Below are the 13 most recent journal entries recorded in badsheep's LiveJournal:

Wednesday, July 5th, 2006
7:48 pm	More Music... ...but of a non-SCA variety. Yesterday was the Fourth of July, and the All Star Orchestra, a local jazz band (of which I am a member) performed in downtown St Augustine before the fireworks. This year was not as bloody hot as years past, and it did not rain, so the humidity wasn't bad. It was still too hot to drink a lot of beer though. The band sounded pretty good, though incredibly loud, as always. We seem to subscribe to the Army Band motto: higher, faster, louder. I was playing alto sax, but I also had doubles on piccolo, clarinet, and flute. I particularly liked the jazz arrangement of "Stars and Stripes Forever" which included the famous piccolo solo (that I got to play). It was fun. We played lots of patriotic stuff, which I enjoy, and less of the modern pop stuff (which I don't enjoy). I hope the audience had as much fun as we did... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, July 3rd, 2006
3:56 pm	Arts/Sci Finally back home late last night from the event and the gig - I attended Arts/Sci Fri-Sun. It was hot, but not as bad as it could be. No rain, which was good. Lots of entries - 38 I believe, and a high percentage were VERY good. We awarded 4 perfect scores (all 4 received a nonpariel as well) and 2 Laurel's acclaim awards. I was able to spend time with many friends, which made the event worthwhile. I am tired of traveling - I would not even have gone if it weren't for the prospect of being with these friends - plus Ysabela would have hurt me if I did not go. Special thanks to Gianetta for the pink lion and Meleese for the gin... I do wish there were more people working on music in the Kingdom - the only performing arts entry was a performance of a piece from Shakespeare. There was also an entry of 2 wooden flutes in the woodworking category - but that was the only music related entry. Masque Laureate was won by 2 singers (Don Sylvain & Dona Arnez) - they were quite good. The populace insisted they perform their song at Court - they saw why they won the competition. It was obvious that they have sung together quite LOT...Hyrrokin's dance was also good - she showed an important part of performing (as did the winners) - have a good time when you perform. Hyrrokin looked like she was enjoying herself when she was dancing. A performer should not look like they are having a root canal.. No rest for the wicked after Arts/Sci - I drove to Gainesville to play for the Sunday contra dance. I went well, despite my sight reading almost the entire dance. Fortunately we are supposed to improvise parts of the tunes - this was good, since I had to make up things quite a bit. We used unusual instrumentation: fiddle, guitar, tenor saxophone/flute & electric bass. It works quite well, I think. if anyone is interested, we are performing in Gainesville again at the GDMA on July 29 in the evening. (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 25th, 2006
7:53 pm	Home! Yes, I finally made it home - no flight problems, arrived on time - it's good to be home. Seattle is a neat city - a lot of things to do, lots of culture - I enjoyed my visit. Yesterday I went to the Museum of Flight - a very nice museum. Lots of aircraft (as you might expect), and a very good display on WWII aviation, including a section on carrier aviation - my father was a carrier pilot, and fought in WWII and Korea. Lots of uniforms, equipment, and memoribilia - even sections on the WASP and thr Red Army female pilots. The museum was only $14 for admission - well worth it. Saturday night I went to sleep early, as I had to get up at 4AM to make my flight. When I looked at my watch in the middle of the night, I saw it was 3:30, so I got up & showered - then realized that it was 3:30 Florida time, as I had not reset my watch. So I had gotten up 3 hours early. Needless to say, I did not sleep well after that... Back to the work grind tomorrow. (Comment on this)
Friday, June 23rd, 2006
7:38 pm	For Meleese I went to the martini bar for a mid afternoon pick-me-up. It is a modern martini bar, of course - no classic gin and vermouth drinks here. I tried a "Black Martini" - Absolut Kurrant, Cointreau and cranberry juice. It was good, but VERY sweet - especially since I don't do sugar any more. But I paid $8.25 for it, so by golly, I was going to finish it! Since this drink was for Meleese, and the waiter was cute, I left a big tip. It was worth trying it, but I had to buy some pretzels to cut the sweetness when I was done. I also saw the aquarium - small, but nice. Though the small child hammering on the glass to make the fish respond to him was very annoying - where were his parents? The Pacific Northwest is a much different ocean ecosystem than what I am used to, having spent most if my time in Florida. It was interesting, though. They had a nice group of otters - I know Columella would have liked that. I also found where the drugs are - the part a few blocks down from my hotel. Our probation officer saw people getting their free clean needle, and immediately shooting up. what a city, Seattle... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
11:35 am	Friday! Second full day of the conference - I have learned some interesting things. For instance, when a defendant says he tested positive for alcohol because he ate bread that contains a small percentage of alcohol (some do), he is lying - he would have to eat 3-8 pounds of bread (depending on the brand) to equal the amount of alcohol in one beer. The Nyquil excuse is out too - it takes 32 oz of Nyquil to equal a beer. Its always fun to catch people fibbing... The Pikes market place at the waterfront is a main attraction here. Fish markets, fresh flowers, shops, tons of people - but very colorful and picturesque. The Seattle Aquarium is there - I hope to go see that this afternoon. Lots of homeless here - supposedly they were driven out of downtown and relocated to the University district (where I am). One had a sign that read "need $6 for marijuana". Something to be said for truth in advertising, I suppose. Well, I am skipping the opening session, so I should get back to it...today's schedule includes a class on prescription drugs - this is a growing problem in America, and prescription addicts make up about half of the Clay Drug Court. Later... (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 22nd, 2006
9:37 pm	Salsa The opening reception has a very good salsa band, but no drugs...I did find the needle exchange place, though, so I'm all set once I find the stuff. Off for more music and maybe a martini... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
12:24 pm	Conference Well, the conference has started - so far I had a great continental breakfast, courtesy of the vendors - lots of good fruit, very weight watcher friendly, and got good swag from the vendors. The opening session is good - I skipped out a bit early to get more swag. The reception tonight has salsa music - should be good. Still looking for the drugs - though I did find a good martini bar... (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
8:47 pm	Seattle Well, here I am at the National Drug Court Conference, and not a drug in sight. Pretty dull so far - have to see if I can stir things up, like last weekend in New Orleans. More later... (12 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006
7:54 pm	New Orleans Well, we made it back okay Sunday - I got home a little before midnight, so I was pretty tired at work. Now today, Tuesday, I am getting ready to leave again - this time for a conference for work. I will be attending the National Drug Court Conference in Seattle. The bad part is the plane leaves Wednesday at 6:30 AM. Ugh! So from New Orleans to a Drug conference - seems like a natural progression. The weekend was great - compass rose, finneadan and ysabela are good traveling companions, and much fun to hang around with. I'll post more about the trip and the Seattle experience when I get some time. Current Mood: content Current Music: Cucanandy (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, June 16th, 2006
7:10 am	Be afraid I am actually doing something impulsive this weekend - I am going on a road trip to New Orleans with ysabela, finneaden, and compass rose...we really should call ahead and warn them, don't you think? I had planned a nice quiet weekend at home - but dear hubby Bron said "Go - it will be fun" He's right, this trip should be major fun - especially with those 3 as my travelling companions! More will follow...assuming we aren't all in jail... Current Mood: happy Current Music: silence - it's early in the morning (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 12th, 2006
5:14 pm	Music & Dance This past Saturday I was again playing a music job - this time as part of a dance band playing for an English Country Dance workshop and Ball. These workshops have a "big name" person in English Country Dance who will teach dances during the day, then call dances for a dance (a "Ball") at night. This one featured Colin Hume, an Englishman who has written numerous dances and dance tunes. Overall, it went well. we have an unusual combination of instruments - a cello player who can do melody or accompaniment, a flute player who can also play electric bass, a very talented guitar player, and me on flute,whistle, recorder & clarinet. We did some dumb goofs, like one player missing a repeat and playing the wrong part of a tune, and me missing the signal to switch tunes (I thought she said "play it again") - but nobody's perfect. The dancers were pleased, and loved how we sounded, and got to dance a lot, so by the standards that count, it was a success. One especially neat dance used the Pachelbel Canon as the music - we added the fiddler the band uses, and played the canon with cello on the ground and fiddle, flute and clarinet on melody. They liked the dance (and the music) so we got to do it two times - very neat. The only downside was finishing at 11PM and driving home (3 hours) from St Cloud - especially when some genius decided to close I-4 at Deltona and not post the detour directions. God loves fools, because He got me home, even though I did not have a clue where I was going to try to get back on the highway. Ah yes, the exciting life of a musician... Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Martin & Marie Reilly (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 12th, 2006
6:43 pm	Gloom, Doom and Despair This is a very depressing weekend. Yesterday, today and tomorrow I am at my parent's house, trying to clean up some of the accumulation of 35 years of stuff. While my parents were not packrats, they do have an amazing amount of things. Some things are treasures: old photos, unit patches and gear from my father's years in the Navy, old photos of my parents before they were married, an old letter, etc. Lots of it is old magazines, bills, and receipts from many years ago. And they have lots of furniture. Its depressing enough that they are gone - but to have to sit here by myself and sort through their belongings... They say losing a parent is not like any other loss - it's the loss of the only unconditional love you will ever have in life. I guess this depends on the relationship you had with your parents - but this does sum up how I feel. You chose your friends and spouse, and they can always leave you, but your parents are always there (assuming you have normal parents). I feel like I am a little kid again...and I'm 47 years old. That's what losing them will do to you. It doesn't help that I do not have a very large family - my sister is in Washington state, and neither of us have children. I have a couple of cousins on my father's side I have never met, and a couple of cousins in Mississippi I haven't seen in 30 years. That's it...everyone else I knew (uncles, aunts, and now parents) are all gone. So that makes me feel even more alone. Here's a strange thing about all of this: I was brought up Catholic - this loss has brought me back to going to Church -and it has been a great help to me. My religious upbringing is a legacy of my parents - my father was Catholic (mom was Episcopal), and I went to Catholic schools for 12 years - so I suppose it's natural that I would go back to it in times of crisis. Well, that's enough for now...time to go fill up some more trash bags... (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 5th, 2006
8:59 pm	Music!!! Well, Ysabela has been bugging me to post to my Live Journal - so here, I have posted. Well, actually, I do have something to say. Last night I went to the symphony with Iefan and Ysabela. All 3 of us enjoy classical music, and nothing can compare to hearing it live. The power of a full orchestra cannot be matched - all of the musicians working together towards a common goal - to make beautiful music. The pieces the orchestra played last night were Romantic-era - so it was a full orchestra. The Jacksonville Symphony played very well - there are some fabulous first chair players in the group. I was particularly impressed with the 1st oboist and 1st bassoonist - both play very musically and expressively. Both were able to shine in the Respighi "Three Boticelli Pictures". To me, Respighi's harmonies seem to shimmer - he paints beautiful pictures with sound. The featured violin soloist, Kyoko Takezawa, played with furious virtuosity in the Dvorak Violin Concerto in A Major. When she walked out to start, she seemed to settle in as if for battle - I was reminded of a samurai. This was no gentle wooing of the concerto, but a full frontal assault. She attacked and tamed the music, pulling out the emotions and expression from her violin. A Major is a very vibrant key to write in, I think. The last piece was a personal favorite, the Ravel orchestration of Moussorsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. As I was a classical saxophone major in college, I have a fondness for orchestral pieces that use saxophone - a small repertoire to be sure. This is one of those pieces. The saxophone player did a fine job I thought - expressive, but not overpowering, nice use of vibrato, good control of the instrument. Ravel's orchestrations make maximum use of the orchestra, and he uses the sax as well as a baritone horn as solo voices. He also uses contrabassoon, tuba and bass clarinet - anything to add different colors to the orchestra. He is one of the best orchestrators, I believe. He evokes very vivid pictures with his music - and it sounds beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, even though going to work with not much sleep the next day was not fun. As a producer of music, it seems that I don't always get to be a consumer of music - this will have to change. (4 Comments |Comment on this)