artandhockey

Quick Aeros Update

2012-02-01T20:18:00.000-06:00

Fischer, Martin, Stretch gone.
Clackson #24 and Radja #10 released and resigned.
Also added (again!) Mike Montgomery

Chers readers will recall Montgomery was signed to a PTO in December and released shortly thereafter. Now he's back again. In the video he is Nr.6.

Tartuffe equals guffaws

2012-01-30T11:16:00.001-06:00

Yes, it's true.
This comic opera really made us chuckle, laugh aroar. Too amusing by far!
But also has some rather lyrical pieces such as this one presented in recital.

University of Houston Moores School of Music presented American Composer Kirke Mechem (1925- )'s Tartuffe based on the play by Moliere. Sung by students of the School with real energy as seen 1/29 (last performance).

The composer/librettist was present at the pre-curtain talk. He admitted candidly inserting several phrases from operas and works of masters he admires: Mozart, Wagner, Beethoven to just name a few. He also mentioned in a chat with us later, that his time in Vienna in the 50's and a 60's had influenced him immeasurably to compose and write this opera the way he did. Having a living and breathing (and he was incredibly YOUNG looking at 78!) composer to ask questions of, was an extra bonus greatly appreciated. How else would I have found out that my Wiener Luft (Vienna's air) was so influential to him :-)! Mechem managed well to follow in Mozart's footsteps as comic music composer with tongue-in-cheek humor! At least with this piece.

And it worked!

Having young singers with considerable histrionic talents helped, too!

Most slapstick acting combined with impressive singing came from Brandon Grimes, the Tartuffe on Sunday. To huge approbation by the enthusiastic, mostly young, audience. Who seemed to truly enjoy this musical spoof.

Meghan Garvin, Marianne (Orgon's daughter), and Nicole Woodward, Elmire (Orgon's second wife) sang AND acted beautifully throughout.

Kelly Balmaceda was a chirpy coloratura soprano suited to the role of Dorine, the wise maid (surely based on Blonde by Mozart from his ABDUCTION)...was she sorta channelling Kathleen Battle?

James Rodriguez as Orgon managed with sonorous aplomb the pomposity and stubbornness this role requires. And caused quite a few laughs while doing so.

Tyler Tucker (Damis-Orgon's son) and Nicholas DeMeo (Valere-Marianne's lover)

were more than adequate in their portrayals.

Madame Pernelle, (Orgon's Mother) sung by steely voiced Devyn Werner provided more comic relief!

Laurence, Tartuffe's, and Flipote, Mme Pernelle's servants were silent roles.

The small orchestra (just 14 members) half of them wind instruments was ably conducted by Jake Sustaita.

Stage Director, and former opera singer, David Ward directed the cast with a sensitive feel for comedy.

Set design and bright lighting by Thom Guthrie; Richard Walsh designed the modern (1920's era) costumes.

Mechem's music, is accessible, tonal though in a more modern way.

Other works, primarily vocal music, are:

The Operas: John Brown (drama inspired by abolitionists), The Rivals, (based on Sheridan's play) , Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austin the inspiration for it)and choral works such as this

Love - Hate

2012-01-29T09:06:00.003-06:00

Love it cold.
Hate it cold..

My mind loves cold weather.
Everything seems crisper, clearer and brisker!
Yes!

My body does not.
Every time the temperatures dip below 45 F it rebels.
The Nose itches, drips.
I sneeze. Too often.
The Eyes itch, water.
And get bloodshot.
I get chilled to Bones which have turned to jelly.
Teeth chatter.
Joints ache all over!
The Skin feels like a too tight garment, which itches like hell.
The Scalp itches.
And no relief by scratching since even hair hurts that much it cannot be touched.
Fingertips, palms and soles tingle.
And do so, even if not 'gone to sleep'.
Feeling like a damp, cold, limp washrag! :-)!
On the positive side---NO hives, as yet!
Allergic to cold? Sure looks like it.

On the Aeros front...
Love it when they play well.
Hate it when they don't.
As in another loss on the road vs. Rampage last night at the ATT.
To the tune of 5-2.
Rampage scorers:
Rallo, Wright, Thomas, Repik and Kearns (empty net)
And all fans went home with a free chick filet coupon :-)!
The two Aeros goals in the 2. and 3. period by Di Salvatore (Fredheim, McIntyre)
and a PP by McIntyre (Ortmeyer, Cuma) .
Kuemper in net. Loosing must be catching?
Didn't see the game, so can't comment on HOW the guys played.
But it just hasn't sat well with me for a time now.
Something... just can't put my finger on it ... IS missing,
despite the painful gains of points in OT and SO losses.
Do I think they can make it to the play offs?
Just don't know.
Feel rather negative about it all.

Just for the sake of watching hockey I do go to games.
BUT even that has become something less exciting than in the years before.

It is:
Changes in rules?
Changes in players attitudes?
No real Soft Spots to root for? :-), ;-).
Change in my attitude-have I become too blase?
Am I bored? Is' ma fad?

I don't know.

'Nuf said.

Aeros loose to OKC

2012-01-28T05:03:00.000-06:00

So, the curse now seems to have taken hold over OTR games as well!
Sad surprise upon coming home to hear about another loss. Aeros lost to OKC 2-5.
Correct me if I am wrong, but Aeros have yet to get a win vs OKC?

For 2 periods Aeros did not manage one goal. In the third (maybe after a talking to in the locker room?) the "Third Period" Aeros went back out and managed 15 SOG with 2 goals by Broda (McIntyre and Fontaine) and DiSalvatore (Wellman and Radja), but too late. BTW all the call ups were back in action plus the newbie Fischer!(previous post).
Who even had one SOG!
OKC had 4 goals in hand and got another one (of two SOGs) in the third to firmly lock in the win.
And remain in first place with 61 points!
Hackett was in goal for Aeros.
Danis for OKC.

David Fischer Aeros newest Dman

2012-01-27T19:39:00.000-06:00

But for how long?
The newest man on the Aeros roster was signed to a PTO on January 26,
while C.J. Stretch was released on the same day.

Another Minnesota boy (born 19. Feb 1988)
Defenseman David Fischer was drafted by Montreal Canadiens. Earlier this season he skated for Florida Everblades, and fought!

David Fischer
Defense
Born Feb 19 1988  -- Apple Valley, MN 
Height 6.03 -- Weight 190 -- Shoots R
Selected by Montreal Canadiens round 1 #20 overall 2006 NHL Entry Draft

                                            --- Regular Season ---  ---- Playoffs ----
Season   Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2006-07  U. of Minnesota             WCHA   42    0    5    5   14
2007-08  U. of Minnesota             WCHA   45    2   12   14   18
2008-09  U. of Minnesota             WCHA   31    2   11   13   16
2009-10  U. of Minnesota             WCHA   39    2    4    6   28
2010-11  Florida Everblades          ECHL   64    3   26   29   43   4   0   0   0   2
2011-12  Florida Everblades*         ECHL   37    4   21   25   36
2011-12  Houston Aeros               AHL    Statistics Unavailable
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rosemary for Remembrance

2012-01-26T12:35:00.000-06:00

This morning the house smells like rosemary!

It is said: "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance." (Hamlet).

So I remember Rataplan.
Well, listening to La Forza del Destino (Verdi) helps.

Actually I think Verdi stole the idea from Donizetti :-) !

Opera lovers do remember Rataplan from
Fille du Regiment!

Which Donizetti (1797-1848) composed and which was premiered in 1840.

Now comes Verdi (1813-1901) and his Rataplan from the Opera La Forza del Destino!

Which he composed in 1861 - 21 years after the premiere of Donizetti's Fille!

And that is surely plenty of time for Verdi to have heard, seen or otherwise discovered that tune and that idea!

Presenting this really rousing aria are :
Marianna Tarasova in 1990 (quite a favorite to my ears)

a modern version in set and costumes from Vienna with sexy Nadia Krasteva in 2008

and Elena Nicolai singing it in Milano (1954)

Somehow I think this one, too, was sneaked from Donizetti!

What do you say?

Maybe Donizetti sneaked it from the Czech folk song which is also often named as possible source for it!

But did he ever visit the lands in Moldavia, Bohemia, etc.?

To have heard it hummed, sung or played?

Who knows

"Wikipedia states: The Trapp Family Singers recorded a song titled "Carol of the Drum" (identified on the Decca record jacket as a "Czech carol") prior to their 1955 retirement. This song resembles "The Little Drummer Boy" in music and lyrics, except for replacing the lamb with an ass in the line "The ox and lamb kept time." This difference in lyrics may seem odd until one realizes that an ox and donkey are depicted in paintings of the Nativity going all the way back to ancient icons of the event. They recall the biblical prophecies of Isaiah, specifically Isaiah 1:3: "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib."

The one we all know and love, even if played continuously ;-) during the X-mas seasons, was composed around 1958 by Katherine K. Davis (she, too, said it was based on a Czech folksong , but as classic music teacher she would have been as familiar with Donizetti and Verdi, wouldn't she?), H. Onorati and H. Simeone and became huge hits for many artists.

Soon I'll go and season a sauce with rosemary!

Talking or singing?

2012-01-25T11:11:00.000-06:00

"Prose talks and poetry sings" as Franz Grillparzer stated.

I have known for some time now that I talk better than I sing ;-).
So I enjoy translating as a favor for friends.
Because every time I do, I research the subject to be sure the translation is as accurate as possible.
Even if the writing is in Kurrent, which - mumble years ago - I did know to write and read fluently.
Yes, even though it was not used generally after 1941.
But there were many relatives who wrote only that way in letters.

But have not practised for quite a while, of course.
Who still uses that now except as a hobby?
Plus individuals' handwritten versions are very hard to decipher.
Usually I am asked (as a favor) to translate from one language into another.
Or actually compose a letter in another language following friends' suggestions re content.
Either one is fun to do.

Just because, I began {and quit :-)} to translate a favorite book of my youth!
I quit when I realized that my poetic talent was inadequate to do the great author justice. One's imagination/talent must take over to fluidly convey the meanings!
I do enjoy posting my scribbles here, but realize none are world shaking essays.
But-and that is important - it IS fun!
And it keeps those 'little grey cells' active
to use a phrase often spoken by Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie )

Some things just cannot be translated as written, as computer translations do.
Which so often are a huge source for mirth, and truly make my day.
Since idioms and slang expression are non translatable.
Living languages evolve through daily use and inclusions of foreign phrases which may be adapted rather informatively :-)!
Monde und Jahre vergehen und sind auf immer vergangen , aber ein schöner Moment leuchtet das Leben hindurch.

Basta.. Blame it on this rainy day in Houston :-)!

Monde und Jahre vergehen und sind auf immer vergangen , aber ein schöner Moment leuchtet das Leben hindurch.

A point gained

2012-01-22T20:04:00.000-06:00

a game lost..
that's our AEROS! :-)
With Hackett in goal.
But the rather 'Caliente' Rampage won this one as well

It's gonna be a long up and down road to play offs!

Painstakingly accumulating points!

Look, I can hear already the excuses....

So many call ups.
Tired players in 3 back to back games.
You name and it will be said.
And I can hear the coaches remarks...
for confirmation I need only go read the quotes - in the official press.
They might as well just replay them!
Enuf said!

So another point is gained..

2012-01-22T10:05:00.002-06:00

even though they lost to Texas Stars last night. Stars 4 and Aeros 3..SO Loss!
In their 8th shoot out loss. Which is a season (thus far) record in the AHL.
Only one other team, The Connecticut Whale has 5 SOL - a bit smaller!
And yet, the Aeros (53 games played) remain in 2nd place after OKC Barons (59) and ahead of Abbotsford Heat (53). Aeros Numbers thus far: W 21, L 9, OTL 3, SOL 8.
The miracle of last night's game was the huge number of saves made by Sunshine Kid Kuemper. Of the 49 sogs by the Texas Stars he stopped 45 which earned him the Nr. 3 Star.

Kuemper saves-no goal for Brule(artandhockey)

And despite the loss Mike Radja (a sorta Aeros newbie) made it to Nr. 1 * (2 goals).
Now if just all of those newbies the Aeros have hired on lately could be as examples to the 'old gang'?
~~Joel~~ Joey Martin (goal), C.J. Stretch
and the newest newby Chris Clackson, all had assists lately.
Morin of Texas was the 2.*

We were not at Cedar Park, just listened, off and on, to the voice of the Aeros.
And how about Kuemper getting 2 penalties for delay of game!
Someone please explain that - someone who actually saw what went down!
On the other hand he also got a 2. assist on the Fontaine goal in the 2. period.
Wayyy to go Kuemper!
And does he, or does he not, channel a younger Barry Brust?
While Genoway's and Garbutt's penalties in OT did not result in PP goals for either side.
BRAVO, Kuemper for doing a yeoman's job last night!
But do practice a bit more on your shoot outs!
As all players ought to!
8 SOLs is nothing to be prouid of, just saying.

La Scala of Tickets $-$$$$$

2012-01-21T11:29:00.001-06:00

it sure seems that cultural companies around the globe - but especially in the USA - are introducing a 'dynamic scale' for ticket pricing.
LA opera will offer $18.00 tickets! Which seem almost on par with cinema ticket prices.
Popular by demand presentations in ballet, opera, concerts, will command higher prices.

Which has been the practice for quite a while in the pricing scale in Hockey when the opponent is a BIG name. If the contender is average the prices stay down - not exactly LOW, mind you, but down a few dollars (i.e. Blackhawks games mid level seats are priced at say 110 per, others at 75 per at the Panthers home).

And that IS a good thing.
Isn't it?

It sure shows that culture is no longer the exclusive domain of the rich. ;-)

Culture, of course, is a non for profit thing.

But for Hockey it's a different ballgame!

Hockey is for profit!

Deja Vu again..

2012-01-21T00:26:00.014-06:00

another at home loss in front of close to a record crowd.

Aeros 0 to SA's first goal by Kearns in the first period.

Aeros play catch up in the second with 2 goals by Newbie J. Martin, Medvec and Foucault, a bit later on, Fontaine with Medvec and the other newbie C. Stretch.

Fontaine

Is Kearns getting ready to score?

Martin returning to bench after goal?

Timmins and Fontaine facing the bull ;-)!

But SA comes back to even the score easily by Thomas with Wright and Cullen (back from the NHL) in the third and the game went into OT, where Kearns with Matsumoto and Yonkman make it a win for the Rampage.

Grumet Morris diving for pucks

Wellman skates desperately but is unable to finish with a
flourish=goal!
Others try their best as well, but again, the at-home-curse strikes and despite 22 sogs, all but 2 stopped handily by Grumet Morris, Rampage out shoot them 33- 3 of which go into the net.

Pas De Deux

Defense?

Medvec with 2 assists

Flashy save by Hackett.

Travel Woes...

2012-01-19T12:15:00.000-06:00

SW Air is sardining more passengers onto their planes per articles in this mornings press.
"As part of the new interior, Southwest will add a row of seats, raising the maximum passenger load on its Boeing 737-700s from 137 seats to 143 seats. That gives the carrier a 4.4 percent increase in capacity without adding an airplane".
Net seatback pouches to save space and weight.
Smaller seat widths to 30-31 maybe!
Skinny people already enjoy the current seat width of 31-32 :-).
Legroom supposed to stay same which is great for short travellers :-)!
Plus thinner cushions.
Which will make more room, so they say, for carry-on luggage under the seat!
Which, of course, is great for the ones who still lug on board suitcases plus several shopping bags or boxes!
BUT - and they really hype this - less incline in the seatback in front.
So maybe it will be easier to straggle out to visit the loo without waking the one in front who snores!

Personally, I really hate to fly anymore.

Pat downs even after one strips off every possible item not approved for getting through the scanner!
Limitations on what one can bring on board.
Long waits in terminals on horribly uncomfortable seats (if one can find one) before boarding.
Delayed flights and not only due to weather.
Luggage fees.
Food fees.
Special early boarding fees.
Seat preference fees,
and other not specified fees
etc.
What once was a glamorous way to travel in style has become a nightmare.
To better see that one does not carry anything objectionable,
it would be best to wear the tightest and shortest clothes possible.
Which some do to the nth degree.
Which makes for some nauseating vistas ;-).
Those that shouldn't - do -
and the sights are rather revealing, to say the least.
Enuf said....
After the next trip via SW I shall report on the comfort seats! ;-)!

Photo Post January 14 -17, 2012

2012-01-17T22:04:00.000-06:00

Potluck Scene 1/14/12 for Opera in the Heights Guild and artists

The Met's Regional Competition In San Antonio 1/15/12

The Finalists and Judges

Soprano ( Co winner) Snouffer, A Judge, Baritones Dyakov and Diamond, Pianist, Tenor Touhy

The busload of HGO Buddies with Studio Member Snouffer!

Celebrating the Wright Goal

Taylor "Tebowing?"

Above and below: From the Rampage vs Heat game on 1/16/12
with emphasis on Krys Kolanos as a favor for his true blue Houston fans :-)

Kolanos hopping on the ice

KK at Face Off

KK in action behind Grumet Morris net

Goal by Heat or not? NOT!

A 'little' defense of Danny Taylor?

Believe it or not, KK in a scuffle

On 1/17/12 shopping for wines and crocs!

Driftwood at Driftwood Vinery

Bare Vines staked below Driftwood Vinery
And no, we did not buy all the wines produced last fall... just a mixed dozen.

And FINALLY: a couple familiar Faces behind the bench !

Opera and Hockey

2012-01-16T21:28:00.000-06:00

well, sort of.
On Saturday we held the Opera in the Heights "potluck' and a nice time was had by all with lots of laughs, hugs with old favorites and happy getting to know you for newcomers singing in Anna Bolena.

Yesterday afternoon Better Half and I listened, at times rather spellbound, to 8 finalists in the Regional Competition for a spot to compete in the Nationals at the Metropolitan Operas Young artists program later this spring.
4 of the finalists represented the HGO Opera Studio. And who were enthusiastically supported by a busload of Houston buddies and opera lovers, plus several who drove their own cars (as we did).
But only one made it. Coloratura Soprano Lauren Snouffer shared first place with the more dramatic soprano Annamarie Zmolek.
The sole tenor (HGO Studio) of the 8 finalists, who seemed to have enchanted the audience of opera cognoscenti and just opera lovers, did not get even a mention. Even though his selection was unusual and not only sung beautifully but who also showed great stage presence!
Other than of course, that all 8 finalists were lauded as having big talents with huge promise!
It doesn't matter. It was an enjoyable afternoon.

Then on to the Ranch for a relaxing night to be ready for tonight's Rampage versus Abbotsford Heat contest. Rampage 2 : Heat 1.
Of which I shall post briefly..
with photos (albeit with just a little point and shot of less than 3 inch long lens which falls within the allowed length for non-media or professional picture takers) to be posted after returning to my desk top.
This little net book is incapable to receive uploads..

The Rampage peppered Danny Taylor of HEAT with 31 shots 28 of which he saved.
Grumet Morris, who has grown since I saw him first time, stopped 25 of 26 and even had a spectacular belly flop kinda save...rather unexpected and not seen before from this net minder.

Amazingly, Kolanos was on the ice continuously or so it sure seemed, but had ONLY 4 sogs.
While his teammate Nigerian born (?) speedy 'Gonzalez' Akim Aliu had 5, one the only goal for the Heat.

So, with this second in row loss by Heat during a 3 on 3 weekend (they must have been tired, but sure did not look it) and the loss by Texas to Rockford, Aeros are again in 2. place with 51 points and equal number games (40) played to OKC 53 and 3. placed Heat 51.

Well, back to the game.
The first period was exciting! Red (jerseys) Heat taking on the 'Caliente' Rampage.
Lots of fast paced skating, good to great passing, energetic forechecking and hot defense.
One goal each. By Wright for Rampage, and Aliu for Heat.

The second was much less that. Seemed a bit 'blah' lacking some of that oomph that excites fans (4180 at the ATT).
As incredible as it sounds both teams had huge opportunities to score but were stopped effectively by both goalies. Only Ex- Aeros Mark Cullen was able to stuff one in on a rebound off his stick in the rather exciting 3. period.

Throughout I was surprised how few passes were sent Krys Kolanos' way by his team mates.
And equally surprised by the speed and accuracy exhibited by Akim Aliu!
Rampage players appeared to take KK's presence on the ice personally and made hampering him from scoring a priority. Just saying :-).

Of course died-in-the-wool Rampage fans may not agree.

The 2 Refs and their 2 aides, blew many whistles, but only 8 penalties.
3 on Rampage - no PP goal for Heat. 5 on Heat and one of that became one goal for Rampage!
It seemed to me that there were many 'commercial breaks' which halted the flow of the game which then took awhile to be resumed.
But it was overall a good game, especially nice to see 2 familiar faces behind the bench of the Heat! Ward and Strand.
For photos... come visit here Tuesday late night or Wednesday morning!
Because tomorrow we will be wine tasting (and buying-lol).
And shopping at Tanger Outlets !!!! on the way ho on a predicted to be splendid sunny warm day.

Another 'On The Road' Win for Aeros

2012-01-14T08:31:00.000-06:00

So.. they did it again. An OTR win versus Peoria. 2-1
And a newbie named Mike Radja - below scoring a 'flying goal' and his stats

2007-08 U. of New Hampshire H-Eas 36 19 24 43 32
2007-08 Syracuse Crunch AHL 2 0 3 3 0 -- -- -- -- --
2008-09 Fresno Falcons ECHL 8 7 6 13 4 -- -- --
Regular Season Playoffs
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2002-03 Waterloo Black Hawks USHL 56 17 16 33 45 6 0 2 2 4
2003-04 Waterloo Black Hawks USHL 55 17 23 40 4 12 4 5 9 35
2004-05 U. of New Hampshire H-Eas 42 8 12 20 28
2005-06 U. of New Hampshire H-Eas 38 8 9 17 26
2006-07 U. of New Hampshire H-Eas 33 19 18 37 12 -- --
2008-09 Rockford IceHogs AHL 57 11 12 23 20 1 0 0 0 0
2009-10 TPS Turku SM-li 25 6 3 9 12 -- -- -- -- --
2009-10 Syracuse Crunch AHL 31 7 7 14 12 -- -- -- -- --
2009-10 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 17 5 5 10 6 5 0 1 1 4
2010-11 Augsburg Panthers DEL 49 11 8 19 26 -- -- -- -- --
2011-12 Elmira Jackals* ECHL 32 17 17 34 20
2011-12 Binghamton Senators* AHL 3 0 1 1 2
2011-12 Peoria Rivermen* AHL 2 0 0 0 0
2011-12 Houston Aeros AHL 1 0 1 1

helped with the Broda (again) goal. Where Kassian got the second helper!
And the first goal was by Fontaine, Di Salvatore and Penner on a PP.
All came in the First Period.
Sunshine Kid Kuemper is getting more assured in the net.
And another Spur of the moment BUG was sitting on the bench.

AND Gillies, if clearing waivers this morning, will be seen again with the Aeros.

Aeros update, Wieder mal Deutsch, Gratifying it is...

2012-01-12T10:26:00.000-06:00

to know that chers readers from around the world are clicking on artandhockey since its inception in 2009.
Amazingly, the most visited post is Slaying Dragons of the Mind, which was just a post written on a whimsical spur of the moment - with 'no mind boggling' contents :-).
On the other hand, Hackett is the most sought
out label/reference in the index.
Followed closely by a post of last January 16. when the Griffins came to town.

Whimsical Titles and foreign languages seem to draw readers' attention.
I guess it is time for another post in German.
Which shouldn't be too hard to do :-)!

Besonders, wenn man bedenkt, wie amuesant Google Uebersetzungen zu lesen sind.
Weil Google natuerlich weder Idioma noch Dialekt uebersetzen kann.
Aber davon in einem anderen Post.
Momentan flimmert es vor meinen Augen..
aber das hat nichts mit den zwei Staroperationen, die hinter mir sind, zu tun :-)!

Ich dachte, ich koennte mal was auf Spanisch oder Franzoesisch schreiben, aber fand heraus, mein Wortschatz ist in dem Jahr, als ich aufhoerte die Sprache ernstlich zu studieren, stecken geblieben.

So - bleib' ich halt beim Deutschen - hie und da.
Und hauptsaechlich dem Englischen, was sich nach '-zig' Jahren hier, schon natuerlicher anfuehlt, als die eigene Muttersprache. Leider.
Kommt wahrscheinlich davon, dass Deutsch weniger gesprochen und gelesen wird. Besonders das Lesen.
Buecher auf Deutsch, kommen mir schon so holprig an, mit ihren seitenlangen Saetzen unter anderem..
So, a la Thomas Mann und besonders in "Buddenbrooks"
wenn Leser(innen) auch Latein und andere Fremdsprachen beherrschen sollen.

Und die Klammern (), {},?, !, Beistriche ', - und anderes, was im Deutschen so haeufig angewandt wird, und die eben einen Satz in eine Schlange wandeln .

Da finde ich fast - ich sage fast - die knappe Schreibweise des Ernest Hemingways vorziehbarer. Death in the Afternoon z.B. koennte man, als Corrida und Matador aficionada, fast als Nachschlagswerk einreihen.
Das beste Werk jedoch, wenn es sich um die eigentlichen Stiere dreht, ist Angus McNab's "The Bulls of Iberia"- darueber hinaus sind mir seine politischen Ansichten schnurzegal :-)! Viele Authoren besuchten McNab in Toledo, z. B. Michener und Waugh. McNab war auch als Historiker bekannt.

Eine Freundin gibt mir woechentlich eine Deutsche Zeitung -
so zum Praktisieren meines Deutschlesens, LOL .
Nun, sie hat ja Recht!
Beim Sprechen kann ich nicht verleugnen, dass ich eine (fast) waschechte Wienerin bin. Beim Schreiben jedoch schleicht sich so manches aus dem Englischen ein :-)!
Ich find das ist auch so bei anderen, die, wie ich, schon jahrelang in Amerika hausen.
Na bitte, Feuilletons und dergleichen sind recht interessant zu lesen! Ja, wirklich!
Kommt es aber zur Nachrichten Seite, dann wird's schon eher blah.
Denn ich habe natuerlich nicht die blasseste Ahnung, was so in DEM Winkel Deutschlands passierte und noch heute passiert.
Das Format der Zeitung ist auch enorm. Jedoch der Geburtsort der Zeitung ist klein! Ich kann mir kaum vostellen, wie enorm eine Zeitung einer grossen Stadt waere!? :-)! Man braucht tatsaechlich einen grossen Tisch um sie 100% ausbreiten zu koennen. WSJ wirkt dagegen fast wie ein Zwerg, LOL!

And on the Aeros Front...
the "Sunshine Kid" Kuemper had its first shoot out win against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Stopping 34 of 36! We knew he could do it and he DID!
Hackett being called up for an ailing (again) Josh Harding. A youngster named Jared Everhardt from Lansing College sat as BUG. Which, I'm sure, tickled him no end-just to breathe in the rarified air of AHL hockey :-)!

Foucault chasing the puck

Goals to even the score came ONLY in the 3.-The "3.period Aeros" were in evidence once again.
By Di Salvatore/Broda and Ortmeyer/Foucault on a PP (as mentioned before - this seems to be a winning combo of solid Veteran and hot-to trot Rookie! -LOL)
And one of the SO goals also by Di Salvatore with the decisive one by Foucault.

Of course, it was another WIN NOT AT HOME!
But we take any, eh? To keep Aeros in contention for play offs... and it sure looks more and more that way.
Now if they JUST could add a few AT HOME wins {after all in playoffs, lotsa games ARE played there ;-)}

NO DSL... NO Water INSIDE

2012-01-09T20:25:00.000-06:00

BUT PLENTY outside!
The street in front and the bayou sure, looked like IKE all over again.
And stupid drivers pushing their luck ...and getting stuck.
The cavalry, as in Firetrucks, rushing to the rescue!
And the backwash - huge.
So while staying snuggly dry and keeping a weather eye on the rising waters,
missed some Aeros tansactions.

A call up for McIntyre..one of the 'heroes' in San Antonio and
a send down of Scandella to 'cool his heels' for awhile.

A NOT AT HOME WIN for AEROS

2012-01-08T23:53:00.000-06:00

Whatever the coaches said to them after the last LOSS AT HOME, it worked!
A peppy Aeros (24 SoGs) won over an even more peppy Rampage (36 SoGs)with Broda (2 goals) as Star #1, Barlow (2 goals) Nr. 2 and Hacket with 33 saves Nr. 3 Star.

Barlow scores first when Hackett is out of position

That one is A SAVE

Heavy action in front of Grumet Morris

Broda open mouthed "Where did it go?"

Last goal (4th) for Aeros

The Pause that refreshes

A bench on its toes....final moments

Fast paced, few penalties and Aeros managed 2 PP goals by Foucault, Prosser, Genoway and DiSalvatore, Rau and Taffe out of 4 oppos.
Broda with McIntyre gets 1. Aeros goal and
the last Aeros goal with McIntyre and Fontaine.
Enough said.
All photos by artandhockey in no specific order

Bagnal helps keep puck out of net

Barlow getting ready for his 2. goal!

On second thought...

2012-01-07T10:35:00.000-06:00

maybe the trek to San Antonio on Sunday to see Aeros win NOT AT HOME,
is really not such a good idea after a miserable tossing and turning kinda night.
Better Half's Back and my left knee and right hip are protesting creakily & loudly!
Especially after last night's disappointment-at home again!
So, chers readers with empathy will understand there will be neither post nor photos.
Especially those of you who also have protesting joints ;-)!

And for Aeros Hockey, let's say "It is just a game".
Except of course, that for most of us hockey is more than that.
But we may have to accept that it is no longer the kind of hockey it once was
and what brought us to it!

Players are playing it safe

for the expected, or fervently wished for, call ups' sakes
for the kiddies, wives' and girl friends' sakes
for the 'playing older - playing longer' sakes
and for whatever sakes - they do get paid in any case!

All of the above plus more, with the help of numerous new regulations, rules - designed "to protect and nurture players". And leaving old timey hard core fans floundering and scratching heads.
"To buy season tickets or not to buy"
that question seems to loom larger than ever.

Wanna have fun, win or loose, buy a single game ticket and enjoy.
Wanna have heartaches, buy a season and suffer through increasingly sloppy and uninspiring but safe playing.

Earlier I posted that neither last, and especially not this, season not a single player inspired a 'soft spot' moment (lol) as was the case several years ago.

Corey Locke "one of the 2 Blond Beasts", Mathieu Beaudoin "Matty" by Trask

Krys Kolanos, "the other Blond Beast - or The Greek god" by artandhockey

John,"the Lamb", Lammers in Europe

"Wild Man" Barry Brust by Jerina

"Dimples" Khudobin and "The Scrapper" Daoust from 'A Meet the Team'

Petr Kalus,"Avalanche", by ?

Maxim Noreau,"Ironman", by Jerina

'Bucky' Brandon Buck by Jerina

Those 'soft spots' - above with nicknames, (yours or ours) - are still being followed in their career.
They seem to represent hockey as it was once - a profession for die-hard enthusiasts!

And I ask WHY?
And all I can come up with is the sneaky feeling that the enthusiasm, deep love of playing hockey has gone from the hearts of most current players.
It is only just a job for big or bigger money, or is it?
The safer they stay - the longer they play! :-)! or :-(!
They now just skate a bit and score a little, and stay as healthy as possible for call ups!
Maybe that's it.

Let's just accept to see the OTHERS win in front of our HOME crowd.
Let OTHER teams' fans see the Aeros win on THEIR turf...just kidding.
And let's just blame coaches, the system, the travel-, the 3-3 schedule!

But not the guys!
A game is just a game, right!

We win, they loose.
We loose, they win.
Whatever, it is just a game - big sourly grin!
Amen!

Aeros 1:Rockford 4 - so the curse continues

2012-01-06T23:46:00.000-06:00

The only positive thing IMO of tonight's performance - if one can call it that - was that Mike McKenzie got his first goal of the season to even the score after the Icehogs scored almost immediately.
You'd think, that the presence of a respectable crowd of over 7,000 would have fired up the Aeros!

But, other than Kuemper getting his award early on, Hackett stopping 28 of 31 (the last goal for Rockford being an empty netter - Hackett is absolved from that !)

Final last seconds

Another Goal for Icehogs

Battling for the Puck: Genoway vs Richards

4 on Defense and yet...??

and the afore mentioned baptism of McKenzie with godparents Prosser and Kassian,
it was a depressing game.
Rockford skated, fought a seemingly discombobulated Aeros.
There was lots falling about.
Several lost and broken sticks.
Fortunately 2 'might have been' injuries weren't, as far as I could tell tell.
Both 'nose holding' skaters - one from each team - were back skating soon after!

A conference re what?

And the Ref (singular) called ONLY 4 penalties - neither resulting in a PP for either side!

Richards pushing Genoway away from the puck in front!

Hackett saves that one

But fans, it WAS an at home game..
and the majority of those, as we are getting used to, are being lost.

AHL All Star Classic Roster

2012-01-04T19:15:00.000-06:00

among them will be Matt Hackett, Jon DiSalvatore, Corey Locke, Krys Kolanos..
to name a few Aeros hockey fans will recognize.. the full information here.

NO sunshine tonight

2012-01-01T23:02:00.001-06:00

Sprawling did not help tonight

First OKC Goal in the 2. period opened floodgates

Even though the sunshine kid, Darcy Kuemper, managed to stop 23 of 29 shots the OKC Barons threw at him in front of close to 11,000 'fans' .. Yann Danis got the shut out winner of OKC 6 Aeros 0!

Despite the fact that Ortmeyer WAS back.
Despite the fact the the 1. Period started rather promising. So promising in fact, that I turned to Better Half and commented: "Well, sure looks like the guys came out full of pep tonight. Maybe all due to the Hot and Spicy Texas Caviar (Black eyed Peas.. a tradition at New Year's Eve Parties down here in the South)".

It was however the OKC Barons who spiced up the game...skating well, passing well, penalty kill well done, and making 4 of 9 7 PP opportunities count, plus 2 goals on 5 on 5. And badgering Kuemper who, it must be said, let in 2 that could have been stopped - and he did try - throwing himself into it (see pic).

Despite the fact, that some like Foucault, Rau, Fontaine skated like the devil were after them..
But some of the blame lies squarely with the less than stellar performance of the defense, the offense... two major penalties for fighting did not improve the game, except of course fired up the audience.

A stickless Almond keeps on skating ;-0.

I do not really like fighting, but the Almond/Ringwald bout was IMO "legal".
Ringwald, not just once, but several times pulled the 'waiting forever behind his own net' trick to delay the game once too often to suit Almond. Why was there No penalty 'delay of game'?
Maybe because it's a newish thing and neither NHL (where it started) nor AHL have decided on how to regulate that.
Well whatever, Almond hot-headily started to 'regulate' on his own, and the fans approved! Those fans, that booed loudly every time Ringwald pulled that ruse!

Linesman holding Tremblay, to save Broda :-)!

The second fight between Tremblay and Broda, alas, ended with Broda subdued and loosing.
Which he seems to be prone to as seen in his previous fights.
Why start a fight when the outcome is negative? A Kassian he is not!

Desperate Measures to keep the puck away?

Despite the fact that in the 3. a bit more pep was shown by Aeros getting off 11 sogs.. all of which Yann Danis stopped handily-with the help of some outstanding defense, I must admit.

Final Assault - in vain - no, single, honor goal for Aeros

And insured that their coach Todd Nelson will be Head Coach for the Western Conference at the All Star AHL Classic Game in Atlantic City. That could have been a HUGE spur for the Barons, especially after their loss 3-4 to the Rampage at Cox Center Dec. 31.

It was NOT a pretty game. It was NOT an exciting game.
You know like some games win OR loose are exciting.
It was a poorly played, disorganized game on the Aeros part, IMO.
And resembled a sacrifice of the innocent ="sunshine kid'!

Enuf said!
Guys, Aeros you need to play more consistent.

Just a thought on Wild & Aeros team rosters...

2011-12-31T21:27:00.001-06:00

The Wild's line up tonight had 6, or if you wanna count Clutterbuckand Spurgeon, 8 AEROS/ex-Aeros on the bench to 11 WILD
(27 players on the current roster).
Plus the injured Wellman, Stoner, and Palmer!
And Scandella, a scratch! And Harding the BUG.. makes it 13.
Half the Wild team are Aeros or Ex Aeros..which is, of course, wonderful for the guys from Houston.

Not so wonderful for the guys left IN Houston, 20 in number,
unless there's another call up. And especially for the fans.
But at the least fans might be able to see new talent on ice up from the CHL, ECHL or where ever they can find them!
But however exciting that may be, it must be darn hard on the coaching staff to keep 'introducing newbees to 'THE SYSTEM' in short time!
As of now, no new faces have been added..but there still are a few hours to go till the next game tomorrow at home.

On the other hand, in a television sports reportage earlier tonight (headed by Slovak.. yes, THAT guy who was soooooo excited last season to finally be at a hockey game) not a single word about Aeros Hockey.
Baseball, Football, Basketball and Soccer! And that was it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

GO AEROS!

(It might be too much to hope that AEROS reps will be on hand at the New Year's Celebration at the rink at Discovery Green? ;-D)

Slightly befogged - Aeros Win

2011-12-31T09:03:00.000-06:00

Early Morning Fog Over Bayou - 31.12.2011

but in a nice way.
Because..
well, because the Aeros are leaving 2011 with a win!
And are still in 3rd place in the West right after Heat.. which won last night as well, which will please KK fans!

By the enormous effort of Hackett!
Who was listed as the Nr. 2 Star between McIntyre (1) and Penner (2)
Who stopped 38 of 40 sogs thrown at him by a hyper aggressive but almost fruitlessly scurrying Rampage.
Last night at the ATT Center, to which a slew of dedicated, and ultimately very happy, fans traveled.

Well, what more can I say.
I was not there.
Aeros 5 Rampage 2.
Aeros got five goals on two goalies...
yes, Markstrom pulled for Grumet Morris.
Markstrom had a really bad 'ice day'.

While Hackett, according to the Voice of the Aeros, acrobatically managed to make save after huge save! Maybe similar to above!

Now, astute chers readers -
you will have guessed, that I am back on a freshly scrubbed,
free from insidious Trojans and viruses (or ought that be viri?) computer.

After the first day with withdrawal symptoms, lol, I did not miss it abysmally.
Really enjoyed reading BOOKS.
You know that kind that one holds and flips its pages with moist thumb :-)!
The most interesting IMO was Alan Furst's "Night Soldiers" .
Of course, I have read one or two by him before. But I felt this one was the most fascinating, yet!
How to describe it? Best I can do is borrow the name from a reviewer "Historic Espionage novel" and so it was. And rather absorbing, too.
Following its Bulgarian protagonist through training at the NKVD (KGB or whatever initials used) through the Spanish Civil War, German occupation of France to his ending up finally in the USA after 'escaping' the long reach of the NKVD, at least that is the assumption on which the novel ends.
Next in line in fascination quotient was "The Lost" by Daniel Mendelsohn, a deeply felt and researched history into the lives of "lost" relatives, interspersed with Torah excerpts. A must read for anyone who is a student of the holocaust and its effect on the generations following.
"Snow falling on Cedars" by David Guterson, sort of a court room drama which involves events following Pearl Harbour, the Japanese internment and its long term effects of that. Only to end on a positive note. Well written and gripping, he does let the characters grow in stature, at the end.

"Tell Me Another Morning", an autobiographical novel by Zdena Berger is one of the rare books that provide some insight into the lives of women and girls during the Nazi years, and in the camps. The way the author uses the 'present tense' makes reading it even more stirring.

After that came two 'easy reads' fictions.
The less said the better.. just a few hours spent on those.
But one has to step away from the sad and horrible, just to relax!
And nothing relaxes more that a steamy romance,
or some cleverly constructed crime, fiction...no? :-), :-D!!!

So now you know, chers readers, that having only limited access to the web was rather relaxing.
At least for me.

Ah, you say what about "News of the World"? Well t'was sufficient to just get the biased (alas) condensed versions on the Nightly News (lol).
No real worries about 'catching up' with Tweets, FB.
I may have missed some birthdays.
Or other momentous event?
Maybe!
That a friend was "at this or that place" which by the time most of us get around to reading it, is already old news, :-)!
And new photos posted by friends around the world.
But never fear others will be posted - that is a given.
So a few days without the web was not devastating... after that First Day! Lol.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

AEROS WIN

2011-12-26T23:32:00.000-06:00

tonight at Home in OT in front of a larger crowd than usual.
Am a bit late in posting, had to borrow a computer.. mine crashed yesterday morning-nice x-mas present, :-)!
The Rampage's Caruso with Timmins, scored first in the Second period. And on a Hackett, once more wayyy out his position.
And that after he had made a great save, on a regular SoG then immediately after he also caught a 'flying' rebound!
After two so-so, IMO, periods, the "Third Period Aeros" (with 10 sogs) came out, and Rau, Fontaine, DiSalvatore evened the score on a PP.
And kept the momentum going into OT with the winning goal by Taffe, Disalvatore, Fontaine.
Which came as Rallo sat for Slashing from the 3. into OT.
So part of the thanks for that goal ought to go to Rallo.. not that his teammates will thank him, :-)!

a sprawl by Hackett=a save this time

Rau gettin ready... goal

after the Winning goal in OT

Celebration is finally due!

Some of the crowd.. looked bigger than quoted by AHL

In the goals:
Hackett, as expected and
Markstrom for the Rampage, also as expected. Peters and Palmer are still WILD!
As much as I hate to say it, this game was not one of the most exciting ones.
But a win is a win and in front of the home crowd...FINALLY!
Why??
Better Half and I were NOT wearing Aeros jerseys.
Another fan went ahead and got popcorn even though the Aeros had yet to score which is when they usually get their popcorn ;-)!
Maybe Santa Claus brought some new ooompf to the skating! Lol.
Or maybe it was that Ortmeyer was back, even though he interfered with Markstrom and sat for it!
Just kidding, of course. :-), :-)!!
Briefly, it appeared that Aeros PP has improved (2 goals/ 6 opportunities)
Also improved IMO penalty kill - 5 PP opportunities for the Rampage were safely killed by Aeros.
The three stars (in ascending order)
Caruso, Rau and Taffe.. all the scorers.
Markstrom, making 24 saves in regulation outsaved Hackett's 20 of 21, seemed to me the better goalie.

Markstrom saves a try to score by DiSalvatore, this time.

But then what do I know about goalies!

Demise of an Opera Company

2011-12-25T09:25:00.011-06:00

Sadly, Opera Boston - which performed at the beautiful Cutler Majestic Theater will shutter its doors in the New Year.
It was where I heard friend Barbara Quintiliani, soprano, sing a stunning Donizetti's Maria Padilla last spring.

Opera Boston - in the acoustically glorious theater (see photo above) was not afraid to mount unusual; new ones, such as “Madame White Snake” from the composer Zhou Long with friend Ying Huang Soprano, in the title role; or rarely seen works; and to offer young, emerging singers a chance to tread the boards while singing a rare repertory. Sometimes in company with noted singers who opted to appear there just because.

The stunning and sad news came out of the blue. As I had already pencilled in my calendar the dates of its performances of I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Bellini with friend Mezzosoprano Marie Lenormand -

scheduled for April 27, 2012 at 7:30 pm, April 29, 2012 at 3:00 pm, May 1, 2012 at 7:30 pm.
My first reaction was. Oh S...!
My second was what the heck? And Why?
Monetary reasons were given.

And that begs the question in my mind, is MET live at the movies the culprit?
It is just so much easier to drive up, buy a 25$ ticket without a lot of hassle and free parking.
Why go and buy a nice subscription even if you can afford it, or - God forbid - donate money to your local opera company, when opera comes to you in glorious HD colors and with such close ups, you can see hairs vibrate! Or Adam's apples jiggle, or other things, all right there in front of you. Plus the showing of the hows and whys behind the curtains. Everything is shown, almost nothing is left veiled ...
Where does that leave the mystery, the wonder of seeing 'stage magic'?
Which was so much part of the enjoyment of LIVE in the Theater performances.
And still is, to me!
Has opera become just another 'reality show'?
And you can go and get popcorn and cokes to pass the time.
Flop around in your grungies!
Running late, no problem it's at the movies and one can come and go at will!
Although,
they do suggest to viewers in the cinema "go and support your local opera company".
Which small opera company in what town will be next?
It's like the Grinch just stole MY Christmas.
It really, really sucks big time!
Damn!
And I hate to swear!

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht...

2011-12-24T09:21:00.000-06:00

Ich wuensche meinen Lesern ein frohes Fest und einen Guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr 2012.

Happy Holidays.

Joyeux Noel.
Feliz Navidad.

Greetings for Hanukkah.
Gud Jul.
Buon Natale.
etc, etc.

Winter Solstice

2011-12-22T09:21:00.000-06:00

the longest and darkest night of the year came and went with a flurry of thunder, lightening and rain.

The outlook seems rosy...the days WILL get longer until the Summer Solstice six months hence.

Don't know why this seems so important just now?

Because on this, the darkest night, the Aeros recorded a loss at home, again.

Against the last placed team!
Which makes it the 12th loss at home, although only 4th in regulation, the others gained them 1 point as OTLs and SOLs.
Because they have now played 31 games (the most played of all teams in the West), of which 16 were wins and 15 losses - away and at home.
And put them in third place in the West.

1	Oklahoma City Barons	30	21	7	0	2	44	0.733	91	68	2-0-0-1	7-2-0-1	3-2	497
2	Abbotsford Heat	30	20	8	2	0	42	0.700	79	70	7-0-1-0	7-2-1-0	5-0	507
3	Houston Aeros	31	16	6	2	7	41	0.661	90	78	0-2-0-1	4-3-0-3	0-7	397
4	San Antonio Rampage	28	14	14	0	0	28	0.500	66	80	4-0-0-0	7-3-0-0	2-0	461
5	Texas Stars	28	13	14	0	1	27	0.482	83	85	1-0-0-0	5-5-0-0	0-1	396

Because they have been doing what an AHL team is supposed to do - raise and train fodder for the NHL mother team. This year alone saw more call ups (forgot how many) to be WILD than in years before. Yes, it plays havoc with "the system", with line mates' chemistry, with players' morale.
Wait - actually that should increase players' morale - this chance to be called to be Wild? Or does the "why him and not me" factor play a bigger role? Instead of inspiring it discourages?
I don't know.
Maybe a sports psychiatrist can figure THAT out!
'Freud of the Hockey World' where are you?

Maybe each team ought to have a board certified Sports psychiatrist on call?
Just as they have a physician for body injuries, just saying!
Maybe they already have them and we, the fans, just don't know.
Just some more of those 'undisclosed' situations.

All I know is this: it may leave fans where? Hung out to dry, methinks.
And all the promotions in the world can't or won't make up for continuing disappointments - at home games. It's a hard slog for the promo guys to whip up enthusiasm in the general public to buy tickets! Especially where Football, Basketball (resurging again), Baseball and Soccer seem more important! Be they 'good' teams or not.

Listen to players interviews and the same phrases crop up over and over, till even I can repeat them in my sleep, LOL - and they do seem soooo scripted - in all sports:
"I do work hard".
"We just have to work harder".
And particularly in Hockey: "Must strive to be called to be Wild" or whatever NHL team is the affiliate.

And the coaches - again applicable to all sports ;-)!
"They have to play hard every night"." No one can just show up and expect to win" and "We will just call up players from the minors, some who want to play, and play hard, every night!"

After all, the minors are 'the kindergardens' and the AHL akin to a 'College Prep School' for the NHL. Sadly there are only few 'miracles' or 'born wizards' on ice'!

Does that make you, the fan, feel better?
I think it ought to. IF one sees AHL and minor hockey as good, fast paced entertainment.
Even a 'badly' played game can be entertaining and exiting.
Yes, really! IF one cares naught for a win.

And with that once more Happy Holidays:

And Once Again Aeros Loose At Home.

2011-12-21T23:59:00.001-06:00

Saved, but how I did it?

It is getting a bit old, this loosing at home in front of a surprisingly largish crowd of 5741! Must have been the Bikinis that brought them out, eh? ;-)
This time, t'was the Texas Stars who had the upper hand. After three periods of chasing the puck around the ice, the Texas Stars and their elite few fans (who made the trek) left as winners Stars 3 Aeros 2. Which just shows that the Aeros did not go quietly into the loss. Hackett in goal had several excellent saves (one I think he might not have known how he did it, but save he did).
And then there was this - goal scored on the rebound by Texas Stars after he, Hackett, stopped the first shot on goal.

Don't wanna get up-they scored afterall

Tonight's game started with great promise...an early goal in the 1. by Rau (wow) -Penner.

BTW he was very busy as face - offer!
Since Peters who usually did the honors, was up North.
As Was Taffe, called up within an hour or so to puck drop.
Almond came up with a big surprise-he got a shorthanded goal in the 2. and that was all the goals the Aeros managed to score.

Despite some hectic activities at Beskorowany's end of the ice (as in clip above)in the last seconds and after Hackett was pulled for another skaterthe numbers are:

Desperate attempts to even the score..it was not to be....sigh!

Stars: 11-12-1=25 SoG to get 0-3-0 goals.
Aeros: 9-11-9=29 and 1-1-0 goals there.

Now if you've read my previous post.. I did wish for a short-legged black haired Bikini Beauty to become 2011/12 Miss Aeros, and it was granted.
As a matter of fact all contestants were dark haired-not a blond in sight except for Miss Aeros 2010/11 who-clever gal-wore leggings and boots to keep out the cold. That privilege was not granted to the bevy of black haired bikini gals.. they just had to shiver and smile!

To my delight this saxophone player did the Anthem in grand style and played some sweet stuff during intermission. Someone must have said let him play (not sing) the anthem, and the Stars fans will not bellow at every *STARS* in it, as they are known to do, alas. Ha, t'was a brilliant idea!

Apropos Stars:

Nr. 1 went to Ryan Garlett for 2 goals (Stars),

Nr. 2 CHAD RAU

Nr. 3 (Stars) Labrie for the game winner.

G'Night y'all!

Spreading Christmas cheer..

2011-12-21T10:34:00.000-06:00

well sorta.
Have wrapped,bagged and handed over all gifts.

Have whistled and hummed the appropriate carols.
Hidden meanings or not!
Have sent cards and emails and facebook wishes.
And, and..
Now it is time to sit back and enjoy what I love.....CHRISTMAS.
Lights, music, cookies fresh from the oven.
Hot chestnuts (as long as I find 6 out 10 that are good I am content... not excatly happy, but..)

And a win by the Aeros at home would be welcomed as a gift to fans...for a change.
And as a novelty a short-legged, black-haired Miss Aeros being crowned.
Now if there would be a crown for a King of AEROS ... with contestants like these the choice would be hard, eh?...
We have already -
The Voice of the Aeros,
an annual Miss Aeros competition,

Fan of the game,
Best seats in the House, etc. -
so why not crown a King of the Aeros?

Reader Survey.
Please Respond. :-)
King of The Aeros:
Vote YES - NO

Just kidding, that dream will not be fulfilled, methinks.
It's men who run the show, right?

Senior Moment

2011-12-20T09:12:00.000-06:00

or worse?
When, for the life of you, you can't remember your pass code(s).
Which, as techie gurus advise, ought to be changed frequently for security reasons.
Nor ought you to use the same for several accounts.
Nor ought you to keep them written down, especially never anywhere on YOUR computer.
So help me. What do I do when my senior moment strikes?

I have had to change my pass code on an account or two already, because I simply could not remember the original one :-). Even more difficult because I also forgot how to answer the security questions which would allow me to change the pass code.
Sigh! :-(

So I had to start all over! Phew!
Now I have the task of guessing the secuirty answers if I want access to any of my accounts. Which IS the real one? Will the real (latest) stand up and bite me! LOL.
Wish it were that simple.

And as we age, we find contemporaries (in the widest sense) are falling like nine pins to the right and left. Of course, ONLY the famous or infamous are heard of in the news.

Now I do know that one dictator finally died at 69! And how could one not..as
articles on and about the man and his legacy (?) are multiple.
And his supporters mourn.
And the world trembles.
Will the enigmatic son of the old dictator be better or be worse?
And the media writes, assumes, discusses endlessly the case.
Is it a disaster in the making? Or is it not?

And then there is Vaclav Havel, or rather was.
He, too, died.
On Sunday, at 75.
He is mourned in Czech Republic,
and by all peace loving people of the world, as well.
But there is relatively little to read about him, as yet.
He, who beside Lech Walesa, was the most influential changer of Eastern European history, simply does not rate as much ado?
He was no dictator.
He was no creator of fear among the world.
What he was - was a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a dissident
and finally a politician as unusual that sounds.
I did find today a few articles on this humane man .

And we also lost another unusual man earlier, in this article the author makes a connection between Hitchens and Havel rather cleverly.

And of other odds and ends:
Revisiting some favored series (on TV) and re-viewing some fave movies, I am struck by the thought of eternal youth!
On celluloid, at least!
Some of those favorite actor(esse)s have also passed into the Great Beyond (if you believe such), but - there they are on film/DVD, etc. in all their glorious youthful looks! Forever and ever.
Relics maybe, but for those of us, who lived to see them while in their prime, forever etched into our minds... as the good or sexy, the bad (Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No.. no relation to Brian Wiseman -I think)
and -
yes, even the ugly-of course, ugly is in the eyes of the beholder.
My fave was this one (left) From Noon Till Three,
IMO a satiric take akin to
Blazing Saddles

Pictured are a very sexy Marlon Brando - "On the Waterfront", "M.A.S.H." - part of the cast, Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No (Bond movie) and Charles Bronson in "Vigilantes"(I believe).

And once more: Merry Christmas

Only SIX more Days till Christmas

2011-12-19T07:38:00.000-06:00

and just that few to go out and admire the light displays..
the good, the bad and the ugly!
And the most!

somewhere in Bellaire

Simple yet lovely

Houston Heights

Merry Christmas!

Bad Gastein, Austria

and imagine Streisand singing

Another Loss at home for Aeros

2011-12-18T21:18:00.000-06:00

Be'Wild'ered Hackett after the 5th Goal by Amerks

they faced the undoubtedly tired Americans (on their last game of a five game/3 games in Texas road trip). In the net was a seemingly be"Wild"ered Wundergoalie. Hackett allowed 5 rather easy goals of 18 SoGs to go in.
And was pulled for the 3. period and replaced by Kuemper who only had to stop 5 SoGs.
Kuemper was pulled (a bit too early, IMO) for a 6th skater with over 2:30 minutes to go and Legault of the Americans promptly managed their 6th goal - an empty netter. I was stunned it happened so fast..I believe Fredheim was unable to control the puck and so opened the 'net' for Legault's solo goal. Americans 6 Aeros 3.

Two of the quoted 4000plus?

PP Goal Nr. 2

It came early in the 1. that Almond, DiSalvatore and Fontaine scored first for the Aeros to the delight of the few fans in attendance (it looked a lot emptier than the 4000 plus quoted). And after the 2. intermission (there must have been some talking to in the locker room) the Aeros came out seemingly newly energized and scored 2 more goals - early PP by DiSalvatore, Penner and Taffe, and about 4 minutes later Reed and Taffe got Number 3.

Last Aeros Goal by Reed etal

It was the 3. Period Aeros we saw, just appearing a bit too late to win!
Their SoGs were 8-8-12.

Americans must have been really hungry for a win to take home after 2 losses in Texas and they did it with 6-12-5 SoGs and 6 goals - all 3 Stars of the Game were Americans (Whitmore, a real American from Rochester yet! Lagace, Legault born QC) even if 2 were Canadian, French ones at that! BTW Leggio their goalie who stopped 25 of 28 SoGs is also an American (born I mean).

A new face AARON LEE (born 1985 Feb. Canada) was Number 10 and seemed quick on his skates, chasing the puck - often successfully, and not afraid on bodily contact when called for...a somewhat auspicious debut at the AHL Level for him. "Lee has defined consistency for the Bees over the past three plus seasons in the Valley playing in 214 games for the Killer Bees which is good for second all-time in Bees history. During that stretch Lee has scored 72 goals (also second all-time) and registered 77 assists".

I have this idea...

2011-12-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

let the shoot out be between the Goalies only!

Goalie One skates leisurely forward -
afterall he is encumbered with his gear that weighs over 65 pds -
and shoots.. he scores.
Goalie Two, ditto!

Now what?

Now both teams win and take home a point each, but it takes a lot less time for that.
And should Goalie Two not score... it is possible, n'est ce pas...
Team One takes home Two Points. as if won in regulation.

And that's it folks.
A simple quick and much less nail biting ending to those infernal shoot outs!
Basta! It's over and done and we can all go home!

Just kidding, of course.
I would NOTwant to deprive y'all of the nailbiter, edge of seat, on your feet, yelling and screaming yourselves hoarse, type of game ender.

Ho Ho Ho

Wild - Aeros Update

2011-12-17T22:27:00.000-06:00

Both teams loose in Shoot out tonight.
Wild 1 - NY Islanders 2. Jarod Palmer, up again, did well per reports.
Like father like son, maybe ;-).
Aeros 2 - Barons 3
Rochester I see, lost to Rampage and lost to Stars.
And tomorrow they face Aeros here. Ought to be what?
Interesting? Mayhem?
Go Aeros.

And Merry Christmas to all.

Exhilaration, Exaltation, Exuberance..

2011-12-17T09:30:00.000-06:00

for more on last night's game by the Aeros vs Texas Stars I refer chers readers to The Third Intermission, Aeros official blogs, AHL score sheet, and Main stream media reports, as well as Aeros post game analysis.
Suffice it to say that the Teddy Bear Toss on Chay Genoway's first goal produced heaps of Teddys-On-Ice.

Better Half and I were just discussing - maybe we should stay away from the games - seems The Aeros do win then! LOL.
Just kidding.. but really, they did loose the last we went there.
And the time before, and the time before, even if they carried away a point for the loss in SO!
Anyway, we had to attend 'command event'.
And so no snapshot photos for my readers to enjoy.

On the other hand, I did read - and how avidly you really can't imagine - a short novella by Author Erika Rummel (she of the recent novel "Playing Naomi"- discussed in this blog some time ago).
Here the author reading from it:

So that little story "The Effects of Isolation on the Brain" reminded me in more than one way (in a sort of tongue -in-cheek manner - not to take anything away from the Author's talent in writing persuasively) a bit of the Aeros.
You say what!

I'll explain:
in the novella the author teases us with announcements of a crime committed.
But then reels away into childhood memories (is it an excuse for her protagonist's crime. Blame it on Mama or Grandma!).
What crime? Who? Why? How?

We are left with "unfinished business".
We do not learn what, why and who was the victim, neither do we learn if the protagonist makes her escape with the help of a questionable ally, or is left to starve, die of cold or what ever fate has in store for her in the frozen 'North'.

Unfinished! A nail biter to say the least.
And an open invitation to the readers to imagine their own endings.

And that's what reminds me of the AEROS...:-).
this nail biter,
this unfinished business,
this incredulous why and who and how.
And fans' imagining, and hoping for, a perfect ending!
So there you have it. :-)!

Rummel is well on the way to finish her second oeuvre - according to the preliminary information it will be series of novellas set in post-war Europe and the other World, (such as in Canada and California).
Or a novel set in Spain!
Or maybe both!
In typical fashion we are left asking!

Anyway..
Merry Christmas to you!
Again.. but then I do love Christmas.

You know something...and more

2011-12-15T11:14:00.025-06:00

its is dashed hard to keep up with the revolving doors between Aeros and Wild.
Now Prosser is shipped back to Houston.
Now Peters called back up to Minnesota. Wellman(injured in Minnesota-will that mean another call up from the Aeros ranks?) still up there, as is Hackett (Hackett reassigned to Aeros), Scandella and others. Martin and Nolan released.
Down here we have have on the injured list Ortmeyer, McIntyre, Palmer..
and who will be next?
That's all folks!
Teddy bear toss ahead with the First Aeros Goal.
When that will be only the Hockey Gods know.
I don't, the fans don't and seems to me the coaches don't.
I won't be there so will just have read about it!
Last evening we were off to MFAH to learn more about Van Gogh which was more about how two guys researched their new biography of VvG over 10 years than the actual art and life of Vincent Van Gogh - although - that he had a sort of epilepsy instead of plain crazy - was a revelation. And, yes he was a lonely man, but the huge output of works in just 10 years still stuns the world, I believe. And that he -desperate for company, painted-imitated Seurat, Cezanne, Gauguin and others, yes, that too was interesting. But it did not work, the others went off and left him lonely again! And that plus the news of his brother's marriage probably caused the episode in which he did cut off his ear. And that he may not have committed suicide... ah well, one just has to go and read the book!

Merry Christmas to all and an Ella Fitzgerald Version of Sleigh Ride:

NHL hockey - action or holding pattern?

2011-12-14T09:43:00.000-06:00

This morning an article in the WSJ caught my eye. Since we had (had is the operative word here) plans to see a couple Tampa Bay Games recently which came to naught.. I avidly read this.

I can imagine only too vividly 20,000 fans yelling "Flyers s.....".

That crowd is a very vocal one which we experienced at previous games.
I just can see in mind's eye the tiny (from where we sat the last times-wayyy up in the nosebleed-section-at prices we could justify paying - lol) 'Philadelphia player ants' leisurely skating in circles and passing the puck among themselves....to the raucous crowd's discontent.

And after I read this article, twice just in case I misread something the first time, I recalled the 1. and part of the 2. period at a recent Rampage game (see post earlier) where the players seemed to move in languid fashion-however the teams managed to get a few more SOGs than the ones written about in the WSJ Article
of this morning :-)!

I wonder if those newly hatched rules, the public distaste for certain 'earthy' events during a hockey game, the holier-than-thou attitude assumed by many fans, commentators and even players, will ultimately be responsible to make NHL hockey just another booooring sport played by well paid athletes who, naturally, want to conserve themselves so that they can earn $$$ for a long time, and owners who want to rack in the $$$ gullible fans seem only to happy to pay for NHL level action (??) - a misnomer after reading that.

And now comes the beef I have sometimes with the mainstream media.
It's the same beef I have when the media writes of world events which are way outside the norm (as perceived by the - for want of better words - superior ethos of US) to show 'the decadence', the 'horrible behaviour', those 'awful cultural rites' etc. which so seem to offend the American Puritan Public!

So now NHL hockey at it's worst caught their eye and was written about... but do they write when everything goes as it supposed to go? Of course not, hockey remains the stepchild.. while they can write, seemingly forever and in greater depth than I for one care to read, about baseball, football and even soccer.
And let's not forget the scandals .. ah, those scandals, where would the media be without those scandals??

Hockey really is not that difficult a game to fathom- but for whatever reason main stream media just does not want to go there, methinks! Maybe because it is so fast-that most cannot follow, loose track of the puck and so on!

Anything that slows down the action,
may just be what the doctor ordered for media reporters who - just maybe -
are skating on the proverbial thin ice :-) :-)!

And I say, Bah Humbug.

And with that - in the spirit of the season.
Nothing will dampen my love for Christmas ;-)!
Come let us adore hockey!

What You See is What You Get

2011-12-13T23:00:00.001-06:00

well, that just got me thinking last night.
At a certain age one has had replacements of various.. joints, teeth, boobs, nose and other nips and tucks.

A new liver, kidney, heart, or even a face.. so, the saying should more appropriately say:
What YOU see is what I GOT... tee hee-:-)

So with George Gershwin I say:
Embracable You

Meanwhile Happy Holidays!

A mucho caliente Rampage kept the Checkers in check

2011-12-11T23:49:00.000-06:00

CALIENTE

with the almost superhuman effort of Goalie Markstrom who battered by 45 sogs stopped all but one.

Markstrom in action

He was on a hot streak until.. and that one was NOT 100% his fault - just when we all thought SHUT OUT for Markstrom, a stupid mistake (cross checking) by LoVecchio gave the Checkers their last opportunity and Staal with Sanguinetti and Soryal (all young'uns at 21) scored a PP at 19:28 into the 3.

Staal (22) and Buddy Soryal are trying hard

Nevertheless Rampage made 3 goals in 1. 1 goal in 2. (only 23 sogs on Checkers Goalie Justin Peters,and so recorded their second win in 2 days.
Now I don't believe that OUR presence had anything to do with that.. although our ticket rep seemed to think so (just kidding).

Another save by a beleaguered Markstrom

Anyway, a newly energized (see-what a win can do for you!) Rampage stormed out in the 1. and just took over. The red jerseyed Checkers seemed disorganized, although they did force a rapid speed in the 2. and 3. badgering Markstrom incessantly - or so it seemed. But he rose to the occasion...vide his 44 stops.

Strachan First Goal

Somewhere on the bottom is a Checker

Wright's in right place but Peters stopped that puck

Another Kerfuffle with Selleck and LoVecchio in the midst

The 4 goals came from the elder statesmen (Kearns-30 two times, Strachan -27, Rallo - 30, and Marshall and Barlow (both 26) with the help of Timmins and Repik (2 times) and Robak and Dadonov - all 22).
The game was exciting to watch and as the team scored for the 4th, all in attendance got a coupon for a free chick-filet..plus the parachuted "Eat more Chickin" cow holding another coupon! Our lunch at the next San Antonio excursion is surely covered - lol!
All photos by artandhockey except where noted.
As mentioned, my battery went dead... so only a few pictures from the Rampage vs Rivermen battle which Rampage won 2-1.

Selleck and a Riverman fight

Jake Allen falls down in desperate attempt of a save.

Stand Up Goalie Dov Grumet-Morris

When we returned home it was to sadder news:

Ben Bishop caught so beautifully by Chris Jerina for his AHL in Photos series-Thanks for letting me post this (over and over - so fetching, yes?.... ah, well you'll know what)

Aeros lost to Peoria (who lost to Rampage just Saturday in Regulation) in a shoot out! But then - as I predicted - Big Bend Ben Bishop was being saved for the occasion and it worked for the Rivermen. It sure looks like that the 3. period Aeros just could not do it and when the Guys have to do OT and SO.... it's a loss-just about everytime-at least this season.

Now I was not there, so I have this question: Did the Aeros go first - again?
Seems to me that gives the other team a leg up....
and the choice is the Aeros!
Maybe it's a 'polite thing'.. let the guest start-
Who would know?
And I see Taffe is back and
Kassian got another goal!
I also see that Cheechoo actually was present and even sent to the penalty box for hooking, Hmmm.
So anyone how good was he?

Rampage vs Rivermen 12.10'11at SA

2011-12-11T06:00:00.001-06:00

So, Better Half and I headed west to see two games at the ATT ctr. Rivermen last night, Checkers this afternoon and then it's back home.
The First period was booooring.
Both teams skated like through molasses with languid shots of goal which both goalies (Dov Grumet Morris for Rampage and Jake Allen for Rivermen) easily stopped, caught and handled by covering the puck as often as possible.
(I kept looking for the vaunted Cheechoo skating as 14 for the Rivermen, but he was mostlyt on the bench-more later). In the Second, the speed and action rev'ed up and both teams scored, solo Nigro for the Men in Blue, and Marshall with Selleck for the home team. Which was wearing special sweaters with FIRE enmblem in honor of Firefighters and Police.
Well, someone must have told them to add some fire to their skating, which became much more obvious in the Third, when the Rampage made it 2-1 with a PP goal by Kearns, ~~Repik~~ Robak and Rallo. And the action really speeded up on both goalies. Grumet Morris appeared to be less flexible, a kinda 'stand-up' goalie -he did manage to stop 21 of 22.. Allen on the other hand had much more to do keeping 37 of 39 sogs. ALAS, my battery died just as heat turned up.. so no pics. And none also of famed Cheechoo who finally (or so it seemed to me) was out on the ice during the last few seconds when allen was pulled in favor of a 6th attacker (Cheechoo?) but seemed to enjoy hovering around just not skating into any of the buzzing fray on Grumet Morris. Conclusion: the 6926 fans filled the arena with screams, drums and more encouraging noises.If Grumet Morris had skated in Houston, Aeros would have had a lot more goals!
Photos will follow after our return and uoploading.
And of course, the Rampage/Checkers game this afternoon.
Until then, chers readers.

And it wouldn't be hockey without a fight or two if the officials didn't keep breaking them up. Selleck versus Ponnich was kand inconclusive.

Chaos paid off; Kuemper shuts out Rampage

2011-12-09T23:47:00.000-06:00

A rare event, a win on home ice, and not just a win - a shut out win ! Granted by only one goal, but a win is a win. And that sole winning goal a PP goal by Fountaine (Star 2) with Penner (Star 3) and
here's the STAR Nr. 1
Goalie cutie Darcy Kuemper who seemed a bit shy, skated out and back..
but finally was told: Hey you gotta go out there and talk!
Which he did and quite nicely, thank you, to the accompaniment of 6600 or so screaming fans. And the Lady Dynamics seem to enjoy this Cutie, too, to judge by their huge smiles (lol

Now to the title, the whole first two periods the two teams just went at it like Energizer Bunnies, quite a chaotic, storming from side to side. San Antonio seemed to keep the impetus going by the number of SOGS 12, 11, 10.. all 33 stopped one way or another by Darcy Kuemper (almost typed.. Cutie lol).

These are just a few shots of Kuemper saves.

And newcomer Mike Montgomery (formerly of the Ontario reign -ECHL)Nr. 24 was much in evidence as an effective defense man

and here is the reason, Fountaine sat for hooking, one of the 5 penalties called by 'let'em play tonight' Ian Croft-But he redeemed himself in the 2. by getting that PP goal with Penner.

Now I don't know about you, but this action (photo above) in front of Markstrom looks like Kendo to me...

And so the game was won -Victory on home ice!

Another Loss at Home but gaining a point nevertheless

2011-12-08T15:58:00.001-06:00

No goal for Brule in SO

In front of over 8,000 screaming and bouncing kids, plus several mascots to keep Chilly company and pretty Lady Dynamics, the Aeros managed to present a kinda exciting game vs the Barons who went on board with the first goal in the 2. by Plante, Brule and Yeo (not to be confused with ~~Yoesie~~ Yeosie of the Wild ;-).
And with 2 minutes to spare Palmer with Bagnall made it 1:1 in the 3.and so it stayed through OT into another Shoot out.

Busy Kuemper

Cornet in SO

Medved on defense

Oops, ahs my garter come loose? Or what IS Danis looking at?

Barons Goal in SO

Fredheim arm in arm with Green..best friends forever?

Arcobello tries to sneak one below Kuemper's pad... but NO goal.

DiSalvatore in his SO attempt..

What is this doing just outside-I know I stopped it!

What a catch by Danis-2nd star of the Day

Green's Desive Goal in the SO

Kuemper = Lankiness Personified-3rd Star of the Day

While Kuemper's displayed some frisky lankiness (his torso seems to much longer than his legs, which aren't exactly short either) he managed 35 of 36 sogs by the Barons, Baron Goalie Danis stopped 23 of 24 which the Aeros in diminishing fashion shot at him (10-8-5) and in the SO Kuemper let in 2 goals, the final decisive one by Josh Green 1. Star of the Day.. see photos by artandhockey. All taken in the 3., OT and SO periods.

Once, I and I'm sure many fans held our breath! Kuemper was wayyyy out behind his net, run into by players, and ONLY, IMO, thanks to some fast action by the AEROS defenders the Barons could not capitalize and slam home an empte netter while the goalie was out on a stroll....here he is rushing back in the pic below... now that WAS a stupid move by the otherwise 'well playing D. Kuemper!

Aeros and Wild Wins - corrected issue

2011-12-07T15:02:00.000-06:00

Something went awry with my earlier post..
so here is the NEW version with corrections.

Aeros trounce Rampage 6-1 with Kuemper the goalie, while Wild win 2-1 with Hackett replacing ailing Harding after a few seconds.
And it is all due to the YEOSIE system and strategies. Well it sure looks that way.
Wild is just one of 5 NHL teams to never have been shut out.

Of course, Aeros cannot lay claim to same. But have done rather well under trying circumstances. McMillan and Ortmeyer injured.
Also it seems McIntyre is reassigned to Aeros after an injury incurred while with the Wild.
Almond, Prosser and Wellman back with the Wild.
New Names appear on the roster:
Harrison Reed, Joey Martin who got his first AHL goal last night vs Rampage, and
now Mike Mc Kenzie as did Rob Nolan
as BUG in San Antonio for whom he played very briefly earlier the season :-)!

You guess is as good as mine:
Will Hackett stay up?
Will Kuemper stay Nr. 1?
Will goalies stream through revolving doors as we all remember from a couple years ago with Climie, Beauchemin, etc.... serving as BUG?

Anyway tomorrow's kiddie game will see (most likely?) Kuemper in goal.

And here he is reminding us all:

DO toss your teddy (bear - a course)
at the game on 12/16
if you are planing to be there!

An Unabashedly Romantic Person

2011-12-05T12:09:00.000-06:00

which is what I was, am and always will be at Christmas Time.
I don't care at all what you all think.

You may be the Scrooge of all Scrooges.
Who runs from the piped music at malls with those Santas hohoho - ing all the way!
Whatever.
I don't care.

I love Christmas.
I love to wrap gifts, hand made if possible - although no longer as nimble and it all takes longer. Or brought back from travels when at a store a thing just cried out "This is just perfect for soandso"! :-)! Or so I think.
May not always be the case. But I did get it specifically with YOU in mind!
So you better like it, or pretend to, or else! :-)!

I love the smell, sounds and looks of Christmas.
Really and truly!
So if you see me driving singing full throated, just be happy for this superannuated child who just loves Christmas.
Ho Ho Ho.

Love the memories I carry from an earlier, simpler even if harsher time.
Remembering the time of Advent with songs still in my head such as
Leise reiselt der Schnee..

Advent Wreaths with 4 candles, 4 red and 1 white to anticipate Christmas. Adventskalender to open every day and bring Christmas closer some with sweet chocolates behind the windows.

Christkindlmarket in the deep snow like this one (could be the one I went to).

Deep snow features in all my recollections, if it really snowed all those years or not - in December and on Christmas Eve.

Maronis to warm cold hands, sold in the streets.

Every Thursday (why Thursday? don' t know) we sat around the table making ornaments, strawstars, ,

wrapping candies, tying strings to Windbaeckerei and other home baked goodies to hang on the tree.

Everyone in my family is known for a speciality ... and gifts made of that.

Small but handmade ones.

Oma K and her home brewed POWIDL.

Tante H from Germany, the Zuckerwurst Tante, making sausages and much more from Marzipan herself .

Tante M tatting delicate things around wispy handkerchiefs, collars and more

And Mutti handpainting scarves, keepsake boxes, or embroidering belts for friends, family and clients, in which case she made sure they matched the dresses she designed for them.

Just a year ago, the one she made for me in my favorites colors of lilac, purple, mauve with flowers disintegrated, finally. Alas.

Good Bye Lilacs, Pansies,

Violets, Akelei

and more purple flowers

and the delicate sprig of snowdrops which looked kinda startled to find themselves among those purples ;-)!

The colors faded, the lacquer dulled, and finally the humidity took its toll on the thin veneer wood box and it fell apart in my hands. The keepsakes inside I saved, but no more box.

And the tree chosen specifically for its wide spread branches so as to safely clip on real candles and Sternspucker was bought on the last weekend before Christmas Eve. And decorated on Christmas eve by Mutti while Papa and I went to collect Oma and Opa and walked through snow (here again it is always snowing in my recollections) across the square in front of our building. Seeing the candles spring to life inside our apartment, I would cry out in pure joy

"Das Christkindl ist schon da".. of course only until I was old enough to know better that Christkindl equals Mother!

Ah, bah! Letters to Christkindl always brought some wanted little gifts - among the more needed items such as socks, mitts and hats.

BTW, Santa Claus, Knecht Ruprecht was NOT the one one wrote letters with wish lists to, it was always the Christkindl.

Santa Claus, modelled after Saint Nikolaus appeared on December 5th and 6th, in company of the Krampus. And yes, some gifts were handed over .. such as an orange for the well behaved ones, or a piece of coal for the bad girls and boys! LOL!

A blood orange form Spain. The peel was carefully removed and dried for zest by Oma!

Such memories evoked by blood oranges which do buy once in a while...if I can find them. Strange how the taste of blood orange of those bygone days is not the same as one bought here and now!

As I do buy Maronis, to bake in the stove, not on an open fire.

Even if they sure don't taste quite like the ones bought in the streets of Vienna on cold days of snow ;-)!

Usually our tree was the very top of a Nobel Fir which then was placed on the big table and if one side was NOT perfect - well, it was pushed toward the wall - as long as all those edible decorations were handily reached from the easy chairs placed below. In which to cuddle up, reading a NEW book, plucking a wrapped candy from time to time leaving the candy wrap tops still dangling as half a decoration (tee hee) or Gebaeck, while waiting for Midnight Mass to start.

And we could not miss that. The bells of the Rudolfsheimer Church rang loudly enough across the square, every quarter of the hours day and night as I was growing up! And so we bundled up and stomped through the snow and up the long flight of steps.. it always seem to be snowing when I remember Midnight Mass on Christmas eve!

And there is THE one song that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it,

and every time I see this in my mind - covered in snow, of course - BTW that church you see on the right is 'our' Rudolfsheimer Kirche, we lived across from it.

So I do get weepy and touchy feely!

But I do love Christmas.. as if you hadn't gotten the idea yet!

LoL!

Toronto Strikes again

2011-12-03T16:17:00.000-06:00

Marlies Goalie Owuya keeps Aeros OUT. Marlies 4 Aeros 0.
Kuemper records his first SO loss.
Retired goalie Cowley Wayne sat BUG for the Aeros.
While Hackett was flown to the Wild to sit backup due a Backstrom injury.
Ah, well, too many family and friends up there, maybe, and that has been known to be a distraction before.
And the Aeros cannot claim "travel tiredness" since Marlies traveled as well after last nights game! Boths teams had to play on 'short' rest!
A home crowd of about 3.000 is all that showed up - in Canada..
Aeros often claim larger attendances - in subtropic Texas!
The 'winning on the road' streak was broken. AlaS.
One more road game vs Rampage on 12/6 in San Antonio, then they will face OKC at the TC at the "kiddie" game on Thursday AM!

Becoming Immune to Sound Bites? Aeros win-update!

2011-12-02T21:16:00.000-06:00

It sure does seem to! We seem to live a sound bites life!
Anything longer than 140 characters requires too much attention of the average GP (General Public), methinks.
"How are you? I am fine (in 140 characters or less)!"
Do you believe in this or that? As long as it does not exceed 140 characters I believe in it!"
"So how are you getting along at work? Can't tell you, 140 characters are not enough!"
Read them as the wry remarks they are meant to be and laugh heartily,
hahahaha, if you dare! And can!

We have at least 1000s friends FB
Receive a surfeit of Tweets
Are Linkdin to too many
Share MySpace
Use professional networks

Add to that the 'headline sound bites' on the web, YouTube, Hulu, and more!
Shoe horn in gazillion of blogs on myriad subjects:
Business blogs, football blogs, baseball blogs, personal blogs, hockey blogs, soccer blogs, mommy blogs, daddy blogs, auntie blogs, medical blogs, hockey official blogs, hockey unofficial blogs, art blogs, artsy blogs, travel blogs, shopper blogs, political blogs, theater, opera, symphony and chamber music blogs, student blogs, and narcistic blogs Freud would enjoy reading ;-)!
And! And!
Plus several tongue-in-cheek blogs which hardly anyone seems to 'get'.
Due to lack of a sense of humor?
Lack of the ability to laugh at one self?
Whatever.
In the comments one can see that the satire's lost on most readers.

How anyone can get any REAL work done - I ask myself.
Me, I am retired and DO have time, IF I want, to spend hours on the web reading, listening, but alas rarely learning!

For curiosity's sake, once, I set myself the task to 'hit'n miss' follow some headlines /newsflash (skimming through the actual article) and their comments.
And found, the smuttier and more sensational the news,
the sluttier and more ridiculous the comments.
AND what comments!
I do so understand that in the heat of response one can make typos
(been there - done that).
But grammatical "typos" which requires some heavy mental gymnastics by the reader of said comment to 'get it'!
Misspelled and/or misapplied words which then have complete other meanings!
Mme and M Malaprop are alive and well in these U S of A.
And here are a few samples...so go ahead and chuckle!
"Listen to the blabbing brook." by Norm Crosby
"His physiognomy so grammatical!" [phraseology]

And Oronyms/homophones never ought to take the place of proper spelling.
As in the poem below... just a big :-D? Or a big sigh?
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it's weighMy chequer tolled me sew.
Sauce unknown)
It may be funny, but it really bugs me!

Kuemper in goal made 21 saves. AND on the Aeros front:
Joey Martin, Forward, was signed to a PTO and already playing against Rochester.

Joel Broda had 2 goals, Kris Foucault 2 assists - and the Aeros win 4-3 over the Amerks in regulation.

Ortmeyer and Mac Millan still out with injuries.

Both newcomers Reed and Martin skated against Rochester.

WILD Hockey news in the NEWS.

2011-12-02T08:12:00.000-06:00

Interesting.
This mornings WSJ included an article WITH photos on hockey....
one gets the feeling with the NBA still out, football closing shop, hockey is becoming acceptable for the main stream Media to discuss..
albeit only when some weird (italics intended) event takes place.
The feeling described in the WSJ article here,
our town's Jeff Crawford, having suited up for the Aeros from time to time, can relate to for sure.

Mentioned in the article is Matt Hackett.
Almond has been recalled to the Wild.
McMillan has an undisclosed injury causing him to miss the last 3 games.
And tonight the Aeros play Rochester.

Another on the road win, another hockey blog..

2011-12-01T08:34:00.001-06:00

so the Aeros won on the road again.
And not only the Aeros, other teams are having the same problem.
If one could call it a problem.
Winning on the road, loosing at home in front of disappointed fans.. theirs!

And for sure, the coaches still question the whys!
I do have a couple ideas, why!
And just to start:

a lot of the guys are married or in a close relationship...distraction Nr. 1
several have babies which do need attention...distraction Nr. 2
some have bought houses which need care...distraction Nr. 3
some wives may not be a quite as supportive of rough playing...distraction Nr. 4

On the other hand while on the road, the guys may have little else to think about except getting used to just another rink, studying the other teams' systems and JUST get out there and play!

And damn the torpedoes!
Not saying that those are the reasons for road wins... but they did cross my mind.
And having said that
GO AEROS and whatever team YOU, chers readers, support!

And there is another hockey blog on chron.com.
Good, Never hurts to have better coverage in the main stream media!
Right!

Apropos, Aeros signed to a PTO Harrison Reed, prescient -
since Ortmeyer appears to have sustained an injury last night?
Not to be confused with Elgin Reid!
And no I don't think he is related to Harrison Reed, 9th Governor of Florida 1813-1899!

In tune with Inner Self?

2011-11-30T09:47:00.000-06:00

so, while I have been doing that for a while - in the world of Aeros and Wild things are going on.
Revolving doors keep Aeros on the move, up and down, as the case may be.

Plus Endras heading back to Europe, so he can actually play!

Kuemper heading to Houston.

Now, how THAT will turn out? Your guess's as good as mine!
Hackett will just have to share his spot in the limelight.
Well, the powers that are better make sure that IS so.
After all, one does not call a very successful goalie to the team only to have him sit and rust. So as not to - hmmm - put out the nose of the Wundergoalie of last year! :-)!

Meanwhile Wellman gets HIS chance with the Wild,

Jim Mone, AP

but Peters and Prosser are back with the Aeros.

While I have been "tuning to my inner self"- very much needed, let me asssure you -
Hockey and Opera have taken back seats.
One's attention span just could not be shared, or else!

Since it feels the way to normalcy has begun,
I start to focus on other things happening, here, and in the world.
Alas, events are not inspiring to flights of 'touchy feely' sentiments.
What in the heck...is everyone going bananas?
And I do not mean bananas in a humorous way!

It's all so very nauseating!
So maybe THAT :-) was the cause of the misery of last week and the hospital stay!
Just kidding - there is at least one physical NOT just a perceived mental reason!
And now off to Doctors' offices for follow up!

But 'nuf said!

How quickly one learns

2011-11-27T09:48:00.000-06:00

that one is NOT indestructible.
Well, one starts life as baby.
Babbling, toothless, helpless and depending on mother.

One most likely ends like that, too.
Babbling, toothless, helpless and depending on nurses.

Except of course, a little baby is much easier to handle and dandle.
A superannuated one is much less so.
And when it comes to dandling - better forget that part!

Anyway.
My respect for the RNS and PCAs at the hospital is firmly entrenched.
And they, most of them, did it all with a cheerful smile and matter of fact attitude.

That's what it takes.
That's how it's done.

So, a Salute to the Nurses and dedicated staff of hospitals.

Thanks.

Gender Reversal

2011-11-22T11:30:00.000-06:00

The Moon, The Sun, The Star

artandhockey: The sun rises in Victoria, BC

But just go to German and you'll find:
DER Mond, DIE Sonne, DER Stern.
Which kinda makes sense to me.
The sun (she) is after all said to be nurturing...crops, people.
I am sure you'll have read /heard about the kids growing up with rickets in urban slums?

Venture into romance languages and you'll find :
LA Luna, EL Sol. LA Estrella.
LA Lune, LE Soleil, L(a)'Etoile.
The Moon becomes romantic as in Lune de Miel,
which the English call Honeymoon..

artandhockey: The sun sets in New Mexico

Moon and Star are feminine,
the Sun masculine in Latin based languages.
And attributes must match the gender of the nouns.
EL Sol grande, La Luna serena ...
Le Soleil chaud, La Lune claire..

But they also do in German:
Die grosse Sonne, Der kalte Mond ..
And German uses a 3rd gender the Neutral as in
DAS Fenster (the window) not to be confues with The Widow (Die Witwe) ;-)!
But, and that is confusing I admit, moonlight or sunlight become neutral too :
Das Sonnenlicht. Das Mondlicht.

Only the English stays out of the gender wars by being so non specific :-)!
The hot Sun, The cool Moon...

Interesting that.
It is a wonder that some humans get confused about which gender they are?
Ah well, just some food for thought.

Another Shootout Loss for Aeros

2011-11-20T22:33:00.000-06:00

And the hero of this combat was.....Leland Irving, the Heat netminder!

No really, any honest hockey fan will have to concede that Irving was spectacular, he stopped all shots the buzzing Aeros threw at him... a total of 34 sogs.

While Hackett wasn't shabby either, and had two (at least) really fantastic saves.

One I just call.."if I can't stop it face on, I'll just turn around and SIT on it" -
and so he did!

Twice McIntyre skated like the devil with the puck only to miss the net!
And on the way, or so it seemed to me, he tried hard to cause a penalty on the Heat :-)!

At almost the last 6 minutes of regulation a Heat player did his utmost best to choke the air out of an Aeros. But no penalty was called for that.
Maybe the Ref did not quite see it as that..just a brotherly hug ...
I think not!
but whatever, no penalty on Heat player was called.

Despite the number (7 for Aeros - 4 for Heat) of PP opportunities, neither team managed to score.

Two fights broke out!
Bagnall vs Bouma (and rightly so for Bouma kneed an Aroes player) with Bagnall 'bagging' his man.
Kassian vs Ivanans was less happy-Raitis Ivanans subduing the Kassassinator.
Raitis..is that Lithuanian? Or Latvian?
But I digress.

And at the end Chenoway got in the way of some hot HEAT,
and again no penalty called - below:

Overall I found it a very exiting game.
A fluid game.
A Game of good forechecking.
Passing was better by the Heat, but Aeros acquitted themselves honorably.

A Heat sandwiched between 2 Aeros lol?

Aeros started out furiously with 10, then 15 Sogs during the first 2 periods.
But energy levels dropped in the third to just 6 (Aeros 6, Heat 3, Sogs)
and to only 3 each in OT.

Maybe it just shows that both teams' defense was in overdrive.
And that, to me, meant the goalies did yeoman's work.

And whenever I snapped a picture there was Di Salvatore..

seemingly ubiquitous:-)

Dustin Sylvester got the winning SO goal on Hacket
and
thus ends the Aeros vs Heat Game 1-0!

Both teams put great effort forth in this the third of 3 back to back contests.

Now, I am sure adoring Kolanos fans were deeply
disappointed not to see him skate.

For died-in-the-wool Aeros fans that may have come as a relief.

WITH Kolanos the Heat may have trounced the Aeros in regulation.
WITHOUT Kolanos, the Aeros carried away ONE piont!

Ah well. it is just a game, eh!

Aeros win 5-1 vs Stars

2011-11-19T22:45:00.000-06:00

Cedar Park was good to the Aeros tonight,

and Dennis Endras kept the Stars to just 1 goal.
AEros had 2 goals each in the 1. and 2. and 1 in 3. Period.
Interestingly, they played more aggressively in the 2 period with 10 shots on goal.
(I always want to type gaol...)
Each Aeros goal by a different player: McMillan, Almond, Penner and Rau;
with Wellman getting 1 Goal and 1 Assists,
Di Salvatore with 2 Assists.
May the hot streak continue into tomorrow when The Heat, with Kolanos on the warpath. is back in town.
I will attend and plan to take photos....

A Thread of Grace

2011-11-19T08:46:00.000-06:00

Reading long into the night I recently finished "A Thread of Grace" by Mary Doria Russell.
It was fascinating.
Truly I was unable to put it down until the last word.

It's a potpourri of the last years of WW 2 in Italy.
Set in the Northwest, across the border from France, it covers different events. From a historical but also intensely human point of view!

Jewish refugees fleeing just ahead of the Nazi Occupation of France.
Italian partisan groups fighting each other but also the enemy.
Nuns hiding Jewish children, Priests and Rabbis.
Villagers and peasants from all over Italy.
Saboteurs, Collaborators.
And old and young woman fighting the occupiers in their own way!
Retaliating Nazis, rape, torture and bullets fly.
Bombs explode. Hunger and injuries.
And a couple love stories.

All sewn together like pieces of quilting with fluid prose.

here is a red thread woven through the chapters,
as the readers weaves his way through the novel.
Actually several.
Young boys and girls growing to adulthood the hard way;
Italian Jews, a flyer and a rabbi;
Priests and Nuns;
and a disillusioned, sick German Doctor.
Both Italian Jewish flyer and German Army Doctor have experienced war,
have perpetrated unspeakable horrors.
Each drinks to drown out the memories.
And somehow this binds them together.

Russell's characters grow in stature.
She does not prettify war.
Nor minimizes the toll it takes on both men and women, and especially children.

As I said at the start-could not put it down until I read the final line.
Just don't know why it took me so long to delve into it!

This JUST IN from the Wild

2011-11-18T12:10:00.001-06:00

per Russo's rant Aeros gains two but may loose others...
The "Revolving Doors for players" are gonna be busy.
I think it IS good of Yeo to call up guys from down South to give them not just a taste but a good chance at the NHL level.
And THAT thought, guys, ought to inspire you all to play your best.
Get some wins for the Aeros down here - the fans will eat it up even as they sorrow after the losses of favorites, temporarily or permanent!

GO AEROS..

They all do IT - freely after Mozart..

2011-11-18T09:43:00.000-06:00

Cosi Fan Tutte at Opera in the Heights was tremendous.
I apologize in advance, if it looks like descriptions having been cribbed from various articles..
which I did NOT read. Until I post here!
Then I will read them! :-)! Friends are always sending my snippets and clippings...

But having seen last night's production (11/17 Emerald Cast) what I can,
want to, say about it probably repeats others' reviews.
The cast was exceptionally well matched.

Naturally, as I favor the deeper voices (men, more - a course :-)!
Erik Kronke's Don Alfonso, was enthralling. And judging from the applause and bravos on taking his bows at the end, so felt the rest of the audience. And it was well deserved. Bravo Erik Kronke!
BTW he will be back for Anna Bolena in January 2012!

Erik Kronke
Photo By Gwen Turner Juarez - Thank you.

The orchestra played spiritedly under the energetic baton of Maestro Carreon Robledo, with special dedication, methinks, by the strings!
Soprano Emily Newton as Fiordiligi gave a beautifully paced and finely drawn performance. Her big rich voice rang true and strong throughout.
Well matched by the flirty Dorabella of Mezzo Ann Sauder. Who, so we learn, has taken on this role for ALL performances. Brava Ann Sauder!

Both, Tenor Emanuel-Christian Caraman as Ferrando,
and Baritone Kevin Wetzel as Guglielmo sang and acted truly well.
Caraman used his fine Tenor very pleasantly.
Wetzel projected some humor (IMO) into his portrayal.

Jennifer Whalen was a sprightly Despina, although I for one, felt her mugging and falsetto singing as the Notary a bit too Keystone Cops-ish! Just my opinion, of course!
Otherwise she was a pleasant addition to the strong cast.

The OH! Chorus, who doubled as stage hands, did it all amusingly well.
The staging's great bright lightening made the tiny stage at Lambert Hall look surprisingly spacious!
Three more perfomances.. tonight (Ruby Cast), Saturday (Emerald) and Sunday afternoon (Ruby)!
Having said all that, I now must admit, that COSI is not my favorite Mozart Opera.
It just seems too long. Beautiful and exiting music notwithstanding!

Several scenes could be easily shortened without lessening the plot,
perhaps even strengthening the satirical impact of it.

And as in Don Giovanni - which does happen to be a big Favorite of mine -
The moralizing sextetts at the end of either opera actually detract from it.
Let Don Giovanni end with the Don's fall into hell!
Just my opinion...

The Importance of Being Relevant

2011-11-15T09:41:00.000-06:00

What IS relevant?
That depends on one's age.
And perhaps upbringing.

In this world of instant-ness any relevance is only fleeting.

Just think:
What happens a world away is instantly available via cell phones/web.
What you find on YouTube is instantly a hit for a moment, before the next one appears.
What you read on the web is instantly relevant for that hour, perhaps day.

But think again.
Every moment of instantant relevance turns into a moment of old hat.
New words turn into 'has beens' as newer phrases become the In-Thing.
The latest fashions are so dernier cri! (literally-dernier=last=past)
Everything has been done, seen, worn, experienced before.
In various incarnations.

The bell bottoms of the "Make Love not War" seventies, return as 'bootcut' style.
The stirrups, now footless, are back.
Even in jeans into which one has to shoehorn oneself!

The geometric prints which looked like artwork.
They've been back - just in different color combinations.. more clashing perhaps!

Belts come and go, thin ones, wide ones, low slung ones, under the bust ones,
chain ones, elastic ones. Just made of different materials.

Peasant skirts are around again.
Now called something else.. but still the same long skirt!
Short and shorter skirts come and go.
Flirty hems...then called Godets, now who knows what name the designers give them.
Short shorts been here, went away, came back..
And in bathing suits styles are repeating themsleves as well.

Empire styled dresses. Halter style dresses. Strapless dresses.
Waisted dresses (hello 50's).
Low waisted dresses (hello 20's)
The slinky style IS better in cling (thanks to Latex which makes it possible)
which so 'tastefully' (;-) molds every, even the tiniest, bulge: Hail to the Bulge!
Wearable art (those Bob Mackie's..just love them)-
remember hand painted material with hand embroidered designs!
Cropped jackets, boyfriend blazers, wide sleeve jackets.
Short sleeve jackets to show off your selection of gloves in the 50'4 /bracelets now.

Glamor is back.
Funky rings (how do I love them),
gloriously glitzy costume jewellery (if one cannot afford Tiffany's).
Long and longer jangly earrings... been here, gone, came back!

The pointy toes with 5 inch stiletto heels of the late 50's showed up again lately.
This time yours truly did not even dream of teeter tottering.
Most toes are too square for those "pointies"! And later one finally realizes that!
Or rather one's corns and bunions do. A painful reminder of those days of the high heels!

As did, and do the clunky platforms on which yours truly clomped around for a while (70'S) think herself oh, so chic! But those are even lame compared to what's being worn now.
And multiple twisted ankles later decided it was not worth it!
Lace up shoes, ala Roman gladiators, now with higher heels and glitzy attachments.

So are all these new trends relevant?
Is it that relevant to be hip with the young?
I think not.
Relevant was, is and should always be personal expressions, emotions and how one reacts to it.
And that comes with experience and - perhaps, ennui!
After all "Alles schon mal dagewesen"- all has been done, seen, heard before.
Bah, Humbug.

Monday's Blues

2011-11-14T11:00:00.001-06:00

Just how does one top a day like yesterday?

Covent Garden's Fidelio-seen at HGO
'Prisoners out for a taste of sunlight'!

With a moving experience at the Opera,
followed by a win by one's favorite Hockey team on a beautifully WARM
(yes, you know I like it warm) day!One doesn't.
One cannot.
But there was a touching moment and you can watch
it all here.

Other news from here, abroad and around the world are really horrid!
Since I truly don't like to write certain 4-letter or 3 letter words -
horrid and torrid must suffice, as the case may be :-)!
The so-called official media is full of that kind of stuff anyway,
way too much of it for way too long.
I often long in my NON PC way to scream "ENOUGH ALREADY"!

Guess that makes me a less than 'modern' Millie!
Not that my name IS Millie! :-)!
Nor can I sing like Julie Andrews!
And no, I have not been around since the Roaring Twenties,
although sometimes it sure feels that way ;-)!

Basta.. it is Blah, ahem BLUE Monday!

Wahre Liebe fuerchtet nicht!

2011-11-13T19:40:00.001-06:00

True Love knows no fear! Fidelio - finally seen at HGO today.
And it was a tour de force by Karita Mattila, Kristinn Sigmundsson and Simon O'Neil.
Mattila did the role of Leonore=Fidelio great justice.
She sang with conviction, a vocal force with strong expression, but also lyrical softness when called for and beautifully enunciated German.

She was the most loyal wife in search of her missing husband.
Who was sung with steely clarity in good German by Tenor Simon O'Neil.

When he sang GOD! - spinning it out for ever, or so it seemed - at the first moments of the second part shivers crept down my spine!

Rocco, sung by Kristinn Sigmundsson I truly liked very much. His voice rang out powerfully with the best German pronunciation of them all. IMO. Unfortunately no video clips of him as Rocco.. but here as Dr. Basilio his rich bass shines.

Tomas Tomasson's baritone seemed a bit forced as Don Pizarro. But he coped well to garner boos from the audience - not for his singing but for the kind of character he portrayed, rather effectively.

Soprano Brittany Wheeler (*) successfully sang Marcelline.. her German was very good as well.
And Bass Baritone Kyle Ketelsen as the Minister Don Fernando, Tenor Norman Reinhard (+)as Jaquino gave good accounts for themselves.
Tenor Brendan Touhy (*) sang the First Prisoner with a bell like tenor while Mark Diamond's (*) suave baritone as Second Prisoner seemed a bit drowned out by the swell of the orchestra.
Which was conducted by Michael Hofstetter (Beatrice and Benedict - you may remember his conducting of that opera) in quite a suitable manner given that much is more symphonic than most operas.
The horns were superb.

Wagner may have borrowed from Beethoven in HIS use of horns and other wind instruments.
And he could not have paid as stronger compliment to the genius that was Ludwig Van Beethoven.
(*) current studio members, (+) former studio member.
Staging was stark, effective, with tiers. Costumes updated to a non-specific modern time somewhere!
Prisoner chorus (clip below) well rehearsed by Richard Bado, HGO's Chorus master

Meanwhile at the Toyota Center the Houston Aeros have 5 goals vs. Charlotte Checkers with 2 goals.

Aeros scored 2 in the First, 2 in the Second. 1 in Third/

SOG's by the Aeros have diminished from 12, 10 to 5

DiSalvatore with 2 goals.

Ortmeyer 1 goal.

Wellman scores an empty net PP goal!

Other AHL Action:

Rampage win vs Texas 3-2 (stopping a long loosing streak).

Hamilton 5 - Binghamton 2

Whale 3 - St. John's 4

Providence 3-Worcester 2 (Anton Khudobin stopping 47 of 49 SoGs)

Toronto 4 - Albany 3

Bridgeport 4 - Hershey 3

OKC 2 - Milwaukee 3

Abs and Pecs and Uniforms.

2011-11-13T11:45:00.000-06:00

Musing on various things, ideas and conceptions.
It does seem that some of us art and hockey lovers appreciate all the finer things.

Of course, with Opera it is the voice .
Naturally :-)! as proven in the clip below :-)!
(Andrea Concetti with the Catalogue Aria from Mozart's Don Giovanni)

in singing that's where Abs and Pecs come in (lol) they support the 'air column' which gives heft to the voice.....and more, ahem!

Tom Corbeil
and again proven here:

Nathan Gunn in Pearlfishers.

The Visual Arts is where form is truly appreciated: right?

artandhockey photo from MFAH

Ballet: style, form..........and form :-):

Danceur Roberto Bolle

And in Hockey it has to be (uni)forms and ......... ahem, form :-):

Nolan Schaefer - Photo by Fred Trask

artandhockey photo

Isn't it said that women LOVE men in uniform!

by artandhockey Eagle Dancer

That must be it! The Uniforms!
Just the uniforms, eh?

All Uniforms? Hmm