Benford

Another iPhone post

Oh, the anticipation is getting to be too much. I was thinking about waiting about a month or so to get my iPhone but all the talk is getting to me. I might just have to break down and wait in line next Friday for my iPhone. I’ll at least make my way to the Barton Creek Apple Store to see how long the lines are. I’ll make sure to take and post pics of what could be chaos. If it’s anything like the Apple Store at Christmas time, we’re in for a treat.

If you look at my blog list, you’ll notice that iPhone Central has appeared there. MacWorld has set up a blog with Mac, iPod and (will be) iPhone gurus letting us know about new features, etc. You can ask questions or comment on what they blog about. In fact, I’ve already got a few questions that I’ve wondered about out there. We’ll see what comes of that. I’m also excited about this because the iPhone has full web capability so if there’s a new piece of 3rd party web-based software that I’ve learned about and want to try out, I can go straight to the blog and link to the software from there. Neat, huh?

Well, 6 more days. Anybody want to endure the trip for the iPhone with me?

Back to the evens

Connie in her blogspot

Happy Birthday, Connie!

Thanks for the fun times and yummy margaritas last night!!

Backyard Project #1

Even though I watch LOTS of home improvement shows, I don’t think I’ve actually seen this episode. I’ve just always a vegetable garden so when I GoodSearched this, the option of a raised vegetable garden came up. What a great idea! It’ll keep the garden neat and easily accessible. So today, I went to Home Depot to price out or even get the lumber. After asking around and talking to a few specialists, I ended up ordering 2 planks of 2X12X8 and 2 planks of 2X12X12 in cedar. $145 for 4 planks of wood! That’s not even the corner posts, hardware, all the dirt or even plants, either. Thank goodness for giftcards! Regardless, I’m excited about getting it done. The wood should be in around June 24th so next week, I’ve got stuff to do. I’m going to build two 4X5 boxes filled with herbs and veggies. I know this isn’t the best planting times but being a band director, summer’s all I have for time.

The good champagne

Our Father’s Day celebration was nice. Last Mother’s Day, I announced that instead of going out to eat, I’d like to have everyone over and cook for Father’s Day. At that time, I had no idea what I wanted to cook but knew that we’d be able to really take our time and enjoy ourselves. Also, my mom had a nice bottle of champagne we all wanted to get into so I figured it would be the best time since we’d all be together, but without the restrictions of restaurants and TABC rules about bringing in champagne (or any alcohol) from home. I decided I wanted to grill so I marinated some chicken (don’t ask me for the recipe – I honestly threw stuff together. Thank goodness it was tasty.) and had that with sausage and lots of veggies.

I have always loved champagne. I think my sister and I get that from my mother. After we had the bottle of Chartogne-Taillet, we (of course) were still wanting some more champagne. I have several different bottles of champagne chilled here but most are less expensive brands and they’re just okay in taste. Without a thought, I pulled out a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to share with my family and friends. It’s not the most expensive champagne available but it’s good stuff. In fact, we all enjoyed the Veuve better than the Chartogne.

Granted, Father’s Day is a very special occasion. It calls for the good stuff. But honestly, unless I’m mixing the champagne with something (like Central Market brand blood orange Italian soda), I’m always going to reach for the good stuff when I’m sharing with friends or family. Why when I have more bottles to go around of the less expensive stuff? Because when you’re drinking champagne, it should always feel like a celebration. A celebration always deserves the good champagne.

Brian Ibanez Info

There’s never a good time or way to pass on bad news so I’m just going to bite the proverbial bullet and post this.

I was in John Lopez’s office a few weeks ago when a call came in. I heard John say “Brian Ibanez” and thought maybe it was someone calling for a reference or something. Turned out, it was his brother in law trying to get some pictures of videos of when Brian was in the SWT Drumline.

Brian and his wife were hit and killed by a drunk driver about a month ago, leaving two young children behind. His brother in law now has custody of the kids and wants to share as many memories of Brian as he can with them. John is gathering pictures and videos of Brian to send to his brother in law sometime in the next week or so.

I know that he didn’t leave SWT in the best of terms but youth can be a time of making bad choices while trying to figure out who you are. From the conversation John’s had with Brian a few years or so ago, it seems as though he’d found his way and he knows that many of his decisions were wrong and how they hurt his friends.

If you have any fun memories you’d like to share – pictures, videos, stories, whatever – with Brian’s kids, you can email them to me or send them on to John Lopez. He’s still at SWT/Tx State. Also, please pass this on to others who were around the Bobcat Drumline/Marching Band from 1996 on. Thanks for your time on this.
~C

Here are pics I found and scanned in. Brian played on the top (or smallest) bass drum.
Brack 1996 #1