Maybe I've seen too many fireworks and too many parades.

Today, we celebrated our independence by going down on Gay Street in downtown Knoxville to the newly restored Tennessee Theater for a concert. It was just one man and a gigantic red and gold pipe organ. They always call it the "Mighty Wirlitzer," and the organist was a man that Willette used to work with at the lab.

The theater is on a block with vacant storefronts, so it is almost a shock to go in and find an early 20th Century theater that is in a class with the Fox in Atlanta. It is big, ornate, and luxurious. Theaters like this inspired the smaller versions found on cruise ships.

The organ gives you sterophonic, high fidelity, surround sound, with digital quality, yet it was manufactured before that stuff was invented.

We heard some patriotic music and some show music. There was a lot of George M. Cohan, and Irving Berlin, but there was also a little bit of Fiddler on the Roof and Showboat. It was over in less than an hour, but I would have stayed all afternoon.

It was an older audience. Q-tip hairdoes and shinny bald heads were everywhere. Why do you have to be over 65 to enjoy stuff like that?
Howard