Music

I don't consider myself to be a very cultured person when it comes to most things.  In fact I usually fake my way through acting as if I have some degree of manners and understanding of the finer things in life.  Note though that in point of fact I'm basically just a grown-up kid from the projects who wasn't exposed to things like the classical American songbook and olive oil until well into my adult life.

The above doesn't mean though that I can't at least try to appreciate some of the richer stuff that can make the world a more interesting place.  Well this is true with the possible except of some food types.  Sorry, but (for example), I'm simply not going to eat things like squid, organ meat just about anything that involves exotic cheeses.

That back-drop noted, I want to see Marvin Hamlisch perform with the NEPA Philharmonic last night, and it was simply a wonderful evening.  I could be proud of myself in that I did recognize some of the songs that Mr Hamlisch wrote (including the theme from the movie Ice Castles).  The orchestra sounded really, really great, least to my ears.  Mr Hamlisch, in addition to having more talent in his toenail droppings than I probably have in my entire body, was warm, funny and just overall entertaining.  He really engaged the audience, and more so than anything else, you can tell that this is a guy who simply loves music.  Even if no one was listening this guy would still be playing.

The evening was not with out the odd sight or sound though.  First, I was probably just about one of the youngest persons in attendance (and I'm 46).  Definitely an older crowd.  Second, in the second half of the show there was something that sounded like a steam radiator releasing pressure every few minutes.  That was very annoying and I can't believe that as a regular course of operation this was a normal thing to occur.  Maybe something was broken. 

Anyway, I'll end this extend thought by noting that, from time to time, I would close my eyes as the music was playing.  Why?  I almost felt as if I needed to restrict my other senses just so that I could devote even more of my processing power to simply hearing what was some very beautiful music.

It was a splendid, splendid time, music included.