A few weeks ago I was again on the search for the hollow white chocolate bunny. I looked everywhere. Then while at Randalls I mentioned my quest for the hollow white chocolate bunny and one of the workers said she also likes them and to go to Family Dollar and they will be there. I had already got 2 regular chocolate bunnies so Jennifer and I could each have one on Easter. So I went to Family Dollar and there they were smiling. So I got 2. One to eat with Jennifer on Easter and one for later.
Happy Jesus Rising Day.
Since I did not go anywhere special during spring break which was this past week I decided to go somewhere kind of special this weekend. So today Jennifer and I went to The Big Thicket.
(Other Big Thicket Sites here and here.)
We parked at the visitor's center and we ate a sandwich that Jennifer had made on a table outside. We then walked inside the center and talked to a park ranger who was very helpful. He told up some history of the place and directed us to areas of the thicket that would interest us. Jennifer wanted to see the carnivorous plants.
We 1st walked the Kirby Nature Trail in the Turkey Creek Unit of the Big Thicket. It was a great walk with a variety talk trees and plants.
Jennifer being a biologist was taking pictures of all kinds of things like mushrooms, beetles and snakes.
We then went on the Sundew trail in the the Hickory Creek Savannah Unit. This is were we saw the carnivorous Yellow pitcher plant.
Here is one taken by Jennifer.
Not just one but a lot of them.
It was a nice and refreshing day.
The title of this years Late Winter Concert with the Galveston College Choir was "The Music of Moving Pictures."
The choir performed the 1st half.
* That's Entertainment
Music by Arthur Schwartz
Words by Howard Dietz
* From "Dido and Aeneas"
When I am Laid in Earth
and
With Drooping Wings, Ye Cupids Come
Music by Henry Purcell
Words by Nahum Tate
(Before there was film and TV there was another type of entertainment.
That was Henry Purcell was a great English composer of opera
and composed the opera Dido and Aeneas.)
* From the musical "The Gondoliers"
Dance a Cachucha
Music and words by William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
(Not all operas are tragic. Comic operas were very popular before the turn of the century.
The Gondoliers premiered in 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances.)
* From "Gypsy"
Everything's Coming Up Roses
Music by Jule Styen
Words by Stephen Sondheim
(Broadway was a street in the New York theater district.
Originally considered the bad part of town, it was now accessible by the new subway system.
Since the buildings were cheap, people bought them to make a theater in them.
In the year 1927, over 264 musicals opened on Broadway.
As many as 11 would open in a single night.)
(This song had its genesis in the 1947 musical High Button Shoes.
The melody was written by Jule Styne, who was that musical's composer,
but the director decided the song didn't fit well into the show and removed it.
When composing Gypsy, Jule Styne decided to re-use the music for what became
Everything's Coming Up Roses, with new lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.)
* Peter Gunn
Music by Henry Mancini
(Henry Mancini was one of the pioneers who introduced jazz music into
the late romantic orchestral film and TV scores prevalent at the time.
Mancini's music for Peter Gunn started an exceptional career as one of the most popular
and successful film composers. His other themes included "Pink Panther"
and "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany"s.
Here is a little trivia, John Williams the composer of Star Wars played piano
on the original recording of "Peter Gunn.")
* From the movie "The Titanic"
Nearer, My God, to Thee
Music by Lowell Mason
Words by Sarah Adams
("Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th century Christian hymn based loosely
on Genesis Ch 28, the story of Jacob's dream. Nearer, my God, to Thee is
traditionally associated with the Titanic, as passengers reported that the
ship's band played the hymn as the Titanic sank.)
* From the movie "Amadeus"
Music by Wolfgang Amadues Mozart
Dies Irae
(In the movie "Amadeus", there were a lot of things that were true about Mozart.
He did have a billiard table in his bedroom and would compose on it.
There was a commission for a "Requiem" (it was an anonymous commission from Count Walsegg,
who wanted to pass himself off as the composer of the piece).
A powerful part of the "Requiem" is the Dies Irae.)
Confutatis
(The Confutatis is were in the movie Mozart was dictating the music to Saliari
and Saliari wrote it down. In real life it was friend of Mozart's and copyist Süssmayr
that might have been writing Mozart's musical dictation.)
* From the "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
Hushabye Mountain
Music and words by Robert M. and Robert B. Sherman
(Hushabye Mountain is a popular ballad which appears in the 1968 movie
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." It is sung twice, first by a father as a lullaby to his children.
It is then reprised later in the film when the children have lost all hope of salvation.)
* From the movie "Sandpiper"
The Shadow of Your Smile
Music by Paul Francis Webster
Words by Johnny Mandel
(The Shadow of Your Smile is also known as the Love Theme the 1965 movie "The Sandpiper.")
The Island Steel Drum Band continued with the 2nd half.
* The Hammer - Brad Shores
* The Girl from Ipanema - Eric D. Sharp
* Mission Impossible - Eric D. Sharp
* Steeling the Blues - Brad Shores
* On Broadway - Eric D. Sharp
* The Groove in the Mist - Eric D. Sharp
There were over 75 people at the concert. A little less that the winter concert but I always have more attend the Christmas concert. It was a great concert and both groups sounded incredible. Even the president of the college and my dean attended. And of course I had way too much fun.