September 8, 2005
speed to Spica
9/8/05
This blog goes out to my dad, who turned 66 today!
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last week in St. Helena
ahhhhhh.
a heartwarming lucy photo.
thank you.
p.s. although with those gorgeous blue eyes and the orange blouse, she looks like a future cavalier, not tarheel -- kidding! :)
Happy birthday, Mr. Williams.
Ha! I think Lyle is right! Lucy certainly seems UVA bound. . .
Wow! Lucy is growing so much! What a big girl!
happy birthday, richard!
what an incredible picture! i'm very curious what they're both looking at.
Beautiful photo! Happy b-day!
Happy Birthday Richard and goo goo goo Lucy
Happy Birthday, Richard! (To Hugh Grant, Tom Wopat, and Deion Sanders as well.)
Dad's watching Ian and Tess play ping-pong; Lucy is contemplating shoving that orange fist back into her mouth.
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Happy birthday to the man whom I once thought wrote the Star Wars score.
Andy's comment reminded me of something. . . Ian, I recall my freshman year roommate telling me that your dad wrote the music for the Peanuts' themes. I thought it was Vince Guiraldi. What's the story?
It must have been a Carolina urban myth. I swear I was told that Ian William's father was the composer John Williams of Star Wars fame.
Yeah, I was told all those things at Carolina too. The real story is this: my dad is a symphony conductor who had great stints in Cedar Rapids, then as the conductor of the Virginia Philharmonic, guest spots and recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra (probably where the John Williams rumors came from), the Belgian Philharmonic and then to the Far East, El Salvador, and everywhere in between.
Before all this, however, when I was Lucy's age, my mom and dad were friends with Vince Guaraldi when he was working on the Peanuts music. Guaraldi apparently used to drink too much and sleep under our piano.
Dad got Vince to arrange the Peanuts music into a suite, which he then helped orchestrate. The results are here on this CD, last year's best-seller that contains the original reel-to-reel tapes from 1968:
Not for hardcore jazz fans, but I love it, and it's great on a road trip.
Thanks, Ian! I absolutely adore all of the Peanuts music, and after I met you, and Sarah told me about the Peanuts-link with your father, I felt as though I was one degree of separation away from absolute musical enchantment. I have been arguing with people since 1986 over who wrote the Peanuts music! Thanks for the clarification. And Vince Guaraldi liked to hit the bottle -- what juicy dirt!
I just read Michelle's "Training" post. Please tell her that I wish her well with her deployment. And, I think that Lucy looks so much like her Aunt Michelle (judging from all of the family photos you have posted). The photo of the two of them on Michelle's blog is precious.
Take care and have a great weekend. I just stopped at the library and picked up Dennis McFarland's "Prince Edward", so I am looking forward to some relaxing time with a great book.
test 123, test 123. Sorry.
Happy Birthday.