Back in Season

The baseball season began today for the Rangers, so it was appropriate that a happy series of accidents put me in the car with the radio on for the very first pitch of the game. (I didn't even think about actually attending the game, mind you, since it started a little after one o'clock in the afternoon; there are way too many other distractions this month--band trips, UIL contests, TAKS testing and The Holiday That School Districts Are Too Chicken to Call Good Friday Anymore--that will result in missed lessons, so this was by no means the day to "play hooky.")

I've been a fan of baseball ever since I can remember, and I've gotten a mini-plan or voucher packet as a Christmas gift from my sister and brother-in-law for quite some time now. Despite the steroid scandals mercenary free agents and so on, I still believe that baseball truly is the national pastime, embodying many of the things that are also good about America and bearing more than a few similarities to jazz (I've spoken at length about these things in some previous posts).

Sure, today's game ended with the Rangers on the short end, 7-3...which might prompt some cynics to say "here we go again." But hey, it's only the first day; there are 161 games left to go. I'll admit that, so far, I'm impressed with the moves made by the new wunderkind GM, Jon Daniels, so if this club can stay healthy, who knows what could happen. Besides, Opening Day is a day when everyone, no matter what team they follow, is allowed to be an optimist. And no matter what, I'll have a great time at the games. Play ball!

Cool or scary? The Virtual Teacher. I doubt this could ever take over the music education realm, for obvious reasons...but if so, maybe I should get a piece of that. Imagine Virtual Kev directing your jazz ensemble from afar...

It's a dog's life, part 2: In a recent post, I mentioned the fact that there's a "dog tax" in the Netherlands. And in Vienna, you can now get a driver's license for your dog. No, Rover can't actually take the wheel; it's actually more of an education course for the owner (avoiding aggressive behavior by the animal, cleaning up waste, etc.). They also have a cool name for their licensing process: Hundefuehrerschein.