashy hollywood production, as a matter of fact it is rough around the edges, and our lips don't always line up with the words, and we are wearing Summer's sweaters from her childhood, but we're keeping it real and honest and we mean every word of it, sincerely. Initially we wanted to write a holiday song that was fun and cutesy, after all the Holidays are about cheer and hot chocolate and christmas trees and snowmen right? Well not for all, as a matter of fact it can be the hardest time of year for some. So when Summer had put the pen to paper and started writing these sensitive and thoughtful lyrics that we're speaking to those that might be feeling the holiday blues, we knew we were on the right track, I picked up the guitar and the melodies just descended from the heavens and out came this cute and yet simple mini masterpiece that we wanted to dedicate to all of you, whether you find yourself, happy or sad this holiday season... Remember you are loved, love love love loved....

"You Are Loved" - Happy Holidays! from The Girls With Glasses on Vimeo.

I'M BACK...

I'm Brookie and I have returned to babble... I am taking upon myself yet again the blog a day challenge for the month of December... we've got a lot to catch up on, starting... tomorrow!