‘Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil’ – Chapter 24

Well, my week has been very busy once again, but it’s all good things and as my father continually told me when I was in High School – being busy keeps me out of trouble!  LOL!  The kids had their NYSSMA competition this past weekend and things went okay.  I would love to say that they went great, but I’m a little upset by what one of the judges did.  Let’s just say that I consider what was chosen to be done rather rude and upsetting to my daughter and may have cost her one of her chances at All State.  She only gets one more shot which now puts a lot of pressure on her to get it right next year.  I’m not going to get into specifics here, other than to say that I’ve communicated my concerns to others in order for them to take care of it.  So, my Saturday could have gone better.

On the flip side of things, the musical at my school is moving along at a brisk pace now.  We are doing well and we made it through our two dress rehearsals with minimum issues.  Nothing that is going to destroy the show.  And, I can proudly say that as of today, the sets are done and ready to go.  I am very proud of these students and I think they are going to put on a fabulous production of “Guys and Dolls, Jr.” for the crowds at East Middle.  And I know they will have fun as well.  We had some more State testing this week and a friend of mine asked an interesting question on Facebook.  I get that teachers aren’t supposed to talk about the test.  However, aren’t we all “payers” of the test and as tax payers, shouldn’t we all be allowed to see the exam after it is given?  I get that we can’t see the exams before their given, that’s pretty obvious, by why not let the tax payers see the exam?  Let them see what their money has paid for!  Anyway, it was simply a valid question.

Heather is completing her last week this week for her bus run.  Her students are sad to see her go and so are their parents.  That tells me that she made a real connection with all those students and she did everything she could to make them feel safe and secure on their way to and from school.  It makes me proud of her to see those connections and I know she will do well with her new job at Transit as well.  The kids are relieved that NYSSMA is over, but now have to look forward to their Spring concerts much like I will have to do after this weekend.  No rest for the weary.  I am trying to get things together for “Free Comic Book Day” and as soon as I have more information on it, I will put it on my Facebook feed, so check it out there.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 24 of “Star Wars:  Labyrinth of Evil” by James Luceno……

‘Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil’ – Chapter 23

Well, things are starting to come back together for me and even this blog is starting to catch back up to where it needs to be.  I gotta get the podcast caught back up, but I should be able to get that all back together fairly soon.  I am excited that my big projects are starting to come to a conclussion and that my blog and podcast are coming back together because that absolutely means that I will have time for other projects and to start pushing forward some of the things that I have been working on.

It’s been busy and I can say that both my personal and professional life are all getting busy.  So, let me start with my personal life.  This last week has been busy because I am now putting together the finishing touches on Matt’s (Ruth’s Boyfriend) armor, which means he will be able to debut his armor sometime soon.  I’m hoping to get it done by the next event I have on the calendar, which is coming up pretty quick.  I finished Austin’s helmet this week and I’m excited that his helmet came out looking as good as it did, which now means that Austin, Tara, and myself all have the same style bucket, which is kind of cool because it’s the first time that all the costumers in my family have the same bucket.  We now look like a family.  Go us!  On the same level, Ruth is getting nervous about her NYSSMA solo.  She wants to do good so bad, and I have tried to take a step back from her preparation.  I don’t want to be the overbearing parent who is a music teacher that is pushing their son/daughter.  If she does well on her NYSSMA solo, I want it to be something she earned, not necessarily something that I made her do or forced her to be the best at.  I want her to take ownership of her work.  That’s not easy for me considering I am a music teacher, but I am working on being this way.  Austin and Tara seem non-worried about their solos, which has me more concerned, they should be worried about them.

I have been working feverishly to get all the things done that need to be completed for “Guys and Dolls, Jr.” at school.  Next week we will be running our last rehearsals before we have our opening night and I want to make sure that everything is going to run smoothly.  I have faith that it will come together like it always does.  Heather is busy getting done with her current job so she can start her new one.  I have not mentioned it here because I wanted to make sure she was okay with both jobs before I mentioned it to anyone in the public.  Heather has decided to leave the Chenango Valley Bus Garage and head to Transit in downtown Binghamton.  She decided to do it for several reasons, but the main reason is pay.  She was looking to leave a long time ago, but considering recent events within the district and the decisions being made, the writing is on the wall that the Valley School District is really pushing to merge with the Chenango Forks School District.  If that is the case, Heather assumed they would simply all turn to Birney Bus to transport students for both school districts and she wanted to avoid having to work for Birney at all costs.

I know several people have been concerned about me and wondering why I have not been out and about costuming and doing what I would normally do in the spring (attending Cons, etc.).  Honestly, someone has ruined my desire to costume at the moment and that person is local, so it’s making it difficult to find events that this particular person is at.  To further explain, I’m doing it because I don’t know how I would react were I around this person.  It’s the first time that I cannot predict what my actions/intentions would be in advance.  So, I have decided it is best for the both of us if I simply stayed away for the time being.  My viewpoint may change at some point, but I don’t see it changing anytime in the near future.  Especially considering this person seems to have decided to not just “let things be”, but instead have decided to continue to “poke the bear”.  It’s amazing that somehow I can cut ties with someone, yet they make it a POINT to nag the crud out of me even AFTER we have cut ties with each other.  That’s a special talent!

Anyway, things are moving along and life is moving forward and my life will go on without costuming if it needs to.  Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 23 of “Star Wars:  Labyrinth of Evil” by James Luceno……

‘Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil’ – Chapter 22

Well, I finished out my vacation this week and got back to work at school.  The rest of my vacation week was a little more relaxing.  I tried to let go of what happened the first half of the week and started to focus on the things that needed to get done.  I was able to at least get some projects accomplished.  By the end of the week, I had Austin’s Falco bucket completely painted and even had the electronics installed.  All I had to do was install the T-Visor and that would be completed.  Matt (Ruth’s Boyfriend) came over on Saturday just before they had a date night and I was able to fit him for some thighs, codpiece, and gauntlets.  I just have to finish fiberglassing parts of that kit for it to be completed.  I am happy with where that kit ended up.  Meanwhile, I was also able to get some work done around the house.  I was able to seal the floor in our bathroom and got some work done there.  I was also able to work on some things outside the house because the end of the week actually started to warm up.  I even got in some target shooting with Austin and Tara as we used their BB guns and I showed them how to aim down a site picture and use it to line up your target.  Heather and I got to watch some movies that we didn’t think we would get to.  Heather watched “Clerks” and “Dogma” for the first time with me and we decided that since we were in the “Jay and Silent Bob” mood, we would watch some of their DVDs.  So, we watched “Jay and Silent Bob Get Old”, “Jay and Silent Bob Get Irish” and “Jay and Silent Bob Go Down Under”.  I have to admit that Kevin Smith and Jason Muse make me laugh non stop.  Even though I’m learning WAY too much about Jason’s personal life!  It was a good end to the rest of my vacation and I at least got to relax, even if for just a little while.

Then Monday came and I was back to work.  Things at work are getting stressful, but for teachers all over New York State, when State Testing takes place, there is always a bit of stress involved.  The administration, teachers, and students all get stressed over the tests.  I’m still not quite personally sure how all this testing is helping my students to become better learners.  I don’t think it’s as effective as those on Capital Hill think it  is.  We got our first full time SMASH rehearsal in this week with our new crew and I have to say that everyone is catching on fairly quick and we are moving along at a fairly good pace to be ready for our next concert.  It has me pretty excited.  I have the end of the year concert to get them ready for.  My Tech Crew is coming together nicely and we are working together as a team to get things done for the musical rehearsals.  I’m happy with how much we have gotten done in such a short time, but we have a lot to do before our first night performance and I’m trying to be patient with it all.  This week is flying by which means our third quarter is almost done and the last quarter of the year is almost upon us.

Not much else to talk about, so let’s discuss our reading.  This week I read Chapter 22 of “Star Wars:  Labyrinth of Evil” by James Luceno….

GalaxyCast #97

Well, I would like to say that my vacation has been nice and relaxing and that my time away from my job has been carefee.  But, as some of you who follow me on Facebook know, that was not the case for my break for this Spring.  I know I had lofty goals and I know I was expecting to get a lot done.  Probably expecting to get too much done!  But I also had fate against me on this break and that seemed to set me back from the day I left for vacation.  Then there was my day today, it was stressful and I feel that some people are not listening to me.    So, let me go over how my break started after my last post last week.

Thursday was my last day of work before the break and it went fairly well.  I had tech rehearsal after school and we started to pull things together for our musical at school.  I must say that the new sound system is rather enjoyable.  It’s rather easy and simple to understand and will make things immensely simpler on all of us over time.  I now need to get used to how to operate the system and put things together the way I want them together.  I’m getting there and I’m confident that I can get it done when the time calls.

The next day was Good Friday and all I can say is that my Good Friday was not so “good”.  I forgot about all the things going on for Good Friday and Heather reminded me of all the things going on, so I had to make the decision to cancel recording for the podcasting that night.  I felt bad because Gary didn’t get the email and he ended up coming over to my house anyway and unfortunately, he ran into a “storm” going on in my house (almost like he did the night that I had to try and put in a new garage door).  The storm was all centered around the fact that our oven suddenly stopped working.  And of course, it had to be the part on the bottom of the oven and not just the burners on the top of the oven.  I thought that it couldn’t be that big of a deal and tried to light the oven manually.  The gas clicked on, but I was unable to actually light the oven.  Somehow the gas was not lighting up.  It was driving me insane.  So, I turned to my good old friend the Internet, except I had a minor problem, our Internet in the house was not working.  So, I had to switch over to using my cell phone to look for solutions to the problem.  General gist – I cannot light the pilot light the way I was because there is a default safety mechanism under the stove that is there to keep me from getting my head blown off.  By the way, THIS is why I don’t like playing with anything that has gas!  Anyway, after some further research I found out that my stove ignition switch had probably bitten the dust.  That put Heather and I in quite the bind.  I was not keen on the idea of trying to play with gas and put in a new ignition switch.  So I told Heather to start looking at the price of new stoves.  They were NOT cheap and they have actually gone up in price significantly since I last looked.  So, we talked about it more and I continued to dig into my research more.  Finally, Heather ended up going over to Lowes to ask if they had the part.  They did not, but they were able to tell her where to get the part to fix the stove.  By this point I’m getting really concerned because if I don’t get the stove fixed by Saturday, then Sunday’s Easter dinner goes right down the tubes!

On Saturday morning, the entire family got up early and we all headed in different directions.  I took Austin and Ruth and we headed over to the church.  Austin and I had to practice our Easter morning songs with Karla (the organ player) and Ruth had to practice her NYSSMA Solo with Karla as well since Karla is accompanying her for the competition.  So, it was kind of a “two-for”.  Meanwhile, Heather headed over to a local dealer of appliance parts and got a new ignition switch for the stove.  She made sure shew as there as soon as it opened so I could work early.  I got done practicing with Karla when Heather let me know that she was on her way home, so I left the rehearsal at church and headed home.  It took me about two and a half hours, but I was able to replace the ignition switch on the stove and got it working again.  It was about a $100 part, but that’s better than a $500 to $600 stove (and that’s on the cheap end!).  Now, I will admit that putting the ignition switch in was not easy and it was definetly followed by some blue “smog” on my house with my cursing out of the company that designed the stove.  There wasn’t a lot of space for me to work in which made it more difficult. But, I got it done.  The rest of my day was spent getting ready for Easter.  Heather and I headed right back out and went shopping for things for the kids.  We went to Guitar Center and got some two in one metronome/tuners for them to use so they don’t argue with each other.  We went to “Five Below” and got some candy and other various assundries of things and then we stopped at Wal Mart and finished our shopping rounds.  The rest of my day was spent organizing the house (making it look semi-decent) and then I spent some time in the shop working on Matt’s (Ruth’s boyfriend) armor as well as Austin’s new Falco bucket.

Easter Sunday went well and things started to come back together for me and my family.  We went to church and had a great service with the congregation.  Austin performed well and we helped to give Easter Sunday a good “celebration” feeling to it.  It was nice to be able to celebrate Easter in this way at my church.  After a very nice service, we came home and the kids immediately opened their Easter gifts.  Heather started to cook her Easter dinner of ham, corn, mashed potatoes, and all the fixings to go with it all.  While she prepared all these things, the guy from Time Warner Cable arrived to hook up our Internet.  When he went to hook up the line, he discovered that not only was the line from the pole to the house a complete failure, but so was the line from the side of my house to my family room.  I felt bad because it was a former friend and he was working on Easter, but he said he was used to working on holidays such as this and he ran a new line to our family room and to our house.  More importantly, my house FINALLY got Internet again!  YEAH!  I’ll admit that everyone in the family jumped online at the same time and we probably overloaded the system at first.  We had a nice evening of relaxing after that.  We watched (as a family) shows like “Duck Dynasty”, “Hell’s Kitchen” and others before we sat down as a family and watched “The Bible” as a collective unit together.

On Monday we headed to Albany to go to a bunch of stores that we all wanted to visit.  Heather went a bra shop while the kids and I went to a costume shop and I was able to get new boots for my Jedi costume to work towards my Rebel Legion approvable Jedi.  I then came back and picked her up and we went to Mohawk Army and Navy.  I have to admit that I was disappointed in Mohawk this time around.  There wasn’t nearly enough things there for me to be interested in and their shelves seemed bear of all of their tactical gear.  Which is a shame because I had some things in mind that I wanted to get for my Resident Evil costume, yet they didn’t have any of those materials.  We then went over to the mall and the kids went shopping with some money they received from their grandparents/aunts/uncles from Easter and Christmas.  Their favorite store, of course, was “Build a Bear”.  After that we then headed over to some Comic Book shops and I tried to shop for comics, etc.  However, someone sent me an email that got me so upset that it completely ruined my mood and I ended up not getting anything.  This email was something that had me distracted for the rest of the week.  We then got some dinner and then came home.  When we got home, I suggested we try the new “eatery” in town called “Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt”.  We were confused at first when we went in, but got the hang of it.  The Frozen Yogurt is AMAZING and we were even more excited that the company is Christian based. The “Frog” in “Sweet Frog” means “Fully Rely on God”.  That made the kids like the place even more.  We got done there and went home and crashed.

Tuesday was supposed to be a day for us to get some stuff done for the musical at school.  However, we tried to deal with the issue that I received the email about yesterday, that morning.  What had me really upset today is the amount of time this issue is going to hang out there and the fact that I had to pay out close to $80 out of my own pocket to prove something that was done, that others KNOW was done considering they saw a “Thank You Card” for the things that were done, but because someone has a bug up their rear end, I have to now suddenly spend my own money to prove that it was done.   So, who gets to reimburse me for having to spend my own money on something that I volunteered for?  Just feel like it’s a way for this particular individual to kick me in the rear end because they simply hate me at this point and want to make my life miserable.  Well, if that person is reading this – thanks, you made my life miserable!  It worked!  So, not too much got done with the musical, not anywhere near as much as I was hoping to get done.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and recouping from the day before.

Today was a day to start/work on projects.  I spent most of my day today working on building projects.  I finished up painting Matt’s (Ruth’s boyfriend) new gun that I put together for him.  I needed to black coat the rifle and put it all back together and that portion is done.  I also worked on finishing up Austin’s bucket and am working towards completing that task as well.  I’m hoping to actually clear off my work bench by this summer and at the rate I’m working, it is actually completely possible to do so!  Other than that, I watched movies while I worked and tried to relax.

Okay, so let’s not read for one more week.  I have many podcasts to catch up on, so we will be seeing some more podcasts soon.  And, as you can see, my life is a little chaotic at this point, but I have faith that all of it will improve in the future.  So, head on over to the GalaxyCast Website and check out our latest Episode – #97.  As always, I would like to thank Ian Palmer and Gary Boughton for taking part on my podcast and Mike Wilkerson and the 2 Guys Talking Podcast Network for all their support!  MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!

GalaxyCast #96

Well, it’s hard to believe that this past weekend was Palm Sunday, but it was.  It’s the first time that I did not go to a comic book/toy convention that was happening even though I was really tempted to go.  I’m not sure why Albany decided to put a toy convention on the weekend of Palm Sunday, but I decided it was time that my religion and my family came first this time around.  I have quite the interesting world that I live in.  I feel like I am part of two communities and in a way, I really am.  It’s awkward to try and manage the two communities because they don’t co-exist very well.  I go to church as any Christian would and I do believe in the Bible.  I know some would excoriate me for my beliefs, but I grew up in a strong Christian home and I have strong Christian beliefs.  Do I always agree with the Christian church?  Not always, there are issues that I don’t agree with the church on.  However, I do believe that a Christian (at least one who is not just a sheep in the herd) questions their faith and their church from time to time.  Otherwise, why believe in a faith at all!  Then there’s the costuming world.  Most of my costuming friends (and I’m not saying all, just a majority) are non-Christians who don’t attend church and usually partake in events on Sundays and therefore don’t care about the fact that they are missing church.  I don’t judge my costuming friends for doing this.  Heck, I do it sometimes myself.  But most of my friends don’t understand how I can lead this double life that I lead.  My dad said it to me best one time, he said “son, this world is an interesting place. You will meet many interesting people.  But in order to be a Christian that is leading the way forward, you need to live in this world, not of this world”.  In other words, live among the people – be with them.  But, don’t judge them.  It’s not your place to judge them.  Christians will tell you that we all need to love one another.  They will be judged, but it is not my place to do so.  God will judge them upon their death.  It’s not my place to judge them here on earth, when their creator will judge them when they are no longer of this earth.  So, that’s my viewpoint on how my two worlds work together.

I can honestly say that I cannot wait for Spring Break.  We are starting our after school rehearsals for the musical this week and we just finished auditions for SMASH.  Although I enjoy seeing all the students that want to audition for SMASH and they all work hard, it’s quite taxing to try and make sure that everyone gets a fair shake at making it into the group.  We had a good group of auditioning kids this year and we accepted three students into the group as new members, which is the most we’ve had in quite some time.  Also, I was able to perform with my church’s choir this past weekend for the Palm Sunday service as we sang a Cantata to celebrate the day.  It was nice to get the cobwebs out of the old singing pipes and prove that I still got the voice I had when I was back in college.  This week also started tech rehearsals for our musical at East this year.  We are doing “Guys and Dolls, Jr.” and it’s getting intense.  We finally have our new sound-system in place, but now I’m having to learn how the system works on the fly while trying to prepare for the musical as well.  It’s adding a level of stress to this part of my job that I’ve not had in the past.  But, I am confident that I can work my way through it as I have in the past.

The kids and family are doing okay, but Ruth is really feeling stressed yet again.  Her year is winding down, but it’s not really.  She is getting ready for her NYSSMA competition and she REALLY wants to make All State and is dying to do well with her solo.  She picked a rather difficult Mozart clarinet Concerto  and I hope she’s able to get it together in time.  It’s demanding of her and she knows it’s going to require some practice on her part.  She’s also preparing for her Regents exams and is feeling the stress of those examinations coming on.  Austin is getting ready for Track season for him.  Things are a lot less stressful, but I did find out from him this week that he let the tuning slide in my old Bach Trumpet get stuck and apparently it’s been like that for almost a year.  It took all my engineering skills to get it loose and it finally popped free when I used a dowel rod on it along with a hammer.  Slide is slightly bent, but nothing I can’t fix with some elbow grease.  Tara is as Tara does.  She’s just as goofy as ever, but she’s driving us nuts with the attitude that she is giving us at home and now we have discovered, the teachers at school.  I’m trying to figure out how to get her to stop exuding her behavior and her mentality in this way.  I don’t think it’s her intention to come across this way, but it is the way she presents herself.

I have several projects planned for Spring Break and yet again I think I have probably overloaded myself with things to get done.  I always get too ambitious this time of year.  I want to finish up my Resident Evil costume so that I can set the best example I can think of for my Resident Evil Costuming Group.  On top of that, I want to make repairs to both Herc Ti-5024 and Da’Rang Falco along with upgrading Ad’Carud Falco’s bucket to the actual Falco bucket.  Then I need to work on getting Ruth’s boyfriends’ kit done so that he can troop with us when he wants to and he can be a member of the new Verdika corps of the Mercs and help us out when he needs to.  I also want to fix some things around the house that I’ve been promising Heather to fix.  I need to catch up on this blog along with my podcast, but all of that assumes that I have Internet once my Spring Break begins and something tells me that’s not going to happen.  I have so many books I wanna read along with comics and my wife is just flying by without giving me the chance to be ready for what comes my way.  I know things will eventually get easier, I just hope it’s not when I have one foot in the grave!

Okay, so no reading this time around.  Instead, head on over to the GalaxyCast Website and check out episode #96 of the GalaxyCast Podcast.  I’m excited because we keep inching closer and closer to our 100th Episode and we have prizes and all sorts of stuff to give out for those episodes, so pay attention as we move ever onward.  We (as always) would like to thank Mike Wilkerson and the 2 Guys Talking Podcast Network.  I want to thank my STAR Productions crew of Gary Boughton and Ian Palmer.  If it were not for them, I would not have made it to episode #100.  It’s a milestone that I will never forget!  As always…..  MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!!!!

‘Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil’ – Chapter 21

Well, I am writing this entry several weeks later than I wanted to, but I have an honest explanation as to what is going on and why it has taken me this long to get an entry into my blog.  So, let me get to my explanation and then I will get all of you updated on what has been going on in my life and my family’s life.

First off, I have been AFK for two, almost three weeks now.  We had an issue with Time Warner Cable and their ability to give us customer service as our ISP.  We lost Internet at my house and they told us they could not be out to our house to fix it for three weeks! I was torqued and could not believe that a company that I have been with as my ISP would treat me like that after over ten years of service!  I demanded that they get out here sooner, but their reaction was that they needed to deal with their new customers first and then they would get to me.  So, I told Heather to research getting away from Time Warner.  After several calls, she got ahold of our satellite cable provider – DirecTV and found out that they had satellite provided Internet via their ISP known as Wild Blue.  So, we decided to set up a time for them to come in and set up a dish and get us Internet.  They showed up on that Friday and set up a brand new dish on my roof, turned on the Internet and things seemed to be going okay.  At least for one day.  The next day, my Internet became extremely laggy and would not last more than a few hours before the wireless in my house went belly up.  We let them know about the issues, so they agreed to come back this past Saturday and try to fix the service.  When the technician arrived, he refused to get off his cell phone.  He was on an obvious personal call and didn’t seem to really care that my wife and I were trying to talk to him about some things.  To make matters worse, he was knocking things off the wall in my wife’s studio, running lines all over the house and I now have what I like to refer to as my “waterfall” line going down my basement stairwell.  It’s so big my dog trips on it everytime he goes downstairs.

So, this was supposed to fix my Internet, but I can tell you that it is no better now than it was before.  So, after two services three technicians and all this work later, I still have little to no Internet access at my home.  What has me really upset is the obvious breach of law that Time Warner has over the Internet on the market today.  How is this NOT a monopoly?  Just like no matter what anyone says to me, our power companies in New York State also have a monopoly on their products as well.  I was under the impression that as of the 1940′s, monopolies were illegal.  Heck, I think they were deemed illegal before that point.  But then again, I am so frustrated over this whole situation, I may not be seeing things straight.

I can’t believe how quickly time has caught up with me even without the Internet.  Palm Sunday, Easter, and our Spring Musical are all upon us and I am getting worried that I will not be prepared for any of it.  Actually, I KNOW I’m not prepared for any of it!  My year has been flying by at break neck speeds and I’m not even sure where the  time has gone!  I am working hard to get the podcast back up to speed.  In the meantime, my kids had their musical, “Footloose” at the school and things went swimmingly well.  All three of their performances went over with great success and the performances of their SMASH material and the rap they did was very well prepared.  I was very happy with everything and I think Ruth’s boyfriend Matt was the star of the show!

My kids are relieved to have their life back, but we still have a busy week with Easter coming up, but i think they are looking forward to the Spring Break, just like I am.  We all need some time away from school and the melodramas of school and our workplaces.  Heather is stressed and so am I.  I know many of you have been patiently waiting for this podcast and blog to get back on track and I promise we will, there is just a LOT going on in my life right now and the issues with my ISP are just the tip of the ice berg!  I seriously need some thoughts and prayers and my family needs your thoughts and prayers as we work through this fairly tough time in our lives right now.

Okay, enough about us, let’s talk about Chapter 21 of “Star Wars:  Labyrinth of Evil” by James Luceno…….

‘Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil’ – Chapter 20

Well this week was full of surprises and many of them I can’t talk about just because their too personal.  I will say that there was some controversy surrounding me and the GalaxyCast team going to the convention we went to in PA.  I know some friend’s feelings were hurt in the process and my goal was not to hurt anyone’s feelings.  We honestly made a last minute decision to go to an event that we were invited to go to through the Mandalorian Mercs and no slight was ever intended.  Instead, we just wanted to go to a Con and get back to our roots.  To remember why we got into costuming in the first place and to have a stress-free environment to do so.  So, to those that were offended, I apologize.  Those who were jealous because they saw us having fun, I say too bad!

Okay, so with that out of the way, let’s talk about my week this week.  Thursday night I went to Community Orchestra and we got our music for the next concert.  It’s a lot of Spanish and Mexican sounding music and it may be interesting except that the trumpets are Tacet on a majority of the numbers.  For those that don’t know – Tacet means that you don’t play at all in that movement or piece.  Anyway, I guess I should just accept that this is the life of a trumpet player.  On Friday, the GalaxyCast Team did their next recording and I continued to work on some more “Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute” as we continue to review the “Clone Wars” TV show.  Saturday Heather and I got to do some work around the house that we needed to do and I am finally starting to catch up on some of the paperwork and work that I need to get done.  I have several projects that need to be finished, but I’m making headway there.  Then Saturday afternoon we went to the Broome County All County Concert for BCMEA and I have to say that I”m still impressed with the youth in our County.  As always, the teachers and administrators there made valid arguments about not cutting music programs from schools, but Austin’s choir teacher nailed some things that have NOT been addressed in New York State.  For example, he told schools that they need to stop looking at Music Educators as K-12 teachers without a focus.  We DO have a focus, instrumental and choral and just because you sing does not mean you can play an instrument and vice-versa.  We ALL need to remember that.  He also said it’s not good enough to simply NOT fill a retired teacher’s position.  All that does is leave a void that the other teachers left behind are now required to fill.  Both concerts were excellent and I was very proud of Ruth and Austin for their hard work!

Sunday was church day.  We had worked hard all week for church this week because we were in charge of the social hour food and beverages.  We got up early and ate breakfast and got dressed and then headed straight over to church and began to set things up.  Heather got up several times during the service to make sure that the coffee was being brewed during the service.  We worked hard, but I think the church appreciated all the food and beverages that were made and the Crissman Social hour was a success.  Of course, Heather and I could not have done it without our kids.  On Sunday afternoon we tried to relax a little bit, but still had some leftover projects to get done.  We also had to get Ruth to and from Binghamton Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Monday started off our long work week and things seemed to go together fine on Monday.  My kids are getting a little anxious about their musical for “Footloose”, but after seeing some of their rehearsals and where they are at, they seem to be progressing just fine in the musical.  I am working hard to catch up on paperwork in my school and to make sure that I keep all of my work completed and current.  I often feel like I am running, but not getting anywhere.  Anyway, Monday and Tuesday went very well and I can’t complain about how things are going in our house or at our jobs.  I just keep hoping that things will continue to go well.

Just a reminder to keep my family in your prayers.  It’s something we’ll need prayer about for quite some time.  It’s much appreciated my Christian friends.  Anyway, let’s move on and talk about Chapter 20 of “Star Wars:  Labyrinth of Evil” by James Luceno…….

‘Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil’ – Chapter 19

I feel like two lifetimes have happened since I last wrote about my life.  A lot happened this week and it was a rough week, but a very rewarding week all at the same time.  So since I wrote last week, let me talk about my days day by day.  Thursday was Valentine’s Day and I had big plans with my wife, but alas they were not to happen because I had orchestra rehearsal that night.  We decided to take the kids out to “Texas Roadhouse” for dinner and then I went to orchestra after that.  On my way home from orchestra rehearsal I stopped by Wegmans and picked her up a nice vase of roses and that’s about all I could do for my wife.

On Friday, I had the day off from work, which was nice.  So the family and I slept in, but the kids couldn’t go too far because they had musical rehearsal and had to go in for rehearsal this evening.  We had some Subway for dinner and then I recorded a podcast with the GalaxyCast Team and then I relaxed the rest of the night and watched “CSI:NY”, “Blue Bloods”, and “Kitchen Nightmares” with Heather before we went to bed.  On Saturday we slept in a little and did some work around the house.  I worked on my Mando and tried to make some improvements to the kit for a Con that we decided last night that we were going to tomorrow.  Then around six o’clock or so we headed over to Maine Endwell High School for the Binghamton Community Orchestra Concert.  Which, by the way, went amazing!  The “Outdoor Overture” by Copland sounded pretty good, our Coleridge-Taylor piece went very well and “Rhapsody in Blue” by Gershwin went VERY well and I was very pleased with how things went.  I even got to meet with a former marching band member’s mother which I had not seen in a while.

On Sunday, I headed out a little early and Ian came over and picked me up and Ian, Gary, and myself went South to Clarks Summit and we went to a Comic Con that was tied to the Clarks Summit Ice Festival and we were invited by the Pennsylvania Clan of the Mandalorian Mercs along with Joseph Figured who was the event coordinator.  We got there and set up part of the table and then started to get into our kits.  It was an EXTREMELY fun day and I have to say it was good to get out and do an event.  It reminded me why I got into costuming in the first place.  I got a chance to meet some really nice people and make some contacts with some amazing people.  Even Neal Adams thought our costumes were just spectacular.  I got home and hung out with the family and we watched “The Good Wife”, “Walking Dead” and some other shows before heading to bed.

Monday was a day to rest and get things put away for the week and then Tuesday started our week off to the races.  It’s a short week this week, but because of all the things we did on the weekend, the week felt like it was several weeks wrapped up into one.  It was fun and it was busy.  But as my dad says, the busier I am the less likely I am to get into trouble.  As always, keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 19 of “Star Wars:  Labyrinth of Evil” by James Luceno…….

GalaxyCast #95

Another week gone by and this month is just flying by at this point.  I know it sounds awful, but I’m practically counting down my time to this upcoming four day weekend.  I so need some time off from my job and even a little bit from my life.  I’m physically and mentally exhausted all at the same time.  I am beginning to feel old and I don’t know why.  It’s not like I’m getting extremely old or anything, but I do feel like I’m aging quicker now as I get older than I did before when I was younger.  It sounds weird, but I really do think that life starts to snowball after the age of 35.  Things start to grow in places their not supposed to and other things that should grow no longer grow.  It is almost enough to make you cry.

We kind of had a weekend of rest this past weekend.  Heather had a trip on Saturday and Austin forgot that he had a play rehearsal that he was supposed to go to on Saturday morning.  We had to have a talk with my son about paying attention at rehearsals and really listening to what the adults are saying around him.  I think he understands now, but I can’t be totally sure he will remember from now on.  TV shows are starting to come back.  We got back shows like “The Good Wife”, “How I Met Your Mother”, “Mike and Molly”, “Hawaii Five-O”, “Two Broke Girls” among others which is helping me get stabilized a little bit mentally this week.

Although I’m under some other kinds of stress this week because this weekend we have our next Binghamton Community Orchestra concert.  It will be an interesting concert.  We have some interesting brass parts like “Outdoor Overture” by Aron Copland which has some nice trumpet parts in it.  We are playing “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin and then we are doing a  four movement piece by a composer named Coleridge-Taylor who I don’t know much about.  We had a rehearsal last night and I have a rehearsal on Valentine’s night (which my wife is a little bummed about) and then our concert on Saturday.  It will keep me out of trouble.

The kids are rolling along with their musical and I am now being asked to help a little.  They have a “junk yard” scene and are looking for some rhythms to put together to go with a rap that the students are doing and this fits right in with what I do in SMASH.  So that’s something I will come up with this weekend and work it up for next week.  Tara has a country report she has been working on for the last few months and she is so close to completing it.  She has worked so hard on it, I hope she gets a good grade for all the hard work that she’s putting in.

Again, keep praying for my family.  We could use the thoughts and prayers.  We all just keep saying that we need to make it through this week.  But by the time we get through this week, we keep saying all we need to do is make it through the next week.

So, no reading this week.  Instead, head on over to the GalaxyCast Website and check out Episode #95 and give it a listen.  Ian, Gary, and Bob Talk about “The Clone Wars” and Star Wars Episode VII.  Thanks again to Mike Wilkerson and the 2 Guys Talking Podcast Network for all their support!

‘Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil’ – Chapter 18

Hey fans.  I cannot believe how quickly life is flying by right now and we in the Crissman household and at the GalaxyCast Studios are doing our best to keep up.  It’s been a rough week, but I’m doing my best to keep up with all the things that are going on.  This week has been another roller coaster ride and I can say that things are moving along at an extreme clip at the moment and I will try to keep you all in the loop.

First, Ruth had her Area All-State Chorus this past weekend and I can say that it went very well.  Her group had an amazing director and I was very impressed with how well they got the students to perform after just two days worth of work.  It’s never easy to get that many students together and have them perform together as a group and her director did just that.  It was surreal to go to Ithaca College for her concert only because the last time I was at Ithaca was for college auditions and I was never impressed with the school for my college auditions.  But it was nice to be there and their auditorium was nice.  We ate dinner at Taco Bell to try and keep it cheap and then came home.

Our TV shows are finally slowly starting to come back.  I was happy to see “The Walking Dead” come back on air this week.  It will be a few weeks before some others come completely back online, but I’m glad to see that some things are going back to normal in their own little way.  Austin and Ruth are starting to get into full swing with their musical rehearsals for “Footloose” and Tara is getting excited because her birthday was this past weekend (with the Superbowl) and she knows we are waiting on an Alto Saxophone gig bag for her to use with her Alto Sax.  She’s excited to get it and can’t wait for it to come.  We are waiting on “Woodwind and Brasswind” to get it in and send it.

Heather and I have been extremely busy and we are under a lot of stress with our jobs and all the running around we are doing with the  kids and the other things we are working on.  I feel as though the two of us are not able to have a social life with each other because of all the running around we are doing and we hope that we get a social life at some point, but honestly I’m not holding my breath.  One of these days we may actually get in a date night again.  Heck, a night with nothing going on where we can just relax and do nothing would be nice, but neither of us see that happening anytime soon either.

On another note, to my Christian friends out there, I need to ask a personal favor.  Please keep me and my family in your prayers.  We are going through something personal and we could use all the prayers and moral support we could get.  Thank you.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 18 of “Star Wars:  Labyrinth of Evil” by James Luceno……