herbiehancock

On Sunday this past weekend, we traveled to the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio to hear my son and his girlfriend play with the Toledo Youth Orchestra.  There is a lovely theater within the museum known as the  Peristyle  where they play.  My husband’s mother and stepfather joined us there for the concert.    Before the concert started, we had some time to spare, so we wandered around the museum to look at some of the exhibits.  No signs were posted saying that taking photographs was prohibited.  I know some museums don’t allow this while others have no rules against it. I thought I’d take a few pictures and see if anyone tried to stop me. (Sometimes it is easier to just apologize later rather than to ask permission beforehand.)  :-D I took three or four pictures of some pieces that I particularly liked, then we came to this painting which is one of my husband’s favorites at the museum.   It is huge.  It covers a whole wal...

My son brought home his orchestra portrait from school the other day.  I thought it turned out pretty well. I took it with me to the nursing home to show my mom.  She liked it and said she thought he looked sharp in his tuxedo.  Then she laughed and said, "She wasn't used to seeing him in a penguin suit."  She chuckled then at her own joke.  Any day when she can find a reason to smile is a good one in my mind, so I was glad I took the picture in to show her.   The word tuxedo always makes me think of Tennessee Tuxedo and his friend Chumley , cartoon characters from my childhood.  Does anyone else remember them?  I took a little trip down memory lane by watching one of their cartoons on Youtube .  Don Adams (from Get Smart fame) did the voice of Tennessee Tuxedo.  It's interesting that they wear ties and hats but no shirts and pants, don't you think?  HA HA! Anyway, I said last week that I had some videos to post of when my son play...

This past Sunday I traveled to Toledo, Ohio to the Peristyle Theater of the Toledo Museum of Art to hear my younger son play the upright bass as part of the Toledo Youth Sinfonietta. It was an exciting day. In the photo above is the program booklet which has MY son's name in it. ( Yes, I'm boasting and grinning. Thank you for reading this and kindly indulging a mother's pride. ) This is what the stage looked like before the musicians came out on it. Click on this link: Peristyle Theater , to see a view of the inside of the theater from the rear of the auditorium taken by a photographer who obviously knows what he is doing. It is a spectacular place. The members of the Sinfonietta made sure their instruments were tuned and spent some time warming up before the concert started. My son was second chair upright bass. He is the one standing second from the right with the glasses and red hair in the photos below . The concert is about to start. I made videos of the song...

Well, it's Friday, which, in and of itself, is a great reason to celebrate. What's more, today is my younger son's last day of school. So I am sure you know that he is feeling like celebrating. After today he is officially a freshman in high school. He has had a good week. Yesterday, his class voted, and he was chosen as next year's freshman representative on the student council. The day before that he received a letter from the Toledo Youth Symphony Orchestra . Based on his audition, he has been chosen to be one of their upright bass players in next year's youth symphony orchestra. Here is the mission statement from their website: " As part of the core educational mission of the Toledo Symphony, the Toledo Youth Orchestra brings together 100 of the most talented students from Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan in an atmosphere of musical excellence." My son is elated. His mom is pretty happy about this whole matter as well. So with so many r...