Sunday, October 5, 2025
Friends Brian and Tory planned our outing to Orchestra Hall to hear the MN Orchestra play the soundtrack to the Empire Strikes Back. It is not my favorite Star Wars movie, but it was absolutely the perfect movie for this activity. I have not seen it for many years, so there was a LOT that seemed new, but I also knew the overall story so I could watch the orchestra without missing anything. Perfect.
We went to Hell’s Kitchen for lunch beforehand. It was perfect, too. I have never been there (Keith has raved about the Lemon Ricotta pancakes) and it was nothing at all like I expected. I expected a dive; it was lovely. They had a 20-foot-long Bloody Mary and Mimosa bar – we all went for a look. So many snacks or sweets you could have stuck on sticks for your drink. We all voted we would be overwhelmed to figure it out, so we passed, but it was fun to look. Keith had lemon ricotta pancakes again (I wonder why I capitalized it earlier in this paragraph). I had huevos rancheros and it was so good. I thought I would like it (so I ordered it), but I realllly liked it.
Walking across the street between concert and lunch we noticed how beautifully the Foshay Tower was reflected in another big, tall building.
It was Maren’s birthday and I didn’t think of a good present, so I made her a caramel. I just made one big one. She unwrapped the waxed paper and took a bite out of it. So did Rob and Mollie. I like to think the whole thing just gets bitten gone.
Keith had a Metro Brass rehearsal tonight (concert November 2 at The Grove Church in Woodbury). Jim Self, famous tuba player, is visiting Gary and came to listen. He has played on over 1500 movie soundtracks! Remember Close Encounters – Dooo dooo doooo dooo doooooo? That was him!
Let’s have Keith jump in again and tell you about this cool guy… Keith here… Jim Self is a Hollywood legend on the tuba, but it goes so much further than that. He’s also a composer, producer, publisher, teacher, and one of only a couple people on the planet that one could call a great jazz tuba soloist. We cut the rehearsal short about a half-hour tonight and had some Q&A with Jim. He had some great stories about getting started in Hollywood, playing under John Williams, and so much more. He spoke about how he got into jazz tuba and becoming a composer. It was all pretty fascinating, and he has had quite an amazing and very successful career. He is in town to work with students at UWRF, UWEC, and others.
We picked Marla and Nick up from the airport late tonight. They had a great trip to southern California and while on the way back home (to where their car was waiting in our garage) we also talked about their recent trip to Iceland.
