GWTW

Usually, the Music for Youth concerts are held at the Pequot Library in Southport, CT. While we were in the neighborhood, we stopped in because I wanted to see a small exhibit they were showing centered around an original manuscript of the book, Gone With the Wind.

I had read an article in the March 30th (2011) edition of the NY Times about the exhibit. Although I have never read the book or seen the movie (really), it sounded like an opportunity to see something historic and unusual. It was a nice exhibit: lots of posters of various covers of the book from different countries (banned by Nazi Germany) and, of course, select pages from the typewritten manuscript. After seeing the exhibit, I am very curious about the book and its now on my "to read" list.

Gamelan Orchestra & Wayang Kulit

This past Saturday (April 9th), my son, Richard, and I attended a very unusual musical performance as part of the Music for Youth free concerts. They are held monthly during the school year, recommended for ages 5-17, and about 50 minutes in length. We started attending these when Richard was in preschool or so. Now, we usually attend 2-3 a year when there isn't a conflict with Richard's hockey schedule.

 The concert was held in Trinity Church. We sat in the balcony right at the orchestra. A gamelan is aspecific grouping of musical instruments used to play a style of traditional Indonesian music. The Wayang Kulit portion is a JAVAnese shadow puppet play. We saw "The Flower Battle," the story of Arjuno who overcomes a fanged demon, Cakil.

The music was VERY different: it reminded me of possessed wind chimes.

 At the end of the show, they have a drawing for a door prize...and Richard was one of the winners! He is wearing orange in the picture above. So we went home with a CD of gamelan music.

The Garden

The Garden of Eden

"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden: and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters...."

Oh! Wait a moment...wrong garden.

This past Monday (April 4th), I was fortunate to be able to attend a hockey game at Madison Square Garden between the New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins. I attended as the guest of one of our vendors who was hosting a technical seminar and then invited us to their suite at "The Garden."


View from a suite a MSG: Rangers vs. Bruins.

Because it was a weeknight, we left during the second intermission and missed a thrilling come from behind victory by the Rangers to beat the Bruins 5-3. Still, it was exciting because it was my first visit to the Garden. Hope to get there in the future to see the Islanders play (and win).