Pennies from Hell

I can hardly wait until the U.S. government finally gets rid of pennies. At our inflation level, they are worth nothing and keeping them only adds clutter to our other coins. Think how much time we waste in retail lines waiting for slow clerks to render change. Now they only have nickels dimes and quarters to deal with.

Summer Fashion Preview for Baseball

What to wear to a baseball game:
     According to one source, Men's Health, and my own, Glenn's Eye, I can give you a good idea of what to wear and not to wear at a base-ball game. First the shoes. Try for a nostalgic type of tennis shoe. Not a Nike super sole but Converse tennis with lots of laces. The black ones musicians wear would be fine. Next the pants should be either shorts with lots of pockets or casual light khakis. Skip the belt if you can. The shirt is some kind of colored T-shirt of high quality that says something real cool but not too bold. A Nike shirt isn't cool. Cover that shirt up with a button shirt with long sleeves , but don't get too stripey, and you can leave the sleeves rolled and the shirt undone. Now get a hat if you want but definitely wear sunglasses because you will be in a parking lot and that cement will be bright. And finally if you have a belt, never put anything on it like a phone or key chain. It will repel the girls like bug spray.

For Women: You usually know what to wear. Keep it up. But take heed of the above items.

For baseball catchers: If you catch the enemy's home run, don't keep it, throw it back or you're a traitor.

Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition

Four Contestants, Four Winners

I attended the performances at Rice Universtity June 10 and wanted to compare my selection to that of the judges. These young people memorized their parts and played with the world-class Houston Symphony behind. It's a massive accomplishment. Here's the Judges pick:

1st:: Shih-Kai-Lin /Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47

2nd:: Hrant Parsamian/Hayden Cello Concerto #2

3rd:: Ji Hye Jung/Klatzow Marimba Concerto (some composer from S. Africa)

4th:: Ahrim Kim/ Bloch Schelomo Hebraic Rhapsody Cello Concerto

My Pick was Klatzow-Marimba, Bloch-Cello, Hayden-Cello, Sibilius-Violin.

Kind of like the opposite. I think the judges are weary of new 20th century music so they hang with the older stuff. I go by entertainment value and the marimba thing was astonishing. Its played with 4 malletts and they are changed to get different sounds. A marimba is a big percussion on wheels. Although Hayden surprised me with emotion I don't usually get from him, I sort of fell asleep mid-way through. The Bloch thing was played by a girl in a pink dress and I liked her bright aggressive sound more than the Hayden Cellist's. The big winner, who was also the audience choice award, was my least favorite because he had a metallic sound and played the hyper-speed parts like a screeching robot. He also wore this white Chinese shirt which made him look like a waiter. Hey if visuals didn't count for something, they would play behind a screen woudn't they? Keep in mind that they memorized the parts as well as played them in front of a huge crowd. I would guess that if you did the statistics, one out of 100,000 people could do such a thing! They start early, such as 5 years old for the marimba girl, and develop physical habits.

People, People - get it together

Three Strange Phenomenons

Next, I find girls/guys wearing flip flops everywhere. Malls, events, just about anywhere out of the house. Every step you take makes noise and the things are not really one with your foot. When out in public, if there is an emergency and you have to flee, flip flops are worse than bare feet. Bare feet aren't too great either. Running on concrete can burn and scrape your feet easily. My impression is that these people think they are at home wherever they go. When I was in Navy boot camp, I was accused in my evaluation of thinking I was at home. That was not meant to be a compliment from the company commander.

Most business and apartment complexes have landscaping with flowers around the entrances. They are planted quite well but there's one weird thing. It's always multiple colors like purple, yellow, pink, white, red and green. More colors than I can count at a quick glance. Why not plant one or two colors? Most artists don't throw color around so carelessly. It looks better to have a wall of yellow than a kaleidoscope of everything.
 
Lastly, at gas station parking areas I see chicken bones on the ground. This requires a human that eats fried chicken to drop it, when finished, wherever they are. It reminds me of all the movies and books I've absorbed where a monster's lair is described. What's in a lair always includes bones among other things. All I can conclude is that there are monsters walking among us and their lairs are right in front of us. Don't pollute!