Street Musicians

Here's some pix of some local street musicians at a recent local festival.

This guy's cigar-box guitar sounded pretty good.

(Guess he might have been a little more "official")

And this little gal could really work that fiddle.

It's nice to hear people making music live.

Quickie Mountain Trip

The Fuzz was just hanging out here in the woods, puttering around in the shop while His Sweetie was visiting with a friend up near the mountains.

When she got back she had a proposition for him.

Since it was such a beautiful day, why didn't they ride up to Black Mountain, and spend the night?

She had been talking to another friend the day before who had recommended the "Red Rocker Inn" to her.  And with nothing else on the schedule this would be a great opportunity to get away for a quick mountain holiday.

Now The Fuzz has not been know for his spontaneity in the past, but he is trying to do better.  And after a little online investigation the idea began to grow on him.

So a phone call was made and a room was available.  So they hurriedly threw some clothes in their bags and took off.

When they got there they found it was a pretty nice place.

They checked in and had a look around.

And there really are "Red Rockers".

And there is a restaurant as well.

It looked pretty good.

But The Fuzz and His Sweetie already had other "dinner" plans.

They had stopped on the way into town and picked up a few things to snack on that evening...

Maybe next time.

Maybe for sure.

 They had a "light meal" with some bread, oil olives and a bit of cheese.

And of course the wine.

Then it was time to kick back a bit.

Until it was time to walk into town...

To the White Horse.

In their online investigations they had discovered that this evening, at the White Horse, would be jazz by
"The Asheville Art Trio".

They got there just in time to get a glass of wine for His Sweetie, and some of that Green Man Porter for The Fuzz.

Then it was time for the music.

It was excellant.

Then it was back to their room and bed.

The Red Rocker Inn is one of those Bed & Breakfast places.  And the breakfast was outstanding.

Later in the morning The Fuzz had a chance to wander around a bit with his camera.

The grounds are lovely too.

He saw this artist at work out there.

But it was time to check out now.

Since they were already so close, they had decided to go on into Asheville for some things they couldn't get at home.  That is one downside of living out in the woods.

Asheville is a Big City-

At least to The Fuzz.

But the skyline is nice.

Of course it's not New York or Chicago, but that's a good thing.

From the parking deck The Fuzz's Sweetie drew his attention to this nearby building.

You don't see much of this kind of detail on buildings these days.

And The Fuzz kinda liked this one also.

But now it was time to head back down the mountain, and home.

 

Christmas Oi

With Christmas on the way, We got out the stack of Chrismas CDs.  The Fuzz's hearing is not so good any more, so he has a hard time getting the lyrics to a lot of songs.  But he thought he'd share these with y'all.

From "A Very Special Christmas 3"

No Doubt: Oi To The World Lyrics

Haji was a punk just like any other boy 

And he never had no trouble till he started up his Oi band 

Safe in the garage or singing in the tub 

Till Haji went too far and he plugged in at the pub 

'Twas a cold Christmas eve when Trevor and the skins 

Popped in for a pint and to nick a back of crisps 

Trevor liked the music but not the unity 

He unwound Haji's turban and he knocked him to his knees 

If God came down on Christmas Day 

I know exactly what he'd say 

He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins 

But Oi to the world and everybody wins" 

Haji was a bloody mess, he ran out through the crowd 

He said "We'll meet again we are bloody but not unbowed" 

Trevor called his bluff and told him where to meet 

Christmas Day on the roof down at 20 Oxford Street 

If God came down on Christmas Day 

I know exactly what he'd say 

He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins 

But Oi to the world and everybody wins" 

On the roof with the nun chucks Trevor broke a lot of bones 

But Haji had a sword like that guy in Indiana Jones 

Police sirens wailing, a bloody dying man 

Haji was alone and abandoned by his band 

Trevor was there fading and still so full of hate 

When the skins left him there and went down the fire escape 

(Oi, Oi) 

And then Haji saw the north star shining more then ever 

So he made a tourniquet from his turban saving Trevor 

They repelled down the roof with the rest of the turban 

And went back to the pub where they bought each other bourbon 

If God came down on Christmas Day 

I know exactly what he'd say 

He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins 

But Oi to the world and everybody wins" 

If God came down on Christmas Day 

I know exactly what he'd say 

He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins 

But Oi to the world and everybody wins" 

(Oi, Oi)

Kinda sweet song, ain't it. 

[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/n/no+doubt/oi+to+the+world_20101431.html ] 

The Birds

One of the things The Fuzz's Sweetie and he like to see at the Renaissance Festival is The Birds.

Here you can see the Owl making a pass over the spectators.  This guy flies without a sound.  His feathers are designed special for this purpose.  And here's a look at him on the perch.

They got to see one of the Hawks , but The Fuzz didn't get a good pix of him.

But here's a look at Igor, the Vulture, in flight.

And on the ground.

The Fuzz and all had their usual picnic lunch in the nearby woods.  And then it was back for more fun and music. 

Renaissance Festival 2010.3

Here's more pix from our trip to the Renaissance Festival.
These are the Infamous Hey Nunnie Nunnie Ladies. The Fuzz's Sweetie and that (inappropriately attired) Young Daughter, really enjoyed them. Unfortunately, The Fuzz, himself is somewhat hard of hearing, and missed a lot of it. But he said he'd take their word for it, and he did get the pix.
Here's a look at Sarah Marie Mullen playing on her harp with freezing finger tips. We had just purchased some Very Expensive Toffee when we heard her, and stayed to listen for a bit. When we liked what we heard, she stopped a bit to warm her frozen fingers and tell us about her music. We're suckers for this sort of thing and took home a CD.

Marching Band Competition, Cont.

The Fuzz isn't sure what was going on at the Big Blogger Place, wherever it is. There was some sort of thing up where they said they had to work on something or other. But whatever it was, it seems to be over.
So, back to the Band Pix.
Every band seems to have a Xylophone Section. But it is kinda hard for them to march around.And, this is a look at the Band that won the overall contest. It was a pretty good performance, even The Fuzz appreciated it.
The Fuzz apologizes for having to split this up and all. But on the plus side, we got two posts out of it.

Marching Band Competition

Here they come, marching in.The Fuzz's Sweetie really gets off on the annual band competition.But,it seems like every year, something would come up, and we couldn't make it over there for it.But, this year, we finally made it.
Here's some pix of some of the bands.

Well, there seems to be some sort of situation here on Blogger. The fuzz is unable to load up the couple more pix he had for this post. But rather than postponing it all, he decided to go with what we have here.
Happy Wednesday!

Regarding That Mystery Pix

Well, since everyone is waiting for the mystery to be reveled, here it is.Actually, that Vi seemed to have it.
But, for some reason she wouldn't come out and just say it.
The Fuzz got this shot a while back when we went to hear the Air Force's
Heritage Aire Celtic Ensemble.
They were pretty good, actually, real good.
The people who played were not all the same ones as in the pix on the web site*, but they were impressive. The Fuzz is quite fond of this sort of music. And for an example of your tax dollars at work, we sent off for a free official CD of this great music, courtesy of our Uncle Sam.

*This seems to have something to due with the military's way of doing things, which we won't get into here.

A Musical Interlude

A recent Musical Interlude

A bit of a duet on Guitar and Autoharp this passed weekend.

Not much going on around here but rain, and cold, today.
But like Scarlet said, "Tomorrow is another day".

Baseline

On a recent Holiday visit The Fuzz found this Base Guitar just hanging around.

The Yearly Mark Wood Concert

It's time for the yearly Mark Wood Concert.
For the past few years the High School Orchestra has sponsored this affair to raise money. Every body (almost) needs money, especially "The Arts". But "The Arts" are a good thing for kids to be involved in. It's a chance to get some Culture and all that. So they get this guy, who is somewhat famous I take it, to come down here and do all this. They work with the kids and get them to play backup for them in these concerts. This is actually the middle school on stage here. The Fuzz was over there to see Young Daughter in action. But you really can't see her in the picture.

You can see this guy though. I don't really know who he is, but he seems to have found a way to make his job a little easier. This is some of that Encroach of Civilization stuff. These people have come here and dug holes and disrupted traffic and all. In the holes, they are burying big pipes. Rumor has it that they plan to let water run though these pipes. I guess they'll get the water from the river. The City has something to do with this.

I suppose this will be a good thing, considering the Drought and Global Warming and all. But The Fuzz has mixed feelings about it all.
It may be time to break camp, and move farther back into the woods.

Fabulous Christmas Concert !

This weekend the School put on their fabulous Christmas Concert.


As is evident, it was a big deal. Here we got the String Orchestra, Concert Band, and the High School Chorus.
This picture, of the big picture, does not show the Drama Department's Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer Skit. Maybe that is just as well.
Even the Art Department got into the act. That Bed-sheet-looking thing in the corner, is where they painted abstracts whilst the Orchestra played Silent Night.


The Fuzz didn't have a lot of luck with his camera. This was about the best shot he got. His Artistical Sweetie had better luck with her pen. She graciously allows him to use her stuff from time to time. Here you can enjoy a view of the Cello section hard at work. Musical Son is involved with them, he's the one with the Cello.




Here you can see that Great Man, the Conductor himself, in action. Actually, since the band and orchestra are separate concerns, the leaders took turns. The Chorus Lady got to stay the whole time.

It's that busy time of year. Hanukkah is now. Christmas is soon. The Fuzz has to put up that Christmas Tree soon. He already got one. It's waiting for him in the walk-in cooler. In the midst of all this comes a Birthday and Important Anniversary, maybe even a trip to the Art Museum. Then we get to wind things up with the New Year.

21st Annual "Golden Classic" Tournament of Bands

It was time for the 21st Annual "Golden Classic" Tournament of Bands, with 17 marching bands from two states.We had (particularly My Sweetie) wanted to attend this classic event for several years now. Somehow we were always thwarted in this. But this year we made it at last.

This was a new experience for The Fuzz, who is not often involved with the Football Half-time Scene. There was, of course, no Football game this day, only the Half-time Shows.

This Strange Fellow was wandering around the stands. He (I assume it was a "he") had a companion that passed out balloons to the kids. Young Daughter was there and received one. It later escaped, but she took it well and didn't cry or anything like that.


The Fuzz also saw the Teletubbies there. The Teletubbies later danced around with some Flags while Their Band Marched and simultaneously Played Music. Don't think The Fuzz was not impressed, he has a hard time walking and chewing gum at the same time.

There were a lot of Girls with Flags.

These were with a different Band.

The Fuzz tried to make some Videos with his little camera, but it didn't work out very well.

After we had been thoroughly satisfied, for this year, The Fuzz, (with His Sweetie's dough) took us out for a Mexican Supper, and then home for a flick. "Murder by Death" from good ol' Netflix. It is worth seeing if you haven't already.

Local Jazz

Greetings, Culture Fans. My Sweetie saw an announce-ment for this Jazz Trio in the local Swapping Paper. Jazz is Culture, isn't it ? So we got into the Luxury Vehicle and went for the Jazz experience. It was pretty good. We started out by going to the wrong place, but made some adjustments, and got there just a little bit late. But it was certainly worth it, and we enjoyed an evening of local Jazz Type music.
No, my camera is not acting weird or anything, I just neglected to bring it. One of these days I'll learn better. But there had to be a picture, so here it is.

We did finally get some rain, complete with Thunder and Lighting, the works. That Puddin' continues to grow. He was a little sick, but seems to be improving. However, if he doesn't start doing better in with the litterbox, his life may be significantly shortened.