SRO in Morgantown

     The phone rang this past Saturday.  It was my friend Tim.  Tim's a trumpet player in the Morgantown Community Orchestra and he was inviting me to tag along to the concert they were giving at the CAC at West Virginia University on Sunday night.  I eagerly accepted his offer and patiently waited until the appointed time when they arrived to pick me up.  I don't own a car so transportation is a chore, but Tim's wife Chris is a good driver and we had a pleasant enough trip to Morgantown.  The theater itself was small, seating maybe 100 people and soon filled up to overflowing.  Chairs were brought in, and more chairs, and then more chairs as it soon became apparent they had grossly underestimated the following the Orchestra would draw.  


     The conductor,  Alejandro Pinzon,  was gracious if soft spoken.  When the featured pianist Rafael Smith failed to show, maestro Pinzon quickly and apologetically  rearranged the program and we were underway with  a short piece by a wind ensemble.   Then the meat of the evening, and a bravo performance it was.  Latin American in theme it showed off the talents of our community musicians.  From a pre-teen violinist to a septuagenarian flautist, who had taken up the flute just two years prior, they all played with gusto and verve.  The  highlight for me was "Habanera" from the opera "Carmen" by Bizet, which is the one and only opera I've listened too and really enjoyed.  The orchestra hasn't been together very long, nor have they had many practice sessions, but you couldn't tell it from the music they produced. 


      It was a thoroughly wonderful evening of music,,,topped off by a stop  at the Red Lobster and the cruel murder of a couple of Maine's best lobsters.  What a person will go through to eat some butter.
   

I am so Stoked

I AM SO STOKED .....    and the reason is contained in this video.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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     Now since the time I was able to sneak my older brother's comic book stash and learning to read, I've dreamed that the future for the human race pointed toward other worlds.  In the sixties I thought we were going there, but except for the Apollo program and the Space Shuttle we seemed almost manically set on invading other countries and killing everyone who disagreed with us.  This insanity has depleted our treasury and deadened our collective souls.  But out of the blue of the western sky comes a group of technology billionaires with ample funds with the vision for a better tomorrow, teamed with a group of engineers and former astronauts with the expertise. experience and drive to make my dreams come to fruition within my lifetime.  

Camp Massawomee on a Tuesday

     It's a lazy Tuesday, the tomato plant hanging upside down in it's Topsy Turvy basket and the horseraddish, chives, onions, lemon balm, spearmint and parsley are thriving.  As is the algae in the pond. Sunday Steve and Tracy were here and we smoked some chicken on the grill.  I'm still coughing, and my butt is covered in greasy charcoal.  We won't be doing that again any time soon.  

     

     I should thank my friends Chris and Tim for supplying the apple wood for the grill.   It imparts an interesting tang to the meat or veggies done on the grill and I implore you all to experiment with fruit woods in your grilling.  The French use the grape vine cuttings that accumulate when they prune and train their vines, to roast chickens on the spit.  I've tried it and the taste is superb.  

     It's wonderful how you can stumble onto such marvelous things by following random links while surfing the internet.  I subscribe to Phil Plait's "Bad Astronomy" Blog, and today he had this link to "Tree Lobsters" .    Now at the very bottom of the Tree Lobsters page is a set of icons belonging to "Friends of Tree Lobsters".   Selecting the "Atlanta Skeptics" link and scrolling down a bit you find this gem:     

     Enjoy my friends.

False Spring

It's false Spring but it doesn't matter, warmth is warmth even if it comes with an occasional chill.  There's a tomato plant growing on the porch engendering a fresh thoughtst in our mind and a primal rhythm in our breast and that's all that really counts. It's the beginning of the Pirates season, after the end of the Madness of March.  The over hyped NBA afterseason has begun....ho,hum...NHL drive to the Stanley Cup has once again crept onto our horizon.  Tennessee has voted to teach "Bible" in the place of reason.  Will West Virginia be next to succumb to cultism?   Matters not, Global warming has given us "false" Spring and my mantra is " Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?....Accept and rejoice at the boon.

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