Sal Travels Without Me In An Attempt To Make It BIG (Literally)!

Every year the Cleveland Orchestra gives a free concert on Public Square to celebrate Independence Day.  This year, in collaboration with Cuyahoga County Public Library, there will be a Jumbotron video before the Orchestra begins to play.  The library advertised for local music groups to be taped for possible inclusion in this video.  Jeff, one of the fabulous Cleveland Jumping Fleas, thought it would be a good idea for the Fleas to participate, and arrangements were made.  I couldn't play along, so to speak, because I had to work the evening of the taping, but I felt that Sal must be there.  Bruce, a fellow Flea, was kind enough to pick her up and take her along to get her photo taken at this exciting event.  The best laid plans don't always work out, however, and Sal didn't get her picture taken with the whole group.  There is a picture of her hanging out at the rehearsal, though, thanks to one of the hard-working CCPL staff.  Thanks, Dave!

Bruce picks Sal up and takes her to the taping.  Love the historical/patriotic hat!  This is the only picture in this post that I took.  I stayed at work, and Sal went to the taping without me.  :(

Sal hanging out at the rehearsal. (Thanks to Dave for taking this photo.)

More Fleas have arrived and the rehearsal is in full swing.  Sal is already out of the picture -- literally -- but she and I are with the group in spirit.  (Thanks, Thomas, for letting me use this photo.)

The incredibly talented and attractive Cleveland Jumping Fleas!  I sure hope we get to see them on the Jumbotron!  (Thanks again to Thomas for allowing me to share this photo with you.)

Sal Spends a Delightful Day at Holden Arboretum

What a lovely day for a walk and picnic at Holden Arboretum!  Those who enjoy woodlands or gardens -- or both -- will not regret driving to Kirtland to spend a day in this delightful place.  I'm happy to say that I had the opportunity to go there today with a congenial party of some of the coolest people I know -- and of course I brought Sal along.

Right behind the Visitors Center is the lovely Butterfly Garden.  This gate seemed to say "Sal must pose here."

I just had to climb under the branches of this craggy crabapple.  It seemed a natural (no pun intended) spot for a Sal photo.

 I don't know who lives in this nesting box, but it makes a nice spot for Sal to sit and enjoy the blue sky above -- just as I imagine the residents of the box were probably doing today.

A lovely wooded trail and a lovely bunch of people.  I decided a group shot was in order, and everyone cooperated -- except Murphy -- who resisted all attempts to get him to look at the camera.  Even holding out a piece of doggy bacon didn't have the desired effect.

I love the light in this shot.

Sal and the rest of the group cross the boardwalk.  I was told that Murphy was looking toward the camera while I was taking this photo.  Too bad he can't be seen!  Luckily Sal is visible. 

Here's a "Where's Sal" shot.  This giant uprooted tree was just calling out for me to place Sal on some of the small roots that were sticking out of the bottom of its massive root ball.  Can you find the uke in this picture?

One of our party was playing Sal and singing.  Hilarity ensued!

We decided it would be a good idea to get a picture of Murphy and Sal "meditating" together at Meditation Point, but Murphy was having none of it.  This is the closest we got to having him sit still and look as if he was getting in touch with his inner dog.  Even this gentle restraint couldn't convince him to enter a trancelike state.

Beautiful bogs abound at Holden.  Glad it's not mosquito season!

We enjoyed a lovely picnic on the grounds (literally) of the arboretum.

This mini house is part of an exhibit that tells what not to do when selecting and planting trees for one's yard.  I couldn't resist having Sal be a giant for a change.

These animals -- and others, too -- are carved into the trunk and roots of a 150-year-old red oak tree that fell in 2007.  

Near the "Guardians of the Garden" stump -- shown in the previous photo -- our group relaxed with a bit more ukulele picking and conversation before starting back to the real world.

As we walked -- tired, but happy -- back to the Visitors Center, I couldn't resist taking this photo.  Sal is a bit of a rebel, you see!

Sal Hears Heavenly Music

Lovers of choral music should rush over to the Cleveland Museum of Art by June 9th to experience the incredible Forty Part Motet.  After discovering it on a Mothers' Day outing, I decided that I must return with Sal.  I thought it would be best to go early in the day, as I was hoping to get some unpopulated photos -- and I invited a musical friend to come along, too, because I knew she would enjoy the Motet.  And I was right!  She did!

We got to the Museum shortly after it opened, but alas, we were not alone with the Motet.   A few early birds were already there enjoying the celestial melody.  It took some patience to get a few photos without people in them.  (In other words, I had to wait while people stood in or walked through my shots.  A lesson in slowing down, which I definitely need.)

This sign explains what the Motet is.  If you can't read it -- the writing is obviously quite small -- click on the link above for a nice description.  (No need for me to reinvent the wheel.)

I would never consider touching any of the works of art in the museum or putting Sal on them, but after some thought, I decided that resting her on top of some of the speakers would be okay, so I proceeded to do so.  (My apparently flawed logic was that the music itself was the art.  The speakers were just the way the art was being conveyed to the listeners, so were not intrinsically valuable, and could be touched.)  As I was taking this picture, a guard approached me and told me that I was not allowed to put Sal on top of the speakers.  Oops!

After being told that Sal was uke-non-grata on the speakers, I put her on the bench in the center of the room and took some pictures of her enjoying the music surrounding her.

As you can see, it was not possible to get any photos of the room occupied only by art -- unless you consider each human a work of art, too.  It's amazing to sit or stand in the center and hear the music surround you -- and to walk around and listen a bit to each individual voice coming out of each individual speaker.  This is not something you glance at and move on.  People stay a long time enjoying the immersive experience.

As we left the room to stroll through the museum in the short time we had remaining (I had to go to work in the afternoon), we saw another interesting view of the Motet.  Had to take a few more shots of Sal there.

We saw lots of interesting things, but I didn't want to get into any more trouble, so I kept Sal and the camera in their respective cases.  Couldn't resist taking a mummy shot, though!  No flash, of course!

Sal Goes Bowling

Tonight Sal and I met my sister at Fairview Lanes and went bowling!  The occasion was the Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser for Seeds of Literacy -- a very worthy organization.  (Take a look at their website and send them a big check!)  We had some yummy food and a couple of beers and I attempted some shots of Sal in the ball return.

The ball return shots weren't so great, but check out this yummy pre-bowling food!  I'm having Labatt's and my sister is having Summer Shandy.  The Fritos are mine, all mine!  ;)

I wanted to get some photos of Sal by the bowling pins, but my sister told me that this would not be a good idea, as the floor is very slippery and I would fall down.  (She put it more colorfully.)  There was also the possibility that the proprietors of the bowling establishment would not appreciate me walking/falling/crawling down their shiny, polished lanes.  So I put Sal on the floor as far onto the lane as I could reach from behind the line and took some shots.  Since it was dark where we were and light along the lanes, the pictures didn't come out so great.  I've messed around with one of them on iPhoto, which is lots of fun.  Which one (if any) do you like best?

The original picture -- cropped but otherwise unchanged.

Same picture with reduced shadows.

With reduced shadows and color saturation (to make the blue pins stand out).

With reduced shadows and maximum color saturation (for fun).

There could be endless variations on this same photo, but I think that's enough to try the patience of anybody reading this post.  ;)

We ended our Bowl-A-Thon experience with one last shot of Sal posing on a rack of bowling balls.  What a fun evening we had!

Sal was precariously balanced, but did not fall.  Anne held onto her until I was ready to take the picture.  Poor Sal has had enough tumbles already!

A Chance Meeting at a Gardening Paradise

Yesterday I was off work so, as usual, I tried to cram in more things than were possible.  No need to specify most of them here, as they were un-Sal-related, but one of them led to a Sal photo op.  Let's just say that for reasons too long to explain, Sal was in the car when I made a stop at Bluestone Perennials to pick up some more plants for my yard.  This place is a perennial-lovers paradise -- and they have lots of nice annuals, too!  Their catalog is a real gardener's dream book.  The best part -- for me and others within driving distance of Madison, Ohio -- is that we can go to Bluestone's nursery and buy plants in person.  The prices are much less than online and customers get to select their own plants.  I had already been to Bluestone and purchased a carload of plants a few weeks ago, but wanted a few(!?) more, so I squeezed in another stop there.

So what, you may be saying!?  Who cares if you went to a garden center?  But this is where the story gets interesting/funny (to me anyway).  Madison is a pretty long drive from where I live -- about an hour and 15 minutes each way -- so it's not a casual thing to go there.  I rushed in under the closing time wire, so to speak, and was quickly selecting a few plants when I turned around and saw my friend's mother standing behind me, and then saw my friend as well.  They were at Bluestone, too!  Lots of surprised exclamations and explanations followed, as this friend and I have in the past traveled to Bluestone together.  The two plant-lovers had been at the nursery for hours and their car was filled with lovely plants.  As they were leaving they noticed my car in the parking area and came back -- and ended up buying two additional flats of annuals as they were talking to me!  I had to get Sal out and document the coincidence!

Since it was so close to closing time, I could only take a couple of quick photos.  Perhaps another trip to Bluestone is needed?   Can I justify another long drive out there to buy more plants and take carefully composed Sal pictures?  Time will tell...

Three Bluestone customers (Heidi, Raenell, and Sal) by the board listing prices for in-person shoppers.  Notice the rows and rows of perennials behind them!

Haste makes waste, but also makes not-so-great photos.  I'm only including this because it gives an idea of the huge selection at Bluestone.  (No, I am not being paid to promote them.  I just love the place!) 

On the way out I stopped to take a photo of Sal on the Bluestone sign.  We were feeling sad that there wasn't enough time to select more plants...

Mighty Uke Day III

I'm gonna start by saying that I know I'm cheating here.  This blog is supposed to feature Sal's travels in the state of Ohio, and the photos in this post were taken in Michigan.  My rationale = it's okay to make an exception to the Ohio rule if the travel is ukulele-related.  So, on with Sal's trip to Mighty Uke Day!

I wasn't able to get to Old Town Lansing until almost noon, which meant that Sal and I missed a lot of the cool stuff that was going on.  Sal stayed in her case during the Make Your Own Ukulele workshop, where everybody made a Wolfelele Ukulele, because there just wasn't enough time for me to bring her out.  There wasn't even enough time for me to finish making my uke!  The workshop ran longer than I anticipated, so I had to rush off.   I brought home a half-made Wolfelele, but all is well. The instructor explained how to complete the uke, so I'm confident that Sal will have a new sibling soon.

The next event was the one I had been anticipating the most -- the "Hooked On Uke?  We Can Help!" workshop -- taught by James Hill!  The guy is amazing, and I was a little bit incredulous that I was actually going to be in a workshop being taught by him.  When I walked into the room and saw him sitting there, it was such a thrill -- and then I saw that Anne Janelle was also there!  After watching both of them play online and listening to their cds...  it was just so cool.  And it got better from there.  He was such a great teacher.  He gave us challenges that were hard, but not too hard -- and he kept it light and fun.  I will be practicing the new things he taught us, and getting off my uke plateau! Yeah!

James Hill doing the fingering and Anne Janelle doing the strumming!  Sal never had it so good!

Later in the day Sal and I visited Elderly Music to see their fantastic selection of ukuleles.  See if you can find Sal in the pictures below! 

A giant wall of ukuleles!  There was another smaller wall of them to the right that I couldn't get in the shot.  Not only were there lots of ukes -- there were so many shoppers it was impossible to get a picture with no uke aficionados in it!  After I put Sal down and walked away to take photos, people began picking her up and looking at her!  She is quite a conversation starter!

Around the corner was another wall of ukuleles.  These are the instruments with the big price tags.  Sal is definitely the poor cousin here!

The day ended with a great concert.  The headliners -- James Hill and Anne Janelle, of course -- were as incredible as one would expect, and the opening acts also wowed the audience.  Mighty Uke Day was a mighty good time!  I hope that Sal and I can do it again next year.  This year we just dipped our toes in the water, so to speak, but next year we'll dive in and enjoy the whole experience!

Sal's Chance To Get Some Ink

Jeff, one of the Cleveland Jumping Fleas (the wonderful ukulele jam group that is so much fun to play with), was contacted by a Sun News reporter yesterday.  The reporter, Mark Holan, was interested in doing an article on the Fleas -- and wanted to start TODAY!  With this very short notice, Jeff managed to find two other Fleas who were able to participate in an interview -- Bruce and myself.  We met with Mr. Holan this morning and talked his ear off about all things uke and Flea.  We gave him information about upcoming Flea jams.  He plans to attend Monday night's meet-up at Parma-Ridge Library, talk to more Fleas, and take pictures.  So if any Fleas are reading this post, come to Monday's jam for your chance to be famous.

Of course I did not hesitate to introduce Mr. Holan to Sal and to encourage him to link to this blog when he posts his article online.  I'm hoping lots of people will click through and take a look.  Here's the big commercial: if you are a Cleveland-area resident, and want to play uke with an awesome bunch of people, check out the Cleveland Jumping Fleas!

At least two of these guys were really playing!  ;)

Sal enjoys being the center of attention!

I've Been Hampered By a Railroad

Today the Cuyahoga Valley and West Shore Model Railroad Club held their Annual Spring Open House.  I thought this would be a perfect Sal photo op -- a chance to get some fun photos of a very small ukulele (Sal) with some very small trains!  So I bungie-chorded Sal's case to my bike and set off for the 5-minute ride to the re-purposed depot where the club meets. I was going to spend some time there with Sal and then continue riding to work.  Unfortunately, the universe had other plans...  There are train tracks between my house and the depot, and sometimes a train stops there for a very long time.  I suppose you know where I'm going with this.  A train was parked on the tracks.  I looked to the right -- the train was blocking the next street in that direction.  I looked to the left -- same sad story.  I waited for a couple of minutes, then decided to take some photos of the frustrating situation.  I parked the bike at what I thought was a good angle for a picture, got out the camera, stepped back, began to push the button, and CRASH -- the bike fell over!  (I had a suspicion this could happen, as the bike was parked on a slope leading up to the tracks.)  Luckily Sal was completely protected by her thickly padded case.   After waiting a bit longer, I realized I'd have to start the trek to work or risk being late.  So there was no Open House for Sal and I today.

The second action shot in Travels with Sal!  The falling bicycle!

Irony Alert!  Sal and I were prevented from seeing the model trains by a real train!  It stretched really far in both directions, making a bicycle go-around and an on-time arrival at work impossible.

As I rode home from work, I decided to stop at the depot -- even though the Open House was long over.  Sal and I will be returning -- there will be another Open House in December -- but I wanted to take pictures at the depot today, and doggone it, I did!  We couldn't go in to take photos with the model trains, but there were some interesting shots to be had outside.

Sal hanging out on the old caboose on the depot grounds.

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well

Last night Sal and I attended a production of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living In Paris at the coolest theater in Cleveland -- Near West Theater.  The show was WOW!  Having heard over the years that Jacques Brel is known as the show that saved the Playhouse Square theaters, I'd always been interested in seeing it.  And here was a chance for Sal and I to experience it at Near West.  Wonderful voices, colorful costumes, fascinating stories inside the songs -- and the Near West up-close and personal style -- added up to an amazing marathon of entertainment!  I highly recommend it for those in the Cleveland area who are reading this before the run ends on May 19th.
 

The amazing CoCo (wonderful singer and actress) and Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek (Near West's Executive Director) very kindly took a moment to pose with Sal a few minutes before the show began.  Because of the conditions under which the picture was taken, I was not thrilled with how it looked, so I did some messing around on iPhoto to make it look old and blurry around the edges.  I really like the way this picture feels now.

Quin, another talented member of the cast, saw Little Sal and asked to play her.  When I told her that Sal was not in tune, Quin managed to tune Sal in the very noisy house and then to play a lovely song.   It's a small world!  Uke players are everywhere!  (which is a very good thing!)

After the show, my friends invited me to accompany them to Toast Wine Bar.  I left Sal in the car, thinking it would be too obnoxious to impose my uke photo obsession on them any further, but they urged me to bring her in.  It was very dark, but with the aid of the little candles on the table and the addition of a glass of wine (not taking credit for these super ideas), and the menu chalkboard that was on the table (I can take credit for this one), I got this shot of Sal against the well-aged wall.  Not sharp, of course, but very atmospheric.  Lesson from this picture:  too many cooks don't necessarily spoil the broth!  Several heads are sometimes better than one!