Blog Archive 2007
Friday, Dec. 28th/07I got really ambitious today and cleaned all of the track on my HO train set in the basement. It was really dirty. I also managed to get the wheels of one engine and two passenger cars cleaned, so I could run a very small train.
The track is clean once again, as are the wheels of one engine.
The after-effects of my bicycle tumble yesterday are a very sore wrist (no piano today) and some cool-looking leg bruising. We couldn't ride today due to afternoon rain. The days have been so dark and gloomy of late.We watched "Bridge to Terabithia" tonight, an interesting though somewhat flawed film that attempts to enter a secret and magical world created by two 7th graders during their after-school leisure hours. All of the kids were very well presented, especially Anna Sophia Robb who simply radiated charm as Leslie.
Sometimes the film was just too literal, and would have been more successful with fewer strange creatures depicted. The ending is just too sappy, complete with Disney's trademark castle. It would have been nice to see Dad help out with the bridge a bit. Enjoyable mostly for the young acting talent.
Thursday, Dec. 27th/07
Whilst Deb and I were out for another bike ride this afternoon (two days in a row now) we met Lou and Linda, who were out for a walk. I promptly took a header off the mountain bike, falling splat onto the highway into oncoming traffic. How I love to make impressions. Anyway, other than some huge bumps on my lower legs and ankles, and a mildly sprained wrist, I seem to be holding together rather well. I was very lucky not to get hit by a vehicle, though a few months off of work may have had its advantages.
I sent a long e-mail to Caroline detailing our Christmas adventures at the Hyatt in Dearborn, and sent her nine photos, too (only one was of wine).
Amanda came over for a long visit tonight. She is in town for the holidays but is heading back to Toronto soon. It's always good to see her, and she brought us two new books. We gave her an LCBO gift card, and a nice hardcover edition of the 2 and 3 Part Inventions by J.S. Bach.
Wed., Dec. 26th/07
We did something totally different this year for the annual Christmas shutdown. Deb booked a room for us at a very fancy hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn MI. She also paid for it all with a recent 3 hour harp gig. The main goal was to get some rest, do some reading, writing and gaming, and have fun for two nights in a big, fancy hotel. We were kept company by half of Lafayette, Indiana, as Purdue football was in town for the Motor City College Bowl game being played tonight at Ford Field. Our room was extremely comfortable, and we were in there much of the time. We stopped at Merchants Fine Wine first to get some supplies. After checking out today, we went and did some shopping at Target.
Two days and two nights at the Hyatt Regency. What is there to do at Christmas time?
The finest wine was this organic one from Chile. Inexpensive but fabulous!
There are nearly 800 rooms in this very big hotel. We were in Rm 768. Our room came with two mornings of full breakfasts. It was an excellent deal.
Sunday, Dec. 23rd/07A full moon tonight, with Mars riding close by. I am hoping to get a photo or two, but it is very cloudy and very windy. You will see it here if I get one.
In the last couple of days we have watched three more episodes of Season Three of the new Doctor Who, by far the most outstanding SF TV series, ever. We also watched a quirky western, a Sergio Leone flic from 1974 starring Henry Fonda in his last western feature. "My Name is Nobody" is actually a slapstick comedy (with lots of slapping), but our main reason for renting it was the many New Mexico locations. Cabezon, Mogollon, White Sands, Acoma and other areas give the film an authentic look, and the photography is rich and detailed. Definitely worth a rental. There is no other western like it, and Fonda is his usual magnificient self.
Friday, Dec. 21st/07
All energy this week went into surviving until the weekend, and the strategy seems to have (barely) worked. I am officially free for 16 days and evenings.
Tues. afternoon and Wed. evening were the school Christmas shows. I had a lot of positive comments about my recorder players, who helped fill in the dead spaces between the acts. The show was all Primary children, from Kindergarten through Gr. 3. My recorder players are in Grs. 5, 6 and 8.
Gr. 6 recorder band members warm up in the Music Room before the show. My older group played whilst the younger singers left the stage and new groups entered.
Grand Finale of the afternoon performance.
On Thursday morning Deb and I popped over to our Dearborn mailbox, and I was able to retrieve and bring back to life my much-loved Finepix S9000 camera. Here is a comparison shot showing it with the recently purchased S700.
S700 on left; S9000 on right. The smaller camera now becomes the main hiking and toting camera. I will likely take it to London in March as well.
Monday, Dec. 17th/07No photos today, I promise! But I've got a pair of links you should enjoy.
Caroline, our good friend from London, UK, sent us this link. It's to a commercial for a traditional Scottish soft drink, and among other things contains images of many of Scotlands most famous landmarks. Watch and enjoy. Turn up the volume, too.
The second link comes from Mouser's journal, and it is a remix of the trailer to "300", for 10 yr. old girls. This is a classic. Turn up the volume.
For the second Monday in a row, there were no school buses running. 8H had 9 kids, 7M had 10, and 6W had 6. Now that was a great day!
Sunday, Dec. 16/07
We ended up getting about 7" of snow, and it was heavy stuff, not fluffy. Luckily my neighbour (the father of a former piano student) came by with his plow and pick-up truck. He even came back for another go after the county snow plows had buried our driveway again! Thanks Ralph!
We watched a very entertaining version of Northanger Abbey tonight on TVO. The 'dream' and 'fantasy' sequences were especially good. They have two more Jane Austen nights coming up on the next two Sundays. Only the British can make these shows with the consistent quality and high standards one comes to expect. Very well done.
Of course sudden winter and a new camera mean only one thing--more pictures. I wonder how many photos are actually on this entire website. Tomorrow my S9000 should be back from a warrantied repair, waiting for me at our Dearborn mailbox.
Taken from our upstairs window today during the storm. We fed the birds three times. The S700 is on maximum zoom (380mm).
Welcome to our house. Please don't use the front door.
Near sunset the wind really picked up, causing a lot of blowing snow.
Saturday, Dec. 15th/07
Only one more day until Beethoven's birthday! May the party never stop.
We are in line for a major winter storm. Nothing would make me happier than if it missed, but it ain't gonna. I took a few pics around the yard this afternoon with the new camera, after a small amount of snow had fallen. Tonight we managed to get the Solstice decorations up around the fireplace, and our mini-tree.
We also watched the first episode of Dr. Who new Season Three, an hilarious and touching story starring comedian Catherine Tate as a bride who never quite gets to her wedding, but goes everywhere else, including 4.6 billion years back in time to the formation of the Earth. David Tennant continues to be a brilliant Dr., possibly the best of them all, and the series just continues to be completely amazing.
Our backyard bridge on a snowy Saturday.
Harp Garden, side of house.
Feeding the birds.
Deb at the banking machine on a snowy Saturday.
Friday, Dec. 14th/07The newest, cutest camera is now in the building. The S700 arrived safely and is currently in operation. Here is what it looks like in my hand.
Finepix S700 at home. It is half the size of my S9000, but twice as big as the A400 (which is credited with this photo, taken by Deb).
It should make a great hiking camera, and once I get to know how to use it well, it will likely be our London camera in March.Here is the first picture taken with the S700. We went to Borders in Dearborn, and I sat at the cafe and unpackaged it and got it up and running.
First light with the S700, a festive coffee display at Borders. ISO 400, an autopilot shot.
Buddy's Pizza. ISO 800, "Museum" mode.
After Borders, we went to Buddy's Pizza for supper. This indoor hand-held shot (1/8 sec) was a good colour test at ISO 800. Not bad. On "Museum" mode, the flash is suppressed, as are all camera sounds. The ISO gets boosted, too.I rode my bike to and fro today, and if the weather forecast for the weekend is accurate, it will likely be my final ride of /08. We are in line for a major winter storm Saturday night and into Sunday. Damn.
Thursday, Dec. 13th/07
Tonight I finally had time to work on revising my Lulu publications. Both the novel and the photo book should now be where I want them. I have ordered new copies of each to double check before posting links to them here.
On another note, my Fujifilm Finepix S9000 is on its way back to me, after being repaired under warranty in New Jersey. If we go to our Dearborn mailbox tomorrow evening, my newest camera purchase, the Finepix S700, should be waiting. It will be my 'intermediate' camera, used on all hikes except for the most extreme climbs, when I will still use the even smaller Finepix A400. The S9000 won't be back until at least Tuesday.
Wed., Dec.12th/07
It was sunny today, and I finally got to ride my bike to work and back once again! I stayed a bit late to work on the school website. I finally have found a couple of students that will actually do work on it with me, and trained them both tonight (thanks Kayley and Kaitlynd).
I finished listening to "Siegfried", the third opera in Wagner's mighty Ring Cycle. Through sheer luck I happen to own the finest set of recordings of all 4 operas, featuring the Vienna Philharmonic and conducted by George Solti in the first full recordings ever made of the complete cycle. This was the first recording of Siegried, and with singers like Wolfgang Windgassen (now there's a great name!) as the fearless Siegfried and Birgit Nilsson as the awakened Brunnhilde, this was a winner from start to finish. Can't wait for the final installment "Gotterdamerung," coming soon to a living room near me.
We also watched the conclusion to "The Art of the Piano: Great Pianists of the 20th C". Though all-too brief, and leaving out many major artists, highlights include Glenn Gould's Bach Concerto with Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic, Richter's performance of Chopin's Revolutionary Etude, and Michelangeli's performance of a Scarlatti sonata (b-). There is nothing more humbling than to hear a great artist perform a work that you have studied and learned and performed yourself!
As to the Bruce Lee biopic (see Monday's entry for the beginning of a lot of this stuff I'm referring to tonight), it wasn't too bad. Bruce Li plays the part of Bruce Lee in a film that sticks pretty close to the truth. There is a lot of fighting, of course, but Bruce was like an old west gunfighter--young bucks just kept coming up to him and challenging him to fight all the time. No matter how much serious butt-kicking he woud do, or how many world championship kung fu trophies he would win, self-inflated idiots with egos and no brains would always think they could beat him. Nope. Next Monday we are going to watch "Fists of Fury".
Mogollon the Cat has been making more and more appearances of late, and tonight we caught him up on the table snoozing beside Ferdinand. He woke up when I approached with a camera, and took off when the flash went off, but he is definitely making big progress in accepting us as his family.
Mogi on left and Ferdie on right. Progress!
Monday, Dec. 10th/07School busses were cancelled today due to icy roads, so instead of battling with classes <30, I had classes of 11, 14 and 14 respectively. Much better, and we got a whole lot of learning done too. More ice predicted tomorrow morning. And the smile of the week goes to Taylor.
Taylor B., a Year 8 student. Today was much more relaxed because of the small classes.
It's been hard getting back into piano since being sick, but I have managed 3 days in a row of late. Memory still isn't that bad, except for the Scarlatti. I am currently watching a dvd called "Great Pianists of the 20th Century", a nice summary of some of the greats like Horowitz, Rubenstein,and even Rachmaninoff. So far it is quite good, but a single dvd that is only 108 minutes long can't even begin to get into the subject very deeply. This would be better as a 3 or 4-disc set of two hours or more each.This is also 'chop socky' night here at home, so I will be soon watching "Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth". Should go well with salad and leftover pasta. I will report on this later. And of course Rocky and Bullwinkle Season Three continues as well. Kind of a mixed bag of viewing around here, as usual.
Sunday, Dec. 9th/07
As you can tell, I have expanded the journal size for easier reading and to enable slightly larger photos. I simply don't have enough bandwidth here to link to larger pictures, but maybe someday if MNSi stops being so stingy with customers.
I will eventually go back and resize some of the photos, especially ones that are hard to see.
I have completed my nostalgic review of New Mexico Trip #9, reducing two large volumes of photos and writing of a two-week excursion down to two pages of summary and two photos. This trip was nick-named "The Santa Fe Trail Expedition". Deb and I and my parents flew to Kansas City in July 1990 and drove a rental car along what remains of the old wagon trail all the way to Santa Fe. We then spent 6 days in Santa Fe, Taos and Red River, seeing the sights before driving back to K.C. to catch our flight home. Deb and I managed two great hikes, including a tough 8 mile hike above 11,000'. This one turned out to be very exhausting, and we ended badly by nearly freezing to death in damp, windy weather on the 25 minute ride back down to the valley on the ski lift at Red River. I loved the drive through Kansas, finding it a suitable preparation for the upcoming grandeur of the highest Rockies in NM.
Deb, Mom and Dad survey the land at Point of Rocks, Kansas, near Elkhart. 1990 photo.
Baldy Mt., between Red River NM and Eagle Nest. Taken in 1990.
Saturday, Dec. 8th/07We ended up taking four students to the Detroit Symphony, not five, as Ashley was sick. Jennifer Koh was the soloist, and she gave a riveting version of all 4 Seasons by Vivaldi. 4 times a year the DSO presents concerts in a series called Unmasked, where the conductor and a host present an informal talk on stage throughout the concert. It's good for the students and non-classical music goers, though I doubt that the Four Seasons needs much unmasking.
Deb is playing harp this evening at a fancy dinner at the University of Windsor. A new President is being sworn in at Assumption College, and she is playing for three hours! I always feel like a street person she hired for the afternoon to help her set up, since I am usually dressed in my bummiest clothes and she is dressed to the hilt.
Deb begins her 3 hr. dinner gig tonight, while I check out the bar snacks in my grubby clothes.
We are supposed to get a nasty storm overnight and tomorrow, with significant icing possible. This is my least favourite weather, even beneath sudden lightning storms on mountains. Kady and Angela are supposed to perform in Windsor tomorrow afternoon, and I'm supposed to accompany Kady. We'll see.Thursday, Dec. 6th/07
Bitter cold for this time of year, and as a result I am not spending a lot of time outdoors right now, i.e. biking and or walking. By the end of winter these temperatures will seem mild, but for now I don't want any of it.
Watching more Rocky and Bullwinkle, Season Three now, as we continue to get thru the complete series, courtesy of Netflix. I laugh out loud nearly every episode.
At camera club yesterday I gave the group a talk and demo on pixels and megapixels. Then, I asked them about their own cameras--they didn't even know how many mp their cameras were! Today, a few came back to tell me how many (anywhere from 3.3 to 10) mp their camera has. Talk about basics, but by the end of the year, if they stick with it, their pictures will improve and their knowledge base will slowly grow. They certainly are good at getting their assignments in on time.
Tomorrow night eight of us are going to the Detroit Symphony to hear the chamber orchestra perform Vivaldi's 4 Seasons. We are bringing 5 students and there will be three adults. They already know the basics about Vivaldi's life, but three of the girls have never been to this kind of concert before. Will report on the expedition tomorrow or Saturday.
Monday, Dec. 3rd/07
We made a quick run this morning over to our Dearborn mailbox. I sent my camera off to New Jersey to be repaired (still under a 5-yr. warranty), and miss it already. They will likely say it isn't a warranty issue, but that it is wear and tear. We'll see. I also purchased my next level hiking camera, after humming and hawing longer than I did over buying the Touareg. I got a Finepix S700, the baby brother to my S9000. It has full manual override, which made my decision in the end. When hiking I leave the camera on autopilot in case I need to get a quick shot away, but when I compose the photo I usually use manual. The price was a steal on Amazon.com. Also arriving in the mail were my two books I printed at Lulu.com. The photo book is quite lovely, except there is one huge mistake: where a strategic full page photo of Knight Peak should be, we see--an architectural fragment from a building in Silver City. Hmmm. Time to get on the line with tech support. The other book, my kids' novel, needs a better font, so I will try it again. The front and back cover, designed by Deb, are spectacular! Links will be forthcoming.
Deb designed the cool cover to my novel. Pen name is M.J. Croft.
Sunday, Dec. 2nd/07
Feeling nearly half human today, though 5 hours of sleep over two nights is not exactly my norm. I managed to do the laundry whilst Deb went to hunt and gather. Great pasta for dinner!
I actually felt well enough to work on my New Mexico summary project for a few hours. I am trying to summarize each of the 25 voyages within two pages of a Moleskine notebook, using only 2 photos for each trip. Today I summarized Trip #7, "The Lordsburg Mesa" expedition. First I reread the large volume written just after that trip, and then I looked carefully again at the photos I included at that time. Then I get down to thinking and writing briefly about the highlights. This particular trip was in March 1990, and was our first attempt at a "low key" exploration in New Mexico. No major summits were climbed, no areas of extreme breathtaking beauty were visited, and no National Parks or Monuments were explored. We stayed in an area very close to Lordsburg and instead got up close and personal with the desert. We began by spending an entire day just sitting around various places on the Mesa watching what happened. Kind of a Native American way of exploring. Next we discovered a small scale red rock area, observing a family of javellinas, and once again sitting and just watching the landscape. Our biggest climb was to Eagle Eye, a fantastic hole in the rock that hardly anyone knows about, deep within Thompson Canyon. We also explored a new facet of our sacred mountain, The Watcher (alias Knight Peak), and managed to climb a mini summit in the Pyramid Mts., called Swallowfork Peak. More than any other, this trip taught us about seeing and observing Nature in the deserts of New Mexico. We came back wiser, and didn't even need any peyote! Two pics follow:
A tiny and younger Deb stands in the cleft at the cool area of red rocks we discovered in 1990 north of Lordsburg Mesa. We are keeping the area top secret, but if you want to go, we'll take you (blindfolded, of course). 1990 photo.
A tiny and younger Michael stands beneath the hole at Eagle Eye, Thompson Canyon. While this area isn't top secret, no one really knows about it either. From my 1990 files. I am a tiny blue blob below the left side of the hole (honest). The hole can be climbed and entered from behind. I have a superb 8x10 of this shot, taken with my late Rollei 35. 1990 photo.
Sat., Dec. 1st/07Have been reading and thoroughly enjoying Mouser's (see below) blog, especially about his preparations for his successful ascent of Mt. Rainier--congrats, man! Highly recommended reading, everyone. My goal of getting to the top of Little Costilla Peak next summer doesn't seem quite such a big adventure after all!
Deb played at a wedding today in Windsor, and luckily the snowy icy stuff held off until we got back home. Among other significant accomplishments today, we watched another crappy movie from my bargain boxed set of 50 crappy SF flics I bought last week. This week's flic wasn't even a SF, but a lame jungle pic with a significantly ugly Amazon Queen. Sheesh. If you are going to pay about 20 cents for a movie, it should at least have a beautiful Amazon Queen. Next Saturday we will treat ourselves to "The Atomic Brain". Now that sounds more like it!
Friday, Nov. 30th/07
Finally starting to get back on my feet again. I took three days off work to fight off this flu bug, and now I'm just left with a sinus infection. Low grade headache is finally gone. No piano in a long while now, so memory will be slipping. Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow.
While researching a mountain peak I wish to climb next summer in New Mexico (Little Costilla Peak), I came across a very funky website. It is loaded with photos, and I envy Mouser his amount of bandwidth. I have so many more pics I would like to have up, including our cats, but am limited by MNSi's restrictions. Maybe it's time I considered a commercial site. If you click on photos on Mouser's site, you will be treated to over 5500 pics, some in three different sizes, all fully categorized. His journal is also fun to read and filled with interesting stuff.
Here is the link to his journal:
http://web.mouser.org/log/
and to his photos:
http://mouser.org/gallery/
These are large sites, so bookmark them and take your time.
Tuesday, Nov. 27th/07
Despite feeling under the weather today (background headache and slight fever, loss of appetite), I managed to get a full piano practice done. I am now memorizing the Spanish keyboard program, and here is how things stand:
Scarlatti, c- Sonata--30% done.
Scarlatti, C+ Sonata--70% done.
Granados, Playera--70% done.
Granados, Little Orphan Girl--50% done.
Takacs, Song and Alborado--50% done.
Debussy, Gate of Wine--30% done.
Albeniz, Leyenda (Asturias)--50% done.
de Falla, Farruca--70% done.
There is still a lot of memory work to go, but it will get there. I'll report back in a few weeks.
Got a short message from Kati G. today. She is going to enter the Doctoral program in Piano Performance at Indiana Univ. Fantastic news!!
Sunday, Nov. 25th/07
The day began bright and sunny, but by mid-afternoon it was cloudy and grey. It grew grayer, and wet snow was falling by early evening. We managed a walk at Ojibway Prairie late in the day, and I shot some b&w pics with my Fujifilm Finepix S9000 digital camera. Within a week of bragging on here about that camera, I now find that the command wheel (used for all manual settings) has ceased working. It's still under warranty, but that means I will be without the camera while it gets sent away. At least it didn't happen just before a major trip. All of the auto settings and scene position options work, but not the command wheel which I use constantly. I have taken nearly 3500 trouble-free shots with the S9000. Because I use manual control nearly all of the time, it appears I have worn out the wheel.
Ojibway Prairie hike.
More prairie scenery.
Saturday, Nov. 24th/07Like most of them, it was a long, hard week on the battlefront. I did manage to bike to school three times, but on Thursday we received 2" of rain. All our leaves are now down, and the yard looks very leafy! It will likely stay that way until a big wind comes and blows them away.
There was a beautiful moonrise last night, observed as we headed off to Detroit. We returned to the DIA to attend the public opening (last weekend was for members only), and found ourselves jam packed into a very busy building. We left about 11 pm, and hordes of people were still arriving. We have now walked through most of the museum, today visiting American and Modern Art. Both setups are very well done. The African Art section reminds me of ethhographic museums in London, rather than an art museum, and the Egyptian galleries are very claustrophobic. I do find there are simply too many labels in the galleries, and they are too large. "The Grand Tour" of Italy is very disappointing, and not very grand.
This afternoon, my school Recorder Band performed in town as part of the Christmas festivities. A good time was had by all.
Brahm, Jenn and Rebecca perform on recorders.
Members of the Recorder Band take a break while the primary choir belts out a few Christmas tunes. Jesse looks thrilled.
Monday, Nov. 19th/07I have begun listening to the original Solti recording of "Siegfried", the 3rd opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle. I am well into Act 1, and it is a fabulous recording! It lasts over 4 hrs., so it will take a while to get through it all.
I promised a Mogy update, but before that happens, we found a beautiful white cat on the roadside in front of our house this afternoon, killed by a car. We dug a hole and buried it in our backyard, a not very fun way to begin our evening after a leaden day at school.
On to Mogy--he is very much afraid of me, and whenever he sees me he cowers in his cave. When I came home today on my bike (ahead of Deb), all three cats were in the window watching for us. Mogy took off as soon as he saw me approach the house. Still, he is getting braver every day. Deb can touch him directly. His room is open now, and he has full run of the house when he wants it (at night and when we are gone). It is taking a long time, but he will come round, especially when he realizes what a great guy I really am! He has blue eyes, a striped tail, and a spotted body.
First picture of Mogy, with my old 2 mp camera. He disappeared soon after, back to his lair.
Sunday, Nov. 18th/07Zeezee, our oldest finch, left for the big flock in the sky over the weekend. A long lifespan for these remarkable little birds is 4 years. Zeezee was 8! Many of the others are very old also, and no doubt the cooler temps of autumn and winter will be hard on the flock. Zeezee fathered some of the other birds still with us. Tomorrow I will give an update on Mogollon, our newest cat.
We went to the Windsor library for another student recital this afternoon, after enjoying a fabulous lunch in depressing downtown Windsor. We ate at an Indian restaurant called "A Taste of India", and the food was delicious. The downtown street project just goes on and on, and meanwhile there is no traffic anywhere, vehicle or foot. What a shame.
I have nearly decided on the Finepix S700 for my next camera. The only disadvantage is the weight. Because it holds 4 AA batteries, I would actually have to carry 8 batteries total on a hike. Believe it or not, that can make a difference on a climb in the Rockies. The camera itself sounds too perfect. It can be bought in the USA for under $200.
Saturday, Nov. 17th/07
I am in the market for a newer 'small' camera to take hiking, carry in my backpack, etc. My little A400 is now considerably outdated, and I am looking at something else from Fuji, such as the S700. It's bulkier than the smaller and flat A400, but definitely a step up the ladder in quality and manual controls.
I got the remainder of my enlargements today from the most recent NM trip. My main camera, the Finepix S9000, just begins to perform once the print size reaches 8 x 10. The quality of the photos is truly phenomenal! I am so glad I did not buy an SLR. Instead of spending my money on other lenses and being bothered by never having the correct lens on the camera when I need it (I already own 2 SLR film cameras)--or just as bothersome, having several lenses but only really using one of them, I can spend money on enlargements and even other small cameras when I don't wish to carry the bigger one around. It's also a huge bonus that the Fuji cameras take AA batteries! With my 15 minute charger, I am never running short, and if I ever do, I can get batteries nearly anywhere, including backwater trading posts in New Mexico and corner stores in Europe.
We went to the Detroit Institute of Arts this morning for our first visit in 6 months. For the past several years it has been undergoing huge renovations, and has been closed since May. We quickly toured about half the space, leaving impressed in many cases and perplexed in others. More to come on this topic.
Wed., Nov. 14th/07
By now I know that you just can't wait to see what the microbrew beer of the day was. So either scroll down a bit to find out, or just be patient--I'll get to it in due course. What have I done lately besides sample some great beer? Glad you asked. For the third day in a row I was able to bike to school and back. If recent tradition holds, I should make it to the final week of classes in December. Only once, a few years back, did it snow so much in December that my bike was stuck at school until late February.
Autumn leaves around here are just passing their peak. This photo from today is looking out our front window.
View out our front window today. Ferdinand is on the table, inside his donut bed.
Another thing I have been doing lately is practicing the piano. I am slowly getting pieces memorized, and each year it gets harder. We have no date set for the concert, but when I know for sure you'll know too. Probably on the coldest, snowiest day of the winter.I've also revived the Allie Tachbrook projects, as I am currently editing the second volume and hoping to finish it, as well as making plans to publish the first book with an on-line publisher. That way I can target my readership (female musicians aged 12 to 18 years) much better. We'll see how that project goes.
Okay, you've been very patient. Now, for the beer of the day. Goodnight.
This was a very tasty offering from Michigan Brewing Company. I have five of these left! It's a Belgian style beer brewed with herbs and spices. How can you just have one?
Tues., Nov. 13th/07Talk about two contrasting workdays. Monday the kids were wild and restless, making for an unpleasant afternoon in the classroom. Today, things were calmer and a bit of teaching actually got done. The difference? Weather patterns. On Monday we were surrounded by storms, and the barometer fell all day. Today, it was sunny and mild with a rising barometer. The influence of weather on human behaviour is so obvious that I can't understand why it doesn't appear alongside weather warnings. When a storm is approaching, watch out for misbehaving kids, headaches, road rage maniacs, and general depression and feelings of unease. As the barometer rises, things will improve.
I have completed my first on-line photography book, and it should be for sale on this website soon. I have ordered a copy myself to check the results, but it should be a winner. It will have 64 photos of our NM Trip #25, as well as some commentary and exposure details. Quite exciting, if the print quality is good.
Tonight I enjoyed a delicious Oatmeal Stout from New Holland Brewing Company, Michigan. Called The Poet, this could become a favourite.
The Poet, a yummy Oatmeal Stout from New Holland Brewing Co. (MI)
I just went out and had another look at the comet in Perseus. It has grown to a tremendous size since I last viewed it a few weeks ago! It is just so cool to see something of that magnitude occupying a chunk of sky where there should be nothing.Sat., Nov. 10th/07
It was time for the annual quick trip to London, Ontario today, as my flute student Kady won her third Medal of Excellence from Conservatory Canada. Go Kady!! Her mom and dad were there for her, something I wish every successful child could experience.
Kady B. prepares to bring home another Medal of Excellence for her fine work with the flute. I couldn't be happier!
Today was my brother Steve's 45th birthday, and I actually remembered to call him on the correct day! Believe it or not, this was the first time. Of course, he was in the midst of a huge party at his house.Things were a little quieter here, with another fine Pumpkin Ale digested, this time from O'Fallon's Brewery in Missouri. Very good stuff.
We watched a devastating futuristic movie tonight called "Children of Men". Rather grim, but fascinating and watchable. Michael Caine has a great role, and it was most fun watching him for the last two movies in a row.
Friday, Nov. 9th/07
The blog is now one year old! Happy birthday, blog!
We made a quick trip to Dearborn this morning to pick up a harp for a new student of Deb's. It is taking longer to cross the border than ever, though we got lucky coming back, as there was no wait.
I have resumed work on my second Allie Tachbrook novel, being currently about 1/3 of the way finished writing. It is a horror/mystery/young adult soap opera that takes place in London. Writing seems to bring me some sanity, and to take my mind off things like work, even more than piano playing does these days.
Speaking of work, it is report card season, and I must get busy. They are due in the office very soon.
I had a very fine micro-beer tonight from the basement pub, a spicy autumn brew from Arcadia in Battle Creek again. I only had one bottle down there, as it came in a sample pack. I will likely get some more.
Despite a somewhat ridiculous name and label, the beer is very good.
Tomorrow I am off to London Ontario with Kady and her family, to see her awarded with a Medal of Excellence for flute for the third year in a row! Go Kady!Wed., Nov. 7th/07
Until today, it's been too windy to ride my bike to school. Despite chilly temps and grey skies I rode there and back today. Camera Club was sparsely attended at noon hour today, as many kids had other committments, but most of them handed in their photo assignments. The next assignment is to get some photos on the school website, so two weeks from today there should be a good display. Look for the link here, or just visit Google and search for Amherstburg Public School.
After school, Ballroom Dancing continued with about 20 students still coming out quite faithfully. We have taught the Waltz, Tango, Beat Jive, Merengue, and Cha Cha so far, and will introduce the Rhumba next time. Of course we are woefully short of boys, but that is nothing new. Even Camera Club only has four boys, with about a dozen girls or more.
Sunday, Nov. 4th/07
I got some writing done today in my New Mexico enlargements album. The album will hold up to 40 enlargements on one side and text on the other. The quality of the Finepix S9000 just begins to show itself when the photo size reaches 8x10. It really is a phenomenal camera.
I had an excellent beer from my micro-brewery collection in the basement this afternoon. I enjoyed a London Porter from Arcadia Brewing in Battle Creek MI. It was so full-bodied it was almost chewy! I have five more bottles awaiting.
We watched a movie tonight called "The Prestige". It is a clever tale of two rival magicians in turn of the century London. It is well produced and has the added bonus of starring Michael Caine in a great supporting role. Some not very flattering secrets regarding magicians' tricks with birds are revealed. The movie eventually suffers from being too long and lets the viewer down by revealing too much too soon. Not a likeable movie due to the nature of the characters, but an odd one and strangely compelling.
Saturday, Nov. 03rd/07
Our first five-day work week in a while has come and gone (and best forgotten). I did get my updated pension statement in the mail this week, though, something that always lifts my spirit! Less than three years to go!!
We had a great Samhain evening, with the usual feasting and look-ahead Tarot reading, done by yours truly. As usual, we had no trick or treaters at our door.
Our fireplace, decorated for Celtic New Year (Samhain--literally 'End of Summer').
Friday night we went to visit Barb, now teaching at a Windsor school. She lives in a new condo complex in Tecumseh, and has a really great place. We introduced her to John Cleese in "Fawlty Towers", and I think she approved. She is interested in coming along on part 2 of our wine tour of Essex County in the near future.Today we made our usual Dearborn mailbox run, also going to Borders Books and then on to Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit for our annual late autumn visit. The leaves were just past prime, but the grounds were still beautiful and atmospheric. We keep discovering new locations within the cemetery. We found some interesting and unsual names on tombstones today.
Angel from tombstone at Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit.
Some unusual tombstone names at Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit.
The great weather continues, with today being a really clear, warm and fabulous one.
Sunday, Oct. 28th/07
Our final day of hosting company from out of town, we took Deb's oldest sister and her mom over to Detroit. We had breakfast in Dearborn, then went to Borders Books and a Target store. Following that, we took them downtown for a ride on the People Mover, the train that links the downtown area via 13 beautifully decorated stations. We began and ended at the Michigan Station, enjoying blue skies and unique glimpses of Detroit and Windsor.
Downtown Detroit, Grand Circus Park, as seen from the elevated People Mover Train.
Afterwards, we recrossed the border. I drove the three ladies to Devonshire Mall in Windsor, then headed downtown. It was my turn to host the ORMTA Student Piano Recital at the central library. The concert was very good, with some high level playing and very advanced pieces.I picked up the shoppers at 4 pm and we returned to Amherstburg for a rest. Company stayed until about 9 pm. They leave tomorrow for Lindsay.
I had a good look tonight at Comet 17P/Holmes, a very bright object everyone in astronomy circles has been talking about for several days now. It is one of the brightest comets I have seen, easily spotted with the naked eye in the constellation Perseus. In my best binoculars the view was amazing from the back deck, a bright, circular blob of light with different rings of brightness surrounding the core. The comet suddenly erupted, and theories abound as to what is happening there right now. A lot of club members are out at the observatory tonight. Wish I could have gone too!
Saturday, Oct. 27th/07
We went on our long-awaited wine tour, managing to visit 7 wineries in Amherstburg and Harrow. We stopped at an eighth, but it was too busy and crowded to get in. Deb and I purchased 6 bottles. Lois, Sharon, and Ruth, our colleague-friend from school, also made purchases. Despite rainy weather, it was a fun day. We stopped for lunch in Harrow mid-way through the visits.
The wine merchants! L to R: Ruth, Deb, Sharon and Lois. This became a familiar scene throughout the day.
Deb and her Mom share a glass of wine in our living room.
Later on, Deb and Lois and Sharon went to see a movie in Windsor. I stayed home to practice. I wish to get serious about memorizing the Spanish program now. There are currently 8 piano solos on the upcoming program.Friday, Oct. 26/07
I finally finished reading "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum, a 500+ page adventure novel written not that long after the close of the Vietnam War. As much as I liked the movie, this book is better in many ways. For one thing, it tells the story the author intended. The movie version of events is completely different. Marie is not the same person, though Jason himself is depicted accurately. The changes to the basic plot are so devastating and ludicrous that Ludlum's fine work is barely recognizable. I will read the remaining two novels for sure. He is a master at writing nail-biting action scenes and of very taut and tense situations. My heart was racing many times during this novel.
Sharon and Deb's mom arrived safely today. We met here at 4:30, and headed out to Uncle Vito's in Amherstburg for dinner around six. Great to have family company down here--it happens so rarely. Tomorrow we are going off on an Essex County winery tour, mostly within Amherstburg and Harrow. There are 8 wineries in our neighbourhood!
Wed., Oct. 24th/07
The frantic rush is on to get the house clean before Deb's mom and sister arrive Friday evening for a weekend visit! Yesterday we worked on the living room; tonight it was the kitchen.
Mogy has come out of his room once so far. The door is open right now, and Gustav is trying to coax him out again, but Mogy is too afraid (mainly of us). At least he has the option now, when it is a non-teaching night. He and Gustav are getting along fine.
Deb got a new violin student. She will start lessons next week.
Deb and I rode our bikes to school and home again on Monday and today. It was into the wind coming home tonight, and our legs are tired from the strain. Temps have cooled, but it is perfect for outdoor activities.
Camera Club meeting today went well. I now have five kids back from last year, in addition to the many new members. Alicia and Jessica returned to the flock today, though Al was very upset at a recent event and wasn't in a very good mood. They are both eager and talented photographers, and I am glad they have rejoined.
Sunday, Oct. 21st/07
Mogollon The Cat Update
We have now had Mogy for a month. He is living in the tv room, and Deb still plays with him in there a lot. He is coming out of his hidy hole a bit more, and has been right up to the screen door to sniff nose to nose with Gustav. He runs away whenever I go near, and won't come out of his cave when I am in the tv room. So some progress is being made, albeit it slowly. In the meantime the birds and mice are in the harp room, making two rooms of the house unaccessible to Ferdie and Gustave. I will post a picture of Mogy this week, for sure!
I finished writing the Colorado journal, and will now turn my thoughts to the enlargement project for NM Trip #25. I will get enlargements of the best photos and write short essays about them. I also need to keep working on my New Mexico summary project, where I reduce each trip to two pages and two photos in a Moleskine notebook.
Friday, Oct. 19th/07
Last night's storms and tornadoes missed our area but hit Michigan pretty hard. We had a very windy day, too windy to ride our bikes.
After school today was the first outing of the "new and improved" camera club at APS. 12 students, 4 parents, Deb, myself and a large dog attended Holiday Beach Conservation Area on the Lake Erie shoreline. The wind made it a very atmospheric outing, and tons of photos were taken. I set a great example by having all 8 batteries to my main camera die before I even got started. I guess I hadn't recharged them since Colorado. Luckily I had brought my little Fuji A400 as backup! The group seems to be gung ho about being in the club, but they will have to be instructed in how to remain closer together when in the field. It was hard to keep track of everyone. We have plans to visit the Detroit Zoo in November, but that may be postponed until they (the kids) are a bit tamer.
Members of the APS Camera Club head out along the boardwalk at Holiday Beach.
Exploring a stump along the footpath to the beach.
Gr 8 members explore a pond near the Hawk Tower.
A windy, grey day along the Lake Erie shoreline. The school camera club's first outing was to Holiday Beach.
Two students and a parent had to leave early, otherwise here we all are, including Ally the dog! I am 2nd from the right, behind Ally.
Sunday, Oct. 14th/07It took most of the morning and the afternoon, but I finished editing the Colorado shots and have put some up on the website! Now I have to rush outside before the rain begins and do some yard work. This will likely be the final update to the main page until we are back from London after March Break.
Saturday, Oct. 13th/07
Deb, Roger and I attended a Louis Lortie piano recital last night in Ann Arbor. The man is such an amazing talent; a thunderous virtouso one moment and a caressing colourist the next. He played an all-19th C. Romantic program, with major pieces by Mendlessohn, Schumann and Grieg in the first half, and works by Liszt in the 2nd. The Grieg Sonata Op 7 was a revelation to me, a beautiful work that I have never heard before! For encores, Lortie played more Liszt and then an Elegy by Grieg. Of course the major piece was the final one on the printed program, the Tannhauser Overture, arranged by Liszt. This has to be one of the most monstrously difficult pieces in the repertoire. Needless to say, he handled it easily and with great Wagnerian style. All in all, it was a great evening!
Thursday, Oct. 11th/07
Half an inch of cold rain fell this morning. Had to get the furnace going for awhile! The afternoon turned sunny, but it was back to dark clouds by sunset. Tomorrow night we return to Ann Arbor, this time for a concert by Louis Lortie, playing Schumann, Grieg, Liszt and others. This is going to be a very good concert. I am also hoping to purchase the first pair of Beethoven cds by Schiff, using a Borders discount coupon and $5 worth of Borders Bucks! Then I can hear the sonatas I missed by not attending last week's concert in his all-Beethoven series.
A good day of teaching, including getting Karly and Kady through some thorny theory lessons.
Wed., Oct. 10th/07
Weather turned very cool today. I biked to school, but not home. The first Camera Club meeting brought out a whole new batch of kids. Only two from last year showed up! The turnout for Ballroom Dancing after school was good, with around 16 kids coming out in Gr. 7 & 8.
After school we went for groceries, then went to vote in the Provincial election. I was home in time to do some photo editing, though there is still much to do before any new pictures will be posted on the main webpage, opposite.
I heard from Randy G. that he will be off to Scotland to attend the funeral of a family member. Have a safe journey, and my sincere sympathy to you and your family.
Tuesday, Oct. 9th/07
We are back safe and sound from our 3-day visit to Colorado. We managed 6 fabulous hikes, enjoying great weather and unrivaled scenery. The trip was so successful we are already contemplating a return visit next Thanksgiving as well. We flew Frontier Airlines, even though the fare wasn't that great. We left Detroit at 7:40 am and were in Denver at 8:45 am. We were hiking in Colorado Springs by noon. We arrived home late on Monday, well after midnight. It was a bit of a shock being back at school teaching today. After I work on the photos, some will be added to the main page.
Wed., Oct. 3rd/07
Just a quick note (it's after midnight now) as we get back from the 1st piano recital in a series by Andras Schiff given in Ann Arbor, MI. He is performing all of the Beethoven Sonatas (32 of them) over a two year, 8-concert series. Roger, Deb and I felt very fortunate to be present for the first one. He played the first four sonatas, and each one was brilliant and competely individual. He has a mastery of phrasing and dynamics that makes me want to weep. He can linger longingly over important moments, and move things along crisply at others. His slow movements are beautifully crafted and played as if caressing the notes. Sadly, Deb and I will miss the 2nd concert this Friday, but Roger will be there. I will be buying Schiff's new Beethoven cd series!
Monday, Oct. 1st/07
I got a call from Dad tonight, just back from his fourth trip to Ottawa to see about his eye infection. For the second time now he had minor laser surgery, and his Dr. thinks that things are improving slowly. He has to go back again in January.
We had a rainy and cool day, with nearly an inch hitting the ground by bedtime.
Speaking of bedtime, we have been getting up at 7 am lately instead of 8:30, and will continue to do so until Friday. We are hoping that by adjusting our body clocks a bit, we'll be able to feel better on Saturday when we awaken extra early for our flight. We have a full day of hiking planned. Of course we will be doing our usual jet lag program as well. Our usual house/pet sitter will be looking after the critters while we are away.
Saturday, Sept. 29th/07
We recently finished watching all episodes of Red Dwarf, a British sci-fi tv comedy that lasted for 8 seasons. It is certainly one of the best, right up there with Faulty Towers and Black Adder. We are also currently finishing up Season Two of the new Dr. Who series, and have only one episode to go. It has been nearly as good as Season One, and that is saying a lot!
We hiked 7 km today and did about 300' of elevation gain, most of it at Malden Hill Park. We have a very hectic week ahead before jetting off to Denver. Hope we can keep our physical momentum going.
I am still fine-tuning the new on-line website photos, replacing some with re-edits, as well as tweaking the comments.
I finally managed to update the ORMTA Windsor website, though I am still unable to gain access to the school website to update it.
Friday, Sept. 28th/07
Mogollon the Cat had his cage door opened today, and he now has free run of his own room. He is mostly staying in his cage, but will likely wander out when we go to bed. Deb spends lots of time with him, and he does play now, and eat food from the plate when she holds it out for him. It's a long, slow process to tame a feral cat, but most of our cats come from outdoor stray backgrounds.
We scooted over to Detroit today, once our morning workshop was over. The construction around the bridge is reaching a fever pitch, and we had to detour to get to our usual freeway.
We did a 4 km walk in Dearborn, with a longer one planned tomorrow at Malden Hill. We were originally going to drive out to Rondeau Park, but decided we need the hill to practice for our upcoming visit to the Colorado Rockies.
Thursday, Sept. 27/07
The week has gone by quickly, and with relatively few unpleasant incidents at school. Tomorrow is a day of teacher workshops, so Deb and I will attend morning sessions at our school then head over to Detroit for the afternoon.
There are a lot of sore throats going around at school. Deb fought one off earlier this week, and I am doing it tonight. I have no plans to get sick! We mostly use zinc lozenges and organic garlic. It works, usually.
I have been biking to school, and even walked there twice this week, as the crunch week countdown begins. In 8 days we will be back in the Rockies and hiking!
At school I had over two dozen kids come out for the first Camera Club meeting. We'll see how many actually get the first assignment done and are admitted to the Club.
Sunday, Sept. 23/07
An incredibly beautiful weekend has finally come to an end. I don't think there were any clouds during the time from bedtime Friday till now. We were out on our deck a lot, as a result.
Saturday morning we went to Troy, MI for our monthly visit to Whole Foods Market. We bought a vegan German Chocolate cake that turned out to be too good to believe! Back home in the afternoon we had a two deck card game of "Middle Earth, The Wizards" out on the back deck, consuming pints of organic beer and organic corn chips.
This afternoon, we went for a 4km walk at Holiday Beach. The blue jays continue to migrate, the third day now of large, loose flocks passing overhead. We stayed at the observing tower to watch for a while.
Pond, seen from top of 37' tower at Holiday Beach.
Deb on the observation tower.
Holiday Beach, Essex County.
We came home around 6 pm, sat outside and enjoyed an amber hard apple cider (Woodchuck), then went in to check on Mogy. The new guy is now allowed out of the cage, and isn't shy about leaving it! He will be confined to a single room for a few days before being given the run of the house. Pasta tonight was superb, and there is a lot of cake left over! Does life get any better?
Friday, Sept. 21st/07
Warm and humid today, mid-80s and uncomfortable. We got the new plates on the Touareg today, and "Beorn" is now officially named. I still need to wax and buff the roof, and will hopefully get this done tomorrow.
A decent enough work week has come to an end, and we began the final weekend of summer with our farewell martini and the last episode of the 3rd season of MASH. This is the infamous episode when they killed off Colonel Henry Blake. Boo, hiss.
I subscribed to www.trails.com today, and spent the evening researching hiking trails near Colorado Springs. I haven't decided on anything definite yet, but we now certainly have our choice from dozens of hikes.
Thursday, Sept. 20th/07
An historic day for us, as the Canadian Dollar reached par with the U.S. Dollar! Before that, it was Nov/76, the first autumn Deb and I were living in Windsor. Since then we have gone through some bad exchange rates, travelling when the dollar was barely worth 50 cents. So it is with some financial confidence that we anticipate our upcoming trip to Denver. We also booked a return voyage to London UK for March Break, flying BA and staying at a hotel in Croydon, south London. We will be only about 15 minutes from London Bridge Station via train. At least I can show up at school now and have something in the future to get me through the day.
Speaking of which, I had 32 kids practicing inside at lunch recess today, and it was a beautiful day! I was overwhelmed with helping them, but impressed. We are all off to a good start.
Monday, Sept. 17th/07
We have adopted a new critter, Mogollon the Cat. He has been living in our yard all summer, and Deb just recently began feeding him. We trapped him last night, and today he saw Dr. Ross for a bit of 'surgery', as well as to get rid of ear mites and fleas. He is snuggled in his large cage for a few days, until Deb can domesticate him and bring him on line with Ferdinand and Gustav. He seems to be about three years old. Stay tuned for pics.
I managed to practice piano this morning, something I have not being doing much of lately. Now that the New Mexico journal is complete, as well as the website update, things should begin to get back to normal. I missed a beautiful night of observing. I just didn't have any observing projects ready to go! The moon is waxing now, and I will likely have to wait until after next full moon.
Mom and Dad celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary today, quite an achievement! Congratulations, and keep up the good work!! Love you guys!
Sunday, Sept. 16th/07
It's done!! The website has been updated with photos from our latest journey to New Mexico. Only a fraction of the pics made it to the website, so I may change them around in a month or so. Of course, by then I'll be putting up shots of our quickie autumn visit to the Colorado Rockies.
We have always wanted to go west in the autumn (or go anywhere, for that matter) but have always been restrained by our holidays. We get a lot of them, but not outside the summer and winter seasons. Spring in Paris has been impossible, as has autumn in New Mexico. With direct flights to Denver we are able to actually go west for a long weekend.
Yesterday, we researched some hiking sites near Colorado Springs, which will be our base for three days and two nights. We are hoping to visit a park called Garden of the Gods, as well as two State parks, Mueller and Roxborough, to do a lot of hiking. We may also take a scenic drive up a little higher. We are going to avoid any of the very fine National Parks to try and miss the fall weekend crowds.
We are trying hard to keep our fitness level up, at least for another three weeks!
Friday, Sept. 14th/07
The first full week of teaching is over, and it wasn't too bad. I am enjoying several of my classes, including the Gr. 8 Concert Band, which had its first rehearsal this afternoon. The private teaching got off to a good start, too. I currently have 13 students, and Deb has at least 10.
The week also went quickly, a good sign by all means. We managed to leave the Touareg at home twice this week, walking to work on Wed. and biking on Friday. We need to keep our fitness level high because we have booked a flight to Denver for Thanksgiving and plan on doing some more mountain hiking. Can't wait, and it's only three weeks away. We got a decent fare on Frontier Airlines again, and the Canadian dollar is nearly at par. Do it now, we say, before everything falls apart. I hope to have the website update done before we leave.
Wed., Sept. 12th/07
It's been a week, yet it's only been three days! Getting used to day plans again, marking, and the immaturity of kids who should know and act better is always a major wake-up. Yes, it's back to work as a teacher. Last night's private lessons began at 4:15 pm (10 minute break after school) and lasted until 8:45 pm. Alicia is back for lessons, and seems eager to continue on with Gr. 3 piano. 8 students on Tuesday and 5 on Thursday means that I will be 'free' on Mondays and Wednesdays this year, giving me a little more chance of getting out this autumn with the telescope. Sadly, once again I can't attend the astronomy club meetings because of teaching committments, and have decided to let my membership lapse for a year. I haven't even been out to the observatory in Comber for well over a year.
We both walked to school this morning, about 4.7 km. It takes about 50 minutes. I rode my bike home, which I had left at school yesterday. Deb walked home, but got a ride part of the way from another staff member.
I have finished the main body of my travel journal for New Mexico Trip #25, and only have to add photo captions and a summary essay. Then work will begin in earnest in updating the photos in the main section of this website.
Tonight, I enjoyed a Wolaver's Organic Brown Ale from my Aladdin's Cave of Beer that is my downstairs fridge. We watched an old Hammer film, their first sci-fi, called "The Four-Sided Triangle". Not totally memorable, but certainly worth it for Hammer aficianados.
Sat., Sept. 8th/07
While we are obviously glad that the first week of school is over, things actually went pretty well. Last year I did not have a single class that I really looked forward to seeing. This year, there appear to be several in the running! 23 of 60 Gr. 8s have signed up for Band, a number I am very happy with. I need more trumpet players, however.
We got hit by a powerful storm last night, and our power was knocked out for about two hours.
And things seem to be getting back to normal for our friends in Idaho, who had to evacuate their home near Ketchum last week due to wildfires. Welcome home, Deborah and Dan! Glad everything worked out.
Deb had her final summer wedding gig today, playing harp at Sprucewood Winery on Lake Erie. We actually made enough money this summer from her weddings and harp camp teaching and my home teaching to pay for our trip to New Mexico. Not bad.
I also got the front end of the Touareg waxed and buffed this afternoon. Might get some more done tomorrow.
I now have edited and printed all of my NM photos. I have reduced numbers from the original 376 photos down to 189 currently. I am still writing the journal, but as soon as that is complete I will be updating the website, so stay tuned!
Deb's Mom called today. She and Sharon will be coming down for a visit in late October!
Thurs., Sept. 06th/07
We saw The Bourne Ultimatum at the local cineplex last night. It was as good as the first in the series, and much better than the 2nd. All three are based on best selling novels by the incomparable Robert Ludlum. I have been reading his Covert One series lately. Jason Bourne is perfectly profiled by the truly great song by Moby, sung through the credits (which most people miss) called "Extreme Ways." In fact, the same song is sung at the end of all three movies, and can be seen here on Youtube. Recommended films, best seen in proper sequence.
Tuesday, Sept. 4th/07
It has happened. After 9 weeks of virtually seeing no kids, it was back to work today. The school was very warm and uncomfortable, and will only get worse as the week goes on. While it's nice to be getting paycheques once again, it's always hard to get back into step. That is one reason why we don't begin our private teaching until next week. Next Tuesday I will not be done until 8:45 pm. Tonight we were at the pub with Barb by 4:30 pm....
Sunday, Sept. 2nd/07
The final days of summer vacation are going very quickly. Got some practicing done today, and some work on my travel journal. I am still eliminating and editing photos, so it will be a while before the website gets updated. Deb played a wedding at the Art Gallery of Windsor at 4:30 today.
Deb performs at a wedding at the Art Gallery of Windsor, 3rd floor, overlooking the Detroit River and Detroit in the background.
After I got her settled in, I went for a long walk along the river and into downtown Windsor. Not much going on in this town, but across the river Detroit was hopping with the Grand Prix on Belle Isle and the Jazz Festival downtown.
Detroit seen from Windsor.
Saturday, September 1st/07Today we crossed back over the border. Deb loaded up on art supplies (canvases, paints) at Utrect and then we headed downtown. We got a Jazz Festival schedule then went for lunch to the Detroit Brewing Company, a brew pub right across from the Opera House. They have a good menu and several great beers. We tried a five-glass sampler, then got a pint of amber. Their Black Bean Dip and Michigan Cherry Salad can be vouched for as excellent. Afterwards, we headed out into the crowds for another year of great music. There were six stages spread around Hart Plaza and Woodward Ave. all the way up to Campus Martius. We stopped at all of them, but mostly came to hear Dave Brubeck, now well into his 80s and still making incredible vibes on piano. The day was perfect, with sun and cool temps, and the crowds were out in droves.
Fountain and water nymph at Hart Plaza, Detroit.
Dave Brubeck on stage at Hart Plaza. He performed with the Dave B. Quartet after watching his two sons perform on another stage.
Huge crowds were out again this year, encouraged by fabulous weather.
Friday, August 31st/07We spent Thursday with Ali, taking a long drive out to Parks Blueberries near Thamesville. It really is worth the drive to visit this bakery/cafe/gift store that focuses on everything blueberry. We came home with a pie and many other goodies. Deb made superduper veggie nachos. We ate on the back deck, then had warm blueberry pie and vanilla soy ice cream. I drove Ali home soon afterwards, with a new thick book in her hands to read. Her mood was quite bubbly today, and she even talked a bit about her mom.
Today, Deb and I went to Dearborn in the morning, having a great time at our usual stops. We found a recording of viol music by Saint-Colombes. We had lunch at Buddy's Pizza, a veggie-soy cheese one. In the afternoon we had to go to school and prepare our classrooms. Ali came to help, and she brought Jaide. We got all the bulletin boards done and everything moved out of storage and ready for Tuesday. After treating the girls to ice-cream downtown, Deb and I came home for martinis and M*A*S*H, our ninth since the May long weekend. Three more episodes to go in Season Three. Tomorrow, we hope to get to the Detroit Jazz Festival to hear Dave Brubeck. Herbie Hancock was playing tonight, but border traffic is so bad these days we didn't go back over.
Wed., August 29th/07
"Tous Les Matins du Monde" is quite possibly the finest film ever made on music and what it is (and is not) to be a musician. The search for Truth follows a long and torturous path, and the final outcome and answer is not a happy one. But what a great film, and the soundtrack is off the charts. It's a tale of 17th C. France, which was a hotbed of musical talent during this time. Instead of focussing on the big guys like Lully, Couperin, and Rameau, the film focusses on a minor composer of the era, Saint-Colombes and his on-again off-again protege Marin Marais, played by Gerard Depardieu (and by his son as the younger Marais). We saw the film many years ago and immediately purchased the soundtrack. The incomparable Jordi Savall plays the viol in the film. Now we must purchase the viol suites of Saint-Colombes. A stunning tour-de-force!!
Tuesday, August 28th/07
We got back home at 2:00 am this morning from our Phoenix flight. Our 8-day camping and hiking expedition in New Mexico went off extremely well. Days and nights were filled with adventure, so stay tuned to the photo pages for major updates over the next few weeks. I took nearly 400 photos, and hope to pare that down to around 100. Today we slept in, did laundry, and unpacked our bags. In addition I also cut the lawn, which was very high. The backyard rain gauge showed 4.3" of rain while we were gone! I was able to stay loosely in touch with Caroline and Ali, thanks to texting with our phone. Caroline is on her month-long vacation in Europe, and is currently sweltering in France. It is very warm here, also.
Friday, August 17th/07
The funeral is over, and despite the non-comforting religious dogma of the service, everyone survived. Ali looked shook up today, but she was a trooper. Some good comments from Trina's surviving brother and sister, and the large crowd was very moved.
It was a very windy afternoon, and despite our hectic schedule of packing and cleaning we took some time out to cross to our park on the river and fly some kites! We were finally able to launch the mini-kites, and despite a wind that was too strong, we got our dollar-store butterfly kite airborn. Great fun, and we shall take one or two to New Mexico with us.
Butterfly kite.
Mini-kite #1.
Mini-kite #2.
Thursday, August 16th/07Our final trip to Michigan for hiking this summer was a success. We visited the Howell Nature Centre, a place that wears a lot of hats. It has a 4-mile hiking trail that threads around and about their extensive property, and we walked it with no difficulty. There were some hills, and it was very warm (mid 80s), sunny and humid. We have one more walk planned before our trip west. There was an abundance of glacial ponds, and we enjoyed the many thousands of frogs.
Frogs in a pond at the nature center near Howell, MI.
We also saw several deer, including a beautiful maturing fawn left on its own for the day by mom.
Fawn seen on our walk at Howell Nature Center.
While the trail itself is nothing we would rush back to, the center does care for wounded wildlife, including owls, raptors, fox, bobcat, deer etc. They have paths to walk and observe the critters, many of whom will never make it back to the wild. There is a small gift shop.I didn't sleep well last night, thinking a lot about Alicia. Her mom passed away after being very ill for several months. I am quite terrible at funeral homes, and was not looking forward to this evening's visit. Ali seemed okay, but her grandma (Trina's mom) and Trina's sister were not doing too well. The funeral is tomorrow, and we will attend. The family thanked Deb and I for spending some time with Alicia this summer, though it was far too little time to have made much difference. Very sad for a 12 year old to lose her mom. Wish we could have done more.
Wednesday, August 15/07
A very short day of teaching. I had two students and Deb had one. We stayed in all day, not even going for a walk. Tomorrow we will be off to Michigan for a long one at Howell Nature Center.
Heard the sad but not unexpected news today that Alicia's mom has passed away. We will visit tomorrow evening, and attend the funeral on Friday afternoon. It will undoubtedly be a hard year for Ali. Hoping we will be able to help out from time to time.
Saturday, August 11/07
Yesterday I had my first piano lesson with Philip in nearly a year and a half. We worked on the first of two Scarlatti Sonatas and a Debussy Prelude. It was great, and I am looking forward to reworking the pieces.
Afterwards, Deb and I walked on the riverfront, stopping at Wah Court for a delicious Chinese veggie lunch. We also rediscovered the Majestic Bakery, our favourite Chinese bakery from many years ago. It had reopened after a long period. Happy days are here again!! In the late afternoon we played a two-deck game of Middle Earth: The Wizards on our back patio, with the usual pints, chips and salsa. The game lasted two hours, and it was a close one.
Today we hiked in Michigan at Oakwoods Metropark. We managed 4 miles on the nature trails. It was a glorious day for walking in the deep woods. We even saw a fox!
Deb heads into the forest at Oakwoods Metropark, suburban Detroit.
I enjoy a break overlooking the Huron River, near the Nature Center. There are some attractive bike trails here, too.
Afterwards, we headed into the city for a late lunch, as we began our exhaustive survey of the many micro-breweries in our area. We have been buying beer from small breweries for some time now, and think it is appropriate that we get to the source. Our first brew-pub was Atwater Block Brewery in Rivertown, Detroit. We enjoyed veggie burgers and fresh beer made on the premises. Deb had a Dunkel whilst I enjoyed the IPA. Both were fabulous. Stay tuned for further tasting adventures.Thursday, Aug. 9th/07
I have managed 4 full piano practice sessions in a row since Monday, in preparation for my lesson with Philip tomorrow at the university. I would like to focus on the Debussy Prelude, and perhaps the wide leaps in the Albeniz Leyenda. I taught the twins today, and am really noticing a difference in aptitude. Wendy seems to catch on to things much quicker than her sister. Both girls are very sweet and I am so glad they found their way to my studio.
Today I organized and printed all maps necessary for our upcoming camping/hiking expedition to New Mexico. I do need to check into exactly what can and cannot be brought on board the plane.
Through sampling our over-stocked beer fridge we are discovering a number of micro-breweries in Detroit and vicinity. We will be visiting every one of them asap!! Best of all, they put out seasonal ales which we plan to incorporate into our Pagan calendar of events!
We concluded viewing Season 7 of Red Dwarf, the off-beat Brit comedy sci-fi series that just gets better and better. We are going to have to invest in the boxed set of these gems.
Tuesday, August 7th/07
Finally getting my sleep pattern normalized and my brain pattern back down to a crawl once again. We got nearly 2" of badly needed rain today, meaning I will have to fire up the lawnmower again soon.
The conference is still resonating, and many parts keep coming back to me throughout the day. In addition to coming home with many new piano books, I came home with 24 bottles of beverage, including 18 beer (3 varieties of 6-pack) and a sixer of Woodchuck Cider. My beer fridge looks absolutely unbelievably awesome right now, with over 20 kinds of beer and cider! I will take a photo and post it below.
We went to Detroit today, to the mailbox and then into the city. Came home with chocolate, Pear Cider (Woodchuck) and an adapter to plug Deb's laptop into the car.
I did manage a lot of piano practicing over the past two days, and will hopefully have a lesson with Philip on Friday.
We tried packing the camping necessities tonight, finding that it will take the better part of two suitcases.
Sunday, August 5th/07
The bi-annual Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy produced by the Frances Clark Center has come and gone. My trip with Philip Adamson to Chicago was a huge success! Philip was introduced to my good friends Nadia Lasserson from London, and Rebekah Maxner from Nova Scotia. We all enjoyed mornings, afternoons, and evenings filled with concerts, teaching demonstrations, lectures, interactive workshops, displays from researchers in the piano teaching field and exhibits from major music publishing houses. I came home loaded down with freebies, including an African hand drum.
Philip, Nadia and me.
Of the many highlights this year was a concert given on a 7/8ths Steinway, meaning that people with small hands could reach as far on the keyboard as people with larger hands on a normal one! I tried to play on it later when it was on exhibit, but couldn't manage the shorter reach. Nadia and Rebekah both loved it.I heard Christopher Norton's talk on his new piano book series, and later talked with him at length in the exhibit area. He lives at the Barbican in London, where his wife administers the place! Dr. Richard Kogan's lecture/recital on George Gershwin was also a major highlight, as was talking with the man off and on during the conference itself. Great to be able to interact with a genius of his stature and reknown.
We also all enjoyed several dinners and lunches together. I can't wait for 2009!!
Me, Rebekah, Nadia, Jesse and Philip enjoyed Thai food on Thursday evening.
Monday, July 30th/07Truly great weather once again, though a bit warmer than earlier in July. We skipped our dancing class last night so we could stay home and have an evening together. It was also a full moon, so we enjoyed a small celebration. It's hard to see the moon from our backyard in the summer, as it is obscured by trees until quite late. We bought moon cakes in Windsor at a Chinese grocers.
Today we went to Dearborn, just poking around a few stores and cafes. We ate lunch at Buddy's, which now offers two soy cheese pizzas! The restaurant has been named as having one of the top five pizzas in the country! We had ours with enhanced basil-tomato sauce and a whole wheat crust, plus three veggie items. It was fantastic, and only came to $8.99!
Deb bought the newest Harry Potter book, while I purchased the Delorme Atlas of Michigan, one I was embarrassed to not have in my extensive map collection.
Tonight we began watching my 6-dvd/18 movie collection of kung fu movies. I got the set last week for $20!! We watched Bruce Lee in "Chinese Connection", a truly great showcase for Lee. His anger and fierceness have never been more intense than in this, his 2nd Hong Kong film. Highly recommended. We are also now into season 7 of Red Dwarf, an hilarious SF spoof that just gets better and better as it goes along. I almost gave up on it after a few of the first season episodes! Glad I stuck with it.
Saturday, July 28th/07
Memorization on three of my piano pieces is progressing. Not much happening with the Debussy, though. We managed to resume our walking program today, looping through for the third time.
The afternoon was a bit hectic. We left around 2pm for Kingsville. Deb played an outdoor wedding at Lakeside Park on Lake Erie.
Deb accompanies Tony B. at an outdoor wedding in Kingsville. They performed two arias by Handel.
We were done by 4:30 pm., home briefly, then off to Meadow Brook with Roger and Mary Clare.We heard Janina Fialkowska perform Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto with the DSO, in a lovely outdoor setting. We sat in the pavilion, but there was open sky above our heads. The lawn was packed with people, and the pavilion was nearly full. Also on the program was Beethoven's 7th Symphony. Several amateur astronomers had set up their telescopes on the lawn. People were viewing before the concert, at intermission and afterwards. In the viewfinders were Jupiter and a mostly full moon.
The evening was perfect, and very atmospheric.
Friday, July 27th/07
Deb's long week teaching at Anita's harp camp has come to an end. Their concert was held in the barn this year due to the large number of children participating!
Anita conducts 19 children playing the harp in one of her new barns. It was the grand finale to a week-long summer camp.
The horses and cats (and parents) were treated to a well-prepared harp concert. Deb is glad it's over. Now she has an outdoor wedding to worry about tomorrow in Kingsville. Tomorrow night we are hoping to slide over to Oakland University to hear the DSO at Meadowbrook. On the program is Beethoven's ravishing 3rd Piano Concerto with Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska and conductor Leonard Slatkin.Tuesday, July 24th/07
I didn't feel too well yesterday. I think I overdid things a bit with the hike and then the dancing on Sunday. Felt much better today. I dropped Deb off in east Windsor and kept the vehicle today. She got a ride to Anita's with another woman who is working at the harp camp there also.
First stop was to visit Ron W. at VW. I am very interested in attending a Touareg off-road workshop in Utah. It cost $2 grand for three days, plus transportation to Moab! However, the vehicles are waiting there, as are the instructors. Only 16 drivers are accepted per session. The program takes the Touareg to its limits, utilizing its maximum off-road capabilities. Will have to think seriously about this.
I hopped over to Detroit, as my local photo dealer no longer develops 126 or 110 film. Oddly enough, Wal-Mart does in the States. I picked up a new topo map program, acquiring Michigan, Indiana and Ohio in one set from National Geographic. Compared to All Topo maps, this series is total crap. They will serve me for the amount of time I will use them, and are certainly much cheaper. However, I cannot recommend them. They are not user friendly, and have virtually no great features. Check out All Topo Maps instead. Pricey but priceless at the same time.
After a vegan lunch at Avalon Bakery in Detroit, I headed back to Windsor. I spent a leisurely afternoon walking and driving the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair shorelines as far as Belle River. I am currently using 35 mm film and our old Yashica SLR. What a heavy beastie!
I picked up Deb at Anita's at 4:30. The house is crazy, with the three instructors doing their best to teach 19 children the harp.
Sunday, July 22nd/07
The Toronto trip was certainly a whirlwind. It's a lot of driving for one day, but the highway wasn't busy and the weather was clear and sunny. Our local branch of ORMTA honored Dr. Tom Green at the Provincial luncheon, an outstanding teacher with impeccable credentials and many highly successful music students. After the awards luncheon there were three all-Ontario student competitions. We stayed for two of them before three of us went out for dinner (Tom, Mary-Clare and myself) before heading back to Windsor.
Tonight is our third Latin dance class. Oddly enough we have not been practicing at all during the week, unusual for us. It's been a busy summer. Today was another glorious day of low humidity, plenty of sunshine and comfortable temps. We managed a long, hilly walk at Malden Hill Park this morning. We have learned how to avoid the paved trails and stay on dirt.
Friday, July 20th/07
Our walking program is still going strong, as we prepare for our big hikes in New Mexico high country later in the summer. I tried to rejuvenate my photographic plans for the summer yesterday, but the weather was not cooperating. Deb and I took Alicia B. out for the day. We were going to fly kites and take photos at Malden Hill Park, but both times we tried we were rained out. We did manage a bit of a walk on the riverfront and took some pics there. We also stopped in at the Art Gallery of Windsor for a visit.
Alicia's mom is still very ill, suffering from a failing liver. She also has pneumonia, and has been in the hospital for many weeks now. She has a trach. tube inserted, and can't talk right now. Alicia was in her usual cheery good mood, even though she has no right to be. We printed ten of her best pictures afterwards. As we were driving home following a cafe stop, the anticipated storm arrived. We were deluged as we drove through River Canard. It only lasted about 15 minutes, but nearly an inch of rain was in my backyard gauge when I got home.
Tonight Deb plays a harp gig at Essex Hall in Windsor, and tomorrow I am off to Toronto for the day to attend an ORMTA luncheon, award ceremony and student piano competition.
Sunday, July 15th/07
Saturday we did an 11 km hike along the Windsor riverfront, starting at the D. H. Tavern and stopping for lunch at the Kildare House Pub, then back to our vehicle at the D.H. Next door is Courtesy Bike Shop, and we finally purchased a roof rack for our bikes. Sunday we attempted to put on the adapter bar, but of course it doesn't fit. Back to the bike shop tomorrow. Tonight was our second Latin dance class, and between yesterday's hike and today's two hours of dancing, I am ready to sit down for a week.
Friday, July 13th/07
Yesterday we went hiking in Michigan at a place called Hidden Lake Gardens. Run by MSU, it is part arboretum and part nature centre. The landscaping is quite breathtaking, making good use of the scenic and rolling Irish Hills. The lake itself is the centerpiece of the park, surrounded by paths and well-developed gardens. There are some actual hiking paths which we used to prepare ourselves for our upcoming New Mexico trip. The Hiker's Trail is 3 miles, with lots of up and down walking. The Pine Tree Trail is 1 1/3 miles, also rolling. All tolled we hiked about five miles, leaving much of the scenic driving tour for another visit.
Butterfly in Hidden Lake Gardens.
I also heard from Rob V. this week, who sent me this photo of an amazing quilt. Thanks Rob, and hope you are doing well.
Grand Piano quilt; pic sent by Rob V. in Indianapolis.
I have been practicing, though not as faithfully as I should. Memorization of the Granados Spanish Dance and the piece by de Falla is coming along, but the Debussy and Albeniz are not ready for that stage yet. I have added two other very minor but charming Spanish pieces to the program as well.
Beorn, our VW Touareg, went in for his 20,000 mile check-up. Everything looks perfect, and I was able to use the last of my synthetic oil I purchased last year at Wal-Mart for a bargain price.
Sunday, July 8th/07
On Saturday we got our new mini-dish installed, and are currently enjoying the same channels we used to get on the big dish, but with a Canadian slant. This is not a bad thing, as we are Canadian but haven't had much access to our own tv channels for many years.
Deb had a wedding gig at Ojibway Park, her first of four summer harp performances. This doesn't count her week of teaching at Country Aires Harp Camp. I enjoyed a very warm but otherwise pleasant and solitary walk through the park trails.
I finished reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson, his unique account of hiking the Appalachian Trail over three seasons. It is not to be missed by anyone who hikes, one of the funniest yet helpful guides ever written. Deb has now begun to enjoy it, too, after hearing much of it already as I read parts aloud to her over the past few days.
Today the temp hit 97 F, but a nice breeze off the river kept our little area from baking too intensely. We also attended our first of six Latin dance classes. Tonight we learned the basics of the Cha Cha Cha, the Jive and the Rhumba! When we first restarted our dancing lessons a few months back I could not dance for a whole hour. Since our walking program success, however, I lasted the full two hours tonight! Driving home at 10 pm it was still 88 degrees outside.
Friday, July 06th/07
An amazing thing happened today. We made e-mail contact with Ramon Buckley, after having lost touch for a very long time. Hello Ramon, and welcome back into our lives! Hope to meet up with you again soon.
I was laid up much of the day with a Meniere's attack. This one came on very suddenly, and I was in bed from 12:30 pm until 6:30 pm. My ear is still ringing away, but the dizziness and nauseau have subsided.
Before the attack, we managed a 6 km walk into town and back. It was a beautiful day.
View of Detroit River from our walk today.
Deb cleaned the tv/bird room from top to bottom, in anticipation of our new satellite system arriving tomorrow. We are switching from our old 'big' dish to a mini, so we will be getting Canadian programming for the first time since moving out here, where cable tv fears to tread.Monday, July 2nd/07
We have completed 37 days in our walking program, as we basically repeat the original 28-day pattern. We are trying to extend things a bit, and add hills whenever we can get to Malden Hill Park.
I have loaded my Kodak Instamatic SLR with colour 126 film, as well as my miniature spy camera, the Minolta 16 (16 mm film). That is my last 126 cartridge, but I still have another Minolta film left. I will also load up the Brownie with 127 very soon!
I completed my school camera club photo album today, enjoying the outdoors on the deck inside the screen room. We also got a start on the annual cleaning of the basement, and we ripped out two rotten boards on the handrail of our bridge that need to be replaced.
Yesterday we walked at Malden Hill, and Deb tried unsuccessfully to fly one of our new kites. Despite a good wind, we had no luck.
Afterwards we went to Randy and Anita's home for the first in a series of summer classic sci-fi screenings. We enjoyed the incomparable "Day the Earth Stood Still", directed by Robert Wise with music by Bernard Hermann. Randy's large, wide-screen television is something to behold!
Saturday, June 30th/07
Tunnel and bridge traffic were horrific today, coming and going. We still had a great day in Detroit, walking once more on the new River Walk, and this time seeing "Earth Vs the Flying Saucers" at DFT.
Detroit River Walk, our 2nd adventure along here.
Later at home I worked on a new photo album, trying to organize my photos from the school camera club outings. I managed a decent body of work on those excursions. I am also planning to load my Instamatic 126 SLR and the tiny Minolta 16 for immediate use.We enjoyed the first of three full moons tonight that we will celebrate over the course of our summer holidays, sipping lightly on dark rum on the back deck, and partaking of a Chinese Moon Cake, purchased earlier today in Windsor. Jupiter and the backyard fireflies were also amazing sites.
Friday, June 29th/07
Holidays got off to a great start later today, when I finally returned around 2:30 pm from my ORMTA meeting and stopover at the music store. After I did some reading at home and had a well-deserved nap, we commenced the annual "beginning-of-holidays Strawberry and Champagne deck party for two" (actually it was four, as Ferdinand and Gustav were out with us).
Neither of us can really believe that summer has actually arrived. And before it is all over, we have another hiking trip to New Mexico to prepare for.
I contacted Randy, and we are going over there on Sunday evening to watch "Day the Earth Stood Still". Tomorrow afternoon in Detroit it's "Earth Vs the Flying Saucers"!
Champagne and strawberries on the deck--a year-end tradition.
We crossed the road from our house to the little park, enjoying a beautiful sunset on the Detroit River.
Wednesday, June 27th/07We made it! The end has come at last, and the kids are gone for the summer. Nine weeks of r & r sounds like a lot, but it will go all too quickly. At least the last day wasn't too bad. We got storms around 2:30, and my backyard rain gauge shows over 2 1/2 inches of rain. It was badly needed, and for now the creek is flowing merrily once again and things are returning to a healthy green.
After work Deb and I went to our usual pub in Windsor. We go there after the first day of school and the last day. Tonight we were joined by Barb, Cindy and Ruth.
We go in tomorrow for a staff meeting and final clean-up, then we are done until late August.
L to R: me, Deb, Ruth, Cindy and Barb. Those are genuine smiles and empty beer glasses, as we celebrate the end of another school year.
Saturday, June 23/07We had a fun day in Detroit, despite the fact I was feeling under the weather. We completed the final walk of our 28 day program on the new Detroit River Walk. It's quite short right now, but Windsor's fabulous walk took many decades to reach it's current near-perfect stage. Eventually, Detroit's will stretch from the bridge to Belle Isle, even longer than Windsor's.
Afterwards we went to see "Jason and the Argonauts" on a big screen at the Detroit Film Theatre. It was a newly struck print, ours being the first audience to see it. Great fun!
View of downtown Detroit from the river walkway.
Part of the walkway in front of the Renaissance Center.
Spirit of Detroit sculpture, downtown near the river.
Friday, June 22/07Things are just beginning to wind down, at long last. Except for a short piano performance this evening with Paula, my duet partner, the weekend is free. I even managed to get the lawn cut after school, before putting in some final practice on the Brahms. Afterwards I just came home, too tired to do much else. We opted out of the staff party tonight--not quite in a party mood yet. Three school days from now, that will change.
At school I managed to get that website updated, including next year's calendar. In the past two days, with help from some little friends, I got the flutes, clarinets, saxes, trombones and trumpets cleaned. Baritones are left, and the room in general. Next year I get my room back for exclusive use as a music room, as Heather is moving to a real classroom with her Gr. 6 kids. Luckily she is a very easy person to get along with, otherwise it could have been an unpleasant year.
We have one more long walk to do and we will have completed our 28 day walking program, even though it took about 34 days.... We plan to finish up on the new Detroit riverfront walkway tomorrow morning. Since we will be hiking in New Mexico this August, we will likely be resuming the walks immediately, and expanding them. It should be a lot easier to maintain in July.
A lily from our front garden, which we have had no time to tend or enjoy.
Wednesday, June 20th/07Another milestone to check off, as we return triumphant but dehydrated from the Gr. 8 Graduation Ceremony held in our school gymnasium tonight. Over 600 people attended, with yours truly emceeing the happy event of 75 kids (many larger than me) moving on to high school. Deb was in charge of sound and the av show at the end. We also each gave out awards. The music ones went to Kady B. and Adam V., while Michael M. took top honours in Drama.
We are down to only five days of classes, a number I can handle. Tomorrow morning it's off to Paula's for our final rehearsal before our duet performance Friday evening at a private recital.
I heard from Kati Gleiser--she is planning on giving a few performances in July in Ontario. Also heard from Rebekah, who is going to Chicago in August for the piano teachers' convention.
Tuesday, June 19th/07
I made it to the final astronomy club meeting of the season tonight. The talk was a bit unusual for our club, but well worth hearing. The naturalist from Ojibway Park in Windsor gave a lavishly illustrated talk on critters of the night, including owls, bats, moths, toads, and frogs.
Much later (10:30 pm) we all gathered outside to watch the International Space Station pass overhead, preceeded a few seconds by the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which just recently separated from it for Thursday's landing. It was a great sight to see, and Deb caught the view from here at the house. There should be a repeat tomorrow night.
Afterwards I got to talk at length with Randy G., someone I don't see enough of anymore. Maybe we can revive our horror/B movie nights we used to have in summer. He's driving a 2007 Jetta TDI, probably the best car on the market. I miss mine!
I met my two newest students this afternoon (and their parents). The twin girls will commence piano lessons next Tuesday. They have been studying for about a year, and will turn ten in late August. My studio is now officially full, unless someone doesn't come back next fall.
Finally got an e-mail back from Rachael M. tonight, who sounds very busy and happy as she completes her first year of high school. I still wish she was living down here and coming by to help with the school website. Miss ya Rachael!
Sunday, June 17th/07
Ann Arbor used to be a city of bookstores. While there are still a few good ones, the city must now be the restaurant capitol of the world. There are more restaurants per block than any other city I have ever visited (also more concerts and films)! There are also a lot of art galleries, and possibly the best used record/cd store on the planet.
We had lunch at SEVA, a very fine vegetarian restaurant that has been there since our first visit in the late 70s. I had a great gazpacho soup and garlic bread, while Deb had the very filling tofu scrambler.
We tried to walk in a local park, but apparently it no longer exists. Our guidebook was 20 years old, but it is strange for a public park to disappear. We did our Day 24 walk in downtown Ann Arbor. It was very warm and humid today, and the traffic was unbelievable, though the border crossings were swift.
Things are winding down this week. Tomorrow, Deb takes her class on a field trip to Windsor Science Centre. I am staying home to finish report cards. Wednesday is Gr. 8 Graduation, and I have been asked again to emcee the long and very hot event in the school gymnasium.
Friday evening Paula and I perform our duet at a private event, the Brahms Hungarian Dance #1 in G Minor. That is also the night of our staff party. I think I'll survive this week easily enough!
New Mexico is officially a go for this summer once again, but we will not be taking our own vehicle. Instead, we will fly to Phoenix and drive back east into NM for some camping and hiking.
Saturday, June 16th/07
These kinds of days are beginning to seem a little too much like routine. Today even seemed "lite" by comparison. I went to my ORMTA meeting, where Greg Butler is taking on the role of President of our local chapter for two years. After the meeting we had lunch, and I got to chat with Greg, Philip Adamson and David Palmer, three of the greats of this area in the field of piano and keyboard. Greg and David are making a CD together in Toronto, an organ/piano duo, and Philip is taking sabbatical in January to practice for his latest CD, with music by Bax and Bridge and others. Quite an exciting group to have lunch with. Philip will be going to the piano pedagogy conference in Chicago in August, so I will see him there (and hopefully Nadia and Rebekah too).
I made my second trip today to Windsor (five trips in the last three days) by driving Deb to her wedding gig later in the afternoon. I went to Belle Air Music to pick up books for several of my students while she played.
Tonight we just relaxed and watched a movie, a decent 50s "Hammer Films" noir. I really wanted to go to the Astronomy Club picnic tonight, but just couldn't summon any strength to leave home yet again.
Friday, June 15th/07
I noticed today as I was walking to school that I was really grinding my teeth. It has been a very stressful two weeks, but we are nearly out of the woods.
Deb got her hair trimmed and straightened this morning, and it looks quite good (especially when she is dancing the merengue and tango).
Our performing arts awards assembly went very well today, as we handed out dozens of awards to recorder players, band members, choir, drama club, and even the camera club. We had a great slide show to end it off. It seemed to be well received.
Bronze, Silver and Gold medal winners from this year's music students.
After school, it was our final ballroom dancing session, and the kids were disappointed that it wouldn't start up again until October. We have some truly amazing young dancers, after only four lessons! The Grade 8s want to come back next year to continue.After dance class it was back to Windsor, this time to play for Ashley's clarinet exam. It went pretty well. Her pieces were quite long, but she held it together, despite a lip that was hurting from practicing so much recently. I left after my accompanying was concluded, but she called me later and assured me that the rest of the exam went well. Deb walked the Windsor riverfront trail (about 6 km) and we met at the Kildare House Pub afterward.
Nearly time to relax. A music teachers' meeting tomorrow morning for me; Deb has another wedding to play in the afternoon, grass to cut later and report cards still to do sometime very soon. Eight days of school remain with the kids. Must try to stop grinding my teeth!
Thursday, June 14th/07
Another big day has been chalked off. It was a fairly successful one, too. Alicia was well prepared for her Gr. 2 piano exam, and it went off without a hitch. I am hoping for a decent mark when results are announced in about three weeks.
The afternoon went well at school, as I finished showing "Singing in the Rain" to the Gr. 8 classes. The Gr. 6s are listening to a story on cd about Vivaldi.
After school it was back into Windsor with Kady and her mom, to accompany her on her Gr. 4 flute exam. She had some difficulty with the scales and arpeggios for some reason, but her studies were absolutely ravishing, as was her Handel (a few memory slips near the end) and modern pieces by Nancy Telfer. She should also score well! Good job, both girls!!
Tomorrow is the arts assembly in the gym, and then Ashley's clarinet exam after school. Back to Windsor again.
Wednesday, June 13th/07
A brutally hot day to be in the classroom. I walked to school this morning, it being somewhat cooler right on the river. I taught Kady after school, and she is ready for her flute exam tomorrow. I also have to drive Alicia to her piano exam tomorrow morning. Her mom is quite sick and in the hospital! There is no dad, and grandpa has to drive to London tomorrow. So off I go twice to Windsor, and then teach until 8:30 at night.
I managed to get my report cards done for the 7s and 8s tonight, leaving just the 5s and 6s. We also prepared the slideshow for Friday's Performing Arts Awards Assembly at school.
Over the past few nights we got to watch "The Holiday", a lovely movie that was being filmed on our visit to Shere, Surrey, England in March of 2006. The village was covered in fake snow, and a scene in a car was being filmed as we walked past, with Carmen Diaz and Jude Law.
I also got a call regarding two new piano students tonight, and Deb got an e-mail about another possible harp student. Things are hopping around here!
Village of Shere, England, on our visit. It is covered in fake snow for filming of "The Holiday" in March 2006. We finally got to see the movie!
Monday, June 11th/07Somehow we are managing to keep up our 28-day walking plan, and it's probably thanks to our fitness level--minimal as it is--that we are making it through these hectic weeks without keeling over and dying!
Today I got a good start on my report cards, getting all the Gr. 7 & 8 marks onto the computer program. With Deb's help I also got the comments written. Now it's just a matter of inserting the proper comment into the proper space, individualizing some of them, and voila! On the weekend I will still have to do the 5s and 6s.
We watched "The Brothers Grimm", a Terry Gilliam film that tries so hard to be a scary fairy tale (NOT for children). When all is said and done, however, it falls quite flat. Characters are not very good, and seem to bumble around a lot. The sets etc are great, and the tower in the forest is very well done. Definitely not one to watch a second time, however. Rent or buy the much more impressive tv series that Hallmark put out some years back. "The 10th Kingdom" is the best modern retelling of fairy tales there is, plain and simple. Not to be missed.
Sunday, June 10th/07
Another weekend has flashed by, leaving us on the brink of yet another Monday!
On Saturday, Deb played harp at a wedding in a wooded park on a bridge. It was a small ceremony, and the day was truly perfect.
We did relax in the evening, enjoying our screen room on the deck.
Deb performs harp overlooking a footpath bridge filled with wedding guests.
Sunday was taken up by the 2 hour drive to Sarnia, where Deb performed again, this time for a Victims' Services gathering. I used the time to finish adding up my grades so I can begin report cards tomorrow. I also walked along the beautiful waterfront park system on the St. Clair River. 
Deb performs in Sarnia.
The waterfront parks and trail systems in Sarnia are lovely, and perfect for a Sunday afternoon stroll.
We didn't get back home until after 6 pm, when the laundry started getting done.This week is another very busy one, with Kady's flute exam and Ashley's clarinet exam, as well as the Arts Awards assembly at school Friday afternoon, two more ballroom dance lessons to give after school, and report cards due by Thursday. And of course Deb has another wedding on Saturday to play and I have an ORMTA meeting. I'm not sure if all this activity is exactly keeping us young, but it's keeping us stressed. The end of the school year can't come fast enough for us!
Friday, June 8th/07
Another big day down! The two Recorder Bands, Gr. 8 Flute Quintet, and the Drama Club went on tour today, performing at McWilliam Public School in Windsor, and then at Devonshire Mall at noon hour. The kids had a great time, and of course performed beautifully. We left behind many good impressions!
Yours truly leading the recorders through a few rousing numbers at Devonshire Mall, Windsor.
It was a hot and steamy day, relieved by storms and driving rain in the afternoon. After school we coached ballroom dancing, right now a very popular pastime with Grades 6, 7 and 8. We had over 50 kids today.In the evening we went to the Detroit Festival of the Arts, an annual major fair in the Cultural Centre. The weather was cool and sunny. We ate at the International Institute, which was hosting its own mini-festival. We saw an excellent hoop dancer from Gallup, NM and had dinner there.
It was a beautiful evening in Detroit for the Festival of the Arts kickoff.
Two more gigs for Deb coming up this weekend: a wedding tomorrow in a woodland park, and playing music at a victims' services memorial in Sarnia on Sunday. We have only 13 days of school left!!
Wednesday, June 6th/07
Two big events happened today. Tonight was the year-end concert for our private students. We had pianists, harpers, a violinist, two flutes and two clarinets. Even with 5 students unable to come it was still a long event. There was a big crowd of relatives and friends. That is one more big project finished, as the summer and a much-needed vacation edge closer.
Elementary and high school private students who performed at our year-end concert in Windsor.
Deb's harp ensemble performed twice.
Even as one project finishes, another begins. We had about 30 students show up for our first ballroom dance class after school today. It was a lot of fun, and we will meet again on Friday. We even had several boys come out and try it!Tuesday, June 5th/07
I walked to school today (5 km) and Deb walked home, as we reach the mid-point of our 28 day walking fitness plan. It takes less than an hour, and we walk about 1 km in 10 minutes. We are supposed to do it again tomorrow, but there will likely be no time.
In the morning I need to go into Windsor to get the church key for the evening recital. After school we begin a short introduction to ballroom dancing with the students who come out for it, and at 7 pm is our annual student recital, featuring kids and adults from our private studio. Afterwards we need to drive to the Indian restaurant downtown where I left my damn camera. It's been there a week now! We have tried twice to get it back, but the place was closed. This marks the third time recently I have left the smaller Fujifilm Finepix A 400 somewhere.
Our busy time is here. Let's hope the concert goes well.
Sunday, June 3rd/07
Today turned into a very wet one, though not until about 1 pm. Before that we went for our Day 11 walking workout, something that really seems to be working for us.
Yesterday was brutally hot and humid, but we made it to Wyandotte, specifically to exhibits at the River's Edge Gallery downtown. Wyandotte is a little town that is trying very hard to be something special, and not doing a bad job of it.
We found a very decent airfare to Albuquerque in August, and will likely purchase it on-line later this week. It means leaving our vehicle at home this time and forgoing the cross-country drive until next summer. As much as I want the Touareg back in New Mexico, the drive is a big one, and gas is far from cheap. Add in motel nights both directions, and a shorter trip using air transport becomes much more economical. The preliminary plan is to try and carry out the camping and hiking trip we had hoped for last year, which was all but washed out by the fierce monsoon.
This also means that our plans to attend an 8-day music festival in June in Detroit are likely cancelled. The money saved will purchase one airfare and then some.
18 more school days remain with kids, then it's two months off. A lot has to happen before that, however, and much of it is happening this coming week. Stay tuned for details.
Friday, June 1st/07
I actually had a good day at school today! The kids were well-behaved and I got some actual teaching done. Final tests are now being given to the 7s and 8s, though there is still a month to keep them thinking that it isn't over yet.
After school, eight of my private students performed in a master class for me, in preparation for Wednesday's concert. They all played so well, and seemed to be connecting with the message behind the music, and not just the notes. Very rewarding to hear!!
Deb and I enjoyed our third Friday martini, as well as another episode from Season Three of M*A*S*H. With our back deck now up and running, we are able to enjoy the night air without getting devoured by bloodthirsty mosquitoes.
Tomorrow we are going to try and get to Wyandotte MI again. Last week we got rained out. We have also completed nine days of our 28 day walking plan. I am feeling much more energized at school, though bedtime at night is coming earlier and more sudden.
Wednesday, May 30th/07
This month we have had far too many days with temperatures way above average. We finally turned on the central air tonight.
We have completed 7 days of our 28 day walking program, with the two longest walks completed on the hottest days. Tomorrow is a rest day, something I won't have trouble doing. Highs will be near 90 again.
We had a fun afternoon and evening, driving into Windsor for a new carpet for the back deck, then walking on the riverfront for nearly an hour. Afterwards, we went out for Indian food, then came home and put down the carpet. Next, we need to put the screening back up so we can sit out on evenings like this.
I have organized a short tour for the Recorder Bands, Flute Quintet, and Deb's Cyrano drama group. In addition to a school performance in Windsor, we will be appearing at Devonshire Mall at 11:00 am on Friday, June 8th. Hope to see everyone there!
We are looking forward to a new movie about Marco Polo coming this Saturday on the Hallmark Channel. We are still reading the large book by Yamashita.
Sunday, May 27th/07
We were in need of a weekend, and luckily one came along just in time! With the big concert week over there is some relief. However, much remains to do, including three June harp gigs for Deb, our private student recital on the night of the 6th, the school music and drama tour on the 8th, national exams for some of my private students on the 4th, 14th and 15th, the arts awards assembly on the 15th, report cards due the 14th, and, oh yes, teaching. Summer is just around the corner, though, with a mere 23 days left with students. It should fly by.
There were some disappointments this weekend. Firstly, Rachael M., a favourite former student who has moved to far off Barrie, Ont. tried to visit me at school on Friday. Sadly, we didn't connect. She did leave an e-mail address for me and a nice note on my desk.
Saturday we were supposed to visit Wyandotte, MI for the day. Due to a freak heavy rainstorm, we cancelled. Had the rain continued, flooding would have been certain. It was also very cold. We'll try next weekend.
Sunday we were to try and have our final tournement game of "Middle Earth: The Wizards", a complex card game based on Lord of the Rings. That didn't happen, since the rain finally stopped and I had to cut the grass while Deb weeded the gardens.
Some good news included a visit from Amanda L., a former music student now about to enter graduate school at U. of Toronto. We spent a fun Saturday evening. She came for dinner and we talked endlessly about books, movies and such. It was a very late night with good wine, beer and liqueurs, and superb vegan Mexican food and a chocolate creme pie for dessert, also vegan. As usual she came bearing gifts of books. She works at a book store and is a bit of a book-aholic! Wish she could visit more often!
Thursday, May 24th/07
This was the second day in a row that we broke the record for the highest temperature. We have had to put on the upstairs air, but not the downstairs. Cooler stuff is on the way. In the meantime, some of the most aggressive mosquitoes I have every experienced have taken over the yard. They are mean, too, and will follow you around and attack. There are swarms of them.
I finally finished reading Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose". It took me a long time to complete it, but I like to take my time with novels such as this. I'm not sure it will ever become a true classic, but the author's knowledge and insight into medieval monastic life is uncanny and will ensure the book's continued pride of place in a special niche area of fiction. The ending (and beginning) were brilliantly conceived. I think part of Eco's problem (or strength, depending on your point of view) is that he knows too much about his subject, and can't help his knowledge and love of the material he writes about spilling over too much onto the page! There were some very tiresome moments, but also many brilliant ones.
I am hoping to read another Proust novel for the summer, but we'll have to see. I am currently engaged with a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, this one ostensibly a children's book.
Despite this being a very long and tiring week (the holiday on Monday actually increased my workload of teaching on the other evenings), Deb and I began our 28-day "Walk to Fitness" plan. Day 1 went well. Have to see about the other 27....
Wed., May 23rd/07
School productions never go off without a hitch or two. However, this year's Spring Arts Extraganza was one of the best. There were eight different presentations, including four short plays, 3 musical acts (concert band, recorders, choir) and a group of dancers.
The right half of the school band. The gym was warmish but the band was hot!
Two of the plays were written by students, and Deb filmed those ahead of time to show as movies. I couldn't have asked the band to play better, or the recorders! Michael Mc. was the hit of the day, however, giving a truly inspired performance as Cyrano de Bergerac. This young man could go far in the world of theatre.
Michael, our Gr. 8 star in the role of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Of course we were stuck in the gym much of the afternoon and evening on the hottest day so far. And tomorrow, the cleanup begins!Monday, May 21st/07
The weekend has flown, and it really didn't seem like a long one! We did manage to get to our dance class last night, learning more Tango steps and some basic Waltz moves. We also started on the Salsa! Unfortunately, that was the final class! Needless to say we weren't happy with that news. Windsor Parks and Rec have an 8 week summer program we will try to get into.
We heard from Amanda L., who will returning to the 'Burg this coming weekend for a visit. And she's bringing books, so we are doubly lucky!
We have been watching Season 4 of Red Dwarf, an older British sci-fi comedy that we have become quite attached to. It was popular many years ago. We also watched another Keerti Reddy/Bollywood extravaganza. She is my favourite Indian actress, and the model for a major character in my Alllie Tachbrook novels.
I had hoped to have time to hear an opera this weekend, and perhaps prepare our Middle Earth the Wizards playdecks for another tournament game. Alas! We did get to read more of our fabulous "Marco Polo" book, written and magically and artfully photographed by Michael Yamashita, a must-have for lovers of the Orient and exotic travel.
One of the books Deb and I are reading together.
Saturday, May 19th/07We had a fun day in Detroit and Dearborn, but it passed all too quickly. In the morning we went to our mailbox. Deb had ordered a contraption for the vehicle where we can now plug any electrical device into a normal socket, which in turn plugs into any of the 12v sockets in the truck. She can now run her laptop, for example, or a kettle or waffle iron or strings of Christmas lights or....
In the afternoon we went to the Detroit Puppet Theatre downtown to see a performance of "The Firebird". It was a very magical production, with fabulous rod puppets and very detailed scenery, superb lighting and enchanting music. It was also quite scary, though most of the kids in attendance seemed to really enjoy it.
Back home it was time once again for some serious grass cutting.
I then managed to really get in the mood to write, completing a very complex chapter in my latest novel about Val....oops, it is still a top secret project. A few details may be released here soon, with perhaps even some excerpts.
Friday, May 18th/07
A very long work week has finally ground to a halt, as Canadians everywhere celebrate the birthday weekend of good old Queen Victoria. Yes sir, we Canucks sure know how to pick a holiday! Not only this, but it is only one of two holidays when fireworks are legal. Go figure!
We got things off to a good start by imbibing in our first martini of the season. We officially commence our summer-long martini season on this long weekend, usually on Fridays after work. We accompany it with an episode of M*A*S*H. We are now more than halfway through Season Three, after five years of this fabulous ritual!
We also got the back deck cleaned off, vacuumed the carpet and put the canvas roof on our outdoor summer room. We still have to install the mosquito netting (yes, the little buggers are biting already). Hopefully lots will get done outdoors this weekend.
Deb got another harp booking for June, this one in Sarnia! She now has four in June, so it will be a hectic month for her.
I am officially free from having to go on the Gr. 8 bus trip to Niagara Falls in June. I couldn't be happier. It is going to be a 5:30 am departure, not returning until 11:00 pm. Another staff member has stepped in to cover. Thanks, Cindy.
Tuesday, May 15th/07
We purchased an extended warranty for the Touareg, hoping to enjoy it for many more years. Along with the extra money we put into the RSP account, we are once again flat broke. The warranty was something I really wanted, good for six years or 160,000 km, and the RSP loan made sense. However, we are flat broke. Deb has got yet another new student, a high school girl wanting to learn to play the violin. The studio is doing really well.
We had a wicked storm tonight, with high winds and tons of rain. A cool week lies ahead, after today's mid-80 high.
Our school has purchased and installed a new public address system. The bells are now the musical motif made famous by "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Weird stuff.
Sunday, May 13th/07
The final trip of the season for the camera club has come to an end. Our excursion to Detroit was successful. Eight members attended, along with a sibling and two parent drivers. The Ansel Adams exhibit was very good, though quite crowded. I thought by going early in the morning we could avoid crowds, but I was wrong. Afterwards we toured the museum. I was impressed with two of the students: Forrest D. is a boy who is seriously interested in photography. He is very quiet, but showed the most interest in Adams' work. The other was Allie B., who went snapshot crazy later on while touring the museum collection. She really seemed to get a lot out of her visit today. I remember many years ago that my own way into seeing art was helped by photographing the permanent collection.
APS Camera Club poses in front of Rodin's "Thinker" on the plaza at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Last night we went out for dinner with Tammy and Dave. We hadn't seen their baby in a long time. Tammy used to teach at our school before transferring closer to home in Windsor. I didn't get home in time to head out for a night with the telescope, though it was a beautiful night.Today we planned our whole day around our 6:30 pm dance class, only to arrive to a cancelled event. We were quite disappointed.
I talked to my parents at length this evening. They may come down for a visit in mid-July.
Friday, May 11/07
The past few days have flown by, and I'm sure the weekend will too. Yesterday's school track meet was nearly cancelled due to fog. Wed. night and Thursday morning were very foggy. It was still foggy on the river when Deb and I biked to the town sports field at noon hour! Busses were cancelled, but not the track meet. All went well.
Today was a professional development day. We were only at school for two and a half hours. Again we were able to bike both ways, meaning that we left the truck at home three days out of five this week!
After school we went to Detroit. We will be returning tomorrow with the school Camera Club to see the Ansel Adams exhibit at the DIA. More about our international expedition later....
Wed., May 9th/07
Rehearsals for the school arts showcase are coming along. Band practice went well this week, as did the two recorder groups that will be playing. Deb is presenting four plays with the drama club, two of which have been written by students and filmed to show as short movies, and two others that will be presented live, including a major scene from Cyrano de Bergerac.
One of our band songs is a piece I bring out every four or five years. It is called "Anasazi", and is meant to evoke the spirit of the Southwest and the first people who dwelt there. It is a very well written work and the students love to play it. We are adding a slide show to it this year, with images that conjure up the Four Corners Area and also illustrate some of the ruins and cliff dwellings Deb and I have seen in our travels there. I began pulling images together tonight. They will need some work in Photoshop, as some are very early scans from film onto the computer. Of course this means we will have to have the house lights off while performing, and the students will need small lights on their music stands. They are very excited.
We had over an inch of rain today, and it is currently extremely foggy out. Track and field day is supposed to be tomorrow, but I have a feeling I will be teaching instead.
An old photo from our first visit to Bandelier National Monument. This photo will be used in our school concert while our band plays "Anasazi".
Tuesday, May 8th/07Two sunshiny days down, only one more of regular teaching left for the week. Friday is a workshop day for teachers, while Thursday (weather permitting) is the annual school track and field day!
I had hopes of a night of observing, but it clouded up early and is supposed to rain overnight. I got a tiny bit of writing done today, and some piano practice.
I am still reading everything I can about Greensburg, Kansas. Totally unbelievable--an F5 tornado a mile wide and on the ground for over 20 minutes! No wonder nothing is left. It appears even the impressive town meteorite collection is gone.
I am still working on my photos from Saturday's shoot (see below). This Saturday we are off to Detroit to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. Looking forward to it, but organizing such an affair is a big hassle. This will be our final outing of the year, except for an invitation for the families to come out to the open house at Hallam Observatory on the 19th and look through the 14" Celestron telescope.
Wild Ginger, from our Saturday woodland wildflower walk with the camera club.
Jesse is an enthusiastic member of the school camera club. She is also very photogenic!
Another hellishly busy weekend has flown by, and it's once again time to bite the Monday bullet. Laundry, groceries and lawn-cutting occupied much of the first half of the day. I got to work on my astronomy notes a bit in the afternoon, as I prepare to begin studies of Leo with my telescope. Maybe tomorrow night, but likely Tuesday.
After this we went dancing again, learning how to Swing and Tango tonight. Born to dance, I tell ya (at least Deb is). Trying to lead her is like trying to.... (better not say it!) But it's difficult, and even our first instructor commented that "this one needs some taming". Just have to lay down the law of the land, I suppose (at least when we are dancing). We now have the basics to five dances, two of which we are learning on our own. With the other three we have had some professional instruction and practice.
Saturday, May 5th/07
We had a very busy day, with a Detroit run full of stops this morning, including a visit to the Detroit Institute of Arts to pick up 14 tickets to the Ansel Adams exhibit for the Camera Club outing next weekend. Deb also needed to find a fake nose worthy of Cyrano de Bergerac from a novelty store, to use in her upcoming production of that play at school with the Drama Club.
We rushed home for lunch before heading out again, this time to Maidstone Woods outside of Essex. We were doing our spring wildflower walk, which we do every year, exept this year we brought along eight camera club members from school, two parent drivers and two siblings. The flowers were spectacular, though we missed the trilliums this year.
Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Maidstone Woods, Essex Co.
Four members of the Camera Club taking photos in the woods (actually, one of them is falling off a log).
Wild Geraniums, one of many lovely wildflowers of early spring.
Friday, May 4th/07
Less than eight weeks of teaching left before summer break (and then only three more years after that!). It was a gorgeous day today, and Deb and I both managed to bike to school and back. I tried my best to get the camera club organized for tomorrow's outing, but now it's supposed to rain. Stay tuned.
Deb and I officially returned to the world of dance tonight. We took a beginner's class in Windsor, learning the basic Hustle, a partner dance from the disco era. Not what I was hoping, however I think the kids will enjoy this fast paced, energetic step once we start in June at school.
I managed to finish another chapter of the latest novel, and will run it by Alicia next week.
Wed., May 02nd/07
We had a visit from Andrea W. today. I first met Andrea when she was in Gr. 4 and I was her music teacher. She was one of the very first "cool" kids I ever got to know, and she became an outstanding music student both at school and as a private student later on. She's now married with three great little kids, and does stop by to see us when she is in town. She and 4 yr. old Nathan came by tonight for awhile.
We also got an e-mail from Rob V. who sent us a link to some photos of a big cat rescue in Indiana that he and his motorcycle group support. Nice going, Rob!
I tried to do some writing tonight, but wasn't really feeling it. I did get a few pages done.
It was a full moon, so we had some dark rum and possibly our last fire of the season. No moon cake, though!!
Monday, April 30th/07
One of the best sci fi movies ever made was a Hammer film from the 60s. Based on a British tv serial called "Quatermass and the Pit", the movie over here was called "5 Million Years to Earth". Deb found a DVD copy for $1 at the dollar store tonight! We started watching it. It is a classic film, and one of the best scripts ever written. Very scary scenes, too, and done without the great effects available to filmmakers today.
Deb finished work on our entry into a contest sponsored by Laphroaig, on the island of Islay in Scotland. We had to design an heraldic shield and a motto for their new "friends" hospitality room. Winner gets a trip to Scotland to open the room! We sent off a very strong entry, and thus have a good chance of winning.
Got an e-mail from Rebekah today regarding the Chicago piano pedagogy conference in early August. I am registered for the three day affair, and hopefully she is too. I sent word to Nadia in London, but she is still unsure. Should be some great concerts too!
Sunday, April 29th/07
I helped judge a very high level piano competition held at the University today. Students of ORMTA teachers are allowed to enter either the Junior Level (Gr. 8/9 level of repertoire), Provincial Level (Gr. 10/professional level of pieces), or Young Artist (professional level). All three Windsor winners will now go on to to the zone level next month in London. The Junior competition stops there, but the Provincial and Young Artist winners continue on to the Ontario finals this summer. The Provincial competition stops there, but the Young Artist winner gets a concert tour of Ontario cities and goes on to the National championship next year. It is quite a prestigious competition, and it was an honour to judge these 14 young musicians. Good luck to Vanessa, Danni and Maggie!
Saturday, April 28th/07
It was a chilly start to the day, and cloudy. The afternoon turned out sunny and mild, but then it clouded over near sunset and rained for awhile. Deb got her new small harp today to rent out to a new student, and her new battery for her laptop. Both work fine! We also went to Borders and purchased our own copy of Mad Hot Ballroom, which I am still showing at school in anticipation of starting some dancing lessons with kids in June.
Once home I cut the lawn, which is beginning to grow at a frightening rate. I worked on my photos from yesterday on Photoshop. Tomorrow I am tied down all afternoon with a local piano competition. I'd rather be hiking or biking!
Friday, April 27th/07
Another rainy day, though we did manage to get our after-school camera club walk done. We went to the Navy Yard Park downtown Amherstburg. Beautifully landscaped and situated on the Detroit River, it is an ideal space for a photo shoot. Because of the dark clouds the tulips were closed up, however.
Flower, Navy Yard Park, Amherstburg.
9 students came on the walk today. Only one forgot her camera! We are improving.
She and I prepared a vegan dessert (choc. chip cookie bar), then Deb cooked us vegan pasta shells while we planned our novel. When dinner was ready we continued working while we ate, so the early evening was quite productive.
Portrait of Alicia, from our camera club outing today. Alicia (Allie, Al) is co-writing a kids novel with me.
Thursday, April 26th/07
I practiced with Paula this morning, my friend and duet partner. We are working on the very difficult but extremely wonderful Hungarian Dance #1 by Brahms for piano four hands.
The regional school badminton tournament was tonight. We got beat pretty bad, but two of our kids won a third place for their mixed double team.
A lot of rain fell today, following the inch we got on Wednesday. The grass is very green and getting long, and our creek is flowing fast and strong. Not much biking this week due to wind and rain.
Wednesday, April 25th/07
Deb has been enjoying her laptop a lot. She has also nabbed two new private harp students, another adult and a seven-year old. She's had to buy another small harp to have enough to rent out. She now has more students than me, for the first time!
I've been showing "Mad Hot Ballroom" in the music classes this week, a documentary about Gr. 5 students in NYC who compete in an annual competition. It is a really great film, a whole different take on ballroom dancing. Deb and I have decided to take some lessons once again, maybe getting something started at school with teachers and kids.
Our final badminton practice was tonight, as our one and only tournament is tomorrow. It'll be good to get back to music full time again.
Sunday, April 22nd/07
Well, the first two-day weekend in quite some time has come and gone, and boy it sure was short! On Saturday Deb received her new (used) laptop, a Dell with Windows XP. It came with 512 mb RAM, and is a 1 ghz model with 40 gbs of hard drive memory. She seems quite happy with it, as it only cost her $200 from an e-Bay store.
Saturday evening I had the pleasure of spending time with astronomy friends, including Randy G. and John T. Six of us ended up at Dan T.'s house in the county to do some observing. Dan has a 20" Dobsonian reflector which offers unparalled views of deep sky objects. That makes four nights out of the past eight that I have gone out observing!
I didn't get to bed until 2 am, so today I was feeling a bit fuzzy while doing laundry, getting groceries and driving the John Deere around the lawn. Yes, it's that time of year again. Back to grass cutting and such. Deb took out the bed of roses in the south-facing bed. She has other plans for it.
Five of the founding members of Windsor's Nova Astronomy Club got together to celebrate the anniversary of the club's founding 35 years ago! L to R: John Thompson, Tom Smart, Joady Ulrich, Randy Groundwater, and Dan Taylor.
Observing the heavens with Dan's 20" monster telescope. What a treat, especially after using my 8" for a week!
A truly gorgeous day, spoiled only by the fact that I had to go to work. Oh well, nothing is perfect. After school, Deb and I took the Camera Club to Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary. Seven members attended, plus one younger brother of a member, all in Gr. 7. I got some great shots, including this one of two snow geese. I also enjoy taking photos of the kids as they take their pictures. Got an especially nice one of Alicia B., my writing partner and piano student, which I will show here another time.
Snow Geese at Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary.
Camera Club and Deb and me at Jack Miner.
Caroline's little film "Here's An Idea" did not win top prize at the Gen Arts Film Festival, but that is hardly surprising. Of course it should have. Especially since lighting causes 20% of greenhouse gases. In Ontario alone, switching over to energy saving light bulbs would have the same impact as removing 250,000 vehicles from the road! Life goes on...
A warm and sunny day, as my bike riding to work and back has resumed! Badminton practices have been going well after school, but teaching itself is still a struggle. This five day week has seemed pretty long. Another practice at noon hour tomorrow. The Camera Club is off to Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary after school. Solo piano practice has been going well, though no memorization has begun. Jessica C. wrote me a lovely poem this week called "The Piano" and presented me with a printed copy. I may publish it here in the near future.
Because of the excellent clear skies this evening, I made my way to Malden for the third time within a week, and have completed studies in Canes Venatici after several years. A new spring constellation will be chosen soon, and an exhaustive list of objects will be readied for observing. Leo looks like a likely candidate, with its endless supply of fainter galaxies.
Monday, April 16th/07
Yesterday was a busy day, and a windy one. We somehow dodged a major winter storm, and I was even able to get in another night of observing galaxies. It was so windy, however, that I eventually had to pack up as the scope was shaking too much. Also yesterday I had two students perform at the Windsor Public Library. Ashley and I performed two thoughtful and delicate works for clarinet and piano by Ralph Vaughn Williams and Harry Freedman, while Karly played a work by Robert Schumann on piano.
Today was Monday. What more can I say about today? Not much. Except, perhaps, that 33 people were killed in a shooting in Virginia. So sad, so tragic, so not necessary. All too common now, these type of incidents. Who are the real terrorists, and how can they be silenced?
Friday, April 13th/07
A totally free day! I practiced piano, got a haircut, read a bit, went for a walk and prepared for an astronomy outing. By some quirk of fate it was clear tonight and not absolutely freezing. I dusted off the 8" reflector and headed to Malden, to a farmer's field I am allowed to use. This was the first major astronomy outing with the Touareg, and I found it much easier setting up. I was able to use the back as my desk for notes, flashlight, binoculars etc. It was fun, though my eyes aren't what they used to be. I resumed spring galaxy work in Canes Venatici.
Heard from Kati G. today. She is thinking of giving a concert in Windsor, possibly July. Good news indeed.
Thursday, April 12th/07
For a short work week, it sure was long! Alas, another long weekend has arrived! Next week's five-day work week will really seem long.
Today at school was a day-long fund-raising event, called a biathalon. The idea was to do half reading and half physical activity. While a great idea in theory, in practice the day was very different. Read hectic. Still, students got to dress up in storybook costumes, and many did a fine job.
In addition to this superb website, I also look after the one at Amherstburg Public School. To visit that site, click here. There is a lot on it, especially if one gets into the News section. I did a lot of updates this week, some of which are not yet uploaded. Next week my goal is to get an e-mail address on it so our parents and other visitors can comment or ask questions.
Someday I'll write about the third website that I look after!
Monday, April 9th/07
A cold and dreary 4-day holiday weekend has come to a close. I got a few things done, including a good start on my next children's novel. I also got some piano work done, as I continue to lay the groundwork for my set of Spanish masterpieces by Granados, Debussy, Albeniz and De Falla. I've also included two Scarlatti sonatas for the Roland harpsichord, as he spent much of his working life at the court in Madrid.
We managed to get out for two chilly walks this weekend, realizing how sorry our physical condition is right now.
We watched "Shall We Dance" this evening, the Japanese film recommended by Rob V. in Indianapolis. A very charming film and fun to watch, certainly a different and worthwhile take on the "ballroom dancing" theme. Thanks, Rob!
We only have a three day week to get through, followed by yet another long weekend due to report card/parent interviews. Being half-time we are required to be there Thursday evening, but not Friday!
Saturday, April 7th/07
A bitterly cold day, with snow pretty much continuous all day. Certainly not a classic Easter weather pattern!
We drove to Ann Arbor today, visiting bookstores and having lunch at Seva. We then headed for Ypsilanti, where we attended a fund raiser for a local rabbit shelter. The motto was "make mine chocolate", the message being not to give live bunnies as presents for Easter. It was held at a microbrewey, the Arbor Brewing Company at the Corner Brewery. The event featured a beer tasting, fair-trade chocolate tasting, lots of veggie and vegan finger food, and a silent auction (Deb won a box of hand made ginger-covered chocolate). There were probably a hundred people there, and we had a good time. Four of the six beers were very good.
Friday, April 6th/07
Just as my thoughts begin to turn once again to Astronomy and some possible spring galaxy observations, winter has returned in all its grey, cold misery. Doesn't look like any clear night skies in the near future, or warm temps.
I watched yet another great kids movie tonight, "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events", a very cool distillation of three of the novels. Jim Carey is very sinister as Count Olaf, and the settings are magical and suitably gothic. The kids are okay but not great.
We had a good first day of our 4-day holiday. Deb finished composing her newest piece of music, this one for five harps. I worked on my newest children's novel, setting aside Allie Tachbrook novel #2 for a few more weeks. My latest story will be co-written with one of my students, Alicia B., and with luck it will be all written within a month and ready to send to a publisher. I feel it is a sure-fire bet that it will be published and widely read, as the idea (top secret right now) just can't miss. Deb is helping with the editing and will contribute some artwork. Very exciting!
I had a dream last night about an earthquake, very realistic. I've been keeping an eye on the USGS Earthquake website all day.
Wed., April 4th/07
A blast of winter has returned, though we did miss the predicted strong thunder storms.
Haven't had a chance to talk about last week's Friday after-school Camera Club meeting. The school camera club is made up of about a dozen seventh graders, all who own digital cameras of one sort or another.
A walk was planned of downtown Amherstburg to take pictures of local historic churches, and the weather cooperated beautifully. Out of eight kids who participated this week there was one boy and seven girls. One forgot her camera, another had dead batteries, and another one had NO batteries! Yet another didn't bother to bring her camera ("I already have pictures of those churches"), and several brought no money to print them afterwards at the drug store. Good grief! I feel as if I am leading the Keystone Cops of photography! Our next trip isn't for a few weeks (thank goodness).
Lighthouse Church, Amherstburg ON
Today was the Art Gallery of Windsor "Student Showcase Concert", presented by ORMTA and organized by yours truly. Deb did the flashy program. This was the second year in a row that we have organized this special concert, apart and above the usual monthly ones at the library. Some superb performances, including Tasula C.' s sparkling rendition of Hungarian Rhapsody #2 by Franz Liszt! My flute student Kady B. performed a lovely work by Nancy Telfer called "First Star I See Tonight", as well as an arrangement of a Bach standard, the little Musette. She performed beautifully!
Kady and I performed at the Art Gallery of Windsor today.
Saturday, March 31st/07
Our short-listed film "Here's An Idea" is now on-line and ready for viewing. Go to: "Our Movie" to rate it. It's the one with the light bulb.
To have made it this far is totally amazing, and a testament to Caroline's vision and skill as a filmmaker.
Deb played a wedding today whilst I walked around Windsor's historic Sandwich Towne and took some photos. Tonight we watched an episode of the new Robin Hood on BBC America. Quite an update, but I still prefer Errol Flynn.
Thursday, March 29th/07
Incredible news! Caroline's recent film (with my photos and Deb and I performing her composition "Mandala") has been short-listed for the Gen Arts Film Festival in New York next month, sponsored by Starbucks. Now it's all down to on-line voting. Friends, relatives, and others: prepare to vote for our film and win us a big prize. Details to follow very soon. Out of thousands of entries from all over the world, it's now down to seven short films. What a thrill!
Speaking of films, we watched the incomparable "Little Miss Sunshine" tonight, about the dysfunctional family from hell on a road trip to California to enter a Little Miss America pageant. With Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin, it is a must-see comedy. Recommended by a teacher-friend at school. Lucky for us!
Today was the science fair at school. Some very high quality entries. Great job, you guys!
Wednesday, March 28th/07
The work week is passing slowly, but it is passing. With the school science fair happening tomorrow, my teaching duties will be nil. I've been reading Umberto Ecco's "Name of the Rose", a discussion on medieval monasticism disguised as a detective story. Still, I love Ecco's writing and must read more.
I've been searching lately in bookstores and on-line for books about Ontario Provincial Parks. There is almost nothing! Very surprising and disappointing. Perhaps it's too big a topic for one book (Algonquin Park alone is larger than some European countries), but I thought a series of books would exist. Nope. Just one that very briefly describes some of the parks in each section of the province.
We've been watching 1st season episodes of "Rawhide", one of the great westerns from yesteryear. We also bought more satellite tv stations. We had let a lot of them expire.
In my feverish and sleepless state last weekend I got some great ideas for the second novel I am working on. I now need to find the time and energy to continue the story from where it left off...
Friday, March 23rd/07
Not getting much sleep, so I am walking around like a zombie. I can never sleep when I have a cold, even a minor one.
The school camera club, mostly made up of Gr. 7s, had its first outing of the season. We just explored our vast schoolyard looking for early signs of spring. There were only 4 kids tonight, three boys and a girl, but all the better. What a nice group, and they have great eyes for spotting details! Next week we explore some historic churches in Amherstburg.
After school, Deb and I went to Dearborn and Borders, as it was Educators Weekend, with 25% off the total bill. Good stuff!
Once back home I edited the photos from the school shoot, including this one:
Thursday, March 22nd/07
It's been a week! Deb is on the mend and I have been fighting off a cold since Tuesday night. I'm having a high degree of success using zinc lozenges and Zicam throat spray. Two days and I'm much better. Didn't even have to miss a day of work. Caroline entered a film into a major competition using some of my photos and Deb's piece of music called "Mandala". A flurry of e-mails can best describe our first major collaboration!
We watched Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway", one of his best films. He doesn't appear in it, and niether do his usual female leads, but John Cusasck gives a good performance of the usual type of Woody character. Great fun and worth watching more than once. We are also three chapters into BBC Scotland's "The Crow Road", thanks to Caroline who sent us a copy. Brilliant miniseries of a brilliant novel by Iain Banks.
Monday, March 19th/07
Well, that was quite a shocker. Another snowy morning, our third in a week, AND having to go back to work! Monday is a very heavy day for me, though I do get a break in between the end of my school teaching and the beginning of my evening private lessons.
I have been tossing an idea around in my head for our summer August trip, instead of the long haul to New Mexico. It would be a visit to the east end of Lake Superior, followed by a long drive through northern Ontario to White River, Hearst, Kapuskasing, Timmins and back to Sudbury for a day or two of rest before coming home. It's even possible we could take the train from Cochrane to Moosonee.
The other option (besides NM) would be to drive US 24 through Indiana and Illinois, then down to St. Louis before turning around for home. Both of these would be camping trips, weather permitting.
Highway bridge over the French River, south of Sudbury, Ontario.
A quiet, domestic end to the holiday. Laundry done, a start on cleaning the first basement room (three more rooms to go), and the Touareg washed and vacuumed. We took a drive to Essex and ended up coming home with two new, young finches for the aviary. It seems to have livened things up considerably!
Deb is still suffering the effects of her cold and her sore ribs. The sneezing isn't helping. I am well along on my last rewrite of my first novel, and hope to have it finished soon.
It certainly wasn't a bad holiday, but it sure wasn't the same as going to London or to New Mexico for the week. Still, having the Touareg to drive makes it worth skipping a major trip or two.
We watched another hour of Crow Road tonight, the dramatization of a fabulous novel by Iain Banks. So far the BBC production is well above what I had expected, and I will likely watch it again (and again). I may even begin to speak with a wee Scottish accent!
Sat., March 17th/07
A strange St. Paddy's Day, as we stayed home and watched a BBC Scotland presentation of one of my favourite books, "The Crow Road" by Iain Banks. We also drank Laphroig Scotch! Not all was lost, however, as we did blast the Chieftains for a while before bedtime. Deb is sick with a cold, and her ribs are still sore from falling while skating 10 days ago. And Hobbit the finch has left us, hopefully for a big, long free-flight into the clear blue sky! Deb found her in her sleeping nest with her buddies trying to awaken her.
Friday, March 16th/07
Watched a very funny and well-done film tonight called "Stark Raving Mad" (2002) about a bank heist that just can't seem to find enough things to go wrong on the big night. Highly recommended for a laugh-filled 90 minutes of some rather tense scenes. Anyone for a game of Truth or Dare?
I managed to practice today and do some editing on my story. Not much else accomplished, except for my vegan shepherd's pie. Didn't turn out too badly! It's really cold again. Bullshit!
Thursday, March 15th/07
Got back late last night from a fun-filled trip back home to Sudbury. Lots of great food and company, with perhaps just a few too many calories and a wee too much to drink!
We drove home slowly, with many stops for photos and leg stretches. We hit some dense fog in late afternoon, then plenty of rain in the early evening.
Beorn handled beautifully and we arrived home in comfort.
Deb went to see a doctor today to check her ribs, sore since falling last week skating with her class. I left her and went to the mailbox in Dearborn, also taking the opportunity to fill up the tank with fuel.
Sat., March 10th/07
We managed to get across the border and back today without any real hassle, despite huge amounts of traffic due to the Canadian March Break. In the Dearborn UPS mailbox today were three offerings from Netflix: Spaceways, an old Hammer Films scifi flic; Dolomite, a blaxploitation flic from the 70s!!; and another several episodes of the first season of Rawhide, one of our favourite western tv series from long ago.
Also there was "Tofu 123", a book that came highly recommended by VegNews magazine. Can't wait to make some of those recipes! Conspicuous in its absence yet again is the book I ordered from an Amazon affiliate about the inner ring of hiking in London, U.K. I have notified Amazon and they are investigating and will likely provide a refund. My e-mails to Gulfshore Books in Texas have been 'returned to sender'.
Re-editing on my first Allie Tachbrook novel is continuing, using many of the suggestions provided by our former student and dear friend Amanda L., who is co-incidently a book editor par excellence! Deb mailed her a manuscript today of her own entertaining and unusual novella.
We spent the afternoon cleaning house and packing for tomorrow's departure to Sudbury. Luckily we have a house sitter to look after our animals!
My cousin and good friend Cathy sent the photo (below) of her table, set for tomorrow evening's feast. Can't wait to see her and Moreno again, as well as the rest of the immediate family!
Table set for the gang at Cathy and Moreno's on Sunday for dinner!
March Break is here!! There is joy in Mudville! The afternoon was spent ice skating with the Gr. 7s and 8s, which necessitated a nap for yours truly after school today.
Me skating with the Gr. 7s
At least I was primed for tonight's concert featuring Gregory Butler, piano and David Palmer, organ. The combination of sound really worked, and it turned out to be a wonderful concert. Besides Deb and I, three of my students came! Desy was at her first concert, and she nearly fell asleep on my arm. Kady seemed to enjoy it, though she is now a concert-going pro! Roger, my hard-working adult student, came also and really liked it.Tuesday, March 6th/07
More good news on the music front: two of my students got their national flute exam results back and both scored first class honours! I am a happy guy this week!
I have undertaken a major photo editing project. I am going to re-edit all of our London photos from last March! The main reason is that I now have a much better understanding of Photoshop CS2 due to greater experience, especially with the success of last summers New Mexico photos behind me.
Cold weather continues to plague us. Our February heating bill arrived, and it was a shocker, double that of last year for the same period. It's also snowing again tonight.
I got a good start on my 200 plus report cards today--all of the marks are added up and ready to go on the computer.
Sunday, March 4th//07
I had three of my private students perform at a concert in Windsor this afternoon. The hall was packed, and it was a good stress test for them. They all passed with flying colours. All three played with sensitivity, good taste and even some passion! What more could a teacher ask?
Behind me on the right is Karly, my most advanced piano student. Beside her (red hair) is Ashley, an advancing clarinetist. Beside me on the bench is Alicia, making her public piano debut!
We are finally back in the cd business! The pieces from our November concert have been recorded for some time now, but Deb was having some engineering problems trying to get the sound right. It literally took weeks of on again off again work to get things to sound half decent. The cd contains all of the music from the concert, including harp, harpsichord, and piano solo, as well as ensemble pieces for two recorders and harpsichord, piano duet, and duet for harp and harpsichord! Copying and labeling was done at a studio in Windsor. Make sure you order your copy today!!
Thursday, March 1st/07
Glad to see the two worst winter months behind us! March is usually quite intolerable due to low temps and general dampness and wind. I remember nearly freezing last March in London during our week of walking. I really miss London, and wish we were flying there next weekend during our break. I have gone the past four years in a row, and Deb has come the last two years. Fares were much more expensive this year, plus we are trying to pay down the truck quickly. So far the financial plan is working, but I feel a strong urge to get to London again!
Monday, Feb 26th/07
We finished watching "Mirror Mask", a very imaginative tale along the lines of "City of Lost Children". In fact, these two movies would make a great double feature for lovers of children's fantasy with an adult edge. Neil Gaiman, whom we have met, has written a tale beautiful in its simplicity and deserves to be ranked up there with the best fairy tales. The art direction and music are also outstanding. I will be purchasing this flic--it's a keeper.
Got some of the photos printed from yesterday's excursion with two students and Deb. The one below shows Jessica beside a painting by Bougerou called "The Nut Gatherers". She looks uncannily like one of the girls in the painting!!
Jesse at the DIA
Sunday, Feb. 25/07
The big storm seems to have missed us, though we awoke to freezing rain and rain. It made skiing a no-go, so we went to Plan B. We took Emily and Jessica to the Detroit Institute of Arts instead. They had never seen any place like it before, and we hadn't been there ourselves in ages. We had a fun day.
Jesse, Emmy and Deb at the DIA
We are supposed to receive more freezing moisture tonight, so there is a small chance school buses won't run tomorrow morning. One can always hope.Still thinking about "Dog Eat Dog", the strange little movie we saw last night. Deb summed it up nicely by saying "It leaves a bad taste in my cerebral cortex."
Saturday, Feb. 24th/07
A very strange day, as the leaden feel of an approaching storm weighed us down. We made a quick mailbox run to Dearborn, stopping off at Borders to purchase a book we had wanted. It is called "101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How characters of fiction, myth, legends, television, and movies have shaped our society, changed our behaviour, and set the course of History". It seems required reading. Some examples of characters chosen include Prometheus, King Arthur, Godzilla, Alice and Tarzan! Can't wait to start reading.
Deb played harp at a wedding in the late afternoon. She has been getting regular calls of late, which is great!
Last night we watched an indie comedy called "The Baxter", a very engaging flic about the proverbial guy who could never really connect with another human being until he met the right girl. Some very funny moments and lines, and definitely worth seeing. By contrast, tonight we watched possibly the strangest B film ever made!! "Dog Eat Dog" stars Cameron Mitchell and Jayne Mansfield, and makes Orson Welles' films look like Little Bo Peep by comparison!! This is truly off the deep end of filmdom. As described in one of my film books, ..."cheesy but admirably perverse..." Wow!!!
The latest winter storm is about to whack us but good. Our main goal is to have electricity all day tomorrow! The ski trip looks hopeless.
Friday, Feb. 23/07
The rumour is out there that another big winter storm is headed our way. I can hardly contain my joy and excitement--be still, my beating heart. The winter that would not start has now become the winter that won't go away! I'm sure there is a lesson to learn from this.
I hosted the school year's second performance class this afternoon for my private students. All but two managed to make it, and most of them played quite well. We focussed on some practice techniques as well as using imagination in musical performance. It's difficult to keep a topic focussed when the ages vary from 10 through 16 years. There is such a wide range of maturity!
Interesting day at our school and at another one nearby. We had two schoolyard fights today. One involved a lot of lost blood from a likely broken nose, which is what can happen if you spit in someone's face. Good grief! Luckily it was not my yard duty watch!!
A nearby school received a bomb threat yesterday for today's school day. Parents were told to send their children if they wanted--of course staff were given no choice but to show up for work. So much for health and safety!!
Thursday, Feb 22/07
Heard from two people in Indiana this day. Kati G. is completing her M. Mus. in Bloomington, and asked if we could come to her grad recital. There is nothing we would have rather done, except it's next Monday. Virtually impossible to get down there on a weekday. So sorry, Kati!
I've also been hearing regularly from Rob in windy Indy! Rob was a drop-in visitor to this website, and actually writes back! This is similar to how I met Caroline in London, UK. We got talking about computer adventure games on-line. We have since seen her in London many times, as well as over on this side of the pond, and exchanged hundreds of e-mails. She seems like family now. Caroline is a filmmaker, and just won a competition sponsored by Lonely Planet. To see Caroline's film (she won a one-month first class Eurail pass!) as well as other winners, go to
Caroline's film
Her film is called "Working for Zappa".
Tuesday, Feb. 20th/07
A long day. Walked to the high school with my Gr. 7/8 Band for a day camp of music activity. Basically we learned two songs we can use in our upcoming spring concert. It was a noisy and confusing day, and then we walked back to our school. At least it was really mild outside. Afterwards I stayed at school to do the music bulk order for next year.
Heard from my cousin Cathy today, who wants to organize a large family dinner when Deb and I go up to Sudbury in March. In our honour she wants to cook a large vegetarian meal! Awesome, and can't wait.
Today's mild spell melted much of our snow. Sunday's ski outing doesn't look too promising.
Monday, Feb. 19th/07
Winter's back appears to finally be breaking! Our temps are on the upswing as we went above freezing today! Winter cold temps have lasted for 4 weeks and 3 days, a little bit shorter than our normal 6 weeks of misery. We still have some snow to make up for, however.
Two of my students took their first ever music exams today, both doing Gr. 1 Flute. Angela (Gr. 7) seemed to hold it together nicely, and should score quite well. Brittany (Gr. 8) was very nervous and made a number of performance errors. Still, she got through it and hopefully will score decently.
Told my cousin Cathy of our upcoming quick visit to Sudbury. Sounds like a dinner party is in the works!
Sunday, Feb. 18th/07
Another (cold) weekend has flown by! Some piano practicing done, but not a whole lot accomplished. On Saturday I perused New Mexico topo maps at the Wayne State Library. New plans call for our first visit to Mills Canyon in the Canadian River gorge, possibly hiking and camping for two nights. We will then head up to Valle Vidale in Carson National Forest for three or four days, northwest of Cimarron. This is also an unexplored area for us, and promises to be an exciting mountain experience! We will drive west along US 24 from Detroit to Kansas City, turning southwest there and aiming for Clayton, NM and thence on to Mills Canyon. I am very excited about the trip, which is still six months away.
Today we enjoyed our final winter outing of the season, hiking and photographing at Maidstone Conservation Area. It was cold and snowing a bit. The forecast for the week ahead is for more normal temps, actually getting above freezing! About time.
Wed., Feb. 14th/07
Our first big winter storm finally arrived last night, on the day we usually begin to celebrate the arrival of spring! We only got 5" or 6" of snow, but it created a bit of a mess. No school buses running today, so attendance was quite low. It took us three shifts of shovelling just to clear the driveway at home. Tomorrow we have to do the small parking lots. We are going through lots of bird seed at the feeders! We even had a duck there after school.
I heard from "Rob" today, regarding this website. He found it while researching Cataract Falls, Indiana. He is from Indianapolis, one of our favourite nearby cities. Hi Rob!
Happily I have recommenced work on my second novel featuring Allie Tachbrook, after a lull of several months. I still need to reedit the first one again, but the second story has been filling my head for a long time and it is finally beginning to pour out of me!
Saturday, Feb.10th/07
Today was the ORMTA Classical Keyboard Festival, adjudicated by Claire Durocher and organized by yours truly. Participation was much higher than last year. Some great performances by the students and wonderfully supportive adjudication by Sr. Claire. I will likely have a new student soon. Desiree G. (the bunny hill girl) has convinced her parents to let her study piano. She is my little shadow at school, and we seem to have a good relationship. Hopefully she will work hard.
Friday, Feb. 09th/07
Teacher workshops today, so no students. After losing 5 of our professional development days to a Tory government several years ago, we are finally getting them back! None of the retraining applies to my music position, however, so it is pretty boring for me. Tonight I took Kady and Ashley, my two most advanced students, to a local concert band reading session sponsored by Belle Air Music. Teachers and students come together to form a huge band (over 150) to sight read new music. Being only in Gr. 8 the girls were a bit shy at first. Next year they will know what to expect. I played clarinet, something I really need to do more of.
Saturday, Feb. 3rd/07
Brutally cold and very windy day. Despite the severe weather we went over to Dearborn and Detroit for the morning and afternoon, settling into the Wayne State area for a few hours. Upon leaving, we encountered a snow squall of epic proportions! We managed to make it safely to the Bridge, where we refueled and headed back to Windsor. Stayed in tonight and played cards (Middle Earth the Wizards!). Coldest day of the 06/07 season. After Monday, things gradually improve!
Friday, Feb. 2nd/07
I went on a solo photo expedition today, exploring a bit of the north shore of Lake Erie. In addition to getting some fine photos and doing a bit of frigid hiking, I visited a brand new winery, Viewpointe. After a tasting I came away with two bottles of red.
Tonight was not only a full moon celebration, but Candlemas as well. A major party going on here tonight!!
Wed., Jan. 31st/07
It was a perfect day for the school ski trip! The hills at Mt. Brighton, MI were perfect! Three busloads of kids, parents and teachers had a great time. I was very impressed with many of the students, who had to take ski lessons and pass tests to get on the bigger hills. Several kids were absolutely amazing, including Jesse C. who was skiing for her first time. She came with me many times up the chairlift and skiied down the most difficult hills. Amazing! Then there was Dez, who was happy remaining on the tiniest bunny hill for the entire day.
I am busy editing a number of RAW images I took in our backyard earlier in the week. Winter has finally fully arrived, and I plan to do several more photo shoots, including b & w.
Sunday, Jan. 28th/07
Weekends do fly by! Saturday Deb was at an all-day harp event at Anita's. It was mild but I still stayed indoors all day. The next two weekends will be full for me, so it was nice to just kick back for a day! Today we returned to Detroit, and I pored over topo maps of New Mexico. Next summer's trip is just beginning to take shape. Mills Canyon in the Canadian River Valley will be visited, and we will return for some major hikes in the Manzanos Mts! I will drive to Oklahoma City and pick Deb up there for the drive to NM. Can't wait!!
Friday, Jan. 26th/07
Actually thought we were going to get some snow today. It snowed for about 30 minutes in the morning, then that was it. Another tiny bit of fluff to add to a few other tiny bits. We made a quick trip to Dearborn after work, then came home to stay. Deb is off to an all-day harp outing tomorrow in the county at Anita's place.
Thursday, Jan. 25th/07
Man, it's been freezing down here lately in Canada's south. Brutally cold with virtually no snow, so "it does not compute". Nearing the end of January and I've driven the Touareg in a bit of snow once!!!! I mean, let's get it on here. Bring on the blizzards of 2007!!!!!!!
Sunday, Jan. 21st/07
The big birthday bash weekend is winding down. About ten of us went out for drinks Friday after work, celebrating Deb's big 5 0! Afterwards Deb and I went to Piccolo's, a Windsor Italian restaurant with some very good food. On the way we finally got to drive the Touareg in some snow!! It was coming down pretty good in Lasalle and Windsor, and the roads were slick. Initial vibes are very positive--acceleration from zero is very quick, almost unbelievably quick. Stopping is not a problem either, though not as instant as with the Jetta (which didn't weigh 5700 pounds). Saturday we tooled off to Ann Arbor, the longest drive in our vehicle since Ohio in October. It was decently cold, and after wandering the shops for awhile we headed to Seva for lunch. They have greatly expanded their vegan options, and we can't wait to return. I tried a glass of Pear Wine, which I found dry and interesting, with a very clean taste. Today we got another 1/16" of snow to add to the 1/32" still on the ground. At least it is colder now, but the snow has yet to really hit us.
Tuesday, Jan. 16th/07
Winter arrived at last! We got at least 1/10th of an inch of snow!! The Touareg barely made it out of the driveway!! I admit it isn't much snow, but at least it's here. Very cold temps, the coldest of the year. Sunny, bright freezing January day--something very special about those.
Went to the astronomy club meeting--two good presentations, plus I had my portrait done by Amali, age 6 yrs. At break got to see through Randy's incredible 85mm binoculars!
No kids tomorrow--just teacher workshops.
Monday, Jan. 15th/07
We dodged a major ice storm, getting only rain in the Windsor area. Yee hah!! Not that we need any more rain--the ground just can't absorb any more. We were expecting to awaken to downed trees and power lines. Hallelujah!
Sunday, Jan. 14th/07
I did some website work, adding a Touareg page and removing the London pics from last March.
We have been under an ice storm warning for several hours now. Sounds like we are finally going to get zapped. Blizzards I can take--ice storms are the worst. We are preparing our back-up heaters, flashlights, candles etc. Wish I had more propane cannisters and a few more firelogs...
Tuesday, Jan. 9th/07
Winter seems to finally be making an appearance. Jan. 10th through the 25th I consider the absolute heart of winter, with the greatest possibility of the coldest days of the year. After the 25th, the sun begins to get higher and can slowly start to warm us once again. We have made it to the very heart of winter without having any winter! Tonight, however, it is windy and becoming bitterly cold. I biked to school today with my back to the wind, but couldn't face riding home into it.
I finished reading the first Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. Absolutely first rate, and highly recommended to readers of sword and sorcery, especially Fritz Leiber fans. The humour is non-stop, and Pratchett's control of language is nothing short of brilliant.
I am longing to put a winter photo on the homepage. It might happen soon if the weather continues to be cold. Or I may be forced to use one from last year.
Sunday, Jan. 7th/07
The end has arrived, and tomorrow it is back to the work-a-day world. The past sixteen days have been heavenly, especially as neither of us has been sick. Walking excursions, practicing, reading, some photo opportunities, and of course the new flooring; it would be difficult to find any "wasted" time in there.
As usual there are many students I am looking forward to seeing again, and more than a few that I am not! Nine more weeks until the March Break and a drive to Sudbury. In the meantime, winter will surely arrive and hopefully quickly pass.
Friday, Jan. 5th/07
Work on the floor continued, and is mostly complete. Trim and quarter round remain, as well as the carpet/floor connection in the music room. The main room now has a rustic feel, sort of like a cottage. We are very pleased with the outcome, but it has cost us three full days and almost $450.00.
We are into our final weekend of holidays. It rained over an inch last night, and has been pouring again since before dinner time. I took movies of our creek this morning--it will be much higher tomorrow. The ground is so saturated that I can honestly say I have never seen it like this before. Enough with the moisture!
Thursday, Jan. 4th/07
We have been installing a wood laminate floor. Or rather, mostly we have been preparing for the installation. We bought the materials Tuesday. Wednesday we removed the old carpet from the living room. Today we began laying the cherry panels. More than half of the living room is now done, and it looks fantastic. We will be at it tomorrow until we finish.
Tonight we took a break and watched "84 Charing Cross Road" on Flix, a movie we had somehow missed viewing over the years. I enjoyed it, but would not likely wish to see it again. It has some very funny moments, but is relatively boring despite some very fine acting. Characters do not develop much since we first meet them.
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