So tonight we visit the lovely Wolf Trap for a concert under the stars...
I don't know if you saw my earlier Facebook post, but in case not, I had a rather exciting incident this morning. There I was, just trying figure out why I wasn't losing those last five pounds off my waist in 30 minutes on the elliptical (no, the fact that I actually got myself to the workout room isn't the "incident") when all of a sudden I hear a noise from outside the window (now mind you, this was even through the headphone I was wearing, blaring "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry into my skull). I look up just in time to see Marine One and a few other various helicopters go cruising past me. First thought, of course, after "Holy Crap is that what I think that is"...is, like any good media junkie, "Where's my camera??"!! And don't you know it...just figures. The one time I don't take my phone with me is the one time I REALLY need it. And for anyone who knows me..I take that phone everywhere. Everywhere. Even into the shower (which, I don't recommend, but if you do, it'll dry out nicely in a bowl of rice).
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| Author's re-creation...not at actual time of event |
And just in case you question whether or not it really was the Presidential Brigade I saw flying past me...I just want you to know that I raced down 13 flights of stairs to get to the computer, checked out the President's daily itinerary, and verified that it was indeed him returning to the White House. Pretty coolio, I thought.
**As seen today at a local Starbucks (I swear, I can't make these things up): Gal walks up to the "condiment bar" with what looks like some type of frothy coffee contraption that I could see already had a ton of whip on top of it. Is she going for a napkin? Nope. A stirrer? Nope. She grabs the freakin' sugar container and starts going to town. One thousand one, one thousand-two, one thousand-three, one thousand-four, one thousand-...OK. All done. And stir. And drink. I swear to you, I started bouncing off the ceiling AND hit the 2 o'clock crash at the same time just watching her destroy the soul of that poor, innocent cup of coffee.
The Wolf Trap is a very cool outdoor auditorium-performance theater type of situation. There's a lovely wooden stage setup and then this fabulous lawn you can sit on to watch the show from. Now...I've been to plenty of amphitheater-type performances...everything from Jimmy Buffet to Sammy Hagar...but I have to tell you...never in my life have I been to a performance where you can show up at the venue with any type of food/alcohol combination short of bringing in a keg. I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!
OK...moving past that.
First, I hang with cool people.
Seriously...who else puts up with my own brand of weird?
Next...as advertised, the concert really was various Warner Brothers cartoons with the National Symphony providing the live musical score.
The symphony played the music to each cartoon as the actual footage showed on a screen above the stage...
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| Symphony stage left--Screen shown above |
I've never seen anything like this, and I have to admit...it was quite amazing. I'd forgotten how much great classical music is out there attached to so many wonderful cartoons! It was such fun to see "The Rabbit of Seville" and "Tom and Jerry at the Hollywood Bowl", or "What's Opera Doc"...all playing on a huge screen with live music from the orchestra. Moving into the second half of the performance, there were "guest performances" by Scooby Doo and The Flintstones--montages of all of those great cartoons set to music performed by the symphony. So consider...how lucky are we that we know these "classics"? I mean, if you have children--or decide to have children--I really hope that you enlighten them with these "oldies but goodies". Cuz I tell ya, there just ain't nothing like classic Scooby in my opinion....
