Happy Birthday Mom!

#TBT 2006

Today is my Mom's birthday, so if you happen to see her give her a big birthday hug!!  This picture was taken about 10 years ago, but it's one of my favorites.

Three kids, nine grandkids and seven great-grandkids (so far!) and she's still smiling!!

#TBT - 1965

A trip in the way-back machine, in honor of my cousin Nathan's birthday this week. 

Dierks Bentley at the Country Music Hall of Fame

It. was. awesome.

The Country Music Hall of Fame has a an exhibit showcasing his life and career, and as part of the exhibit they have him do an interview and acoustic performance.  The is the second one we've seen - they're done really well, and because they are in a small concert hall specifically built for music -- the sound is phenomenal.

We were lucky enough to get meet and greet passes as well as passes to the show.  The official photographer took pictures with Dierks, so I don't have those yet, but I did get a few good ones.

 The interviewer is Peter Cooper, who is a locally well-known music journalist and musician.  He's really good at getting the subject to open up about themselves and he allows them to tell the story in their own words.  I always enjoy the interviews that he does.

 Above the stage is a large screen and the entire time they were talking there were photos on the screen.  Some were from concerts, some were childhood photos (one of which he found slightly embarrassing), and some were album covers.  This cover is from 2003.  His dog Jake is still alive.  He's deaf, and sleeps a lot, but he'll still around.

Before the show, Jim said  - If you could ask him one question, what would it be?  I said, I think I'd ask him what his favorite guitar was named and how long he's had it.  Of course he told me that was two questions.  Well, I kind of got my question answered.  This guitar was part of the exhibit, and they had it on the stage for him to play during this show.  He has had it autographed by many country and bluegrass stars (unfortunately this picture didn't pick up the signatures).

 When he started playing, you could see the wear up near the neck, and the hole where his fingers have worn through the wood.  It still sounds good, though!

 He had a bunch of songwriters join him on stage.  All great songwriters and musicians.

 He sang What Was I Thinking, I Hold On, Drunk On a Plane, Somewhere on a Beach, Free and Easy,  Am I the Only One, Every Mile a Memory, Up on the Ridge, and a new song called Freedom.  (I might be forgetting some, it seemed like he played for quite a while). 

In this picture, his fingers are actually in that hole in the face of the guitar.

It was an awesome show, and it was really great to meet him.

My favorite Dierks song?  I Hold On.  For some reason it resonates with me.  It was great to hear it live and even though I like a lot of his songs, that remains my favorite.

It's a Small World

A few years ago, I met a film-maker through the company I work for.  We did some promotional videos and some internal skits and clips for training purposes.  Our CEO knew this young man Ben Proudfoot, who was going to UCLA film school.  He has a gift for film-making and I'd like to think he enjoyed working with us.  He was also a magician.  He attended some of our holiday parties and formal dinners, and would go table-to-table performing magic tricks.  

I later found out that he had grown up in Nova Scotia in a middle class family and being a magician helped pay the bills while he was in school. He's not what I think of as a typical LA film-maker.  He's down to earth and grateful for the gifts he has in life.  

Since then, I have followed Ben on social media and have watched him advance his career.  Yesterday he sent an email blast, linking his latest short film, with this note:  

Dear Friends,
I met Dan Portelance two years ago in his classroom in Carver, Massachusetts. I've been burning to tell his story ever since.
We teamed up with Vimeo and Charles Schwab to make this 4-minute film: 

https://vimeo.com/channels/ownyourtomorrow/157967716

It is dedicated to those who have the most important job in the world: teachers.
Give it a watch and pass it along to anyone who needs a little fire today.
Ben

Of course I watched it!  What a great story.  If you have some free time and a good internet connection, go to the Breakwater Studios page on Vimeo.com and watch some of the videos.  Stone is a good one, The Ox is also good.  Ink and Paper may be my favorite (so far!).  You can watch them all and choose your own favorite.

And if any of you know Dan Portelance, you can tell him what I'm going to tell Ben - it's a small world!!

2016 NHL All Star Game

or The Day We Got To Meet The Stanley Cup.

The NHL All Star Game is in Nashville this year.  I tried (and tried) to get tickets to either the game or the skills competition - but no luck.  We did go to Fan Fair today.  And it was fun!!

The highlight of the day was getting our picture taken with the Stanley Cup

There were events both inside and outside of the convention center.  They shut down a few blocks to auto traffic, and set up an ice rink, stages and tents in Hall of Fame Park.

Inside the convention center were all sorts of activities and booths set up.  There were places where you could try on the players' gear and take your picture, there were places where you could try your luck at shooting the puck, there were virtual reality games.  Something for everyone!

Or you could just stick your head through the hole in the cutout ;)

There was a really cool table hockey game.  Jim and I played a game of this.  I won, thanks for asking!  It's so different from the little tabletop games we used to have where you had to unbend the players, or move the puck out of the corners with your hand because the players couldn't reach it sometimes, or the puck would come shooting up at your face once in a while.  Does anyone else remember reaching in and grabbing the other guys player right off the peg because he was winning?  Me neither.......

They had pictures and banners all over the place.  They had some really cool player pictures and autographed items for sale, and also had lots of old photos made into wall size banners.  The one on the top right is Boston's 'Sugar' Jim Henry and Montreal's Maurice Richard shaking hands after Game 7 in the 1952 Semifinal. 

I think you know who this is

 They also had a bunch of the hockey trophies there.  Here are the Lady Byng

 and the Vezina

And of course all the team mascots were there.  Some of them are pretty scary looking!  Here's Blades, as they're about to begin the 'Dance off'.  Unfortunately we couldn't see it.  There wasn't nearly enough room for everyone who wanted to watch, so we finally gave up and decided to go check out everything else in the hall while the majority of folks were at one end!

Then we went outside.  It was really warm this afternoon - in the mid 60's - so outside was a sea of humanity.  This is standing in front of the convention center, looking toward the riverfront.  You can see the arena on your left, the Pinnacle building and the Symphony Center in the middle, and to the right you can see a stage.  They had some big name performers, none of whom we saw.... 

We walked over to the park and the first thing we encountered was the Jack Daniels truck (Nashville knows how to throw a party!).  

There were a few other vendors outside, but not as many as I expected.  There is an ice rink.  Although it was a little soupy being so warm out!  The building in the background is the Country Music Hall of Fame.

 As we were walking through the park, a man stopped Jim and asked him if he'd be willing to answer a few questions.  He said sure, and the man proceeded to ask him questions about Jaromir Jagr.  So Jim will get his 15 minutes of fame!  Be sure to tune in to your local station if you're in the Czech Republic.....

 They also built these really cool hockey pucks around the area.  They had players pictures on them and were all over the park and along 5th Avenue.

It was a lot of fun, the weather was great for walking outside, and we got out of the house for a while.

Quality Time in the Sewing Room!

I was able to finish three projects this weekend.  First, this blouse, which I started in November but it got shelved so I could work on Christmas stuff.  Not really sewing stuff for Christmas, shopping, wrapping, baking - all that stuff!

Then I made this t-shirt out of fabric that was leftover from a dress.  I bought this at Mood about 4 years ago, and love the look of it, but I'm not so enamored with the clingyness of it.  So I chose to add rouching to the sides.  It came out nice, but it's still going to be hanging in the closet for a while......

I also made this simple, cute cape (which sounds so much better than poncho, doesn't it?).  It's one piece of wool, sewn together. 

I added a simple decorative stitch around the edges with matching thread.  I always like the look of tone-of-tone stitch. 

Not bad for three days.  And not three full days, just whatever time I could grab.  Next up:  leggings and appliquéd onesies for the sweet little granddaughter.

Luke Bryan's Acoustic Show

What a treat.  A conversation and acoustic show by Luke Bryan.  We already know he puts on a great show, but seeing him in a smaller venue, with an interviewer - 

and then just him and his guitar telling stories and singing songs was awesome.

The Country Music Hall of Fame has begun doing these conversations and atypical shows with the country music stars whom they are showcasing in their exhibits.  They are always fun.  In addition to Luke Bryan, we've seen Kenny Rogers and Crystal Gale.

One thing very different about today's show is that he was wandering through the crowd before the show and taking selfies with some of the fans.  Unfortunately he was on the stage level and we were in the balcony.  It was still a fun show to watch.