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Today in Wedding History:

February 10, 1840: HRH Queen Victoria marries Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. I wondered why they didn't wait a few more days and celebrate their nuptials on Valentine's Day--- at first, I thought that it might not have been celebrated at the time, but it turns out that it was established in the year 500 (though it was deprecated from the calendar of saints in 1969)--- well, no help there.

Maybe they just couldn't wait four more days. After all, they were both twenty.

It is also the anniversary of the invention of the fire extinguisher and the singing telegram, both evocative images in the circumstances, and the birthday of Roberta Flack.

I suppose the rose petals have already been ordered for Robin's event at the castle. Perhaps they are gazing at the inside of the lid of a cardboard airfreight container even at this moment, with no idea that they are flying at a high rate of speed seven miles above the ocean. And no doubt the tall tapers which will illuminate the event are reposing in their cardboard boxes in the castle's storage rooms, ready to fulfill their destiny of radiating photons, glamour, and romance at the appointed time.

-----------------FLASH--------------------

and Next Week in Wedding History,
and I do mean history:

The Fox network television show, "Bones" case-of-the-week features a wedding planner who was stabbed to death with an object that resembles (the shot went by fast) the stake which holds the little bride and groom to the top of the wedding cake.

I know there are some of us who won't want to miss that episode. A difficult case--- so many people with a motive.

Never have I been so thoroughly de-feet-ed.

you kneedn't feel bad Tim.

Feb. 11, 1934: Happy Birthday Ginger Grant. Known primarily for channeling Marilyn in the television series "Gilligan's Island" (after the producers' first choice, Jayne Mansfield, turned down the role), Ginger spent years trying to persuade the public that she was a 'serious' dramatic actress in a series of rather humiliating roles. The stubborn moviegoing public was never persuaded, and felt she may as well have retired after her Ginger years had lost their snap.

Convicted of trick snatching after her arrest in a Manhattan hotel, where she was pulled from under a smouldering fireman (the hotel was not on fire), she was sentenced to ten years in Attica Men's Prison in upstate New York. At her parole hearing, the line of prisoners wishing to testify in favor of her release was so long that only a fraction could be heard.

Ginger is 78 years old.

In other wedding news: my neighbors have decided to marry, and yet the person who should be happiest about it (the mother-in-law--- the bride's mother, I mean) has already picked a fight with the newlyweds-to-be over whether their little dog can be in the wedding. Ring-bearer did seem reckless, I admit, when we're talking about an excitable little white Fifi and a diamond solitaire. I suggested that Dog-of-Honor might work, but (as told) the Matron-of-Honor had issues.

Apparently, the dog will be demoted to a cameo appearance at the reception, whose only duties (I suppose) will be to eat a few hors d'oeuves and submit to the photographer. Well, that and dress up in some kind of wedding outfit, if I know the bride. It did have to wear a Halloween costume and some kind of special bow and vest for Christmas.

I thought of suggesting my piano teacher as wedding musician, but if they're already fighting, I don't know.

I wonder. Maybe the sequel to "Bridezillas" might be "Mother-in Law-Zillas." Do you suppose anyone would watch?

Reading this over, I have to wonder if I'm still loopy from the surgery--- but it's all true. Well, not Ginger being in Attica.

I love Ginger. Can't get enough of the Ginger stories.

Clef, please recommend your piano teacher for the wedding. Then we can hear the inside story about the music. I assume you'll be invited, so we can look forward to that report.

Sorry i haven't posted recently. There's a lot going on here, not the least of which is a renovation of my living room, brought on by the donation of two fabulous sofas from a good friend of mine who is moving to Shanghai. My husband, who has two weeks off, decided we should do the work ourselves. I am proud to report that we are still married and the living room looks great.

Lots of jobs this week and next. Valentine's Day means an extra Monday night gig for me---it's odd to work on a Monday! Shaping up to be a busy wedding season. Lots of engaged couples are coasting though the castle lobby. Some of them take my business card.

In the middle of all of this I am practicing for my recording session next week. I have selected (and written) pieces to go along with the stories in the new book. I'm looking forward to the sessions—I work at this studio called Topaz, with an engineer named Reinhard Kobialka. A far as I'm concerned he gets the very best piano sound for my kind of music.

So wish me luck. This will be my fourth solo piano CD—I tend to do one every five years—but the process is still very exciting!

Is Reinhard Kobialka related to Daniel Kobialka, the violinist?

Not sure, BDB. I'll ask him next week.

Gearing up for the VD dinner this evening. I am hoping that Buttercup shows up. I like to think that an appearance by her will be an annual tradition.

I am unlikely to be invited to my neighbors' nuptials, especially if only to serve as a mole for "Let's Talk Weddings." If the mother-in-law is making a fuss about the dog, I'm sure she is only too well aware that caterers charge by the head, and is highly concerned about what her friends and family will think... and say. They may not say it to her face, but she well knows the feeling of eyes boring into her when she steps foot into the beauty parlor.

"She invited a dog!"

"Did the caterer charge by the head for the fleas?"

I think they might (privately) be over their daughter's having a live-in lover, as long as he is somewhat presentable and does marry her eventually. But a dog instead of grandbabies--- no. The Tennessee father of a gay man I know actually got in a fistfight and punched his son's boyfriend in the snoot. "You drank up all my grandbabies!" Oh yes, they have an agenda.

Well, now it's all out in the open.

I'm sure the Valentine's Day event will go fine, with or without Buttermilk.

Releasing a CD to go with the book is a brilliant cross-marketing opportunity. I am very anxious to hear the music you devise to go with the story of the girl eating an apple through a picket fence while wasps chase and sting the wedding guests while they kidnap the bride--- was that how that story went? Goth outfits, tattoos, piercings... or is this just another fever dream.

ROFL!

I had an outdoor wedding at the house we lived in at the time. While I had extended an invitation to my cat, Holden, she had not deigned to send back the RSVP card (cats are not known for their social etiquette), so I thought she was going to abstain from the proceedings. I'm not sure she approved of my spousal choice; Jonathan had had dogs throughout his life but never a cat, and it took him a while to warm up to the idea that Holden and I were a package deal.

So I was pleasantly surprised when Holden made an appearance in the ceremony right after I walked down the "aisle". Our wedding video shows her walking back and forth the whole time we are saying our vows, perhaps waiting for the minister to utter the immortal phrase, "let anyone who objects to this union speak now or forever hold your peace," not realizing we had explicitly instructed him to leave that particular line out. (Along with the admonition that the bride should obey her groom. That one was a no-brainer.)

I don't know, Clef, I think being a mole for the Let's Talk Weddings Forum would be a noble profession. The neighbor's wedding is sure to contain many notable moments. Do try to wrangle an invite!

Monica, that's a scream about Holden pacing back and forth during your ceremony!

Valentine's Day at the castle was no fun for me. Two hours into the gig I became quite ill---there's a norovirus thing going around and it seems I am its latest victim. One minute I was at the piano playing love songs in the key of A minor, the next minute I was in the ladies room praying for mercy. I still don't know how managed to drive home, but I did.

So much for the red dress---I think I'll need to burn it.

Oh... sorry you had a rough Valentine's Day Robin.

I think of you and your charmed job everytime I go to my Saturday job. I travel on the highway into the heart of downtown and slip into an ancient neighborhood just north of the business district. To the east is the super-ghetto, to the north lies the river, railbeds, warehouses and industrial complexes. The weather has been rather dreary. Piles of dirty snow melt in the grey air. Clouds hand low and the cars are all filthy. I pretend I am going to a castle to play a grand piano rather than the small electric organ up in the choir loft. I imagine that someday the church will serve Vietnamese or Italian horsdoovers rather than Communion. While improvising before Mass I imagine looking over the 'crowd' and checking out the outfits.

European 'money' buys the neatest clothing.

Robin, so sorry to hear about your norovirus. They are nasty indeed. My son came down with one of those when we were in Baltimore one weekend. After two days of my son going nonstop at both ends, I think they had to incinerate the hotel room after we checked out. We left a huge tip for the maid staff but it probably still wasn't enough.

The norovirus is awful.. I caught it once on an infected cruise ship.

My Valentine's gig was in an old folk's home that co-incidentally has just been shut down for the past month due to the virus. Did you know that you can catch it by merely touching an infected surface? That ol' beat up Steinway got a big dose of rubbing alcohol on its ivories, let me tell you, and I don't even care what effect that had on the keys! Needless to say, there were a lot fewer residents sitting in the audience then before the virus hit.

Here is a photo of my romantic evening. The piano was nicely decorated with balloons:




I was playing for their Valentine's sing-along and reading off some very shiny paper. To top it all off, the volunteer who was leading the sing-along kept turning around before each song and then saying loudly, "Do you know this song, Dear?" and then proceeding to hum it to me, at which point I would cut her off by playing a very loud intro

What fabulous photos, Tea Girl! And how great you must have felt for bringing a little joy to these people on Valentine's Day.

Much more productive than my Valentine's Day, although I did manage to play two sets before disaster struck.

Thanks, Apple and Monica, for your good wishes. I am feeling much better now and even managed to argue with my husband this afternoon when he suggested yet another set of "alternative voicings" for one of my new pieces.

I expect to be completely better tomorrow, just in time to go back to work.

Noro--- ugh. I hope you feel better soon, Robin. Call me loopy--- I pictured you wrapped in the healing light. They say green, like the new leaf, is healing but I found it didn't flatter you. In the end, the amethyst and gold seemed the most right.


Anyway, it's a good thought coming your way. My recent experience has told me that it does make a difference.

Now about that mole thing. My neighbors are never going to invite me to that wedding; I only see them to speak when we're walking our dogs at the same hour. But I'll see what I can pump out of the groom.

With a good interview technique, you can find out all kinds of things--- except from NASA. For some reason, they never answered my inquiry about the wedding on the space station.

I wouldn't expect you to drag yourself out of a sickbed (and that far from a toilet) just to look at the night sky, but the sun has been very busy this week, with a big coronal mass ejection aimed just our way. Northern Germany might well see the aurora borealis.

Thanks for the pictures Tea Girl. I have enjoyed my time in nursing homes. One of them has a C-7 in awesome condition on the 'memory ward'.. ha ha. Some of those patients were rascals pure and simple.

I have my own cold that I can't seem to fully shake.

Marian McPartland must have been on vacation. I always listened to her show on the way home from rehearsals but some guy has been on. I was glad to hear her again the other night. I am wondering if the show is live. She is quite elderly.

I hope everyone gets better!

A few months back there was an alzheimer patient wielding a snare drum. He played along to the whole sing-along. It was awfully trying on my nerves, but he was such a nice old gentleman and according to his son, used to be a drummer.
The weird thing was that I could not see him, and the whole I kept thinking, 'I could swear I hear a snare drum'
I haven't seen him lately so it's possible he passed away.

Maybe, but probably not.

When I moved to Germany, I was looking forward to my kids seeing the aurora. I grew up in northern Wisconsin and saw many astounding displays on cold winter nights, but my children had only lived in Alabama and Virginia. Central Germany where we lived was about the same latitude as International Falls, so it seem promising.

What I'd forgotten is that the magnetic north pole is tipped from the true north pole. It turned out that Germany is actually fairly far south on the magnetic scale, and we never had a chance to see the lights.

True, the auroral oval is tipped:


But, it might be worthwhile to look up during the solar storm... I mean, if you're already outside. Graphics courtesy of http://spaceweather.com/

You can look up all you want where I live; we're having a real storm. But, that just means spring won't be over next week.

Still hoping you're doing better, Robin.

Hi everyone!
Thank you for the good wishes, and yes, I have nearly recovered from the no-no-norovirus. Rescheduled my recording session for early March—just wasn't up to it. Playing the piano is difficult enough when I'm in good shape.

Loved the amethyst, Clef. I swear it helped. Thank you.

Had a meeting with a June bride the other day. She and her husband are both Swiss. They were, as one might expect, perfectly dressed, perfectly organized, and, well, perfect. They were both very tiny, almost like they could stand in for the plastic bride and groom on top of the wedding cake.

I was bitching and moaning about having to attend the meeting, but it was very nice, and by the end of the one hour I had secured work for both myself (ceremony and afternoon reception) and a jazz trio (dinner). So it was worth the extra effort.

Another phone meeting didn't work out so well. Pitched the same basic set-up, but the bride decided to "save money" and just have a DJ. Perhaps I shall send her The Wilma von Weasel Demo CD. I have a new version: It features a dementia patient playing snare drum solos. Perfect for those sensitive moments at the altar.