stacey ewing

Uh…just a little chilly here in G’vlle this morning!! It was around 23 when we left for work at 6:30am and we had to wait for the thin layer of ice to melt off the windshield. :D The old credit card scraper trick didn’t work- the ice was just a little too thick. Fortunately (ha!) we gave away all our ice scrapers as party favors at our good-bye party when we left Texas. Who knew we’d need ‘em here?! haha

All of my plants have been covered up since Sunday night. HUGE thanks to Bob and Sarah for the gianormous freeze cloth they gave us this weekend- it saved me SO much time covering everything up!! I’ll probably uncover all of it after Wednesday since we’re supposed to have 30 tonight and Wednesday night. It definitely didn’t take long for our blood to thin! :)

Another one I’ll probably never get tired of watching.
This just cracks me up…

What a bummer- we just found out this morning that Michael Brecker and Alice Coltrane both passed away this weekend. :(

NYT article on Brecker: “Michael Brecker dies at 57; Prolific Jazz Saxophone” (stupid subscript. req’d.)

LA Times article on Coltrane: “Alice Coltrane, 69; performer, composer of jazz and New Age music; spiritual leader” (stupid subscript. req’d.)

Okay, this is how lame the two of us can be sometimes…
The newest Netflix arrived in the post yesterday and one of the discs was “Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out.” Tim grilled some kabobs and we sat on the floor & had dinner at the coffee table while watching the movie. We watched the entire DVD from beginning to end (including all the credits!!) and then we watched ALL of the extras and THEN we went back and watched the entire feature once AGAIN- this time with the comments by Stewart and Andy. What a great film!

We may have to just shell out and get this one for the archives…

Tim and I went to the FOJ concert last night. Gary Smulyan (from NY) was featured on Barry Sax, Per Danielsson on piano, Mark Neuenschwander on bass and Steve Davis on Drums. The rhythm section was comprised of faculty members from Univ. South Florida who drove up to accompany Smulyan.

Overall, the concert was pretty good. It took awhile for them to warm up and suss each other out, but after that there were some very beautiful moments when things seemed to really gel. From the back of the room, the sound was a little off tho- piano was def. too soft and bass a little muddy. The drums sounded fantastic (I don’t think they were mic’d either) and those cymbals were to die for! I’m no drummer but even I noticed how good those sounded. mmmmm- like buttah… ;)

I’d also never seen Steve Davis play before and I gotta say, he was the core of the group that night- the other three musicians seemed kinda tired and not really into being there. He seemed to be trying to push them a little, maybe wake ‘em up a bit but they never did really rise to the challenge and meet his level of energy which was too bad. I guess I can’t blame them too much tho- driving up from Tampa is kind of a drag and Smulyan had just flown in from NY, not to mention the fact that many of the Friends of Jazz members are older retirees- so after the break, over half the room evaporated- that can’t help things either.

I find it a little alot embarrassing because those same folks get there SO damn early and take all the good seats and then when they leave there’s a gianormous hole in the front-center of the room. Unfortunately, there’s some kind of weird, unspoken rule that the people still there can’t move up and into those seats. I think next time, we should just trash this social more and go sit at the very front table! :P Too bad the concerts don’t start at 7:30, maybe that would help that problem a little.

Anyway, it was a good night and a pleasant end to a very long day! We’re very lucky to have such a great org like the FOJ that brings good jazz to Gainesville each month- it is SO nice.

The forecast for today in Columbus, OH:
High: 41
Low: 14
humid, almost swampish… heh heh

Well, I take full credit for the Gators chomping the living daylights out of Ohio State last night. I believe that by not watching the game, I removed any possibility of jinxing UF from winning (although I did take a quick peek at the score online right before bed but that doesn’t count). Don’t you think I should get just a little slice of Meyer’s $150,000 bonus? ;)

Although I haven’t popped over there yet, I’m sure “Orson Swindle” has some witty commentary about the game: http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com

Okay, I think XKCD sums it all up right here:

I just absolutely love this video and have watched it something like 10 times in the last month or so. Tonight, I ran across it again on Rodrigo’s MySpace page. I think that I like the last set the best and will probably never get tired of watching the whole thing. :)

Had another weird dream again last night this morning…

I dreamt that Mark King and his family lived in our subdivision.  His wife was selling handmade stationery stuff out of their home (kinda like Avon or Mary Kay).  I dropped by to turn in my order (’cause you always feel bad not buying at least one thing) and Mark was sitting on the couch looking about as bored as Tim usually does by the end of a long day of work.  I started to ask his wife if she thought Mark would “fancy going out for a pint” with Tim- ‘specially since it just seemed like something they’d both enjoy and I knew T was at home just as bored as Mark… then my alarm went off and it was time to wake up… :P Why in the world was I dreaming about Mark King, of all people??!

In real life, a few years ago in Texas, we were hanging out with Aaron at the casa and listening to the “Level Best” cd.  “Misty Hills” walked in said “Uh, look…I’m sorry you guys, but this is SOeffen lame!”  All three of us sheepishly looked at her and then Tim jumped up to put on something a little more appropriate for the 21st century. hahaha   :D

In case you don’t know who Mark King is…here he is playing with Mr. Pink…