It's cold outside.
Wear your parka and mittens!
Made the drive up to Minneapolis to see Billy Joel with Stevie Nicks.
Two icons in one night!
Stevie opened and sang a bunch of her hits.
She still sounds good!
Billy came out during her set to sing the Stop Draggin' My Heart Around duet.
I was out in the lobby getting cheese curds, drinks, and a concert poster.
So I caught the moment from the programming room.
Gold Dust Woman
After a short intermission, Billy Joel came out for his set.
It was a good program.
Lots of his biggest hits, mixed in with some deeper tracks, plus some surprises.
He's been on my list for a long time. Awesome to see him play live.
I remember loving "We Didn't Start the Fire" since I was a kid,
and even spent an entire college semester studying the historical topics he lists in the song.
I remember one class had us choose one of the topics and write a report.
I chose the Little Rock Nine, the nine black children who were first to
integrate into the high school in Little Rock, Arkansas.
On a later road trip, I made sure to stop in Little Rock to visit the
school and learn a bit more about the kids and their families.
And a few years ago I read one of the student's memoirs.
The piano was on a spinning stage.
We were at first sure it was facing one direction, then the next song it
was facing the other way and we didn't remember seeing anyone turn it.
It was on a rotating circle. Eventually we saw it move while he was playing it.
Can't say we had the best seats, it was very high up.
But the sound was good and there were stadium screens to help,
so it wasn't too bad.
Plink, plink!
During one song, we were asked to turn on our phone lights.
It was impressive. The whole stadium lit up!
The saxophones were phenomenal.
Mark Rivera at the top of his game!
And this very poor picture of mine. haha
Had to stop for a selfie with the Viking ship out front.
Photo take from Billy Joel's Instagram account.
I can see our seats from here!
She can turn the world on with her freakin' smile.
I'm more of a Mary Tyler Less. haha
Before we left Minneapolis we had to purify ourselves in the waters
of Lake Minnetonka.
Or, because it was November in Minnesota and cold, we just drove around the shoreline.
Then we hit the road, taking a route into Wisconsin for another stop before
going home.
We saw dozens of killed deer along the highway, and perhaps
a black bear that got hit on the road.
After picking up a case of New Glarus beers, and a stop
for dinner in Baraboo, WI, we finally crossed into Illinois
to visit the Raven's Grin Inn in Mt. Carroll.
I've been meaning to see this place for a long time.
No cameras allowed, so I can't really show you much except what I could
grab from the exterior.
This is the exit. I didn't know that when I took this picture.
Raven's Grinn Inn is part art installation, part haunted house, and part fun house.
There are some scares provided by the gracious owners/hosts, some history of the
house, and two slides that are worth the trip. The second slide sends you into a
dugout cellar, and you go down the hole in pitch darkness. What a ride!
The owner is experiencing some health problems, so we were asked to
bring out our face masks during the tour.
When I got back home, it was immediately back to work.
I was hired to play in the orchestra for a production of "Nine",
a weird, middling musical by Maury Yeston (who also wrote
the music for "Titanic: The Musical"). Nine is about a director
with writer's block, and honestly it's kind of insufferable, but
at least the character gets his come-uppance at the end.
The production was a bit muddled, but it was a local college
theatre producing it.
Finally, this record has appeared!
Of all of the albums from Dave Matthews Band, this was the
one I most wanted in vinyl format. And the people at DMBland
at last got the hint. A lot of people were waiting for this vinyl, apparently.
When I got around to making my pre-order, the red & blue discs were sold
out, so I chose the yellow discs.
It sounds so good! I can hear everything!
And this is an album I've listened to a lot, so I know it very well.
Got lucky on eBay and snagged this little Tom Servo figurine.
They were included in limited editions of the DVD collections in the 90s.
Thrilled to get one, and didn't pay too much for it either!
The DVDs were included in the original packaging. Nice.
morning selfie
night time selfie
space turkeys selfie!
Happy Thanksgiving!
My christmas cactus bloomed again!
It must be happy in its window, because this is the
second year it has bloomed for me. So pretty!
Turkey Trot!
I was a dead dinosaur.
Those inflatable suits are kinda hard to run in.
Momster was a gorilla.
We were the only gorilla and dead dinosaur in the race.
Some skin care and wine for the rest of Thanksgiving day.
After lunch with my parents, I had some hard-core couch potato
time, and watched some of the MST3K Turkey Day marathon.
I was graciously given this bass clarinet.
It needed a mouthpiece, and will probably get a trip through the service
department, but it's in good enough shape to be played. More or less.
When I was just a little band nerd, I was asked to play the bass clarinet
in middle school. While I wasn't too nuts about it, I accepted and went on
to audition for honor bands on bass. When I passed the auditions and
got to play at honor bands, I decided that I wanted to switch back and audition
on clarinet in high school and when I passed honor band auditions on clarinet
I never looked back.
But the bass clarinet was the kickstarter, I guess.
So it's full-circle, in a way. I've been running from this instrument
ever since, because I don't want to be a bass player, but the instrument
found a way to track me down and take me back.
I still prefer the high reeds, but it will be fun to play this occasionally.
A Lou Reed biography for some December reading.
Got the christmas cactus put together and decorated with
Mardi Gras beads.
Mothman is the topper this year.
Observe his festive ribbon.
So, now preparing for some fun times and work times
for December. Ready for the Christmas, again, I guess.
Not my favourite time of year, but will try to make the best of it.
That's all you can do sometimes.
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