The 1812 Overture in 2009

Sorry for lack of post again yesterday. For anyone wondering what a rebec actually looks like, here is a picture of my rebec, which I stole off the website of the woman who built it. Her name is Kate and her business is called "Unprofitable Instruments," in case you would like a rebec of your own. If you already own one and would like to join an early music group called Pulp Incunabulae (or possibly Macrame Theorbo), be sure to let me know.

Famous Hat's Rebec

The weekly outdoor concert was postponed this past Wednesday because it was very cold and windy, but most of my peeps were busy last night so I sat out on my balcony with Plant World and did my word game puzzles. Suddenly the phone rang: it was my old friend Astrochick, from my days in the all-girl dorm, wondering where I was. Apparently she did not realize I am a Luddite who still does not own a cell phone, so if I answered the phone, I must be at home. She was up at the outdoor concert and had been led to believe by Richard Bonomo that I would be there too, so I hopped in Erin Caitlyn O'Honda (not enough time to take Eusebius at that point) and drove downtown. On the way I stopped to pick up a kiddie meal at a fast food restaurant - that's how much of a hurry I was in! (I prefer the kiddie meals because they are the right serving size for me.) I asked what a mysterious item on the menu was, and the cashier shrugged and mumbled something about how it was listed on the menu. The bill seemed kind of high, but I was in too big a hurry to stop and check it out.

Astrochick is a very tall person, yet she spotted me first. Probably because of my famous hat! I tore into my kiddie meal and found that the "toy" I'd been given was a pair of perfectly good sunglasses that fit me just fine. Maybe I have a child-sized head...? They had also given me the mysterious item I'd asked about on the menu, which explained the high price. So that was breakfast today! Astrochick was very excited about the 1812 Overture, which to me just sounds like so much noise (an opinion apparently shared by Tchaikovsy himself), but we really got into it, going, "Oh no, the French are coming!" every time Les Marseilles returned. Then there is the happy peasant part, the French approach menacingly again, the cannons fire (I plugged my ears in the nick of time!), and then the church bells ring and the famous theme comes back - those Russkies kicked some Gallic patootie!

Afterwards I set both pairs of sunglasses on my Famous Hat, but nobody gave me a second look. This town is crazy, after all, which is why I like it so much. Just in front of me was a little girl who had a pony tail on the left side of her head while on the right side her hair was French braided. What's a straw hat with two pairs of sunglasses on it compared to that?

Have a great Fourth of July weekend! My brother and his brood are in town so I'll let you know how that goes the next time I blog. (Which, at the rate I'm going, will be a fortnight from next Tuesday.)

Famous Hat