i'd go the whole wide world!

First, start this song playing in a new window while you read the rest of the story:

The problem with working on cruise ships, or leading any sort of travel-y lifestyle, is that you meet great people, and you get to know them very well, and then you all go off to different corners of the world and may never see each other again. My cruise gig was two years ago exactly, but I have kept up with three incredible people from that ship - and through them, I've met some other incredible people.

Yesterday, all of these awesome cruise people (except one, and I'll see her in two weeks), on two different ships, were in Miami at the same time. A little while ago, around the end of February (when we first realized this was happening, and when plane tickets were cheap) we started planning the day. And since I enjoy very much making things more epic than they already are, I didn't tell Full Tilt that I was going to be there. (they just thought they were meeting up with Ken for lunch - no idea that I was flying down for the day to see them)(because no one expects awesome people to show up a thousand miles away from where they're supposed to be).

Here is their reaction as they walked into the restaurant and saw me there:

So much happy all in one place!

We had a great lunch together, made some faraway plans to see each other again, then ran some errands. Too soon, they had to get back to their ship, the Millennium.

It would have been nice to have more time (and I wanted so badly just to go on their ship with them and go on a cruise - but I have too much to do on land right now) So then we walked around, found the water, and sat by it for a bit. The weather could not have been nicer!

My flight home connected through DC - if I had been able to get out and see all my DC folks, that would have made the day even better. But a Potbelly sandwich sufficed (Tennessee doesnt have Potbellys, so whenever I get a chance for a delicious sandwich, I have to take it!) By the way, the Reagan National airport is pretty swell. Free wifi, charging stations all over the place, all the good Maryland food in a row? I enjoyed it.

Then I flew back to Nashville. 2,630 miles total.

This awesome day was brought to you by:

The Ken Ge Center for Shenannigans and Laundry Studies

American Airlines

PF Changs

The Atlantic Ocean

The Celebrity Millenium and Equinox

Reagan National Airport

Apple, Inc.

Potbelly Sandwich Shop

earth, air, fire, wine

To the girl I told to run away

The ghost I saw a hundred times a day

You weren't like me no you weren't afraid

You are elements combined

Earth, air, fire, wine

Someday you'll be mine

You stuck around, but we didn't fly

Weighed down by all I hid behind my eyes

I only hope that you realize

You are elements combined

Earth, air, fire, wine

Someday you'll be mine

I'll bury all excuses

Burn all the reasons why

I cant be everything you want

And everything you need

You're elements combined

We talk a lot but it's always small

Tiny bricks that make a giant wall

I hope these words are a wrecking ball

Poppop Hannigan

William Hannigan Jr., long time resident of Annapolis, died on April 9, 2012. He was 86 years old.

Born on April 6, 1926 in Brooklyn NY, he was the son of the late William Hannigan and Florence Hiebel Hannigan. He enlisted in the Navy where he served from 1943 to 1946. He moved back to Colesville, MD where he met and married his first wife Helen Horak in 1948. In 1950 they moved to the Panama Canal Zone where he worked as an electrician in the Aids to Navigation Department. In 1958 he sailed his 30’ wooden sailboat from Panama to Annapolis, in preparation to move back to Maryland in 1959. There they settled in Annapolis. He worked for the Chesapeake Instrument Corp in Shady Side which was later purchased by Gould. He retired from there in 1987. In 1988 his wife Helen died, and in 1989 he married Eugenia (Gene) Hommel. He liked to travel, build models, raise redwood trees and repair things in his work shop.

______

Most little girls will tell you that their daddy is the strongest man in the world. I remember when I was little, we all staunchly believed that our daddy was (very strong, but) the second strongest in the world, second only to his daddy, our Poppop. Poppop was a large man with a large beard and a large belly. He had a workshop that he could build anything in: he built real, big boats, and he built tiny, very intricately detailed model boats, and toys for us to play with, and we would crack walnuts from the yard in the vise grips.

Four years ago, when I first walked into the violin shop where I now work, the smell of wood shavings, and good honest work, hand tools and power tools, brushes and fine motor skills, was a familiar surrounding. I was at home here. (fortunately, they hired me so I had an excuse to hang out here every day). Poppop always took credit for me going into a woodworking field.

The 4th of July was always a good tradition when we were growing up, at Poppop's (right after we just celebrated Elizabeth's birthday every year, with swimming in the recently opened pool, as soon as the helicopters fell off the trees, and eating angel food cake) We would eat all the hamburgers and watermelon our little stomachs could handle, and set off bottle rockets, and go out sailing.

When I was in early high school, my grandparents went on a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth II, over to the British Isles. They brought back a lot of Irish music books for my sister and I to play out of together, and other assorted celtic-y things (celebrating all our awesome Irish heritage), but they also brought back stories of how great the music was on the ship. I said at the time, wouldn't it be cool to be a musician on a cruise ship? You'd get to go so many cool places.

In 2010, I got to go to Panama, three times (as a musician on a cruise ship). And again, once in 2011. My first reaction to being there was, how could anyone live in this humidity. (He assured me that you got used to it pretty quickly when you lived there) Also, how incredible that people related to me actually lived here in the 1950s, I tried to picture it how they would have seen it. It was hard to do. I had seen pictures, heard stories. He had shown me old maps from those days, and maps that he had drawn where he used to race sailboats, around the bay, and go camp on the little islands. I showed him my pictures, one picture in particular of a lighthouse right on the locks. "That's my lighthouse!" he said, probably the most excited I ever saw him. He went up that lighthouse once a week to make sure it was working, apparently, back when he worked there. He was so thrilled that it was still there, that I got to visit there fifty years later and things still be the same.

He had some flaws too, but everyone does, and the many good memories I have of him will always be good. He was an incredibly interesting man, and I'm proud to be a Hannigan.

Joy to the World!

My family doesnt have a lot of must-do Easter Traditions (and you know how much I love traditions), but the best one is my dad putting on the old Keith Green record and blasting this gem throughout the house to wake us all up. Happy Easter everyone! He is risen indeed!

who says classical music is boring?

I went to see the Nashville Symphony last night. It was so lovely! We've been so often lately. It's such a fun and easy way to have a fancy night out.

The effect on that picture kind of makes me look like I have a black eye, but I don't, in case you wondered. Don't worry.

So here's something that.. might be common knowledge, but it JUST clicked for me yesterday.

We're all familiar with Paganini's 24th Caprice, right? It's probably the most popular one, maybe because it starts out so simply with the theme, that ambitious and optimistic violinists choose it to learn (before tossing it aside in frustration when they realize their tiny hands can't play 10ths in succession)(not that I know this from personal experience) In any case, it's catchy. To remind my readers which one it is, here is Hilary Hahn.

And then, of course, everyone knows Rachmaninoff's famous Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 18 - if for no other reason than being a fan of the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time. (and let's be honest, who isn't a fan of Christopher Reeve back in 1980? Dreamy.)

(And here's a fun fact. In the book Bid Time Return, that the movie was based on, the piece was actually Mahler's 9th. But it was apparently too long to fit into the movie, and someone, somewhere decided that Rachmaninoff would be a better hit.)

...

Here's how awesome music is: the Variation #18 is the 24th caprice theme, upside down. WHAT.

Mind blown.

...

vintage beckablog

I've been entertaining myself lately by reading very old journals/blogs from many years ago.

The following is my dramatic account of a nerf gun duel between myself and a friend, in the game of Nerf Mafia. (in the old AACC days) For those who have never played, the point of the game is to be the last one alive - in this game we had two teams, and we played over the course of a few days, between classes, all over campus. With Nerf guns. There was one person who was a moderator, and we had to report to her when we died or when we killed someone, so she could keep track of which team was winning. Here is what I sent her. Oh, and of course we all had nicknames.

October 18, 2005 -The Account of the Death of Jordan

as told by Cutthroat Maggie to The Don

It was a dark and stormy night. Well- it wasnt night. But I vaguely remember it being a sorta gray day. I was in a terrible mood. And I knew that The Duke was out to get me. So, I bought a gun on my way to school, loaded it, and put it in the front pocket of my backpack where it would be pretty accessible should the need arise. I planned my day in order to avoid everyone that I usually hang out with. Later that morning, I heard that someone had killed the Duke, so I figured I was ok and I went to The Hill anyway: a mistake that would change the course of the game drastically.

I walked into the gazebo. I felt like I was surrounded by dead people. In fact, I was. Ghosts of soldiers who had gone before me loomed around.... ghosts of old comrades.... and enemy ghosts, encouraging my one living enemy to slay me as soon as possible.

One thing that I had overlooked in my plans for the day-- Jordan was still alive. Alive and armed. I had the distinct disadvantage, because although I had a gun, it was in my backpack. And there was a gun aimed at my head. I was certainly in a pickle. How could I get my gun out of my backpack before he shot me? I moved casually across the gazebo and sat down. All eyes were on me. They interrogated me, asking "Do you have a gun?" (They happened to know that as of last night, I hadnt even bought one yet) I said no, I was unarmed.

Suddenly, I reached into my backpack, and pulled out.... a mountain dew. Jordan gasped, and drew and fired quicker than Matt Dillan in any of his best shootouts. I was quite impressed. But his aim left more than a little to be desired, and the bullet flew by, leaving me unharmed. My clumsiness almost killed me. I should have moved more slowly in getting my drink out.

Bystander ghosts (the Duke and Chase) were telling Jordan to just shoot me and be done with it. Just shoot! I put on my best innocent, helpless female look, and was like "please don't shoot me."

To his credit, Jordan was a complete gentleman. Chivalry is not dead, even in the midst of wiley evil feminine devils. "I don't want to shoot her if she's unarmed," he said.

But the gun remained fixed on me. His phone rang. My hands were shaking. The gun remained fixed on me.

We began talking of other things.

His guard went down. My gun went up.

I fired, and there was a silence while people took the time to realize how they had been tricked.

I laughed evilly. Cutthroat Maggie is not one to be trifled with.


My own death was not nearly as dramatic.

_______________________________

Eulogy for the Death of Cutthroat Maggie

(several days later)

I hid in the pine trees on the side of the hill,
going up slowly to make my kill.

There was Becka talking with friends,
with no means of escape, and no clue of her end.

She saw me coming and ran for her gun,
but she had no more time, because her time was done.

So I took my gun and shot her point blank in the chest,
and she is now quite dead as you have probably guessed.

Josh

music to my ears!

I've realized that my happiness is directly proportional to the amount of music I'm playing and the amount of sunlight that is available. So, I've been pretty awesome in the last week or so. I always become noticeably more cheery when the clock springs forward and the days get longer!

But my life has been filled with so much music lately, it's ridiculous. All of it is good, all of it makes me happy, all of it is epic and wonderful. Last weekend I went to DC to play some video game quartet music for The Art of Video Games exhibit in at the Smithsonian. It was so much fun! I have very limited video game experience, but as soon as I became aware of the music a few years ago, I absolutely admire and enjoy the soundtracks. So good, so well written, and so very well adapted for string quartet by my good friend Chad! We were much more popular than we expected (even signing some autographs), and it looks like we'll get a few more gigs out of it!

My trip to DC happened to coincide with one of my favorite currently touring bands ever. The Infamous Stringdusters played at the 930 club, and wow. If you don't know about them, go listen to everything they've ever done. If you do, then you know. I already knew they put on a good show, because I've seen them plenty of times before - but this was honestly the best I've ever seen them. And good company enjoying it with me made it even better!

Then, as soon as I got back, the Cleveland Orchestra was performing a guest concert here in Nashville at the Schermerhorn. They played Beethoven Symphony #6 (which I always find fitting for this time of year) ( --Beethoven 7 is for rainy days, 6 is for warm spring days. 9 is for summer. 5 is for doomful situations.) The Grieg Piano Concert0, played magnificently by Gabriela Montero (who dazzled us with an encore, improvised the Dr. Zhivago theme in the style of a tango), and then Pines of Rome (Respighi). It was. Fantastic. Pines of Rome is just one of those pieces that, by the end, the world could end and no one would mind. I was impressed with the Cleveland Orchestra, too - not that the Nashville Symphony isn't as good, they are just a slightly different (if slightly rougher) flavor experience. Like, if the Cleveland Orchestra is Maker's Mark, the Nashville Symphony is perhaps Jack Daniels. (which makes the Baltimore Symphony Jameson; the Minnesota Orchestra would be Glenfiddich)

My own little orchestra, the Nashville Philharmonic, is a six-pack of something delicious. Maybe Fat Tire. This upcoming concert series is a really, really great program. We are playing the Sibelius Symphony No.2, that I didn't know at all until we started rehearsing, but I have fallen completely in love with it! I love playing music that I can recognize things that modern composers mooch off of, for movie soundtracks. Dvorak, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius. They were there before John Williams, before Hans Zimmer, and they used techniques and textures to convey things on a broader scale than just the pictures and plots we are forced to associate with modern classical soundtracks. Don't get me wrong - those are great now. Just recognize the great people that came first.

ALSO in the last week, I've been to two graduate recitals at Belmont. One violin and one cello, two grad students that I'm friends with. Both were terrific! Highlights were the 1st movement of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto (that I'm already very familiar with, but his performance was just stellar), and the Boccherini Cello Concerto No. 9 (I had heard her practicing it, but I had never heard it with accompaniment, it was delightful!)

So what's next? This weekend I'm going to the Nashville Symphony. Here's the program:

Kodály - Dances of Galanta

Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, OP. 43

Franck - Symphony in D minor

I'm most excited for the Rachmaninoff - but stay tuned for a review, and also more about the Spring Duet Recital in the works!

rebecca

i have the best life ever

24

it was my birthday yesterday!

good music and cheer for all to hear

This: is so good.

(click through to the second half of the recording, too)