Sunday, July 26, 2009

Oogley Googley Natalie ...

... where both oogley and googley must be pronounced with three syllables as in Natalie and as in Google with an ee added at the end.

Hold on; I'm not completely mad; let me splain.

Let's begin with Natalie ... as in Natalie McMaster ... the Natalie McMaster ... the most renown Canadian fiddler, Natalie McMaster. yeah, that one. Last night, she performed at a free outdoor concert with the NAC orchestra (our local symphony). As the photo below will show, the crowd was large and we were a long way back. Being a free concert, however, I was fine with that.

I took the photo just before the performance commenced, and in it I have outline a gentleman who was standing (almost in the middle of the photo). Would you believe that he remained standing throughout the whole concert? Fortunately for him, it wasn't a terribly long concert, but my old bones certainly wouldn't have preferred to stand for that long. Maybe this was his uninformed version of a mosh pit. If so, he needs help rather desperately.

To the point then: Natalie was fantastic. I've heard a lot of wonderful fiddlers in the last few years, and I think she has moved to the top of the list. Not only is she a great fiddler, but she has stage presence. She remains standing and constantly dances around the stage. And she's also durn purddy. In addition, some fiddle music is better to my ears than other, and she packs a pretty nice, primarily Cape Breton repertoire. Cape Breton music is Scottish in origin and has maintained it's old roots well, so it's pretty authentic, centuries old stuff.



Even with our little 3x optical zoom (which I admit isn't much), this was as close a shot as I could manage. I've outlined Natalie at the bottom of the stage.



So what about the Googley bit, AC? Cause you're losin me man.

Well, a few weeks ago, an ad for the concert appeared on my sidebar in Google Mail, aka GMail. I seldom notice these ads, but I saw this one. For whatever reason, the concert wasn't publicized too much until just a few days ago, so I may not have known about it otherwise.

But wait ... there's more.

I knew that a fellow local blogger, Lorna from Lorna in Wonderland actually lived across from the venue, so I wrote to ask her about parking in that area. She invited us to use her building's visitors parking and to stop in for a pre-concert visit and snack.

So, you see, Google not only provided me with the information about the event but also with company since we both as do all Blogger bloggers blog on a Google hosted service. While Lorna and I have been blog visiting back and forth for several years, we have never met despite living in the same city and each of us knowing approximately where the other is located.

Now we have been able to personalize our relationship a little, and IMO, the visiting went pretty darn well before, during and after the concert over coffee at her place. I think that's where the warm and fuzzy oogley part comes in, but I confess that I am reaching. Here are Lorna and me just before the concert began.



And here is Cuppa, Lorna, and her husband, Dave, during the concert. Both Dave and Lorna were wonderful hosts. I was fairly confident that this meeting would work well as we have done this type of thing a few times previously. I was right; they're a great and hospitable couple.



Finally, here is Natalie in a YouTube clip. It's long, so you won't want to watch it all, but if you don't know her, it will introduce you to a fine, Canadian treasure.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad we saw Cuppa and Lorna's husband, had we wondering there for a minute. I loved that tape. I am a fiddler too. I will have a pic on my blog tomorrow with my violin.
QMM

Lorna said...

thanks for the photos on your site. Not only did I forget dinner, but I never once thought of my camera. Nonetheless, a great experience all round!!!

JunieRose2005 said...

AC,

Very nice! I have never met ANY of my blog buddies!

Also-I enjoyed the music by Natalie MacMaster!



Junie

Ginnie said...

You brought back wonderful memories of the time I saw Natalie in concert...but that one wasn't FREE !
I love the pictures and isn't it fun to meet up with blogger friends?

Jinksy said...

Oogley Googley pudding and pie,
kissed the girls and made them cry ... No - wait a minute? That was Georgy Porgy!

Mary said...

AC,

I'm glad you and Cuppa were able to hook up with Lorna and her husband. Looks like you had a great time. Natalie is a very talented lady.

Hope you are drier than we are here. It's poured the entire day pretty much.

Blessings,
Mary

Mara said...

So, thanks to Google you had a nice evening and met some new 'old' friends along the way! So, it's not all about money with Google then?
Great to see you had a great time though...

KGMom said...

Sounds like the perfect way to spend a summer evening--enjoying fun music, meeting friends, and being with Cuppa.

ChrisB said...

Hoorah for Google. Glad you you got to meet up with a fellow blogger and had such a great time. I've not heard of Natalie McMaster but am enjoying the fiddling as I type.

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

I didn't quite follow the three posts of three syllable words you strung this tale along. Somehow you got us from a couple of silly words, to the concert, to the blogger friend and then to Natalie.

I am sorry you gave people permission not to watch all of the video of Natalie as she does some wild step dancing including a moonwalk at the end, all the while fiddling.

I wonder if they could entice her to come to Sturgeon Falls some year for the Fiddle and STep Dancing Week?

Anonymous said...

One of the best things about summer is the outdoor concerts. I had not heard of Natalie prior to this post, but she is certainly one very talented Canadian. And how wonderful to have met a fellow blogger face to face and under such festive circumstances.