Push the button??????: December 2005

Gotta Love Bob

Every day I read STLToday, the online version of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. One of the columns I read is Suburban Fringe whose author is a 30 something, straight, married male with a couple kids and a very unique way of presenting life's challenges. This weeks column compares Brokeback Mountain and King Kong, as viewed on consecutive nights. Read it for yourself, I really enjoyed it :)

Memory Lane

Last night after work I was expecting to make dinner with Mom and Dave at my house since I have HD and am trying to talk Mom into buying herself a new tv. They were too sleepy and I wasn't in the mood to head over there. I'd heard that some friends from my old job that have moved away were in town so I decided to make an appearance at LZ for Showtune Tuesday. The place was out of control packed so I didn't stay long, but I must have run into 25 people that I hadn't seen in forever. I made a quick stop at Freddie's on the way home and it was busy, but at least I was able to get a drink without waiting 15 mins! My friend Geof who is moving to Athens, Greece in April was there with his husband and friends. It was nice to see them before they go as he lives in DC now and was just home for a visit. Made a big breakfast dinner with the roommate after all that and crashed.

Not sure what tonight brings, but work is slow again today, ugh!

Post Christmas Blahs

So the braggin' rights game went as expected with Illini winning 82-50. Despite having way too many beers I had a great time ;) Had a great two days at Mom's without ever getting out of my pajamas over the holiday. My brother is in town for the rest of the week and my mom took the week off too, so they are running around and sleeping in and here I am at work :-( There is nothing going on here either, which is good and bad. Good that I didn't waste the days when its not a challenge to be here, and bad because there's really nothing to do. I could be like Marty, who's been blogging up a storm this week, but hell, my life just isn't that interesting right now. I'm going home after work to see my puppy :-) Its been since the 24th and I need my Fletch fix!

Does anyone have any exciting New Year's plans? I had been planning for the last month to spend NYE with my best friend up north, but alas, as of last night he has made private plans with the bf, so I am now hunting for something/somewhere to go. I often wonder if friends that change things like that for relationships remember the sacrifices they've made when they come crying on your shoulder after it's over, but I digress.

Braggin' Rights

Tonight Mom, Dave and I head to the Savvis Center for the 25th Annual Illini-Mizzou Braggin' Rights basketball game. It's usually a good time, and the Illini are hot again this year so I'm looking forward to rubbing the win in here at work tomorrow (hopefully). Go ILL-INI!!!

In other unrelated news, my Christmas shopping is nearing completion. Just a few random things to pick up and then wrap it all. Ran around last night and was able to knock out quite a few stops in just a couple hours. Monday night was the Holiday Dinner at Ameristar and i have pics HERE.

"Leo will know what to do"

As I sit here at work with my coffee catching up on the news from the weekend, I read that John Spencer from The West Wing passed away on Friday, December 16th, 2005 after a heart attack. The West Wing is and has been one of my favorite shows for years. I borrowed the quote "Leo knows what to do" from my brothers blog. Dave's right, what will happen in the show now? I guess we'll just have to see. Rest in peace, John.

Saturday night was Band Together's Annual Holiday Concert. I was very pleased with the turnout. Given that it is the holiday season, and I know everyone had at least one party to attend that night, our attendance was almost 600! BT is only 9 years strong, and I can remember when we had 24 members and our concerts were in the cafeteria/rec room at MCC. Now we have over 80 members and have quite a large following. Our concerts are held in a beautiful hall that was once a synagogue. It feels good to be a part of this organization. Last week we had our Board elections and I'll be serving next year for the first time.

I wasn't feeling that well after the concert, but my roommate and I decided to make an appearance at a party and out to meet my band friends. I have some great pics from that night in my flickr, but here's a few as a teaser. Click on the pic or on the box to the right to see them all.

Gotta love my double chin and sickly lookin eyes but its cute nonetheless..

Me and my horn buddy Mary

Thomas, Steve and Kurt at The Festivus for the Rest of Us

Sunday after bowling I was headed home and got a call to see Brokeback Mountain. I really enjoyed the movie, and highly recommend you see it. I went with friends that had not read the story so it was nice to see their reactions, and that they were similar to what I felt when I read it here at work so many months ago. I can't seem to find the link to the full short story right now, so I'll post it later on if I come across it.

Tonight is BT's Holiday Dinner at Ameristar. I know, its odd to have it at a casino but their buffet is full of variety and we have a private room.

That's all for now, have a great week!

Upcoming concert...

WHAT: BandTogether's Annual Holiday Concert “Holiday Memories”

WHEN: Saturday, December 17, 2005, at 8 pm

COST: FREE, but donations and applause graciously accepted.

WHERE: E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall
The Community Music School of Webster University
560 Trinity Avenue (in the Delmar Loop)
University City, MO 63130
314-968-5939

NOTE: Map to venue is on the BandTogether website

WEB: www.BandTogetherSTL.com

EMAIL: BandTogether@hotmail.com

CONTACT: Gary Reynolds, Director, 314-313-9294

BANDTOGETHER PRESENTS: "Holiday Memories"

On Saturday, December 17, reminisce about your favorite “Holiday Memories” as BandTogether, the St. Louis GLBTA community concert band, presents its annual holiday concert. The program will include a wide variety of selections for symphonic wind band, including a concert suite from "The Polar Express," Mannheim Steamroller's "Fum, Fum, Fum," Strauss’s famous “Blue Danube” waltz and Alfred Reed's "Russian Christmas Music." Let the band's warmth, great music, and humor melt away your winter chill.

Although the concert is open to the public and admission is FREE (no tickets required), tax-deductible donations and applause are greatly appreciated. Consider becoming a BandFriend with your donation; information will be available at the concert or at www.BandTogetherSTL.com.

If you cannot make this performance, please pass the word on to someone you know that might enjoy a relaxing, free evening of music, away from the bustle of the holidays. Word-of mouth continues to be our best source of advertising. Thank you for your support!

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

BandTogether was formed in 1997 and has grown to include over 90 musicians and dozens of volunteers and boosters. As a volunteer community band, BandTogether's main purposes are to provide the GLBTA community's instrumentalists a musical outlet and to offer unique musical offerings to the community and beyond.

BandTogether produces four public performances each year and participates in the annual PrideFest parade as well as several smaller performances throughout the community.

BandTogether is a Missouri 501(c)3 non-profit corporation and operates on donations only. All donations are fully tax-deductible. Visit www.bandtogetherstl.com for information.

Politically correct or just plain crazy?

A forward I received today and thought might make a few people scratch their heads..

The following is what it takes to be politically and legally correct in this holiday season:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the Western Hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee. By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Happy Holidays, I think?? ;-)

Here comes the holidays

Have y'all started your holiday shopping? My company website received over 1200 orders this last weekend, more than double a normal weekend! I'm about halfway done, and am pleased to say that the tree is now up at Mom's. I know for a fact that this is the first time its made it up and decorated this early in my adult life. Last year we were putting ornaments on it still on xmas eve, and I am glad we'll be able to enjoy it for a while. I have some pictures, but the camera is at home. My brother came in for the weekend, so we made some of our thanksgiving favorites that we didn't have in Michigan and decorated the tree. My best friend stopped by with her new camera and wouldn't stop taking horrible pics of me. She uploaded them to my Flickr. Here's a few of the good ones:

Here's a gingerbread tribute to the recently fallen Busch Stadium, constructed by L and some of her friends.

Keep in mind I had been working in the garage and also hadn't made it to the shower yet when she took the next few. Also, I had just finished frying onions and celery for stuffing so my eyes were still in shock :-) She seems to like to capture my receding hairline, so after the first few I ran for the first hat I could find ;-)

Here's a couple of Lori in her Christmas garb

Tonight I head to Grandma's to help with baking and for dinner. Hope y'all have a great week!

Very cool!

A former co-worker just forwarded me a link to a slideshow of the stadium demolition. Click HERE. Very Cool.

Snow!

St. Louis is getting its first snow of the season! We are projected to get 2-4 inches by this afternoon. Not a major storm but it is still gonna slow people down. I used my 4WD coming in today because the roads were already covered. I need someone to explain exactly why it is so hard to make a tight turn in 4WD. I understand that it has something to do with the front wheels spinning at different speeds but it isn't making sense just yet.

This is a busy week and I can't wait for parts of it to be over. The SIUE Orchestra/Choral concerts are tonight and tomorrow night so dress rehearsals were Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I also have Band Together rehearsal on Wednesdays and that concert is next Saturday so I felt I needed to be both places last night. I've used a tank of gas in the Beast since Monday and am exhausted, but I think I've kept everyone happy. Concerts tonight and tomorrow night, then a mini-concert at MCC on Sunday morning with Christmas decorating/shopping mixed in the rest of the weekend.

After all the rehearsals last night some friends met me for a drink or three at Crusoe's, a bar a couple blocks from the house. This bar is typical south city, you never know what you're gonna walk into. Last night was no exception, fo' sho. This morning she called me to say that as they were headed back home by the old stadium around 12:30a fireworks went off and apparently there was a large crowd watching the last of the stadium fall. It's gone now. No more big wrecking ball. Read the story HERE. Below is a pic from the webcam this morning.

Has anyone else been keeping up with Noah's Arc on LOGO? The season finale is next week, and I'm mighty glad to have Moxi :-)

Almost done

In just a few hours the last of the original 96 arches of Busch Stadium will fall. It is 10 degrees in STL right now and from what I hear there are people there watching. Yesterday I took a little detour down by the grounds and I may do the same today. Goodbye to the arches!

Greetings!

Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long since I've updated my blog. I've been a busy kid. Hmm, where to start. I think I'll start with the Thanksgiving trip to Michigan.

We drove up to Kalamazoo on Wednesday amidst some of the worst crosswinds I've ever experienced! Some of that has to be because of the truck, but mostly it was just very windy. Lori, the family Australian Shepard went with us. Everything fit in the truck with room to spare. We got there without any bad weather other than the wind, and started unpacking. My Aunt and Uncle have a 2 yr old Chocolate Lab. Turns out that Lori is an alpha bitch and wasn't a very good guest at all. We had to separate them the entire trip. Thursday morning I woke up freezing and couldn't figure out why. The power had gone out overnight and was not projected to be restored until the next day at 6am. So, my Aunt and I packed up all the food and headed out into the snowy cold weather to cook at my cousins. It may sound stressful, and I'm sure that my Aunt was stressing, but we made the best of it, had a good time and the food was great. That night the power came back on and all was back to normal. Friday we went to a Christmas Barn and out to eat for lunch. Saturday we did some shopping and drove home on Sunday. There are tons of pictures on my Flickr site, but here are a few of my favorites...

Before dinner