Back in April, Rebecca performed in a Wildfish Theatre Company production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. She played one of the four narrators who told their story through song and dance. Rebecca looked and sounded great! Below are pictures taken by one of the other theatre moms. Enjoy.
-D
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Well, I fell behind on video editing, so I’ve combined Justus’ last two competitions into one blog entry.
A couple of weeks ago, Justus competed at the Texas State championships at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. I think Justus had the largest fan club at the event of all the athletes since most of his extended family live there (about twenty of us in all). Justus had a great meet, tieing for 2nd on Rings (rock on!), placing 7th on Parallel Bars, and placing 12th on High Bar. Justus qualified for Regionals, scoring 82.6 in the all-around (70.0 to qualify). Below is the State meet video:
Once the competition was over, we spent the night at Mom and Dad’s. After breakfast the next day, Lisa had to return to Houston for a home school coop meeting evaluating reading books for next school year, but the rest of us enjoyed spending the afternoon with the Hines celebrating our niece Emily’s birthday. After a nice visit and bar-b-que lunch, we left Rebecca there to spend the night and the rest of us returned to Mom and Dad’s to eat again. (It seems I always gain about five pounds when visiting Austin between the food, desserts and beer.) The next day, Rebecca went to see Phantom of the Opera with Aunt Amy, Emily and Sarah. They said, “It was amaaaziing!”
Last weekend the four of us drove to New Orleans for Justus’ U.S. Regional meet (which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana). The drive up was fine. We made good time and checked into the hotel. But from there, as they say, was downhill. Prior to the gymnastics meet, we agreed to meet one of the other Champions mom’s for dinner at a pizza joint (Naked Pizza, who boasts serving the most healthy pizza) down by the Tulane University campus. Due to 5 o’clock traffic and us getting lost, we were late getting there. When we arrived, we discovered that the pizza joint was delivery-only, with no places to sit. So, we scrambled and phone-ordered our pizza from a friendly coffee shop around the corner. (We were running short on time to get Justus fed before the meet, and this so-called “plan” was not fitting into my sense of order at all!) We scarfed yummy pizza and some good coffee. And with five minutes to spare, we headed toward the Tulane Student Recreation Center. The directions were simple enough: “Straight down this street, cross that major intersection and it’s past the recreation fields.” We managed to get lost again and Trixie (my Acura navigation system) was lost too. Half of the streets had no street signs either – ugh, I hate that. Justus was ten minutes late for warm-up. He was stressed – not a good place to be right before competition. I was fuming – too much had been left up to right-brained people and six year old Trixie!
Justus managed to get his wits about him and had an amazing performance at the U.S. Regionals meet. Four of his six scores were his season highs, and he placed third in high bar. He missed placing in the all-around by only one tenth of a point. What more is there to say? Below is the Regional meet video:
After the meet, we decided to be adventurous and find a place to celebrate with a treat. We browsed the possibilities using Trixie’s restaurant locator (we still hadn’t learned), and finally set our heading for some French pastries. The roads around Tulane were torturous on my little Acura who protesting with each buckle and riddled pothole. When we arrived at the so called “French bakery” we discovered it was now something Justus called, “a scary bar.” Trixie’s dated information struck again. We finally found a burger patio restaurant that was quite excellent and we headed back to the hotel in Kenner. Early the next morning we headed back west. Rebecca had a dance to attend, and Justus and I had plans for a Houston Dynamo game.
Other than Justus performance, Louisiana had not been very kind us, and as we were waving goodbye it was sure to leave us with a final parting gift: a Louisiana state trooper issuing me a speeding ticket for going 78 in a 60. Ouch.
Finally we made it home. And as we were being picked up for the Dynamo game by another Champions family, we discovered the dad had been issued a speeding ticket by the same trooper. Oh, Louisiana… you are something else.
-D
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Back (yard) to the future
This morning is cool and calm, and I’m busy charging my cordless drills and collecting my socket wrenches.
When the kids were much smaller, about seven years ago, I decided to buy a playscape for the backyard. I had looked at all those kits you can buy at Walmart, made of untreated red-stained pine and cheap hardware, and quickly decided that there was NO WAY my kids were going to play on one of those flimsy things. So instead, I bought blueprints to make one from scratch – a large swingset/fort. I bought all the lumber and hardware, and set out to make the sturdiest combo swingset/fort money could buy. About four weeks later, with the help of a friend who had a drill-press, I completed the project.
Today, in about an hour the playscape will be coming down.
The backyard is in shambles: the lack of grass is causing soil erosion, the overgrown trees and playscape are preventing the grass to grow (leaving us with mud and weeds), and there is no place for our dog Harvey to lounge in grass to cool off. It’s an ugly mess, and while we all like the idea of our kids continuing to play in the fort and swing, it rarely happens anymore.
The kids, especially Rebecca, are a little sad. Lisa and I are a little sad, too. I like to think of myself as a pretty good self-diagnosing psychologist of sorts, and it seems to me we are mostly sad about loosing our memories, not the playscape. But really, our memories will always be with us as long as we like.
The upside to this melancholy event is that we are giving this playscape to a family of six young kids who truly really need it. The dad is coming over to help label joints and carefully disassemble the structure. We’ll place all the pieces in his rented trailer and he’ll haul it back to his family and reassemble it as a love offering to his kids.
Today is going to be a good day.
-D
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My musical heritage
This evening I was sitting at my desk at home. I was just relaxing after an afternoon run and shower. Letting my mind wander, I looked up and took in an old photograph that hung in front of me. I’ve enjoyed staring at it many times: a picture of my Papaw playing guitar back in the late 40’s or early 50’s. Often, it replays in my mind the scratchy 45 recordings of The Gene Hyde Orchestra I used to hear when I was a kid. A few things make the photo special to me: the big smile on Papaw’s face as he is playing with his band, the beer bottles scattered on the tables, and my Nanaw’s handwriting along the photo’s border documenting the names of the band members and the name of the dancehall the photo was taken: Al Boyce – Steel Guitar, Steve Lightsey – Bass, Gene – Guitar, Wiley Bryant – Piano, Victor Roby – Fiddle.
The dancehall: Dessau Hall in Pflugerville, Texas. Papaw headed several bands over his lifetime, mostly covering country-swing from the likes of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, and eventually adding a horn section to cover big band tunes. He also performed on live radio in Austin back in the day, where they broadcast using one microphone set in the middle of the room for the entire band.
Being a musician myself, I’ve always wanted to visit places where my Papaw played to get a sense of my musical heritage. I remember asking long ago if Dessau Hall still existed, and the answer came back, “No, I don’t think so. It’s been too long ago.” The old 45’s are now missing which saddens me, too. But, I’m blessed to have the very guitar (restored) my Papaw played (shown in the photo).
This evening I went to searching and found the article below (thank you Google), a local press release announcing the reopening of Dessau Hall. It looks like I’ll get a chance to visit after all. Happy trails.
Below is the photo and a few others.
By Pam Stephenson
Friday, 07 August 2009
PFLUGERVILLE — Dessau Hall reopened June 13 to a capacity crowd. A line wrapped around the building as many waited for patrons to leave so they could enter, per fire code regulations.
History
For decades Dessau Hall has provided a venue for dancing and music, and with the historic venue reopening under its original name, the tradition continues. Scores of musicians have performed there since German immigrants established it in 1876. The early days featured German music and traditional polka dances.
In the 1930s and 1940s, dancing to the sound of big bands was popular. Some of the well-known bands that played Dessau Hall during this era include Harry James, Glen Miller, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey and Woody Herman.
“I remember when we returned from the war [World War II] in 1945, everyone headed to Dessau Hall to dance and listen to the big bands,” said Joe W. Neal, a 92-year-old retired professor of intercultural communication at The University of Texas. “It was one of the most popular entertainment spots at that time.”
As country western music became popular, numerous artists performed at Dessau Hall. Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Jimmie Heap, George Strait, Hank Williams, Ruben Ramos, Merle Haggard and Bob Wills are just a few performers who played before becoming the famous musicians they are today.
Elvis Presley even played the hall twice. The first time, he played to a nearly empty hall in 1956. However, his second appearance the next year was sold out.
The building
The first Dessau Hall was a two-story building built in 1876. It burned in the early 1940s, and a new hall was erected at the same location. The single-story building was known for the huge tree that grew in the center of the dance floor. It was the site of many German May Fete celebrations and other family events. But in 1967, it also burned. The existing building was built in 1969 and features the largest floating wood dance floor in Texas at 3,000 sq. ft.
New owner’s vision
Robin Bagley of East Texas purchased the building in May with plans to rekindle the tradition of the old Dessau Hall.
Bands that played regularly at the hall years ago, The Debonnaires and People’s Choice, are booked again.
“There’s a lot of history here,” Bagley said. “We wanted to go back to pure country and western the way it was in the ’60s and ’70s. The best thing we could do was bring it back to where it was. Word is getting around. The crowds are getting bigger, and people are happy to see it back.”
The hall has been refurbished to a similar look and feel as its glory days. The walls were painted red to mirror the original red velvet walls, and many of the old light fixtures were found in storage and have been polished and rewired for use again. Red velvet curtains hang on the stage, and old newspaper clippings found at the hall have been framed and hang on the walls. An old chandelier found hanging from the rafters above the dropped ceiling is being refurbished and will soon hang over the refinished dance floor.
The iron cage that was used to detain those who broke the law in the small community of Dessau in the late 1800s was found behind the hall. It is now displayed to the right of the hall’s main entrance.
via Dessau Hall reopens.
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One in a million
[I found this article online. It reminds me of Justus’ pursuit of gymnastics. While he strives for the goal of being his best in each event, there are so many life skills that he is learning along the way, like perseverance, time management, managing disappointments, goal setting, never giving up, etc.]
The chances of a high school student eventually becoming first violin for the Boston Philharmonic: one in a million.
The chances of a high school student eventually playing basketball in the NBA? About the same.
In fact, the chances of someone growing up and getting a job precisely like yours, whatever it is, are similarly slim. (Head of development at an ad agency, director of admissions for a great college… you get the idea). Every good gig is a long shot, but in the end, a lot of talented people get good gigs. The odds of being happy and productive and well compensated aren’t one in a million at all, because there are many good gigs down the road. The odds are only slim if you pick precisely one job.
Here’s the lesson: the ardent or insane pursuit of a particular goal is a good idea if the steps you take along the way also prep you for other outcomes, each almost as good (or better). If pushing through the Dip and bending the market to your will and shipping on time and doing important and scary work are all things you need to develop along the way, then it doesn’t really matter so much if you don’t make the goal you set out to reach.
On the other hand, if you live a life of privation and spend serious time and money on a dead end path with only one outcome, you’ve described a path likely to leave you broken and bitter. Does spending your teenage years (and your twenties) in a room practicing the violin teach you anything about being a violin teacher or a concert promoter or some other job associated with music? If your happiness depends on your draft pick or a single audition, that’s giving way too much power to someone else.
via Seth’s Blog: One in a million.
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Mom & Dad Hyde celebrate 45 years
Mom and Dad Hyde came into town last weekend to enjoy Justus’ gymnastics meet. After the meet, we stopped at Freebirds World Burrito for lunch. It was the first time at Freebirds for all of us – and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Beat your heart out, Chipotle Mexican Grill!
We came home, lounged on the back porch and enjoyed the sunshine. The air was full of cool breezes and bird songs. The mild weather and the blooming plants gave Mom spring fever – she was ready to start planting!
Later on, Mom and Dad Brandau brought some wine over and we had a toast on the back porch to celebrate Mom and Dad Hyde’s 45 years of marriage. The Brandau’s also surprised Mom and Dad with a beautiful cake and fresh flowers. Dad graciously cooked our ribeyes and t-bone steaks on our grill, and we enjoyed baked sweet potatoes, asparagus, and a tossed salad with fresh blue cheese.
Then, we dug into the cake – moist yellow cake with cream cheese frosting and pineapple filling. Oh man, was that incredible! So much so, the Bluebell ice cream we served was less sweet than the frosting.
Hmm. It sure seems like all we did was eat!
It was a great evening. Mom and Dad have set a great example of fidelity and faithfulness, and leave us a legacy of love. Thanks Mom and Dad.
– D
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Girlie Fun!
Last Saturday, Rebecca and I embarked on a day of birthday celebration. With a carload of girls, we headed to downtown Houston for a day of girlie fun.
1. First stop, Target. The goal? To find the cutest outfit possible. The girls paired off and went roaming through the store in search of clothing and accessories. They had 15 minutes to make their choice and meet in the dressing room. Meanwhile, I headed to the snack area to read until our dressing room rendezvous. Sweet. All went well until I arrived at the dressing room to find a very unhappy attendant. “Are YOU the adult responsible for all these girls?” Oh no… can I just crawl under a rock and hide?!! Actually, the girls had done nothing wrong and were behaving properly. I think the attendant just feared a big mess for her to clean. We made sure to take care of everything we’d carried in the dressing room plus cleaning up the mess left by previous shoppers.
2. Second stop, Starbucks. What’s a girlie outing without a serious dose of caffeine and sugar?!
3. Third stop, the Williams Water Wall. If you’re not familiar with Houston’s Water Wall, visualize a 60ft. semi-circle wall with cascading water flowing down. Rebecca adores visiting the water wall. It’s one of her most favorite places.
4. Fourth stop, the Galleria. For the next two hours, we wandered in and out of as many girlie shops as possible. Claire’s accessories for girls was probably the highlight for all.
5. Fifth stop, Sam’s Deli Diner. We ended our outing by stuffing ourselves with freshly grilled hamburgers, fries, onion rings, and homemade Blue Bell ice cream shakes. Yum!
6. Sixth stop, home. After hours of wandering around Houston, we arrived home for more fun. The girls designed & created inserts for their own “create a mug,” made fashions out of aluminum foil, and mummified each other in toilet paper. Meanwhile, they laughed and talked and yelled and screamed and talked and talked and talked… You get the picture.
7. Final destination, bed. After being on the go since 1:30pm, the girls could hardly keep their eyes open when the lights finally dimmed at nearly 1:00am. Rebecca declared her sleepover “lame” because they didn’t stay up all night talking. Hee! I call that SUCCESS!!
We had a wonderful day, and I thoroughly enjoyed the girls. What a fun way to celebrate Rebecca’s 14th birthday! Of course, if you ask Rebecca, she’s only turning 12. That’s a blog entry for a whole other day. 🙂
– L
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Friday night, Justus volunteered at the Houston National Invitational (HNI) leading Japan’s national team through an evening of gymnastics competition. He got to hang out with the team on the floor and host them as they competed. He seemed to really enjoy talking with them and interpreting their broken English. We all laughed at Justus’ stories as he retold his adventures. He said they were “crazy talented.” Several of the Japanese athletes had their picture taken with Justus. I expect it was because Justus was wearing a cowboy hat, blue jeans and a red bandanna. What a great experience.
Saturday morning came early. We drove down to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston for a continuation of HNI, only this time it was Justus’ turn (Levels 7 and 8). Competition was fierce – Justus scored a 15.2 on rings and placed 6th! First place was a 15.9 (one tenth from a perfect score – what?!). Great news: Justus conquered the pommel horse by staying on throughout both compulsory routines – the first time all season. And subsequently, he busted through with his season high in the all-around with 81.3.
As I look back at yesterday’s performance (video below), my heart takes with me the following things:
- Justus fought from falling off of Parallel Bars (His routine was flawless until his last handstand coming out of his pirouette). Although he didn’t fall, it cost him and he was upset. Once the rotation was complete, the P-Bar judge sought Justus out to tell him, “Hey Justus, that was a really great routine. It was just a small bobble at the very end. Don’t worry. Right now, you have high bar ahead of you.” The judge took time to both encourage Justus and remind him to leave the past behind, and look forward to what is ahead… That’s teaching a great life skill. Wow.
- Justus refocused and tied 10th on high bar.
- During the awards ceremony (at the end of the video), I thoroughly enjoyed Justus offering generous handshakes to the other boys and saying, “good job.”
Seeing that character in my boy makes me so proud to be his Dad.
– D
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MAC Portland, OR
I’m grateful to John Gualy for taking care of Justus. The three of them are flying, rooming, eating and playing together. Once the gymnastics meet is over, they will go to the mountains on Sunday for some snow sledding and hiking.
John is promising to text Justus scores as they come in. This is the first time I can fully appreciate SMS technology. Okay, so I’m a little slow, but I’m coming around.
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The next morning, after returning from a week-long trip to Disney World, Justus performed at a gymnastics meet. Considering he had no workouts for a week, he did great. He stuck many of his landings and improved his scores from WOGA on both Rings and Vault. Justus felt good about his outing despite his setback on Pommel. Below are a couple of pictures and video of Justus’ performance. Enjoy!
-D
Justus in a split on floor routine
Justus on parallel bars
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Merry Christmas – 2009
Amidst the clamor and chaos this season is Grace. She shines far brighter than any Christmas tree, lit rooftop or mechanical reindeer. She is more hopeful than any child gawking gifts or mother giving birth.
As captivating as her countenance appears, her message is scandalous. Her disclosure makes no apology, requires no alliance to advance, and serves no one. She is disappointing – disappointing to anyone who would try to dilute her potency, malign her authority, or dowse her resolve.
Hear her message:
Truth and I are personified through a babe who was born in a filthy barn. This boy grew up among the poor and underprivileged, stood defiant against traditional wisdom and established religion, and died after public ridicule and torture.
And yet His story was not by chance, but by grace-filled intention.
Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:6-11 (NLT)
For His birth announcement, flashes of lightning and thunderous voice were replaced by the light of a singular star and the voice of an angel. Deserved fanfare was dismissed for shepherds and vagabonds. And wondrously, the Creator of the universe was conceived and born.
Jesus embodied grace – the grace of love and unmerited favor towards us. The extent of which Jesus reached out to each of us so personally, so completely, so undeniably proves the size and scope of His love for you and me.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8 (NIV)
The message is simple. To the sage and noble, the message is foolishness. To the humbled, healed and forgiven, Grace lives and abounds.
May you and yours find a new sense of grace, wonder and joy through the birth of our Savior.
Merry Christmas,
-D
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Valeri Liukin, a former gymnast for the dissolved Soviet Union, competed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea and received a gold medals in team competition and high-bar, and silver medals in parallel bars and all-around. Today, he is an Olympic coach and co-owner of three gymnastic training centers in the Dallas area. You may recognize his last name as more recently, his daughter, Nastia Liukin, was also a gold medal Olympian gymnast competing in the 2008 games.
This year, Justus and his team were invited to compete in the Valeri Liukin Invitational (for a second year in a row). So, last Thursday afternoon, Lisa, Justus and I packed up the car and drove up to Frisco, just north of Dallas for a Friday morning competition. Rebecca stayed behind with friends.
The four-and-a-half hour drive was pleasant. We stayed at an aLoft Hotel, owned and managed by Sheraton. The accommodations where very contemporary and chic – not something we would normally go for, but it was cool. For Justus, the chic aLoft was a pretty special place.
Friday morning, we made our way first to Starbucks (for me) and then to IHoP (for him). (You see, I already knew, being the self-professed coffee snob I am, that I wasn’t going to be happy with IHoP coffee. They’ve disappointed me before. The extra stop before breakfast was not only nice but mandatory.) The morning was very relaxing: Justus’ stomach wasn’t in knots, he ate well, and we had a few laughs with the camera (see pictures below).
After breakfast, we drove to the gym where Justus checked in promptly at 9am. The facilities are the best we’ve been to in the four seasons we’ve experienced. This working gym is huge, open feeling and very clean. There are permanent bleachers set up on two sides of the gym for parents and other visitors.
Justus and his team did very well. Their performance and attitudes were much better than last year. Last year, Justus’ gut was in knots before the event, and he was crying when the event was over. Not good. This year felt completely different. The boys knew this was the first competition of the season, they knew that they were not entirely ready and that was okay. What a difference a year makes.
Justus’ best score of the day was on rings, 14.8, placing him 12th out of 52 boys. In all, he scored 14+ on four of the six events. A very strong start. (Level 7 is well-known as the “weed-out” level. So, it’s important that Justus, the coaches and the team pace themselves for the demanding season.)
After the meet, the Level 7 boys scarfed some old fashioned steakburgers and frozen custard at Freddie’s down the street. The boys had fun being boys and the parents enjoyed just hung out. A good time was had by all.
Pictures and video are below. Feel free to leave your “shout outs” and encouragements for Justus in the comments section.
-D
