Blog Archive 2007

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=20 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0418dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="http://www.mnsi.net/~mdethier/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mnsi.net/~mdethier/"><U><B> Back to Lone Mt Homestead  </B></U></A><B>                                                           </B><A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blog Archive"><U><B> To Blog Archive 2006</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="London Trip 8 2008"><U>London Trip #8 2008</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blog Archive"><U>Blog Archive</U></A>   |   <B>Blog Archive 2007</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=460 BGCOLOR="#663333" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>Blog Archive 2007</B></I><I><B>              </B></I></div> <div> <B>Friday, Dec. 28th/07</B></div> <div> <B>I got really ambitious today and cleaned all of the track on my HO train set in the basement.  It was really dirty.  I also managed to get the wheels of one engine and two passenger cars cleaned, so I could run a very small train.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="36609c70.jpg" border=0 width="265" height="199" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>The track is clean once again, as are the wheels of one engine.</B></div> <div> <B>The after-effects of my bicycle tumble yesterday are a very sore wrist (no piano today) and some cool-looking leg bruising.  We couldn't ride today due to afternoon rain.  The days have been so dark and gloomy of late.</B></div> <div> <B>We watched </B><A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398808/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398808/"><U><B>"Bridge to Terabithia"</B></U></A><B> tonight, an interesting though somewhat flawed film that attempts to enter a secret and magical world created by two 7th graders during their after-school leisure hours.  All of the kids were very well presented, especially Anna Sophia Robb who simply radiated charm as Leslie.</B></div> <div> <B>Sometimes the film was just too literal, and would have been more successful with fewer strange creatures depicted.  The ending is just too sappy, complete with Disney's trademark castle.  It would have been nice to see Dad help out with the bridge a bit.  Enjoyable mostly for the young acting talent. </B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, Dec. 27th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Whilst Deb and I were out for another bike ride this afternoon (two days in a row now) we met Lou and Linda, who were out for a walk.  I promptly took a header off the mountain bike, falling splat onto the highway into oncoming traffic.  How I love to make impressions.  Anyway, other than some huge bumps on my lower legs and ankles, and a mildly sprained wrist, I seem to be holding together rather well.  I was very lucky not to get hit by a vehicle, though a few months off of work may have had its advantages.</B></div> <div> <B>I sent a long e-mail to Caroline detailing our Christmas adventures at the Hyatt in Dearborn, and sent her nine photos too (only one was of wine).</B></div> <div> <B>Amanda came over for a long visit tonight.  She is in town for the holidays but is heading back to Toronto soon.  It's always good to see her, and she brought us two new books.  We gave her an LCBO gift card, and a nice hardcover edition of the 2 and 3 Part Inventions by J.S. Bach.  </B></div> <div> <B>Wed., Dec. 26th/07</B></div> <div> <B>We did something totally different this year for the annual Christmas shutdown.  Deb booked a room for us at a very fancy hotel, the </B><A HREF="http://dearborn.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp?src=google_hotelbrand&&s_kwcid=hyatt%20regency%20dearborn|1063662038" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://dearborn.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/i"><U><B>Hyatt Regency</B></U></A><B> in Dearborn MI.  She also paid for it all with a recent 3 hour harp gig.  The main goal was to get some rest, do some reading, writing and gaming, and have fun for two nights in a big, fancy hotel.  We were kept company by half of Lafayette, Indiana, as Purdue football was in town for the Motor City College Bowl game being played tonight at Ford Field.  Our room was extremely comfortable, and we were in there much of the time.  We stopped at Merchants Fine Wine first to get some supplies.  After checking out today, we went and did some shopping at Target.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3680cd60.jpg" border=0 width="268" height="214" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Two days and two nights at the Hyatt Regency.  What is there to do at Christmas time?</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="369cc550.jpg" border=0 width="204" height="341" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>The finest wine was </B><A HREF="http://www.winereviewonline.com/sbrocco_natura_organic_wines.cfm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.winereviewonline.com/sbrocco_"><U><B>this organic one</B></U></A><B> from Chile.  Inexpensive but fabulous!</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="36b0a620.jpg" border=0 width="266" height="354" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>There are nearly 800 rooms in this very big hotel.  We were in Rm 768.  Our room came with two mornings of full breakfasts.  It was an excellent deal.</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Dec. 23rd/07</B></div> <div> <B>A full moon tonight, with Mars riding close by.  I am hoping to get a photo or two, but it is very cloudy and very windy.  You will see it here if I get one.</B></div> <div> <B>In the last couple of days we have watched three more episodes of Season Three of the new Doctor Who, by far the most outstanding sf tv series, ever.  We also watched a quirky western, a Sergio Leone flic from 1974 starring Henry Fonda in his last western feature.  </B><A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/My-Name-Nobody-Terence-Hill/dp/B0007M21Z8" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.amazon.com/My-Name-Nobody-Ter"><U><B>"My Name is Nobody"</B></U></A><B> is actually a slapstick comedy (with lots of slapping), but our main reason for renting it was the many New Mexico locations.  Cabezon, Mogollon, White Sands, Acoma and other areas give the film an authentic look, and the photography is rich and detailed.  Definitely worth a rental.  There is no other western like it, and Fonda is his usual magnificient self.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, Dec. 21st/07</B></div> <div> <B>All energy this week went into surviving until the weekend, and the strategy seems to have (barely) worked.  I am officially free for 16 days and evenings.</B></div> <div> <B>Tues. afternoon and Wed. evening were the school Christmas shows.  I had a lot of positive comments about my recorder players, who helped fill in the dead spaces between the acts.  The show was all Primary children, from Kindergarten through Gr. 3.  My recorder players are in Grs. 5, 6 and 8.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="36d04b50.jpg" border=0 width="260" height="181" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </B></div> <div> <B>Gr. 6 recorder band members warm up in the Music Room before the show.  My older group played whilst the younger singers left the stage and new groups entered.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="36f04a00.jpg" border=0 width="260" height="160" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Grand Finale of the afternoon performance.</B></div> <div> <B>On Thursday morning Deb and I popped over to our Dearborn mailbox, and I was able to retrieve and bring back to life my much-loved Finepix S9000 camera.  Here is a comparison shot showing it with the recently purchased S700.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3710bbd0.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>S700 on left; S9000 on right.  The smaller camera now becomes the main hiking and toting camera.  I will likely take it to London in March as well.</B></div> <div> <B>Monday, Dec. 17th/07</B></div> <div> <B>No photos today, I promise!  But I've got a pair of links you should enjoy.</B></div> <div> <B>Caroline, our good friend from London, UK, sent us this link.  It's to a commercial for a traditional Scottish soft drink, and among other things contains images of many of Scotlands most famous landmarks.  </B><A HREF="http://www.irn-bru.co.uk:80/snowman/index.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.irn-bru.co.uk:80/snowman/inde"><U><B>Watch and enjoy.</B></U></A><B>  Turn up the volume, too.</B></div> <div> <B>The second link comes from Mouser's journal, and it is a remix of the trailer to "300", for 10 yr. old girls.  </B><A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNqiSkd1M6k" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNqiSkd1M"><U><B>This is a classic.  </B></U></A><B>Turn up the volume.</B></div> <div> <B>For the second Monday in a row, there were no school buses running.  8H had 9 kids, 7M had 10, and 6W had 6.  Now that was a great day!</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Dec. 16/07</B></div> <div> <B>We ended up getting about 7" of snow, and it was heavy stuff, not fluffy.  Luckily my neighbour (the father of a former piano student) came by with his plow and pick-up truck.  He even came back for another go after the county snow plows had buried our driveway again!  Thanks Ralph!</B></div> <div> <B>We watched a very entertaining version of Northanger Abbey tonight on TVO. The 'dream' and 'fantasy' sequences were especially good.  They have two more Jane Austen nights coming up on the next two Sundays.  Only the British can make these shows with the consistent quality and high standards one comes to expect.  Very well done.</B></div> <div> <B>Of course sudden winter and a new camera mean only one thing--more pictures.  I wonder how many photos are actually on this entire website.  Tomorrow my S9000 should be back from a warrantied repair, waiting for me at our Dearborn mailbox.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="37303af0.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="175" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Taken from our upstairs window today during the storm.  We fed the birds three times.  The S700 is on maximum zoom (380mm).</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="37502c10.jpg" border=0 width="258" height="193" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Welcome to our house.  Please don't use the front door.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3770ab10.jpg" border=0 width="266" height="177" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Near sunset  the wind really picked up, causing a lot of blowing snow.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Saturday, Dec. 15th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Only one more day until Beethoven's birthday!  May the party never stop.</B></div> <div> <B>We are in line for a major winter storm.  Nothing would make me happier than if it missed, but it ain't gonna.  I took a few pics around the yard this afternoon with the new camera, after a small amount of snow had fallen.  Tonight we managed to get the Solstice decorations up around the fireplace, and our mini-tree.</B></div> <div> <B>We also watched the first episode of Dr. Who Season Three, an hilarious and touching story starring comedian Catherine Tate as a bride who never quite gets to her wedding, but goes everywhere else, including 4.6 billion years back in time to the formation of the earth.  David Tennant continues to be a brilliant Dr., possibly the best of them all, and the series just continues to be completely amazing.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3790bc80.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Our backyard bridge on a snowy Saturday.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="37b0a900.jpg" border=0 width="266" height="400" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Harp Garden, side of house.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="37d03850.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="389" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Feeding the birds.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="37f03bc0.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb at the banking machine on a snowy Saturday.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Friday, Dec. 14th/07</B></div> <div> <B>The newest, cutest camera is now in the building.  The S700 arrived safely and is currently in operation.  Here is what it looks like in my hand.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="380fee90.jpg" border=0 width="254" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Finepix S700 at home.  It is half the size of my S9000, but twice as big as the A400 (which is credited with this photo, taken by Deb).</B></div> <div> <B>It should make a great hiking camera, and once I get to know how to use it well, it will likely be our London camera in March.</B></div> <div> <B>Here is the first picture taken with the S700.  We went to Borders in Dearborn, and I sat at the cafe and unpackaged it and got it up and running.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="38203590.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="345" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </B></div> <div> <B>First light with the S700, a festive coffee display at Borders.  ISO 400, an autopilot shot.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3840bc90.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="201" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Buddy's Pizza.  ISO 800, "Museum" mode.</B></div> <div> <B>After Borders, we went to Buddy's Pizza for supper.  This indoor hand-held shot (1/8 sec) was a good colour test at ISO 800.  Not bad.  On "Museum" mode, the flash is suppressed, as are all camera sounds.  The ISO gets boosted, too.</B></div> <div> <B>I rode my bike to and fro today, and if the weather forecast for the weekend is accurate, it will likely be my final ride of /08.  We are in line for a major winter storm Saturday night and into Sunday.  Damn.</B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, Dec. 13th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Tonight I finally had time to work on revising my Lulu publications.  Both the novel and the photo book should now be where I want them.  I have ordered new copies of each to double check before posting links to them here.</B></div> <div> <B>On another note, my </B><A HREF="http://www.dpreview.com/news/0507/05072803fuji_s9000zs9500z.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.dpreview.com/news/0507/050728"><U><B>Fujifilm Finepix S9000</B></U></A><B> is on its way back to me, after being repaired under warranty in New Jersey.  If we go to our Dearborn mailbox tomorrow evening, my newest camera purchase, the Finepix S700, should be waiting.  It will be my 'intermediate' camera, used on all hikes except for the most extreme climbs, when I will still use the even smaller </B><A HREF="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixa400.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fu"><U><B>Finepix A400</B></U></A><B>.  The S9000 won't be back until at least Tuesday.</B></div> <div> <B>Wed., Dec.12th/07</B></div> <div> <B>It was sunny today, and I finally got to ride my bike to work and back once again!  I stayed a bit late to work on the school website.  I finally have found a couple of students that will actually do work on it with me, and trained them both tonight (thanks Kayley and Kaitlynd).</B></div> <div> <B>I finished listening to "</B><A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Siegfried-Richard-Wagner/dp/B0000042H7/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1197512909&sr=1-1" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.amazon.com/Siegfried-Richard-"><U><B>Siegfried</B></U></A><B>", the third opera in Wagner's mighty Ring Cycle.  Through sheer luck I happen to own the finest set of recordings of all 4 operas, featuring the Vienna Philharmonic and conducted by George Solti in the first full recordings ever made of the complete cycle.  This was the first recording of Siegried, and with singers like Wolfgang Windgassen (now there's a great name!) as the fearless Siegfried and Birgit Nilsson as the awakened Brunnhilde, this was a winner from start to finish.  Can't wait for the final installment "Gotterdamerung," coming soon to a living room near me.</B></div> <div> <B>We also watched the conclusion to "The Art of the Piano: Great Pianists of the 20th C".  Though all-too brief, and leaving out many major artists, highlights include Glenn Gould's Bach Concerto with Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic, Richter's performance of Chopin's Revolutionary Etude, and Michelangeli's performance of a Scarlatti sonata (b-).  There is nothing more humbling than to hear a great artist perform a work that you have studied and learned and performed yourself! </B></div> <div> <B>As to the Bruce Lee biopic (see Monday's entry for the beginning of a lot of this stuff I'm referring to tonight), it wasn't too bad.  Bruce Li plays the part of Bruce Lee in a film that sticks pretty close to the truth.  There is a lot of fighting, of course, but Bruce was like an old west gunfighter--young bucks just kept coming up to him and challenging him to fight all the time.  No matter how much serious butt-kicking he woud do, or how many world championship kung fu trophies he would win, self-inflated idiots with egos and no brains would always think they could beat him.  Nope.  Next Monday we are going to watch "Fists of Fury".</B></div> <div> <B>Mogollon the Cat has been making more and more appearances of late, and tonight we caught him up on the table snoozing beside Ferdinand.  He woke up when I approached with a camera, and took off when the flash went off, but he is definitely making big progress in accepting us as his family.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="38603b00.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="176" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Mogi on left and Ferdie on right.  Progress!</B></div> <div> <B>Monday, Dec. 10th/07</B></div> <div> <B>School busses were cancelled today due to icy roads, so instead of battling with classes <30, I had classes of 11, 14 and 14 respectively.  Much better, and we got a whole lot of learning done too.  More ice predicted tomorrow morning.  And the smile of the week goes to Taylor.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="387dbea0.jpg" border=0 width="219" height="234" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Taylor B., a Year 8 student.  Today was much more relaxed because of the small classes.</B></div> <div> <B>It's been hard getting back into piano since being sick, but I have managed 3 days in a row of late.  Memory still isn't that bad, except for the Scarlatti.  I am currently watching a dvd called "</B><A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Piano-Great-Pianists-Century/dp/B00004UF01" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Piano-Great-Pi"><U><B>Great Pianists of the 20th Century"</B></U></A><B>, a nice summary of some of the greats like Horowitz, Rubenstein,and even Rachmaninoff.  So far it is quite good, but a single dvd that is only 108 minutes long can't even begin to get into the subject  very deeply.  This would be better as a 3 or 4-disc set of two hours or more each.</B></div> <div> <B>This is also 'chop socky' night here at home, so I will be soon watching </B><A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Lee-Man-Myth-B-Bruce/dp/B00005UM3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1197334599&sr=1-1" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Lee-Man-Myth"><U><B>"Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth".</B></U></A><B>  Should go well with salad and leftover pasta.  I will report on this later.  And of course Rocky and Bullwinkle Season Three continues as well.  Kind of a mixed bag of viewing around here, as usual.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Sunday, Dec. 9th/07</B></div> <div> <B>As you can tell, I have expanded the journal size for easier reading and to enable slightly larger photos.  I simply don't have enough bandwidth here to link to larger pictures, but maybe someday if MNSi stops being so stingy with customers.</B></div> <div> <B>I will eventually go back and resize some of the photos, especially ones that are hard to see.</B></div> <div> <B>I have completed my nostalgic review of New Mexico Trip #9, reducing two large volumes of photos and writing of a two-week excursion down to two pages of summary and two photos.  This trip was nick-named "The Santa Fe Trail Expedition".  Deb and I and my parents flew to Kansas City in July 1990 and drove a rental car along what remains of the old wagon trail all the way to Santa Fe.  We then spent 6 days in Santa Fe, Taos and Red River seeing the sights before driving back to K.C. to catch our flight home.  Deb and I managed two great hikes, including a tough 8 mile hike above 11,000'.  This one turned out to be very exhausting, and we ended badly by nearly freezing to death in damp, windy weather on the 25 minute ride back down to the valley on the ski lift at Red River.  I loved the drive through Kansas, finding it a suitable preparation for the upcoming grandeur of the highest Rockies in NM.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3890bfb0.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="251" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb, Mom and Dad survey the land at Point of Rocks, Kansas, near Elkhart.  1990 photo.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="38b06a20.jpg" border=0 width="262" height="162" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Baldy Mt., between Red River NM and Eagle Nest.  Taken in 1990.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, Dec. 8th/07</B></div> <div> <B>We ended up taking four students to the Detroit Symphony, not five, as Ashley was sick.  </B><A HREF="http://jenniferkoh.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://jenniferkoh.com/"><U><B>Jennifer Koh</B></U></A><B> was the soloist, and she gave a riveting version of all 4 Seasons by Vivaldi.  4 times a year the DSO presents concerts in a series called Unmasked, where the conductor and a host present an informal talk on stage throughout the concert.  It's good for the students and non-classical music goers, though I doubt that the Four Seasons needs much unmasking.</B></div> <div> <B>Deb is playing harp this evening at a fancy dinner at the University of Windsor.  A new President is being sworn in at Assumption College, and she is playing for three hours!  I always feel like a street person she hired for the afternoon to help her set up, since I am usually dressed in my bummiest clothes and she is dressed to the hilt.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="38df9440.jpg" border=0 width="249" height="324" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb begins her 3 hr. dinner gig tonight, while I check out the bar snacks in my grubby clothes.</B></div> <div> <B>We are supposed to get a nasty storm overnight and tomorrow, with significant icing possible.  This is my least favourite weather, even beneath sudden lightning storms on mountains.  Kady and Angela are supposed to perform in Windsor tomorrow afternoon, and I'm supposed to accompany Kady.  We'll see.</B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, Dec. 6th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Bitter cold for this time of year, and as a result I am not spending a lot of time outdoors right now, i.e. biking and or walking.  By the end of winter these temperatures will seem mild, but for now I don't want any of it.  </B></div> <div> <B>Watching more Rocky and Bullwinkle, Season Three now, as we continue to get thru the complete series, courtesy of Netflix.  I laugh out loud nearly every episode.</B></div> <div> <B>At camera club yesterday I gave the group a talk and demo on pixels and megapixels.  Then, I asked them about their own cameras--they didn't even know how many mp their cameras were!  Today, a few came back to tell me how many (anywhere from 3.3 to 10) mp their camera has.  Talk about basics, but by the end of the year, if they stick with it, their pictures will improve and their knowledge base will slowly grow.  They certainly are good at getting their assignments in on time.</B></div> <div> <B>Tomorrow night eight of us are going to the Detroit Symphony to hear the chamber orchestra perform Vivaldi's 4 Seasons.  We are bringing 5 students and there will be three adults.  They already know the basics about Vivaldi's life, but three of the girls have never been to this kind of concert before.  Will report on the expedition tomorrow or Saturday.</B></div> <div> <B>Monday, Dec. 3rd/07</B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>We made a quick run this morning over to our Dearborn mailbox.  I sent my camera off to New Jersey to be repaired (still under a 5-yr. warranty), and miss it already.  They will likely say it isn't a warranty issue, but that it is wear and tear.  We'll see.  I also purchased my next level hiking camera, after humming and hawing longer than I did over buying the Touareg.  I got a </B></FONT><A HREF="http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/13376/fujifilm_finepix_s700/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/13376/fu"><U><B>Finepix S700</B></U></A><B>,</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B> the baby brother to my S9000.  It has full manual override, which made my decision in the end.  When hiking I leave the camera on autopilot in case I need to get a quick shot away, but when I compose the photo I usually use manual.  The price was a steal on Amazon.com. Also arriving in the mail were my two books I printed at Lulu.com.  The photo book is quite lovely, except there is one huge mistake:  where a strategic full page photo of Knight Peak should be, we see--an architectural fragment from a building in Silver City.  Hmmm.  Time to get on the line with tech support.  The other book, my kids' novel, needs a better font, so I will try it again.  The front and back cover, designed by Deb, are spectacular!  Links will be forthcoming.</B></FONT></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="38fb20c0.jpg" border=0 width="178" height="268" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb designed the cool cover to my novel.  Pen name is M.J. Croft.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Sunday, Dec. 2nd/07</B></div> <div> <B>Feeling nearly half human today, though 5 hours of sleep over two nights is not exactly my norm.  I managed to do the laundry whilst Deb went to hunt and gather.  Great pasta for dinner!</B></div> <div> <B>I actually felt well enough to work on my New Mexico summary project for a few hours.  I am trying to summarize each of the 25 voyages within two pages of a Moleskine notebook, using only 2 photos for each trip.  Today I summarized Trip #7, "The Lordsburg Mesa" expedition.  First I reread the large volume written just after each trip, and then I look carefully again at the photos I included at that time.  Then I get down to thinking and writing briefly about the highlights.  This particular trip was in March 1990, and was our first attempt at a "low key" exploration in New Mexico.  No major summits were climbed, no areas of extreme breathtaking beauty were visited, and no National Parks or Monuments were explored.  We stayed in an area very close to Lordsburg and instead got up close and personal with the desert.  We began by spending an entire day just sitting around various places on the Mesa watching what happened.  Kind of a Native American way of exploring.  Next we discovered a small scale red rock area, observing a family of javellinas and once again sitting and just watching the landscape.  Our biggest climb was to Eagle Eye, a fantastic hole in the rock that hardly anyone knows about, deep within Thompson Canyon.  We also explored a new facet of our sacred mountain, The Watcher (alias Knight Peak), and managed to climb a mini summit in the Pyramid Mts., called Swallowfork Peak.  More than any other, this trip taught us about seeing and observing Nature in the deserts of New Mexico.  We came back wiser, and didn't even need any peyote!  Two pics follow:</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3910aae0.jpg" border=0 width="266" height="174" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>A tiny and younger Deb stands in the cleft at the cool area of red rocks we discovered in 1990 north of Lordsburg Mesa.  We are keeping the area top secret, but if you want to go, we'll take you (blindfolded, of course). 1990 photo.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="392fc1e0.jpg" border=0 width="252" height="286" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>A tiny and younger Michael stands beneath the hole at Eagle Eye, Thompson Canyon.  While this area isn't top secret, no one really knows about it either.  From my 1990 files.  I am a tiny blue blob below the left side of the hole (honest).  The hole can be climbed and entered from behind.  I have a superb 8x10 of this shot, taken with my late Rollei 35.  1990 photo.</B></div> <div> <B>Sat., Dec. 1st/07</B></div> <div> <B>Have been reading and thoroughly enjoying Mouser's (see below) blog, especially about his preparations for his successful ascent of Mt. Rainier--congrats, man!  Highly recommended reading, everyone.  My goal of getting to the top of Little Costilla Peak next summer doesn't seem quite such a big adventure after all!</B></div> <div> <B>Deb played at a wedding today in Windsor, and luckily the snowy icy stuff held off until we got back home.  Among other significant accomplishments today, we watched another crappy movie from my bargain boxed set of 50 crappy scifi flics I bought last week (</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#33FFFF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.millcreekent.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.millcreekent.com/"><U><B>click here</B></U></A></FONT><B>).  This week's flic wasn't even a scifi, but a lame jungle pic with a significantly ugly Amazon Queen.  Sheesh.  If you are going to pay about 20 cents for a movie, it should at least have a beautiful Amazon Queen.  Next Saturday we will treat ourselves to "The Atomic Brain".  Now that sounds more like it!</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, Nov. 30th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Finally starting to get back on my feet again.  I took three days off work to fight off this flu bug, and now I'm just left with a sinus infection.  Low grade headache is finally gone.  No piano in a long while now, so memory will be slipping.  Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow.</B></div> <div> <B>While researching a mountain peak I wish to climb next summer in New Mexico (Little Costilla Peak), I came across a very funky website.  It is loaded with photos, and I envy Mouser his amount of bandwidth.  I have so many more pics I would like to have up, including our cats, but am limited by MNSi's restrictions.  Maybe it's time I considered a commercial site.  If you click on photos on Mouser's site, you will be treated to over 5500 pics, some in three different sizes, all fully categorized.  His journal is also fun to read and filled with interesting stuff.</B></div> <div> <B>Here is the link to his journal:</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://web.mouser.org/log/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://web.mouser.org/log/"><U><B>http://web.mouser.org/log/</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>and to his photos:</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://mouser.org/gallery/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://mouser.org/gallery/"><U><B>http://mouser.org/gallery/</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>These are large sites, so bookmark them and take your time.</B></div> <div> <B>Tuesday, Nov. 27th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Despite feeling under the weather today (background headache and slight fever, loss of appetite), I managed to get a full piano practice done.  I am now memorizing the Spanish keyboard program, and here is how things stand:</B></div> <div> <B>Scarlatti, c- Sonata--30% done.</B></div> <div> <B>Scarlatti, C+ Sonata--70% done.</B></div> <div> <B>Granados, Playera--70% done.</B></div> <div> <B>Granados, Little Orphan Girl--50% done.</B></div> <div> <B>Takacs, Song and Alborado--50% done.</B></div> <div> <B>Debussy, Gate of Wine--30% done.</B></div> <div> <B>Albeniz, Leyenda (Asturias)--50% done.</B></div> <div> <B>de Falla, Farruca--70% done.</B></div> <div> <B>There is still a lot of memory work to go, but it will get there.  I'll report back in a few weeks.</B></div> <div> <B>Got a short message from Kati G. today.  She is going to enter the Doctoral program in Piano Performance at Indiana Univ.  Fantastic news!!</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Nov. 25th/07</B></div> <div> <B>The day began bright and sunny, but by mid-afternoon it was cloudy and grey.  It grew grayer, and wet snow was following by early evening.  We managed a walk at Ojibway Prairie late in the day, and I shot some b&w pics with my Fujifilm Finepix S9000 digital camera.  Within a week of bragging on here about that camera, I now find that the command wheel (used for all manual settings) has ceased working.  It's still under warranty, but that means I will be without the camera while it gets sent away.  At least it didn't happen just before a major trip.  All of the auto settings and scene position options work, but not the command wheel which I use constantly.  I have taken nearly 3500 trouble-free shots with the S9000.  Because I use manual control nearly all of the time, it appears I have worn out the wheel.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3940dca0.jpg" border=0 width="269" height="202" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Ojibway Prairie hike.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3960cc90.jpg" border=0 width="268" height="201" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>More prairie scenery.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, Nov. 24th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Like most of them, it was a long, hard week on the battlefront.  I did manage to bike to school three times, but on Thursday we received 2" of rain.  All our leaves are now down, and the yard looks very leafy!  It will likely stay that way until a big wind comes and blows them away.</B></div> <div> <B>There was a beautiful moonrise last night, observed as we headed off to Detroit.  We returned to the DIA to attend the public opening (last weekend was for members only), and found ourselves jam packed into a very busy building.  We left about 11 pm, and hordes of people were still arriving.  We have now walked through most of the museum, today visiting American and Modern Art.  Both setups are very well done.  The African Art section reminds me of ethhographic museums in London, rather than an art museum, and the Egyptian galleries are very claustrophobic.  I do find there are simply too many labels in the galleries, and they are too large.  "The Grand Tour" of Italy is very disappointing, and not very grand.</B></div> <div> <B>This afternoon, my school Recorder Band performed in town as part of the Christmas festivities.  A good time was had by all.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="39800040.jpg" border=0 width="256" height="260" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Brahm, Jenn and Rebecca perform on recorders.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="39a06c40.jpg" border=0 width="262" height="196" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Members of the Recorder Band take a break while the primary choir belts out a  few Christmas tunes.  Jesse looks thrilled.</B></div> <div> <B>Monday, Nov. 19th/07</B></div> <div> <B>I have begun listening to the original Solti recording of "Siegfried", the 3rd opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle.  I am well into Act 1, and it is a fabulous recording!  It lasts over 4 hrs., so it will take a while to get through it all.</B></div> <div> <B>I promised a Mogy update, but before that happens, we found a beautiful white cat on the roadside in front of our house this afternoon, killed by a car.  We dug a hole and buried it in our backyard, a not very fun way to begin our evening after a leaden day at school.</B></div> <div> <B>On to Mogy--he is very much afraid of me, and whenever he sees me he cowers in his cave.  When I came home today on my bike (ahead of Deb), all three cats were in the window watching for us.  Mogy took off as soon as he saw me approach the house.  Still, he is getting braver every day.  Deb can touch him directly.  His room is open now, and he has full run of the house when he wants it (night and when we are gone).  It is taking a long time, but he will come round, especially when he realizes what a great guy I really am!  He has blue eyes, a striped tail, and a spotted body.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="39cb0900.jpg" border=0 width="176" height="144" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </B></div> <div> <B>First picture of Mogy, with my old 2 mp camera.  He disappeared soon after, back to his lair. </B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Nov. 18th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Zeezee, our oldest finch, left for the big flock in the sky over the weekend.  A long lifespan for these remarkable little birds is 4 years.  Zeezee was 8!  Many of the others are very old also, and no doubt the cooler temps of autumn and winter will be hard on the flock.  Zeezee fathered some of the other birds still with us.  Tomorrow I will give an update on Mogollon, our newest cat.</B></div> <div> <B>We went to the Windsor library for another student recital this afternoon, after enjoying a fabulous lunch in depressing downtown Windsor.  We ate at an Indian restaurant called "A Taste of India", and the food was delicious.  The downtown street project just goes on and on, and meanwhile there is no traffic anywhere, vehicle or foot.  What a shame.</B></div> <div> <B>I have nearly decided on the Finepix S700 for my next camera.  The only disadvantage is the weight.  Because it holds 4 AA batteries, I would actually have to carry 8 batteries total on a hike.  Believe it or not, that can make a difference on a climb in the Rockies.  The camera itself sounds too perfect.  It can be bought in the USA for under $200.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Saturday, Nov. 17th/07</B></div> <div> <B>I am in the market for a newer 'small' camera to take hiking, carry in my backpack, etc.  My little A400 is now considerably outdated, and I am looking at something else from Fuji, such as the S700.  It's bulkier than the smaller and flat A400, but definitely a step up the ladder in quality and manual controls.</B></div> <div> <B>  I got the remainder of my enlargements today from the most recent NM trip.  My main camera, the Finepix S9000, just begins to perform once the print size reaches 8 x 10.  The quality of the photos is truly phenomenal!  I am so glad I did not buy an SLR.  Instead of spending my money on other lenses and being bothered by never having the correct lens on the camera when I need it (I already own 2 SLR film cameras)--or just as bothersome, having several lenses but only really using one of them, I can spend money on enlargements and even other small cameras when I don't wish to carry the bigger one around.  It's also a huge bonus that the Fuji cameras take AA batteries!  With my 15 minute charger, I am never running short, and if I ever do, I can get batteries nearly anywhere, including backwater trading posts in New Mexico and corner stores in Europe.</B></div> <div> <B>We went to the Detroit Institute of Arts this morning for our first visit in 6 months.  For the past several years it has been undergoing huge renovations, and has been closed since May.  We quickly toured about half the space, leaving impressed in many cases and perplexed in others.  More to come on this topic.</B></div> <div> <B>Wed., Nov. 14th/07</B></div> <div> <B>By now I know that you just can't wait to see what the microbrew beer of the day was.  So either scroll down a bit to find out, or just be patient--I'll get to it in due course.  What have I done lately besides sample some great beer?  Glad you asked.  For the third day in a row I was able to bike to school and back.  If recent tradition holds, I should make it to the final week of classes in December.  Only once, a few years back, did it snow so much in December that my bike was stuck at school until late February.</B></div> <div> <B>Autumn leaves around here are just passing their peak.  This photo from today is out our front window.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="39e09f80.jpg" border=0 width="265" height="248" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>View out our front window today.  Ferdinand is on the table, inside his donut bed.</B></div> <div> <B>Another thing I have been doing lately is practicing the piano.  I am slowly getting pieces memorized, and each year it gets harder.  We have no date set for the concert, but when I know for sure you'll know too.  Probably on the coldest, snowiest day of the winter.</B></div> <div> <B>I've also revived the Allie Tachbrook projects, as I am currently editing the second volume and hoping to finish it, as well as making plans to publish the first book with an on-line publisher.  That way I can target my readership (female musicians aged 12 to 18 years) much better.  We'll see how that project goes.</B></div> <div> <B>Okay, you've been very patient.  Now, for the beer of the day.  Goodnight.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3a0b0b60.jpg" border=0 width="176" height="182" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>This was a very tasty offering from Michigan Brewing Company.  I have five of these left!  It's a Belgian style beer  brewed with herbs and spices.  How can you just have one?</B></div> <div> <B>Tues., Nov. 13th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Talk about two contrasting workdays.  Monday the kids were wild and  restless, making for an unpleasant afternoon in the classroom.  Today, things were calmer and a bit of teaching actually got done.  The difference?  Weather patterns.  On Monday we were surrounded by storms, and the barometer fell all day.  Today, it was sunny and mild with a rising barometer.  The influence of weather on human behaviour is so obvious that I can't understand why it doesn't appear alongside weather warnings.  When a storm is approaching, watch out for misbehaving kids, headaches, road rage maniacs and general depression and feelings of unease.  As the barometer rises, things will improve.</B></div> <div> <B>I have completed my first on-line photography book, and it should be for sale on this website soon.  I have ordered a copy myself to check the results, but it should be a winner.  It will have 64 photos of our NM Trip #25, as well as some commentary and exposure details.  Quite exciting, if the print quality is good.</B></div> <div> <B>Tonight I enjoyed a delicious Oatmeal Stout from New Holland Brewing Company, Michigan.  Called The Poet, this could become a favourite.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3a176790.jpg" border=0 width="118" height="377" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>The Poet, a yummy Oatmeal Stout from New Holland Brewing Co. (MI)</B></div> <div> <B>I just went out and had another look at the comet in Perseus.  It has grown to a tremendous size since I last viewed it a few weeks ago!  It is just so cool to see something of that magnitude occupying a chunk of sky where there should be nothing.</B></div> <div> <B>Sat., Nov. 10th/07</B></div> <div> <B>It was time for the annual quick trip to London, Ontario today, as my flute student Kady won her third Medal of Excellence from Conservatory Canada.  Go Kady!!  Her mom and dad were there for her, something I wish every successful child could experience.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3a3b2bd0.jpg" border=0 width="178" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Kady B. prepares to bring home another Medal of Excellence for her fine work with the flute.  I couldn't be happier!</B></div> <div> <B>Today was my brother Steve's 45th birthday, and I actually remembered to call him on the correct day!  Believe it or not, this was the first time.  Of course, he was in the midst of a huge party at his house.</B></div> <div> <B>Things were a little quieter here, with another fine Pumpkin Ale digested, this time from O'Fallon's Brewery in Missouri.  Very good stuff.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3a5566c0.png" border=0 width="86" height="108" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>We watched a devastating futuristic movie tonight called "Children of Men".  Rather grim, but fascinating and watchable.  Michael Caine has a great role, and it was most fun watching him for the last two movies in a row.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Friday, Nov. 9th/07</B></div> <div> <B>The blog is now one year old!  Happy birthday, blog!</B></div> <div> <B>We made a quick trip to Dearborn this morning to pick up a harp for a new student of Deb's.  It is taking longer to cross the border than ever, though we got lucky coming back, as there was no wait.</B></div> <div> <B>I have resumed work on my second Allie Tachbrook novel, being currently about 1/3 of the way finished writing.  It is a horror/mystery/young adult soap opera that takes place in London.  Writing seems to bring me some sanity, and to to take my mind off things like work, even more than piano playing does these days.</B></div> <div> <B>Speaking of work, it is report card season, and I must get busy.  They are due in the office very soon.</B></div> <div> <B>I had a very fine micro-beer tonight from the basement pub, a spicy autumn brew from Arcadia in Battle Creek again.  I only had one bottle down there, as it came in a sample pack.  I wil likely get some more.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3a7b1c20.jpg" border=0 width="177" height="194" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Despite a somewhat ridiculous name and label, the beer is very good.</B></div> <div> <B>Tomorrow I am off to London Ontario with Kady and her family, to see her awarded with a Medal of Excellence for flute for the third year in a row!  Go Kady!</B></div> <div> <B>Wed., Nov. 7th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Until today, it's been too windy to ride my bike to school.  Despite chilly temps and grey skies I rode there and back today.  Camera Club was sparsely attended at noon hour today, as many kides had other committments, but most of them handed in their photo assignments.  The next assignment is to get some photos on the school website, so two weeks from today there should be a good display.  Look for the link here, or just visit Google and search for Amherstburg Public School.</B></div> <div> <B>After school, Ballroom Dancing continued with about 20 students still coming out quite faithfully.  We have taught the Waltz, Tango, Beat Jive, Merengue, and Cha Cha so far, and will introduce the Rhumba next time.  Of course we are woefully short of boys, but that is nothing new.  Even Camera Club only has four boys, with about a dozen girls or more.</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Nov. 4th/07</B></div> <div> <B>I got some writing done today in my New Mexico enlargements album.  The album will hold up to 40 enlargements on one side and text on the other.  The quality of the Finepix S9000 just begins to show itself when the photo size reaches 8x10.  It really is a phenomenal camera.</B></div> <div> <B>I had an excellent beer from my micro-brewery collection in the basement this afternoon.  I enjoyed a London Porter from Arcadia Brewing in Battle Creek MI.  It was so full-bodied it was almost chewy!  I have five more bottles awaiting.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3a9b4a30.jpg" border=0 width="180" height="163" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>I also listened to a somewhat tedious oratorio by de Falla called "Atlantida".  There are a few lovely moments, but it is a mostly forgettable opus.  On to Wagner next time, as I continue my way through the Ring cycle.</B></div> <div> <B>We watched a movie tonight called "The Prestige".  It is a clever tale of two rival magicians in turn of the century London.  It is well produced and has the added bonus of starring Michael Caine in a great supporting role.  Some not very flattering secrets regarding magicians' tricks with birds are revealed.  The movie eventually suffers from being too long and lets the viewer down by revealing too much too soon.  Not a likeable movie due to the nature of the characters, but an odd one and strangely compelling.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, Nov. 03rd/07</B></div> <div> <B>Our first five-day work week in a while has come and gone (and best forgotten).  I did get my updated pension statement in the mail this week, though, something that always lifts my spirit!  Less than three years to go!!</B></div> <div> <B>We had a great Samhain evening, with the usual feasting and look-ahead Tarot reading, done by yours truly.  As usual, we had no trick or treaters at our door.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3aafed00.jpg" border=0 width="254" height="208" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Our fireplace, decorated for Celtic New Year (Samhain--literally 'End of Summer').\</B></div> <div> <B>Friday night we went to visit Barb, now teaching at a Windsor school.  She lives in a new condo complex in Tecumseh, and has a really great place.  We introduced her to John Cleese in "Fawlty Towers", and I think she approved.  She is interested in coming along on part 2 of our wine tour of Essex County in the near future.</B></div> <div> <B>Today we made our usual Dearborn mailbox run, also going to Borders Books and then on to Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit for our annual late autumn visit.  The leaves were just past prime, but the grounds were still beautiful and atmospheric.  We keep discovering new locations within the cemetery.  We found some interesting and unsual names on tombstones today.  </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3abd13a0.jpg" border=0 width="209" height="314" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Angel from tombstone at Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3ac02b70.jpg" border=0 width="258" height="183" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3ae00e30.jpg" border=0 width="256" height="227" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3af01cd0.jpg" border=0 width="257" height="205" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3b10cb70.jpg" border=0 width="268" height="183" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3b3fea90.jpg" border=0 width="254" height="169" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3b5faa60.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="166" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Some unusual tombstone names at Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit.</B></div> <div> <B>The great weather continues, with today being a really clear, warm and fabulous one.</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Oct. 28th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Our final day of hosting company from out of town, we took Deb's oldest sister and her mom over to Detroit.  We had breakfast in Dearborn, then went to Borders Books and a Target store.  Following that, we took them downtown for a ride on the People Mover, the train that links the downtown area via 13 beautifully decorated stations.  We began and ended at the Michigan Station, enjoying blue skies and unique glimpses of Detroit and Windsor.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3b700c00.jpg" border=0 width="256" height="192" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Downtown Detroit, Grand Circus Park, as seen from the elevated People Mover Train.</B></div> <div> <B>Afterwards, we recrossed the border.  I drove the three ladies to Devonshire Mall in Windsor, then headed downtown.  It was my turn to host the ORMTA Student Piano Recital at the central library.  The concert was very good, with some high level playing and very advanced pieces.</B></div> <div> <B>I picked up the shoppers at 4 pm and we returned to Amherstburg for a rest.  Company stayed until about 9 pm.  They leave tomorrow for Lindsay.  </B></div> <div> <B>I had a good look tonight at Comet 17P/Holmes, a very bright object everyone in astronomy circles has been talking about for several days now.  It is one of the brightest comets I have seen, easily spotted with the naked eye in the constellation Perseus.  In my best binoculars the view was amazing from the back deck, a bright, circular blob of light with different rings of brightness surrounding the core.  The comet suddenly erupted, and theories abound as to what is happening there right now.  A lot of club members are out at the observatory tonight.  Wish I could have gone too!</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, Oct. 27th/08</B></div> <div> <B>We went on our long-awaited wine tour, managing to visit 7 wineries in Amherstburg and Harrow.  We stopped at an eighth, but it was too busy and crowded to get in.  Deb and I purchased 6 bottles.  Lois, Sharon and Ruth, our colleague-friend from school, also made purchases.  Despite rainy weather, it was a fun day.  We stopped for lunch in Harrow mid-way through the visits.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3b905bd0.jpg" border=0 width="261" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>The wine merchants!  L to R: Ruth, Deb, Sharon and Lois.  This became a familiar scene throughout the day.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3bb02d30.jpg" border=0 width="258" height="211" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb and her Mom share a glass of wine in our living room.</B></div> <div> <B>Later on, Deb and Lois and Sharon went to see a movie in Windsor.  I stayed home to practice.  I wish to get serious about memorizing the Spanish program now.  There are currently 8 piano solos on the upcoming program.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, Oct. 26/07</B></div> <div> <B>I finally finished reading "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum, a 500+ page adventure novel written not that long after the close of the Vietnam War.  As much as I liked the movie, this book is better in many ways.  For one thing, it tells the story the author intended.  The movie version of events is completely different.  Marie is not the same person, though Jason himself is depicted accurately.  The changes to the basic plot are so devastating and ludicrous that Ludlum's fine work is barely recognizable.  I will read the remaining two novels for sure.  He is a master at writing nail-biting action scenes and of very taut and tense situations.  My heart was racing many times during this novel.</B></div> <div> <B>Sharon and Deb's mom arrived safely today.  We met here at 4:30, and headed out to Uncle Vito's in Amherstburg for dinner around six.  Great to have family company down here--it happens so rarely.  Tomorrow we are going off on an Essex County winery tour, mostly within Amherstburg and Harrow.   There are 8 wineries in our neighbourhood!</B></div> <div> <B>Wed., Oct. 24th/07</B></div> <div> <B>The frantic rush is on to get the house clean before Deb's mom and sister arrive Friday evening for a weekend visit!  Yesterday we worked on the living room; tonight it was the kitchen.</B></div> <div> <B>Mogy has come out of his room once so far.  The door is open right now, and Gustave is trying to coax him out again, but Mogy is too afraid (mainly of us).  At least he has the option now, when it is a non-teaching night.  He and Gustave are getting along fine.</B></div> <div> <B>Deb got a new violin student.  She will start lessons next week.</B></div> <div> <B>Deb and I rode our bikes to school and home again on Monday and today.  It was into the wind coming home tonight, and our legs are tired from the strain.  Temps have cooled, but it is perfect for outdoor activities.  </B></div> <div> <B>Camera Club meeting today went well.  I now have five kids back from last year, in addition to the many new members.  Alicia and Jessica returned to the flock today, though Al was very upset at a recent event and wasn't in a very good mood.  They are both eager and talented photographers, and I am glad they have rejoined.</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Oct. 21st/07</B></div> <div> <B>Mogollon The Cat Update</B></div> <div> <B>We have now had Mogy for a month.  He is living in the tv room, and Deb still plays with him in there a lot.  He is coming out of his hidy hole a bit more, and has been right up to the screen door to sniff nose to nose with Gustave.  He runs away whenever I go near, and won't come out of his cave when I am in the tv room.  So some progress is being made, albeit it slowly.  In the meantime the birds and mice are in the harp room, making two rooms of the house unaccessible to Ferdie and Gustave.  I will post a picture of Mogy this week, for sure!</B></div> <div> <B>I finished writing the Colorado journal, and will now turn my thoughts to the enlargement project for NM Trip #25.  I will get enlargements of the best photos and write short essays about them.  I also need to keep working on my New Mexico summary project, where I reduce each trip to two pages and two photos in a Moleskine notebook.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, Oct. 19th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Last night's storms and tornadoes missed our area but hit Michigan pretty hard.  We had a very windy day, too windy to ride our bikes.</B></div> <div> <B>After school today was the first outing of the "new, improved" camera club at APS.  12 students, 4 parents, Deb, myself and a large dog attended Holiday Beach Conservation Area on the Lake Erie shoreline.  The wind made it a very atmospheric outing, and tons of photos were taken.  I set a great example by having all 8 batteries to my main camera die before I even got started.  I guess I hadn't recharged them since Colorado.  Luckily I had brought my little Fuji A400 as backup!  The group seems to be gung ho about being in the club, but they will have to be instructed in how to remain closer together when in the field.  It was hard to keep track of everyone.  We have plans to visit the Detroit Zoo in November, but that may be postponed until they (the kids) are a bit tamer.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3bcf2d50.jpg" border=0 width="242" height="213" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Members of the APS Camera Club head out along the boardwalk at Holiday Beach.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3bd0bcf0.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="207" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Exploring a stump along the footpath to the beach.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3bf05ae0.jpg" border=0 width="261" height="174" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Gr 8 members explore a pond near the Hawk Tower.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3c106ae0.jpg" border=0 width="262" height="174" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>A windy, grey day along the Lake Erie shoreline.  The school camera club's first outing was to Holiday Beach.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3c30ea70.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="167" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Two students and a parent had to leave early, otherwise here we all are, including Ally the dog!  I am 2nd from the right, behind Ally.</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Oct. 14th/07</B></div> <div> <B>It took most of the morning and the afternoon, but I finished editing the Colorado shots and have put some up on the website!  Now I have to rush outside before the rain begins and do some yard work.  This will likely be the final update to the main page until we are back from London after March Break.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, Oct. 13th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Deb, Roger and I attended a Louis Lortie piano recital last night in Ann Arbor.  The man is such an amazing talent; a thunderous virtouso one moment and a caressing colourist the next.  He played an all-19th C. Romantic program, with major pieces by Mendlessohn, Schumann and Grieg in the first half, and works by Liszt in the 2nd.  The Grieg Sonata Op 7 was a revelation to me, a beautiful work that I have never heard before!  For encores, Lortie played more Liszt and then an Elegy by Grieg.  Of course the major piece was the final one on the printed program, the Tannhauser Overture, arranged by Liszt.  This has to be one of the most monstrously difficult pieces in the repertoire.  Needless to say, he handled it easily and with great Wagnerian style.  All in all, it was a great evening!</B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, Oct. 11th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Half an inch of cold rain fell this morning.  Had to get the furnace going for awhile!  The afternoon turned sunny, but it was back to dark clouds by sunset.  Tomorrow night we return to Ann Arbor, this time for a concert by Louis Lortie, playing Schumann, Grieg, Liszt and others.  This is going to be a very good concert.  I am also hoping to purchase the first pair of Beethoven cds by Schiff, using a Borders discount coupon and $5 worth of Borders Bucks!  Then I can hear the sonatas I missed by not attending last week's concert in his all-Beethoven series.</B></div> <div> <B>A good day of teaching, including getting Karly and Kady through some thorny theory lessons.</B></div> <div> <B>Wed., Oct. 10th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Weather turned very cool today.  I biked to school, but not home.  The first Camera Club meeting brought out a whole new batch of kids.  Only two from last year showed up!  The turnout for Ballroom Dancing after school was good, with around 16 kids coming out in Gr. 7 & 8.</B></div> <div> <B>After school we went for groceries, then went to vote in the Provincial election.  I was home in time to do some photo editing, though there is still much to do before any new pictures  will be posted on the main webpage, opposite.</B></div> <div> <B>I heard from Randy G. that he will be off to Scotland to attend the funeral of a family member.  Have a safe journey, and my sincere sympathy to you and your family.</B></div> <div> <B>Tuesday, Oct. 9th/07</B></div> <div> <B>We are back safe and sound from our 3-day visit to Colorado.  We managed 6 fabulous hikes, enjoying great weather and unrivaled scenery.  The trip was so successful we are already contemplating a return visit next Thanksgiving as well.  We flew Frontier Airlines, even though the fare wasn't that great.  We left Detroit at 7:40 am and were in Denver at 8:45 am.  We were hiking in Colorado Springs by noon.  We arrived home late on Monday, well after midnight.  It was a bit of a shock being back at school teaching today.  After I work on the photos, some will be added to the main page.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3c4dd490.jpg" border=0 width="221" height="329" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb on the South Rim Trail at Roxborough State Park, Colorado.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Wed., Oct. 3rd/07</B></div> <div> <B>Just a quick note (it's after midnight now) as we get back  from the 1st piano recital in a series by Andras Schiff given in Ann Arbor, MI.  He is performing all of the Beethoven Sonatas (32 of them) over a two year, 8-concert series.  Roger, Deb and I felt very fortunate to be present for the first one.  He played the first four sonatas, and each one was brilliant and competely individual.  He has a mastery of phrasing and dynamics that makes me want to weep.  He can linger longingly over important moments, and move things along crisply at others.  His slow movements are beautifully crafted and played as if caressing the notes. Sadly, Deb and I will miss the 2nd concert this Friday, but Roger will be there.  I will be buying Schiff's new  Beethoven cd series!</B></div> <div> <B>Monday, Oct. 1st/07</B></div> <div> <B>I got a call from  Dad tonight, just back from his fourth trip to Ottawa to see about his eye infection.  For the second time now he had minor laser surgery, and his Dr. thinks that things are improving slowly.  He has to go back again in January.</B></div> <div> <B>We had a rainy and cool day, with nearly an inch hitting the ground by bedtime.</B></div> <div> <B>Speaking of bedtime, we have been getting up at 7 am lately instead of 8:30, and will continue to do so until Friday.  We are hoping that by adjusting our body clocks a bit, we'll be able to feel better on Saturday when we awaken extra early for our flight.  We have a full day of hiking planned.  Of course we will be doing our usual jet lag program as well.  Our usual house/pet sitter will be looking after the critters while we are away.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, Sept. 29th/07</B></div> <div> <B>We recently finished watching all episodes of Red Dwarf, a British sci-fi tv comedy that lasted for 8 seasons.  It is certainly one of the best, right up there with Faulty Towers and Black Adder.  We are also currently finishing up Season Two of the new Dr. Who series, and have only one episode to go.  It has been nearly as good as Season One, and that is saying a lot!</B></div> <div> <B>We hiked 7 km today and did about 300' of elevation gain, most of it at Malden Hill Park.  We have a very hectic week ahead before jetting off to Denver.  Hope we can keep our physical momentum going.</B></div> <div> <B>I am still fine-tuning the new on-line website photos, replacing some with re-edits, as well as tweaking the comments.</B></div> <div> <B>I finally managed to update the ORMTA Windsor website, though I am still unable to gain access to the school website to update it.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, Sept. 28th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Mogollon the Cat had his cage door opened today, and he now has free run of his own room.  He is mostly staying in his cage, but will likely wander out when we go to bed.  Deb spends lots of time with him, and he does play now, and eat food from the plate when she holds it out for him.  It's a long, slow process to tame a feral cat, but most of our cats come from outdoor stray backgrounds.</B></div> <div> <B>We scooted over to Detroit today, once our morning workshop was over.  The construction around the bridge is reaching a fever pitch, and we had to detour to get to our usual freeway.</B></div> <div> <B>We did a 4 km walk in Dearborn, with a longer one planned tomorrow at Malden Hill.  We were originally going to drive out to Rondeau Park, but decided we need the hill to practice for our upcoming  visit to the Colorado Rockies.  </B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, Sept. 27/07</B></div> <div> <B>The week has gone by quickly, and with relatively few unpleasant incidents at school.  Tomorrow is a day of teacher workshops, so Deb and I will attend morning sessions at our school then head over to Detroit for the afternoon.</B></div> <div> <B>There are a lot of sore throats going around at school.  Deb fought one off earlier this week, and I am doing it tonight.  I have no plans to get sick!  We mostly use zinc lozenges and organic garlic.  It works, usually.</B></div> <div> <B>I have been biking to school, and even walked there twice this week, as the crunch week countdown begins.  In 8 days we will be back in the Rockies and hiking!</B></div> <div> <B>At school I had over two dozen kids come out for the first Camera Club meeting.  We'll see how many actually get the first assignment done and are admitted to the Club. </B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Sept. 23/07</B></div> <div> <B>An incredibly beautiful weekend has finally come to an end.  I don't think there were any clouds during the time from bedtime Friday till now.  We were out on our deck a lot, as a result.  </B></div> <div> <B>Saturday morning we went to Troy, MI for our monthly visit to Whole Foods Market.  We bought a vegan German Chocolate cake that turned out to be too good to believe!  Back home in the afternoon we had a two deck card game of "Middle Earth, The Wizards" out on the back deck, consuming pints of organic beer and organic corn chips.</B></div> <div> <B>This afternoon, we went for a 4km walk at Holiday Beach.  The blue jays continue to migrate, the third day now of large, loose flocks passing overhead.  We stayed at the observing tower to watch for a while.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3c6ffc00.jpg" border=0 width="255" height="192" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Pond, seen from top of 37' tower at Holiday Beach.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3c804ae0.jpg" border=0 width="260" height="174" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb on the observation tower.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3cafcbd0.jpg" border=0 width="252" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Holiday Beach, Essex County.</B></div> <div> <B>We came home around 6 pm, sat outside and enjoyed an amber hard apple cider (Woodchuck), then went in to check on Mogy.  The new guy is now allowed out of the cage, and isn't shy about leaving it!  He will be confined to a single room for a few days before being given the run of the house.  </B></div> <div> <B>Pasta tonight was superb, and there is a lot of cake left over!  Does life get any better?</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, Sept. 21st/07</B></div> <div> <B>Warm and humid today, mid-80s and uncomfortable.  We got the new plates on the Touareg today, and "Beorn" is now officially named.  I still need to wax and buff the roof, and will hopefully get this done tomorrow.  </B></div> <div> <B>A decent enough work week has come to an end, and we began the final weekend of summer with our farewell martini and the last episode of the 3rd season of MASH.  This is the infamous episode when they killed off Colonel Henry Blake.  Boo, hiss.</B></div> <div> <B>I subscribed to www.trails.com today, and spent the evening researching hiking trails near Colorado Springs.  I haven't decided on anything definite yet, but we now certainly have our choice from dozens of hikes.</B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, Sept. 20th/07</B></div> <div> <B>An historic day for us, as the Canadian Dollar reached par with the U.S. Dollar!  Before that, it was Nov./76, the first autumn Deb and I were living in Windsor.  Since then we have gone through some bad exchange rates, travelling when the dollar was barely worth 50 cents.  So it is with some financial confidence that we anticipate our upcoming trip to Denver.  We also booked a return voyage to London UK for March Break, flying BA and staying at a hotel in Croydon, south London.  We will be only about 15 minutes from London Bridge Station via train.  At least I can show up at school now and have something in the future to get me through the day.</B></div> <div> <B>Speaking of which, I had 32 kids practicing inside at lunch recess today, and it was a beautiful day!  I was overwhelmed with helping them, but impressed.  We are all off to a good start.</B></div> <div> <B>Monday, Sept. 17th/07</B></div> <div> <B>We have adopted a new critter, Mogollon the Cat.  He has been living in our yard all summer, and Deb just recently began feeding him.  We trapped him last night, and today he saw Dr. Ross for a bit of 'surgery', as well as to get rid of ear mites and fleas.  He is snuggled in his large cage for a few days, until Deb can domesticate him and bring him on line with Ferdinand and Gustave.  He seems to be about three years old.  Stay tuned for pics.</B></div> <div> <B>I managed to practice piano this morning, something I have not being doing much of lately.  Now that the New Mexico journal is complete, as well as the website update, things should begin to get back to normal.  I missed a beautiful night of observing.  I just didn't have any projects ready to go!  The moon is waxing now, and I will likely have to wait until after next full moon.</B></div> <div> <B>Mom and Dad celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary today, quite an achievement!  Congratulations, and keep up the good work!!  Love you guys!</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Sept. 16th/07</B></div> <div> <B>It's done!!  The website has been updated with photos from our latest journey to New Mexico.  Only a fraction of the pics made it to the website, so I may change them around in a month or so.  Of course, by then I'll be putting up shots of our quickie autumn visit to the Colorado Rockies.</B></div> <div> <B>We have always wanted to go west in the autumn (or go anywhere, for that matter) but have always been restrained by our holidays.  We get a lot of them, but not outside the summer and winter seasons.  Spring in Paris has been impossible, as has autumn in New Mexico.  With direct flights to Denver we are able to actually go west for a long weekend.  </B></div> <div> <B>Yesterday, we researched some hiking sites near Colorado Springs, which will be our base for three days and two nights.  We are hoping to visit a park called Garden of the Gods, as well as two State parks, Mueller and Roxborough, to do a lot of hiking. We may also take a scenic drive up a little higher.   We are going to avoid any of the very fine National Parks to try and miss the fall weekend crowds.</B></div> <div> <B>We are trying hard to keep our fitness level up, at least for another three weeks! </B></div> <div> <B>Friday, Sept. 14th/07</B></div> <div> <B>The first full week of teaching is over, and it wasn't too bad.  I am enjoying several of my classes, including the Gr. 8 Concert Band, which had its first rehearsal this afternoon.  The private teaching got off to a good start, too.  I currently have 13 students, and Deb has at least 10.</B></div> <div> <B>The week also went quickly, a good sign by all means.  We managed to leave the Touareg at home twice this week, walking to work on Wed. and biking on Friday.  We need to keep our fitness level high because we have booked a flight to Denver for Thanksgiving and plan on doing some more mountain hiking.  Can't wait, and it's only three weeks away.  We got a decent fare on Frontier Airlines again, and the Canadian dollar is nearly at par.  Do it now, we say, before everything falls apart.  I hope to have the website update done before we leave.</B></div> <div> <B>Wed., Sept. 12th/07</B></div> <div> <B>It's been a week, yet it's only been three days!  Getting used to day plans again, marking, and the immaturity of kids who should know and act better is always a major wake-up.  Yes, it's back to work as a teacher.  Last night's private lessons began at 4:15 pm (10 minute break after school) and lasted until 8:45 pm.  Alicia is back for lessons, and seems eager to continue on with Gr. 3 piano.  8 students on Tuesday and 5 on Thursday means that I will be 'free' on Mondays and Wednesdays  this year, giving a little more chance of getting out this autumn with the telescope.  Sadly, once again I can't attend the astronomy club meetings because of teaching committments, and have decided to let my membership lapse for a year.  I haven't even been out to the observatory in Comber for well over a year.</B></div> <div> <B>We both walked to school this morning, about 4.7 km.  It takes about 50 minutes.  I rode my bike home, which I had left at school yesterday.  Deb walked home, but got a ride part of the way from another staff member.</B></div> <div> <B>I have finished the main body of my travel journal for New Mexico Trip #25, and only have to add photo captions and a summary essay.  Then work will begin in earnest in updating the photos in the main section of this website.</B></div> <div> <B>Tonight, I enjoyed a Wolaver's Organic Brown Ale from my Alladin's Cave of Beer that is my downstairs fridge.  We watched an old Hammer film, their first sci-fi, called "The Four-Sided Triangle".  Not totally memorable, but certainly worth it for Hammer aficianados.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3ccb1d40.jpg" border=0 width="177" height="212" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Sat., Sept. 8th/07</B></div> <div> <B>While we are obviously glad that the first week of school is over, things actually went pretty well.  Last year I did not have a single class that I really looked forward to seeing.  This year, there appear to be several in the running!  23 of 60 Gr. 8s have signed up for Band, a number I am very happy with.  I need more trumpet players, however.</B></div> <div> <B>We got hit by a powerful storm last night, and our power was knocked out for about two hours.</B></div> <div> <B>And things seem to be getting back to normal for our friends in Idaho, who had to evacuate their home near Ketchum last week due to wildfires.  Welcome home, Deborah and Dan!  Glad everything worked out.</B></div> <div> <B>Deb had her final summer wedding gig today, playing harp at Sprucewood Winery on Lake Erie.  We actually made enough money this summer from her weddings and harp camp teaching and my home teaching to pay for our trip to New Mexico.  Not bad.</B></div> <div> <B>I also got the front end of the Touareg waxed and buffed this afternoon.  Might get some more done tomorrow.</B></div> <div> <B>I now have edited and printed all of my NM photos.  I have reduced numbers from the original 376 photos down to 189  currently.  I am still writing the journal, but as soon as that is complete I will be updating the website, so stay tuned!</B></div> <div> <B>Deb's Mom called today.  She and Sharon will be coming down for a visit in late October!</B></div> <div> <B>Thurs., Sept. 06th/07</B></div> <div> <B>We saw The Bourne Ultimatum at the local cineplex last night.  It was as good as the first in the series, and much better than the 2nd.  All three are based on best selling novels by the incomparable Robert Ludlum.  I have been reading his Covert One series lately.  Jason Bourne is perfectly profiled by the truly great song by Moby, sung through the credits (which most people miss) called "Extreme Ways."  In fact, the same song is sung at the end of all three movies, and can be seen here on </B><A HREF="http://youtube.com/watch?v=7U-7DJFgooU" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://youtube.com/watch?v=7U-7DJFgooU"><U><B>Youtube</B></U></A><B>.  Recommended films, best seen in proper sequence.</B></div> <div> <B>Tuesday, Sept. 4th/07</B></div> <div> <B>It has happened.  After  9 weeks of virtually seeing no kids, it was back to work today.  The school was very warm and uncomfortable, and will only get worse as the week goes on.  While it's nice to be getting paycheques once again, it's always hard to get back into step.  That is one reason why we don't begin our private teaching until next week.  Next Tuesday I will not be done until 8:45 pm.  Tonight we were at the pub with Barb by 4:30 pm....</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, Sept. 2nd/07</B></div> <div> <B>The final days of summer vacation are going very quickly.  Got some practicing done today, and some work on my travel journal.  I am still eliminating and editing photos, so it will be a while before the website gets updated.  Deb played a wedding at the Art Gallery of Windsor at 4:30 today. </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3ceb2770.jpg" border=0 width="178" height="119" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb performs at a wedding at the Art Gallery of Windsor, 3rd floor, overlooking the Detroit River and Detroit in the background.</B></div> <div> <B> After I got her settled in, I went for a long walk along the river and into downtown Windsor.  Not much going on in this town, but across the river Detroit was hopping with the Grand Prix on Belle Isle and the Jazz Festival downtown.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3cf04ad0.jpg" border=0 width="260" height="173" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Detroit seen from Windsor.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, September 1st/07</B></div> <div> <B>Today we crossed back over the border.  Deb loaded up on art supplies (canvases, paints) at Utrect and then we headed downtown.  We got a Jazz Festival schedule then went for lunch to the</B></div> <div> <B> </B><A HREF="http://beercos.realfocus.net/main_page.php?location=detroit" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://beercos.realfocus.net/main_page.p"><U><B>Detroit Brewing Company</B></U></A><B>, a brew pub right across from the Opera House.  They have a good menu and several great beers.  We tried a five-glass sampler, then got a pint of amber.  Their Black Bean Dip and Michigan Cherry Salad can be vouched for as excellent. Afterwards, we headed out into the crowds for another year of great music.  There were six stages spread around Hart Plaza and Woodward Ave. all the way up to Campus Martius.  We stopped at all of them, but mostly came to hear Dave Brubeck, now well into his  80s and still making incredible vibes on piano.  The day was perfect, with sun and cool temps, and the crowds were out in droves.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3d10a8f0.jpg" border=0 width="266" height="399" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Fountain and water nymph at Hart Plaza, Detroit.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3d2ecef0.jpg" border=0 width="236" height="239" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Dave Brubeck on stage at Hart Plaza.  He performed with the Dave B. Quartet after watching his two sons perform on another stage.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3d30dc90.jpg" border=0 width="269" height="201" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Huge crowds were out again this year, encouraged by fabulous weather.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, August 31st/07</B></div> <div> <B>We spent Thursday with Ali, taking a long drive out to Parks Blueberries near Thamesville.  It really is worth the drive to visit this bakery/cafe/gift store that focuses on everything blueberry.  We came home with a pie and many other goodies.  Deb made superduper veggie nachos.  We ate on the back deck, then had warm blueberry pie and vanilla soy ice cream.  I drove Ali home soon afterwards, with a new thick book in her hands to read.  Her mood was quite bubbly today, and she even talked a bit about her mom.</B></div> <div> <B>Today, Deb and I went to Dearborn in the morning, having a great time at our usual stops.  We found a recording of viol music by Saint-Colombes.  We had lunch at Buddy's Pizza, a veggie-soy cheese one.  In the afternoon we had to go to school and prepare our classrooms.  Ali came to help, and she brought Jaide.  We got all the bulletin boards done and everything moved out of storage and ready for Tuesday.  After treating the girls to ice-cream downtown, Deb and I came home for martinis and M*A*S*H, our ninth since the May long weekend.  Three more episodes to go in Season Three.  Tomorrow, we hope to get to the Detroit Jazz Festival to hear Dave Brubeck.  Herbie Hancock was playing tonight, but border traffic is so bad these days we didn't go back over.</B></div> <div> <B>Wed., August 29th/07</B></div> <div> <B>"Tous Les matins du Monde" is quite possibly the finest film ever made on music and what it is (and is not) to be a musician.  The search for Truth follows a long and torturous path, and the final outcome and answer is not a happy one.  But what a great film, and the soundtrack is off the charts.  It's a tale of 17th C. France, which was a hotbed of musical talent during this time.  Instead of focussing on the big guys like Lully, Couperin, and Rameau, the film focusses on a minor composer of the era, Saint-Colombes and his on-again off-again protege Marin Marais, played by Gerard Depardieu (and by his son as the younger Marais).  We saw the film many years ago and immediately purchased the soundtrack.  The incomparable Jordi Savall plays the viol in the film.  Now we must purchase the viol suites of Saint-Colombes.  A stunning tour-de-force!!</B></div> <div> <B>Tuesday, August 28th/07</B></div> <div> <B>We got back home at 2:00 am this morning from our Phoenix flight.  Our 8-day camping and hiking expedition in New Mexico went off extremely well.  Days and nights were filled with adventure, so stay tuned to the photo pages for major updates over the next few weeks.  I took nearly 400 photos, and hope to pare that down to around 100.  Today we slept in, did laundry, unpacked our bags.  In addition I also cut the lawn, which was very high.  The backyard rain gauge showed 4.3" of rain while we were gone!  I was able to stay loosely in touch with Caroline and Ali, thanks to texting with our phone.  Caroline is on her month-long vacation in Europe, and is currently sweltering in France.  It is very warm here, also.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, August 17th/07</B></div> <div> <B>The funeral is over, and despite the uncomforting religious dogma of the service, eveyone survived.  Ali looked shook up today, but she was a trooper.  Some good comments from Trina's surviving brother and sister, and the large crowd was very moved.</B></div> <div> <B>It was a very windy afternoon, and despite our hectic schedule of packing and cleaning we took  some time out to cross to our park on the river and fly some kites!  We were finally able to launch the mini-kites, and despite a wind that was too strong, we got our dollar-store butterfly kite airborn.  Great fun, and we shall take one or two to New Mexico with us.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3d5b3d70.jpg" border=0 width="179" height="215" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Butterfly kite.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3d7b3fd0.jpg" border=0 width="179" height="253" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Mini-kite #1.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3d9b4fe0.jpg" border=0 width="180" height="254" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Mini-kite #2.</B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, August 16th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Our final trip to Michigan for hiking this summer was a success.  We visited the </B><A HREF="http://www.howellnaturecenter.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.howellnaturecenter.org/"><U><B>Howell Nature Centre</B></U></A><B>, a place that wears a lot of hats.  It has a 4-mile hiking trail that threads around and about their extensive property, and we walked it with no difficulty.  There were some hills, and it was very warm (mid 80s), sunny and humid.  We have one more walk planned before our trip west.  There was an abundance of glacial ponds, and we enjoyed the many thousands of frogs.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3dbffbd0.jpg" border=0 width="255" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Frogs in a pond at the nature center near Howell, MI.</B></div> <div> <B>We also saw several deer, including a beautiful maturing fawn left on its own for the day by mom.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3dd0cc70.jpg" border=0 width="268" height="199" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Fawn seen on our walk at Howell Nature Center.</B></div> <div> <B> While the trail itself is nothing we would rush back to, the center does care for wounded wildlife, including owls, raptors, fox, bobcat, deer etc.  They have paths to walk and observe the critters, many of whom will never make it back to the wild.  There is a small gift shop.</B></div> <div> <B>I didn't sleep well last night, thinking a lot about Alicia. Her mom passed away after being very ill for several months.  I am quite terrible at funeral homes, and was not looking forward to this evening's visit.  Ali seemed okay, but her grandma (Trina's mom) and Trina's sister were not doing too well.  The funeral is tomorrow, and we will attend.  The family thanked Deb and I for spending some time with Alicia this summer, though it was far too little time to have made much difference.  Very sad for a 12 year old to lose her mom.  Wish we could have done more. </B></div> <div> <B>Wednesday, August 15/07</B></div> <div> <B>A very short day of teaching.  I had two students and Deb had one.  We stayed in all day, not even going for a walk.  Tomorrow we will be off to Michigan for a long one at Howell Nature Center.</B></div> <div> <B>Heard the sad but not unexpected news today that Alicia's mom has passed away.  We will visit tomorrow evening, and attend the funeral on Friday afternoon.  It will undoubtedly be a hard year for Ali.  Hoping we will be able to help out from time to time.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, August 11/07</B></div> <div> <B>Yesterday I had my first piano lesson with Philip in nearly a year and a half.  We worked on the first of two Scarlatti Sonatas and a Debussy Prelude.  It was great, and I am looking forward to reworking the pieces. </B></div> <div> <B> Afterwards, Deb and I walked on the riverfront, stopping at Wah Court for a delicious Chinese veggie lunch.  We also rediscovered the Majestic Bakery, our favourite Chinese bakery from many years ago. It had reopened after a long period!  Happy days are here again!!  In the late afternoon we played a two-deck game of Middle Earth: The Wizards on our back patio, with the usual pints, chips and salsa.  The game lasted two hours, and it was a close one.</B></div> <div> <B>Today we hiked in Michigan at Oakwoods Metropark.  We managed 4 miles on the nature trails.  It was a glorious day for walking in the deep woods.  We even saw a fox!</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3de035a0.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="346" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb heads into the forest at Oakwoods Metropark, suburban Detroit.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3dfe1310.jpg" border=0 width="225" height="305" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>I enjoy a break overlooking the Huron River, near the Nature Center.  There are some attractive bike trails here, too.</B></div> <div> <B>Aftereard, we headed into the city for a late lunch, as we began our exhaustive survey of the many micro- breweries in our area.  We have been buying beer from small breweries for some time now, and think it is appropriate that we get to the source.  Our first brew-pub was </B><A HREF="http://www.atwaterbeer.com/home.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.atwaterbeer.com/home.asp"><U><B>Atwater Block</B></U></A><B> Brewery in Rivertown, Detroit.  We enjoyed veggie burgers and fresh beer made on the premises.  Deb had a Dunkel whilst I enjoyed the IPA.  Both were fabulous.  Stay tuned for further tasting adventures.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3e07e900.jpg" border=0 width="126" height="144" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3e17e900.jpg" border=0 width="126" height="144" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>We have already enjoyed bottles of the Java Porter and the seasonal Mai Bock here at home.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3e27e890.jpg" border=0 width="126" height="137" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3e3e65a0.jpg" border=0 width="230" height="346" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>We enjoyed a pint and a veggie burger at Atwater Block Brewery.  Yummy.</B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, Aug. 9th/07</B></div> <div> <B>I have managed 4 full piano practice sessions in a row since Monday, in preparation for my lesson with Philip tomorrow at the university.  I would like to focus on the Debussy Prelude, and perhaps the wide leaps in the Albeniz Leyenda.  I taught the twins today, and am really noticing a difference in aptitude.  Wendy seems to catch on to things much quicker than her sister.  Both girls are very sweet and I am so glad they found their way to my studio.</B></div> <div> <B>Today I organized and printed all maps necessary for our upcoming camping/hiking expedition to New Mexico.  I do need to check into exactly what can and cannot be brought on board the plane.</B></div> <div> <B>Through sampling our over-stocked beer fridge we are discovering a number of micro-breweries in Detroit and vicinity.  We will be visiting every one of them asap!!  Best of all, they put out seasonal ales which we plan to incorporate into our Pagan calendar of events!</B></div> <div> <B>We concluded viewing Season 7 of Red Dwarf, the off-beat Brit comedy sic-fi series that just gets better and better.  We are going to have to invest in the boxed set of these gems.</B></div> <div> <B>Tuesday, August 7th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Finally getting my sleep pattern normalized and my brain pattern back down to a crawl once again.  We got nearly 2" of badly needed rain today, meaning I will have to fire up the lawnmower again soon.</B></div> <div> <B>The conference is still resonating, and many parts keep coming back to me throughout the day.  In addition to coming home with many new piano books, I came home with 24 bottles of beverage, including 18 beer (3 varieties of 6-pack) and a sixer of Woodchuck Cider.  My beer fridge looks absolutely unbelievably awesome right now, with over 20 kinds of beer and cider!  I will take a photo and post it below.</B></div> <div> <B>We went to Detroit today, to the mailbox and then into the city.  Came home with chocolate, Pear Cider (Woodchuck) and an adapter to plug Deb's laptop into the car.</B></div> <div> <B>I did manage a lot of piano practicing over the past two days, and will hopefully have a lesson on Friday.</B></div> <div> <B>We tried packing the camping necessities tonight, finding that it will take the better part of two suitcases.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3e503d70.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="215" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Beer Fridge </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3e70bc80.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Beer Fridge Door</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3e90bc80.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Awaiting the Fridge!</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, August 5th/07</B></div> <div> <B>The bi-annual Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy produced by the Frances Clark Center has come and gone.  My trip with Philip Adamson to Chicago was a huge success!  Philip was introduced to my good friends Nadia Lasserson from London, and Rebekah Maxner from Nova Scotia. We all enjoyed mornings, afternoons, and evenings filled with concerts, teaching demonstrations, lectures, intereactive workshops, displays from researchers in the piano teaching field and exhibits from major music publishing houses.  I came home loaded down with freebies, including an African hand drum.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3eb09b20.jpg" border=0 width="265" height="178" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Philip, Nadia and me.</B></div> <div> <B>Of the many highlights this year was a concert given on a 7/8ths Steinway, meaning that people with small hands could reach as far on the keyboard as people with larger hands on a normal one!  I tried to play on it later when it was on exhibit, but couldn't manage the shorter reach.  Nadia and Rebekah both loved it.</B></div> <div> <B>I heard Christopher Norton's talk on his new piano book series, and later talked with him at length in the exhibit area.  He lives at the Barbican in London, where his wife administers  the place!  Dr. Richard Kogan's lecture/recital on George Gershwin was also a major highlight, as was talking with the man off and on during the conference itself.  Great to be able to interact with a genius of his stature and reknown.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3ededaa0.jpg" border=0 width="237" height="170" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Dr. Richard Kogan gave a spellbinding storytelling session and recital on Gershwin, which was received with a hooping standing ovation.</B></div> <div> <B>We also all enjoyed several dinners and lunches together.  I can't wait for 2009!!</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3effea80.jpg" border=0 width="254" height="168" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Me, Rebekah, Nadia, Jesse and Philip enjoyed Thai food on Thursday evening.  </B></div> <div> <B>Monday, July 30th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Truly great weather once again, though a bit warmer than earlier in July.  We skipped our dancing class last night so we could stay home and have an evening together.  It was also a full moon, so we enjoyed a small celebration.  It's hard to see the moon from our backyard in the summer, as it is obscured by trees until quite late.  We bought mooncakes in Windsor at a Chinese grocers.</B></div> <div> <B>Today we went to Dearborn, just poking around a few stores and cafes.  We ate lunch at Buddy's, which now offers two soy cheese pizzas!  The restaurant has been named as having one of the top five pizzas in the country!  We had ours with enhanced basil-tomato sauce and a whole wheat crust, plus three veggie items.  It was fantastic, and only came to $8.99!</B></div> <div> <B>Deb bought the newest Harry Potter book, while I purchased the Delorme Atlas of Michigan, one I was embarrassed to not have in my extensive map collection. </B></div> <div> <B>Tonight we began watching my 6-dvd/18 movie collection of kung fu movies.  I got the set last week for $20!!  We watched Bruce Lee in "Chinese Connection", a truly great showcase for Lee.  His anger and fierceness have never been more intense than in this, his 2nd Hong Kong film.  Highly recommended.  We are also now into season 7 of Red Dwarf, an hilarious scifi spoof that just gets better and better as it goes along.  I almost gave up on it after a few of the first season episodes!  Glad I stuck with it.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, July 28th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Memorization on three of my piano pieces is progressing.  Not much happening with the Debussy, though.  We managed to resume our walking program today, looping through for the third time.</B></div> <div> <B>The afternoon was a bit hectic.  We left around 2pm for Kingsville.  Deb played an outdoor wedding at Lakeside Park on Lake Erie. </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3f1bdcb0.jpg" border=0 width="189" height="203" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Deb accompanies Tony B. at an outdoor wedding in Kingsville.  They performed two arias by Handel.</B></div> <div> <B> We were done by 4:30 pm., home briefly, then off to Meadow Brook with Roger and Mary Clare.</B></div> <div> <B>We heard Janina Fialkowska perform Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto with the DSO, in a lovely outdoor setting.  We sat in the pavilion, but there was open sky above our heads.  The lawn was packed with people, and the pavilion was nearly full.  Also on the program was Beethoven's 7th Symphony.  Several amateur astronomers had set up their telescopes on the lawn.  People were viewing before the concert, at intermission and afterwards.  In the viewfinders were Jupiter and a mostly full moon.</B></div> <div> <B>The evening was perfect, and very atmospheric.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, July 27th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Deb's long week teaching at Anita's harp camp has come to an end.  Their concert was held in the barn this year due to the large number of children participating!  </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3f303c20.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="194" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Anita conducts 19 children playing the harp in one of her new barns.  It was the grand finale to a week-long summer camp.</B></div> <div> <B>The horses and cats (and parents) were treated to a well-prepared harp concert.  Deb is glad it's over.  Now she has an outdoor wedding to worry about tomorrow in Kingsville.  Tomorrow night we are hoping to slide over to Oakland University to hear the DSO at Meadowbrook.  On the program is Beethoven's ravishing 3rd Piano Concerto with Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska and conductor Leonard Slatkin.</B></div> <div> <B>Tuesday, July 24th/07</B></div> <div> <B>I didn't feel too well yesterday.  I think I overdid things a bit with the hike and then the dancing on Sunday.  Felt much better today.  I dropped Deb off in east Windsor and kept the vehicle today.  She got a ride to Anita's with another woman who is working at the harp camp there also.  </B></div> <div> <B>First stop was to visit Ron W. at VW.  I am very interested in attending a Touareg off-road workshop in Utah.  It cost $2 grand for three days, plus transportation to Moab!  However, the vehicles are waiting there, as are the instructors.  Only 16 drivers are accepted per session.  The program takes the Touareg to its limits, utilizing its maximum off-road capabilities.  Will have to think seriously about this.</B></div> <div> <B>I hopped over to Detroit, as my local photo dealer no longer develops 126 or 110 film.  Oddly enough, Wal-Mart does in the States.  I picked up a new topo map program, acquiring Michigan, Indiana and Ohio in one set from National Geographic.  Compared to All Topo maps, this series is total crap.  They will serve me for the amount of time I will use them, and are certainly much cheaper.  However, I cannot recommend them.  They are not user friendly, and have virtually no great features.  Check out All Topo Maps instead.  Pricey but priceless at the same time.</B></div> <div> <B>After a vegan lunch at Avalon Bakery in Detroit, I headed back to Windsor.  I spent a leisurely afternoon walking and driving the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair shorelines as far as Belle River.  I am currently using 35 mm film and our old Yashica SLR.  What a heavy beastie!</B></div> <div> <B>I picked up Deb at Anita's at 4:30.  The house is crazy, with the three instructors doing their best to teach 19 children the harp.</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, July 22nd/07</B></div> <div> <B>The Toronto trip was certainly a whirlwind.  It's a lot of driving for one day, but the highway wasn't busy and the weather was clear and sunny.  Our local branch of ORMTA honored Dr. Tom Green at the Provincial luncheon, an outstanding teacher with impeccable credentials and many highly successful music students.  After the awards luncheon there were three all-Ontario student competitions.  We stayed for two of them before three of us went out for dinner (Tom, Mary-Clare and myself) before heading back to Windsor.</B></div> <div> <B>Tonight is our third Latin dance class.  Oddly enough we have not been practicing at all during the week, unusual for us.  It's been a busy summer.  Today was another glorious day of low humidity, plenty of sunshine and comfortable temps.  We managed a long, hilly walk at Malden Hill Park this morning.  We have learned how to avoid the paved trails and stay on dirt.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, July 20th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Our walking program is still going strong, as we prepare for our big hikes in New Mexico high country later in the summer.  I tried to rejuvenate my photographic plans for the summer yesterday, but the weather was not cooperating.  Deb and I took Alicia B. out for the day.  We were going to fly kites and take photos at Malden Hill Park, but both times we tried we were rained out.  We did manage a bit of a walk on the riverfront and took some pics there.  We also stopped in at the Art Gallery of Windsor for a visit.</B></div> <div> <B>Alicia's mom is still very ill, suffering from a failing liver.  She also has pneumonia, and has been in the hospital for many weeks now.  She has a trach. tube inserted, and can't talk right now.  Alicia was in her usual cheery good mood, even though she has no right to be.  We printed ten of her best pictures afterwards.  As we were driving home following a cafe stop, the anticipated storm arrived.  We were deluged as we drove through River Canard.  It only lasted about 15 minutes, but nearly an inch of rain was in my backyard gauge when I got home.</B></div> <div> <B>Tonight Deb plays a harp gig at Essex Hall in Windsor, and tomorrow I am off to Toronto for the day to attend an ORMTA luncheon, award ceremony and student piano competition.</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, July 15th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday we did an 11 km hike along the Windsor riverfront, starting at the D. H. Tavern and stopping for lunch at the Kildare House Pub, then back to our vehicle at the D.H.  Next door is Courtesy Bike Shop, and we finally purchased a roof rack for our bikes.  Sunday we attempted to put on the adapter bar, but of course it doesn't fit.  Back to the bike shop tomorrow.  Tonight was our second Latin dance class, and between yesterday's hike and today's two hours of dancing, I am ready to sit down for a week.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, July 13th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Yesterday we went hiking in Michigan at a place called Hidden Lake Gardens.  Run by MSU, it is part arboretum and part nature centre.  The landscaping is quite breathtaking, making good use of the scenic and rolling Irish Hills.  The lake itself is the centerpiece of the park, surrounded by paths and well-developed gardens.  There are some actual hiking paths which we used to prepare ourselves for our upcoming New Mexico trip. The Hiker's Trail is 3 miles, with lots of up and down walking.  The Pine Tree Trail is 1 1/3 miles, also rolling.  All tolled we hiked about five miles, leaving much of the scenic driving tour for another visit.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3f40ecd0.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="205" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Butterfly in HIdden Lake Gardens.</B></div> <div> <B>Last night we had the (dubious) pleasure of viewing Russ Meyer's "Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill!", which was showing on Turner Classic Movies, of all places!  What a movie!  I hadn't seen it since I was about 18, and it hadn't lost a bit of its weirdness.  Oddly enough, it is a good movie with some very curious and interesting characters.  It is very noirish, even though filmed in the bright desert sun.</B></div> <div> <B>I also heard from Rob V.  this week, who sent me this photo of an amazing quilt.  Thanks Rob, and hope you are doing well.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3f6b4ef0.jpg" border=0 width="180" height="239" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Grand Piano quilt; pic sent by Rob V. in Indianapolis.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#33FFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>I have been practicing, though not as faithfully as I should.  Memorization of the Granados Spanish Dance and the piece by de Falla is coming along, but the Debussy and Albeniz are not ready for that stage yet.  I have added two other very minor but charming Spanish pieces to the program as well.</B></div> <div> <B>Beorn, our VW Touareg, went in for his 20,000 mile check-up.  Everything looks perfect, and I was able to use the last of my synthetic oil I purchased last year at Wal-Mart for a bargain price. </B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, July 8th/07</B></div> <div> <B>On Saturday we got our new mini-dish installed, and are currently enjoying the same channels we used to get on the big dish, but with a Canadian slant.  This is not a bad thing, as we are Canadian but haven't had much access to our own tv channels for many years.</B></div> <div> <B>Deb had a wedding gig at Ojibway Park, her first of four summer harp performances.  This doesn't count her week of teaching at Country Aires Harp Camp.  I enjoyed a very warm but otherwise pleasant and solitary walk through the park trails.</B></div> <div> <B>I finished reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson, his unique account of hiking the Appalachian Trail over three seasons.  It is not to be missed by anyone who hikes, one of the funniest yet helpful guides ever written.  Deb has now begun to enjoy it, too, after hearing much of it already as I read parts aloud to her over the past few days.</B></div> <div> <B>Today the temp hit  97 F, but a nice breeze off the river kept our little area from baking too intensely.  We also attended our first of six Latin dance classes.  Tonight we learned the basics of the Cha Cha Cha, the Jive and the Rhumba!  When we first restarted our dancing lessons a few months back I could not dance for a whole hour.  Since our walking program success, however, I lasted the full two hours tonight!  Driving home at 10 pm it was still 88 degrees oustside.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, July 06th/07</B></div> <div> <B>An amazing thing happened today.  We made e-mail contact with Ramon Buckley, after having lost touch for a very long time.  Hello Ramon, and welcome back into our lives!  Hope to meet up with you again soon.</B></div> <div> <B>I was laid up much of the day with a Meniere's attack.  This one came on very sudden, and I was in bed from 12:30 pm until 6:30 pm.  My ear is still ringing away, but the dizziness and nauseau have subsided.</B></div> <div> <B>Before the attack, we managed a 6km walk into town and back.  It was a beautiful day.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3f70bb20.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="178" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>View of Detroit River from our walk today.</B></div> <div> <B>Deb cleaned the tv/bird room from top to bottom, in anticipation of our new satellite system arriving tomorrow.  We are switching from our old 'big' dish to a mini, so we will be getting Canadian programming for the first time since moving out here, where cable tv fears to tread.</B></div> <div> <B>Monday, July 2nd/07</B></div> <div> <B>We have completed 37 days in our walking program, as we basically repeat the original 28-day pattern.  We are trying to extend things a bit, and add hills whenever we can get to Malden Hill Park.</B></div> <div> <B>I have loaded my Kodak Instamatic SLR with colour 126 film, as well as my miniature spy camera, the Minolta 16 (16 mm film).  That is my last 126 cartridge, but I still have another Minolta film left.  I will also load up the Brownie with 127 very soon!</B></div> <div> <B>I completed my school camera club photo album today, enjoying the outdoors on the deck inside the screen room.  We also got a start on the annual cleaning of the basement, and we ripped out two rotten boards on the handrail of our bridge that need to be replaced.</B></div> <div> <B>Yesterday we walked at Malden Hill, and Deb tried unsuccessfully to fly one of our new kites.  Despite a good wind, we had no luck.</B></div> <div> <B>Afterwards we went to Randy and Anita's home for the first in a series of summer classic sci-fi screenings.  We enjoyed the incomparable "Day the Earth Stood Still", directed by Robert Wise with music by Bernard Hermann.  Randy's large, wide-screen television is something to behold!</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, June 30th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Tunnel and bridge traffic were horrific today, coming and going.  We still had a great day in Detroit, walking once more on the new River Walk, and this time seeing "Earth Vs the Flying Saucers" at DFT.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3f90cb20.jpg" border=0 width="268" height="178" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Detroit River Walk, our 2nd adventure along here.</B></div> <div> <B>Later at home I worked on a new photo album, trying to organize my photos from the school camera club outings.  I managed a decent body of work on those excursions.  I am also planning to load my Instamatic 126 SLR and the tiny Minolta 16 for immediate use.</B></div> <div> <B>We enjoyed the first of three full moons tonight that we will celebrate over the course of our summer holidays, sipping lightly on dark rum on the back deck, and partaking of a Chinese Moon Cake, purchased earlier today in Windsor.  Jupiter and the backyard fireflies were also amazing sites.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, June 29th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Holidays got off to a great start later today, when I finally returned around 2:30 pm from my ORMTA meeting and stopover at the music store.  After I did some reading at home and had a well-deserved nap, we commenced the annual "beginning-of-holidays Strawberry and Champagne deck party for two" (actually it was four, as Ferdinand and Gustav were out with us).</B></div> <div> <B>Neither of us can really believe that summer has actually arrived.  And before it is all over, we have another hiking trip to New Mexico to prepare for.</B></div> <div> <B>I contacted Randy, and we are going over there on Sunday evening to watch "Day the Earth Stood Still".  Tomorrow afternoon in Detroit it's "Earth Vs the Flying Saucers"!</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3fb07c50.jpg" border=0 width="263" height="197" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Champagne and strawberries on the deck--a year-end tradition.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3fc06f20.jpg" border=0 width="262" height="242" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>We crossed the road from our house to the little park, enjoying a beautiful sunset on the Detroit River.</B></div> <div> <B>Wednesday, June 27th/07</B></div> <div> <B>We made it!  The end has come at last, and the kids are gone for the summer.  Nine weeks of r & r sounds like a lot, but it will go all too quickly.  At least the last day wasn't too bad.  We got storms around 2:30, and my backyard rain gauge shows over 2 1/2 inches of rain.  It was badly needed, and for now the creek is flowing merrily once again and things are returning to a healthy green.</B></div> <div> <B>After work Deb and I went to our usual pub in Windsor.  We go there after the first day of school and the last day.  Tonight we were joined by Barb, Cindy and Ruth.</B></div> <div> <B>We go in tomorrow for a meeting and final clean-up, then we are done until late August. </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3fd09b70.jpg" border=0 width="265" height="183" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>L to R: me, Deb, Ruth, Cindy and Barb.  Those are genuine smiles and empty beer glasses, as we celebrate the end of another school year.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, June 23/07</B></div> <div> <B>We had a fun day in Detroit, despite the fact I was feeling under the weather.  We completed our final walk of our 28 day program on the new Detroit River Walk.  It's quite short right now, but Windsor's fabulous walk took many decades to reach it's current near-perfect stage.  Eventually, Detroit's will stretch from the bridge to Belle Isle, even longer than Windsor's.</B></div> <div> <B>Afterwards we went to see "Jason and the Argonauts" on a big screen at the Detroit Film Theatre.  It was a newly struck print, ours being the first audience to see it.  Great fun!</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3ffb1850.jpg" border=0 width="177" height="133" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>View of downtown Detroit from the river walkway.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="40102a90.jpg" border=0 width="258" height="169" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Part of the walkway in front of the Renaissance Center.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="402f8bb0.jpg" border=0 width="248" height="187" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Spirit of Detroit sculpture, downtown near the river.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, June 22/07</B></div> <div> <B>Things are just beginning to wind down, at long last.  Except for a short piano performance this evening with Paula, my duet partner, the weekend is free.  I even managed to get the lawn cut after school, before putting in some final practice on the Brahms.  Afterwards I just came home, too tired to do much else.  We opted out of the staff party tonight--not quite in a party mood yet.  Three school days from now, that will change.</B></div> <div> <B>At school I managed to get that website updated, including next year's calendar.  In the past two days, with help from some little friends, I got the flutes, clarinets, saxes, trombones and trumpets cleaned.  Baritones are left, and the room in general.  Next year I get my room back for exclusinve use as a music room, as Heather is moving to a real classroom with her Gr. 6 kids.  Luckily she is a very easy person to get along with, otherwise it could have been an unpleasant year.</B></div> <div> <B>We have one more long walk to do and we will have completed our 28 day walking program, even though it took about 34 days....  We plan to finish up on the new Detroit riverfront walkway tomorrow morning.  Since we will be hiking in New Mexico this August, we will likely be resuming the walks immediately, and expanding them.  It should be a lot easier to maintain in July.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="4040ecc0.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>A lily from our front garden, which we have had no time to tend or enjoy.</B></div> <div> <B>Wednesday, June 20th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Another milestone to check off, as we return triumphant but dehydrated from the Gr. 8 Graduation Ceremony held in our school gymnasium tonight.  Over 600 people attended, with yours truly emmceeing the happy event of 75 kids (many larger than me) moving on to high school.  Deb was in charge of sound and the av show at the end.  We also each gave out awards.  The music ones went to Kady B. and Adam V., while Michael M. took top honours in Drama.</B></div> <div> <B>We are down to only five days of classes, a number I can handle.  Tomorrow morning it's off to Paula's for our final rehearsal before our duet performance Friday evening at a private recital.</B></div> <div> <B>I heard from Kati Gleiser--she is planning on giving a few performances in July in Ontario.  Also heard from Rebekah, who is going to Chicago in August for the piano teachers' convention.</B></div> <div> <B>Tuesday, June 19th/07</B></div> <div> <B>I made it to the final astronomy club meeting of the season tonight.  The talk was a bit unusual for our club, but well worth hearing.  The naturalist from Ojibway Park in Windsor gave a lavishly illustrated talk on critters of the night, including owls, bats, moths toads and frogs.</B></div> <div> <B>Much later (10:30 pm) we all gathered outside to watch the International Space Station pass overhead, preceeded a few seconds by the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which just recently separated from it for Thursday's landing.  It was a great sight to see, and Deb caught the view from here at the house.  There should be a repeat tomorrow night.</B></div> <div> <B>Afterwards I got to talk at length with Randy G., someone I don't see enough of anymore.  Maybe we can revive our horror/B movie nights we used to have in summer.  He's driving a 2007 Jetta TDI, probably the best car on the market.  I miss mine!</B></div> <div> <B>I met my two newest students this afternoon (and their parents).  The twin girls will commence piano lessons next Tuesday.  They have been studying for about a year, and will turn ten in late August.  My studio is now officially full, unless someone doesn't come back next fall.</B></div> <div> <B>Finally got an e-mail back from Rachael M. tonight, who sounds very busy and happy as she completes her first year of high school.  I still wish she was living down here and coming by to help with the school website.  Miss ya Rachael!</B></div> <div> <B>Sunday, June 17th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Ann Arbor used to be a city of bookstores.  While there are still a few good ones, the city must now be the restaurant capitol of the world.  There are more restaurants per block than any other city I have ever visited (also more concerts and films)!  There are also a lot of art galleries, and possibly the best used record/cd store on the planet.</B></div> <div> <B>We had lunch at SEVA, a very fine vegetarian restaurant that has been there since our first visit in the late 70s.  I had a great gazpacho soup and garlic bread, while Deb had the very filling tofu scrambler.</B></div> <div> <B>We tried to walk in a local park, but apparently it no longer exists.  Our guidebook was 20 years old, but it is strange for a public park to disappear.  We did our Day 24 walk in downtown Ann Arbor.  It was very warm and humid today, and the traffic was unbelievable, though the border crossings were swift.</B></div> <div> <B>Things are winding down this week.  Tomorrow, Deb takes her class on a field trip to Windsor Science Centre.  I am staying home to finish report cards.  Wednesday is Gr. 8 Graduation, and I have been asked again to emcee the long and very hot event in the school gymnasium.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday evening Paula and I perform our duet at a private event, the Brahms Hungarian Dance #1 in G Minor.  That is also the night of our staff party.  I think I'll survive this week easily enough!</B></div> <div> <B>New Mexico is officially a go for this summer once again, but we will not be taking our own vehicle.  Instead, we will fly to Phoenix and drive back east into NM for some camping and hiking.</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, June 16th/07</B></div> <div> <B>These kinds of days are beginning to seem a little too much like routine.  Today even seemed "lite" by comparison.  I went to my ORMTA meeting, where Greg Butler is taking on the role of President of our local chapter for two years.  After the meeting we had lunch, and I got to chat with Greg, Philip Adamson and David Palmer, three of the greats of this area in the field of piano and keyboard.  Greg and David are making a CD together in Toronto, an organ/piano duo, and Philip is taking sabbatical in January to practice for his latest CD, with music by Bax and Bridge and others.  Quite an exciting group to have lunch with.  Philip will be going to the piano pedagogy conference in Chicago in August, so I will see him there (and hopefully Nadia and Rebekah too).</B></div> <div> <B>I made my second trip today to Windsor (five trips in the last three days) by driving Deb to her wedding gig later in the afternoon.  I went to Belle Air Music to pick up books for several of my students while she played.</B></div> <div> <B>Tonight we just relaxed and watched a movie, a decent 50s "Hammer Films" noir.  I really wanted to go to the Astronomy Club picnic tonight, but just couldn't summon any strength to leave home yet again.</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, June 15th/07</B></div> <div> <B>I noticed today as I was walking to school that I was really grinding my teeth.  It has been a very stressful two weeks, but we are nearly out of the woods.</B></div> <div> <B>Deb got her hair trimmed and straightened this morning, and it looks quite good (especially when she is dancing the merengue and tango).</B></div> <div> <B>Our performing arts awards assembly went very well today, as we handed out dozens of awards to recorder players, band members, choir, drama club, and even the camera club.  We had a great slide show to end it off.  It seemed to be well received.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="40603af0.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="175" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Bronze, Silver and Gold medal winners from this year's music students.</B></div> <div> <B>After school, it was our final ballroom dancing session, and the kids were disappointed that it wouldn't start up again until October.  We have some truly amazing young dancers, after only four lessons!  The Grade 8s want to come back next year to continue.</B></div> <div> <B>After dance class it was back to Windsor, this time to play for Ashley's clarinet exam.  It went pretty well.  Her pieces were quite long, but she held it together, despite a lip that was hurting from practicing so much recently.  I left after my accompanying was concluded, but she called me later and assured me that the rest of the exam went well.  Deb walked the Windsor riverfront trail (about 6 km) and we met at the Kildare House Pub afterward.  </B></div> <div> <B>Nearly time to relax.  A music teachers' meeting tomorrow morning for me; Deb has another wedding to play in the afternoon, grass to cut later and report cards still to do sometime very soon.  Eight days of school remain with the kids.  Must try to stop grinding my teeth!</B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, June 14th/07</B></div> <div> <B>Another big day has been chalked off.  It was a fairly successful one, too.  Alicia was well prepared for her Gr. 2 piano exam, and it went off without a hitch.  I am hoping for a decent mark when results are announced in about three weeks.</B></div> <div> <B>The afternoon went well at school, as I finished showing "Singing in the Rain" to the Gr. 8 classes.  The Gr. 6s are listening to a story on cd about Vivaldi.</B></div> <div> <B>After school it was back into Windsor with Kady and her mom, to accompany her on her Gr. 4 flute exam.  She had some difficulty with the scales and