Long before first class entertainment became the norm in Raleigh, NCSU used to host the Friends of the College series. This was back in the 1970’s and ‘80’s. About 7 or 8 shows and events each year staged in Reynolds Coliseum.
Mom and Dad were subscribers and as I was going to school at State – I got to see a lot of cool stuff.
One of the events was Beverly Sills.
I’ve said before, Opera isn’t my cup of tea. But I certainly appreciate a great voice.
To this day I still vividly recall her performance. I had never heard such an awesome voice before in my life.
Wow – that broad could sure belt out a tune.
Thanks Bev for sharing your talent with us.
The Black Watch
While on the subject - One of the other great performances I got to see was the Band of the The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). Quite an awesome military band.
I got to see them on 2 different occassions via The Friends of the College. Good friends of my parents, Col. Ray Kinshada and his wife, often came up to FOTC shows. I recall Ray and his wife made it a point to come up and see the Black Watch each time.
Allison
You can really get attached to pets.
AHCBT, Allison the House Cat with the Broken Tail, was my friend CK’s pet for many many years. She was being treated for failing kidneys but didn’t make it.
She had been with him through many ups and downs. Different jobs and homes and such. She even outlasted CK’s almost marriage.
I’m sure he will miss her.
Fourth of July
I’ve just arrived in Southport to visit Nuke (aka JFC) today and tomorrow.
Southport hosts the official NC Fourth of July Festival. It’s a huge event for such a small town. The estimate is that 40,000 or more will be on hand tomorrow. There’s stuff been going on since Saturday. The main events start this afternoon.
We’ll probably be headed the few blocks down to the waterfront in a few.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Ice Cream & Yogurt Follow Up
It’s amazing how the prospect of food can alter behavior and perception.
The raccoon scoots away when I open the door to put yogurt in the food bowl. Then she comes back and finishes eating. I’ve been waiting till she shows up to put out the yogurt. If I put it in earlier, it melts and gets runny.
I now realize that's been a tactical error.
Last night, instead of taking off briefly while I put the yogurt into the bowl, things went something like this:
Raccoon: “Oh, yummy yummy yogurt. Gimme, gimme, gimme.”
Me: “Back off so I can come outside.”
Raccoon: “I want to come in where the yummy yogurt is.”
Me: “NO. Stay outside.”
Raccoon: “I want in.”
Me: “What the hell? Quit trying to sneak in when I open the door. You’re supposed to be afraid of me.”
Raccoon: “I know who you are. I’m not afraid.”
Me: “OK – So you want to do this the hard way, huh?”
Raccoon: “What’s with the waving the fireplace poker at me?”
Me: “I’m trying to scare you a little so you’ll back off and let me come outside to the bowl.”
Raccoon: (laughing) “Yeah right tough guy. I know you aren’t going to do anything with that.”
(I finally get the yogurt in the bowl while shooing off the raccoon with my foot)
Raccoon: “Mmmmmmm, yummy yummy yogurt.”
(Later)
Raccoon: “Hey, I still want to come in and look around.”
Me: “Nope.”
Raccoon: “Ha! When you’re gone, I’m gonna chew a hole in the screen door and help myself.”
Me: “You better not.”
Raccoon: (laughing again) “Just wait and see.”
Me: “Dammit.”
The raccoon scoots away when I open the door to put yogurt in the food bowl. Then she comes back and finishes eating. I’ve been waiting till she shows up to put out the yogurt. If I put it in earlier, it melts and gets runny.
I now realize that's been a tactical error.
Last night, instead of taking off briefly while I put the yogurt into the bowl, things went something like this:
Raccoon: “Oh, yummy yummy yogurt. Gimme, gimme, gimme.”
Me: “Back off so I can come outside.”
Raccoon: “I want to come in where the yummy yogurt is.”
Me: “NO. Stay outside.”
Raccoon: “I want in.”
Me: “What the hell? Quit trying to sneak in when I open the door. You’re supposed to be afraid of me.”
Raccoon: “I know who you are. I’m not afraid.”
Me: “OK – So you want to do this the hard way, huh?”
Raccoon: “What’s with the waving the fireplace poker at me?”
Me: “I’m trying to scare you a little so you’ll back off and let me come outside to the bowl.”
Raccoon: (laughing) “Yeah right tough guy. I know you aren’t going to do anything with that.”
(I finally get the yogurt in the bowl while shooing off the raccoon with my foot)
Raccoon: “Mmmmmmm, yummy yummy yogurt.”
(Later)
Raccoon: “Hey, I still want to come in and look around.”
Me: “Nope.”
Raccoon: “Ha! When you’re gone, I’m gonna chew a hole in the screen door and help myself.”
Me: “You better not.”
Raccoon: (laughing again) “Just wait and see.”
Me: “Dammit.”
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Ice Cream & Yogurt
I really should have a photo to go along with this entry.
Still feeding the raccoons and one possum. Of the raccoons, one female has distinctive behavior that sets her apart from the other raccoons.
First, she always shows up during daylight hours around 6 PM. Second, if she’s there and another raccoon shows up, she is definitely the dominant raccoon. Third, she has become somewhat used to me and reacts warily to my presence but not outright fear.
For example, she’ll see me inside or at the door watching her. While she keeps an eye on me, she doesn’t run when I’m around. Also, she now comes to the screen door and peeks through to see what going on. Sometimes she does this to investigate sounds such as the TV or when I talk to her. Other wild animals will take off when they hear noises or see me moving around the house.
Last night while she was eating, I decided to give her a little treat since it’s been so hot – ice cream.
When I opened the screen door – she backed off – but didn’t run like I expected. Instead, she put about 5 feet or so distance between herself and me and watched while I put the ice cream in the bowl.
She clearly loved that stuff. Lapping the ice cream at first – she finally picked up the rest of it and put a big chunk in her mouth and swallowed it whole. She actually shuddered a little bit. I don’t know if from excitement or from an ice cream headache. LOL
I think I’ll start giving her a scoop of yogurt with the dog food. It’s probably better for her and still a treat.
Still feeding the raccoons and one possum. Of the raccoons, one female has distinctive behavior that sets her apart from the other raccoons.
First, she always shows up during daylight hours around 6 PM. Second, if she’s there and another raccoon shows up, she is definitely the dominant raccoon. Third, she has become somewhat used to me and reacts warily to my presence but not outright fear.
For example, she’ll see me inside or at the door watching her. While she keeps an eye on me, she doesn’t run when I’m around. Also, she now comes to the screen door and peeks through to see what going on. Sometimes she does this to investigate sounds such as the TV or when I talk to her. Other wild animals will take off when they hear noises or see me moving around the house.
Last night while she was eating, I decided to give her a little treat since it’s been so hot – ice cream.
When I opened the screen door – she backed off – but didn’t run like I expected. Instead, she put about 5 feet or so distance between herself and me and watched while I put the ice cream in the bowl.
She clearly loved that stuff. Lapping the ice cream at first – she finally picked up the rest of it and put a big chunk in her mouth and swallowed it whole. She actually shuddered a little bit. I don’t know if from excitement or from an ice cream headache. LOL
I think I’ll start giving her a scoop of yogurt with the dog food. It’s probably better for her and still a treat.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Grand Canyon (Movie)
Grand Canyon was on one of the movie channels last night. I guess it’s been almost 10 years since I’ve last seen it. Definitely one of my top 10 movies. Great cast, great script, perfectly understated performances, awesome soundtrack. The right combination of drama and humor.
Didn’t get the attention of the public when it came out in 1991. It’s a movie that makes you think and reflect. I guess that’s why it didn’t make a big splash at the box office.
“This is difficult stuff. Making a left turn in L.A. is one of the harder things you'll learn in life.”
Didn’t get the attention of the public when it came out in 1991. It’s a movie that makes you think and reflect. I guess that’s why it didn’t make a big splash at the box office.
“This is difficult stuff. Making a left turn in L.A. is one of the harder things you'll learn in life.”
Friday, June 22, 2007
Superbird
Finished up my work at UNC Charlotte today.
Late in the week I noticed a couple of mint condition Dodge Daytonas and Plymouth Road Runner Superbirds on the street that my hotel was on.
Leaving my hotel parking lot and heading to the University this morning, I saw several of these cars in another hotel parking lot. Did a u-turn to come back and take a photo. Once I entered the other hotel parking lot – I realized there were dozens and dozens of these cars. Along with signs at the hotel about a MOPAR classic car meeting. Obviously, I took a few more pictures.
Growing up, Mom and Dad took me to races at Charlotte, Rockingham and Darlington. At Darlington, we always got seats in the Robert E. Lee Grandstand.
Saturday nights, I’d go to the local races at the track on Doc Bennett Road with Isaac Young who drove his gas station wrecker. We'd go into the infield and provided towing for cars that were damaged during the race. Pretty cool stuff for a 14 year old.
The glory days of NASCAR were from the mid-60s to the mid-70s. Factory sponsorship of teams abounded. Even now-defunct AMC was heavily involved.
Back then, the racing cars really were based on stock American cars. A certain number of vehicles had to be sold to the public to qualify as a manufactured stock vehicle to be eligible for NASCAR entry. The Ford Torino Talladega and Dodge Daytona were built specifically to be sold and qualify for NASCAR racing.
When I was a freshman at NC State, a sophmore who lived downstairs was the newphew of Ralph Moody. He was majoring in Mechnical Engineering. The car he drove was a Torino Taladega. But it looked different. Not different like the little 'tuner' cars today with all the junk bolted on - it looked like a regular Torino - just different. Turns out, it was one of the prototype Talladegas that was hand built in 1968 when the cars were being developed. His uncle let him have it so he'd have a car to drive at school. I remember it was serial number 003.
It was quite a neat collection of cars I got to see this morning. I wish I had more time to look at them but I had to get to work.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Alert the Media
My nephew has now posted his second blog entry for the month of June. (See link to the right.)
That’s 2 whole posts and there’s still over a week left in the month!
Alert the Worldwide Media!
LOL
I’m teasing. He’s been traveling the past couple of years almost nonstop. And just recently he and the family moved back to Tokyo.
Life must be getting into a normal routine for them so that he now has time to post. I hope so. He’s a good blogger and I’ve missed his entries.
Hopefully he’ll be able to get back to regular posting like he used to do. It’ll be about the only way I can keep up to date on the goings on with him, MIH and EIH.
That’s 2 whole posts and there’s still over a week left in the month!
Alert the Worldwide Media!
LOL
I’m teasing. He’s been traveling the past couple of years almost nonstop. And just recently he and the family moved back to Tokyo.
Life must be getting into a normal routine for them so that he now has time to post. I hope so. He’s a good blogger and I’ve missed his entries.
Hopefully he’ll be able to get back to regular posting like he used to do. It’ll be about the only way I can keep up to date on the goings on with him, MIH and EIH.
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