Brian Groner has been music director of the Fox Valley Symphony since 1995. From time to time he will share his thoughts with you right here in his blog.
I got a hushed call from my daughter in Indianapolis yesterday She was calling from a building on the campus of IUPUI where she is finishing a degree in Philanthropic Studies. On her way to one of her classes she received a campus advisory text while in the stairwell of the parking ramp. The text read that there had been a man with a long gun (rifle or shotgun) sighted in the parking ramp. Yes, the same ramp she was exiting at the time.
While she waited with other students and faculty, inside one of the buildings near the ramp, she made her call to us and kept us and others informed through Facebook posts.
To make a long story short, her campus was locked down for much of the afternoon. The man with the gun (perhaps guns) was not found by the combined efforts of the Campus, City and State Police but all are safe for the moment.
Sigh........
recommendation Feb. 22, 2013
If you have a few minutes, and feel like hearing some of what is going on in the music world, take a peek at this fantastic blog. The symphony business is its own world.
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/
Regards,
BtG
Epic Menu May 25, 2012
Here is the short version of the menu for the meal which Yuliya, Eric and I will create at the Flaherty home this evening.
As I waded through rather nasty rush hour traffic on Thursday I had a small but very persistent visitor in my car with me. As I came up behind yet another line of stopped traffic I got dive bombed inside my car by what I first thought was a large bee. I prepared myself to get stung as I focused on the traffic ahead. After three more passes at my torso I noticed that the uninvited guest in my Subaru was not a bee after all but a very large firefly (or some bug which looked just like it).
I rolled down all the windows in an attempt to lure it outside into the fine weather. After not seeing it for a couple of minutes I rolled the windows up, confident that it had made its escape. I again focused on the ugly, irritating traffic.
Wham!! It dived into me again. Apparently my gesture of good will (by giving it access to freedom) went unnoticed. This time I rolled down only the driver’s window and, when it made its next assault, I guided it through the opening as gracefully as I could while maintaining control over the car.
I watched it fly forward for just a few feet and then saw two large seagulls dive across the road in the direction of the bug. Since the bug immediately disappeared from view I can probably assume that I witnessed nature’s way (the food chain) in action. I harbored no ill will toward the persistent bug but felt deep down that it probably got what it deserved.
Transmission in the back Feb. 18, 2012
We went to the Chicago Auto Show the other day. It was a lot of fun. I had not attended it for a couple of years and there were many interesting things to see. One car which stood out was the Fiat 500 Abarth. It is a tiny little package of fun with a small, but high torque, engine pushing a car that weighs no more than 2200 pounds.
I have to admit something. When I sat in the car and saw the way the shift lever emerged from the dashboard I remembered that this setup was much like the Alfa Romeo Spider. The Alfa that I owned, and now miss, was not the Spider but was the GTV6 model (two more seats, more power than the Spider and near perfect road manners).
As we drove home I remembered one of my favorite things to do in that car. After entering an off ramp I could keep the steering wheel in one spot (slightly turned) and adjust the angle of the car by using just the accelerator. The car had a little natural understeer but could be prompted into any amount of oversteer one wanted by applying the throttle. It sounded great! Vroom, Vroom.............Sigh.
White Castle??? Feb. 15, 2012
For the last several weeks each time I drove out of my neighborhood I saw an interesting sign at the White Castle just a couple of blocks from my house. The sign read “Make Your Valentines Reservations Today”. Does that strike anyone else as a totally non-romantic way to spend Valentine’s Day?
Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that I am just too snooty, please remember that I do indeed like “sliders”. I simply prefer the meal that Teresa made (sesame noodles with thinly sliced marinated steak, Asian red cabbage slaw with a nice bottle of Ed Meade Zinfandel from Ciapusci Vineyards). For dessert, to go with some heart shaped brownies, we had a bit of my own Chocolate Raspberry Port.
There are times when you crave a burger (slider) from White Castle. Yesterday was not one of those times.
I Hope Jan. 24, 2012
Teresa and I stopped at a fast food restaurant the other day. We just needed a quick snack so that we could finish our errands without our stomachs growling.
After ordering our food and sitting down at a small table a young man, probably around 20 or 21, came toward me and asked if he could speak with me a moment. Of course I said yes. He explained that he was in need of money so that he could get a place to sleep and buy some food for his wife who was in another corner of the restaurant. I have heard a lot of stories from people asking for money and I decided to talk to him to see what his situation was.
We ended up talking for about 15 minutes. His wife came over to talk to us as well. She was a very nice young woman with shiny eyes and a glowing smile. They have been married since last April, were both out of work and looking for work, and they had slept on the bench in the nearby bus stop the night before. He discussed how they had gotten into their current situation. He told me about his involvement (as a 14 year old) with a group of friends who simply stopped going to school and started using drugs. After several years of that he found the strength to stop using but never found his way back into school. He admitted that he could barely read. He talked about the responsibility he felt to his wife and his hope of getting into the Job Corps, a place where they both would acquire work place skills and help him start the process of getting his GED. When he showed me the Job Corps application I saw the many forms of identification necessary (including an original copy of his birth certificate) which would be difficult for him to obtain, having no means of transportation and little access to a computer.
Something he said sticks in my brain. He mentioned how he was touched that we had stopped and talked, letting our food grow cold, letting the two of them share their story with us. Apparently it doesn’t happen very often. They were appreciative, kind people and had high hopes for their future.
I was glad to have had a moment to speak with them and sincerely hope that they can overcome their current challenges and build a future for themselves. I hope that the Job Corps stays in place long enough to help them. And I hope that the little cash that I had with me helped them through a cold and difficult day.
