Stop Practicing

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Gandalfe

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I am practicing for the 8 gigs I have in the last two months of this year. As I am out of work, I have more time for the practicing. But preparing for the big move next week has been a mammoth job. I try to practice just the hard stuff, but some times I get carried away and find myself dwelling on the lyrical, nice sounding stuff. Then I shake it off and go back to working on the difficult passages.

Stephen Wright is one of my fav comedians. I used to tell this joke of his, one of my favorite. “I bought some powdered water, but I didn’t know what to add.”

Posted in Humor, Music, Piano | Tagged | 1 Comment

The lady in the tree

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Gandalfe

WomanTreeI think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. ~ Joyce Kilmer

This picture is makin’ the rounds in Facebook land this week. Rumor has it that it was PhotoShop’d, but no one but the photographer/creator knows for sure.

When Suzy and I walk through nature, we see things like this all the time. Whether it is in the clouds, leaves of a tree, or just in a plant, mother nature does seem to have a great sense of humor. I’d like to believe this is a real tree, not a stylized version thereof. But I’m guessing it is but a virtualized representation of nature.

Posted in Art, Facebook, Hobbies, My World, Photograph, Social Media, Too Spicy for some | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Candy Corn Anyone?

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Gandalfe

imageHalloween is almost here
goblins and ghosts, oh the fear!
Pumpkins, black cats and witches too,
Bobbing for apples and witches brew.
So jump for joy and sound the horn,
relax and have some candy corn!

~Candy Corn Wonderland

imageI was at a Woodinville Community Band board meeting this weekend and the hostess served us, among other taste treats, candy corn. On of the board members regaled us with the history of the candy treat.

CandyCornWitchCandy corn first appeared in the 1880s. It’s creation is credited to George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company; the three colors of the candy mimic the appearance of kernels of corn. Each piece is approximately three times the size of a whole kernel from a ripe or dried ear. Candy corn is made primarily from sugar, corn syrup, artificial coloring and binders. Candy corn pieces come in three colors: a yellow end, a tapered orange center, and a pointed white tip.

The National Confectioners Association estimates that 20 million pounds (over 9000 tons) of candy corn are sold annually. The top branded retailer of candy corn, Brach’s, sells enough candy corn each year to circle the earth 4.25 times if the kernels were laid end to end.

Those who know me know that I have a thang for Halloween costumes. I must admit the pictures on the Internet of the comely lass in the candy corn witch costume is one of my favorites. Here in Seattle though, with temps around 50 degrees, and with the chance of rain, I suspect these kind of costumes will be relegated to adult parties.

Related posts:

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Hard Core Jazz ~ Nice chops

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Gandalfe

I luv bumping into this stuff on UTube. Life is good in this, the modern age of computers. For your jazz listening pleasure, enjoy David Matthew’s Manhattan Jazz Orchestra’s take on “SuperSax”. my peeps.

Got enough sax in your life? My Microsoft Jazz Band will be at Third Place Books for some swing dance music in Lake Forest Park (think Seattle).

Posted in Jazz, MJB, Music, Music Instruments, Sax Quintet, Saxophone, Seattle, sex, Swing Dancers, YouTube | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Politics as normal…

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Gandalfe

imageI noticed one of the wannabe presidential candidates, after talking to Donald Trump, is questioning the validity of President Obama’s birth certificate again. Makes me call into question the validity of that candidate’s college diploma.

Isn’t going to college supposed help one develop their critical thinking skills?  Now that same fellow is backing out of the debates because he is not able to effectively communicate. As a result of his dismal performance, he has fallen behind in the polls.

By not showing up, marked as a genius move by the media and pundits, he can regain his “easily swayed by looks” base and maybe pull out a win from the jaws of defeat. These are truly scary times.

Posted in Government, Humor, In the news..., News and politics, Politics, United States | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Get Your Pig On ~ Seattle BBQ

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Gandalfe

Saw this loverly mobile porkery this Summer in downtown Seattle when I was taking brother Pete and his lovely new wife to see the Pike Street Market. It just made Suzy and me laugh.

SeattlePig

Hope you enjoy seeing it as much as we did. It was my first post on the most excellent photographic collections of street shots from around the world. This Facebook group is called On Every Street.

Here is their treatise: Welcome to “On Every Street”

It is all about street photography. The group is open. Street photography, as understood in this group, is more of an approach to photography than it is a description of where the shot has been taken. … Before you post please read this description carefully.

REQUIREMENTS: Literally, your picture does not have to be taken in a street. It must, however, honour these requirements

1) Should be shot in a PUBLIC AREA, as opposed to a private area
2) Have PEOPLE as the bearing element
3) Be UN-STAGED and/or UN-POSED

Normally “streets” are associated with urban areas. Street photography, as such, is “an urban concept”. That is the way it is intended in this group too.

STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY:  Your pictures should be “straight photography”, meaning only a minimal of postproduction should be allowed. You should NOT make radical changes to your pictures compared to what you have shot.

Read more…

Posted in Facebook, Hobbies, Photograph, Seattle | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Symphony of Science ~ We are All Connected

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Gandalfe

“We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself.” ~ Carl Sagan

“We Are All Connected” was made from sampling Carl Sagan‘s Cosmos, The History Channel’s Universe series, Richard Feynman’s 1983 interviews, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye’s Eyes of Nye Series, plus added visuals from The Elegant Universe (NOVA), Stephen Hawking‘s Universe, Cosmos, the Powers of 10, and more. It is a tribute to great minds of science, intended to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through the medium of music.

Also check out “A Glorious Dawn” by Carl Sagan, another Symphony of Science project!

Posted in Everyday Science, God, Heroes, Heros, Quote, Religon, Research, Wikipedia, YouTube | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

New Casa du Glassa

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Gandalfe

imageSuzy and I have sold our big house and are purchasing a that is smaller. It is the first step in a five years to retirement program. Suzy worked hard to find us something that we could pay off with the proceeds from the sale of the big house. She came very close.

Here are some of the requirements I had for the new house.

  • imageWe prefer cul-de-sac streets so that there is no through traffic.
  • House should back up to green belt or have view.
  • We prefer a great room where the kitchen and the family room merges with no blocking walls.
  • We prefer high ceiling, especially in the music room/living room and master bedroom.
  • Must have FiOS internet service.
  • I want a den, Suzy a bonus room to use as a craft room.
  • I wanted at least two guest rooms.
  • Three-car garage.
  • Gas heating.
  • Small yard as I don’t really like doing yard work.
  • Near a park, mall, grocery store, etc.
  • Back yard fenced in.

So I think Suzy did a really good job meeting all of this criteria.

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The first room above is the den (no closet) and will have a wood floor put in before we move in. The second room is Suzy’s bonus room and I’m gonna try to get her to put wood instead of linoleum there too.

It will take a number of years to get as comfortable in this house as we were in the old one. This is our fourth house and it always takes a long time to get everything in place so that the house becomes a home. Fortunately, most of the furniture in the old house will work in the new house. Here’s hoping we have great neighbors in Bothell like we did in Redmond.

Posted in Community, Commuting, Economics, Family, Health and wellness, Lifestyle, My World | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Old Casa du Glassa

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Gandalfe

imageWe are leaving the big house for a smaller one. I wanted to capture some of the pictures of this lovely house before we moved on. By moving to a smaller place, we are one step closer to retiring.

The big house had 5 bedrooms, a bonus, library/den, three fireplace, four car (tandem) garage, 4800 sq. ft, 11,456 sq. ft. yard, air conditioning, heat pump, automatic generator backup, with a partial lake view off a huge deck in the back.

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And here’s the floor plans minus the finished basement that was my music studio with an extra bedroom/bathroom:

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We put the house on the market last Friday and the first couple who walked through had an offer for us the next morning. Let the packing begin.

Posted in Bucket List, Economics, Family, My World | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Chocolate Oranges

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Gandalfe

imageNext to toffee, chocolate oranges are one of my favorite vices. The Chocolate Orange is a made by Kraft Foods, originally from the United Kingdom, it is now sold worldwide. Dunno why, but I have been jones’ing for one of these today. Maybe it was the three webinars I attended while looking out my library window at Lake Sam.

This tasty ball of chocolate is mixed with orange oil, divided into 20 segments just like a real orange, and wrapped in orange foil. As the segments are stuck together firmly, the traditional method of getting ready to eat them is to tap it severely on a hard surface to cause the segments to separate from each other and then unwrap it. That rap is a clarion call to anyone in the room. ;0)

imageI only think of this tasty treat in the Fall or around Christmas time when they can be found on the shelves of so many fooderies. (Yes, I made up that word.) Unlike fruitcake, which is also popular and for many a loathed food found around the holidays, the Chocolate Orange is extremely popular.

So those who would think what a great gift, I recommend the dark chocolate version. But then, maybe that’s just me.

Posted in Christmas, Health and wellness, Holiday | Tagged , , | Leave a comment