Music

On Friday, the Musician's high school had the privilege of hosting a Drum Corps International competition. For all the band students at my daughter's high school, it was a great opportunity to see these Corps, as Drum Corps International features the very best brass and percussion corps in the country. The Corps practice perhaps twelve hours a day in the heat of the summer, and when they are not performing or practicing, they are on a tour bus or sleeping on a gym floor. The bands also feature a color guard, dancers who moved flags or twirled batons, sabres, ribbons or wooden rifles, who work very hard as well. There was so much activity going on on the whole football field, that you couldn't take everything in at once. It was also fun to watch the judges, who literally get right into the competition. There were eight different judges, each rating one portion of the presentation. Judges follow the band around the field, talking into a recorder to preserve their observations in real time. One judge who particularly stood out was tall and stocky, and was the one who wove the most in and out among the musicians, gesticulating wildly with one arm. It must be very hard to face forward and maintain your composure while a judge is ducking under your tuba!

Have you seen any of the videos where two songs are mashed together? Like Thunderbusters? Well, the DCI corps Music City out of Nashville, Tennessee, presented a program called Phantom of the Grand Ole Opery. Somehow they managed to weave in Ring of Fire and the theme song Phantom of the Opera, then Your Cheatin' Heart and Music of the Night. They also played Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Point of No Return, Stand By Your Man and All I Ask of You. The male color guard members wore Phantom style half-masks for most of their performance. I couldn't help but think how hot it must have been to wear those.

All the DCI groups had some kind of "theme," although some of them were more obvious than others. The thing I noticed most about the 7th Regiment out of New London, Connecticut, was the drum major. With a fu manchu mustache, large but well built, he looked like he could be a bouncer during the rest of the year. With the Vanguard Cadets out of Santa Clara, California, the theme was Heroes and Legends, and we got a beheading(!).

It was a fun night if you enjoy marching bands (minus the woodwinds.) If nothing else, the work that the kids put in should definitely be appreciated.

Laughing at the World

I was severely shocked and saddened by the death of Andrew Breitbart. I am not a big name in the conservative blogging world (or any world, actually) but I admired his ability to take hate and deflect back humor. I can be pretty funny in real life, but putting it down in pixels is not always easy! I do want to bring out more on my fun-loving, happier side. Of course, this may also bring out more of my snarkier side as well. You have been warned!

Be True to Your School

Too tired tonight to do a serious post, so I'll just talk a bit further about the American high school experience, as this week is Homecoming week at my daughter's high school. Tomorrow is Hogwarts Day; every class is assigned their own house. Freshmen are Hufflepuff; the Musician is wearing black and yellow and planning to speak with a British accent all day! Tomorrow night is a bonfire at the high school; the band is playing so the Musician has to be there, but I'm sure she'll enjoy it. Friday at school is of course Spirit Day, when the school colors are worn. Friday night is the big Homecoming football game, then Saturday is the Homecoming parade. Crazy busy, but will be very fun!

Fun and Games

Here we are in our child-free weekend, and although I miss the chilluns, Mr. EG and I have been having some fun. Yesterday we stopped at Dave and Buster's on the way home and played air hockey, billiards (I'm an expert at slop ball), and raced each other in a race car game. It was something we haven't done in a while, and a nice change.

Today after church we stopped for the first time at Bubba's Q restaurant, owned by former Cleveland Brown Al "Bubba" Baker. Supposedly it is the only restaurant in the country to sell de-boned baby back ribs, which were good but not quite to my taste. My husband, a football fan of That Evil Town to the East, might not have liked some of the wall decor, which included autographed jerseys from Bernie Kosar and Brian Sipe. The football theme was carried throughout, down to the menus, which felt like a football on the outside and were colored orange or brown.

Today I'm hoping to get some sewing and house cleaning done with only Mr. EG under foot. :) I'm glad we're getting the kids back tomorrow. They're probably having a fantastic time at the water park.

Warning: first two links have sound.

In the Navy

You can make music videos.


The VAW-113 Black Eagles' answer to the VAW-116 Sun Kings.

Glad to see they're able to have fun while serving our country.

h/t Dave in Texas at Ace's.

Virtual Fun

Ready to get into the mood for some winter-y virtual fun? Go make a snowflake or two at Make-a-Flake! No little scraps of paper to clutter your table. :)

Non-Sewing Sewing Day

I finally got over to my friend's house to help her work on making some new dresses for herself, based on a dress that she loves, but which has seen better days. Before and after having a great ladies-only lunch with another friend, the old dress was ripped apart, fabric for three dresses was purchased, paper pattern pieces with notations were created, detailed sewing instructions were written out, and the Presbytera got a quick lesson on how to make a French seam. Not much actual sewing done but a lot of progress towards what will (hopefully!) be some lovely dresses. I better work, work, work on my own sewing! Can't let my alter ego get ahead of me. I'll just assign all the housework to my daughters. :)

And Kate, we saw this poster at lunch and it made the three of us think of you, our NZ girlfriend. :) I took the picture, Presbytera held the lamp above the table back so I could get a clear shot.

Sunday Night Trivia

So. It's Sunday night. I'm tired. I was going to post something longer tonight, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Instead, a little bit of trivia. The homeschool group that I occasionally do things with will be attending a puppet show that will be featuring, among other poems, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. So did you know that I am descended from the children that Pied Piper of Hamelin led away? Really! :) I have mentioned on this blog before that my grandfather's people are Transylvanian Saxons. The last two stanzas of The Pied Piper of Hamelin Town, by Robert Browning, are:
"In Transylvania there's a tribe
Of alien people who ascribe
The outlandish ways and dress
On which their neighbours lay such stress,
To their fathers and mothers having risen
Out of some subterraneous prison
Into which they were trepanned
Long time ago in a mighty band
Out of Hamelin town in Brunswick land,
But how or why, they don't understand."
Legend has it that this tribe is the Transylvanian Saxons. Neat, huh?

Is This Winter?

These white things, flying through the air, what are they? I vaguely remember seeing them about a year ago.

My daughters remembered what to do with snow!

They also found some other ways to beat the winter blues. Thanks a lot, Die-Hard Equestrian! Only, not! :)


Well, next week is a fresh week. I *will* get more accomplished!

Happy New Year!

Couldn't let the day go by without wishing all of you a very happy and joyous new year. I haven't exactly made any resolutions, but I have thought a lot about what I want to do this year, and I especially want to have more fun. When I let myself get down, I'm no good to anyone. This is not exactly an earth-shattering or innovative discovery, but sometimes I get so caught up in what I *have* to do, that it overwhelms me and keeps me from doing anything I like to do, or getting any happiness out of the things that have to be done. Hopefully having more fun will keep my blog interesting to read as well. :)

Toonaloo

The Evil Genius family, along with the Princess, the Princess' mother, and the Artist, went to an event at Tower City Mall in downtown Cleveland on Sunday. It was sponsored by American Greetings and featured cartoon characters owned by AG: Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and Holly Hobbie. Thus the name of the event, Toonaloo. We girls all saw the world premiere of the latest Strawberry Shortcake movie, which will not be out on DVD until February. Ooh aah! A Holly Hobbie Christmas film and a Care Bears movie were also shown, but we could only take in one film, and Strawberry Shortcake was the most popular. Then for a small fee, which was donated to charity, there were different activities to do. The girls opted to have their pictures taken with Strawberry Shortcake and various Care Bears, and to make tiaras. Here are some pics! Note the lovely pose of the Artist's hand. She probably picked up some lovely ballet poses from her mother.



The Princess' mom (aka the Quilter) and I lamented that Holly Hobbie is now a modern girl, the great-granddaughter of the "original" Holly Hobbie in bonnet and quilted dress. (Although they do offer "classic" Holly Hobbie items for those of us that live in the past :) ) I hate the way marketeers are always "updating" everything, and yet times are different now. There was a focus on the simple life, a sort of pioneer, earthy mentality, back then. Can you imagine the Sunshine Family dolls selling today? I suppose they could push the recycling aspect, making things for the dolls yourself out of items around your home. But granny dresses just aren't cool anymore. Steffie would wear jeans and a knit shirt (made out of organic cotton) and a denim jacket nowadays, and Steve would lose that nerdy turtleneck and get some Dockers. They'd still buy organic fruits and vegetables at the co-op, though, if they didn't grow them for themselves in the Watch 'Em Grow Greenhouse, with the Gardening Craft Kit, and then sell some at the Farm Produce Stand. Hmmm. Maybe they would fit in today after all! Too bad I'm a contra-crunchy. :)