Category: To Occupy my Time

Band Comp (for the First Time in 30 Years!)

My visit to Boise coincided with an event I had not participated in or viewed since October 1993: Band Competition.

I was surprised to see that the 5A schools had been divided into small and large divisions, but was glad they had, or the large divisions would have trampled the small-division schools. I was a little disappointed to see Borah was in the small-schools division. Bigger marching bands are more fun.

It was also nice that Boise High School (my dad and Barb’s alma mater, was also competing near the time of my alma mater (Borah High School.)

We headed down to whatever Bronco Stadium is called now, and were able to sit on the first level, which was reserved for the students, not the families.

The Big Thunder Marching Band (or some contingent of them) started us off with the national anthem.

We watched Boise (still a tiny program, just like when I was in high school) and Owyhee (huge band—for the small division—and really great) and then it was time for Borah to take the field. You can see the people in the pit already in place.

Back in my day, most marching band programs had a theme that tended to be tied to some popular piece of music. My sophomore and junior years we did Fiddler on the Roof and the Beatles, respectively. Based on the three schools I saw, this has changed to a preference for music that is not as readily identifiable. Which, fine, but what has been lost is the crowd reaction as they recognized the what song we were playing. The Borah band looks to be about the same size as it was my senior year, when we got a new band director and he had to rebuild the program. It was surprising to see how few drill team/flag corps there were. I counted four. Even when we were a small band, drill team could field about 30 people.

The full press forward, always an enjoyable part.

We left after Borah’s performance. Based on the three we saw, I would have placed Owyhee over Borah, but when I checked the results the next day, Borah was the division winner! Cheers to the Borah High Band!

Boise Sights Autumn 2023

Here are a few things from my Boise trip.

That feeling when you are sitting at the intersection that you won’t get your camera out fast enough to capture the wonder of the nearby car. Thankfully, I didn’t miss this one.

15 seconds of googling has not uncovered what this sticker is about.

And then I went to see the Eras Tour at the Flicks! It did not disappoint.

Look at this menu!

I had some wine, but no TS-themed drink.

I also enjoyed looking at these fun rice crispy treats.

Here is my commemorative poster I got as part of my (rather high) admission. There was a girl sitting behind me that didn’t get one because they ran out, so I gave mine to her.

I’m pretty much only Taylor Swift fan via what comes on the radio. But this concert was enough to make me into a Swiftie (a slight Swiftie). The pageantry! The dancing! The effects! The walking back and forth on that huge stage! It’s three hours that are well worth your time.

Also, I dearly love excited teen girl energy and there was a ton of that.

New Thread: Perle Cotton

When I started embroidering, I swore it was going to be a low-cost hobby. After all you only need some material, floss, needle, and a hoop, right?

Oh, but there are so many other things one could also “need.”

I’ve been a DMC floss girl my whole life, but today, I branch out to perle cotton. These are from Dropcloth Samplers. I also got some yarn-type stuff that will be great for couching.

I can’t wait to use it. Stay tuned.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the Broadway Rose Theater

I attended a matinee performance with my mother and aunt.

This featured the music of Fats Waller and I especially appreciated Antonia Darlene, Troy A. Jackson, and Jai Shane’s singing.

I didn’t, however, love the song “Fat and Greasy.” It was also the song in the play where they encouraged the audience to sing along. There were a lot of fat people in the audience. I wonder how it sat with them?

The Partial Eclipse at OMSI

Matt had the good idea to head down to OMSI to see the partial eclipse. Though the forecast was overcast, OMSI promised livestreaming in the planetarium.

Here we are waiting for the doors to open. We got there quite early and were about fourth and fifth in line. Someone who worked for OMSI was confused why a line was forming at eight on a Saturday morning. The people at the beginning of the line explained what was up.

The view from inside the planetarium. I enjoyed that timeanddate.com was the livestreamer. They are my online source for calendars and have for years.

We got views from across the country.

At some point, one of the people who had posted themselves outside announced that the clouds had cleared enough to see the eclipse, so the planetarium emptied. Here was the view without glasses.

Here was the view with glasses.

Here was my fun self portrait that was one of my favorite photos taken this year.

Crowd pictures.

I really loved this coat! So event appropriate.

The fun of photographing people watching eclipses is that they can’t see you taking pictures.

Some glasses adjustments are necessary.

I like to think it was one of these fellows who came in and said that the eclipse was visible.

Portland Center Stage: Hair

Matt and I attended PCS’s production of the iconic 60s musical. I had only seen the movie, and that was a late night viewing that I didn’t retain too much of.

The production was well acted and the musical numbers were great. However, the discussion we had in the car going home was why we found the musical itself so annoying.

We concluded that what we mostly felt about the hippies was that they were annoying and that perhaps they needed to be annoying to throw off the dominant paradigm. While we enjoy the fruits of their actions, that doesn’t make them any less annoying.

I most identified with one of the tourists (played in a delightful scenery-chewing fashion) who, when looking at the group said, “Where are your shoes????”

Shoes are needed sometimes, Like in New York in the fall, winter, and spring.

Also, I saw a backstage photo, and all the actors put on flipflops when they come off stage.