The One With Jazz and Acapella Night

 

 

Tonight, Kiff took part in his first official DHS Jazz night. Although Kiff has been in the middle school jazz band, he plays trumpet for the HS jazz band this year...and the show did not disappoint.

First, the night itself was dedicated to two types of performances divided by an intermission - jass band during the first half and acapella choruses during the second. Because it had been a busy day anyway - and Kiff was fighting bronchitis - we stayed for the first.

The 7th and 8th grade jazz bands each performed before the DHS band. It was fun to see some kids we have known for a while performing in these bands. When it was time for the DHS band to take stage, the crowd was revved up. And the high school did not disappoint. They did some solid jazz performing, capped off with the stage filled with all three jazz bands performing Night Train (the song that George McFly dances to by himself at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in Back to the Future). The song featured more than a dozen solos, which was awesome.

Though under the weather, Kiff did great. And not to be outdone, Bri showed up to be part of the stagecrew setting up stage in between performances (and it counted as four hours for school). It was great to see her take on the role I loved in high school - stage crew...though she does have to work on what she wears when she is a member of the crew.

All in all, it was a great night.

The One With The Beekeeper

 

 

 

It does not happen to often that I find a movie that I so revile to the degree of John Wick that I want the antagonists to defeat the protagonist. But, it happened today with the arrival of Beekeeper.

 

Beekeeper stars Jason Statham. Now, I am not a mega Statham fan, but I tend to enjoy his movies. They are a little campy and he tends to be humorous (although I am not sure he is always intending to do that). 

However, this one was just, to put it, straight annoying. The premise was that scam artists bilked a woman out of millions of dollars and ended up dead. So, Statham's character begins a ruthless pursuit to get them back.

 

It turns out to be one of those Statham vs. the world movies that is just plain ludicrous. Innocent people go down all over the place in the movie to the point that I could not wait for it to end.

 

 

The One With Winter Lights

 

 

 

 

Last night, we ushered in the end of the holiday season - and 2023 - by creating what might be a new tradition. We attended the Winter Lights event in North Andover. Sponsored by the Trustees, the Winter Lights is a series of three places in Massachusetts that are set up on Trustees land where Christmas lights and Christmas music are set up.

 

We had planned to do this last year, but a cold, icy mix prevented that from happening. However, this year, we were more than delighted to attend. And it was well worth it. Although finding the actual parking lot proved tricky - we ended up going in a wily back way that someone even followed us to (which would have proven a back way in to the event) - once we arrived, we were mesmerized by the lights. They were phenomenal.

 

The lights spanned the property of what is called the Stevens-Coolidge property. They lights came complete with different thematic music (such as a Let it Snow or a  Peanuts Christmastime in Here  theme). They served refreshments for a nominal price. And you could even go into the mainhouse, which was an old style summer cottage mansion on the property.

 

Overall, it was a beautiful night and a great way to  usher in a new year. And I think we may have started a new tradition.