Beethoven's Ninth

On Friday my wife and I are going to a performance of Beethoven's Ninth by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony Chorale (under the direction of the incomparable Lee Erickson). I have wanted to do this ever since I was a kid and they used to use the second movement during the closing credits of the NBC Nightly News with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley.

I remember when I was about ten and I found my mom's LP of the 9th and played it. When it got to the second movement I said, "Hey, that's the Huntley/Brinkley theme song!"*

I never thought I'd get this opportunity. But for some reason our son's music school was giving away free tickets! Score, as my kids say!

Nothing like a good, intense dose of freemasonry to begin a relaxing weekend, I always say.

*Another story from my childhood. I was digging through my mom's old 78s and found Desi Arnaz's recording of "Babaloo.' I was so excited I ran with it into the kitchen to show mom. On the way the record slipped out of my hand. As you know, 78s were pretty brittle, so it shattered into pieces on the hallway carpet. I cried and cried. My mom wasn't anywhere near as upset about it.

Then there was the time I somehow broke my sister's 45 of "Never My Love." I tried to hide it somewhere, but she found it. She wasn't quite as forgiving as my mom.