HoustonGuitarGal's Xanga

MacPhail Center for Music - Summer Camp!!

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:44:38 GMT

Seven guitarists - One Mission - Fun and Learning.

So far, I would say Mission on the way to being Accomplished.

Teacher Training for Book 3 is going OK too. I like that the people in the class all get along and like to talk. About music and stuff. And getting coffee. Coffee is a common thread in Teacher Training Classes.

Here's a * BIG SHOUT OUT * to my College Roommates!! We got together last night for an evening of fun and food...and families. Mindy and Jim with daughter Laura and Mary Ellen and Forest with their daughters Julia and Tita. And Chloe, the cat. LOVE YA!! (pictures will come...and maybe a cute video)

Stay tuned.

A BIRD and A BLENDER

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:28:20 GMT

So, I was teaching a Master Class yesterday. On the 'hotseat' was James, 9 years old.

He was concentrating very hard on developing his dynamics and vibrato more fully for his performance as the Opener for the upcoming concert with GFA Winner Marcin Dylla.

Then, a bird flew through the room. A cute, little sparrow...The door had been propped open and somehow it had found it's way in...and all of the adults (except maybe three - me, James' mom and one other guy who realized that 7 adults vs. one sparrow was probably enough) mobilized to help it find the way out again.

Meanwhile, James is concentrating as though nothing special is going on. The bird is dipping and swooping with the gallery of Parents and Teachers close behind waving arms and notebooks, attempting to guide it back to the door or through an open window. It was noisy. And a little chaotic. In a crazy way.

Kudos to James who didn't miss a beat - as the saying goes - but kept right on going to a good performance on the piece.

Then today there was the Blender. Yes, well, at breakfast one of the young ladies here was making a smoothie. I never saw this technique before:

Fill the blender up really full.
Turn it on and stand there for two or more minutes while it runs. Just stand there.
If you let it run long enough, it will make it really smooth like a milkshake....

(WHAT, you mean it won't???)

Put more stuff in. Better let it run some more. A good, long while. Stand there while this happens.

WOW!!! WHAT A LOT OF NOISE!! Something like a lawnmower at your breakfast table.

The usual blender protocols were not in use (maybe the book was lost or she just was never shown how efficiently they work when only half full, stirred often and the PULSE button is used!)

ALEXANDRIA GUITAR FESTIVAL '08

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:28:49 GMT

Suzuki Institute - Going strong this year...with Book 1 Teacher Training and a full-blown student contingent.

Tomorrow the Guitar Festival begins. That's when it really gets fun!!!

My Solo Recital is tomorrow at 1pm.
Old Presbyterian Meeting House
321 S. Fairfax St. (between Duke and Wolfe Streets)
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

In the Sanctuary where George Washington once sat...
I will play some solo tunes and then jazz duos w/Special Guest Star Roger Taylor of the Arlington Suzuki Guitar Studio

This year it should be interesting since it all came together kind of late.

My dad is sick with a bad cold/cough/maybe pneumonia. No one from my family will attend. It stinks...I'm sad about it.

I hate that he is so miserable AND I hate that no one will be in my cheering section. I know he would like to be...

DRIVE FLY WAIT FLY RUN FLY

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:33:15 GMT

There ya go. Four trips - beginning at 7am with a two hour ground shuttle to the airport, flights from Winnipeg to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Cleveland and Cleveland to Washington.

WAIT came between MSP to Cleveland...RUN to the Washington connection. The flight landed in Cleveland at the same time the DC flight was boarding. Hence, the RUN!!

Long day.

The good news is I am back in Alexandria and I love that.

BRANDON FAREWELL

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:22:18 GMT

Next year this Institute will not offer guitar.

Sad! It's gotta be the nicest place... great people to work with. Paulette and Ivan at Casa Maley are gracious and accommodating hosts.

I'll sure miss everyone!

On Facebook my Houston Friend network totals 11 people. If you combine Winnipeg and Brandon, it also equals 11 people. Isn't that interesting? Close-knit community. I'm happy to have been a part of it.

AWESOME...

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:19:06 GMT

This photo just doesn't bring it home....

It was the brightest double rainbow I've seen

The picture is a composite of two. I sorta pasted them together on the Mac desktop and did a screen capture. Nothing fancy....

I guess you just had to be there to fully appreciate it.

INTERESTING CANADIAN FACTS

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:44:00 GMT

This is my fourth trip to Brandon and my sixth to Canada.

Several of us had dinner at a very nice Indian restaurant. As we were dividing up the bill and paying our share, someone said, "Here, take this. You can owe me. I haven't got any more loonies." And someone else said "Here, I can give you a toonie."

WHAT??? I asked them what they were talking about - There is a LOON on the back of the one-dollar coin. Did you know they have a one-dollar coin in Canada? I knew that. But I never noticed the loon on the back. The "toonie" refers to the two-dollar coin. It also is two colors. I guess it should really be a "two-ney"

A Loonie....

...and a two-ney

Well, well. There you go. It's taken me six trips to Canada....

Another memorable fact...someone said that he thinks the reason Canadians are not afraid to speak their minds even if it makes somebody mad is that there is so much space. If you make 'em mad, you can just turn around and go live somewhere else. Far away Lots of land, no problem.

Interesting !!

I like 'em. (Canadians, I mean...except maybe the two ladies at the airport and the hockey boys.)

WELCOME TO CANADA ! (Huh?)

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:34:28 GMT

Travels began at 8am with the ride to the airport. My 2nd flight was on Northwest Airlines to Canada. Northwest is a partner to Continental and they put me in 1st Class and treated me like a VIP. Nice!, I thought.

Not all 1st Classes are created equal. Not that I am complaining!!! Ha! Just an observation.

Upon boarding the flight, I did a double-take. It looked so much like coach on Continental that I thought maybe we were supposed to board to the left - but the cockpit was there. The seats themselves looked like overstuffed armchairs in an old house and the crew seemed somewhat distracted.

It was a bit humorous, actually. From the moment the plane began to board, the Crew was sitting around scattered through 1st Class debating who was actually assigned to work the flight, who was "off" (and therefore not working, but riding in 1st Class) and then who was the "Lead" Flight Attendant.

And let me tell you, they were serious about it. They went back and forth, and discussed it from this angle and that angle ('I think I read that you were serving this flight.' 'I am pretty sure you're working Leader this time.' 'where is the list, anyway?' 'Does that mean I am the Lead Attendant?' etc etc )

They were so occupied back-and-forth between discussing it and scrounging around for a list that the usual amenities dispensed in 1st Class seemed to be secondary.

But no big deal! It was only an hour and they did offer me a drink and a bag of peanuts, so what's wrong with that?

This is my 4th Trip to Manitoba, Canada. The flight lands in Winnipeg. That's where I go through customs. The last time I was here, a WWF Wrestling Team arrived on the same flight and it was funny in Customs with them and the agents... Working through their real names vs stage names and their past record of arrests and need for Anger Management classes (things that might keep you from being allowed in...) but there was no such drama this time. Ho-hum.

I am traveling for three weeks. I have to present a different Teacher Training course each week (three sets of teaching materials) as well as classes for students. So, I have two FAT bags in addition to my guitar (which seems huge in the backpack/case cover) and my regular backpack. I guess it's just me, but I haven't figured out how to get it into fewer bags and still have what I need.

So, when all was said and done, I had to get up a level in the Winnipeg Airport to meet the ground transport. It's pretty small and I could see everything was upstairs - BUT COULD NOT FIND AN ELEVATOR. It's been 2yrs since I was here...I couldn't remember if there was one or not....reluctantly I maneuvered all of my junk onto the escalator. I got into trouble at the top and it would not go over the edge. ARGH. It was falling, I was falling and to make it all more colorful, this young woman behind me started to yell at me. I am 5'2", I have a major guitar/backpack on and am wheeling a stack of two bags with one hand and a rolling backpack with the other and everything is falling. Most people try to lend a hand. She is yelling "You're blocking my way! Move out of my way!" and crawling over my bags.
And I was helpless to do anything but push and strain.

Finally we stumbled over onto top to the next level, but she kept yelling at me for not getting out of her way. I said "There was nothing I could do. I was trying to move it." She pointed to a dark corner and said "There is the elevator! WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE THE ELEVATOR???" [ THERE it was!! ] "I didn't know that. I never saw it. I couldn't find an elevator." But she kept it up over her shoulder as she walked off.

Now on the same level as ground transportation, I hoped to get near the door and wait for the shuttle. A group of people was just ahead and as I was maneuvering around them w/my 'Bag Tower,' a woman stepped back, right in my path. I moved around her and said "Excuse me," and she looked at me indignant and said "Well, you could go around me!"

Did she not see that she stepped back right in front of it? Does it look easy for me to get around - you know, 5'2", big guitar, bag tower...blah blah?????

WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO THE WATER IN CANADA??? This was not the Canada I remembered - the folks in Brandon are so nice and the hospitality is always second-to-none.

THEN IT HIT ME!! My first year here I was in the same hotel as a Hockey Camp. It was crazy with kids playing hockey (using rubber balls as pucks) and scrambling in the halls at all hours. Meanwhile, their parents looked on approvingly. You could see the pride gleaming in their eyes.

So, I guess it's the Hockey Culture. These girls must be hockey girlfriends/sisters/mothers...whatever. So, their reality is to scream "KILL HIM!!" (and such...) from the bleachers. Or maybe anywhere they may be, for that matter.

My friends in Brandon must exist somewhat outside of this culture....or they've risen above it...or they've learned to put everything in it's proper place. Like, you don't have to face-off with people at the airport.

It was an odd welcome, but now that I'm settled into my room at the Casa Maley Bed and Breakfast, things are looking up!

HAPPY 4th! ... and back on the road for me!

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:20:15 GMT

Happy 4th! Happy Birthday, USA.

I'll be back on the road starting tomorrow. And for a few days, I * WON'T* be in the USA. Brandon, Manitoba, CANADA is my first destination.

Brandon University's Suzuki Institute will be up and running again with a Book 4 course for teachers as well as classes for students.

It will be fun...!!! Brandon knows how to do hospitality.

HOUSTON TEXAS

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:17:35 GMT

That's where I live and I am glad to be back!!!