Background Music

My daughter just began playing the trumpet. She knows five notes, though they rarely sound the same when she plays them. I listened to her practice last night, over and over, getting frustrated that she wasn’t playing them right and that her C sounded the same as her G. She is already willing to give up. I can tell that Band will not play a prominent role in her future.

Regardless, the struggled notes that flatulated from her trumpet took me back. Her brother sounded just the same when he began learning the trumpet. Every new musician does. But what I like about trumpet is that the beginning blurts of sound do not pierce my ear with shrillness. I don’t mind listening to wavering notes and loud blasts of air. In fact, I rather enjoy it. I love music and remember learning to play my flute. It was just as awkward for me as it is/was for my children. My daughter hasn’t learned patience yet, nor has she realized that all musicians start out this way.

To keep her from quitting, I went upstairs and got my old flute. I brought it downstairs and played those first five notes with her, making the lesson a duet. It took me back, back, back, to my days of lessons and recitals.

I was an excellent flutist. I practiced more than any child needed to practice. I loved the sounds I could create, and loved mastering the technical difficulty of advanced classical pieces. The only thing I didn’t love was performing. Terribly shy, I froze in front of people. As long as I could play unwatched, I was fine. But playing before an audience was torture.

My daughter and I finished up a few sets of scales and she was ready to call it a night. I was ready for her to, too, because by that point, I’d dragged out my old music and couldn’t wait to see if I could still play it. I could! I was thrilled by my trills and played song after song. And then I wondered – did my mother ever miss hearing me play? I’d never thought about it before, but my flute must have been the background music of her life for quite a while. I wondered whether she’d recognize the songs if I played them for her again? Would she be able to anticipate the melodies?

I played until my fingers ached and then put my flute away, determined to pull it out and practice more often. As I did so, my daughter said that she wants to switch to chorus next year, and I knew that my days of listening to rudimentary trumpet were already numbered. As silly as it sounds, I’ll miss it.

But then, she asked if we wanted to hear her singing. Of course we said yes, and she opened her mouth and made the most beautiful sounds I never expected to hear from her small, little mouth. She was nearly pitch-perfect, and sang with vibrato. I was amazed as I listened to her sing, performing song after song as long as we would listen. And so now I know, the trumpet will not be the background music of my life. It will be her beautiful little voice, and I will treasure every note.

I Have No Shame; I'm Shaming My Dog

I don't know if anyone else saw this on CNN today, but they were flashing pictures of pooches featured on Tumblr's Canine Shaming site. You have to check it out: http://dog-shaming.com/

After I spent the morning laughing, I immediately started thinking of signs my dog Chipsy could wear. Poor little pup. I'm almost sorry I'm embarassing him this way. But he doesn't know I'm doing it. Or maybe he does. He wouldn't willingly pose for these, so the pictures didn't turn out so well. It's like he knew what I was doing. He is smart...

Chinatown Street Art

I've been to the Chinatown sections of a few cities now. I have to say, none compare to San Francisco's. But the Chinatown section of Toronto offered something we hadn't noticed in other cities: street art. And lots of it.

Here are a few pictures they we especially admired. Enjoy!

The Big Pig Gig

"Gaga for Cincinnati"
This Lady Gaga creation is wearing heels, fishnet
stockings, and yes - bacon.

The World Choir Games came to Cincinnati this summer, and a resurgence in revitalizing downtown Cincinnati went into full swing. Tours were created; parks were cleaned up; and the Big Pig Gig that originally occurred in 2000 was revamped. Local artists and sponsors teamed up to create new piggy works of art, resulting in nearly 100 pigs on display around town.

Artworks of Cincinnati hosted free walking tours that highlighted some of these pigs. I took the tour AND a million pictures. Some of my favorites are here.

Go see them before they leave in September. Who knows when Cincinnati will bring out the pigs again?

My favorite. I thought it very clever
that this piggy bank was covered with pennies.

My husband's favorite.
He says it reminds him of the movie "Hugo."







           

Clever ears. There was so much artistry on all the pigs.               

This pig is covered in stamps from every
country that participated in the
World Choir Games.

Got Some Old Used Cars Laying Around?

Just in case you don't know what to do with those old cars cluttering up your yard (or street), consider turning your car into a planter, like this one on the streets of Toronto.

It looks like they removed the engine and opened up the trunk to turn this junker into a work of art. There was all kinds of street art in the Kensington Market and Chinatown areas, but this was the only piece that was actually on the streets.

Reminder to Self: See More Theater

My husband and I spent part of our trip to Canada at the Stratford Shaespeare Festival. We saw "Elektra" and it was sensational. We wished we had purchase tickets for multiple shows in the 14-show repertoire, but didn't realize that that's what people do there. In fact, we met four theater students at our B&B who were in town that week to see 10 shows.

Which made us think: we don't go to the theater enough.

When we first started dating, we had season tickets to the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival. It was our clever way of ensuring that we would continue seeing each other. Then we had a baby, and theater exited left.

But now that our daughter is older and we've remembered how much we love it, we've vowed to see more shows in our own hometown. I think perhaps we'll start with the Know Theatre in Over-the-Rhine and branch out from there. With all the theatre in Cincinnati (and yes - there's a lot), we'll have no lack of shows to see.

Mommy?

I love this sculpture in Ottawa, titled Maman. If you look closely, you can make out Maman's sac of eggs in the bottom picture.

Brusselicious

In the Parc Royal, across the street from the Royal Palace in Brussels, there is a park lined with sculptures that honor Brussels. I wanted to take pictures of them all, but didn't. Maybe next time. I thought it was enough to capture this picture of a Brusselsprout with other same-shaped sculptures in the background. There's one Brusselsprout sculpture called "Brusselicious," but I don't think it's this one. I think it has a miniature Manneken Pis standing on top of it.

Something to look for next time I go...

Bike Sculptures

I keep coming across bike sculptures in my travels. Here are a few I've spotted in the past. Now that I'm aware of this trend, I may start looking for them purposely and add the new pictures to this page.



Hamilton, Ohio



Hamilton, Ohio

Brussels, Belgium

Outside the Bird's Nest in Beijing, China

Juxtaposition of Sights in Gent

Lonely Planet named the Graslei / Kornlei area of Gent as one of the "Top 7 Places To Sit and Have a Beer." I can certainly see why. This picturesque spot in medieval Gent, Belgium is a beautiful place to sit and imbibe.

I saw all the impressive, old architecture I'd expected to. It was not unlike Brugges - another hot spot for tourists, but Gent was less crowded and thereby more appealing to me.

I took the obligatory postcard shots of beautiful old buildings. Though elegant and awe-inspiring, they began to blur together. Then, amidst the architectural gems, I saw a few things that surprised me.



This message rests outside a produce and crafts market, but I never learned why. It didn't really matter; it intrigued me all the same.

Then, I veered off down an alley that was very modern in its street art graffiti and was a vast playground of shiny color in this otherwise austere town.

Street Scenes

In June, I will be heading to Brussels again. My first day plans are simple: to sit in the Grand Place with a Belgian waffle and watch the tourists. This time, I think I may try to capture pictures of them. After reading another blogger's tips on taking street scene photography, I thought this might be a fun experiment. I'd definitely feel more comfortable snapping pictures of tourists while I'm sitting in a city square than I would taking pictures of people as we walk down streets.

We'll see how it turns out. Look for the post in late June.

Behind the Scenes - Border State

This is not a scene from the film. This picture was taken in Colonial Williamsburg. And yes, I know I'm mixing wars.



My brother writes screenplays. Usually full-length, but he's also been stretching his writing repertoire to include short films. His friend Troy shoots the films and together they've created a production company called Bluegill Films.

The attached link will take you to a short Civil War-inspired film they recently shot. Watch it, then I'll give you a little behind-the-scenes insight to it.

Border State

First of all, you might be wondering what inspired them to shoot this piece. It was akin to writing prompts that I sometimes try. Troy told Ryan that he had a friend who had some Civil War garb and weapons and Troy had a location for a shoot. Could Ryan come up with something?

Why, yes, he could. Ryan wrote a ten-page script and they recruited their cast members. They'd worked with the lead before on another project, but the boy was new. My mother made his shirt, trying carefully to keep it in line with what she'd researched about Civil War fashion. So Bluegill Films had their script, their cast, their location and their props. Troy wanted to shoot the film in one day. They were all set. Then - the boy showed up and he had braces.

I knew all this before I saw the completed film. So when I saw it, I thought they'd replaced the boy. But they didn't. This is the same kid. You can't tell he has braces, can you?

My brother wasn't there for the filming, so he didn't see all the takes and retakes that went into it. He just saw the finished product, which is not the way he typically works with Troy. Still, he was impressed. There are a few things he wishes they'd shot more than once. He would have liked the camera to linger on the boy's stance at the end, and he would have zoomed in when Nathan took the knife from his pocket. But all in all, Troy and Ryan are happy with the film.

Troy's given Ryan another writing prompt: he wants to come out from behind the camera and play a villain. Ryan's already got ideas for writing that. We'll see where he takes that single directive. It could go anywhere!

Fun Functional Art

I love this bike stand in downtown Cincinnati.
Makes me wish I had a bike to tether to it.

Save the Arts!

We were at an elementary school other than my daughter's this morning, and had a few minutes to admire the artwork on display in the lobby. It was a veritable gallery showcase with student art adorning each of the walls and display cases. The sunflower pictures were my favorite. They captured the hope and beauty of so much young talent. I hate to think that the arts programs will cease to exist much longer. If these precious little sunflowers knew what was coming, they'd droop.