Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany XXVIIII: True Hodge Podge!

Hello everyone,

It's fall, it's busy and I will just leave you today with a few interesting bits to read on the web.
Not much new, just working away on the student and member requests for info, it's prime season for them, they're pouring in, the students needing help with their school work, teachers looking for resources! Glad I'm busy! There's lots going on at MENC, but I will leave that for other bloggers to blog about, as these initiatives are happening in other departments.........

Heard on the news 9/26 that it was the 50th (!!) anniversary of West Side Story! NPR did a great series on it, interviewing folks associated with the original Broadway production. Click HERE and HERE and HERE for great stuff! (videos, sound clips, interviews).

Every heard of a TRUMPET Harmonica? This you gotta see! Click HERE for a picture and short description, it's a kicker, makes me want to have one! Enticement description: "full concert octave harmonica faithfully reproduces the original 1907 design, and includes five meticulously crafted brass bells which produce the instruments vibrant sound

Read about the problem with fine wood, how its shortage is effecting the making of wooden instruments! Click HERE

and Frankie Valli has made a comeback, read all about it HERE! (and check out PATSYs while you're at it........but better make reservations! Took Mom in law there for her birthday in June, one of those things she always wanted to do, Frank Sinatra's second home back in his day! A legendary place and the REAL DEAL when it comes to Italian!)

Have a great week, perhaps next week I'll have more substance and stories!
SR

Tuesday Brief

Kind of quiet day here, though with the usual full slate of meetings. A few people are fighting colds, or have given in and have stayed home. I have a number of staff celebrating their MENC anniversaries over the past few weeks or coming right up ... which means, performance reviews! So I've been spending a good amount of time on this task.

Last week's Peter Case show was excellent -- we were able to sit very close to the front to get the full effect of his brilliant guitar playing. Great performances of his original songs with a Dylan and Procol Harum cover thrown in here and there. This coming weekend, Nerissa and Katryna Nields are back in town. Then it's a bit of dry spot until January unless something new and exciting is announced. (Or of course, if you don't count my godson's violin recitals or my nephew's jazz band performances.)

Onward ~~

One of those days in my world

Yes it is -- One of those days! It is Board Book time! UGHHHHHH. Once again, Harley and I are busting our buns to get the Board Book in the mail on Thursday, October 4, for the NEB meeting on November 2-3. We have had many people in and out of our office. You know, they have radar! They know when we are pushing papers and writing docket items and they come in and sit. . . and sit. . .. What part of I am working on my computer and not making eye contact do they not get? I did something in a previous life that I can't remember and I'm paying for it today.

Oh well, that is my lot in life to answer questions, phone calls, multi-task, and keep smiling. I will be "numbering" pages tomorrow on the board book. I betcha we go up to 200 pages in this one. PS is gonna have fun copying this book but we will get it done. No anixety here - we have two choices: 1) get it done; or 2) get it done. Harley has already checked into a small hole in the wall refusing to come out. You know it looks like a furnace. Harley's gonna burn.... if he doesn't get out of there. The agenda for this meeting is jam packed with really really really important items such as: Approval of the updated MENC Strategic Plan; Begin work on the National Assembly schedule for April 2008; Follow-up on the 2007 National Assembly; Review the report of the MENC Governance Task Force; Approve the report of the Hall of Fame Board; Review information from the Standards Task Force; Discuss conventions (they have been doing this since 1979 when I came to work here and started sitting in board meetings!); Discuss some plans for planned giving to MENC; Review a request from the Guam Music Educators; and on and on. One busy Board meeting! Well, I need to start numbering pages. Will let you know what we come up with - betcha it will be 200 pages! More next week!

Oh yeah - I learned how to "Letterbox" this weekend. What an exciting hobby. It is like a treasure map and you trounce around the woods looking for hidden letterboxes. You make your own stamp - mine is call "Big Paw" and stamp you stamp in their letterbox journal and then you stamp there stamp in your letterbox journal -- anyway, if you are interested I can fill you in next week. Let me know.

My Wish

My wish, for music education, is that the federal government gives it the kind of recognition that it deserves... lalala...

That's my Rascal Flatts shout-out for the day :-) Happy Friday everyone!!

Today, in honor of HLS's recent "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"-style mid-afternoon Rascal Flatts concert experience, I will be sharing a few photos from the show that she attended. HLS got to attend this local Commonwealth bar performance thanks to being at the right place at the right time during a ticket give-away (lucky lucky!). Here are a few snaps from the show...



Pretty cool, huh?? I'm no huge Rascal Flatts fan myself, but I think that they're definitely fun to listen to, and catchy if nothing else. Quite amazing what a foothold pop-country has taken on mainstream radio (which is 99% garbage anyway, in my opinion) these days... Anyways, congrats to HLS who got to have this super cool experience this week, and was quite obviously, very close to the band when she snapped those shots!

The weather is awesome here today in Reston and I think that it's safe to say that everyone is hopeful for a fun and relaxing weekend. Personally I'm sad that I'll have to wait another whole week before the Redskins have an opportunity to avenge their brutal loss to the Giants, but alas, HOCKEY SEASON OPENS THIS WEEKEND!! WOOHOO!! The Ducks and the Kings will play a two game series in London as a special kick-off to the 2007-2008 season (VERY cool!). SKJ is especially excited for the NHL's trip over to Britain... she's been a London junkie ever since I got to MENC! (I think perhaps she secretly WANTS to be British--nothing wrong with that!).

In music education related news... check out the September edition of the MENC Legislative Memo for some interesting happenings on the government relations front, and also make certain to take a peak at the latest MusicFriends newsletter! We looooooooove our MusicFriends! Also, SKJ and HLS did a MARVELOUS job getting MENC ready for the annual Caitlin Classic Golf Tournament, which was again, an amazing success! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!! And if you live in and around the Commonwealth, enjoy what might be one of the last warm weekends this year!

And now... here are the Friday...

"Government Relations & Outreach Department Album Picks of the Week!!!"

SKJ: Fergie - The Dutchess
HLS: Rascal Flatts - Still Feels Good
CBLW: Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

Thursday Interlude: All Together Now

Hi All

So yesterday my son Matt had a freshman football game on a opposing field several miles away. As my husband and I were walking into the stadium, the teams, our kids and the opposing team were warming up. The first thing I noticed was there team was a lot bigger than ours. And no I don't mean they were giant, hulking 14-year-olds. No, they outnumbered out team by quite a lot.

As I walked past, I heard one of the coaches say to the opposing team as they did furious versions of jumping jacks "How bad do you want this? How bad?" The players grunted something back and I headed over to our bleachers to wait for the game. My husband Steve is a walking, talking, stats book, so he told me how the other team was 2-0, how their team was good because the feeder program for the high school was so strong and yada, yada, yada. Still, I felt relatively good about the game because...because....well, just because.

Do you ever have a good feeling about something for no reason? Well,that is how I felt last night as our freshmen Hornets took the field. I wasn't sure Matt would actually play. His back bothered him this week and spent more time with the trainers than the coaches at practice this week, but in the warm-ups he appeared to be running and moving normally.

The game was really neat for our baby Hornets. An interception. Three successful goal line stands. Some clock-eating offensive drives. We led 7-0 at halftime and later with about five minutes to go in the game, we were ahead 14-6. Right after the opposing team scored their first touchdown, they missed their extra point. Yea for us! Still, they decided to try an onside kick so they could try and get the ball back right away and score again.

Matt's big contribution to the game was recovering the onside kick to give us the ball back. We held on to win, which was great because the past two games, they took an early lead and then kind of fell apart in the second half and lost. That they believed in themselves enough to win this time around was really great. Matt told me later at home that no one at school believed they would win, but they believed, which was all that mattered.

The players were so pumped after the game. After huddling with the coaches, they ran off the field, big grins on their faces to the buses. How did they celebrate the big win on the way home? Well, since champagne is frowned upon during high school bus rides, they sang. Sang all the way back to school. At the top of their lungs. And what did they sing? A song I am sure they all learned in preschool. I know Matt learned it from watching Barney when he was four or so. Shh. Don't tell him I told you that.

I quote from the venerable Wikipedia:

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt is a traditional children's song of obscure origin. Its lyrics are:

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,

His name is my name too.

Whenever we go out

The people always shout,

"John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt."

La, la, la, la, la, la, la

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,

His name... [repeat ad infinitum]

The song is frequently sung by young children at communal outings such as long bus rides.

Perhaps I should edit the Wikipedia entry to add ... "and freshmen football players"

My sincere apologies to the bus driver last night. And my sincere thanks to getting all of the players back to the high school safely. La La La La La La La. Ad infinitum.

Tomorrow night we play the varsity version of the the same team at our school and I plan to go to the game, in part so I can see the marching band in action. And, and, and I am really excited about this: On Saturday the school will host a Showcase of Bands, from noon to 10 pm. More than 30 bands will perform their routines. I am not sure I will be able to hang out for ten hours, but I will go for a good chunk of it.

As I write this, I am reminded that little mini dramas are playing out on fields all over the country as kids win football games or perform intricate marching routines and master tricky notes at the same time. Then there are all of the cross-country meets and field hockey games.

One of my favorite parts of work here is that I get information from lots of members. Sometimes I can use it right way, other times not. I receive frequent emails from teachers letting me (and others on the MENC staff) what is going on in their music programs.

I received the email below from Joseph Rutkowski, one of our more frequent pen pals. Rutkowski has been director of Instrumental Music at Great Neck North High since 1991.

Members of the Great Neck( New York) North High School Pep Band practice for
Saturday's Homecoming performance

Earlier this week Rutkowski wrote:

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO
The Season's Opening Public Performance of the Great Neck( New York) North High School Pep Band on Polo Road in Great Neck at the FOOTBALL FIELD
halfway between Old Mill Road and Arrandale Avenue
on Saturday, September 29 at 1:30 PM
with Maestri Jonathan Yousefzadeh, Nadav Levy and Matthew Shore Conductors
in a program of popular, patriotic and classic works by
John Phillip Sousa, John Williams, Marvin Hamlisch, Lalo Schifrin, and
Satchmo!
Featuring the future legends of the GNNHS Symphonic Band.

I liked that last part. Future legends.

Now, I can't make it up to Great Neck myself this weekend, but if you are in the area, drop by.

And if you would like to let me know what is going on in your music program, my email is Rozf@menc.org. I would love to hear from you. I can't guarantee I will use it the journal news or online, but I just might.

This week was one of transition for me. MB sent November Music Educators Journal to the printer and I had my news meeting to discuss stories for December Teaching Music. Starting interview process for those stories. Any who I guess I will get back to my day job.

I will try to remember to shoot some video at the Showcase of Bands event this weekend so I can share that with you next week.

Til Next Thursday

La La La La La La La

RF

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany XXVIII: Gershwin and Upshaw

Driving into work in the dark, amidst the jockeying of cars, what a bright spot to hear, on Public Radio's "The Writers Almanac", that today is GEORGE GERSHWIN's birthday! Born in 1898....Brooklyn, NY.....the story of "Rhapsody in Blue" (1924).

Quoting liberally from The Writers' Almanac:

Gershwin was "forced to write (The Rhapsody) on short order because his friend Paul Whiteman wanted to put on a jazz concert and decided to advertise that the concert would include a new piece by the young George Gershwin. Gershwin only learned about the concert when he saw the newspaper advertisement, and he suddenly had only six weeks to produce something. He came up with the main theme while playing piano for friends at a party."

"The concert began at 2:30 p.m. on February 12, 1924, and it consisted of 23 pieces of music. Gershwin had finished all the orchestra parts, but he'd left the piano part blank, so that he could improvise on stage. In the middle of the concert, the ventilation system broke down, and people were getting restless. Several people had gotten up to leave when "Rhapsody in Blue" was announced, and Gershwin came out on stage to play the piano with the orchestra. When the opening clarinet part was played, the people who had been getting ready to leave went back to their seats. Rhapsody in Blue soon became one of the most famous and popular pieces of serious music ever composed by an American."

"Gershwin died of brain cancer in 1937. He was just 38."

And another genius, recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant, becoming a MacArthur Fellow: Dawn Upshaw, soprano par excellence....click HERE to read more! (scroll to end of page)

A few resources below to see you through your week - and catch you next week! SR

Music Ed. Major turned opera star to be

Young Arts

Music and Faith

Tuesday Report

We've been in some intensive meetings the last few weeks about how we're going to improve our Web site to meet the increasing needs of our members. Later today I have a conference call to hash out some of the final details before we can begin this gigantic project. I am very excited about the developments that we're going to be able to share with you over the next several months.

The meetings have made clear to me (even more clear than it already was) how fast Web technology changes and how hard it is to keep up! Technology in music education is no different. Here are two blogs published by MENC members from which I've learned a lot recently:

The Digital Music Educator -- Owen Bradley, North Port High School, FL

MUSicTECHnology.net -- Joe Pisano, Grove City College, PA



Do you have a blog you'd like other MENC members to know about? E-mail me at elizabethl@menc.org.

Nothing clears the mind for me like great live music. Last week's Marty Stuart show at the Birchmere was A+++++ spectacular. What a musician -- and what an entertainer! Really knows how to work the crowd! He and his three piece band, the Fabulous Superlatives, alternated between telecaster-heavy country (songs like "The Whiskey Ain't Working" and "Hillbilly Rock") and bluegrass with fantastic gospel harmonies ("Working on a Building"). And Marty has a wonderful regard for country music history that he shared with the audience through numerous stories. For instance, Marty was Johnny Cash's longtime next door neighbor and at the Birchmere he performed a song they'd written together just a few days before Cash's death. (It was about being a hangman, which they'd decided what the worst job anyone could have.) Later on, Barry Gibb bought the Johnny Cash house (which subsequently burned down, but he's going to rebuild) and Marty and his band thought they'd better learn a Bee Gees song for the housewarming. So we were treated to a full bluegrass treatment of "Stayin' Alive." Fabulously superlative indeed.

A show I'm looking forward to later this week is Peter Case at a small club called Jammin' Java. Peter is a great songwriter whose new album features a guest spot by one of my all time faves, Richard Thompson.

Well, better get back to Web stuff. Also, collegiate promotions, review of our forthcoming catalog of MENC specialty items, etc. etc. etc.

Onward!!! (with plenty of twang, if at all possible!)