I haven't been blogging for a while. No good reason, just finding other things to do. But I want ot use this to let people know that Sally (my wife for those who are unaware. Also know as Sardonyx or Lady Sally) had to to to the emergency room Friday for pain caused by a lap band that was put in a few years ago. She had surgery Saturday to remove the band, which had slipped and was twisting around in her abdomen. While he was there, her doctor also performed a gastric bypass, which is a more sever kind of operation than she's had before. She's still in RHD Memorial right now, but hopefully will come home today. The surgery went well and she's been recovering pretty well, but it's going to take some time before she's back up to speed.
I'm sure she'll tell you all about it when she gets back in front of the pc. Or when she sees people at Scarborough.
I think she planned this now just to get out of having to make dinner Thursday.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written. I just keep putting it off for some reason, and I get further and further behind. So now I’m just going to get something written down.

I went to Florida to compete for the talent show at work. That was a great time. Several days off of work that don’t count against my vacation. Almost none of it was company-related. I just had to go to the rehearsal for about 30 minutes during the day Monday, then the contest that night. I was able to get some practice in before the big event. I went out behind the convention center loading dock area and played in the parking lot there. I stood under a tree for some shade. At the rehearsal we decided I didn’t need a mike for the pipes. People would be able to hear them without any help from amplification.

The contest itself went alright. I didn’t see the first half of it or so. I was number 8 of 10. I stayed back in the warm-up room as long as I could so the pipes would be as in-tune as possible then I went on stage. As a result I never saw some of the acts, and really never met some of the other contestants. There was someone playing jazz saxophone right before me. He was really good. I heard the last part of the act before him. 2 guys playing guitar and singing a song they’d written for some organization. While they were singing, there were pictures of babies up on the screens. That seemed kind of like cheating. Since the winner was being judged by applause, I thought using baby pictures was kind of a easy way to get some extra votes. Next time I’ll use baby pictures.

The stage was in the center of the hall. There was a big dinner there, then the talent show. There were some “judges” there to make it seem kind of like whatever that show on tv is, I guess. Some of the judges were ACS people and some were Disney people. The Disney people were there for comic relief. When I got up there they took the microphone off stage, I said “Hi” to the judges, brought the pipes up to my shoulder and started my set.

The set starts off slow. Kind of a fan-fare, then goes into a quicker little bit of melody, then into a nice, peppy march. After that I played Scotland the Brave for the recognition factor, then into a couple of jigs that I like. I can’t really play the jigs well consistently, but sometimes I get lucky. I wouldn’t play this set in front of anyone who knows how the tunes are supposed to sound, but for a crowd of people who never hear pipes in real life, I figured it would be ok. There were big screens all around and cameramen taping me, so everyone would be able to see. I looked up once and saw myself and looked back down at the stage so I wouldn’t be distracted.

As it was, nerves got to me a bit. There was a pretty big crowd there. I made a few goofs on the last jig and ended up cutting it off a little early, rather than make things worse. There were comments from the judges about how they love the pipes, etc. Then I left the stage and found the bar.

The final act was a woman playing something on the piano that I think was Chopin. She was amazing. She played beautifully and, as far as I could tell, flawlessly. She ended up being the final winner. To be frank, all the musicians that competed were much better than I was. Since I wasn’t terribly interested in the grand prize, I really didn’t mind not winning. It was really a relief not to even be worried about it. There was no let down. Later, at the bar out by the lake, I was the only contestant who had his instrument, so I got to do a lot of playing for people. I even played for one of the other contestants whose talent was dancing. She and her instructor tangoed while I played a variety of tunes.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the trip. All the contestants were given one-day park-hopper passes, so I spent a morning at Epcot and the afternoon in the Magic Kingdom. I’m sure there’s a lot more I could say about it, but I probably have enough for now.

Whew. Finally got something written down.

The 10 finalists from the talent show at work are going to Orlando for a big company meeting. There we'll compete for the grand prize, which is a vacation anywhere in the world. I need to really practice this next month to get my playing up to as high a standard as I can.

Here's the schedule for Florida.

August 19, 2007
The Top 10 finalists will arrive in Orlando Florida, USA, Disney World’s Coronado Resort
August 21, 2007
Morning and Afternoon rehearsals. Time to be announced
August 21, 2007
Live performance contest. Time to be announced.
August 22, 2007
The Top 10 finalists, if they are not required to attend the
ACS X10 Kick Off meetings, will have the day to enjoy
Disney World amusements.
August 23, 2007
The Top 10 finalists may leave to return home.

I just found out that I'm a finalist in the talent show at work!!!

Where's that woo hoo! icon?