Fitter Happier

 

I didn’t get a chance to take too many pictures during any of the performances (one of the reasons is that written permission is required to put up any photo of campers and it’s nearly impossible with the waves of Blue Lakers that can be seen in the background).  However, here are a couple of shots from the series of concerts in Stassfurt and nearby Aschersleben, where the orchestra concert was held.

It’s generally customary for the committees of the towns to have some kind of snack for breaks in-between rehearsals and concerts and Sabrina and I grabbed a large bottle of coke for our dressing room.  It wasn’t until we got upstairs that we noticed perhaps it wasn’t the most sanitary of soda bottles:

 

Coca Cola—Now with even MORE minerals!!

 

Sabrina and I with our conductor, Maestro Beate Besser

 

After the Brahm’s concert there was a lovely reception and I made sure to snag a picture with my host parents, Frank and Brigitte:

 

And finally, I loved these steps in the concert hall where the choir had their performance.

“Theater is the fitness center for senses and emotions.” ~George Tabori

 

Artist: Radiohead/ Album: OK Computer

OK Computer

 

A little backstory first… I haven’t had the best of luck when it comes to the combination of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and laptop maintenance.  The day before we were to fly out last year I opened up my well-worn Inspiron and the screen was dead black.  Two things: 1. I’d rather it have happened the day before than the day after.  I’d have been much more pissed lugging around a lifeless piece of metal around Europe.  2.  Luckily it was just the screen and not the computer as a whole—I was able to get all of the data off no probs.  Until I got my new one I was lugging around not only a laptop but my old desktop monitor just so I could check my emails, blog, etc. 

Now, the morning I woke up to leave for this most recent rehearsal weekend I opened up my computer and there was a large black swath of screen at the top that was blacked out.

I mean SERIOUSLY!?!?!  You can’t even see how furrowed his eyebrows are!

 

I didn’t really have time to worry about it then but called Dell when I got back because it’s still under warrantee and let. me. tell. you—I’m a huuuuge fan.  Not only did they send the parts to a repair man here in Houston, but he came to the gallery and fixed it.  I didn’t have to do nothins! To be fair, a guy showed up last week and started working on it and realized they sent him the wrong screen:

Service Guy: Hey, did you order a touch screen?

Me: Ummm, no…

Service Guy: Looks like they sent the wrong one.

Me: *shifts eyes* So… you can’t just put that one in and not have to worry about it?

Service Guy: Won’t fit, you’ll have to wait til Tuesday.

Me: Llllllaaaaaammmmee!

Luckily it was just a two day turnaround until I got the new new one.

Hello HD, my old friend!

 

So I guess that’s my post and Dell got a little plug as well.  I will await my free printer whenever you wish to send it (that’s how this works, right?)!

 

Artist: Radiohead/ Album: OK Computer

Talk Show Host

 

So today is Queen Oprah’s last day at her talk show and not that I was an avid watcher by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s certainly a seismic shift of large proportions on the pop culture Richter scale.  (Andy Richter, that is, not that four eyed dweeb Charles) And let’s be honest, without pop culture I’d be reduced to a withering hull of a human being.

Speaking of Team Coco, I’ve put up a couple of Oprah-centric video’s I love, the first of which comes from The Conan O’Brian Show. It’s a riff on the famous “FREE CAAAAARRRR” episode.

 

Next up is Kathy Griffin talking about Oprah and Gayle participating in one of PBS’s “Frontier” reality shows.  It’s an excerpt from one of her Bravo specials so any of her saltier language is bleeped out. And you know Mizz Griffin is like the Morton’s of MSG.

The last one can be seen here (I tried tirelessly to find one that I could embed on the blog but it’s almost non-existent and NBC has the clamp down on putting it back up.)  It’s an SNL skit about Oprah’s Favorite Things from a couple of years ago. I also read today that her give-aways have amassed almost a cool $25 million since starting (!). Keep an eye out for a shout out to Greenburg Turkeys, which our family gets every year for Thanksgiving from Tyler, TX. They changed the name of it for the skit but Greenburg actually was one of her favorite things one year. 

Artist: Radiohead/ Album: Moonstruck