Hearing the Steamroller

Here is MJ, RW, and Roxie with a holiday icon. There was also a gingerbread man available for photo ops, but if DH wasn't going to fet in the photo (and he ab-so-lutely refused, although any number of elves and passerbys offered to take the picture for him) then we weren't going to bother the poor ginger-guy.





MJ was coming directly from her teaching job at a local community college, so she wasn't about to wear sequins. She and DH were dressed appropriately for the event. Most of the folks dressed up like me were either adorable little girls in pretty, pretty Christmas party dresses, or gleeful grannies who were making the most of their pass from the retirement center. ("It's a short leash, but I will, by God, run to the utter end of it!!") And there was one young lady about 17 who was there with her date, getting the full use out of their holiday prom duds - her in the red formal, and him in the tux with the matching red cumberbund and pocket square. I love seeing the young people in their fancy clothes!!





There was another young woman in fancy clothes- a pair of over-the-knee leather boots, black leggings, and a poofy black parka over - well, I saw a lot of chest but no underpinnings showed. I certainly wasn't the only person who was wondering. The crowd rather eddied around her, staring surreptitiously as she stood in the lobby, sipping a plastic cup full of wine. Her date was a very slick, latin-looking fellow in a black button down shirt and slacks. Transplants? Visitors? Not locals, I'll tell you that for sure!!





One of the elements of the show is a minature village (houses are about knee-high) that is circled by an electric train full of toys, and guarded by 4 toy soldiers. The soldiers are real, live people who are evidently hired to fit the costumes, then made up with red spots on the cheeks and lipstick all around. This year, the soldiers were three young men and one tall, skinny young woman. I found myself wondering what sort of agency provides part-time toy soldiers, elves and gingerbread men. It beats stocking the shelves at Walmart.





The soldiers are supposed to stay in character, just like the guards at Buckingham Palace. I walked past one, and due to the press of the crowd, I bumped into the poor lad. He didn't even blink, just stood there, smiling like a painted doll. And he was so sweet and round-cheeked and blue-eyed that I couldn't help myself. I gave him a very soft, grandmotherly kiss on the cheek before I moved on. He kept character like a trooper. Good lad! Wonder if, when he went off-stage, he swore, "Damn, some old woman actually kissed me! Yuk! Granny cooties!!"





I suppose that could have qualified as sexual harrassment. You'd think I would, by this time of life, have developed a little common sense. No chance. Less sense, more fun!





The Manheim Steamroller does a swell show, and DH got awesome seats! We were close enough that we could see the expressions on the performers faces. And I got my first good look at an electric violin. An acoustic violin has that lovely, feminine, curved and waisted sound box. An electric violin is like a supermodel. Head, neck, but no body, just a spine to support the strings. The sound was grand, but the poor instrument looked so anorexic!





Everyone else in the ensemble plays a vairety of insruments. Keyboard and percussion, guitar and fretted instruments, drums and wind instruments . . . For one of the 14th century pieces, the drummer had a thing that looked like a dwarf Bassoon. It was about a foot long and had a delightfully nasal sort of tone. Two of the players are married, and swap off on keyboards absolutely seamlessly. I was fascinated just trying to see who was making which sound.

So today, we are facing the tails of two typhoons with winds and rain, but no snow! YAyyy! And by tomorrow when I am rolling out to the jail, the storm should be reaching its peak. How exciting. I think I'll take my waterwings, just in case.