The Chorale Does Verdi and Bernstein

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Entertainment, Music

This past weekend the Greenville Chorale joined forces with the Greenville Symphony for a concert entitled “Inspiring Voice” featuring the works of Leonard Bernstein and Guiseppi Verdi. It was probably one of the most enjoyable and stirring concerts we’ve done, and I think all went very well. Local music critic Ann Hicks had this to … Read More “The Chorale Does Verdi and Bernstein” »

All Hail the Cimbasso!

Posted on By Tom 5 Comments on All Hail the Cimbasso!
Music

Cimbasso

This is a concert weekend for us. The Greenville Chorale is performing a selection of works by Leonard Bernistein and Giuseppi Verdi. The first performance last night went very well (more on that in a later post).

The repertoire called for some unusual instruments, including two brake drums hit by standard hammers for Verdi’s Anvil Chorus, and a sheet of metal struck to simulate thunder in Verdi’s Witches Chorus from Macbeth.

Acoutrements for the Anvil Chorus

However, the instrument that really puzzled us and caught our attention was the cimbasso.  As shown in the photo at the top of this post, it looks like a cross between a trombone and a tuba.  It turns out that is pretty much it’s function, too.  It fills a niche by providing an instrument in the bass range of a tuba, but with more of the tonal qualities of a trombone.

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Adding Google Earth to PowerPoint – Another Method

Posted on By Tom 3 Comments on Adding Google Earth to PowerPoint – Another Method
Geocaching and Maps

Google Earth

I recently received a request for help from one of my readers regarding Google Earth and PowerPoint.  The reader wanted to know how to put a Google Earth tour into PowerPoint.  This website gets lots of hits from folks wanting to learn how to embed Google Earth into their presentations, but Google hasn’t made it easy.  Therefore, I’ve put together a tutorial for one method, but first it might be helpful to clear up a few things.

  1. Google Earth Tours – Yes, you can create and save tours.  However, the files that are created are KMZ files that can only be opened in Google Earth.  These are NOT video files, and they cannot be easily imported into another program.
  2. Embedding Google Earth – Right now there is no good way to get Google Earth to play in a PowerPoint slide.  You could create a link on your slide that opens a KMZ file outside of PowerPoint in Google Earth itself.  You could also embed a web page that has the Google Earth plug-in for web enabled, but that get’s to be more complicated than it’s worth.

I’ve already demonstrated how it’s possible to add PowerPoint slides to Google Earth.  However, I still get inquiries for the other way around – adding Google Earth to PowerPoint, even though the two points above make it difficult, if not impossible.   Well, there are a couple of ways, but they’re not perfect.  The first involves just exporting static images from Google Earth and putting those images into your slides.  The other involves video screen capture.  Here’s how it’s done…

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I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again
Entertainment

Before Monty Python brought his (in)famous Flying Circus to British TV and film, there was a BBC radio show entitled “I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again” (ISIRTA). The show was pure silliness, and starred David Hatch as the hapless announcer, and also featured voices of John Cleese, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jo Kendall, and Bill … Read More “I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again” »

Return to Long Branch

Posted on By Tom 7 Comments on Return to Long Branch
History and Genealogy, Religion

Long Branch Pentecostal Holiness Church

Long Branch Pentecostal Holiness Church…

The name is long in our family lore. The church was established by my grandfather in 1911, as were many of the Pentecostal Holiness churches of this area. My father pastored the church for most of the 1960’s, and it is here that I have my earliest memories of church.

The church was small, and our large family made up a sizable bit of the congregation. My father preached and led the singing, and my mother played the piano after Mrs. Annabelle Brown left that position. It was just a tiny, unique country church, but its effect on us was indelible. The place is etched in our memories, and the myths and legends of Long Branch have grown over time, and have been embellished through retelling. So, today, nearly forty years since I last set foot in the church, I decided to see how close those myths were to today’s reality.

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Lake Jocassee Morning Paddle

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Lake Jocassee Morning Paddle
Paddling, Photography

Lake Jocassee

The weekend didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned. I had a meeting in Columbia on Friday, so Thursday night I loaded up the boat on top of my car. The plan was to drive down for the meeting, then continue southward to Lake Marion and Sparkleberry Swamp.  Unfortunately, our cat Percy decided to get his paw hurt, so I had to drive back from my meeting earlier than expected to get him to the vet.  He’s OK – just a small cut and possible sprain, but nothing broken.

I really didn’t want to drive back down I-26 again, but I still had the kayak on top of the car and still wanted to go paddling somewhere.  All of my paddling partners were otherwise occupied, so I was on my own.  I finally decided on Lake Jocassee as a reasonable target.

Last time I was here I had just gotten my Old Town Dirigo, and was wanting to see as many waterfalls as I could.  This time I had the Pungo, but wasn’t really sure where I wanted to paddle.  There was one waterfall from the last trip that I didn’t get to see because some bozo parked a pontoon boat right in front of it and showed no signs of moving.  I decided to make that my first target. From there I wasn’t sure where I’d wind up.

The air temperatures were OK, but the water was quite chilly as I unloaded the boat and got set to head out.  There was a little activity at the boat ramp, but nowhere near as much as my last visit.  A boy and his son were taking a canoe out, and one pontoon boat launched.  Another trio was spending lots of time fussing over a tandem rec boat.  I talked with them, and one man and his brother were planning to paddle the entire length of the Savannah River, but not all at once.  On today’s trip they were heading up to the North Carolina River.  I hated to tell them that they weren’t on the Savannah, and wouldn’t be for quite awhile.  However, I’m sure they knew that.

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Hans and Franz

Posted on By Tom 5 Comments on Hans and Franz
Restaurants

0415001826

One of my paddling buddies accused me of posting “food porn.” Sorry, James, but here’s some more…

For months now I’ve seen signs for Doner Kabob, and have wondered about the food being advertised. To me, a kabob is meat on a stick with vegetables, cooked on a grill.  Little did I know that it’s actually a type of German sandwich, in this case sold from a large trailer that moves from place to place.

One of our office co-workers offered to get sandwiches for everyone at lunch, and they were quite good.  Mine was a very spicy turkey on a flat sort of bun.  Along with the discovery of the sandwich came the discovery of a new German restaurant in the community of Pelham.  So, with Laura out of town, tonight was the perfect night for my sister Glynda and I to give Hans and Franz a try.

Background

First, the building – this was one of the original 1860’s buildings for the Pelham Mills.  It was a barn structure to support the main mill, which made Confederate uniforms during that war.  For awhile recently Rocky Creek Bakery occupied the building.  Glynda and I had a couple of lunches here, and loved the old structure and wonderful bread.  We were both thrilled to see the new restaurant here.

It’s my understanding that Hans and Franz is an enterprise by the folks that own Addy’s Dutch Restaurant in downtown Greenville.  They have been wanting to branch out into German cuisine, which has been sorely lacking in the area since the demise of Haus Edleweiss.  While not owned by them, the Doner Kabob trailer works in partnership with the restaurant in a symbiotic relationship.

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Edistoing Perfection

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Edistoing Perfection
Paddling, Photography

Edisto Skies

Edistoing (verb) – kayaking down the river, fun, rope swings, lots of fun, owls, loads of fun, funny side up, fossils, funtatious, sun burn, funtastic,endless oxbows, a heapin good time of fun, firecrackers, funsational, swimming with the gators, having fun, cypress knees, funasoric, beer, too much fun, and the Lowcountry Unfiltered Guys. (reference, John Ring)

Edisto (noun) – a state of blissful near-perfection brought on by the act of Edistoing; also the name of a blackwater river in the lowcountry of South Carolina.

I had my choice of paddling venues today. I could have joined the throngs in Spartanburg County for the Tame the Tyger river race, or I could join the Lowcountry Unfiltered gang for another trek on the Edisto River. I chose the latter. It turned out to be of paddling nirvana, with incredibly blue skies, cypress cathedrals, and camaraderie all around.

I got up early Saturday morning and drove down to Clinton to pick up Bob Donnan.  By 6:30 we were on our way to the river.  I set up my Nikon S50 on the dashboard and had it taking 10 second time-lapse photos to produce the video below:

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