I was excused from work a half hour early tonight, so I decided to go to the inaugural Bryan City Band concert of the season.  One of my best friends has played trumpet in the band since high school.  The new director is someone I have known for the past umpteen years.  I just learned tonight that Emily was the band director of the city’s high school just prior to Mr. Krause’s assuming the position.  THAT WAS A LONG TIME AGO!  (sorry, Terry).

As I was making my way to finding a spot to enjoy the magnificent concert, I heard Carol shout my name so I ventured over her way and enjoyed the music together.  Marches and medleys of tunes were the order of the day.  Of course, my favorite selection was “Marches from Broadway”  (imagine that).  But there are many more great marches from the Great White Way than “Before the Parade Passes By,” “Comedy Tonight” (wasn’t aware that that is a march), and “Seventy-Six Trombones.”  In a grab bag from “The Fifties” we heard another (“March of the Siamese Children”) as well as a reprise of those trombones and cornets right behind.

Next Wednesday (as I previously made known), I will be making my directorial debut.  The director told me to be at the high school for rehearsal Tuesday night.  We would run through my piece and then I could leave.  WHAT!?  Sounds like a waste of gas to me. Someone (I think it was either my oldest brother or my godson) suggested that we find a spare tuba.  WHOO HOO!  BRING IT!  So, if they remember to bring the horn, I will not only be conducting but sitting in to play as well.

So… come on, come all.  But, be warned, it is the week of the Jubilee so come early for prime parking.  I’m not excited or anything.

I recently sat and watched the movie Wall*E with my young nieces after they begged and pleaded to be able to do so.  They however, watched maybe 5 minutes of the movie and were off to other things.  I thought the movie was cute but far from all the praise it has received… even being mentioned as a contender for best picture of the year.

The Disney/Pixar film has similarities to Short Circuit.  The star of the show bears an uncanny resemblance to Number “Johnny” Five.  Wall*E seems to be one of the last remaining, functional objects left on Earth as the planet has been deemed uninhabitable because of the trash content.  He is left on Earth as a trash collector.  However, everything he finds is not discarded.  The robot collects a treasure trove of trinkets to add to his collection.  A Rubik’s Cube, a fish plaque that sings “Dont Worry, Be Happy,”  The most memorable trinket is a VCR that includes a tape of Hello Dolly and always placed at the scene featuring Michael Crawford as Cornelius singing “It Only Takes a Moment.”  Wall*E’s only companion is a cute(?) unnamed cockroach.

But what became of the humans inhabiting the planet?  A sleek, attractive robot named Eva is sent to Earth in order to find any sign of life.  When Wall-E finds a small plant, Eva’s directive is complete and she blasts off to the large spaceship full of human descendants from 700 years in the past.  The human’s are rather robust, lazy people who have to do nothing as robots have become the ultimate servants. Humans do not even need to walk anywhere.  They are transported by motorized recliners. When Eva returns, the robots on board the ship become jealous and mutiny against the human captain and will not allow the ship to return to Earth.  That’s the plot in a nutshell… enough to make those who have never seen it determine if it is for them.

Pixar’s animation continues to be cutting edge and the movie was cute but I don’t think it deserves all the attention it has garnered.[poll id=”7″]