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Monday, April 6, 2009

Monday Mimisms ~ Oh, To Be In Carolina Tonight


When I think of Carolina, I think....

- Basketball, Daddy, and Coach Dean Smith
- James Taylor - Don't miss the hair in the video below. My first cousin played guitar back in the day. Howling singing Taylor's songs was a favorite pastime.

- Franklin Street's social life

- Phallic symbols...did I say that? Oops. I mean the Morehead -Patterson Bell Tower show at left.
I really need to curb my imagination.

- And I think music and The North Carolina Summer Institute In Choral Art
For two glorious summers as a teenager I studied with internationally renowned conductor and artistic director, Dr. Lara Hoggard, at the University of Chapel Hill in North Carolina.....you know....home of that...uhh.....basketball team. I think they're playing some sort of game tonight. I heard that somewhere.

When I entered college to study music, I was privileged enough to do the soprano diva work, the opera scenes, performance-oriented classes as well as choral methods and education, but the summers I spent in Chapel Hill as a youth were crash courses in basic musicianship - and fun. We rehearsed nine hours a day and presented a concert and Talent Show at the end of the week. We were kids with a passion for music and a penchant for summer adventure on a college campus away from parents and teachers. I played the piano in the show, fell in love with the accompanist for choir (in hindsight, I think he was probably gay) and learned more about part-singing and harmony during those intense rehearsals than I even realized at the time. Dr. Hoggard knew how to inspire young musicians to think independently, out-of-the-box, atonally. He taught me to stretch my limits. He pushed me to believe in myself and during those summers I discovered my life's path. What a marvelous spirit of kindness he possessed and a love for his students. I found some old photos recently, the professional recording we made, and the repertoire. It's still relevant and of much higher quality than found in most schools today.I have such fond memories of those summers.

Let's forget that my roommate set the trashcan on fire in Granville Towers while illegally smoking, shall we?

My parents could not afford summer camp for me. It was my grandfather who saw to my music education, paying for piano lessons, buying a piano for my bedroom at home (I still have it) and Chapel Hill Music Institute.
I am forever in his debt.

(No. That is not my group above. I have my own picture and will share it when my scanner decides to cooperate....but you get my drift.)

But let's get back to the big game. It's on now.
I think I'll saunter on down to Franklin Street and find a corner table for two along with 50,000 others (I kid you not) who have gathered for the game tonight.
I hope nobody recognizes me as the Trashcan Arsonist accomplice of 1975.

Maybe I'd better wear a hat.







Copyright © 2006-2009 Mimi Lenox. All Rights Reserved.

29 comments:

Travis Cody said...

It's not much of a game at the moment with 7 minutes to play in the first half. UNC jumped all over MSU early and hasn't let up.

Mimi Lenox said...

I expected no less, Trav. (ok. ok. That was smug. I'll stop....)

Mimi Lenox said...

NC has a 19 point lead at the moment with less than 2 minutes til half. This is your average pencil skirt reporting live.

Ferd said...

WOOHOO!!!!!

Not a prayer to find a table on Franklin Street tonight! And who would want to sit anyway!!!

This is really, really GREAT!!!
:: - )))
(That's me jumping up and down with a stupid grin on my face!!)

Hooray!!!!

kenju said...

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2009!!!

I couldn't be happier than if I was on that team!

SjP said...

You, the POTUS, and Michael Jordan must be very happy tonight! Congrats!

Left a little something for you at SjP's

Akelamalu said...

I loved reading your memories of your study days Mimi. How wonderful your grandfather was to take such an interest in your musical education and fund it. :)

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Congrats Queenie Mimi

The Gal Herself said...

Is a coincidence that the most famous Tarheel of all time was named to the NBA Hall of Fame on the very night his alma mater was victorious? I see your royal handiwork here, Your Highness.

I wonder if James Taylor mourns the loss of his hair, considering that's what it looked like. (Though in the 1970s I thought he was a dreamy troubadour.)

Charles Gramlich said...

Darn that Freud and his phallic symbols.

Mimi Lenox said...

Ferd - I saw you jumping all the way from Bloggingham!

Mimi Lenox said...

Kenju - They were awesome last night.

Mimi Lenox said...

SJP - We are! We are! And thank you. I'll be right over.

Unknown said...

I won't hold anything in the post against you. ;) At least you like basketball as much as me.

Love,

Your friend/ Die hard Sooners fan

Mimi Lenox said...

Akelamalu - I shudder to think what I would have done without him.

Mimi Lenox said...

Bond - Thanks, my friend. I'm not gloating too much, am I? That would not be proper for a Queenie.

Mimi Lenox said...

Gal - Quite the coincidence.

And I thought James Taylor was a hottie even then. It was definitely the hair.

Mimi Lenox said...

Charles - They're everywhere!!!

Mimi Lenox said...

Summer - I'm sorry. I'm glad we're still friends. I forget sometimes that sports allegiance can be as volatile as politics.

Hugs.

Julie said...

Your grandfather saw the potential and wasn't going to let it go by the wayside. Smart man! In many ways!

Bud Weiser, WTIT said...

Congrats to your dad. I am still in mourning...

Kitten said...

I fell asleep during the game last night. I should have known it was over when the Tar Heels were in a double digit lead early on. I woke up long enough to see Coach Williams with the trophy, then shut the TV off and went to bed.

Like Bud, I am in mourning as well. I take consolation in the fact that the Lady Huskies are playing for the title tonight.

I made a reference to drinking "Cherrywine" during last night's game, only to have some sharp readers correct me and tell me it was "CHEERwine." Le sigh...

skywind said...

Oh, the beauty of the scenery and the dust-laden story.
Health information
Humor & Fun World

Mimi Lenox said...

Julie - I miss him.

Mimi Lenox said...

Bud - Stop pouting. It's time to move on now, babe......

Mimi Lenox said...

Kitten - Well, it wasn't exactly a cliff hanger....

Mojo said...

"And one time, at band camp..."

My son the music major spent the three summers of middle school at the ECU band camp in Greenville. That was when I started to realize just how good he actually was because by the time he'd finished the 8th grade, he'd taken over the first chair in the top band at the camp. After that he never went back, saying he'd done all there was to do there and that he had to attend the camp for his high school band anyway so why pay for two? I always hated that he didn't go back for the other three years.

I'm just grinning (probably rather stupidly, but I can't see myself) picturing the Pencil Skirt herself in that setting. It would have been enough to make me take up chorus if I'd known you then. And, well, if I'd had any musical ability beyond pushing a "play" button.

Mimi Lenox said...

Mojo - Awww..shucks.
And I love the way you talk about your son. He is truly talented....and I'll bet he can hit the Play button too. See? You did influence him musically!

well.....sort of.

Desert Songbird said...

I wish I had been fortunate to have had my musical love fostered and nurtured from an early age. Alas, my training came very late in life.

C'est la vie.

BTW, I was the only one in my little basketball pool that picked the Tar Heels to win it all. How about that for a little girl from Hoosierland?

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