Celtic festival

Saturday afternoon Donna and I went to the Flathead Celtic Festival. (http://flatheadcelticfestival.com/)  The festival was a low key informal festival but we had a great time.

We watched some of the Highland athletics.   I didn't participate in any events.  It appeared wearing a kilt was a requirement and I forgot mine at home.     And in a few of the photos you will see that the men do wear shorts under their kilts.

All the events seem to be a mix of strength and technique.


Weight over the bar

Also known as weight for height. The athletes attempt to toss a 56-pound (4-stone) weight with an attached handle over a horizontal bar using only one hand. Each athlete is allowed three attempts at each height. Successful clearance of the height allows the athlete to advance into the next round at a greater height. The competition is determined by the highest successful toss with fewest misses being used to break tie scores.

Scottish Hammer Throw

This event is similar to the hammer throw as seen in modern-day track and field competitions, though with some differences. In the Scottish event, a round metal ball (weighing 16 or 22 lb for men or 12 or 16 lb for women) is attached to the end of a shaft about 4 feet in length and made out of wood, bamboo, rattan, or plastic. With the feet in a fixed position, the hammer is whirled about one’s head and thrown for distance over the shoulder. Hammer throwers sometimes employ specially designed footwear with flat blades to dig into the turf to maintain their balance and resist the centrifugal forces of the implement as it is whirled about the head. This substantially increases the distance attainable in the throw.

The first photo has the man swinging the hammer.  You can see the hammer in the air in the last three photos of this group.  It took me a lot of photo tries to capture the hammer in the air.

Caber Toss

A long log is stood upright and hoisted by the competitor who balances it vertically holding the smaller end in his hands. Then the competitor runs forward attempting to toss it in such a way that it turns end over end with the upper (larger) end striking the ground first. The smaller end that was originally held by the athlete then hits the ground in the 12 o’clock position measured relative to the direction of the run. If successful, the athlete is said to have turned the caber. Cabers vary greatly in length, weight, taper, and balance, all of which affect the degree of difficulty in making a successful toss. Competitors are judged on how closely their throws approximate the ideal 12 o’clock toss on an imaginary clock.

Here are two videos of women doing (or attempting) a caber toss.  Several women were able to successfully toss the pole end over end.  I didn't capture those successful tries on video as I was watching and videoing the weight throw at the same time.

24 seconds: https://youtu.be/c2UX_TPE6TI

18 seconds: https://youtu.be/DnVpeZxbIwQ


Weight Throw

Also known as the weight for distance event. There are actually two separate events, one using a light (28 lb for men and 14 lb for women) and the other a heavy (56 lb for men, 42 lb for masters men, and 28 lb for women) weight. The weights are made of metal and have a handle attached either directly or by means of a chain. The implement is thrown using one hand only, but otherwise using any technique. Usually a spinning technique is employed. The longest throw wins.

Here is a 25 second video of a man tossing a weight.  Notice as he spins a second time both feet briefly come off the ground.   https://youtu.be/KRosgep8ioE


Sheaf Toss

A bundle of straw (the sheaf) weighing 20 pounds (9.1 kg) for the men and 10 pounds (4.5 kg) for the women and wrapped in a burlap bag is tossed vertically with a pitchfork over a raised bar much like that used in pole vaulting. The progression and scoring of this event is similar to the Weight Over the Bar. There is significant debate among athletes as to whether the sheaf toss is in fact an authentic Highland event. Some argue it is actually a country fair event, but all agree that it is a great crowd pleaser.

Now, this is an event I should be able to do!

Music

We also listened to two musical acts.

Tra Le Gael

  http://tralegael.com/

This Flathead Valley band played traditional Celtic music.  Most of the time we heard them playing in the background as we watched some of the Highland Games.
Here is a 2 minute 24 second video of the band playing a song: https://youtu.be/jodUvePPY3U


Top House

  http://tophousetheband.com/

  https://www.facebook.com/tophousetheband/

(Their cover of the "Stand By Me" song on their Facebook page is a fun video.)

The band is from Missoula, MT.  They are an excellent band!  The lead singer in the middle is also a marketing major.   The fiddle player I - amusing - thought could also be a computer science guy and on their web page it says he is a graduate assistant in the University of Montana's computer science department.  I had a suspicion... since is as nerdy looking artsy looking guy.

Galway Girl: 2 minutes 37 seconds: https://youtu.be/xXaATkun9xQ

Dublin: 56 seconds: https://youtu.be/yzuvrE6EQfM

500 miles: 32 seconds: https://youtu.be/2sqHK7tNmjM

Renegade: 2 minutes 26 seconds: https://youtu.be/UzUbco52EhM



After I got home I discovered one cow in the hayfield.  Yes... of course it was Maria.   She broke one fence barb wire, and broke the wire holding another barb wire to a fence post, and crawled through the fence - even though she is fatter than a pig and looks like she can give birth to twins tomorrow.   She must have been in the hayfield a long time as she was ready to go back to the pasture so her calf could drink.  I fixed the fence.

The grass in the hayfield is greener than the grass in the pasture.

Phillip Phillips concert in Sandpoint

I think I'm recovered from my concert trip on  Saturday.  I had to go for a 24 mile bicycle ride on Sunday to get reset and energized.


Donna really likes Phillip Phillips.  I never watched American Idol so I didn't know he won season 11.  For my birthday I got a ticket to a Phillip Phillips concert in Sandpoint, Idaho on August 11 - last Saturday night.

Sandpoint is about three and a half hours away through the mountains.

We left around 11 am.  First we visited the Bison Range (which I'll write about in a another post later.)  We got to Sandpoint after 4 pm Idaho time (5 pm Montana time).  As we hadn't eaten since breakfast we were starved.  We came across Dub's Drive-In restaurant and ate there.  (https://www.yelp.com/biz/dubs-drive-in-sandpoint)   Good food but busy.

Donna thought since Sandpoint was a small town she didn't need to study or print the town map and where the concert was taking place.  At over 7,300 people we needed a map.  Donna asked some teenagers in the booth next to us for directions.  They looked it up on their smartphone and pointed us in the right direction.  But still we had trouble.  I asked a guy outside a gas station and his directions got us there.

The teenage girls hadn't heard of Phillip Phillips.  They asked Donna if he was young?  Yes.  They asked if he was cute?  Again Donna told them yes.

The gates opened at 6 pm and the concert started at 7:30 pm.  Seating was first come - first served.  We were there 45 minutes before the gates opened and there was already a long line.  Donna has a bad knee (knee replacement surgery for her is next week) and can't stand for a long period.  I asked a festival volunteer if there were accommodations for handicap people and the answer was yes.

We went to the handicap line. They were already letting the handicapped people inside the grounds. While I am not handicapped they let me in with Donna.

We had two hours before the concert started.  Earlier I had planned to catch up on my sleep during the drive.  But Donna wasn't feeling well so I ended up doing all the driving.  We were sitting on benches in the grandstand so I wasn't able to fully sleep.  While I am a night owl, I only made it to Thompson Falls, MT - about an hour and a half drive, or 86 miles - before I started to get sleepy.  Donna, a morning person, was wide awake and ended up driving the rest of the way back to Kalispell.   We got back to Kalispell about 3:15 am.

The concert was Phillip Phillips and Gavin DeGraw as co-headliners.   Phillip Phillips performed first, which turned to be good for us.   While the other concert goers seemed to be enjoying DeGraw's music, to me it was too loud and his songs were not that appealing.  Especially as we had a long drive home.  I lasted three songs and Donna another three.

The hour and a half concert by Phillip Phillips was good.

Leaving Sandpoint roads were splitting everywhere.  I thought I had taken the right split to get us back to Montana via Hwy 200.  Miles passed and cars dwindled away.  No highway signs. Just darkness and a twisty road.  Finally - after what seemed to be at least 20 miles - I saw a highway sign.  We were on the right highway.

I took a short video of one of Phillip's songs at the concert.  But I suspect YouTube would complain about copyright issues, so I'll skip uploading the video.

Chuck Suchy concert

Friday night Donna, her daughter, son-in-law, and I attended a free concert by North Dakotan musician/farmer Chuck Suchy held at the Flathead Valley Community College.

While Chuck has performed in the Flathead Valley over the years I have been here, this is the first time I attended one of his concerts since the mid to late 1990s back in Minnesota.

He is 67 years old now.  He played two hours of his original songs with no break.  Once he started playing a number of his songs I then remembered them from the Minnesota concert.  People here are familiar with his songs as a number of people called out different songs as requests.  A number of people also sang along to some of his songs.

It was a good concert.  It was relaxed and felt like he was some guy with a guitar sitting in a living room singing a few songs to his friends.

http://www.chucksuchy.com/

Here is one of his songs (Cool in the Shade):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFvQu9MJOgU&index=1&list=PLxSEEF5s06AJCuxnT0YyKS-pSJs4MrqB5

Molly's Field:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dkpWvukxH0&index=24&list=PLxSEEF5s06AJCuxnT0YyKS-pSJs4MrqB5

Burma Shave Boogie:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AGXPkpt3PM&index=28&list=PLxSEEF5s06AJCuxnT0YyKS-pSJs4MrqB5

Dancin' in the Kitchen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5R7_urF5S4&index=57&list=PLxSEEF5s06AJCuxnT0YyKS-pSJs4MrqB5

Three Dog Night Libby concert

Saturday Donna and I drove to Libby, MT to the Big Sky Bash concert put on by the CARD foundation.  The musical acts were Copper Mountain Band and Three Dog Night.

The CARD Foundation is pleased to announce its 5th annual Big Sky Bash concert to benefit the Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD). Legendary music icons, Three Dog Night and local favorite Copper Mountain Band will be performing in Libby on Saturday, July 11th, 2015, with gates opening at 6pm, and music playing from 7pm until midnight at J Neils Park. 

Legendary music icons, Three Dog Night celebrate their 4th decade, performing to sell-out crowds and bringing along some of the most astonishing chart statistics in popular music including 21 consecutive Top 40 hits, including 3 #1 singles, 11 Top 10's, and 12 straight RIAA Certified Gold LPs. 

Copper Mountain Band is a high-energy, mainstream, country music group with family roots that lie deep in the history of Montana. Copper Mountain Band appeals to all audiences as they incorporate music from many genres and styles into their performances. They have found a way to give cover tunes a whole new dimension and they have outstanding original material as well. They have also received praise for their rendition of Cher’s "Just Like Jesse James". They are a one-of-a-kind group with a fiery passion for their craft.

The concert was bring your own seating, else sit on the grass.  We brought folding chairs to sit on.

Three Dog Night has more hits than I remembered.  Surprisingly, while I like their music, I never owned any of their albums.

The band played most, but not all of their hits.  Not played was Pieces of April.  The original members - who must be in their mid to late sixties, were good though age appears to have limited their vocal range.  Their playing was excellent.  They played two recent (2009) songs and both very very good.

They were also excellent on "Mama Told Me Not To Come".  They had fun with the song with a funny interlude where they updated the song to be current, or a rap song, complete with the singer looking like a rapper.   Here is how they performed the song back in 1970 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaQzQAlNn4


Three Dog Night.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Dog_Night

Official photo (the person on the right side died of cancer this past May)

Here is the view from the stage.  I'm in the crowd on the left side.

Three Dog Night performing

Sitting in front of us and to our side were a half dozen women (grandmas).  I wouldn't be surprised if they had attended Three Dog Night's concerts back in the 1970s.   A ladies night out with only one husband along.  And they were drinking.  And drinking.  And they were dancing.  Fortunately they only danced nearby for a short time.  For most of the concert they danced in front of the stage.

When they came back after Three Dog Night finished (although two of them met the band backstage and got their autographs on several of the band's original album covers), they were all lit up.  When the woman next to me sat down she fell over in her chair and landed against and on me.  She was embarrassed and very drunk.  We then had an amusing conversation.   The women left before the next band came on stage.  Fortunately the woman who fell on me said she would not drive and was calling her husband to come get her.  I wonder how much of the concert she remembered the next day.  And many of these women looked to be in their sixties while acting like teenagers.  Wow.

Sunset between musical acts

After Three Dog Night left the stage after almost an hour and a half performance, the Copper Mountain Band (http://www.coppermountainband.com/) performed.  Or part of the band.  One member was in the local crowbar hotel (jail); one member was missing, and the remaining three members played the concert.  Near the end of the concert the female lead singer said this would be their last performance and that the band is going "on hiatus". It sure sounded like the band was breaking up.  Before she left, the drunk woman who fell on me had told me her friend told her that the band wasn't going to play tonight as they broke up because "they had issues".

At any rate the three remaining band members still put on an excellent high energy show that lasted till midnight.  I don't remember the title of the last song they played, but is was really appropriate lyrics as it was a sad "it's over breakup song".  The female lead singer invited a half dozen women up on stage to dance to the last song of the night.

Copper Mountain Band   (Three members with one member's aunt sitting in on keyboards for the 'Knocking on Heavens Door' song)

Here is one of the Copper Mountain's original songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4rVcs7fkao


A lot the the audience had dwindled away by concert's end.   Walking in front of us - until we could pass them - were a group of drunk middle aged women.  When walking on the pavement from the grass one complained her feet were now hurting.  She was too drunk to realize she wasn't wearing shoes.  These were grown middle aged women - not kids.

Then we had an almost two hour drive back to Kalispell getting back at 2 am.  We only saw one deer on the side of the road and it was still as a statue, fortunately.

Desperado tribute band

Last Saturday Donna and I went to Bigfork to see the Eagles tribute band, Desperado.

The show was held at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts, a place I had never had been before. Donna had, so she knew the fastest way out of the building and best way back to her car to avoid the crowds after the show was over.

The show was sold out.  Both Donna and I noticed the audience was mainly made up of "old" people - not that we are young ourselves.

In addition to the intermission halfway through, the show lasted around three hours.   The band played all the Eagles hits in addition to a few other Eagles songs.  In addition the band played a few solo hits from Joe Walsh.

The band was good and could cover songs from the Eagle's country-rock phase to the hard rock phase of the band.  Each of Desperado's band members took the lead on songs, some with stronger vocals than others.  Musically the band was strong.

I forgot to bring my camera so I had to find a video of the band from the internet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAlp4EYXQcs

Picnic in the Park: Marley's Ghost

Tuesday evening I went to the last Picnic in the Park concert for 2014.  I missed the first half hour because I am building a new livestock feeder south of the barn and I didn't go until I was at a good stopping point in the build.

The band was: Marley's Ghost.

"The band can sing and play anything with spot-on feel, from roots to rock, blues to bluegrass, gospel to stone country, which is what they’ve been doing – to the ongoing delight of a fervent cult that includes many of their fellow musicians – throughout their first quarter century as a working unit. Their trademark multi-part harmonies never cease to captivate, whether on record or in live performance."

The band was excellent.  They are not a local band.  They have been together 25 years and it shows as they are a tight unit.

Their web site (http://www.marleysghost.com/) has some their music you can listen to.


I don't know what it is about concerts.  People always seem to leave before the end.  Usually the music gets better with the last songs getting better and better as the band wants to leave you with their best impression.   Yet people leave before the last song.  I'd rather miss the beginning and stay to the end.

A few videos of their songs:

Folk:   Alabama John Cherokee   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9PFfEFjUPk&feature=youtu.be

Blues: Traveling Riverside Blues  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur91lFh7dt0&feature=youtu.be

Gospel: Story of Job                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nelgAIqZwC8&feature=youtu.be

Red Hot Blue Chips

Another Picnic in the Park concert on Tuesday.  I was way late to this concert.  Even though I filled only half a tank of herbicide the weeds were few and far between and it took longer than expected to empty the tank.

Then as I was about to leave, I checked my bicycle tires.  The rear tire had a small hole.  I was surprised the inner tube hadn't got a flat.  Until I replaced the tire.  The inner tube is from the 1980s when the tubes were made thicker.  Now the goal is light as possible, which means thin and a better chance of getting a flat.

So I got to the concert near the end and only heard the last four songs. Which is a shame as I like this type of music.  They play a mix of Cajun, Zydeco and ‘Bludeco’ (a blues zydeco hybrid) that is high energy party dance music.

Here is a video of one of the songs they played:

Picnic in the Park: Erik Ray

Now that Tammy has left I am attending the Kalispell Picnic in the Park music events again.  She didn't like the music played there and we stopped going.

Same old, same old.  Never on time for the music.  I had to finish working on a fence before I could go.

The event seems to be the same.  Bring your own chair or sit on the lawn.  Same amount of people attending.  One difference is I don't remember so many ugly and/or fat people attending.  Hoo Boy!

The music was good.  Erik Ray was a one man band.  He played mostly acoustic guitar with a little harmonica and kick drum tossed in.  For a zydeco number he played accordion and appeared to sing part of the song in Cajun.  The songs were mainly old time blues and old time country with a little rock, zydeco, swing, and polka tossed in.  A few songs were originals.

For the zydeco song he had a couple of girls from the audience accompany him on washboard.

Here is a short video:

Picnic Park music

Tuesday night Tammy and I headed into Kalispell to attend the final Picnic in the Park concert of the season.  The band playing was the Tropical Montana Marimba Ensemble.  They are a local group of musicians who mainly play percussion instruments and melodies from the tropics to Africa.  You can sample some of their music on cdbaby.

The music was fun and lively - though to Tammy most of the songs sounded the same.  I was imagining sea breezes and margaritas.

At the concert was my neighbor who was having problems with the beavers and their dam.  She and her son had to clear the dam last weekend as Bonneville Power appears to be refusing to own up to maintaining their culvert.  At least it appears the beavers haven't rebuilt the dam since then which may give the lawyers time to solve the problem of maintenance.

Also at the concert was Gary.  I hadn't seen him in almost a year when he and I hiked up to Heavan's Peak lookout.

Lastly the concert organizers celebrated Scott Johnston's birthday and made him a birthday outfit.  The back of the cape said "Birthday Boy".  I missed getting a photo of the back.

While the days have been warm the temperature drops as soon as the sun goes down and Tammy was cold by the time the concert ended after dark.  It is hard to remember to bring a sweater or jacket when a few hours earlier it was hot.

Horses, berries, concert, haircut, mosquitoes

I decided to let the horses into the fruit tree area to eat the grass down.  I put up a temporary fence around my strawberry & rhubarb patch and also the raspberry patch.  There are some strawberries and some raspberries to munch on.  Not a whole lot as I haven't weeded the patches this year.

All that effort to fence the berry areas and the horses still haven't entered the fruit tree area.  I even stood at the gate and called them.  They ignored me.

I attended the noon time Picnic in the Park concert.  The act was Band O' Steve.  Actually one guy... Steve Jackman.   I arrived late to the concert and didn't arrive until the intermission.  After the intermission Steve played a wandering jazzy number on his electronic keyboard.  It sounded like it belonged as background music in an infomercial.  He then sang several other numbers and I left early as I didn't think it was any good.

I roto-tilled between the rows in Jan's garden to dig up the weeds.  After that Jan gave me a haircut which I needed badly as my hair was growing long. It's summer!  Time to have short hair.

With all this rain this Spring the mosquitoes are bad.  They are even out during the day.  Going near the river is a challenge.

Hay, rain, concert, truck

With my hay in the barn Sunday, Monday I helped Dan's son load the 70 bales Dan bought from me onto Dan's trailer as Dan drove around my hayfield.  With that done I could rest easy about my hay.

None of the weather forecasts had rain predicted but - guess what?! - a system north of the border in Canada slipped south and we had a couple rain showers Monday afternoon.  I was in one of my pastures and got soaked.  Good thing I got my hay baled and stored by then!!!

Poor Wyatt.  He hadn't picked up all of his bales and they got rained on.  At least the rain wasn't enough to soak the bales so it could have been worse... the rain could have come when the hay was still laying in the field.

Wyatt got the rest of his bales this afternoon.

Now that my census work is done I am back to physical labor between the hay and other pasture work.  After three days of this I am stiff and sore and today was mainly a rest day.

This evening I attended a Picnic in the Park concert.  This is the first one I have attended this year. The concert was by Andre Floyd and Mood Iguana.  They are good but maybe it was because it was the third year I have seen them in concert; maybe it was because I didn't notice a theme to their concert; maybe it was because they seemed a little too relaxed playing rock music; or maybe it was something else, but I found the concert experience to be just "average".

I saw some of the old regulars in the concert crowd and some new faces.  The crowd was older than average, especially for a rock concert.  Lots and lots of gray hairs and a number of people looked to be near social security age.  Few people looked to be under 30 unless they were kids.

After the concert, while walking to my car, I passed by a monster truck.  Look at how the owner had to drop the back hitch in order to use it to tow stuff.

Picnic music: Rob Quist

Tonight was the last Picnic in the Park concert of the year. It was an excellent concert. Rob Quist is a local musician but it always seemed like something came up when he performed each year and I missed his appearances.

The music was to be by Rob Quist and Great Northern. I got there after the concert started so I didn't hear the introduction, but during the concert Rob mentioned the man and woman on electric guitars were his son (Guthrie) and daughter (Halliday). They also played a few songs by White Hawk - his son and daughter's band. No mention was made of Great Northern.

The musicians were very good, both playing their instruments and with their singing as they all had strong voices. They sang songs where they were the lead and on other songs backup. A band that can play and sing an excellent version of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills and Nash has to be strong instrumentally and vocally.

At one point the band played an excellent version of the ACDC song TNT (where the daughter sang lead vocal on a definitely male song) and the next song they immediately played was one that would please the old fogies that listen to the Prairie Home Companion radio show. In fact an old grandpa a short distance in front of me was dancing in his chair to the second song.

While both siblings have strong voices, Halliday sang with more emotion than Guthrie. It showed through in both the heavy metal ACDC song TNT and in the bluesy song Love Me Like A Man that she sang.

Before she sang the second song Rob told a humorous story about his daughter bringing this song home to sing when she was only 16 and wanting to perform it live at his next Christmas Concert. Read the lyrics.

I found Gary during the concert's intermission. It was harder than usual to find him in the crowd both because the crowd was larger tonight and because Gail was sitting on his lap as she didn't seem to have a chair. Gary, Gary... you said after your marriage's end you'd never marry again. Anyway I gave Gary somewhat of a hard time for canceling our hike this week to the top of Mt Henkel. He still wants to do the hike but the window of opportunity is getting smaller for this year.

I also ran into a woman (Me-HIGH-la -- I don't know how it is spelled) that I had met at a several of the contra dances. She has a three year son and he doesn't keep still. Our short talk about contra dancing ended as he wandered off into the crowd.

The concert had power problems just after I arrived so the musicians ended up playing an extra 20 minutes to make up for it. Therefore it was dark when the concert ended and when I rode my bicycle home. It seemed only a short time ago that it was still light outside when I rode home after a concert. My bicycle seemed to make some new creaking noises so I'll have to check it tomorrow when I can see to see if something else cracked or broke.

A Whole Lotta Hip Rolling Goin' on

Tuesday evening I attended another Picnic in the Park music concert. The band was Cocinando. They play Latin and Jazz music and seem each year to play one concert at the Picnic in the Park series.

That afternoon I had been spraying weeds so I was a little late to the concert as I had to finish a tank of herbicide. There were lots of people there but I was still was able to find a spot on a bench on which to sit. It was a good spot as I could also people watch as a number of people strolled by on the sidewalk in front of me.

The 13 member band played salsa, samba and other Latin flavored dance music. Every so often several adults would dance to the music. I noticed they would be an older couple, else an older man in his 50s or 60s and a young 20-something woman. For one old/young dance couple who danced on the sidewalk down from me, his body shape looked like he would be slow moving and stiff but he knew the dance moves and spun and twirled the young woman all around. She looked like she was enjoying dancing with him and I saw she had sought him out later in the concert for another dance.

For this style of dancing and music a whole lot of hip rolling was going on by the women dancing. Nice. For the young woman dancing with the older guy on the sidewalk I was starting to wonder if her loose hippy-chic skirt was going to stay up on her hips with all the sharp hip movement she was doing.

Later in the concert another youngish woman with several small children seemed not to be able take it any longer and as an excuse to get up and dance tried to teach her young daughter how to move her hips and dance. The young girl looked to be six or less and spent more time standing watching her mother than attempting the hip movements and dancing herself.

During the intermission, and after they gave away the raffle prizes, a young woman demonstrated a belly dance. She was advertising belly dance lessons at a local athletic club and also that she was available to dance at weddings or other special events.

The song she danced to was an interesting modern middle eastern arrangement of the song "I Put a Spell on You". Naturally she had a belly dancers outfit. In additional to the hip shaking she demonstrated a number of arm movements. While she didn't have an exotic middle eastern complexion she looked nice with her long brown straight hair. One suggestion: she should lose the glasses when belly dancing as that distracted from the overall look.

Usually during the intermission people use this opportunity to talk and socialize. I noticed that when she demonstrated the belly dance moves most everyone - men and women - stopped and watched.

And - dang - I had forgotten my camera at home.

Picnic Music: Cocinando

Back on Tuesday night, July 22, the band at the Picnic in the Park concert was Cocinando, who play Latin jazz.

For once I got to the concert before it started. That turned out to be good as I discovered that there was also an ice cream social going on with free ice cream. I got huckleberry ice cream.

This time Cocinando was joined by a special guest player from out of state, Bobby Matos. The band played a few of his songs and he talked about them. That guy sure liked to talk. Someone near me muttered he should shut up and play the music.

Near to me was a small group sitting and laying on a blanket. Kids to young adults to adults. At one point the group sang "Happy Birthday" to one of the kids while gathered around a cupcake with a candle. Later during intermission the leader of Cocinando came over and then I noticed one of the women in the group was wearing a shirt with his name on it. It appears he is running for a seat in the Montana legislature.

With the group was a woman who looked 40-something. She was somewhat attractive. She was dressed stylish and young, in the manner where her appearance was important to her. She did seem to be kind of an airhead. When the band leader had stopped by to talk with the woman who was wearing his shirt, the 40-something woman interrupted several times to tell him it was her birthday today, and only stopped when he acknowledged her. She also told him her name was Julie.

Later before ending the concert early due to the weather he mentioned it was Julie's birthday and that the band would sing her the "Happy Birthday" song if she came up to the stage and danced while they sang the song. I think she went up there but by this time the weather and wind was getting worse so I didn't see Julie dance as I was in the back of the audience getting my bicycle ready for leaving.

The band tried to soldier on but the wind made it hard for them to play and it was also whistling into the microphone. So the concert ended 20 minutes early.

As I rode home it began to rain. Colleen wasn't at the concert this night to give me a ride home. Fortunately it didn't rain too hard. I was pretty wet when I got home but I wasn't soaked.

Bobby Matos is the guy in the hat.

During the concert the tent was set up over the soundboard. The sound man is holding onto the tent to keep it from blowing over.