Saturday, September 19, 2009
A Night at the “Instrument Petting Zoo”
A squeaking, blurbing, squawking, hooting, whistling, clarinet, tuba, cello, violin, flute, sax and drum delight of a night, the annual “instrument petting zoo”—as one school staffer phrased it, and he might have placed emphasis on “zoo”—brought parents and school kids from all Arlington to Thomas Jefferson Middle School’s basement Tuesday.
Students tried out, tried on, tested, stood, stared, bowed, fingered, slid, plucked, blew, and—occasionally—listened through a one-stop-shopping night of orchestral abundance. Since Internet storage is cheap, I’ll add that they laughed, measured, chatted, scratched, bleated and boomed.
Billed as the “Instrumental Music Information Night,” the Arlington Public Schools event was aimed primarily at 4th and 5th graders who can join the schools’ orchestras and bands this year.
School orchestra and band leaders with upper-class students, gave the elementary school kids quick lessons on how to hold, blow or strike the instrument in order to fit the student to the right size—a full-, or half-sized violin, for instance.
Sales and rental information was also available (rentals going first, and at reduced prices, to the families who need financial assistance most). Students handed in forms at the end of the night with their top three preferences. The schools make the choices about who gets which.
Christopher Wall, a 4th grader at Taylor Elementary School, was new to the school and the opportunity to get these music lessons, his mom, Beth, said. She added, he wanted to come to try the violin and the “kello.”
It’s a 30 second video of the night, enjoy:
Labels: aps, Barrett, instruments, kids music, music
Friday, June 12, 2009
Go Remy's "Arlington": Mugging Involves Hot Cocoa
Perhaps this video by comedian song-writer Remy, as one reaction on the youtube site puts it, is too "north Arlington."
The poster of that message said, we up here, even in just-barely-north Arlington have access to the Starbucks and the Starbucks, and the Starbucks, but they have Weenie Beenie and Bob and Edith's down below the Pike. True that.
Remy represents on the O-Line, not the likes of Buckingham, or even "West Buckingham," foshizz. Still, it's funny.
Samplin':
Yeah, we kinda got a mall
You know you can't stop us.
It's got everything, but nothing good
It's kinda like tapas
