Music, Music and Music

Like many of you, I like music, many styles of music but some not so much. I also became a fan of YouTube but mostly centered around Music and Dance but a few other items as well. One of my most favorite pieces of music is Pachebel's Canon in D. So, I did some searching on iTunes and Youtube and discovered The Piano Guys. They actually have two or three variations of the Cannon. I have now collected thirty or more variations featuring piano, violin, guitar, steel guitar, full orchestra, soulful, pop and jazzy versions.



Jackie Evacho age 10 at AGT 2010

While down in Phoenix caring for my son I spent time browsing YouTube and watching clips when I noticed, in the column of options on the right, a cute little blond girl who stunned the judges of AGT for 2010. The photo reminded me of my two little granddaughters who  are both blonds and if I do say so myself, very cute too. Well my interest was peaked and I clicked on the picture. The YouTube video opened up and the camera showed AGT and began zooming in on the stage and a small girl in a red dress. I almost fell off my chair as she sang O Mia Bambino Caro, in Italian, and in a voice that ought to be coming out of a full-grown woman. The sound and the image were so hard to associate. Since the video was a couple of years old I found more clips of her progress through the AGT competition and I was further amazed and I confess, hooked as a fan. I now own all but one of the CD's and DVD produced by Jackie Evancho - the one I don't own was pulled from the market before I discovered her.

Devan - 1st grade

Bria - Kindergarten

Anna Graceman age 11 at  AGT 2011

In the past two years I have discovered several more artists by watching AGT clips on YouTube: Anna Graceman (big fan), Anna Christine Nichols, Lindsey Sterling, Prince Poppycock, Kenichi Ebina and the list continues to grow. Most recently I discovered the Willis Clan who sing Irish and Blue Grass music (a family of 12 kids, age 23 down to 3 - 6 girls and 4 boys) and they are so fun to watch and so very talented.

In November of 2013 my wife Sue and I and our granddaughter Meghan (aged 12 at the time) went down to Portland OR to see Jackie Evancho (aged 13 at the time) in a live concert. The wife and I thought the concert was great, Meghan would have liked a more POP style singer but she thought Jackie was very pretty. It was fun none-the-less as we spent some time on the town in the Big City of Portland (big for Sue and I who live in the country).

 

Next Summer, 2015, Sue and I are going to Ireland which we think will be so much fun. For one thing, the part of Ireland we'll be going through contains the area, near Galway, where Sue placed her 'Village of Ballydara' in her novels and short stories. I guess for her this is a research trip. Me, I'll have my camera fully charged and ready to go. Oh, and there will be music, music and did I mention music!

It's the Fall Now!

Wow! It's already Fall and it seems I could not find the time to write blog posts since the Spring. But in truth, I could not get back into my blog because my sign-in was based on an old email address. It was just so frustrating. I won't waste time venting cause I'm sure many of you out there in Blog Land have had similar problems.

Back in March, I think it was, I tried to catch up on the trials and tribulations of the Browne Family. I mentioned that my son was the victim of a head-on car crash on December 31 of 2012 and that I spent some 6 weeks helping him get from horizontal to vertical. Thank-the-maker and the fact that he was one tough Marine, he made it and is doing fine, under the circumstances of having been in a bad crash that is.

The family trials did not end there. About the time I was getting ready to head back North from Phoenix, I got a call from my brother who told me my sister Becky's cancer was back and he informed me that she decided not to go through more treatments. Once I was back home in WA State my wife Sue and I visited Becky in the care facility she was in in Yakima WA. My daughter Sasha flew up the LA area and brother Sid's son Luke and family alos joined us for a family goodbye while Becky was still able to converse and enjoy her family one last time. This was about the second week of March, 2013. The visit was good under the circumstances and Becky had prepared herself, better than we had I dare say. A week or so later my brother called to report that Becky had passed on March 21st, 2013.

More recently my Aunt Moyne Browne, the wife of my Uncle Jim Browne, my father's youngest brother, passed away on October 1st, 2014. My Uncle Jim and my two cousins, Cyd Marie Bishop and Barry Browne and their families held a Celebration of Life Service in remembrance of Aunt Moyne. Elizabeth Price, Moyn'es older sister read a wonderful account of elements of  Moyne's life. Cousin Cyd also recounted her thoughts of growing up with her mom, where there were highs and lows but in the end the love never dimmed. Several others of us shared a few brief stories, it was a moving experience for me as I'm sure it was for everyone present.

The last two years have really transformed the landscape of my life. My birth family, which numbered five is now down to two, my brother Sid and me. Yes, we have families of our own but the comfort of parents is gone as is our sister. None the less we'll keep on.