Orel Family

Playing Sir DukeL Stevie Wonder at The Palace of Auburn Hills, November 20, 2014 Songs in the Key of Life has always been, to me, the  perfect album. An album of astonishing breadth, both topically and musically. An album in which every note, every utterance, seemed perfectly placed. The album that taught me why a great double album might have side one on a different disc than side 2, because of course  I'd want to hear all 4 sides in order without having to get up so often to flip the disc. The album in which the "bonus" EP - though played far less often - was still superb. I've seen Stevie play before, including once in Malmö, Sweden . But never behind this album. This tour, this short tour of just 11 dates, had "don't you dare miss this" all over it. Never mind the ticket price, this was a treat. Thursday's snow storm resulted in a very late arriving crowd, and Stevie didn't take the stage until almost 9:15pm, more than an hour after ...

September 19: Full house for homecoming. Today is recovery day. Yesterday the West Bloomfield High School Marching Band , including both kids, performed at The Michigan Competing Bands Association (MCBA) State Finals at Ford Field in Detroit . The band finished in 9th place in Flight I, with a score of 88.125. Two years ago, that might as well have been written in Greek, but today I can translate every word of it. August 22: At band camp. September 5: For the first half of the first game, the dress stayed casual. Two years ago, I would never have expected to become a band dad. Aaron's school didn't even have a marching band, just a loose-knit ensemble of a few kids in a quasi-rock band that played various school events. They did ok, we had no complaints. Aaron played guitar, but with the encouragement of the group's advisor, he also tried electric bass, and it stuck. He started private lessons. Then he decided to transfer to WBHS. WBHS didn't have an ense...