Review: Children’s book: The Unruly Orchestra: Learn about musical instruments and the symphonic orchestra by Daphna Lustiger

Children’s book: The Unruly Orchestra: Learn about musical instruments and the symphonic orchestra by Daphna Lustiger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I voluntarily read to review this book.

Almost. That is the best thing I can say. I was excited, as a former music major, to see a picture book about the orchestra. But on the first page, I got disappointed. Two of the instruments named were not shown.

The text wasn’t rhythmic or as fun as it could be. And I think it still needs a good editor.

The pictures were fun and I wanted the story to be as fun.

Still, I would have read it to my children. I think I could have made it more fun with sounds of the instruments lined up to actually introduce each part. It could be a fun story, if cleaned up a bit, to a field trip to a concert or an educational segment about Peter and the Wolf, and possibly pulling out triangles and fun band percussion instruments. and a good old march around the classroom.

My deepest disappointment was the piano not named as it was being called a pipe organ (not usually in an orchestra, and no pipes).

Still, the book could have hope with a bit more clean up.

View all my reviews

Just Jot It January Prompt: Cathartic 20190127

Remember how we all talked about dogs and the zoomies the other day? I wonder if they are having a cathartic reaction to something in their lives. I love a good dance it out (when no one is looking), a quick run around the yard (again when no one is looking–I hope).

It is too bad we all so close to our neighbors. I think a good scream it out or sing at the top of our lungs would be quite cathartic for all of us. It seems the only time I can do that is on a car trip by myself. Me and Babs doing Yentl or other Broadway musicals can bring me back to me.

Sometimes baking bread will do it with the punching down the dough. I think any physical burst of energy can pull out a lot of emotions without spending tons on psychiatrists and meds.

Another thing I love to do is watch shows like Beaches. That good cry at the end can clear out the cobwebs.

Lately, and this is a bit embarrassing to me, (wow! look above at all the cathartic embarrassments!) if I’m feeling a lot of hopelessness about the world, especially the rulers of the world (notice how vague that is!) I love watching non-stop disaster movies. The plots are similar, stupid rulers making stupid decisions for their own good and scientists that are being paid to find certain answers with no regard to truth, then the rulers say not to panic, which in turn becomes panic. Those we relate to live through it all or are emotional heroes.

And right now it seems knitting and binging horror/weirdness shows get me by until I can dance it out again.

Well, even writing this was cathartic. Thank you, Linda and Enthralling Journey. 

We Forgot What?!

About a half hour into our drive Thursday we realized something dreadful. We forgot my cd case. There was a hole in our truck the size of this:

 That meant   YIKES!!!!

What is a road trip without music?

Obviously, we didn’t have time to turn around and get my case. I know you more hipster types will say what about your phone? We live in the middle of nowhere, remember? Hardly a satellite ray gets through all this nothingness. And our phones don’t hold much of anything so downloaded music wouldn’t help either.

“I guess we’ll just have to talk to each other.” My honey said. We laughed. And then for most of the hour and a half drive to the next city, we said a few words to each other.

We ran into the store full of hopes of CDs. And it was time for dog and people relief. When I could, I walked to the electronics department, asked if they had CDs. There was a sales display with mostly DVDs but in the back were two CDs. Peter Frampton and Lionel Richie. No offense to the PF fans, but I chose Lionel Richie’s CD because a lot of his best songs were there. I could picture myself singing these for a while. Hello!

By the time we got to Portland, I was hoarse and beginning to tire of RL. But he got us there and helped me not get out of the car during the traffic jam stops.

We knew we would need more music to get through the five hours going back, even though we chose a different route to enjoy. Both ways were beautiful scenery for the eyes. Hubby and I had fun in spite of ourselves. But about three hours in, I longed for something else to sing. I thought about what I didn’t have in my case at home and John Denver and The Supremes came to mind. I figured if I found them they would be cheap,  like the RL, only $5!

But, NO. The only thing that appealed to me was a Beatles CD. It looked like it had a couple discs so I thought the $19 worthwhile. (Turned out one of the discs was a DVD). Ah, but I needed something for Hubby. I found a Celtic Woman that I didn’t think we had in either of our cases. By the way, he has a case, too. But I was the driver so the music needs to be there for ME!

I can’t tell you how happy that Beatles CD made me. I was rockin’ out and proving that I could remember most of the words. I missed friends–Kay, and her sisters and times of dancing and acting silly back in the day.  And my Potpourri (<–a group I sang with a long time ago) friends and our harmonizing Beatle toons on our way to and from the recording studio. Yep, you heard me right. The group was making a Christmas madrigally tape for friends and family. So Beatles and CW were expensive but worth the buy. I grooved to the Beatle CD until we were nearly home. 27 songs!!!

Then it was dark and I needed something soothing and to give my voice a rest:

Yeah, nope. I needed to pull over to the side of the road just to fully enjoy these voices and songs I could sing along with. I highly recommend everyone getting this–and the Beatles one. The Lionel Richie–well it was good for a long time but I bet I won’t listen to it again for a while.

By the way, my go-to music is usually Broadway musicals like Into the Woods, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, etc. Or books on CDs.

What do you listen to on long drives?

Happy Groundhog’s Day

I watch this show every year. Thinking about how if I just apply myself to something assuming I never have to stop I could become proficient. Now that my piano is in the living room I need to get rid of all the psychic garbage that keeps me from it and just do it like every day is Groundhog’s Day. Think of the things we could learn if we just followed Phil.

#JusJoJan Daily Prompt: Address – January 26th, 2018

Take a look at that object. That is my address. I know it looks like a musical instrument that I learned how to play, a bit, when I was in junior high, sixth grade I think. You might even think of it as my own TARDIS. Though it is rather a variable, sometimes bigger on the inside but soon smaller than the inhabitants.

If I’ve counted correctly, I have lived in 21 addresses. Maybe four of them are just the right size. But with family and a few friends and four-leggeds, the insides of these places grow and shrink at the oddest rates. Can you hear the music of the bellows?

When we moved here three Autumns ago, the living room was empty. It has squares of carpet that made me want to play hop-scotch or dance there was so much room. I had my own piano room/hobby room and most of the time I enjoyed that room, but Winter came. Hear the music as we moved into the bedroom to save the electric bill. So that room started collecting things that didn’t fit in the bedroom.

When Spring came, I looked forward to company coming. With no living room furniture, I felt sad. But a kind soul found us sofas and soon the living room had friends and family. I liked working out there where the soft sofas called me. So the piano room is used less.

Suddenly, my son is in a situation where he needs somewhere to live. So this week  I’ve been busy pulling books and things out of that room and trying to find homes for everything that was in there. So remember the empty living room? Boxes! Piano! Bookshelves!

So the address has taken the squeezing–push the button on the top if you don’t want to hear the music! Or is that my accepting sigh? I haven’t seen my son for years! So I am happy to see him and think it will be fun to have him around. Just, oh there’s the sigh again, sad to see the space squish. At least this address is full of space outside, and lots of sky!

Just Jot It January is Linda G. Hill’s baby.

John Holton’s prompt is “Address.” You can visit John at his blog, “The Sound of One Hand Typing,”  Here’s his link:  https://thesoundofonehandtyping.wordpress.com/

 

#JusJoJan Daily Prompt: Silence – January 21st, 2018

With the prompt of the day, Silence, I couldn’t resist this:

For those who aren’t aware of Doctor Who… What planet do you live on?

Why is it that we equate silence with the sound of crickets? Anyone who has lived in places of many crickets knows that is a LOUD obnoxious sound! (I year in Coalinga, California taught me this.)

Simon and Garfunkel come to mind here as quieter sounds of silence.

I’d like to think that we have moments of silence out here in the boondocks. But there is a small airport within a mile from us. There are cows and coyotes and chickens and turkeys and a small amount of traffic in front of our house. The ambient noise is wind–Mariah?

 

Silence is Golden–wow! We in the rebellious 60s were yelling silence a lot!

It was lots of fun thinking of these songs. But really. Have you noticed that true silence can’t happen? Even if there is no sound. That is when you can hear your heart beating louder than a drum and the breathing noises and swallowing noises. the embarrassing stomach growl and oooh the worst, the fart. And the only place you notice all those noises is in church or maybe worse, yoga class. So maybe there is no such thing as silence? Or does it pass us by like those guys on Doctor Who? Maybe we need to litter our skin with hash marks when we notice?

The prompt, “Silence” was brought to us by Willow. See her blog, “Willowdot21”at  https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/

 

Once again, thanks to Linda G. Hill for the fun we’re having Jotting every day of January.

#JusJoJan Daily Prompt Memories– January 5th, 2018

Just Jot it January is the brainchild of Linda G. Hill.

Memories

I can hear Babs singing it right now. I never saw Cats but in voice-class, this was a favorite. I loved that class. Because I got to take it eight times (four for voice and four for accompaniment–which I was allowed to still use for voice. I hated accompaniment. My eye-hand coordination is worse when stressed and being the one playing on stage nearly killed me. I loved singing. I was afraid at first but soon was able to use the butterflies to my benefit.

After eight semesters I was able to take voice lessons from the teacher. I LOVED that! Soon I was able to sing with friends or alone at churches and other events. I loved hanging out with my musical friends, singing harmonies, playing musical games.  Ah! Memories!

When I had to move from the area life took over and all that went by the way-side. If I had to sing solos now I would be a nervous wreck. But I miss it. I must find a way to add making music to my daily schedule.

I’m not good at being audience. I can’t sit still long enough. But in those days I got to be in a couple musicals, My Fair Lady – chorus and Oliver (Old Sally). I like singing in the chorus. I got to be the screechy high soprano because most couldn’t get the notes. I’d like to think I was okay. Mostly it was fun being a part of the production. Musicals are my favorite type of music. I like my music to come with stories. I like acting it all out. No talking parts for me. Makes me too nervous. I can remember song words, not spoken.

Into the Woods, Phantom of the Opera, Yentl, and Les Miserable are among my favorites. What are yours?

#A to Z Challenge–X

X

This could be the most challenging of the #AtoZChallenge. I wanted to go with the easy, xylophone, or x-ray, but couldn’t think of enough to fill a sentence much less a small blog post. So I went to my online dictionary and ran across words I knew but needed a refresher. So I exited the dictionary with a minor idea. Let’s see if it works.

Are you a xenophile or a xenophobe? The roots of the words are easy in this case. xeno=people especially foreign or exotic. Phile=lover of. Phobe=afraid of. A lot of us don’t think about it much. We tend to think we like everyone.

That would be true for me. I like to think I like all people. But throw me into a room with more than two people I don’t know and I go into a panic with sweats and shakes. One on one, I am fascinated by all people and their stories. If I get to know them well enough I can handle them in a bigger group of folks I know.

Parties? Church? Can’t handle the crowds at all. Even the nicest of groups like the Unitarian Universalists, probably the least judgmental of church groups I’ve ever been in, too many and I am a basket case looking for the nearest exit. (See what I did there?)

I get my xenophile fix by reading about people from other places and walks of life. I think everything you read that stretches your understanding reduces the possible cases of xenophobia.

But Hey! I learned to play the xylophone before I learned the piano. It had many colored keys like my first little piano. I was and am a little upset that adult pianos are black and white. Mine is pretty and I love rooms of black and white, I would love a room of those colors and a black baby grand, with the tiled look going into the indoor pool of the same colors. Now that is seXy! But red and yellow black and white and brown and purple, blue and green, this started out a song but the dream of this piano/xylophone overreached! Oh, but the piano room with the wood as the main feature could use a glockenspiel! Ooh! Xylophone vs glockenspiel! There’s a topic for another day!

Notice the above paragraph has no people? Yeah, for a few seconds there I was not nervous. As much as I love people and want them in my life there are times that I could X them out and bury myself in my music or art or writing, reading–ah but sooner or later I crave social interaction. I long for long talks and learning others’ stories. Suck it up, shake and perspire, enjoy the Xeno!

Where are you on the Xeno charts?

Nearly finished with this fun #AtoZChallenge!

#A to Z Challenge–S

Sounds

As I mentioned before, my daughter doesn’t have cable. She has Netflix and Hulu but doesn’t find herself in front of the set all that much. She like YouTube and podcasts of all kinds. She’s rather intellectual and prefers science to fantasy. And so I am always learning something new from her.

On road trips, she has downloaded podcasts for those long stretches where there is no reception. While traveling this time she introduced me to someone I already knew. I read Wild by Cheryl Strayed so when she said she had the podcast, Dear Sugar, I was pretty excited. It was full of good advice and spirited fun. I plan to try and tune in every now and then.

My son and daughter (it was the both of them that brought me back home from Reno) have set up a fun adventure for when traveling. They like to set up a challenge for each other as to a period of time for the music they will listen to on their long ride. So when they took me home and then on the road trip to Bend they listened mainly to music they thought represented the early 2000s. Since there wasn’t a lot I recognized I found it fun and enlightening.

My most fun was on the trip to Bend (when we were taking Kali for her check up at the vet). It was on Good Friday so it seemed appropriate to listen to Jesus Christ Superstar. I know many don’t like that. I’m sorry. I have always found it to hold depth and memories for me. I had friends at AVC who did the musical and did a far better job that the movie or Broadway bunch. My friend sang lead in the SuperStar choir generally thought to be the ghost of Judas but she did such a fantastic job I still remember. That whole troupe did an outstanding job and those scenes play out when I hear this music. It was wonderful for my daughter to let me have my little tradition as our traveling music.

Isn’t it amazing how sounds can help a drive go so much more smoothly?

Check out the #AtoZChallenge!

Thursday’s Toss-in

I feel so proud that I have written in this blog every day since the New Year. So I had to make sure I tossed on in here. Okay, so technically it is no longer Thursday, but since this is the end of a very busy day, 12:15 still counts as my Thursday.

This was a unique day in that it was just me and the three furries. Hubby and brother off doing their things. So I caught up on laundry and cleaning this and that. Started some slippers. Then popped myself in the studio and got reacquainted with Moonlight Sonata. Though I could see the spiderwebs of lack of playing the muscular memory held it’s own and it sounded like Music was nearby. As warm is beginning to happen, I expect to be in there more and clear out the webs in my brain and enjoy the process.

I had hoped by now to be outside taking walks with Kali but the wind is still too fierce for me to try. What is that about March’s lions and lambs?

So, that’s all there is and Kali says it’s time to close the computer. She’s pretending to be asleep but her little eye keeps opening.