Lotsa Weekend
Just a quick update...
Friday: I gigged with DTM until midnight and got home just after 1. It was the first time I'd done a load-out since the back injury, and it feels like everything is completely well now.
Saturday: Good day. Very busy. I gave blood in the morning, went shopping for a 2-year-old's birthday present, then went to said 2 year old's birthday party in McKinney. I got to see the Texgang in person for the first time in about 2 years. The last time was just barely before the birthday girl was born. I had a lot of fun playing with the brood of kids (there were children there ranging from about 1 to 4 years old) and catching up with the adults.
Then that night was another edition of the annual Marcsist party. That was also a good time, made a little drunker by the combination of my blood-loss and weight-loss. I wasn't the last one to leave, but I did hang around later than I expected strictly due to not feeling quite sober yet. J&B have actually bought a breathalizer now though, and I was blowing a 0.02 and still feeling it at 1am. So I left at 2.
Anyway, I also got to meet popsbabypenguin's sister, who apparently I should hang out with at the wedding next month. So that'll be cool having one more friend there.
Sunday: I started with coffee with musicalash, then church, a full workout, and finished up with a trip to the Texas Ballet Theater's performance of Cleopatra. The local musician's union was outside handing out flyers protesting the ballet's use of recorded music. And honestly, the speakers weren't up to the task of producing the full quality musical performance that a live orchestra would have had. On the other hand, the brochure handed out by the union said that they paid $30,000 for the recording. I worked out the math and, for a professional level full sized orchestra (around 90 people) performing 6 shows plus, let's say, 3 rehearsals (1 for music, 1 for working out kinks with the ballet, and 1 for the dress performance) that the total would have been somewhere between $70k and $100k. You might get an pseudo-amateur group of semi-pros and college students for $30k, but the performance would have been a lot less solid than the recording. So, while I stand firmly on the "live music is better" side, I completely understand the decision for a cash strapped ballet company.
As for the ballet itself, the dancers were good. The lead, Cleopatra (danced by Carolyn Judson) was excellent. The male dancers were (apparently, according to obamagirl) not particularly "clean" technically, but I personally was impressed with the leaping ability. The set design was well done. It'll be in Dallas next weekend, so if you can go you might want to.
What's more is that my "date" had never been to downtown Fort Worth. So we wandered around Sundance Square for about an hour before the show. I really had a good time.
Now it's time to get back to work.
Friday: I gigged with DTM until midnight and got home just after 1. It was the first time I'd done a load-out since the back injury, and it feels like everything is completely well now.
Saturday: Good day. Very busy. I gave blood in the morning, went shopping for a 2-year-old's birthday present, then went to said 2 year old's birthday party in McKinney. I got to see the Texgang in person for the first time in about 2 years. The last time was just barely before the birthday girl was born. I had a lot of fun playing with the brood of kids (there were children there ranging from about 1 to 4 years old) and catching up with the adults.
Then that night was another edition of the annual Marcsist party. That was also a good time, made a little drunker by the combination of my blood-loss and weight-loss. I wasn't the last one to leave, but I did hang around later than I expected strictly due to not feeling quite sober yet. J&B have actually bought a breathalizer now though, and I was blowing a 0.02 and still feeling it at 1am. So I left at 2.
Anyway, I also got to meet popsbabypenguin's sister, who apparently I should hang out with at the wedding next month. So that'll be cool having one more friend there.
Sunday: I started with coffee with musicalash, then church, a full workout, and finished up with a trip to the Texas Ballet Theater's performance of Cleopatra. The local musician's union was outside handing out flyers protesting the ballet's use of recorded music. And honestly, the speakers weren't up to the task of producing the full quality musical performance that a live orchestra would have had. On the other hand, the brochure handed out by the union said that they paid $30,000 for the recording. I worked out the math and, for a professional level full sized orchestra (around 90 people) performing 6 shows plus, let's say, 3 rehearsals (1 for music, 1 for working out kinks with the ballet, and 1 for the dress performance) that the total would have been somewhere between $70k and $100k. You might get an pseudo-amateur group of semi-pros and college students for $30k, but the performance would have been a lot less solid than the recording. So, while I stand firmly on the "live music is better" side, I completely understand the decision for a cash strapped ballet company.
As for the ballet itself, the dancers were good. The lead, Cleopatra (danced by Carolyn Judson) was excellent. The male dancers were (apparently, according to obamagirl) not particularly "clean" technically, but I personally was impressed with the leaping ability. The set design was well done. It'll be in Dallas next weekend, so if you can go you might want to.
What's more is that my "date" had never been to downtown Fort Worth. So we wandered around Sundance Square for about an hour before the show. I really had a good time.
Now it's time to get back to work.