SURVEY

Have you visted this site before?

Last Nights Sky

So I'm hearing reports on talk radio that at 8:13 p.m. last evening there was some sort of blue flash in the eastern sky that resembled an explosion and had a tail as it traveled. Anyone see it? Please comment.

What A Blast!

I'm late writing this post, about 5 days to be exact.

We saw Nickel Creek at the Gypsy Tea Room. It was nothing less than incredible. The crowd was very eclectic, mostly consisting of twenty and thirty-somethings. There were also a number of late teens, fifty year olds and then our age, forty-somethings. I had figured the band to be what it actually was, full of energy and very improvisational. The sound was great, the lights good, and the music an extreme mixture of jazz, celtic, fusion bluegrass. NC played for what seemed about an hour and a half and blew most everyone that was sober, away. Oh of course there were a few members of the "come for the party and screw the manners we should have for the pheonominal musicians that are here to entertain us" crowd. But for the most part everyone else was there to be mesmerized, and they got their wish.

All of this description was belittled by what happened after the concert. Lead singer and mando master Chris Thile came from the bus armed with his Dudenbostel mandolin under coat. He then took a perch under Central Expressway. Chris began to play. The few amazed fans standing near the bus, slowly inched their way towards where he playing, to stand in amazement only inches from where the virtuoso was contorsing to the rhythm of the mando.

Ms. and I stayed until around 11:30 p.m. Although I hated to leave Chris Thile playing to me under a bridge in downtown Dallas, Texas she had to get some sleep for the next days shift.

The phone rang about an hour later with my daughter blurting out that she had just sang two songs with Chris. It seems that he and some other fans had heard her singing and that he appreciated not only her knowing his songs, but her voice as well. "You have a beautiful voice" he told her. That's the same thing I've said to her and my son for years without any success of having them play and sing to our live music at home. I guess that's because I'm not Chris Thile, just dad.

Tea Room

I'm taking the whole family tomorrow night to the Gypsy Tea Room to see Nickel Creek. We're pumped. I think I'm getting comped by the radio station. Cannot wait to see the band. Film at eleven.

It's Rigged

We lost the district competition for 2A marching band. At this point that's all you can really say. It was held at Pennington Field in Bedford with 14 bands participating. Because of the number of schools, they had to have a second round of competition with 7 of the bands good enough to make it that far. We were there. I personally thought that in the prelims there were a few mistakes. Lines not straight, flags spaced too far apart in sections, flag throws dropped. The performance was not in any way bad, but improvements could have been made.

Our kids marched 3rd in the second round. I have got to say that in all the years I've watched them at football games and at competitions, this was the march that showed what they were all about. Discipline, pride, an awareness, and a reflection of hard work. They were awesome to a point that it was chilling. They looked so regimented. I've never been more proud of our hometown and school system (that I have many issues with) than I was at those few moments. I don't know how they could have been any better.

After all the bands had finished their performances, it took about 35 to 45 minutes for the votes to be tallied. I felt that there was struggle in the judges booth just because of the amount of time they were taking to make their decisions. At this point every school had moved into the stands with the parents and spectators. Some groups of kids were chanting back and forth in good camaraderie, while others spent their time talking and acting like high schoolers, joking and talking.

When the announcements were finally made, they set it up by letting us know that the three winning schools would be announced alphabetically in reverse order. The winning schools were Holiday, Celina and Argyle. Those of us listening closely knew as soon as Holiday was announced that we did not make it. As the announcer had finished, I turned to my left and looked to the top of the stands to find our band as still has still can be, not talking, not looking anywhere but down or ahead, and not moving. Some of the kids in the other bands were talking, crying, shaking their heads and so forth, but our kids continued to stare in disbelief. After literally five minutes, they began to move and disassemble down the stairs. I met my daughter in the "tunnel" of the stadium. She had an expression of a disappointed smile and let me know that "there is more to life than band." What a jewel she is. As we exited the stadium is was the Argyle band that stood at the gate to let our kids know how well they had done. What a class act.

We later learned that our kids had lost the opportunity to go to San Antonio by only 4 points. That on a 0 to 100 scale. We also heard rumor that one of the judges, an older man, had not liked our previous band director and was not a fan of our black and white due to the domination that they had held during the 90's. I don't know if it's true, but they sure took a long to time to decide that we were not going to state. I guess it was sad for me to see my daughter and her other senior friends who were closing a chapter in high school and marching band. I know my girls not interested in marching at her university next year, as that's what she keeps saying. But then she's going to be a doctor.