Rain Rain Rain

Well we just got back Tuesday night from our final Disneyland trip...at least for now as our annual pass has officially expired. And we didn't renew this time (though I'm planning on going back in March and will get a new one then...) Never have I seen so much rain in Disneyland! It rained from the time we arrived on Saturday till the time we left on Tuesday. There was only two breaks in the rain...from 9pm-10pm Sunday night and from 9am-10am Monday morning. The first one was actually perfectly timed, as I had reserved a dinner package at Ariel's Grotto which included fastpasses to see World of Color from the 'premium' standing area. We had seen the show only once before, and that from the side as we did not have those special passes. 

 Boy, I tell you, the show is leaps and bounds better from the front. You can't see any of the projections from the side, and without that the show is just a bunch of random lights and bursts of water. It fortunately stopped raining just in time for the show, though by then the rains had driven crowds away to the point where the standing area was less than half full. In any case, we had a great viewpoint. The rains got so intense at some point that even with a rain jacket and umbrella it was impossible to stay dry. We found that we had to got back to the hotel for a few hours in the afternoon just to dry off and change out pants and socks. Many of the public sidewalks were starting to flood at one point, and even Main Street in Disneyland was taking on more water than the poor workers could shove down the drains with their push brooms. But hey, it was Disneyland after all, and you can't beat a trip to the Magic Kingdom. I was actually worried about crowds, being that it is after all the week leading into Christmas. The only time is was really crowded was that one hour on Monday morning where it stopped raining. Most of the time, waits on rides were negligible at best. I think I saw Space Mountain get up to 45 minutes once, which is a far cry from the 100 minutes you often see in the summer. 

The downside of the trip - at it was quite a downer! - was that the rains prompted cancellations and closures of many shows and attractions, including all parades, Fantasmic, Electronica (whatever that is!), and unfortunately the evening fireworks and snow. That was a disappointment certainly; no white Christmas in Disneyland! 

World of Color seemed to go on the whole time despite the weather; I guess that makes sense as it's a water-based show with no live actors. One cast member actually told us that it's BETTER in the rain. Something to do, I think, with extra light refraction from the falling water. You'll have to ask a scientist for a better explanation. But now we're home, dry for the moment, and enjoying some time off from work for the holidays. Which reminds me, now that it's two days till Christmas, time to do some last minute shopping!

And.....Done

So it's Friday of finals week here at Sacramento State. And of course it's dead quiet. I rather like that... Tomorrow begins two weeks of time off, which of course we're starting off right with a three-night trip to Disneyland. Unfortunately it started raining today, and is supposed to rain the whole time we're there. But to treat myself out and make up for that, we went to Kohl's last night and bought me a new winter jacket. It's really quite nice, and now that I think about it, I think it's the first new jacket I've bought in at least 5 years. Well the last one I bought was at Mervyn's anyway...but we got a great deal as they're having a three day sale right now. Originally marked $100, we paid $38 after tax. Nice. 

But that wasn't the best part of the day. I was sitting in bed last night watching TV. To back up for a second, we got a new 42" LCD TV for the front room as a Christmas present, so the old TV from the front room is now in the bedroom. Since I haven't yet re-programmed the Dish satellite remote to operate the "new" bedroom TV, I was using the TV remote to turn up the volume - and there was a beep from the bathroom. Pause. Sit up and look around. Did I really hear that?? So I turn up the volume again. Another beep. This one gets the cat's attention, so you know it's serious. So, I get up to investigate and discover that the portable space heater in the bathroom is on. Apparently the 'up volume' button on the TV remote will turn on the space heater in the bathroom. And it's not even a "universal" remote! Boy that's weird. That was certainly the funniest thing that happened yesterday, unless you count calling Lorraine retarded on Facebook...

Dead Week? What's That??

I wonder if anyone remembers the 'dead week' concept? It was still around when I was in college 15 years ago, though even then it seemed to be waning. Still, folks still mention it these days on occasion, even if it doesn't get recognized in practice. It used to be the week before finals week in school - well it still IS the week before finals week - but it was a slow week where no new material or homework was assigned, so that you could start getting ready (ie. study) for finals.

Of course in the music world, this concept has little meaning. This is traditionally our busiest week of the year, and this year is no exception. Although this semester has been, dare I say, light in comparison to other semesters, we have this week 10 concerts from Monday-Friday. So it is pretty busy around here these days.

Which reminds me - I have to go tear up the recital hall stage to get ready for tonight's big wind ensemble concert...

Thanksgiving Break

For some reason it seems I always manage to come down with a cold when we have a break from work. Case in point: right now. It's the end of Thanksgiving break, and I've had some sort of sinus congestion and cough since Thursday. I blame Whitney. She had it first. It's good in some ways, since I have the time to lounge on the couch all day and catch up on the 46 episodes of CSI, Law and Order, and House that have been collecting on the DVR throughout the fall. Bad in other ways, since I can't make much progress on all the projects I was originally intending to pursue during this time. 

 Still, we managed to have a somewhat productive four-day weekend. Although we didn't go out at 3am with the rest of the insane people to try and get bargain deals on Black Friday, we still managed to get a bit of holiday shopping in. And we still managed to get some deals - thanks to Target's 2-Day Sale. I truly believe it's the best place to shop after Thanksgiving. No insanity of being trampled when the doors first open, no lines around the building, no waiting outside in the cold and rain as the store slowly lets people in one at a time. We went twice, on Friday and Saturday, and both times the store was only mildly packed. Both times there was no more than 2 people in line at any register. 

 So, the holiday shopping is underway.... And, on Saturday, we went and saw Harry Potter 7! Can't wait for the rest of it to be released... Today, I think, me and the couch will become good friends again. Later it's dinner time at the old folks. And then tomorrow...well, back to the grind. I'm sure my cold will clear up just in time for that!

Ease On Down The Road

Well yesterday marked closing day of The Wiz at Runaway Stage, and also essentially the end of a very busy time with chunks of concerts and festivals and marching band and so forth. The Wiz was my second career directorial job, after having completed my rookie show with Meet Me In St. Louis last November. And it was good! I have to say, coming into October I was not at all excited about doing this show. I had seen two productions previously from different community theatres, and it was always just a bland slanted retelling of the Wizard of Oz. 

 But for this production, we were blessed to have a top notch cast and orchestra, which together made the show really shine. Or so I think. When you get so invested in a project and have it ingrained in your mind for weeks on end, it does tend to grow on you. It was a little odd this time; with most shows you see reviews from various sources, including audience reviews submitted to SeeAPlay.com. For this production: nothing. Not a single one. There was one brief snippet in the Sacramento News and Review, mostly a calendar listing really, which just mentioned the "impressive orchestra". I guess I'll just have to take that. It's better than what the orchestra usually gets, which is usually a mention about how it's too loud... But it's all done now, and time to move on. To what? Well, who knows really. Sac State is doing this same musical in April, and their music director did say off the cuff at one point that I should play bass for it. My wrist is still fairly shot from Rent in September, but it is getting better, so maybe I can play again. Well, as usual, time will tell....for the moment the calendar is free and clear for the foreseeable future, and with it being Thanksgiving week now I'm looking forward to some time off!

Santa Cruz

Well, this past weekend we went to Santa Cruz, joining the Sac State Marching Band on their tour. The band played at the Santa Cruz band (parade) festival, a standstill on the beach prior to the festival awards ceremony. It was a pretty good trip, the band played well and the rain held off at least until the festival was done.

Though for some reason I just didn't sleep too well. Even at the Hilton, which was quite a nice hotel.

But we stayed an extra night after the band left Saturday evening, in a hotel right on the beach, and got to spend some time exploring the area a bit. It's an odd town, Santa Cruz. The kind of place where bums wedge themselves into small garbage cans with the lid still on and panhandle for change. The kind of place where other bums wander into a pizza joint and strike up a conversation with folks at a table, and those folks get up to go get a to-go box to send the guy away with some food. The kind of place where folks talk on their cell phones on the beach, wearing heavy cold weather clothing but with open-toed sandals.

We got to walk along the beach Sunday morning, and marvel at the crashing waves and cliff-like edges of sandy beach being eroded away by the water. It certainly is calm and peaceful there...when the boardwalk isn't open yet. I'm not much into the boardwalk really; to me it's just a run-down dumpy Disneyland. But it's good I guess, for it's purpose. We walked a good distance and made it all the way to the Walton lighthouse before turning back.

Woody's on the Wharf, by the way, is a cool place to grab some lunch, and includes lovely ocean and coastline views. It was raining by then, on Sunday afternoon, and rained most of the way home as well. But hey, it was a nice weekend getaway.

Now back to the grind, and The Wiz is looming around the corner...