I think I’ve said before that there are about 6 weeks in the average year that I really like living where I live. Three in the fall and three in the spring.  We’re right in the middle of the spring cycle, and – except for the pollen – I’m loving it.

Massive storms hit all around me last night (and across much of the southeast US), but other than having to deal with some decent wind – which I’m not going to complain about – and torrential rains, my house had an easy time.  I was a bit worried that the rain would continue throughout today, as I’d planned to do some yard work, but it was bright and sunny when I woke up; and strong breezes all day have dried up most of the wet stuff.

That being the case, I took advantage of the sun, wind, and 68-degree temps to attack a bunch of holly trees that have become incredibly overgrown in the last two years.  It’s amazing to look out of my kitchen window and actually see my back yard!

My original plan was to chip all of the holly trees into mulch and spread it in a part of my back yard, and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to start my chipper, since I didn’t use it at all last year.  I was quite pleased, therefore, when it started up on the first pull and worked like a champ.

Until I stopped it after an hour to empty the bag.  When I tried to restart it….nothing doing.  So I finished off the holly project by carting what hadn’t been chipped off and throwing it into a pile near my shed.  Then I thoroughly cleaned and reorganized the shed itself, as it was obvious that a family of mice had made it home over the winter.   I’m happy to report that there are no longer any signs of the little vermin in my shed, and it is once again the crusty man-cave that it used to be – complete with radio.

All told, I spent about 6 hours on those two yard projects, and I’ve got plenty left to do.  I’m hoping that tomorrow will be another nice day – we’re expecting a cold front tonight, and temps may be in the thirties tomorrow morning!

TWD

I got home at around midnight last night after spending two days watching brass soloists, brass ensembles, and brass bands.  I already touched on the solo & ensemble stuff.  The band competitions on Saturday did not disappoint.  I missed the two lowest sections (three total bands) because I got tapped to help the dude who takes pictures of the bands before they go on stage, but I did manage to catch most of the bands in the 1st Section (that’s the section that my own band normally competes in) and all of the entrants to the Championship Section (the big boys).

NABBA President-Elect Stephen Allen throws himself into conducting the Princeton Brass Band to a tie for the 1st Section Championship.

I was completely blown away by the first two bands that I saw in the 1st Section.  Central Ohio (our nemesis) played very well, and I thought that Princeton was equally amazing – in fact, I put status updates on my facebook account to that effect after hearing each of them.  The other bands that I saw in the 1st Section were okay, but there was a clear gap between Central Ohio/Princeton and everyone else.

As it turned out, COBB and PBB ended up tied for first, and COBB was declared the winner on a tie-break rule (their score on the required piece was highest).  I’m not sure how Georgia would have fared had we competed this year.  I can’t imagine us sounding as polished as those two bands, particularly given the lack of esprit de corps that has plagued us since last year.  Maybe we’ll have our personnel issues ironed out by next year.

In the Championship Section, the reigning studs of the North American Brass Band scene, Fountain City Brass Band, gave their typical wall-of-sound performance, and I was fairly certain that they would win, although I was also awed by the performance put in by the Atlantic Brass Band.  After listening to Atlantic, I remarked to one of the stage hands, “That band is from another planet!”  I had them as a solid #2 after my sentimental favorite, Chicago, turned in a pretty flat attempt.   I think that, had a poll been taken of the audience, 99% of the people there would have called it Fountain City, Atlantic, Chicago.

Everyone in the building was therefore somewhat stunned when FCBB was announced as the runner-up, and the crowd went completely crazy when Atlantic was crowned champion.  Fountain City is an amazing band, deserving of any accolades that you can throw at them; but I don’t think I’m telling any tales when I say that an awful lot of people have gotten tired of them winning every year.

This was actually the second let-down for FCBB this year, as they lost to a band out of Florida at the U.S. Open Championships.  Are they slipping or are other bands stepping up their games?  I guess we’ll find out next year – maybe sooner, as FCBB is slated to compete in (I think) The Netherlands later this year.

As I said up front, though, the bands did not disappoint.  For those of you who’ve never heard top-flight brass bands playing at their peak, let me just say that it’s an indescribable sound.   When that kind of power, in control, hits you….I don’t know how many chills I got listening to the Championship Section bands.

Back to work tomorrow, unfortunately, and not much to look forward to before the Deep South Brass Band Festival happens in early May.

TWD

Today was the first day of the 2011 brass band championships, and consisted of the solo and ensemble competitions.  They ran from about 10:30 this morning until 5:00 this afternoon, and I spent the vast majority of that time walking a circle between three ballrooms and photographing people playing brass.

Exciting?  No.

Good playing?  For the most part.

Feet hurt?  Oh.  My.  God.

Tomorrow is the band championships and I’ll be doing more of the same.  We haven’t figured out yet if I’ll be able to shoot the bands from backstage or if I’ll have to find a spot in the balcony and shoot from there.  At this point, I don’t much care.  I can probably get better (or at least more interesting) shots from backstage, but if I can grab a box seat for myself and just sit in it all day, that sounds pretty nice, too.

I put a few pictures from today on Facebook and will post a link to a SmugMug album when I’ve gone through all of the keepers from the weekend.

TWD

Got up at zero-dark-thirty for the second day in a row (had to take Betsy to the airport yesterday morning), and left the house between 6:00 and 6:30 this morning, headed for Grand Rapids for the brass thingy.

Got to my hotel at around 7:30 this evening.

Am currently sitting in my underwear at the desk in the room, trying to decide whether to go find some food or merely lie in bed.

Heard several of the announcements for the contest on NPR on my way up (I was streaming Grand Rapids’ public radio station through my iPhone), and they sounded really good.  Yay, me.

Very tired.  Also very hungry.

Dammit.

TWD

I went up to Furman yesterday to shake off some of the photographic cobwebs and shoot the annual spring scrimmage.  It was an obnoxiously beautiful day in South Carolina, which made me wish that I’d gotten out of bed a couple of hours earlier than I did so that I could have spent more time out in the sun.  After 7 straight days of cold and rainy days, it was a great way to start the weekend.

I like this shot.

The shooting went about as I thought it would.  My sports reactions are rusty after 4 months off, but I managed to get a few decent shots.  Also walked around the campus for a couple of hours after the scrimmage, and it was just about impossible to take a bad shot.  Every flower on the planet was in full bloom and the university grounds are pretty gorgeous anyway.

I finished a few easy projects at work last week and will be starting a fairly major one on Monday – for the second time.  I originally began this particular project in November, but when I sent some questions about it to the client, he blew me off.  So I tabled the thing.  Now the client is ready to give it another shot, so – for all intents and purposes, I’m starting over.  I don’t remember a thing about it or what I’ve already done with it.

I won’t get much of a start on it, however, because I’m leaving for Michigan on Wednesday for the brass band championships.  I spent a good portion of last week trying to get the word out about the contest to as many people in the Grand Rapids area as possible, which ended up being amazingly annoying when I suggested that we buy some radio spots on the local NPR station.  While everyone on the board agreed that this was a good idea (well, every one of them who weighed in with an opinion), none of the executive committee wanted to actually pull the trigger and kept pushing it back to me.  I finally got the president to say, “You’ve done all the groundwork, so go ahead and do it.”

So I did.  Unfortunately, the bill (for $350) will be coming to me.  I dearly hope that the executive committee is more decisive about paying ME than they were about paying the radio station.

Today, I’m just processing some of the photos from yesterday and chilling out.  I’ll do some grocery shopping later and perhaps practice my tuba for a bit.  Might even get crazy and mow the lawn – but mostly, I’m just planning to lie in bed and do nothing.

TWD