Music and music and music.
Dec. 6th, 2007 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunrabSo Tuesday night we played a concert at the Charlestown retirement community here in Catonsville. Audience loves it. By the front entrance of the building we played in are large plant pots, chock full o' ornamental cabbages. So of course, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
squirrel_magnet and I starting substituting "ornamental cabbage" in all sorts of Christmas carol lyrics. "Walkin' in an ornamental cabbage" almost even scans correctly, whereas "Hark the ornamental cabbage sings" doesn't, not really.
Wednesday was rent-a-car day since I had to be at rehearsal in Montgomery Village and S had to be at rehearsal in Essex at the same time, each of us with our large conical brass instruments. And it was snowing. So I got to drive my rented Ford Escort (I hate automatic transmissions!) through the snow to MV. About 60% of the band made it to the rehearsal, which happens to be the dress rehearsal for Sunday's concert. The surprising thing? It wasn't a difficult drive. I decided discretion was the better part of valor, and instead of taking the short route I usually take, consisting of 2-lane roads through rural areas, took a much longer route which kept me on interstate highways for all but the last 2 miles: Interstate 70 all the way west to Frederick, then I-270 south to the Mont. Village Ave exit. Yes, it was 20 miles longer, but worth it. The highways were surprisingly orderly - everyone trucking along at about 40-45 mph, no idiots, very few trucks, no accidents that I saw on the 64-mile trip there. Came back via taking 270 the rest of the way south to the DC Beltway which is I-495, took that east, then came north on I-95 to I-695, which is the highway we live 2 blocks off of. That route is about 54 miles. It was also orderly, slowish but steady, and free of accidents. So in about 118 miles I circumnavigated Central Maryland in the snow, in the dark, in a strange car. Was happy to return said car to rental place this morning. The windshield wipers on it sucked mightily - bear grease might have worked better.
This afternoon, we had a matinee performance of the "Sleigh Ride Spectacular" program that the entire performing arts department at CCBC-Essex* is putting on, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Essex Community College. Dancers, singers, band. I played; S was an usher for this particular performance, as the stage is so crowded that only half the band can actually play at a time, so sections are rotating their players. From where I was sitting, I could not see a thing, including the conductor. So I came in on the second note of every piece. I could not even tell WHO was conducting - I don't mean I just didn't have a good view of the conductor, I mean I COULD NOT SEE ANY PART NOR PIECE OF THE CONDUCTOR. At the end of one piece, some people shifted for a second, and that's the first I knew that we were being conducted on that piece by the woman who directs the chorus, rather than by our own conductor! Since the tuba, the euphonium, and I were in a back row which wound up sorta in the wings, completely out of sight of the audience, we felt free to gossip and read during the moments when we weren't playing - felt sorta like we were in Berlioz' book Evenings with the Orchestra. For a while, said tuba and euphonium were busy text-messaging people on their cell phones. Ah, the 21st century.
On the way into the college, two of the three lanes in our direction, and one in the other direction, were blocked by the overturned Land Rover (completely on its side) and the three police cars and two tow trucks that were trying to figure out how to get it off the road. And the road was clear - wasn't even a case of ice or snow causing it!
Anyway. We play there at CCBC-Essex again Friday and Saturday nights (both of us play) and then we miss the Sunday performance of that concert, because I will be playing in the Montgomery Village concert, and S will be playing in the Bel Air Community Band concert, both of which are at the same time, same day. Whee!
With all this performing and travelling and whatnot, we haven't listened to many CDs. Here's one of the few:
A Very Scary Solstice by the HPLovecraft Historical Society - xmas carols rewritten for Solstice, further rewritten to reflect the horrors of Cthulhu. Nicely sung, and clever, but if you're not into Cthulhu, you might not appreciate the album. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Yog-Sothoth."
*CCBC-Essex, formerly Essex Community College, is the Community College of Baltimore County, Essex Campus. CCBC is not to be confused with BCCC, Baltimore City Community College, formerly Baltimore Junior College.
squirrel_magnet and I starting substituting "ornamental cabbage" in all sorts of Christmas carol lyrics. "Walkin' in an ornamental cabbage" almost even scans correctly, whereas "Hark the ornamental cabbage sings" doesn't, not really.Wednesday was rent-a-car day since I had to be at rehearsal in Montgomery Village and S had to be at rehearsal in Essex at the same time, each of us with our large conical brass instruments. And it was snowing. So I got to drive my rented Ford Escort (I hate automatic transmissions!) through the snow to MV. About 60% of the band made it to the rehearsal, which happens to be the dress rehearsal for Sunday's concert. The surprising thing? It wasn't a difficult drive. I decided discretion was the better part of valor, and instead of taking the short route I usually take, consisting of 2-lane roads through rural areas, took a much longer route which kept me on interstate highways for all but the last 2 miles: Interstate 70 all the way west to Frederick, then I-270 south to the Mont. Village Ave exit. Yes, it was 20 miles longer, but worth it. The highways were surprisingly orderly - everyone trucking along at about 40-45 mph, no idiots, very few trucks, no accidents that I saw on the 64-mile trip there. Came back via taking 270 the rest of the way south to the DC Beltway which is I-495, took that east, then came north on I-95 to I-695, which is the highway we live 2 blocks off of. That route is about 54 miles. It was also orderly, slowish but steady, and free of accidents. So in about 118 miles I circumnavigated Central Maryland in the snow, in the dark, in a strange car. Was happy to return said car to rental place this morning. The windshield wipers on it sucked mightily - bear grease might have worked better.
This afternoon, we had a matinee performance of the "Sleigh Ride Spectacular" program that the entire performing arts department at CCBC-Essex* is putting on, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Essex Community College. Dancers, singers, band. I played; S was an usher for this particular performance, as the stage is so crowded that only half the band can actually play at a time, so sections are rotating their players. From where I was sitting, I could not see a thing, including the conductor. So I came in on the second note of every piece. I could not even tell WHO was conducting - I don't mean I just didn't have a good view of the conductor, I mean I COULD NOT SEE ANY PART NOR PIECE OF THE CONDUCTOR. At the end of one piece, some people shifted for a second, and that's the first I knew that we were being conducted on that piece by the woman who directs the chorus, rather than by our own conductor! Since the tuba, the euphonium, and I were in a back row which wound up sorta in the wings, completely out of sight of the audience, we felt free to gossip and read during the moments when we weren't playing - felt sorta like we were in Berlioz' book Evenings with the Orchestra. For a while, said tuba and euphonium were busy text-messaging people on their cell phones. Ah, the 21st century.
On the way into the college, two of the three lanes in our direction, and one in the other direction, were blocked by the overturned Land Rover (completely on its side) and the three police cars and two tow trucks that were trying to figure out how to get it off the road. And the road was clear - wasn't even a case of ice or snow causing it!
Anyway. We play there at CCBC-Essex again Friday and Saturday nights (both of us play) and then we miss the Sunday performance of that concert, because I will be playing in the Montgomery Village concert, and S will be playing in the Bel Air Community Band concert, both of which are at the same time, same day. Whee!
With all this performing and travelling and whatnot, we haven't listened to many CDs. Here's one of the few:
A Very Scary Solstice by the HPLovecraft Historical Society - xmas carols rewritten for Solstice, further rewritten to reflect the horrors of Cthulhu. Nicely sung, and clever, but if you're not into Cthulhu, you might not appreciate the album. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Yog-Sothoth."
*CCBC-Essex, formerly Essex Community College, is the Community College of Baltimore County, Essex Campus. CCBC is not to be confused with BCCC, Baltimore City Community College, formerly Baltimore Junior College.
