In like a Lion

March is here.

We had another little ice/snow/sleet storm that only left about a 1/2 inch encrustation of icy muck on the ground. Not enought to cancel the LIRR trains, like the last storm (of which more pictures are shortly forthcoming).

Katie and I have just been working and working the past few weeks. This week, however, I will take a break from my normal duties at Mannes College to help with their college auditions (read: everyone else is on a spring break while I am still working at Mannes). This is fun work though. We test the theory and ear training skills of incoming students, some applying for undergraduate programs, some for graduate. If you have ever watched the TV show American Idol, there is an element of the early stages of that show wrapped up in college auditions; some people truly do not belong in the audition process of a conservatory--they can barely read music and wouldn't know Edward Elgar from their elbow. It's also a chance for the teachers to get together and shoot the breeze in between auditioners. Plus, there is free food there!

Katie is still waiting to hear from SUNY Downstate. They just keep telling her to call back. So she does, and the cycle repeats. She is also working at the hospital more since a pregnant colleague of hers was put on bed rest.

Last night, we had leftover lasagna which was vert tasty and a really good red wine. Vitiano by Falesco winery. Imported by Winebow (see their website at www.winebow.com). Very, very yummy and only about $8. We watched a Bollywood movie from India called "Lagaan." It was a period drama about the early 1890s when the British were still in control. Lots of singing and dancing and a wicked game of cricket. I don't really understand the rules of cricket, but the movie overall was pretty fun to watch. Subtitles for the Hindi parts, but still, much of it was in English.

The next two weeks, I'll be super busy with gigs up in the Bronx (South Pacific), a music theory conference at Mannes I am helping with, and a friend's concert at Juilliard on which he is playing two piano concertos, one by Mozart and a new one of his own. I'll also be subbing for another Hofstra professor for about 6 classes. When it rains, it pours. Sometime in there, hopefully, we'll be buying a new laptop computer....till then!