Cosi fan tutte
I announced last week that Andrew Craig Brown would be performing Don Alfonso in the Yale production of “Cosi fan tutte”. So, this past weekend I took a road trip to see his performance. Don Alfonso is a family friend that feels the sisters; Fiordiligi and Dorabella are about to marry the wrong men. He decides to intervene and insists to the young men that there is no woman alive that can remain faithful. He is also a philosopher and likes the idea of studying the outcome of human nature. Taking a bet with Don Alfonso that their fiancees would be faithful, the two young men agree to do everything he asks. Creating a story that Ferrando and Guglielmo, the two young men, must leave for war, they secretly return disguised as two men from Albania and attempt to seduce the lady not his fiancee. I have seen several Operas and this one specifically, I have seen a couple times. The performance of the entire cast was riveting. When act I was over I did not want an intermission and was hungry to see the rest of the performance.
WZK 70692 Quarriors! Quarmageddon Expansion
It’s all-out QUARMAGEDDON as the epic battles of Quarry dice continue with this brand new expansion set to the popular Quarriors! dice-building game. The last set Quarriors, Rise of the demons was a huge success and this set looks to be even better. Featuring 40 new custom dice & 26 new cards powering 6 new Creatures and 2 new Spells this expansion set contains updated rulebook and inserts designed for extra storage space. In this game of “Uber Strategic Hexahedron Monster Combat Mayhem,” players compete to capture the most powerful Spells and Creatures (in the form of dice!) from the Wilds and add them to their collection. Players then roll their powerful cubes and summon them into play to battle each of their opponent’s forces. Register to win a free Galactic Guardians opt kit Phone: 1.127.864.6485 Street date: June 6, 2012 Price: $39.99
Andrew Craig Brown in the Yale Opera Performance of “Cosi fan tutte”
This weekend Andrew Craig Brown, a current Yale student who once studied at Millikin University here in Decatur, IL, will be performing in “Cosi fan tutte”. For more information on this production visit the link below. Yale Opera Presents “Cosi fan tutte” by W.A. Mozart, Feb 10-12 @ The Shubert Theater from yalemusic on Vimeo.
World Aquarium Seafari-Experience Adventure Tour on Eversave.com $12/ticket
Looking for something to do with the family? This weekend Eversave.com is offering the following deal, $12 for a Seafari-Experience Adventure Tour at the World Aquarium — featuring the best parts of the larger Sea Camp. Located within the City Museum in downtown St. Louis, the World Aquarium is not your average theme park aquarium. It’s a personable, hands-on oceanic oasis featuring aquatic eco-systems from throughout the world. During the two- to three-hour guided Seafari-Experience Adventure Tour, your kids will feel like seasoned marine biologists as they touch, feed, and learn about stingrays, sharks, turtles and many more aquatic animals. They’ll further learn about the importance of conservation and the sustainability of our fresh-water ecosystems. Grab multiple Saves for your family for an educational, underwater outing that makes fact as much fun as fiction. Just visit eversave.com between the dates of January 19th and January 21st.
My Owari Satsuma Mandarin Tree
It has been almost a year since I ordered and planted my Asian Pear tree and two years since my first attempt at growing anything. I have to admit, it has been a great learning experience filled with many trials and tribulations! Last year in November I decide to purchase more plants online and one of those happened to be the Owari Satsuma Mandarin tree. My kids LOVE Mandarins so we decided to check and see if there was any way to get one here in Illinois. I called John at Clifton Nursery and told him my situation. After talking with him a bit, I learned that it is possible to keep such a tree here in zone 5 but you just need to bring it in during the winter. He highly recommended the Asian Pear tree so I immediately ordered one from his company. The beauty about this specific Mandarin tree is the Owari is a well-known Satsuma cultivar which ripens during the late fall season, requires little water, and is cold resistant. My tree has been inside since November when we had the tree shipped to us and as you can see by the picture it still looks very healthy, even with it being so cold outside. I have been giving her water about once every 4-7 days and misting the leaves every other to every day. I think overall about 3 or 4 leaves have turned color and fallen off the tree but I’m guessing that is a bit normal. I could be speaking to soon, but honestly it seems pretty easy to care for an indoor tree. I do have to say that the customer service at Clifton Nursery has been outstanding even after the sale. I frequently have questions and they always take the time to help me figure something out. I have even been able to send them a photo of my plant and they provide the best solutions or advice. I have taken what I’ve learned from Clifton Nursery and applied it to my other plants. Last year over the winter my rosemary plant died before it could make it back outside and, as you can tell by the picture, even after being inside for 3-4 months my rosemary is doing very well. I brought a couple other plants in for the winter and I plan to do a full post right before spring with a report on everything’s health. I’ve been hooked ever since I started growing things back in 2010. The American Garage is a tv show based in Texas and the pilot episode 1 is the start of a restoration project to bring a Bradley tractor back to working order. As you can imagine, this project caught my attention and I was brought on last year. I owe this connection to my newly found gardening hobby and a product I sell called Castaloy.
Yale Glee Club with Yale Philharmonia peforming Beethoven’s 9th
Andrew Craig Brown performing the Baritone solo in Beethoven’s 9th at Yale, what a performance! A former Millikin University Student in Decatur, IL has continued his education at Yale University and is scheduled to graduate this year.