Spring Show

The Mrs. made a quick trip up to Norman last week for Alissa's Spring Show with Sooner Dance Company. I had fully intended to join her, but had some health issues which precluded my attendance. As a result of my absence, the Mrs. provided me with what you see below. All reports were that it was a big hit, although attendance was a little low since somebody made the mistake of scheduling the show mid-week.

And there you have it.

Sun-N-Fun fly-in

Made a quick solo trip down to Lakeland, Florida last weekend to attend the 40th anniversary of the Sun-N-Fun fly-in. Wow! Just wow! And, I saw the Blue Angels fly for the first time since around 1986 or '87. Hadn't seen them since the Dayton Airshow.

Here are a few photos from the event.

Boom!

And there you have it.

Senior banquet photo

As Taylor wraps up her high school career, there will be plenty of celebrations and banquets she has to attend to mark the end of her time at Marcus HS. One of the big pieces of her life has been music, as readers of this blog well know. It all started with a little wooden recorder her Grandma Joan gave her when she was just a tot. To say she was obsessed with that recorder would be an understatement. The thing was in a perpetually waterlogged state due to constant use and copious amounts of drool, courtesy of Taylor. The mouthpiece looked as though one of the dogs had gotten ahold of it – mistaking it for a piece of rawhide. We still have it.

For her band banquet she has to submit a childhood photo for the slide show that runs at the end of the banquet. It's always a hoot seeing all the kid's photos, and trying to figure out who's who. She selected this photo for the slideshow. I guess she wants everyone to see how far her embouchure has come.

And there you have it.

iFly in Dallas

As a belated birthday gift The Mrs. had booked a spot for us with iFly. For those that don't know what iFly is, it's a 3 story tall building built around a glass tube about 14' in diameter. It has 2 huge fans underground which blow air up through the tube. Airspeed through the tube is adjustable, but ranges from around 85 mph to 115 mph. You enter the tube in skydiving gear, and essentially do a stationary free fall. It's pretty incredible. The instructors/spotters are seasoned skydivers, and at the end of each session do a little solo freestyle demo for the crowd. These guys are impressive, doing things you'd never imagine possible. One guy even had a Spiderman routine, which looked just like Spiderman climbing up the wall, shooting spider webs then suddenly flying 3 stories up in the air, then plummeting back down stopping his fall just inches from the bottom netting. Spinning upside down, it was like an aerial ballet. Our instructor had around 900 skydives (real ones) to his credit, so he just flew around inside the tube like it was second nature. When we each got in the tube, you would have thought we were suffering from Parkinsons and Turrets simultaneously. Drool flying everywhere, thrashing about like we had just urinated on an electric fence. Quite a sight. And we paid money to do it. Just imagine.

Registering upon arrival. Taylor showing her fear.

This is Alissa on her first flight.

The Mrs. acting like she's not terrified.

Quick training session for everybody.

All suited up and ready to fly. Scott joined us since we had 5 passes.

This is some random kid in the tube. It gives you an idea what it's like.

It gives you a whole new appreciation for those weathermen 

who stand outside reporting during hurricanes.

And there you have it.

To Air is Divine

Taylor's Spring Break is this week.

Not long ago Taylor had asked me quite a few questions about what training was like when I got my pilot's license. I figured any explanation I could give wouldn't give her a true sense of what it's really like, since you're moving in a horizontal as well as vertical plane. I made a few calls and lined up a discovery flight for her at a local training academy while she was on break. These are some photos I took early Tuesday morning this week.

Here she is with her flight instructor doing the preflight on the aircraft.

There's nothing like the feeling of strapping into the left seat for the first time ever.

Slipping the surly bonds of earth.

Unfortunately, I had to borrow Jen's camera since mine is no longer functional. 

And of course the camera's battery died just after they began the climb out.

She had a great time, and walked away with a much greater appreciation 

for what her Uncle Tony does as a pilot flying all over the globe for FedEx.

And there you have it!

Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra and the Dallas Wind Symphony

This past weekend was Taylor's debut performance with the GDYO and the Dallas Wind Symphony. The concert was held at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas. A spectacular venue.

As luck would have it, my camera suffered a fatal error on the first shot. Fatal as in it's headed for the trash can. As a result, I wasn't able to get even one photo of the event. And we must have been extra lucky that day because Jen managed to take one photo with her camera before she realized she'd forgotten to charge the battery.

All this from two seasoned art directors with 60 years of experience between them.

Below are some shots I pulled from the Dallas Wind Symphony website. Below these you'll find a link to the full complement of photos along with a link to a published review of the concert. I read the review and was unimpressed with the critic's writing, considering he is a professional journalist. From what I read, I think he's got some significant unresolved personal issues that can't be properly addressed by a pharmacologic intervention alone. It wasn't a bad review, just a little snarky and condescending.

Quick riddle:

"What do you call a submarine full of critics trapped on the bottom of the ocean?"

Answer:

"A start."

 I'm not even going to try to point out Taylor. 

She's just right of center, 2-3 rows back from the conductor.

 Here's just the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra.

 Taylor in the mix. You can see her hair and her music.

 Mr. and Mrs. Horn are seen here standing at the center of the top of the first tier of stairs. 

They are exquisitely attired for the occasion, I might add.

GDYO and the Dallas Wind Symphony playing together. Note the organist at the very top of the frame. She rocked the house! That pipe organ is something like 3 stories high, and when she hits the low notes, Southwest Airlines aircraft flying overhead literally drop out of the sky. When she hit the low D, I experienced a wave of irrepressible floutus. It was impressive, as was the pipe organ.

The conductor with his arms all akimbo.

Don't let those empty seats down front fool you. That's where the rich people who own season tickets sit, and they rarely come to enjoy the arts. They just buy season tickets to say that they have season tickets to the symphony. People who enjoy the symphony really don't want them there, anyway.

The place was packed to the rafters. We sat up so high, Jesus may have had a seat a couple rows behind me.

After the show, Taylor is seen talking with her friend and fellow drum major, Amanda. Amanda is not in GDYO. I don't think she made the cut during audition.

Here is the link to more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20325042@N05/sets/72157640114379293/

And here's a link to the review: http://www.theaterjones.com/ntx/reviews/20140124152346/2014-01-24/Dallas-Wind-Symphony/Revenge-of-the-Band-Geeks

And there you have it!

They grow up so quickly

Here's a recent photo of the 5 pups we fostered over the holidays. Looks like we'll be fostering 2 of these monsters now that they're weened.

"Bounty, the quicker picker upper." Yes, that's our motto.