Picture Sunday

Well, hello again to all you Sunday night people, and welcome to another very chilly (43 degrees here in Betland) edition of Picture Sunday.

Busy weekend here. This is because we had not one but two, count them, I know you won't, Sauerkraut Band gigs on Saturday. We opened the day up with a benefit for those lovely oldsters at Wheatland Hills retirement home, then hot-footed it to R'noke for our third annual appearance at the city's Local Colors festival. As you'll remember, this was the gig last year where we waited out the rain, then waited out the sound equipment people, then got thrown off the stage after 3 numbers.

But Wheatland Hills came first yesterday. It's always a nice place to play, it's not one of your upscale "retirement villas," it's a place where the middle-class folks live and therefore not many people want to go there to entertain. And so we're always appreciated.

I must tell this story, though. And I can't help it, I know I'll be senile one day, if I live long enough, but I couldn't help but laugh (and be frightened) at this one little old lady. See, she had this "thing." And the "thing" she had was that she seemed to be obsessed with sitting in other people's chairs. She did this the whole time we were setting up, if someone got up for just a moment, she'd go and sit in that person's chair.

Well, when the band started playing, she kept it up. When the trumpets went to the front of the room to play "The Trumpet Echo," she went and sat in one of their chairs and had to be helped away by the staff. Then when Ed was up talking and walking around, she sat in his chair and had to be helped away. Towards the end of the program I just couldn't hold myself any longer and had to make a quick run to the bathroom to answer the call of nature and said to my fellow clarinetters, "Sorry, I've got to run, please don't let that lady sit in my chair." And I was lucky. She didn't take it from me.

Then we got to R'noke, and it was a fun gig. It was cool outside, we dodged the impending rain, and people seemed to enjoy us. Here's a picture that, to me, says it all where SK Band is concerned.



The ever-present beer on Tom's glockenspiel. Cuts down on the number of notes he can play, but who cares, really.

After the gig the aforementioned Tom (Santa to those of you in the know), the lovely and vivacious Sara Beth, and none other than Jude the Corruptor stopped by Mr M's, where we ate, drank, and were merry in general. A fun evening.

During the Local Colors gig, where they are serious, let me tell you, about the dispensing of alcohol, we on the stage -whether we were drinking or not - had to have two different armbands, on our right arms no less, and a "stamp" on our hands to prove we were of age. The stamp came in the form of a big black "X" marked onto our hands with a magic marker by some hoo-hah who got all snotty at me because my armbands were on my left arm and also because apparently some other Sauerkrauters (namely Mr M) gave her the business about all the regulations.

Anyway, these big black Xes were not very becoming, but Sara Beth and I decided that we'd use them as our "gang tattoos," and made Jude the Corruptor take our pictures flashing our "gang sign."



Those of you who know American Sign Language and are standing on your heads realize, of course, what our gang sign is. It's an S, a K, and a B. And don't mess with us - we'll kick your asses, or at least play German music in your general direction, which is infinitely more dangerous. (And before you ask, yes, I'd been drinking.)

And now for one more picture, some local color of another kind. I snapped this on a sign outside a little convenience store today. Now, I know what feed is, and rabbit food, and dog biscuits, but....



What in the hell is pig ear? Is it an actual pig's ear, do people buy those? Is it some sort of strange root, like St John's wort? If you know, please impart the knowledge upon me, if you don't mind.

And speaking of pig ear, that isn't this week's recipe du jour, though it certainly could be. See, as we all know, today is Mother's Day (hi, Mom!), and I was part of a celebration where the men cooked for the women. And so from the "Stuff Men Cook" file at recipeland, say hello to Grilled Meat.



Instructions for this one? Well, sounds easy enough to me. Fire up a grill, take some meat, slosh it with some kind of sauce (and yes, beer can be considered a sauce), and let the good times roll. Beef is the meat for this particular festival, but I'm sure any other meats out there would work just as well. As long as you slosh them with sauce.

Happy week.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Sad fact of blogging. Friday blog = no comments. Just the way things are, I guess.
* Oh! And one last picture - guess where I'm going June 2d.