http://philharmoniker.web-feedback.de/index.asp
This is just great. You have to bow the cello to Camille Saint-Saëns’s “The Swan”. If you miss, the screeching of the cello is quite authentic. I could see a Nintendo Wii version of this…
Archive for April, 2008
I am Turkey
Apr 21
The part of the building where I work has 2 story glass windows that apparently reflect nicely from the outside (must remember to check that during the next fire drill). Mr. Turkey here was quite convinced he needed to attack his rival for a nearby hen. He must have whacked the window with his beak at last a 100 times before he decided that the rival had had enough.
Lovely Saturday
Apr 19
What beautiful weather today! And I got so much done!
- I rode my scooter to the Weight Watchers meeting.
- I’m 16.2 lbs down as of this morning’s said Weight Watchers meeting.
- Then I went to Tom’s and we checked tire pressure on my scooter and his Goldwing, so we could install these spiffy LED tire pressure indicator caps I bought for us.
- We then cleaned out and went through all the garden stuff in the shed. I had left a bunch of stuff from when I rented from Tom.
- I saw Kim, Joe, and Lula when they stopped by after playing mini-golf at Trombetta’s. And Joe got the whole tour of Tom’s house (by Joe’s request).
- After Tom and I had lunch at Panera, we checked out the new Planet Fitness gym on Rt 20 and I signed up. How can you go wrong for $10/month and no contract? They open in a few weeks, so it will be an spiffy and new and clean. That should help me reach my weight goal.
- Then we went to the dump with all the old garden stuff, Tom’s recycling, and my recycling (swung by my apartment to get it).
- Then I got to ride home on my scooter. Can you tell that I’m excited to be riding the scooter?
- I put up the 2nd half of my bamboo fencing on the balcony, put out my mosaic table, and decided what to remove from the balcony. Now it’s less cluttered and the Zoe cat can go out there now without her leash. No more leaping off the edge into pine shrubs!
- Plus random apartment chores!
All in all, it was a very satisfying day.
I’m getting there!
Apr 13
I had a great Weight Watchers week. I lost 2.8 lbs last week for a grand total of 14.8 lbs. When I get to 15, I get another sticker. 
It’s all about the stickers. Even better, I’m only 4.8 lbs aways from my 10% goal (losing 10% of my body weight). The farther I get, interestingly enough, the more determined I get and to some degree, the easier it gets. You get used to eating better, getting more exercise (my sedentary computer job has been a killer on that front), and the conscious choices become more and more unconscious. Check out my fabulous graph (the 2 stars indicate 5 lb milestones)!
There are daffodils blooming in front of work and I rode my scooter in today. For those who either 1) didn’t know I had a scooter, 2) know and have never seen it , or 3) just like pictures in a blog post, here it is.
It’s a 2006 Aprilia Scarabeo 250cc. That’s an Italian brand owned by Piaggio (the other big Italian brand besides Vespa). Aprilia’s been around since just after WW II, so we’ve got some staying power here. And as opposed to scooter round 1, this one actually starts up every time you turn the ignition key. Yay spring! Yay scooter!
see more crazy cat pics
Who’d'a thunk?
Apr 7
It actually worked. I need more exercise. I like to muck around on the laptop. Can these be combined? As it turns out, yes.
1) Take extra melamine shelf.
2) Put on arms of treadmill.
3) Put laptop on shelf.
4) Set treadmill to 1.2 mph (much faster and I’m sure I could still type – more experimenting to be done).
5) Walk and use laptop at same time.
I’m amused and I’ve actually hit 7000 steps today on the pedometer and that’s a new record.
Feeling Green
Apr 6
I’ve just decided to ditch my 14 year AAA account and have switched to the Better World Club. They are comparably priced, have essentially the same car coverage PLUS bicycle coverage, and donate 1% to environmental advocacy and cleanup. If I had a hybrid I’d get a discount and even better (philosophically) if I had a Hummer or something similar I’d get at 20% surcharge. I was about to renew my AAA membership and thought – Wait, I should look at the other auto club I keep thinking about. Quick bit of research and I’ve switched to car & bicycle coverage with BWC. I am feeling satisfied. I like to try and put my money where my mouth is.
A very musical week
Apr 5
On Wednesday, I had my normal rehearsal with the Master Singers. Why did I wait so long to join another chorus? Well, I’m certainly more than pleased with where I’ve ended up. If anyone’s interested in hearing the recording of our last concert (including a solo by yours truly!), let me know and we’ll work it out. The CD came out very well
On Thursday, I went to see Girlyman at Club Passim with Steve M. I know the name is a bit crazy but I adore this group. Great songwriting, very talented playing of many instruments and killer 3 part harmonies. I first saw them when they opened for Dar Williams and I’ve been hooked ever since. I bought their very new just out this week live album.
On Friday, I saw Peter Mulvey and Chris O’Brien (the opening act) at the Arlington Regent Theater. This show was a bday present for Kim, who is a huge Mulvey fan. While I have always recognized his talent, I never really got into Peter Mulvey. As so often happens in folk music, it’s all about seeing an artist live. Wow. He rocks and the opening act, Chris O’Brian, wasn’t bad either. In particular, O’Brien covered a Martin Sexton song that just blew us away. So of course more CDs were purchased.
Today, the chorus had a free children’s concert in Lexington. We sang a bunch of songs in the Animals theme. Then the middle chorus sang a song and finally we sang 2 songs with them. Lots of little kids in the audience who seemed to like it. Next time I must remember to tell my friends with children farther in advance than 24 hours. There were even cookies and juice afterwards.
So it’s been a very musical week. Tiring but absolutely wonderful.
Have cat will travel
Apr 1
The Zoe Cat does not travel well. Particularly in a cat carrier. Can we say car sick? However, she needs to travel in the car more right now since she was diagnosed last month with feline diabetes (a story for another time). We have to go to the vet every 2 weeks until the blood sugar levels come down. I’d been letting her ride loose in the car, which means on my lap, to avoid the carrier problem. This did not seem like a good long term plan so I’ve just gotten the Zoe Cat a booster seat. Check it out. There’s a little short leash that you clip to her harness. She didn’t really like it per se but she didn’t get sick either when we went to the vet last Friday.
