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[tullamore]

during that big storm we had my toilet was smoking - what a wild 20 minutes it was

 

[jswordy]

yup it’s a wolf spider. Actually a little small for around here. They get twice that big. They are fast and they jump !

Also a voracious predator! I let them be, even in the house. You get these in late summer/fall?



Common names: black-and-yellow argiope, black and yellow garden spider, corn spider, golden garden spider; golden orb-weaver, writing spider, yellow garden argiope, yellow garden orb-weaver, and zipper spider.

Pretty sure you have 'em if I have 'em in TN. They grow about as big as my outstretched hand.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

In high school my son auditioned for the Junior Triangle Brass Band, the high school edition of a local brass performance group. We were pleased that he passed the audition and was accepted.

During each performance, the conductor (who was his private tuba instructor) explained what each instrument is, and a chosen player would hold up their instrument for inspection. Most of the people did it kind of half-heartedly, even with the small instruments.

My son & his compatriots had a better idea. When the tubas were called upon, the entire section pressed their instruments above their heads and held them there.

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Tubas are cool ! In HS I was a trumpet player but I could play any brass with a mouthpiece. Trombone was confusing though.

 

[jswordy]

Tubas are cool ! In HS I was a trumpet player but I could play any brass with a mouthpiece. Trombone was confusing though.

When I was in band (French horn, E-flat horn) it was the trumpet players and drummers who would smuggle in the booze when we went on overnight band trips! One time, a parental chaperone who had somehow gotten word of this practice removed each suitcase from the bus at the hotel and dropped it from chest level onto the pavement. Several people had to have their laundry done that night, lol...

 

[ChuckD]

In high school my son auditioned for the Junior Triangle Brass Band, the high school edition of a local brass performance group. We were pleased that he passed the audition and was accepted.

During each performance, the conductor (who was his private tuba instructor) explained what each instrument is, and a chosen player would hold up their instrument for inspection. Most of the people did it kind of half-heartedly, even with the small instruments.

My son & his compatriots had a better idea. When the tubas were called upon, the entire section pressed their instruments above their heads and held them there.

View attachment 88693

My son was a tuba player in the UW Marching Band. I loved the games and performances but never knew how he did it… like playing a tuba while jogging a few miles! Their practices were brutal.

 

[geek]

What a thing

 

[winemaker81]

My son was a tuba player in the UW Marching Band. I loved the games and performances but never knew how he did it… like playing a tuba while jogging a few miles! Their practices were brutal.

Being a band parent in our area in marginally easier -- the wife & I were volunteers at band camp, practices, and competitions, I was the webmaster for 3 years and we were both on the governing board. It was a relief when my son graduated! We felt like we escaped!!!

For those not familiar, it's easy to get suckered into it, and then marching band takes on a life of its own!

 

[winemaker81]

Tubas are cool ! In HS I was a trumpet player but I could play any brass with a mouthpiece. Trombone was confusing though.

Trombones are the oddball -- I was buddies with trombone players in high school and got to listen to them. I started with alto sax, switched to baritone sax, and eventually clarinet. [this is not as impressive as it may sound, alto & bari have the same exact fingerings, and clarinet is about 95% identical.]

My son started with trumpet and very briefly toyed with trombone. He switched to tuba the first day of high school, as the director needs tuba players, had too many trumpets, demo'd the tuba, and the rest was history.

 

[geek]

Dark skies

 

[Old Corker]

Used to visit my cousins at their farm in Missouri. They'd be walking down the dirt road with me, except they were in bare feet! Stepped on every Black widow spider they came across. I was amazed; they were like meh. I find black widows all the time around my farm here in TN, but I still won't step on them with bare feet!

It looks to me like yours is a wolf spider, though, a beneficial predator.

My picture is a Texas Brown Tarantula. Also beneficial. We get wolf spiders too but they don’t get this big. For reference those RR ties are 6.5-7” tall.

 

[jswordy]

Dark skies View attachment 88715View attachment 88716

Varis, I am heading out on my own lil trip Saturday to pick up 6 cases of Presidente. No, it is not as far as yours. Oh, and that "NO STEP" warning is just killing me, it makes me wanna step there so BAD!

 

[cmason1957]

Trombones are the oddball -- I was buddies with trombone players in high school and got to listen to them. I started with alto sax, switched to baritone sax, and eventually clarinet. [this is not as impressive as it may sound, alto & bari have the same exact fingerings, and clarinet is about 95% identical.]

My son started with trumpet and very briefly toyed with trombone. He switched to tuba the first day of high school, as the director needs tuba players, had too many trumpets, demo'd the tuba, and the rest was history.

I also started on the sax, alto at first, then tenor and baritone, easy peasy, except there was never any baritone saxaphone music parts, so I had to play the Tuba as if it were Treble Clef, instead of Bass Clef, and take awy 4 of the flat signs shown (that's from memory, so it might be more or less). also played the clarinet and flute. Fun times.

 

[David Violante]

Euphonium myself... bigger than a baritone but smaller than a tuba. Still play actually. We had lots of trombonists and several tuba players. I love the range and the sound. Certainly not as sexy as the sax though...

 

[jswordy]

I also started on the sax, alto at first, then tenor and baritone, easy peasy, except there was never any baritone saxaphone music parts, so I had to play the Tuba as if it were Treble Clef, instead of Bass Clef, and take awy 4 of the flat signs shown (that's from memory, so it might be more or less). also played the clarinet and flute. Fun times.

Fun times, indeed!

As I often said to girlfriends before getting married, what the hell is wrong with sax? I like sax! Especially good sax. I can't get enough sax! And especially sax that is really jazzy. Super-imaginative sax. Believe me, that is some crazy sax, right there!

But now that I am married, even though sax remains constantly on my mind, she never wets my reed anymore.

Anyway, just saying that sax play is the BEST play, in my book, is all...

 

[bstnh1]

My favorite hat, a relic from my younger son's 4 years in marching band, is beat. I'm not really a hat person, but I'm thinning on top (that's a truthful but generous statement), and having sunburned my scalp once, I wear a hat outside. This hat is 10 yo.

View attachment 88678

Mrs WM81 said I needed to retire it to become a yard hat. As much as it pains me, she's right. That hat is beat -- faded and sweat stained. [dark spots on bill are water] But it needs cleaning, so I tried an experiment -- I soaked it in Oxyclean for 1 hour:

View attachment 88679

Ok, the hat is still beat -- but it looks a LOT better. Not good enough to not publicly embarrass my wife, but good enough for visits to Lowes and Home Depot ...

The inside shows the original color, which doesn't fade.

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I have somewhere around a dozen or so hats, mostly from Cabela's. Heres my latest

 

[Rice_Guy]

in memory of @vinny fun project, about a six twelve slope

 

[vinny]

View attachment 88729
in memory of @vinny fun project, about a six twelve slope

Handsome!

 

[ibglowin]

El Rancho Morada, NM

 

[bstnh1]

Sand sculpture contest, Hampton Beach, NH. This event draws contestants from all over the country and Canada every year.

 

[Darrell Hawley]

Anybody besides myself think Arby's is a little misleading on the ad ?