Posted by: Andrew Holt in Music on
Feb 23, 2011
Viennese Romance, the third concert of the Walla Walla Symphony season, began with a bit of humor and a bunch of energy. After Maestro Yaacov Bergman did not enter on cue, the players pretended as if something were amiss. As the pause lingered, they shrugged their shoulders, raised their instruments and began playing without their conductor. Moments later, a startled Bergman scurried onto the stage and glared at them as if to say "how could you start without me?"
This planned confusion played well with the crowd, drawing chuckles and applause. As Bergman turned to the crowd with a sly smile on his face, he began exhorting them to clap along to "The Radetzky March" -- the night was off to an upbeat start. "Radetzky" is considered Johann Strauss's Sr.'s most famous piece and is performed every year at the closing of the Vienna Symphony's New Year's Eve concert. It is tradition that the crowd claps to the beat of the march, and Bergmann relished the role of miming instructions to the crowd regarding when to clap softly, loudly, and to halt. He would thunder his hand toward the audience when the clapping was to reach a crescendo.
By the end of the buoyant piece, Cordiner Hall, the home of the Walla Walla Symphony, was bursting with mirth.
Posted by: Catie McIntyre Walker in Wine on
Feb 07, 2011
Since I was a youngster I have always had a fascination with Valentine cards. It may explain why even today I collect, and always drawn to, the old red and pink ephemera at flea markets and antique stores. These old Valentines, with handwritten notes of faded ink, have often left me wondering about their journey and romantic stories. I am also fascinated with the labels on bottles of wine.
Every bottle of wine in the Walla Walla Valley tells a story. Also, wine labels are important sources of information for consumers describing the type and origin of the wine in the bottle. Sometimes the label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information must be included on the wine label, such as origin, type, producer, alcohol percentage and standard government warnings. But all of that information aside, it is the logo of the winery that is the most eye-catching.
Posted by: Sam McLeod in Misc Stories, Food on
Feb 07, 2011
I arrived at Olive this morning and settled in at my table. I'm here most mornings for coffee and the temptation of jam-topped biscuits. I don't get the biscuits anymore. But I look at them.
Bob and Horace are at their table-same table every day. Bob brings his Bible. He drinks a latte and munches a cinnamon bun while he lectures Horace. Horace drinks chamomile tea and mostly listens.
Sarah, Gertrude, and Meg sit on their sofa-same places every day. Sarah has coffee and a raisin-walnut scone. Gertrude eats grapes and drinks free water. Meg has a cappuccino.
Scott's in his chair-same chair every morning-drinking his coffee-black.
Ron sits at the table at the top of the stairs-the one surrounded by stools-eating one of those biscuits I told you about. Sometimes Ron sits at the table next to mine, but not today.
Ron is sort of unpredictable.
