OK, that's it for undergrad graduations

Paul Jr. graduated from ASU; the ceremony for his college was on Friday, May 15. So that's five undergraduate educations. Very proud of all five of these folks.

Kerry and Luis flew in for the weekend, which was a long trip and a very nice touch. We also attended Nedda's graduation ceremony on May 14.

House party on the evening of May 15 - nice turnout, very enjoyable time. We went to lunch at Richardson's on Saturday. A fun weekend all around.

Kerry took a bunch of photos over the weekend, but for now pretty much all we have are a few cellphone photos . . .

And now that I think of it, there have been six undergraduate educations, counting Patricia's nursing school graduation in 2006.

So below are photos from all six ceremonies, in chronological order (most current at top). Attendance = variable; only Patrick and me with 100% attendance.

Check out the search function

One of the nice things about a website like this is that it functions mostly as a journal or diary, except that it's much easier to find things than in the old paper versions.

And Google just added a new feature that makes "finding" things easier - check out the search bar to the upper right of the page. Just put in your term(s) and it will post results from the blog.

It's a good alternate method to the "labels" (also on the right side of the page), more comprehensive.

I can see this being increasingly useful as I move through year five on this site, and beyond . . .

T+M G Wedding (MN trip)

This quite probably was the social event of the season - my baby sister Therese married Mark Gaertner on May 8.

Continuing our recent bad habits, we didn't take much for photos. Hoping to receive from others, eventually. (That's you, Nicole.) So I'll add a few later.

Anyway, Patricia and I flew into Minneapolis on Thursday May 7. Met Kerry right after landing. Checked into hotel (Hampton Inn up by New Brighton). Basically headed right back to the airport to pick up Nicole, then onto the rehearsal. All seemed to go well. I was playing a few things on piano, which worked well enough (dropping out the tough notes really helps). And it was fun to play with some of the Cullen family musicians. Also fun hanging around the church getting caught up with all the arrivals.

Rehearsal dinner had walleye and Summit Pale Ale, quite good. Very nice spot for this event. Had a chance to talk to Mark's family a bit, we much enjoyed that group all weekend. Back to the hotel and some further chit chat at the Green Mill, and that was it for the day.

On Friday - hung out with Jim Dory for coffee at Bread and Chocolate; we were shunned by the female types, who were holding a "bride's breakfast" or somesuch in the other half of the restaurant. Did a couple errands: picked up cakes and flowers and delivered. Fun driving around with PJ, N, K. Stopped at WA Frost for lunch per our usual, we always enjoy. Then to Rosedale Mall where Cecilia and Therese were having the makeup done. It was fun to see them go through their paces. (This was the one place where we had the camera.)

Wedding at 6p; photos before; the ceremony was very nice, music went well. Reception at Germanic-American Institute on Summit Ave; interesting place complete with Rathskeller; enjoyed beverages, food, toasts, music, chatter. Kid's room a bit unruly. Talked a bit after in the breakfast room at the hotel, where most of the group had gathered.

Saturday - lightly scheduled, everyone was pretty tired. Got a chance to see Mark Gales's presentation on Monte Cassino in the breakfast room at the hotel, the report was really nicely done (I need a copy). Made our way to House house in afternoon. Golf ball game; big crew; dinner; some to Twins' game; others talked; dysfunctionals helped take us down some unanticipated conversational avenues. A fun day.

Sunday - checked out of hotel after breakfast; Mass with quite a few in attendance; back to House house for more conversation and lunch, saw various folks off as the day wore on; played a board game; Nick took N&K to airport; tried to go to BarleyJohn's with Steve & Cecilia but it was closed went to a plan B that still was fun; hurried to airport and back home.

The wedding actually was an awfully nice event. Fun to go 'round with my traveling buddy. Also very fun to have the girls there. Nice all around.

Should have had some kind of observance

But nobody told us it was National Nurses Week until the event had passed us by.

So all we got out of it was this poster. Click to enlarge and there is a nice photo of PJ on the right hand side.

Elijah (ASU Choral Union et al, 04/30/09)

I don't find it easy to rate these things, but this concert certainly was one of the most enjoyable of our now four years of membership in the ASU Choral Union.

Mendelssohn finished this oratorio in 1846. A wonderful mix of choral, soloists, quartets, orchestra. Quite fun for the chorus - lots of songs, various roles. Someone remarked that this was like an opera, just without costumes.

It did have a great story line. The Elijah story (summarized here) is dramatic - the three-year drought; Elijah raises the widow's son from the dead; the never-ending supply of flour and oil during the drought; the contest with the priests of Baal - calling down fire from heaven; Ahab; Jezebel; Obadiah; Elijah taken into heaven on a fiery chariot; "the still small voice" by which Elijah receives God's word; etc. Elijah certainly was big-time among the Old Testament prophets.

Our performance was put together nicely. In addition to the music, arrangements were made to project art works and photos on large screens on each side of the screen - along with the text being sung.

But in the end, it's all about the music. There were many wonderful moments. Some samples below. Video taken by our #2 fan (Patrick); also in attendance was our #1 fan. We had a fun stop at La Bocca for pizza and drinks after. Just a great experience.

Clip #1 is from early in the first half; a great line "His Mercies On Thousands Fall" - I very much like the way the parts roll over one other as the music progresses. Probably the part I liked best overall in the singing?



Clip #2 occurs in the second half; the clip commences with a chorus of angels singing "Holy, Holy' - this was after Elijah heard the "still, small voice" of God and was encouraged to return to his prophet business. The clip shows a bit of the interaction between chorus and small groups; plus an example of the art work and text projection. It ends with the chorus expressing God's injunction to Elijah ("Go, Return Upon Thy Way").



Clip #3 is near the end of the second half - just great choral stuff.