Oboewan’s blog

Last night I had my first rehearsal with the Washington Balalaika Society.   I'd played with them many years ago on and off and I'm glad to be able to play with them again.   Russian folk music is in my blood and I really enjoyed the evening, despite the fact that I couldn't breathe due to this hayfever I'm dealing with (Hayfever in February?  What's with that?)

Luckily, the rain seems to have cleared up some of the allergens but another clear, sunny day will only bring it all back.   I've got a busy weekend coming up so I hope this sinus thing gets gone fast!

Tonight-  more Dungeons and Dragons in the Kingdom of Khalor with Jon, Tucker, Kevin and Llywelyn!

Tomorrow- Flex-Friday!    I'll be leaving work early tomorrow to enjoy the day and then it's up across the river to rehearse with the Montrose Ensemble.

Saturday- Gaming at John Kerr's followed by The McLean Symphony's Valentine's day concert

Sunday- Carpooling with Matt up to the Odenton Library for the DCSWCC meeting!

I've just upgraded my Cox Cable to a DVR so I can enjoy my favorite shows whenever I want etc... blah blah blah...

I definitely love having it but there are just times when I want to throttle Cox.    Take last night.  Monday.     New episode of Heroes, new episode of How I Met Your Mother,   Two of my favorite shows.   I checked the DVR settting Sunday and everything was just peachy.   After work on Monday I headed over to Michelle's to play Race for the Galaxy (she beat me two outta three games) and Crokinole (I beat her two outta three), spend time with her feline "kids" Vespasian, Cornelia and Tavey, and watch Heroes.    It turns out Hereos was slightly delayed due to el presidente's speech.   When I got home, I really wanted to see what happened this week on How I Met Your Mother- only to find that the DVR recorded "How I met Obama" instead.   You'd think that in this world of technology and digital everything, there'd be a way for the cable providers to automatically adjust things to accomadate scheduling changes.   Maybe I should get TIVO instead- then I could program it remotely (though I suspect that it wouldn't have helped because the "schedule" wasn't actually changed)

Sigh

Back to work and then off to McLean rehearsal!

Such memories this phrase brings back to me.   Way back when I lived in Ankara Turkey, I had an Israeli friend Daniel who loved the movie and loved quoting this phrase.   Along with his sister Michal's "you crazy!" statements, a lot of great times were had.  

The Good:   Life is churning along nicely and I had a great SuperBowl weeking full of friends, boardgames and football up at Mike and Sallie's.   Oh yeah.. .and the Steelers won!  (Even though there were a plethora of questionable calls on both sides but leaning more in their favor)

The Bad:   I've so been looking forward to Feb 20th and the Jonathan Coulton/Paul and Storm concert at the Birchmere... but curse my lazy tuchus!    They're already sold out!

The Ugly:   Tuesday's rehearsal with McLean was nothing short of embarassing and I was one hair on my chinny-chin-cnin short of just getting up and walking out... I hope Dingwall inspired (or cowed) the strings (esp violins) to play better.    We'll see (or hear) at Saturday's 9AM (ouch!) rehearsal!

Valentine's Day concert at 7:30, McLean Community Center.   Check out the link on my page for details!

Well... there were a few flakes yesterday, but today and tonight we're gonna see some REAL snow.   Like 2-3 inches of the stuff.  Yup.   The ENTIRE city is going to shut down but I still have to go to work and I still have to make it out to orchestra rehearsal tonight.   It's gonna be crazy.  The drivers around here are bad enough to begin with but add even the threat of snow and the situation becomes infitinely worse... Force forbid that we actually get ICE and Snow on the roadways!   The commute to work tomorrow is going to be insane and I have a confernce to set up for nice and early.

With luck, we'll get a "blizzard" (read- 12 or more inches) and I won't have to go in.   I know the weather folks have been wrong in the past... maybe they'll be wrong this time and we'll get MORE than they're expecting?

We are such snow wimps here in DC!   Though not nearly as crazy as it was in Houston the day it snowed way back in 94!

Yup... looks like I'm already slipping.   Well more than a week has passed since my last update. Oh the agony!  I'll try and do better.   Really.  Don't look at me like that!

So what's new?     Hmm...   I'm subbing in the Reston Community Orchestra for their concert this Saturday- 6pm at the Reston Community Center.   You should come hear us!   Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Porgy and Bess and some choir pieces!   

I'm still having tons of fun with our Thursday Dungeons and Dragons sessions at Llywelyn's house.   Last knight we chased down a bunch of mercenary bandits that were terrorizing the town.   Almost to next level!   Daikon (Tucker) let something slip that bodes for some interesting role play down the road and Taeri (me) has a few surprises as well!

4 day weekend is 60 minutes away!   YES!  

Eddie From Ohio is playing at the Birchmere this weekend.... 3 shows but I'm going with John, Sheila and Llywelyn tonight! aturday I have a quintet rehearsal before the concert then maybe gaming at Michelle's, Sunday, Mark, Rick, Gretchen and Michelle should be coming over to watch the Steelers game and maybe stay for the late game too.   Monday, I go bowling with Ilana followed by dinner and maybe a movie.  Tuesday, I'm either gonna brave the cold and the crowds and try to make it into DC for inaguaral festivities or just wimp out and stay at home and watch movies.

Must.  Get.   Back.  To.  Work.    Sigh.

Until next time- thanks for reading!

Yes... yes... it's that time again.  I resolve to post to this blog more than once a week yada yada....

It's been a fun holiday season filled with family, friends, music and of course... gaming!  

Four concerts this month- Montrose Wind Ensemble at Brookside Gardens- a nice place that had huge displays of various things made from Xmas lights!   Animals, snowflakes, a rainbow... a Frog who's through glowed and made a "ribbet" sound.   This was my second time to the Gardens and was a much more joyous occasion.   The last time I was here was years ago to celebrate the life of my good friend and gamer Jeff Gardner who mysteriously passed away in his sleep.   I thought of him often while I was playing the Schubert Octect and Bird Suite in D and remembered all of the good times we had.

I also played a holiday concert with the Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra which is conducted by my an old friend of mine- Dana McCarthy.  It was a great experience playing Beethoven 9 and the Nutcracker.    The McLean Symphony holiday concert was the following weekend and then I played a Mass on Xmas Eve at All Souls Episcopal with my friends Steve (flute) and Bobby Jo (bassoon).   Bobby Jo's husband Oscar (aslo flute) came for the mass and seeing him again was a special treat!

There was much gaming to be had:  XMas Eve gaming at John Kerr's, XMas gaming at Michelle's, New Year's Eve gaming at John's, New Year's gaming up in Middletown MD at Scott Fisher's place and EVEN MORE New Year's gaming at Bob and Christin's house.   I was invited up to Middletown to play Descent which, if you've been following along, I'd run a longish campaign of at my place earlier in the year.  I haven't played at all since, so Dave's invitation was a welcome one (but oy... what a schlep!)

This weekend looks to be fairly relaxing with the January meeting of the DCSWCC tomorrow and then just helping out the 'rents at home on Sunday.    Maybe even a date!

Stay tuned!

On Sunday, I got back from the 4th Annual BGGCon hosted by the great folks at www.boargamegeek.com.  If you're looking for information on boardgames it is THE place to go!

Wednesday:  Got up before the sun and waited for Michelle and Kevin to pick me up at my place.   Went to the airport and to our pleasant surprise, ran into our friend Martin who happened to be in DC and decided to fly to Dallas from DC!   We landed in Dallas without any problems,  got to the hotel,  checked in, and wandered around checking things out and saying hi to old and new friends .   I managed to get in 6 games, one of which I'd never played before and the CON wasn't even starting until Thursday!     For dinner (must avoid the crappy Denny's across the street like the plague) I ended up going out with a group of folks (including two other Jeffs!) to Red Hot and Blue and must have chugged 3 giant glasses of sweet tea

Thursday, I got up early, hopped across the street to the gas station for a breakfast biscuit and to stock of on Fuze drinks for the day, then hopped back to the hotel and got on line for registration.  While in line, I jumped over to the N-Z line and played a game of Race for the Galaxy!  I ended up playing 7 games, including teaching 3 guys LeHavre, which is probably one of the top 10 games to come out of the Essen Game Fair.

Friday, I somehow managed to play 7 games, none of which I'd played before.  Diamond's Club was my favorite, closely followed by Mecanisburgo- a Spanish game set in an alternate Earth timeline in which the ideas of the great Sci-Fi writers (Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein etc..) had come to fruition.  Although I pretty much got hosed in the first round, it's a great game and I can't wait to try it again!   I think I ended up at the hotel restaurant for dinner and as they couldn't seem to cook a burger medium-rare after two attempts, the manager compted the meal (I need some red in my red meat).

Saturday was another long day involving lots of fun.   The first think I did was get into the front of the line for the Flea Market:  This is where a bunch of people had brought games to sell and the rest of us to buy!   I ended up picking up a copy of Sceptor of Zavandor, Blue Moon City, and Tigris and Euphrates, though Kevin made out like a bandet with his $20 History of the World snag.    

I headed to the main ballroom and met up with Paul Marshall, whom I'd met at Euroquest and we teamed up to convince Erin O'Malley from Cleveland to play Hanging Gardens with us, despite her story that all of her friends told her it was a "wifey" game.   It's a strangely satisfying and relaxing game and we all enjoyed it.   Then the three of us "bullied" Stephen Shaw into a game of Wasabi which I'd been wanted to learn.  What a gorgeous game... must get copy... but Z-Man was all sold out.  I also learned 2 other new games- Jet Set which was kinda wierd but fun, and Battle Star Galactica- a cooperative game based on the newer Sci-Fi series.  It took forever but was a total blast and Kevin was a great teacher even though he and I lost (we were both Cylons as it turned out- he from the start, and I became one after the halfway point)   The 6 of us retired to the bar to snag much needed food.

Sunday saw much less action that the other days, though I somehow seemed to get in 6 games including my first win at Ghost Stories.   I'd played this 4 player cooperative game at least 3 times this weekend and there were many many rules discrepencies.   By this time, I think everyone had ironed out the kinks with Asmodee Games and we played correctly- I think- and managed to kill the incarnation of Wu-Feng!  I also played a nice game of Agricola with Kevin and Martin.   My last game, like my first game, was Race for the Galaxy which I played with my good friends from NJ, Doug and Anni.   Beforehand, the designer of the game, Tom Lehmann, stopped by and pulled out his laptop and showed us pictures of the cards coming out in the next expansion!  An awesome ending to an awesome convention!

Then of course, was the "farewell" game :-(   It was sad, but good sad... because we'll all see each other next year at BGGCon2009!

The flight home was uneventful, despite the cashier at the airport McDonald's refusing to NOT put Ice in my cup for my sweet tea (what's with that?)

Michelle dropped me off at my house, I unpacked, and then hit the sack, really not wanted to go to work the next day and dreaming of a life filled with friends, boardgames, and music.

Hey everyone!  It's been a long fun weekend of boardgaming at Euroquest and now it's time to get back to the real world.  I'll post later about my fabulous weekend, but for now, I wanted to invite you all to come hear me perform with the Montrose Ensemble this Thursday at 7.  It's a free concert at the Twinbrook Library in Rockville and consists of 3 pieces for winds by Schubert, Bird, and D'Indy and should be an earful of fun!

Sometimes it seems that I can lose sight of why I got into (and am STILL into) playing music.   The grueling rehearsals where nobody really learns their part until the week before the concert, the annoyance of having to make new reeds from a tiny piece of cane, the practicing, the inconvenience of a last minute rehearsal or time change that screws up other plans I'd already made......   

But then I'm up there on the stage with the hot lights, made even hotter but the penguin seat us classical musicians are forced to wear- the audience slowly making its way to the seats, a heartfelt wave from my family- and I'm in the zone.   The excitement of a performace, the glorious sounds of the music as the musicians, the instruments, the conductor, the composer and yes, even the audience, become one entity of togetherness and individualism- of sharing the moment, of each piece contributing to the larger, magical, whole.  The glorious voices of the soloists as they sing about the great heart throb in Spanish.   THIS is why I keep coming back for more, why I keep double booking my schedule so I can just play and experience this thrill, this magic, this music.

Sergio- I'll play with the Pan American Symphony any time!

Yes... I've been lazy.... L-A-Z-Y   :-)

Much has gone on in the last month- The McLean Symphony went fabulously, I've been on a couple of great dates, the Redskins won a bunch of games, and I got a raise at work!    I've been house/cat sitting for my friend Michlle and got to spend some quality time with the three furballs, I'm actually enjoying the D&D sessions I caved into playing (despite Jon being the DM ;-)  and my good friend Jerry flew in from Madison this past weekend for the Arlington Board Gamers session!    Between reherasal, gaming, brunch, more gaming, and another rehearsal (different group) it was an exhausting weekend!   Maybe it's a good thing that Jenny can't play duets tonight after all......

What does the future hold for Jeff?:  

Pan American Symphony Orchestra concert:  Nov 2nd at 3pm at Lizner Auditorium in DC.

Euroquest gaming convention:  Nov 6-9 in Timonium, MD

Montrose Ensemble concert:  Nov 13 7pm at the Twinbrook Library in Rockville

Currently playing on the ipod:

I Need a Nap by Wierd Al and Kate Winslett

Until next time....

Jeff "Oboewan" Kahan