Christmas + Barbershop + Drum Corps = WIN

Merry Christmas to all of my bestest blog-reading friends and family. It's become increasingly busy around the household over the last month or so, which is why it's taken me a little longer to sit down and blog it out. This is my favorite time of year! Ho-ho-ho and all that junk. My favorite part of Christmas is the music. Performing music, listening to music, dancing to music (okay not that one), you name it and I'm doing it. I've got my desk radio cranked to Christmas music all day and I can't explain why, but it cheers me up and lifts my spirits. How can I maintain my good spirit throughout the year?? I have two choices: 1. Learn to channel the positive energy of the season and transfer it to myself every day. 2. Listen to all of my Christmas music throughout the next 12 months. Verdict? I'm going to need a larger ipod.

Part of the Christmas season is a good Christmas concert. We had the opportunity to go to a good one in Atlanta. The Atlanta Vocal Project is a top International finalist barbershop chorus from the Atlanta metro area. When we heard that their annual concert was coming up on a weekend that I was going to be in ATL anyway, I jumped on the chance. Even better, Voices of Lee were their guest performers. Get in the car, honey!!!!

 

 These guys looked and sounded really sharp, but not in the bad intonation sense.

 

 There were a couple good quartets, including a past district champion.

 

 Our favorite part was Voices of Lee. You may recognize a few of them from the NBC show Sing-Off. We think it may have been a different class of students performing on TV than the current group that tours the US.

 

At the end of the show, there was a large mass number with children and the other groups. It was really nice!

 

The next day, I threw myself back into the drum corps season. Our very first ALLIANCE camp was a success! We learned of the new show concept, played through some of the music, and made some new friends. Here is our corps director, Terry Reilley, telling us a little more about the upcoming season.

 

First, let me say it was cold as...um...ice. Yeah. One of the coldest mornings in my short duration in the South. I should have worn gloves to avoid frostbite from handling some of the equipment which was covered in frost. I learned my lesson. Here, you can see we were starting to load up some horns from our storage trailer. 

 

My fellow baritone, Nick, was helping to unload the trailer. Looking at this picture, I can practically see him shivering under there. Our next camp is in mid January, I'll be sure to update you more at that time!

Even though I've been attending Messiah Lutheran with my wife, I was recently asked to sub in the bell choir at Mauldin United Methodist. I really enjoyed seeing some old friends and learning more about playing bells.

 

 A small group of us went to a local concert for the students of the Governor's School, which is a really nice fine arts high school in Greenville.

 

The concert was held at a beautiful Presbyterian church in Greenville.

 

It wasn't a Christmas concert, per say, but it was nice to get out and get some culture. It was a great performance of challenging music by some really gifted high schoolers. 

 

I had fun with some low light shots...  It was also nice to get some sample video recordings.

 

 As hard as I tried, I couldn't get my panos to center correctly, but this one turned out pretty nicely, I think.

 

They have a beautiful pipe organ there.  

 

  

 

More good news! We finally registered our barbershop quartet with the society (Barbershop Harmony Society). We call ourselves Carolina Quadraphonic (CQ for short) and we are getting ready to compete for the fist time in March. I created a fan page on Facebook, become a fan if you feel inclined. I created a rough logo idea for the group below:

I found this in the locker room at the gym. This is what I call a "Lock FAIL"

 

I'm not a big beer drinker, but I couldn't pass up a recent chance to try some Yuengling Lager.  Typically I like a light beer, like Miller Lite, but this had a really full flavor. I wouldn't drink it everyday, but the novelty of the oldest brewery in America tickled my curiosity and I'm glad it did!

 

Found this box at work yesterday. It's what I call a "Spelling FAIL"

 

There's a lot going on this weekend, so I'm going to wrap up. Weather here has been a little topsy-turvy, but mostly moderate. Some cool temps and a lot of rain, but we're not complaining. I haven't been on my motorcycle for a couple weeks (sniff sniff) but I'll probably find a good sunny day and put on an extra sweater and go out for a ride when the rain clears up. Erin and I are staying in SC for Christmas this year...our first in the new house...and our first on our own! We plan to stay in all day and play Wii!! Should be a good time. On Sunday, we're driving back to Illinois to stay with family and friends and enjoy some time off. I'll be sure to post some pictures of Christmas and the trip back. If you don't hear from me before then, Merry Christmas, and have safe New Year!

Thanksgiving in Greenville, Second Edition!

Hello everyone out in radio land! Welcome back to the coolest blog in my subdivision. I've been busy-busy gathering up some cool pictures and stories to share over the last few weeks. There's been a lot going on and I finally have some time and motivation to sit down and finish this post. (Thank goodness for long Thanksgiving weekends!) We got the Christmas decorations out on Friday and are pleased to announe that the new house has been Christmas-tised for for the first time. Erin found Sam's Christmas collar, and in spite of my protests, made him wear it. For his dignity, I insisted that it be removed after the photo was taken. Good sport.

I had to change up my outdoor decorations this year; all of our white lights are in the bushes and in the garland. That garland used to be hung in our old livingroom, but I'm NOT putting all of those holes in the walls again, so I decided to hang it all outside this year.

Erin's Christmas village has really grown, it's got a fancy new home near the kitchen counter. I rigged up a hidden switch that turns it all on and off like that! *click* 

We had an interesting Thanksgiving this year! It was the first time that we either weren't in IL with family or had family visiting, so we decided to host a dinner at church for others who also may need some company. There were about 10 people there and we cooked a 20lb turkey, plus everyone brought the other traditional components of a good Thanksgiving meal. Needless to say, we had a good time and had more than enough to eat.

I've had the opportunity to get out on the motorcycle this fall and grab some good shots with my new camera. I like the following so much, I'm thinking about making it part of a custom banner for my blog. This is Falls Park around November 1st.

A couple weeks ago, I took the fizzer up to Caesar's Head and rode up the mountain for the first time. It was a great learning experience for me, and I also had the opportunity to snap some beautiful pics along the way.

At the top, I pulled into the park and took some time to enjoy the views of Table Rock and the foothills.

It was a beautiful day, sunny about 65 degrees.

This would be a great view to wake up to every morning!

The sky was very hazy (it was nearing sunset, too) but you can see why I like to come up here so much!

 I haven't been on the motorcycle as much this past week because I've been playing on my new Wii! My parents bought us a Wii as an early Christmas gift and I'm so glad they did. It's so much fun. It might not be cutting edge visually, but the ability to get so involved in the gameplay is beyond fun for a couple of video game newbs like us. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Here's Erin, configuring her Mii. It's funny to see our characters on screen look so accurate.

I saw this outside the mall one day; It made me want to snap a picture and submit it to thereifixedit.com...

 

Last month, Erin and I and a couple friends from church attended a special presentation on piano history at the local Steinway dealer in Spartanburg. It was neat for me, because I wanted to learn more about the topic. Erin probably learned more about this stuff in college than I did, being I was a computer-major nerd and not a music-major geek.

There were at least 15 antique pianos on display, some of which were 200 years old. This was my favorite:

We were treated to a ragtime concert after the presentation. I never would have considered ragtime to be my favorite genre, but after hearing it live for the first time in my life, I have to say I really enjoyed it.

I did some major upgrades for my home computers recently. I maxed out the processor in my Dell Dimension 9150 (Pentium D, 960) I then took my Pentium D 830 and installed in my HTPC. Since the newer chip was hotter that the old celeron that powered our HTPC, I swapped out the heatsinks. Here, you can see the stock intel cooler, compared to the new Scypthe Scepter, which is not only much better, but quieter too.  

To help with the airflow in the cabinet, I sealed off the HTPC compartments and installed a couple USB powered fans to draw cool air through the cabinet. So far, it has worked like a charm!!

While doing some shoe shopping in the mall, I spotted these winners. I don't care how much better they may make my workout, I'd rather kill myself.

A friend of mine from work, who is also a Peoria native, ordered some Kitchen Cooked potato chips online and thoughtfully gave me a bag. It was a nice taste of home. Thanks!

Erin and i tried a new pizza place a couple weeks ago. This is a newer place in Simpsonville: Tony's. Not to be confused with Anthony's, which I reviewed last year and was not impressed with.

Their menu system was original...it was scrawled on the wall!

I ordered some cheese sticks and you can imagine my surprise when they brought out something that resembles a friggin' pizza! I should have just ordered these instead of a pizza. They were excellent, though.

The pizza was very good, I have to say. I liked everything about it! It's not as tasty as Bellacino's, but it comes in a close 2nd! We definitely will come back in the future.

After dinner, we stopped over at the Downtown Coffe shop in Mauldin and enjoyed some live folk music.

Last week, I tried a new Chinese restaurant in Mauldin, called.... China. Wow, original name! The interior looked like...spoiler alert.....like every other Chinese restaurant you've EVER BEEN TO IN YOUR LIFE.

Chinese restaurants get a dual tiered review: crab rangoons and General Tso's chicken. Let's try the rangoons first. They were really good!

The General Tso's chicken was pretty good, but not good enough to have again. A good G.T.C. plate has crispy chicken, some spice, and a sweet, sticky glaze. This, like Lin Garden, was kind of cold, soggy, and definitely not spicy. And what's with the giant onions? It was the first time I'd seen it served that way, so I never thought to ask for the omission of the onions! My search for the perfect Chinese place continues!

Just to give you an idea of what else is going on in my life: The first 2010 Alliance Drum & Bugle Corps practice is next weekend! We hope to see a full corps there, and we'll get more information about the 2010 show, uniforms, and more. I have my audition materials ready and I'm plumped. Not only am I excited, but I've gained a little weight since DCA finals, hence the plumped part.  With any luck, I won't be the oldest member of the hornline. When most of the instructional stuff is younger than me, that might be a challenge. The real challenge is keeping my body in corps shape... I'll do better this year, I promise. Just no more chocolate truffles, Erin, organic or not!!

My quartet is still singing, and we've been hard at work for contest, which is coming up in Greenville in March. I'm singing the lead part now, which I do enjoy more than Tenor. Erin and I are coming back to Illinois a couple days after Christmas, so look out for us. We'll have some time to sit down with friends and family and share some more of our adventures. Hope you enjoyed my pictures, here's wishing you a terrific Holiday...er... CHRISTMAS season!!!