No Soccer Practice on Tuesday, May 12, 2008.

No practice today due to a conflict with the Freedom Seven Strings concert.

Ars longa, vita brevis.

Seneca

Art is long and time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still like muffled drums are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

Longfellow

Trombone Shorty

 

Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews (born January 2, 1986) is a trombone and trumpet player from New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S..

Troy Andrews is the younger brother of trumpeter and bandleader James Andrews. Growing up in New Orleans' Treme neighborhood, "Trombone Shorty" was participating in brass band parades as a child, carrying his trombone even before his arms were long enough to reach all the positions of the slide. Andrews was a bandleader by the age of 6. Originally attracting attention for his youth, by his teens he was attracting attention for his musical virtuosity as well.

He attended the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), and as a graduate he joined the ranks of others like Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., Irvin Mayfield and Nicholas Payton.

In 2005, he was a featured member of Lenny Kravitz's horn section for a world tour.



In London, during the summer of 2006, Andrews began working with producer Bob Ezrin and U2 at Abbey Road Studios. This association led to Andrews performing with U2 and Green Day during the re-opening of the New Orleans Superdome for the NFL’s Monday Night Football pre-game show.

To wrap up 2006, Andrews appeared on the NBC television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Leading a group of New Orleans musicians, he performed the holiday classic "O Holy Night" which drew such an enthusiastic response from viewers that NBC released the single for free download on their web site.

Kicking off 2007, New Orleans’ premier music magazine, Offbeat, named Andrews their Performer of the Year. He also garnered honors as Best Contemporary Jazz Performer.

As of 2008, his current project is Orleans Avenue, a funk/pop/hip-hop mix including musicians Mike Ballard on bass, James Martin on tenor sax, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums, and Charlie Smith on keyboards.

Pound Bound?

 

Blaze vs. Divine Mercy: Kickoff at 11:30 on April 25, 2009 (at Kelly West in Merritt Island.)

 

Neil Says:

Red means run, son,
numbers add up to nothin'.

Where did the name "Freedom Seven" come from?

MISSION CONTROL: "Three, two, one, zero...liftoff!"

SHEPARD: "Roger, liftoff and the clock has started."

The clock has started. With those words, Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space. He was in a small spacecraft called Freedom Seven. It was on top of a huge rocket traveling at more than eight thousand kilometers an hour.

Fifteen minutes later, Freedom Seven came down in the Atlantic Ocean. Alan Shepard was a national hero. He had won an important victory for the United States. The date was May fifth, nineteen sixty-one.

Freedom Seven flew one hundred eighty-five kilometers high. Then it re-entered the atmosphere and the spacecraft slowed. The fifteen-minute flight ended with a soft splash into the ocean about five hundred kilometers from Cape Canaveral.

Alan Shepard reported: "Everything is A-Okay." A helicopter pulled him from the spacecraft and carried him to a waiting ship.

The New Riders of the Wekiva Sage.

 

Hanna & Hailey Say: GIRLS ROCK!

 

Bryan's Family gives up football for fishing!

Long-time Space Coast fishing guide and national television personality, Capt. Blair Wiggins is no stranger to professional redfishing. In 2006, he and former teammate Tad Vandermark became the first $100,000 winners on the FLW Tour.

For the second year in a row, he's partnering with his 16-year-old son and avid angler, Drayden, for the IFA events

Practice? - Not in the Lighting! - But otherwise, yes!

As we face yet another day, where afternoon thunderstorms – and lots of lightning strikes – are likely, we should remember lightning kills an average of 62 people a year in the United States – with about 10 of those in Florida – the agency wants us to keep some safety tips in mind:

“The only way to be safe during lightning is to be inside a substantial building or car. A building is safe if it is fully enclosed with a roof, walls, and floor, and contains wiring and plumbing throughout. Picnic shelters, dugouts, sheds and other partially open or small structures are not safe,” says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Lightning flashes about 25 million times a year in the United States – with about 1 million of those in Florida – and each one is a potential killer, NOAA says.

Some other interesting facts, courtesy of the National Weather Service:

-- About 100,000 thunderstorms build in the United States each year;

-- Lightning is present in all thunderstorms;

-- A cloud-to-ground lightning strike, the most destructive form of lightning, occurs when the electrical difference between a thundercloud and the ground overcomes the insulating properties of the surrounding air;

-- Lightning has struck 10 miles away from the rain of a thunderstorm;

If you find yourself stuck outdoors during a thunderstorm, here are some more tips:

-- Do not seek shelter under tall or isolated trees. Lightning typically strikes the tallest object in an area.

-- Avoid open areas. You don’t want to be the tallest object.

-- Do not seek shelter under partially enclosed buildings

-- If you are camping, be ready to seek safe shelter in a vehicle or substantial building if a thunderstorm threatens. A tent offers no protection from lighting.

-- Stay away from metal fences and poles that could conduct lightning to you.

-- If you are on a boat, return to shore immediately and seek safe shelter.

For more information, here's a good link. http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/