Andre and the Harem

Becca and I were given the opportunity to go to the Angus Blackheart concert last night at Usana. Well, actually it was Andre Rieu however frankely I had forgotten his name and had to go to the Usana web page to find it.

Anyway, we went with Doug and Anna who were gracious enough to invite us. Our outing included a meal as well as box seats. Box seats are a loose term, not quite like the Jazz games, but we did have our own little area with PADDED seats.

The concert was a lot of fun, not quite like the symphonies Becca usually hauls me to. Andre was a bit goofy, and so was his orchestra. Becca and I noticed that it was about 93 7/13ths percent women..mostly blond and attractive. While we concede that since they are from Holland (or somewhere like that) it likely had an outcome as to why they were all blond, however....I had other theories.

What are they? Well, to put it bluntly I thought of this traveling symphony as his personal Harem. Weather true or not is not really the point of the blog, however it is kinda a fun side-note and really the only thing that makes this post read-worthy. A conductor and his personal harem traveling the world in one giant party.

Don't get me wrong, the show was a lot of fun, and they did quite well. There was lights, a movie projector, everything you'd expect to see in Vegas, or Branson Missouri. Andre for his part loved to be the star of the show. He was the lead violinist, and the conductor. The funny thing is, the camera was on him 94% of the evening...maybe even more. When someone in the orchestra had a solo, the camera (the large screen behind them would show the pictures) would give the soloist 2 seconds....seriously, TWO seconds of screen shot time, and the camera would go back to Andre. It really made me laugh. Any time the camera would move from our host, i would whisper to Becca "ME!!", and the camera would go back to our beloved conductor again. Yes, he loved being in the lime-light, but I guess most people in traveling show-buisness do, so there is nothing wrong there. It was mostly just funny. I laughed about it most of the night.

They had some tenors who were quite good. This symphony did many things so it was more interesting than many others where you get just one single type of music. They did a variety, and did some singing and dancing. Andre loved to dance and bob his head around with the music. It was entertaining to watch.

Enough with Andre...here is the only picture i got of the night, and it was with my cell phone. Speaking of which, Andre had someone take his picture last night with a poloroid camera. Andre would pull the photo out of the camera and fling it out into the audience. It was hilarious. He did this about 10 times (probably until the film ran out), striking various poses of elegance and magnificence. Ah, Andre....why didn't i get a picture?

Ray of Sunshine Glinting off the Pipe in our Living Room

Well, I feel like I've accomplished a great feat in life, and I didn't do anything. It was all Brent. :) You see, I've lived with a dryer in my kitchen for the past 5 years. It's always been a source of inconvenience for me, to say the least. In fact, I'll admit that I was ashamed of it for the first year or two. The dryer sticks out too far and you bang into it as you pass by. People walk into my kitchen for the first time and ask, "Is that a dryer?" I have precious little countertop space (thanks to our love of kitchen gadgets, mostly), so I have occasionally tried preparing food on top of the dryer! Right now it's home for a toaster oven and a toaster, but that soon will change. You see...

We have finally taken the plunge and decided to move the dryer into the laundry "closet, " which is also located in the kitchen, but at least I'll be able to close the door on it. In order to do that, we need to buy a stackable washer and dryer (anyone?) and we also needed to move the heat exhaust over to the closet, to make sure everything is to code. Brent worked and worked on it, and he was able to make a hole in the kitchen wall and push the heat exhaust up through the wall. At the top he broke through and the pipe runs along the ceiling to the closet. The ultimate plan is to enclose the pipe and hope it looks like a doorway. Regardless, it's going to be MUCH better than a dryer in the kitchen!

The good news continues... Because we are moving the dryer into the laundry closet, we added a base cabinet to our order of new kitchen cabinets, and we will also have another 2 feet of countertop space. Bliss!!!

And this is part two of the Rhapsody. I-uh-broke it into two pieces in an attempt to turn ON my anti-shake on my camera. This plan failed, and i hurried and started the movie again. These were taken on a digital camera, not a movie camera, so the sound isn't the best, but i think you will get the idea...it was a lot of fun. Thanks for watching!

Well, I thought I would post on our current dealings. We are getting ready to redo our entire kitchen and bathroom. While this may seem like a challenge, let me assure you, it will be! We are getting new kitchen cupboards, and redesigning it to make more room. I have ordered some cabinets in a "rustic oak" style, and they should be here in a little over a week, which means we'll have lots of work ahead of us. I planned on removing the "Soffit" which is that part that makes the cabinets not go all the way to the ceiling. We figured that we could gain 15% more space in the kitchen if we did this. After some investigative work (see holes in the soffit), we determined that it is possible, and likely very worth-while as anyone knows who's spent some time in the condo knows, space is at a premimum there, so every bit helps. So, if you don't hear from us for a while, know that it is becuase we are neck deep in remodeling. But on the bright side, next time you visit, you won't recognize the place.

The Rhapsody

Well the day finely came when Becca go to put her best foot forward and play for the Symphony front and center- The Rhapsody in Blue By Gershwin. Becca did a fantastic job, and we are all very proud of her. Her entire family came, as did mine. The auditorium was full, and everyone was very impressed. It is a fairly difficult and fast piece that has some parts played by the orchestra as well. She had been practicing for some time, and I was confident that she was prepared, which it turns out I was right, which is not an uncommon thing for me.

It is nice to have it over-with for a while. There is a lot of pressure when you are the star of the show, and it will be great to have some time to do other things.

Good Job Becca! :)

Day at Epcot

We had such a fun time at Epcot! I really did enjoy going around to all the different "countries." It's especially fun that Disney tries to employ people from the country they represent (Norwegians for Norway, etc.). That way if people have questions about the country, they can ask the experts. I also had fun at the imagination / future part of Epcot.

We occasionally took off our hats and glasses, but most of the time it was too sunny and hot. :)

Did you know there is an aquarium in Epcot? So many cool things!

Brent is pretending to swim in the ocean!

My "Finding Nemo" impression. Pretty good, eh?

Brent and Jeff at Mission:Space, which was really a lot of fun. Okay, it made me sick to my stomach--the g-forces were that intense. But that's the kind of fun you remember!

This troll was just so deliciously hideous. :)

Ah, married life. It's good to "discuss" issues, isn't it?

China!! Yippee! We really had a fun time there.

You can barely see it, but the Epcot ball is just over my head. We're at the far end of the park. See how much we had to walk?

Gumby at Epcot!

Space Shuttle Launch!

Seeing a live space shuttle launch has always been one of Brent's dreams and on May 11, 2009, we got to achieve it! The crazy thing was, the space shuttle launched on the day it was scheduled at the time it was scheduled. I have never heard of such a crazy thing. :)

That day in Florida was pretty much the only day it didn't rain, and we had a great time exploring the Kennedy Space Center. Great memories!

We wanted to know how photogenic we would be in space, next to the space shuttle.

Those rockets were COOL!

Brent inside the Command Module. He looks like a true astronaut, doesn't he? :)

Brent driving the LEM, and I think he's having fun. :)

Me driving the LEM. Notice the graceful way I drive around on the moon.

Brent by the shuttle. Well, not "the" shuttle.

The people at the Kennedy Space Center were so pleased to see us that they let us inside their shuttle. Amazing!

Brent and I have decided to change careers.

Must end with a picture of Gumby. He looks particularly good in this one, don't you think?