Friday, August 25, 2017

An anniversary date made EZ!

Last night's performance by the Piano Guys in San Antonio's Tobin Center was absolutely awesome! At one point, Steve Nelson was playing an awesome Cello piece with video in the background of him playing that same piece with what appeared to be a high school orchestra-young artists hard at work. They displayed onscreen a quote from Beethoven, “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.” It was an inspiring scene, but then, as I watched the video I thought, "Where are the young people of color? There must be young people in tonight's audience who are wishing they could see someone who looked like them in this uplifting scene." Trying to be charitable I concluded that the video must have just been shot in an area where the majority are white, with no intent to exclude anyone. Then--the stage was dark except for the spotlight on Steve--the video switched from the original scene to a shot of 8 young people of mixed complexion, all dressed in black, all playing violins beautifully right along with Steve. Music still sweetly resonating, the stage lights came up and there they were! The same 8 young people, looking very representative of San Antonio in skin tone, size, and shape. As the piece ended, Steve thanked them and introduced them as string players from a local San Antonio high school! Thank you, Piano Guys, for including youth, and especially local youth that are representative of our great San Antonio diversity, one of the things I love about living here. If you don't know the Piano Guys, check them out on YouTube, where they have over 5 million subscribers and over a billion views.

Before the show, we had dinner at Taste, the restaurant at the Tobin Center which serves on performance nights by reservation only. We also splurged on valet parking, so we rolled up and strolled in. The menu included Italian meatball soup, a variety of salad and vegetables, penne pasta, and veal osso bucco with gelato or tiramisu for dessert. A wonderful date with my life-long-love, Glenda! Thank you, Mrs. Moyes, for putting up with me for over 49 years.

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