Music...

My mother is a huge fan of musicals.  Mom and Dad took us to many Summer Music Theatres at Western Illinois University, St. Louis Muny Opera and I'm thinking there might have been one in Springfield too!  Oscar and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, you name it...we can sing the song from the musical.

Did you notice most musicals are pretty upbeat? I think that's why people like them.  You leave optimistic that things can be better !  On a bad day a rousing chorus of OKLAHOMA! does wonders!  Somebody bugging you at work?  Why not sing "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" from GUYS AND DOLLS.

And about that optimistic thing, okay, well CAMELOT didn't end so well, but you knew it was coming. SOUTH PACIFIC had it's "downer" moments also.

Music is such a wonderful medium!  I'm going to confess something really dumb here.  As a child (I'd say 7 years old), I used to believe that ALL the songs in the world were already written and there could be no new music.  Then I joined the band and learned to play saxaphone.  I better understood how silly that thought was.  My band teachers, Mr. Charles Jones and Mr. Robert Schlabach along with my Saxophone teacher, Mr. Les Fonza, opened my eyes or should I say ears to so many wonderful types of music!  Jazz, Big Band, Skat, Marching Band Music, Pop, Rock, Country.

Even my Art Teacher, Mr. Don Heberling, introduced me to a wonderful type of music - OPERA!  Yes, opera! During Art Class when we were working on projects, he put in videos of operas and explained what the story was about in each.  I do remember a lot of what he said, but I actually know more operas from watching Bugs Bunny!  Barber of Seville, The Cry of the Valkyrie, etc.  Crazy, huh?

When I have time to drive somewhere and really listen to music on my satellite radio I have the most eclectic list of stations you can imagine!  70's oldies, 80's oldies, Outlaw Country, Jazz, etc.

My latest "musical affliction" is music from the Fox TV show GLEE!  I had friends who were in chorus and glee.  They could have fit in a some of the saner characters of that show.  I just LOVE the music from GLEE.  I've even become a quasi-Lady GaGa fan!  To top that off, my sister has informed me my new ring tone on her phone is "Poker Face" by Lady GaGa.

 "I wanna hold em' like they do in Texas, please...."

Parades!

This photo comes from an old Western Illinois University Homecoming Parade - probably back in the late 1950's. My dad, Dean Chenoweth, took this slide and I transferred it to a picture a couple of years ago.

It's fun to look real hard to figure out where the different store fronts were in this photo. I believe it is from the northwest corner of the Macomb, IL square looking south. Look at all the people watching!

My mom LOVES parades! Both Mom and Dad are very patriotic - really all the family is - and they are ALWAYS certain to stand with their hands over their hearts, hats removed, while the American Flag passes by.

Seems like parades aren't as popular anymore. Why is that? I guess in our hectic, fast-paced days if we can't put the parade on our Ipod Touches, we don't want to watch it live. It's kind of like a baseball game - great stuff but takes a long time to appreciate. Make sure you bring a companion with you to visit with!

Makes you wonder what will pictures of today's parades look like? Empty? Too bad. There is something about calliope music, flags waving, precision marching bands, handmade floats, and people dressed up in funny garb that makes you appreciate a parade.

It's something we hold on to from the old days....Let's not totally lose ALL our parades. Where would politicians go to kiss babies?