Wikipedia Tag

I finally got a chance to play Wikipedia tag (see Barbara's blog for a more detailed explanation). My answers are:

Events that happened on April 20

• 1534 - Jacques Cartier set sail on the voyage in which he "discovered" Canada and Labrador
• 1792 - France declared war on Austria, the commencement of the French Revolutionary Wars (not to be confused with the Napoleonic Wars that followed immediately afterwards)
• 1972 - Apollo 16 lands on the moon

Births (besides mine) on April 20

• 1889 - Adolf Hitler
• 1949 - Toller Cranston (Canadian figure skater and artist)
  

Death on April 20

• 1912 - Bram Stoker (author of Dracula)

Holiday/Observance on April 20

• Cannabis Smokers Day

This is interesting. Apparently, in the 1970s, a group of marijuana smokers met on a regular basis at 4:20 PM to smoke their weed. Since that time, people who want marijuana to be legalized have made a point of smoking cannabis on April 20 (4/20) every year.

Some More JMU Pix

Dave has already posted some of his photos of James Madison University. I've put a few of mine below.

I'm looking forward to Saturday as it will be the first weekend in six weeks in which I don't have to go anywhere, chaperone anyone or tabulate competition scores. On the other hand, I have to practice several pieces on the piano. I'm accompanying Joshua on two solos within the next couple of weeks and our Songsters (choir) have some big stuff coming up for Good Friday and Easter.

I'm also falling behind on my book review reading, so I'd better close off and crack the covers of the latest one.




UPDATE: I opened my email Friday morning and was reminded that I have a full weekend ahead of me after all. The Yorkminster Songsters & Band are visiting our corps this weekend. Since I am a member of the Arlington Songsters, I will be attending all of their events:

Saturday, 3 PM - outdoor concert at the Iwo Jima Memorial
Saturday, 5 PM - Yorkminster and Arlington musical groups joint supper
Saturday, 7 PM - Yorkminster concert
Sunday, 10:45 AM - worship service led by Yorkminster groups
Sunday, noon or so - Yorkminster and Arlington musical groups joint dinner

It looks like I'll be practicing the piano on Friday night, Saturday morning and Sunday evening.

Oh well, I don't have anything booked (yet) for the Saturday before Easter and I'm also free (so far) on Saturday, April 21. Otherwise, you'll have to check with my booking agent to schedule dinner, interviews, etc.

Peyton Manning Dancing on SNL

In case you didn't realize it, Peyton Manning was on Saturday Night Live on March 24. This is the end of a skit in which the coach is trying to inspire his basketball team to give their all in the second half. I'm sure this will fuel many fantasies for Jenn.

Another Jazz Festival

Joshua, Dave and I all got up around 6 AM today (yes, on a Saturday!) to drive to James Madison University for another Jazz Festival. The group played really well, and I was thrilled that they were playing in a room with lots of light. Dave and I shot lots of photos. We'll probably post more of them in the coming days. This is Joshua playing his trombone solo in a piece called Cajun Cookin'.

March Photo Challenge #3

This is my final entry for this month's challenge. I've seen many geese, ducks and birds in the past few weeks. But I know spring has arrived when I see the turtles sunbathing and swimming in the pond. I've seen a couple of dozen turtles, several in family units, hanging out by the pond this week.

March Photo Challenge #2

The photo below is my second entry for this month's Signs of Spring photo challenge. Don't let the kids see it, as the fellow was not wearing a helmet!

A Show, Dinner & Special Friends

The evening opened with a trip to Chantilly High School to listen to a few high school bands compete at a jazz festival. Joshua's band played a set of three pieces. The photo below shows Joshua playing a solo in one of the pieces.

Jonathan went to the concert with us, then hung around for awhile afterwards and came home with Joshua. In the meantime, some friends of ours, Lt. Colonels Barry and Sue Swanson, got to the concert in time to hear Joshua's band. Then they went to dinner with Dave and me. I took the photo below after we finished our dinner.

Our family has known Barry and Sue since we moved to Iowa 11 years ago. Barry was the divisional commander who hired Dave to oversee the corps in Iowa City while I went to school. Our paths diverged for a few years when the Swansons moved to Chicago and we eventually moved to Virginia. Then, last summer, Barry and Sue were appointed to the USA National Headquarters in Alexandria. They also started attending our corps (church) in Arlington. We've enjoyed renewing our friendships over the past several months. Their tenure at NHQ will be short-lived, however, as they recently learned that they will be moving to London, England in July. They will be serving at The Salvation Army's International Headquarters as Secretaries for the Americas. That's a fancy way of saying that they will be responsible for overseeing Salvation Army ministries in 35 countries in North and South Americas, Central America and the Caribbean. Our family will miss seeing them on a regular basis and sharing lunch together at the ARC, but we know they will do well in their new appointments.

March Photo Challenge #1

This month's challenge is to post three photos of signs of spring. This is my first entry, the ice and snow slowly giving way to the warmth of spring.

Ordinary Spring Day

Well, February had some brutal moments and March came in like a lion, but spring is coming - slowly but surely - to northern Virginia. As you can see in the photo below, I've been relentlessly pursuing waterfowl and am looking forward to watching the first buds open soon.

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING

I just found out a couple of days ago that I will be going to Myrtle Beach at the end of April with Joshua and his school band. One of their other chaperones can't go, so I'll be pinch-hitting. It should be fun. Now I've got to lose some weight so I can hang out on the beach!

Lady Book Notes: Book Review: Why Intelligent Design Fails

I don't how many of you (if any) share my fascination with questions and issues surrounding evolution, creation, faith, etc. This fascination was fueled by two factors.

First, I've taken truckloads of courses in philosophy of science, epistemology, political philosophy, educational philosophy. . . . Public discourse about evolution, creation, Intelligent Design and so on provides lots of interesting material for an analytical philosopher with roots in both Christianity and Deweyan Pragmatism.

Second, my doctoral advisor, who had degrees in biology and botany, really knew the natural sciences. She complemented my musical, artsy background very well. I taught her to love jazz and she taught me to love science. She and I published - jointly and individually - papers dealing with science education, epistemology, etc. And we dined at jazz clubs in several major cities along the way.

Some of you may recall that, in December 2006, I reviewed a book about one scientist's attempt to reconcile his Christian faith with scientific data. You can find that review in the Lady Book Notes archives. My latest review of a related, but substantially different, book can be found by following the link below. The editors and authors ignore most of the political hype that surrounds Intelligent Design and examine the theory from scientific perspectives. Check out the review by following the link below. Then check out the book from your local library or bookstore.

Lady Book Notes: Book Review: Why Intelligent Design Fails

Of Photo Hosts, Blog Templates and Other Matters

Photo Hosts & Blog Templates
If you've checked my blogs in the past couple of days, you'll have noticed some strange goings on. Sometimes my photos were visible, sometimes they weren't. Sometimes my page backgrounds were visible, sometimes they weren't. The reason for this mayhem is that my photo hosting site began upgrading its server last week. The process was supposed to take about 24 hours. It took 5 days (I think they're done now, she says with her fingers crossed). All of the old links were still supposed to work. They didn't. So, I had to manually adjust the links for link buttons, photos, etc. What a pain in the patootie!

Since my photo links were messed up, I decided to revert to some plain vanilla blog templates sans photo backgrounds. Pedestrian, I know, but I'm tired of messing with links. For the time being, what you see is all you'll be getting.

Other Matters
Dave and Jonathan had a good weekend in Christiansburg, VA. Jonathan had a night off from rehearsal on Monday, since the band had played all weekend. I guess that's their reward for good behavior - or good playing - or maybe the bandmaster was sick of them and needed some solitude. Dave is still editing the hundreds of photos he took. Better him than me! Joshua had a good time in San Antonio at another drum corps rehearsal. He came home with a new Crossmen jacket and a baritone to practice. On Friday night, I tabulated scores for middle school band festival performances. Then I vegged at home for most of Saturday and Sunday - tough life.

This weekend, Joshua will have two festival performances with his school bands. On Friday night he will be playing the clarinet with a concert band. On Saturday night he will be playing the trombone with the symphonic band. I will be going as a chaperone for both performances. The band booster president was surprised that I volunteered to go with two groups, but gladly accepted my offer. I figure that if I travel on the buses with the bands, I don't have to bother parking my car at a crowded venue. In the meantime, Jonathan will have divisional youth band, or perhaps drama, rehearsal this weekend. He has been playing in the band but was recently asked to participate in the drama group (which rehearses when the band does), so I'm not sure what he'll be doing at camp - but he'll be up to something.

Anyway, that's a quick review of what's been happening recently and a quick preview of what's going to be happening pretty soon. Life keeps going and going and going. . . .

Photo Challenge Updates

I think it's probably time to close out the entries for the February challenge. Participation was less than optimal. Maybe we'll do better in March. In the meantime, check out the updates below.

UPDATE #1:
James posted some photos that sort of (more or less - there is red stuff in them) meet the requirements for the photo challenge. You will find them here. James wore a red shirt that is visible in several photos. Even more impressively, he visited an Asian wise man dressed head-to-toe in red. And if you want to count the blood from James' abrasions as red items too, then he's got several photos that meet the challenge. Check them out.

UPDATE #2:
David says he did not do any qualifying photos in February. In early March, however, he posted several photos of the National Capital Band that show off the band's burgundy tunics. His photos are here. These are technically late entries and burgundy is not quite red, but it is part of the red family, I guess, so I'll let them in. Besides, many of you seem to have misplaced your cameras. At least Dave finally found his. Better late than never.

By the way, Dave has an idea for the March challenge - check his blog soon for the details.

Photo Challenge Entries: Coming In and Looking Good

Erik bought a new camera and celebrated by taking photos for our challenge! Thank you, Erik, for joining the fun. His photos are posted here. I love the wooden shoes. What a great find! The angle of the light creates attractive variations in shades of red. The traffic sign, unlike anything I've seen in the USA or Canada, is cute and the calabash photos reveal the intricate texture of this fruit. His final photo is a set of several books of varying shades of red in the company of two red apples. Not bad for a first-timer!

Again, Barb's photo is here. Most people consider red to be a hot, or at least warm, color. Barb has demonstrated that such is not always the case.

And you can find my entries here and here.

The rest of you need to get cracking and post your entries! By the way, does anyone have an idea for the March challenge?