Winter Concert 2009

IT'S THAT TIME of year again where schools/students show off their hard work and give an excellent concert for all to enjoy. My kids' school is no exception. If you are a follower of my blog you all know that our son loves to play guitar. He is a member of the school's marching band, jazz band, drumline and high school concert band ... that's how much he really loves music. lol Plus he has his own band, Funk Uncle. Unlike bigger towns or cities, our small town's performers are not in formal attire ... just plain or nice-looking shirts for boys, and decent clothes for girls, but their performances are up to par just the same. Here are a few videos I took of their jazz band, sharing it with all of you and especially to our relatives here and abroad who enjoy watching him play. All seniors were featured since this will be their last winter performance, and that includes our son ... and it's kind of sad in a way, if you think about it ... "last performance?" :(
He is the one standing in the back wearing a tan hat playing the first and last solos.

They played, "Six String Shuffle" here.



... in this vid, he utilized his "Wah" pedal, playing "Funky Ol' Saint Nick"



... "Free Bird" and again his "Wah" pedal for sound effects.


After the concert, I heard a couple sitting behind me say, "That kid, Will really is amazing! He can really make his guitar sing!" And of course, hearing those kind of comments from others (besides myself, lol) just makes my heart swell! Listening to all those practices for years, over the sound of the TV at home paid off. ;) It was not always easy, especially when our daughter who plays guitar and trumpet was still living at home ... when they both practice? ohhhh, I thought I might develop an early hearing problem, but hubby and I learned to love and enjoy it! We are those kids' number one fans! ... may it be sports or arts and music ... numero uno! lol ... nothing beats that!

My friends, from my family to yours, I am sincerely wishing each and every one of you a heart-warming, blessed CHRISTmas, and and may the New Year bring us good health, peace and joy! Please stay safe and warm! Love all of 'ya!

Today's Flowers

... you can find my entry "Here".
Thanks for visiting.

My boy's 18th b'day ...

Have you ever given in to your kid's nagging/pleading?
Our son turned 18 last Wednesday, and a day before his birthday the present we ordered online for him was delivered. Hubby hid the box but for some reason our son found it. When I got home from work that afternoon, I found the box partially opened and plastered with post-it-notes saying, "let me open this today" and "please" all over the box. Apparently, he came home after school, tracked down the package online and found out that's it's been delivered, so he was in a hide-and-seek mode. After he found it, he probably realized that he's not supposed to open it yet, so he plastered it with those notes, and went back to school for extra curricular activities. (there were actually more notes...they fell off from the box)


He came back home while I was making dinner and followed me around with this face, saying, "can you refuse this face?" ... and words like, "I'm so excited to open it now, I won't be as excited tomorrow", "I have to suffer one more night and day?", etc. etc... giving me hugs, and more hugs.


I finally gave in for the main reason that he is a nice kid, getting very good grades in school, has a nice personality and seems to be doing everything right and besides I don't see any point in prolonging his agony! ... hey, what can I say, I'm a marshmallow-at-heart! lol This picture as they say, is worth a thousand words ... look at that smile! ;)


And boy, he got that baby set up in no time! He played for a few minutes but had to go back to school again. He is a member of the "Operation Santa" committee, where, along with classmates, they go house to house asking for Christmas donations ... go shopping ... box them and then they distribute the goodies to less fortunate families before Christmas.

Ahhhh ... kids, you gotta love 'em!

Today's Flowers

In case you're looking for my Today's Flowers entry, I moved it Here. Enjoy!

Golf putting mat

... thanks but no thanks! lol

Oreo

We have this stray kitten that's been hanging around our yard for a few weeks now. We think somebody dropped it off here. Oreo, our indoor cat is very territorial. Every time this very loving kitten is by our window or sliding door, Oreo will hiss and growl at him as shown in this video. It's kind of funny in a way, because the kitten was just being himself...ignoring Oreo having a fit! lol

Today's Flowers ...

... got moved Here.

College Tours

Our son who is a high school senior this year is planning to go for Sound Recording Technology (SRT) as a major of study. We started going to colleges this summer and our first stop was the Rochester Institute of Technology. We've been to this college before, for this is the same place where they go for Robotics competitions. Although RIT is a very prestigious technology college, if your major is in other areas like engineering, our son was not really impressed with their music curriculum, so forget this one! Our son's feeling for this college? ... cold! lol


On our way to RIT these lovely geese crossing the road stopped the traffic. ;)


A month after visiting RIT, we went to Fredonia College. Hubby miscalculated the time to get there, plus there was a detour so we were really late for the group tour. I didn't even have a chance to take pictures. What I like about this college was that the tour was more organized than RIT and their recording studio is more impressive. Their unique program? Animation, music business/theater, sound recording, video production and sports management. Our son's feeling for FC? ... warm!

Last month we visited Ithaca College. Now we are really impressed with this college! It has 3 state-of-the-art recording studios and 100% of SRT graduates find jobs after graduating! Now, that is really important and impressive! I hope it will stay that way! hah! We also learned that IC is rich in internships and fieldworks and that they even have affiliations with studios as far as Los Angeles, CA and abroad! Also, IC has over 90 practice rooms, close to 200 pianos and a lot of halls/auditoriums for students to practice and/or perform in. Now we're talkin' ... this college is really a school of music; students have the finest tools at their fingertips!...hard to beat that! lol They even have an IC television program! Student/faculty ratio: 10 to 1 so students have a lot of time to work one-on-one with their faculty. And oh, the view! Ithaca College is set high on a hill overlooking beautiful Cayuga Lake, and all of the student dorms have a gorgeous view of that ... see photo (...and this was taken on a dark, cloudy, rainy day!). Our tour guide said that in the summer there are so many students out on the sloping campus over the lake that it looks like a day at the beach! Our son's feeling for IC? HOT! lol

We'll probably tour 1-2 more colleges before our son makes up his mind. We're just glad and happy that he is considering going to a NY college instead of out-of-state ... he is our baby, 'ya know! ;)

Today's Flowers - Wild Flowers

Thistle

...close up


Queen Anne's Lace





... different shades of wild asters






Clover


Ash tree ... before (can't resists to show you this one) ;)

... after

For more of TF, please click "Here"