tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55740601461038392302011-11-27T18:44:23.420-05:00Raining AcornsWE WRITE AS WE PLEASERaining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.comBlogger1491100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-74987897120067222002011-09-19T21:10:00.000-04:002011-09-19T21:10:59.882-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gTreU59nsnc/Tnfno6VDhmI/AAAAAAAAE_s/vnWgFk5lR3o/s1600/Mattingly.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gTreU59nsnc/Tnfno6VDhmI/AAAAAAAAE_s/vnWgFk5lR3o/s320/Mattingly.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/09/dylan-mattinglys-american-vernacular.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there!<br /><br />This will be the last announcement of posts at Prufrock's Dilemma here at Raining Acorns. I hope you'll consider following me directly at PD, if you haven't done so already.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-7498789712006722200?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-18821272736875911262011-09-12T19:22:00.000-04:002011-09-12T19:22:54.626-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VHrk3gQ9_pc/Tm6TSk6VS8I/AAAAAAAAE_o/KDvKMOHBJ3I/s1600/Chanson.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VHrk3gQ9_pc/Tm6TSk6VS8I/AAAAAAAAE_o/KDvKMOHBJ3I/s320/Chanson.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>New post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/09/verlaine-hes-hidden-in-grass-verlaine.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there!<br /><br />I'll be phasing out notifications of new posts on Raining Acorns this month. I hope you'll consider following me directly on Prufrock's Dilemma if you would like to know about new posts.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-1882127273687591126?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-82915580764201948382011-09-09T16:53:00.000-04:002011-09-09T16:53:53.420-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_QVuqp9WVNE/Tmp8l0qGMlI/AAAAAAAAE_k/wjm58LhoXkI/s1600/Greenstein.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_QVuqp9WVNE/Tmp8l0qGMlI/AAAAAAAAE_k/wjm58LhoXkI/s320/Greenstein.PNG" width="302" /></a></div>There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/09/judd-greensteins-le-tombeau-de-ravel.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-8291558076420194838?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-50623109197865469022011-09-04T22:11:00.000-04:002011-09-04T22:11:28.471-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IU-_r1Xtnrc/TmQvd_3VPBI/AAAAAAAAE_g/EgczcrBiGuk/s1600/if+stones.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IU-_r1Xtnrc/TmQvd_3VPBI/AAAAAAAAE_g/EgczcrBiGuk/s320/if+stones.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/09/if-stones-could-speak.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-5062310919786546902?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-32642770300698699552011-08-30T17:51:00.001-04:002011-08-30T17:51:32.869-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3KQ18-XoSgs/Tl1bCD6U3mI/AAAAAAAAE_c/dn-nwSDavw8/s1600/PD.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3KQ18-XoSgs/Tl1bCD6U3mI/AAAAAAAAE_c/dn-nwSDavw8/s320/PD.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />New post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/08/maines-great-clepsydra.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-3264277030069869955?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-5452444722017599222011-08-24T21:04:00.000-04:002011-08-24T21:04:14.147-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Z__zlmfQIA/TlWfTN9OnqI/AAAAAAAAE_Y/_nrN_-__frM/s1600/Heron.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Z__zlmfQIA/TlWfTN9OnqI/AAAAAAAAE_Y/_nrN_-__frM/s320/Heron.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/08/high-noon-with-great-blue-heron.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there!<br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-545244472201759922?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-90510180520812119882011-08-15T21:44:00.000-04:002011-08-15T21:44:34.097-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TFDGTcBJvng/TknLBkHpQRI/AAAAAAAAE_U/886PONL8FcY/s1600/Eurydice.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TFDGTcBJvng/TknLBkHpQRI/AAAAAAAAE_U/886PONL8FcY/s320/Eurydice.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/08/waltzing-to-eurydice.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there! <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-9051018052081211988?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-61175420471120439182011-08-04T00:07:00.000-04:002011-08-04T00:07:27.694-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lVNMCyJrQCU/TjlY9_-mymI/AAAAAAAAE_Q/nWwMXN8-cpk/s1600/Danube+RA+Pic.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lVNMCyJrQCU/TjlY9_-mymI/AAAAAAAAE_Q/nWwMXN8-cpk/s320/Danube+RA+Pic.PNG" width="320" /></a></div> There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/08/but-danube-isnt-blue.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-6117542047112043918?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-53320529220677349992011-07-28T21:58:00.000-04:002011-07-28T21:58:14.969-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-um9VidbzG9c/TjITHJmQGgI/AAAAAAAAE_M/EdyCH1E5io0/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-um9VidbzG9c/TjITHJmQGgI/AAAAAAAAE_M/EdyCH1E5io0/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />A <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/07/does-anyone-still-compose-waltz.html">new post</a> is up at Prufrock's Dilemma. Hope you will join me there!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-5332052922067734999?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-65318626336599381602011-07-22T18:44:00.001-04:002011-07-22T18:46:03.722-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s3YlwqtUHLQ/Tin87HkQIsI/AAAAAAAAE_I/zoQDh4gsTpI/s1600/Searching+for+Birds+ADK.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s3YlwqtUHLQ/Tin87HkQIsI/AAAAAAAAE_I/zoQDh4gsTpI/s320/Searching+for+Birds+ADK.PNG" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/07/searching-for-birds-in-adirondacks.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there! </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-6531862633659938160?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-62732505065265162872011-07-15T14:39:00.001-04:002011-07-15T14:42:54.965-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uYJeOfzPYCY/TiCJPNeRdvI/AAAAAAAAE_E/6aRUmmxzgTM/s1600/Alice.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uYJeOfzPYCY/TiCJPNeRdvI/AAAAAAAAE_E/6aRUmmxzgTM/s320/Alice.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/06/alice-in-ashberyland.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there! </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-6273250506526516287?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-80068202593864727772011-07-01T08:30:00.000-04:002011-07-01T08:30:56.514-04:00New Post Up at Prufrock's Dilemma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eN5VkgYkDhc/Tg29IzsI-LI/AAAAAAAAE-8/U8jEj1vh2tc/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eN5VkgYkDhc/Tg29IzsI-LI/AAAAAAAAE-8/U8jEj1vh2tc/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>There's a new post up at <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/06/doing-watusi-with-rimbaud.html">Prufrock's Dilemma</a>. Hope to see you there!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-8006820259386472777?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-79745743847994725132011-06-22T21:25:00.001-04:002011-07-01T08:29:17.974-04:00Where We've Flown To<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yUUvSKJh-JA/TgKVeXrP4-I/AAAAAAAAE-4/u5KJsNHsN1o/s1600/Prufrock.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yUUvSKJh-JA/TgKVeXrP4-I/AAAAAAAAE-4/u5KJsNHsN1o/s400/Prufrock.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>Susan Scheid (a/k/a Raining Acorns) can now be found at her new blog, <i>Prufrock's Dilemma</i>. The first post, about Patti Smith and her book <i>Just Kids,</i> is up today and can be found <a href="http://prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/05/still-kids.html">here</a>. Hope to see you there!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-7974574384799472513?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-72032949618147296762011-05-19T16:01:00.001-04:002011-07-15T14:41:13.299-04:00Time to Take a Break<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UTC6FfOPirc/Tc8M4qFxSwI/AAAAAAAAE-k/Xptt0up7SFM/s1600/Swallow+P4152040_edited-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UTC6FfOPirc/Tc8M4qFxSwI/AAAAAAAAE-k/Xptt0up7SFM/s320/Swallow+P4152040_edited-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">The Raining Acorns writing collaboration with Carol-Ann and Wide Open Spaces has been a wonderful adventure. I can’t imagine any two better writing colleagues than they have been.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />I think of Wide Open Spaces as our Erma Bombeck. I love her easy humor, not to mention her ability to come up with snappy titles that don’t use a semi-colon. Carol-Ann has a knack for taking popular subjects and turning them on their head. Her tales of South Africa have been a particular pleasure for me. Her post “Invictus: My Memory of the Game” (which she attended) remains the most popular of all of our posts.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yet, as all things tend to do, the Raining Acorns writing collaboration has come to an end. For me, at least, that doesn’t necessarily mean an end to blogging. I’m going to be listening and looking, reading and walking, and coming up with what I want to do next. While I won’t be active on the internet during this period, our blog will remain up, and I will check e-mail from time to time, so please feel free to drop a line.<br /><br />While I’m out wandering, I’ll miss all of you whose blogs (and tweets) I’ve been following with keen interest, and I’ll certainly miss your visits to us at RA. I’ll post an announcement on the blog when any of us is back in action. I do hope you’ll come by and visit again then.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-7203294961814729676?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-76081402250620904022011-05-17T10:38:00.008-04:002011-05-19T16:06:38.540-04:00Farewell for Now<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BBj_30BM4y8/TdKKMRzGwvI/AAAAAAAAAWw/3WadGIfyi3c/s1600/IMG_1140.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607696429570507506" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BBj_30BM4y8/TdKKMRzGwvI/AAAAAAAAAWw/3WadGIfyi3c/s320/IMG_1140.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />When my lovely blogging partners Raining Acorns and Carol-Ann asked me to join them in this adventure, I had no trouble coming up with my nom de plume, "Wide Open Spaces." It is the title of a <a href="http://www.dixiechicks.com/historical.asp">Dixie Chicks</a> song that seemed especially appropriate to me as I dipped my virtual toes into the waters of writing for an actual audience. Although the song is written about a young girl just starting out on her own, it also fit my 40-something stage of life.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BsA8kXHmRRQ/TdKLyYsoq6I/AAAAAAAAAXA/et7dxcWamkY/s1600/IMG_0998.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607698183769074594" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BsA8kXHmRRQ/TdKLyYsoq6I/AAAAAAAAAXA/et7dxcWamkY/s320/IMG_0998.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 158px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 199px;" /></a><br />When we began Raining Acorns, we had no idea where we would meander, just that we wanted to continue polishing the writing skills we worked on in the writing class where the three of us met. Over time, I found my voice on topics of substance (<a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/search/label/Memorial%20Day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/05/safe-from-sun.html">melanoma awareness</a>, <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/09/moving-in-circles.html">Moving in Circles</a>) and lighter fare - <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/search/label/minivan">my minivan</a>, an old <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/10/something-old-something-new.html">Bride'</a>s magazine, and of course, <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/04/cooking-with-giada.html">Giada DeLaurentiis.</a><br /><br /><br />Just as much fun was seeing my partners explore their interests - learning about music, poetry, and Louisiana from Raining Acorns, dining in the dark, chalk paintings, and South Africa from Carol-Ann.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o7vPeEhKa-k/TdKK7cESfgI/AAAAAAAAAW4/H3HdGxLhUYQ/s1600/IMG_2594.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607697239780785666" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o7vPeEhKa-k/TdKK7cESfgI/AAAAAAAAAW4/H3HdGxLhUYQ/s320/IMG_2594.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 209px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 279px;" /></a><br />So while I may be taking a break from blogging with Raining Acorns, I do hope to continue to write in some fashion. And I am eager to hear what Carol-Ann and Raining Acorns have to say in the future.<br /><br />This has been a great learning experience and a whole lot of fun for me. Sincere thanks to all of you who took the time to read what I had to say and comment on it. And my appreciation and thanks to my writing partners for including me on this journey.<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dom7VlltBUc?fs=1" width="480"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-7608140225062090402?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-30494409489722692382011-05-15T16:01:00.010-04:002011-05-17T23:01:27.145-04:00In Closing<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u0FN92pplcc/TdAziHCJXWI/AAAAAAAAAXA/wOWqnRKT5DY/s1600/Sarasota%2BSunset%2B001.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607038197172886882" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u0FN92pplcc/TdAziHCJXWI/AAAAAAAAAXA/wOWqnRKT5DY/s400/Sarasota%2BSunset%2B001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 135px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a><br />The first piece I wrote for Raining Acorns was posted on November 1st, 2009. It was about clearing weeds from my garden on a summer day in Sarasota, Florida. I seem to have come full circle because, although I’m not a frequent gardener, I was in my garden again this morning - this time to plant new growth. Today is also the day that I post my last contribution to this blog. It seemed like a good time to look back at my 31 previous posts.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2009/11/leaping-lizards.html">I went from my steamy garden</a><br /><br />to look through my window thankfully as Hurricane Ida passed us by<br /><br />to (un) Thanksgiving in South Africa<br /><br /><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2009/12/invictus-out-of-night-that-covers-me.html"><br />to a movie about a pivotal time in South Africa’s triumphal transition from apartheid</a><br /><br />to the dreamy 3D world of Avatar<br /><br /><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/01/yad-vashem.html"><br />to a deeply affecting visit to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem</a><br /><br />to contemplating “virtual suicide” in the online world<br /><br />to photographing the magnificent Banyan trees at my neighborhood Ringling Museum<br /><br />to memories of my father in recounting our experience with a charging elephant<br /><br />to a stirring stage rendition of Fiddler on the Roof<br /><br />to describing the efforts made by South Africa to prepare for the first soccer World Cup on African soil<br /><br />to being “stranded” in London and Paris by ash from the Icelandic volcano<br /><br />to celebrating my Mum on Mother’s Day<br /><br />to compiling a list of weird and wonderful May dates<br /><br />to enjoying South African restaurants<br /><br />to reporting the highly successful outcome of South Africa’s World Cup preparations<br /><br />to prowling the Catacombs beneath Paris<br /><br /><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/07/dining-in-dark.html">to dining in the pitch dark in Amsterdam</a><br /><br />to watching whales on a cold and blustery day in Hermanus, South Africa<br /><br />to Yonika Shonibare’s marvelous display of beautifully attired child mannequins at the Ringling Museum<br /><br />to a movie about Facebook’s billionaires<br /><br />to a gorgeous festival of chalk street art in Sarasota<br /><br />to baking my husband’s Christmas Cake (again)<br /><br />to marvelling at a rags-to-riches story<br /><br />to a wonderfully mild and sunny winter in Sarasota<br /><br />to listing Oscar’s firsts and lasts<br /><br />to attending a presentation of the search for Angola, a run-away slave encampment on the banks of the Manatee River<br /><br />to reviewing a fascinating new book about our relationship with water<br /><br />to finally end up in front of the television set along with millions of people around the world who watched the Royal Wedding.<br /><br />So much in so short a time! Of course, I haven't been alone in this venture - far from it - in the time between writing this mixed bag of posts I’ve learnt much more than I ever thought I would, through reading and experiencing my co-writers' contributions to our blog – among them a lovely series about contemporary music by Raining Acorns and of course the always wise and witty pieces by Wide Open Spaces.<br /><br />Now that I am about to close this short but event-filled chapter of my life I realize that I will sorely miss the connection that I felt to my fellow writers and to all the readers out there. I don’t know what I’ll do next but I do know that my life has been enriched through this experience. Until I actually looked back at my posts I didn’t realize how much I had done and how much of this activity was largely due to this blog. Not only did I get out more and do more, I learnt to look at things differently, to be more curious and to listen more intently. My co-writers inspired me through their excellent writing to do my very best to be worthy of appearing with them on Raining Acorns.<br /><br />I'd like to say to both of them and to all of you out there who took the time and effort to actually read what I wrote and even to comment:<br /><br />Goodbye and Thank You.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-3049440948972269238?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-25234800005317659912011-05-08T08:31:00.004-04:002011-05-17T22:39:06.110-04:00Photographing Birds in Flight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w0jQ7YLLVzA/Tb38ld9bnmI/AAAAAAAAE9w/saabaeLja5c/s1600/P4292140_edited-2+%2528950x485%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w0jQ7YLLVzA/Tb38ld9bnmI/AAAAAAAAE9w/saabaeLja5c/s320/P4292140_edited-2+%2528950x485%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A few years back, I received a handsome tripod as a gift. I’ve tried repeatedly to use it, but I always seem to point it in the wrong direction. Bottom line, I don’t want to carry it when I’m out walking. As it is, I look like a newbie journalist, my many-pocketed vest bulging with stuff I can never find and a camera and pair of binoculars criss-crossed like bullet holsters over the top.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />I’ll acknowledge, though, that, one time, I got it sort of right. I’d learned that, if you focus on a bird box where chicks are being fed, you have a chance at getting an interesting shot. I got mine one year with bluebirds. I was too far away (I don’t own a spotting scope for <a href="http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/gear/Digiscoping/">digiscoping</a> or a <a href="http://www.rue.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=10">photo blind</a>), but, even so, I did get this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VZYMYzmMufk/Ta8w7rhhuBI/AAAAAAAAE8A/a3qtpNGC9wI/s1600/Bluebird+P7179729_edited-3+%2528587x470%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VZYMYzmMufk/Ta8w7rhhuBI/AAAAAAAAE8A/a3qtpNGC9wI/s320/Bluebird+P7179729_edited-3+%2528587x470%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Then something happened I’d never seen before: the parent bluebirds stopped bringing food to the bird box and perched on nearby branches, in sight, but out of reach. A bluebird chick stuck its head and a claw out, peered around, and retreated. After repeating this ritual several times, the chick took off:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_4cgXbmB84/Ta8xZyKVr8I/AAAAAAAAE8E/CtE5g39dJFw/s1600/Fledgling+P7179818_edited-2+%25281280x690%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_4cgXbmB84/Ta8xZyKVr8I/AAAAAAAAE8E/CtE5g39dJFw/s320/Fledgling+P7179818_edited-2+%25281280x690%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Right after, another chick followed suit.<br /><br />Mostly, though, my tripod sits on a shelf. So imagine my delight when I came across a story in <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2139"><i>Living Bird</i></a> written by real-deal bird photographer, <a href="http://www.marieread.com/cpg/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=18&pos=4">Marie Read</a>, who wrote:<br /><blockquote>Until a few years ago, I had always used a tripod to support my equipment . . . . But then I got hooked on shooting birds in flight. I soon discovered that when the action is fast and furious, I get less frustrated and have better luck by switching to a short hand-held lens . . .</blockquote>Even better, she went on to recommend against hand-holding “supertelephoto” lenses. “Instead, take my advice and carry a lightweight lens, such as a 400mm f/5.6, for flight photography.” She told the story of finding herself “in the midst of a territorial battle” between two male Limpkins. <br /><blockquote>My lightweight gear gave me the mobility to keep focused on the fast action and quickly change my position whenever I needed to. I would have missed a lot of shots if I’d been constrained by a tripod.</blockquote>Emboldened by these statements, I set out once more to capture birds in flight. I remain the impatient photographer I’ve always been, with my too-short lens and penchant for arriving at birding sites high noon, the time of day that's well known to be the worst. <br /><br />The nice thing for the amateur is, it doesn’t matter. You can do whatever you want. And every now and then, you get a lucky shot.<br /><br />Red-Tailed Hawk:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gA828qS9-BY/Ta8xmPsKE6I/AAAAAAAAE8I/mkbMgzsw85E/s1600/Hawk+in+Flight+P2261575_edited-2+%25281280x1024%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gA828qS9-BY/Ta8xmPsKE6I/AAAAAAAAE8I/mkbMgzsw85E/s320/Hawk+in+Flight+P2261575_edited-2+%25281280x1024%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Great Blue Heron:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1oWn4StV7wg/Tb36tFf1STI/AAAAAAAAE9Y/uxIrjaGeTEE/s1600/P4292184_edited-1%2B%25281024x1280%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1oWn4StV7wg/Tb36tFf1STI/AAAAAAAAE9Y/uxIrjaGeTEE/s320/P4292184_edited-1%2B%25281024x1280%2529.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br />Tree Swallows:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iCkUmCOvg88/Tb38J2-T7cI/AAAAAAAAE9o/n9PsWsf41ec/s1600/P4152040_edited-1+%2528862x1078%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iCkUmCOvg88/Tb38J2-T7cI/AAAAAAAAE9o/n9PsWsf41ec/s320/P4152040_edited-1+%2528862x1078%2529.jpg" width="255" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9PEyc28IJ90/Tb38VA29WuI/AAAAAAAAE9s/oGdNAy-23fk/s1600/Tree+Swallow+1+P4152012_edited-2+%2528663x829%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9PEyc28IJ90/Tb38VA29WuI/AAAAAAAAE9s/oGdNAy-23fk/s320/Tree+Swallow+1+P4152012_edited-2+%2528663x829%2529.jpg" width="255" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><i>Credits: Caught in the Act: Strategies for photographing birds in action, by Marie Read, Living Bird, Winter 2011, pp. 16-23. Photograph of tree swallows at the head of the post and all photographs in the post are mine.</i><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>*** </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Postscript: Speaking of birds in flight, the three writers of Raining Acorns are about to fly off in different directions. In our next posts, we’ll each be writing about that and where we’re off to next.</i></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-2523480000531765991?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-38433092352681434392011-05-03T08:07:00.001-04:002011-05-08T08:37:37.987-04:00“A Community of Expressers”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x5mD5N9ONT4/Tbxv94T-nMI/AAAAAAAAE9E/VheiuJDPMSo/s1600/DM+1+IMG_2326_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x5mD5N9ONT4/Tbxv94T-nMI/AAAAAAAAE9E/VheiuJDPMSo/s320/DM+1+IMG_2326_edited-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Excerpt from Hudson Space Sonnet #1</i></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>© Dylan Mattingly. By kind permission of Dylan Mattingly.</i></span><br /><br /></div><a href="http://www.contemporaneous.org/Musicians/DavidBloom">David Bloom</a> walked into Bard Hall, where a recital of student work was to be performed, and did a double-take. The place was packed out, with people standing all around the perimeter. He hadn’t been expecting such a crowd.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />I’d found out about the recital from <a href="http://www.contemporaneous.org/">contemporaneous</a>, the ensemble for which Bloom and <a href="http://www.contemporaneous.org/Musicians/DylanMattingly">Dylan Mattingly</a> are co-artistic directors. They’d sent out an alert that the recital would include works by both of them. I’d heard only a handful of recordings of Mattingly’s music and nothing by Bloom, so I didn’t want this to pass me by.<br /><br />From outward aspect, Bloom and Mattingly couldn’t be more different. Bloom is a study in precision; Mattingly fizzes from every pore. But that’s far too reductive a portrait of these two talented young men. No matter what else the recital included, it would have been enough for me to get a chance to hear their compositions live. As it happened, the recital’s pleasures went far beyond that.<br /><br />The recital included compositions by twelve students. In introducing the program, composer <a href="http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=1605">Joan Tower</a>, a professor at Bard’s <a href="http://www.bard.edu/conservatory/">Conservatory of Music</a>, let us know some works were the first or second composition by the student, others the twelfth or fifteenth. She was not about to tell us which were which.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.k-c-p.com/dacapo/">Da Capo Chamber Players</a>, who have an association with Bard of over thirty years, were set the task of learning all twelve pieces for performance over the space of four days—no mean feat. I assumed we should be prepared to expect rough spots and perhaps less polished works, but neither was the case. While certainly the compositions demonstrated varying levels of experience and expertise, each amply earned its place in the concert as a whole.<br /><br />Tower had each student provide an introduction, with the admonition to keep it short. When Antonin Fajt looked for words to praise his professor, she waved them away with a laugh. But the bond between Tower and her students was palpable throughout, no more so than when Tower closed her eyes in concentration during the performance of each piece.<br /><br />The well-designed program interspersed works for ensemble and solo instruments. The compositions, beautifully played by the Da Capo ensemble and guests that included Bard students, showed enormous creative range. The concert opened with Rron Karahoda’s <i>Dreamcatchers</i>, for flute, clarinet, drum, and piano. In the gorgeous chords of Richard Hagemann’s <i>Vast Spaces</i> for solo piano, I heard echoes of Debussy, though he made it all his own. <br /><br />Robin Preiss contributed <i>Two Minutes</i>, a multi-dimensioned exploration for solo clarinet. Barbora Cisarovska contributed <i>Queen of Cups</i> for piano trio and Max Robb <i>Wandering Stream</i> for solo piano. The first half of the concert closed with Max McKee’s <i>Double Helix</i> for string quartet, captivating from the opening breath of violin played at the edge of its sound.<br /><br />Bloom’s piece, <i>Two Visions</i>, for clarinet, viola, and piano, opened the second half of the program. The piece would reward several re-hearings: to hear again how he closed a clarinet solo with a single note over which the viola and piano re-emerged, or how he brought the percussive sound of the second vision to a full stop and segued to a lovely melodic line. Kyle Baasch contributed <i>Persistenc</i>e for solo violin and Noah Firtel <i>Mvmt 2</i> for solo flute. Fajt contributed <i>Thyme</i>, for string quartet, a thoroughly engaging piece influenced by Czech folklore, and part of his “herbal series.” Judging by <i>Thyme</i>, I want to hear them all.<br /><br />Mattingly’s <i>Hudson Space Sonnet #1</i>, for solo piano, offered up a cornucopia of spilling notes and dense chords that suggested trains passing, birds in flight, bustling sidewalks, and a peaceful riverside walk, all absorbed into a soundscape that is uniquely his. The program closed with Adam Zuckerman’s powerful <i>Quintet</i>.<br /><br />Mattingly, in introducing his piece, remarked how proud he was to be part of this “community of expressers.” He’s right to be proud. Bard’s students may benefit by being at a remove from New York City, where the musical air, while enthralling, can get a little close, particularly for those just starting out. There’s something extraordinarily fresh and open about the musical air at Bard, and it was a privilege to have the opportunity to breathe it in.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">*** </div><br /><i>The Da Capo Chamber Players included Pat Spencer (flute), Meighan Stoops (clarinet), Curt Macomber (violin), and Blair McMillen (piano), joined by Michael Nicolas (cello). Guest players also included Marka Gustavsson, Finnegan Shanahan, Leah Gastler, Scot Moore, Adam Zuckerman, and Ronald Joseph.</i><br /><br /><i>May 5, 2011, the Miller Theater will feature Joan Tower in the final of its <a href="http://www.millertheatre.com/Events/EventsList.aspx?seriesid=3">Composer Portraits Series</a>. For a glimpse of how she thinks and talks about music, performance, and composition, view the vimeo <a href="http://www.millertheatre.com/Events/EventDetails.aspx?nid=1410">here</a>. For a video of Tower speaking about teaching at Bard, click on the thumbnail of her image under "watch" and "select a video below" <a href="http://www.bard.edu/conservatory/">here</a>.</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-3843309235268143439?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-34268787203296891732011-04-28T16:55:00.010-04:002011-05-03T08:12:17.129-04:00Wedding Fever<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FOiH2b_3ing/TbnWheeGCeI/AAAAAAAAAWw/H-8-tRAC_q4/s1600/wedding%2B002.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600743482215238114" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FOiH2b_3ing/TbnWheeGCeI/AAAAAAAAAWw/H-8-tRAC_q4/s400/wedding%2B002.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 381px;" /></a><br />It’s hard to miss the sights and sounds of the forthcoming royal wedding. Images of palaces and spires, the strains of a wedding processional, and I’m back in front of a television set watching first Prince Charles’s wedding to Lady Diana Spencer and then, not so many years later, her funeral. Now that Prince William is about to wed Kate Middleton, the girl who will walk into Westminster Abbey a commoner and come out the world's first YouTube princess, I will occupy my spot in front of that little box again.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />St. James’s Palace launched an <a href="http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/">official hub </a>for the wedding with additional updates via Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr. By Friday afternoon, Kate Middleton will have become the most photographed woman on the planet.<br /><br />Great Britain hasn’t seen a royal bash this big since since Charles married Diana 30 years ago, when there were 750 million viewers. Triple that number are expected to tune in to view their son William’s nuptials on Friday.<br /><br />An army of royal planners are working to create the romantic spectacle that the world has come to expect on such an occasion. Westminster Abbey will be decorated with an avenue of growing trees lining the aisle and leading to the altar, in line with the bride’s wish that the decorations be sustainably sourced.<br /><br />London is certainly rolling out the red carpet in preparation for this wedding of the century, and footing the hefty bill that goes with it. But it’s not only in England that interest is high – Nielsen reports that online media coverage of the wedding is considerably higher in America than in Britain. In fact, the vows will be uttered as people are rising in the US, giving the opportunity for wall-to-wall coverage throughout the day. Many Americans say that’s no problem – they won’t get up to toast the couple – they’ll stay up. Royal wedding viewing parties are planned across the country. I overheard a woman in my local grocery store saying that she was going to get up early and go to the Ritz Carlton at 4am for a viewing party followed by breakfast.<br /><br />The Order of Service for the wedding has been made public, as have details about the decorations, the rings, the cake and the vows. The only remaining mystery, it seems, is the question of the bride’s wedding dress. When the groom’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, married in a time of post-war austerity, many across England sent in their coupons so that she could have a better wedding dress. Kate Middleton’s gown is said to have cost $50,000, but nobody knows what it looks like or who has designed it. The royal family will not release any details until Middleton arrives at Westminster Abbey on April 29th - but that has not stopped the endless guessing. A tent has been set up in front of the Goring Hotel (where the bride is staying) to where she will get into the carriage, to ensure that no one sees the dress until she arrives at the abbey.<br /><br />William and Kate have chosen music that reflects the mood and setting of the occasion, encompassing works by Elgar, Britten, Vaughan Williams and Hubert Parry, including the stirring hymn "Jerusalem". After the ceremony the bells of Westminster Abbey will ring out in celebration for 3 hours across a crowd of more than a million people.<br /><br /><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DK8uMGT01wA?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DK8uMGT01wA?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object><br />Hopefully the sun will shine on the bride and groom and all those who will be thronging the mall in hopes of catching a glimpse of the couple, though forecasters have indicated a strong chance of storms and high winds, possibly even the odd lightning strike. The royal couple risk getting wet as they plan to ride in an open carriage so that the crowds can see them in their wedding outfits. However, officials at St. James's Palace remain positive, saying that people are used to rain in Britain and probably would not be put off coming to line the route or crowding around Buckingham Palace. The newlyweds will appear on the palace balcony at 1:25pm for their much-anticipated kiss – rain or shine. And Tesco will print the kiss on a mug within an hour after that.<br /><br />Odds-makers on the streets of London – who will bet on anything - are taking odds on crazy ideas, such as whether Kate will jilt William at the altar, or on safer bets such as Prince Philip falling asleep during the service, which I'll probably do as well. I'm not used to being up at the crack of dawn.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-3426878720329689173?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-8549037695018434222011-04-23T13:04:00.001-04:002011-04-29T16:22:40.151-04:00The Kitchen Daughter<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vJQcYTfmLCE/TbClFsNlfaI/AAAAAAAAAWg/aw3CTLsQKU0/s1600/kD%2Bphoto.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598155854007598498" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vJQcYTfmLCE/TbClFsNlfaI/AAAAAAAAAWg/aw3CTLsQKU0/s320/kD%2Bphoto.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 218px;" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>"The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair." --Mary Heaton Vorse</i></div><br />I have the good fortune to be acquainted with and related to people who are writers. Friends are usually fascinated by the process of writing, particularly fiction writing and have one of two reactions. One, they think it must be kind of easy, because you can make it all up and you get to sit at your computer and keep your own schedule. Or two, it is incredibly hard and they can't imagine even thinking about writing a piece of fiction - it is overwhelmingly intimidating.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle. One writer tells me he can't <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> write. The stories, the voices, populate his head and imagination until he can get them down on paper. But that doesn't mean it is easy.<br /><br />To those of us browsing the stacks at our local bookstores, it looks like some authors just enjoy overnight success. All of the sudden a book will appear on the Just Released table at Barnes & Noble. Then you'll see a mention of the same book in a magazine round up. What seems like spontaneous, coincidental sightings of one book are actually the result of months or years of preparation.<br /><br />On Tuesday, April 12th, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0043RSJQS/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0HT8CEVVW3TV41Z4XXDW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Kitchen Daughter</span></a>, by <a href="http://www.jaelmchenry.com/">Jael McHenry</a> debuted on the shelves. [Full disclosure: Jael is a friend and colleague of my husband's]. The story of the novel, however, goes back several years. Jael has been writing her whole professional life, for various publications and while earning her MFA in Creative Writing. She began work on <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Simmer</span>, as it was originally titled, in January of 2008. By the end of that year, she had finished that manuscript and submitted it to agents. Once she had obtained an agent, she spent another year revising and submitting to publishers before receiving an offer from Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in October of 2009. That timeline is actually quite quick, in the fiction publishing world.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EeZiXPD2Xyc/TbClb0f7wYI/AAAAAAAAAWo/k9cegPYCxbI/s1600/window%2Bphotos.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598156234189160834" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EeZiXPD2Xyc/TbClb0f7wYI/AAAAAAAAAWo/k9cegPYCxbI/s320/window%2Bphotos.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />From October 2009 until today, the manuscript was edited and revised, cover art was designed, and marketing planned. All so that the appearance of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Kitchen Daughter</span> on shelves looks effortless and ubiquitous.<br /><br />Back in January of 2010, my book club had the opportunity to read a draft of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Simmer</span> and give feedback to Jael on the story. She emailed us a PDF of the book and a list of questions for us to answer. It was interesting to see members' reactions to a book that was not in 'book form.' It was hard to determine if the binding, typeface, cover art, and blurbs add to the reader's impression of how good the novel is.<br /><br />We had an enjoyable time discussing the book, pointing out things we felt were inconsistent or awkward, and contemplating different titles for the book. It was a thrill and an honor to be a small part of the process of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Kitchen Daughter</span>.<br /><br />The book on shelves today is quite similar to the manuscript of last year. The story follows Ginny Selvaggio in the aftermath of a family tragedy. Ginny loves to cook and quickly discovers she can conjure up the ghost of a deceased person, simply by preparing that person's recipe. Each chapter in the tale is named for a dish and many of the actual recipes are printed in the text. As she grieves, Ginny struggles both with feeling different from her sister and with a bit of a mystery, courtesy of the ghosts and other things she discovers along the way.<br /><br />My book club loved the way Ginny thought in terms of food and descriptions of food. A character has an "orange juice" voice, another is "flan colored." We also were eager to see the recipes that Ginny uses in the book, and Jael includes recipes for everything from ribollita to hot chocolate to shortbread.<br /><br />I will leave a proper review to unbiased, professional reviewers (see below). One of the quotes on the cover gives a wonderful synopsis of the book: "Add a pinch of magic, a dash of heartache, and a generous portions of lyrical beauty and you have <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Kitchen Daughter</span>, an enchanting tale of familial loss and quiet redemption - I loved it." -- Jamie Ford, author of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet</span>.<br /><br />Bon Appetit!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">*************************************</div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/kitchen-daughter"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Kitchen Daughter review</span></a>, in the New York Journal of Books<br /><br />Jael talks about <a href="http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Unabashedly-Bookish-The-BN/Cover-Stories-The-Kitchen-Daughter-by-Jael-McHenry/ba-p/946862">the cover art here</a>, in the Barnes & Noble community<br /><br /><a href="http://simmerblog.typepad.com/">The SIMMER blog</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.intrepidmedia.com/column.asp?id=3688">The secret</a> to getting published<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-854903769501843422?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-70765474050144232682011-04-18T04:01:00.001-04:002011-04-23T12:37:10.096-04:00Just Some Poems: Du Fu in Translation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qWfmVDWOCXg/Tai_liDrnLI/AAAAAAAAE74/F4V3Np_4dvY/s1600/Du+Fu+5+P4152063_edited-1+%25281280x834%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qWfmVDWOCXg/Tai_liDrnLI/AAAAAAAAE74/F4V3Np_4dvY/s320/Du+Fu+5+P4152063_edited-1+%25281280x834%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>In translation, even Du Fu’s name is not a constant. At the time Kenneth Rexroth translated him, the name in English of this <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tang/hd_tang.htm">Tang Dynasty</a> poet was “Tu Fu.” Or, as poet <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-simic">Charles Simic</a> put it, “Du Fu, eh? I knew him when he was Tu Fu. A swell guy!”<br /><a name='more'></a><br />In another of the alarming gaps in my education, I learned of Du Fu, who is “generally described as the greatest of China’s poets,” as an aside to <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/sailing-alone-from-song-to-song.html">a poet I was after</a> at the time. As I thought about the instability of Du Fu’s name in English, I couldn’t help but think, and what about the poems?<br /><br />I’d gathered up three books that contain some of his poems, each by a different translator, and set about searching for a poem that appeared in every book. That alone was a challenge; even the titles didn’t match up. <br /><br />I was reminded by this of Anne Carson’s description of the translator’s dilemma—and the joy: <br /><blockquote>Prowling the meanings of a word, prowling the history of a person, no use expecting a flood of light. Human words have no main switch. But all those little kidnaps in the dark. And then the luminous, big, shivering, discandied, unrepentant, barking web of them that hangs in your mind when you turn back to the page you were trying to translate. </blockquote>Translator David Hinton provided some clues to the problem of translating from Chinese to English: “The most immediately striking characteristic of classical Chinese is its graphic form” and “its grammatical elements are minimal in the extreme.” <br /><blockquote>prepositions and conjunctions are rarely used, leaving relationships between lines, phrases, ideas, and images unclear; the distinction between singular and plural is only rarely and indirectly made; there are no verb tenses, so temporal location and sequence are vague; very often the subjects, verbs, and objects of verbal action are absent. </blockquote>So what, pray tell, is a poor translator to do? In translating Du Fu, David Young took this approach: <br /><blockquote>My being able to situate a poet like Du Fu in the poetic practices of his time is more important, finally, than any fluency in Chinese. Knowing the literal meaning of a group of characters is merely the first step, even for native speakers and readers, toward a successful interpretation of a poetic text. </blockquote>As for Rexroth? Of his work in translating this poet, cherished since adolescence, Rexroth wrote: “I make no claim for the book as a piece of Oriental scholarship. Just some poems.”<br /><br />With that, here are Rexroth’s, Hinton’s, and Young’s translations of a poem by Du Fu.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><<< >>></div><br />WRITTEN ON THE WALL AT CHANG’S HERMITAGE<br /><br />It is Spring in the mountains.<br />I come alone seeking you.<br />The sound of chopping wood echoes<br />Between the silent peaks.<br />The streams are still icy.<br />There is snow on the trail.<br />At sunset I reach your grove<br />In the stony mountain pass.<br />You want nothing, although at night<br />You can see the aura of gold<br />And silver ore all around you.<br />You have learned to be gentle<br />As the mountain deer you have tamed.<br />The way back forgotten, hidden<br />Away, I come like you,<br />An empty boat, floating, adrift.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-translated by Kenneth Rexroth</i></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br />INSCRIBED ON A WALL AT CHANG’S RECLUSE HOME<br /><br />In spring mountains, alone, I set out to find you.<br />Axe strokes crack—crack and quit. Silence doubles.<br /><br />I pass snow and ice lingering along cold streams,<br />then, at Stone Gate in late light, enter these woods.<br /><br />You harm nothing: deer roam here each morning;<br />want nothing: auras gold and silver grace nights.<br /><br />Facing you on a whim in bottomless dark, the way<br />here lost—I feel it drifting, this whole empty boat.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-translated by David Hinton</i></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br />I WRITE TWO POEMS ON THE WALL AT ZHANG’S<br /><br />I<br />I came to find you here this spring<br />among these greening mountains<br /><br />whack whack of a distant axe<br />otherwise just huge quiet<br /><br />I crossed fast mountain brooks<br />still rimmed with snow and ice<br /><br />I climbed past Stone Gate cliffs<br />to seek you out at sunset<br /><br />when you glimpse gold and silver<br />you can just ignore them<br /><br />you hobnob with the deer<br />and learn their harmless ways<br /><br />we walk so far into the woods<br />that we almost get lost<br /><br />as free of care as empty boats<br />drifting with any current.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-translated by David Young</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><<< >>></div><i>Credits: </i><br /><br /><i><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/06/anne-carsons-nox.html">Nox</a>, by Anne Carson</i><br /><br /><i><a href="http://us.macmillan.com/classicalchinesepoetry">Classical Chinese Poetry</a>, translated and edited by David Hinton (greatest poet, p. 190; on classical Chinese, Introduction, pp. xx-xxi; poem, p. 192)</i><br /><br /><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Poems-Chinese-Directions-Book/dp/0811201805">One Hundred Poems from the Chinese,</a> translated by Kenneth Rexroth (just some poems, Introduction, p. xii; poem, p. 4)</i><br /><br /><i><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/book/43476/du-fu-by-fu-du">Du Fu, A Life in Poetry</a>, translated by David Young (Simic quotation, Introduction, p. xvii; Young on translation, Introduction, p. xii; poem, p. 15)</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-7076547405014423268?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-89545779330633872892011-04-13T10:41:00.027-04:002011-04-18T04:04:29.073-04:00Water, Water, Everywhere<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GvtDdXIVeH4/TaW39XyZNMI/AAAAAAAAAWA/h7d7dEH3Q0c/s1600/023.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595080377062995138" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GvtDdXIVeH4/TaW39XyZNMI/AAAAAAAAAWA/h7d7dEH3Q0c/s400/023.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a> <br /><div><i>“…Water, water, every where, </i></div><br /><div><i>And all the boards did shrink; </i></div><br /><div><i>Water, water, every where, </i></div><br /><div><i>Nor any drop to drink…” </i></div><br /><div><i>Samuel Taylor Coleridge</i> </div><br /><div>We could find ourselves echoing the words of the Ancient Mariner if we don't pay close attention to our precious water supply. Unlike seabirds, human bodies lack the ability to desalinate sea water, and most of the water on our planet is in the oceans – a whopping 99 percent of it. Only the remaining 1 percent is usable by humans. And that tiny share is in peril.<br /><a name='more'></a></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I8fPBAwGpaA/TaW4cuawyHI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/YMn1aIJ7FEY/s1600/017.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595080915713837170" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I8fPBAwGpaA/TaW4cuawyHI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/YMn1aIJ7FEY/s400/017.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 357px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a> <br /><br />In his new book <a href="http://www.thebigthirst.com/the-book/">"The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water" </a>Charles Fishman says that the outlook is much more positive than that. Fishman maintains that great progress in the world of water is possible, if only we would think about this precious resource differently, instead of taking for granted the luxurious abundance that we in the developed world have so enjoyed. In fact, he says that the U.S. uses less water today than it did in 1980, that our water productivity is up more than 100 percent in just 30 years, and that our water habits can and will improve even more over the next 30 years. <br /><br />That’s the good news. The problem, as Fishman sees it, is that we pay too little for such a precious resource; the water bill for the average U.S. household is around $34.00 per month. If something is that cheap we don’t pay attention to it, we don’t think about it, we use it carelessly. <br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWiyVJbVfmY/TaX3BGGFzuI/AAAAAAAAAWo/gGt6KIG36Q4/s1600/001.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595149710265798370" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWiyVJbVfmY/TaX3BGGFzuI/AAAAAAAAAWo/gGt6KIG36Q4/s400/001.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 155px;" /></a><br /><i>“What we pay doesn't cover the cost of the water — of finding it and acquiring it in the first place, of treating it and delivering it, of disposing of it. And we don't pay the cost of protecting the environment that provides the water in the first place.” Charles Fishman</i> <br /><br />The author <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html">wrote an article in 2007 about bottled water </a>which eventually led him to spend almost a month in each of three far-flung thirsty locations – Australia, Las Vegas, and India – in order to research this new book. <br /><br />Australia had to leap to the reinvention of its entire water system after almost running out of water in the last five years. Localised water recycling schemes employ treated wastewater, sewer mining and stormwater harvesting. Sydney Water offers schools and households a rebate for installing a rainwater tank and, by 2015, the country has a national goal of meeting 30 percent of its water needs with recycled water. Recycled water is sewage that has gone through stringent purification processes (toilet to tap). Despite public opposition to the concept, some countries have been using recycled water for decades. <a href="http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/04/04/from-wastewater-to-drinking-water/">Namibians have been drinking recycled water since 1969,</a> with no adverse health effects, and Israel reuses more than 70 percent of its effluent. Numerous states such as California, New Mexico and Virginia are drinking recycled water too. <br /><br />Las Vegas is similar to Australia in that it is largely desert, but the city seems a mirage, surely a city of sin in this new age of water conservation – after all, even though the region only gets an average of 4 inches of rain per year, a 2-mile stretch here houses 100 sharks and 8 bottlenose dolphins. Yet you can check into any one of the myriad hotel rooms in this city and take a 30 minute shower without feeling too guilty – every drop that runs down the drain is collected, treated, and fed right back to Lake Meade, which supplies the city. Even golf courses here have evolved into places that reflect the environment with desert, ravines and arroyos craftily landscaped between the green holes, where each bush has its own dedicated sprinkler head. What's more, homeowners have been given financial incentives to replace lawns with desert-friendly xeriscaping. In fact, according to Fishman, the size of Las Vegas has increased by 50 percent in the last 10 years but the city uses no more water, due to water conservation measures such as these implemented by local government. <br /><br />The water picture is very different in India, where many householders represent the estimated one billion people around the world who do not have the luxury of indoor plumbing – some of them have water delivered to their area by tanker, or they must fetch it from a well. The author went to a village not far from Delhi to spend time with the local women who do the twice daily “water walk” in order to supply their homes and families with water, making it difficult for them to do anything else to improve their circumstances. He says of this experience: <br /><br /><i>“The people in the world who live on $1 a day, and get their water "free," often spend 2 or 3 or 4 hours a day walking to get that water, every single day. And they suffer from terrible health problems because the "free" water is of poor quality. So that water isn't "free" in any real sense — it requires a staggering cost in educational opportunity, work opportunity, disease and shortened life expectancy.”</i> <br /><br />Fishman believes that the days of an abundant, safe, and free water supply are numbered and that we will be experiencing a water revolution over the next 30 years, much like the telecommunications industry evolved over the last 30 years from the basic telephone to what we have today. As in that case, the charge will be led by private companies like IBM, a company that uses ultra pure water in the manufacture of its computer chips. The water used in this process has to be so pure that it is 12 steps of filtration cleaner than water produced by reverse osmosis. The company has come up with innovative and cost-effective ways to conserve and use the precious resource. It is companies such as this that will be instrumental in coming up with the technology to remove the micro pollutants from cosmetics and pharmaceuticals that pass through our bodies and end up in the water supply. Fishman maintains that we must proceed with caution to ensure that we progress successfully without actually ceding our water rights to private enterprise. <br /><br />In short, he says that the solution lies in first supplying the basic amount of water that each person needs, then charging appropriately for usage above that. This would force private and business interests to pay closer attention to water and its role in our lives. He says of course that we all need to be mindful of our water usage and that he has changed his own personal water habits in small ways that by now we probably all practise to a certain extent – from reusable water bottles, to a step-down valve to reduce water pressure to his house, to never pouring the left over water in a glass down the drain but rather into a pot plant or the dog’s dish. <br /><br />The thing that fascinated me most in this book of water facts and figures was something that I had never really thought about before - the fact that the water that we have now is the same water that we’ve always had. From the very beginning, the amount of water on this planet has neither increased nor decreased. Water cannot be used up - our water has and will be infinitely recycled. The very water we drink today could have passed through a dinosaur’s body aeons ago. <br /><br />From my perspective, the author has achieved his stated goal - his presentation of the facts certainly changes the way I think about water. I would not mind paying a premium if I used water carelessly, and "Toilet to Tap" doesn't sound so bad anymore. Though I didn't think I'd ever say this, I would rather drink purified sewage than have it pumped into our fragile oceans to add to that 99 percent of water that we cannot easily use.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-8954577933063387289?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-34076178928489839662011-04-08T07:20:00.010-04:002011-04-13T13:55:28.170-04:00Love Thy Neighbor<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HSn4dUd1zYw/TZ7x2rNagXI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/JDuGnqTNvUo/s1600/trey.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593173708854952306" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HSn4dUd1zYw/TZ7x2rNagXI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/JDuGnqTNvUo/s320/trey.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 231px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 153px;" /></a>The following is the tale of a remarkable little boy. Yet it is not really about his story, it is the story around his story. Trey Love (yes, that's his real name) is a 4 year old boy who is fighting terminal cancer. He had been in remission for 2 years, but three weeks ago his <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002381/">neuroblastoma</a> came back. Until March 20th, not many people knew who he was. He had been diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2008 but most recently was living the typical 4 year old life, playing with friends and rooting for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />On March 20th he was rushed into surgery when doctors determined that his cancer had returned. Doctors estimated he had just weeks to live. That day, three of Trey's mom's friends decided to hold a candlelight vigil later that night at the local park to support the Love family. Through the power of the Internet and Facebook, a large crowd of people gathered to sing songs and sign a get-well card for Trey. Hundreds more sent emails saying they could not attend but would pray for Trey on their own.<br /><br />To say the Team Trey movement then snowballed would be an understatement. Within a week, his <a href="http://www.causes.com/causes/124694">Facebook page</a> had 7000 supporters. Within a week a second vigil was planned at the family's church. Within a week many local businesses offered "Trey" nights where a portion of their proceeds would go to the Love family. The family had expressed a wish to let Trey see the castle at Disney World one last time, so the community rallied to provide support for this trip and for Mike and Missy, Trey's parents, who took leaves from their jobs in order to spend every minute with their son at <a href="http://www.chop.edu/">Children's Hospital</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pvDn5EBKUG4/TZ7xbCIVYhI/AAAAAAAAAWA/9xpKS7bPSWw/s1600/bake%2Bsale.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593173233971323410" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pvDn5EBKUG4/TZ7xbCIVYhI/AAAAAAAAAWA/9xpKS7bPSWw/s320/bake%2Bsale.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 180px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br /><br />Within a week, the local middle school students had organized a lunchtime bake sale. The local K-Mart allowed a community wide bake sale to take place in its parking lot. Individual middle school students created flyers announcing all the businesses supporting Trey and canvassed neighborhoods to urge people to patronize those generous shops. They came home with hundreds of dollars in unsolicited donations, simply because people felt moved by Trey's story.<br /><br />The local high school, upon learning that Trey loved the Phillies, decided to have "Trey Day" where students were invited to wear Phillies shirts and donations were collected. In addition, several students planned a benefit concert to be held within a week, featuring local student musical acts. The admission fee will go to the Love family as well as proceeds from T-shirts that the kids are creating.<br /><br />The local elementary school held a "hair-raising" fundraiser for Trey. Kids could color or spike their hair for the day in exchange for a donation. Over $3000 was raised in one day from the effort.<br /><br />This week it was announced that more than enough money had been raised to take Trey to Disney World and support his parents while he is hospitalized. Trey's Facebook followers increased exponentially, to over 22,000 in just 3 weeks. (The population of his hometown is only 16,000 people, to put that in perspective.)<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5wqmbFPgLY/TZ7xOg3m8II/AAAAAAAAAV4/kHfi_-ORxl8/s1600/stone%2Bsoup.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593173018884370562" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5wqmbFPgLY/TZ7xOg3m8II/AAAAAAAAAV4/kHfi_-ORxl8/s320/stone%2Bsoup.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 202px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 174px;" /></a><br />Trey's story echoes the old <span style="font-style: italic;">Stone Soup</span> fable. In <span style="font-style: italic;">Stone Soup</span>, visitors invite local villagers to help them with their meal of stone soup - a pot of water over the fire to which they have added a clean stone. "If only we had some herbs to flavor our soup," the visitors sigh. One townsperson runs home to gather some of her leftover herbs. This continues with many different villagers contributing bits and scraps from their homes. Pretty soon the whole town is enjoying a wonderful, flavorful soup.<br /><br />Trey's community was able to raise a large amount of money and an even greater amount of awareness of his plight, in an incredibly short time and with no real sacrifice on anyone's part. The whole here is indeed greater than the sum of the parts.<br /><br />Trey's s<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-zwKuDB2Dg/TZ7xk1SuXAI/AAAAAAAAAWI/VSDlB_H_IW8/s1600/trey%2Bfdn.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593173402323934210" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-zwKuDB2Dg/TZ7xk1SuXAI/AAAAAAAAAWI/VSDlB_H_IW8/s320/trey%2Bfdn.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 147px;" /></a>tory also calls to mind that of Alex Scott, another neuroblastoma patient. Before she died of the disease, she set up a lemonade stand in front of her house to raise money for pediatric cancer research. Today <a href="https://www.alexslemonade.org/">Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation</a> has raised over $40 million for cancer research. One hopes that these stories exist all over, wherever there is a family in need. Fighting back against awful circumstances with one cup of lemonade, one brownie, one T-shirt, one rally, one candle, one ice cream cone. One can only hope that for every unfathomable situation, there is a similar story around the story.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Trey's story as featured on the local news:</span><br /><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=8053227&syndicate=syndicate&section" style="font-style: italic;">ABC Local</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Read more about Trey's story:</span><br /><a href="http://www.helptreylove.com/" style="font-style: italic;">Trey's Foundation</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-3407617892848983966?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-46683256840521578322011-04-03T07:22:00.020-04:002011-04-08T10:36:11.176-04:00Searching For Angola in Florida<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WpeoHcFth9U/TZhw4ZZVZuI/AAAAAAAAAV4/u8n-tIR-nqk/s1600/manateeriver.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591343051572602594" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WpeoHcFth9U/TZhw4ZZVZuI/AAAAAAAAAV4/u8n-tIR-nqk/s400/manateeriver.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />On the banks of the Manatee River near Sarasota, Florida, is a site that was once a refuge for as many as 700 runaway slaves (aka Black Seminoles) and Seminole Indians in the early part of the 19th Century.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>The settlement was known as Angola, after the country on the southwest coast of Africa where many slaves’ journeys began. Long before the Civil War, Maroons (runaway slaves) from South Carolina, Georgia and Northern Florida sought refuge further south in Spanish La Florida. Even though most slaves escaped to the north, some found their way to the southern peninsula in their quest for liberty. This site in southwest Florida is one such. The region’s dense Oak forests and mangrove swamps afforded Maroons safe harbor from slave hunters. Considering the conditions that would have prevailed at the time, one can only imagine how brave and tenacious these souls were in their pursuit of freedom. <br /><br />Angola is believed to have been occupied between 1812 and 1821. The settlement was ransacked and burned to the ground in a surprise attack by a war party of Coweta Creek Indians reputedly following orders from General Andrew Jackson in April of 1821, the year that Florida became a territory of the United States. Jackson’s goal was to eliminate independent black settlements in the Floridian peninsula. Although most of the inhabitants of Angola were taken prisoner, about 300 of them managed to escape through the virtually impenetrable Everglades to the Florida Keys. Some of the former slaves ultimately made their way to Red Bays in the Bahamas, where their descendants still live today. <br /><br />Starting in 2005, a dedicated team of experts now based at Sarasota’s New College has employed the dual disciplines of archaeology and ethnography to research the history of the site and to search for artifacts in an ongoing effort to pinpoint the location of Angola. Project leader and journalist, Vickie Oldham, initiated the search after being commissioned to write an article about the history of Sarasota’s black community. She soon learned that this important piece of history had been left out of the story. Angola was only known from scant references in books about the period and through oral history. <br /><br />Oldham was inspired to apply for a research grant and was awarded the first one five years ago. An archaeological dig was organized and the research project <a href="http://lookingforangola.org/home.asp">“Looking for Angola” </a>was launched. So far, each time funding is realized, another step of this journey is completed. Oldham went with anthropologist Rosalyn Howard on one of her many trips to the Bahamas to record interviews with the mainly elderly Angola descendents in Red Bays, before the oral history could leave this earth with them. <br /><br />To date, artifacts including pottery shards have been found and are awaiting verification, hopefully resulting in the declaration of the site as a historical monument. <br /><br />Florida A&M University historian Canter Brown Jr., University of Central Florida anthropologist Rosalyn Howard, New College of Florida historical archaeologist Uzi Baram, University of South Carolina archaeologist Terrance Weik, independent archaeologist Bill Burger, UCF history professor Vibert White and Sarasota educator Louis Robison complete the multi-disciplinary collaborative team that has been assisted by donors, volunteers, the media and students in the area. <br /><br />I attended a panel discussion titled <a href="http://www.ncf.edu/news/2010/12/08/january-15-five-years-of-looking-for-angola-a-retrospective-on-the-journey-and-future-paths-to-explore/">“Five Years of Looking for Angola – a Restrospective on the Journey and Future Paths to Explore.” </a>The presentation commenced appropriately with an opening ceremony in the Kwanzaa tradition featuring the beat of a drum and a verbal invocation to welcome the spirits of the ancestors. <br /><br />These particular ancestors lived a tumultuous and courageous life - the intention of this project is to bring their history to light so that their descendants and all the citizens of Florida and the rest of this country can recognise the part they played in our mutual history, starting with the evidence buried right under our feet. Much of the approximately 200 acres the team is in the process of examining is urban; encompassing homes, roads, and underground utility lines, and is privately owned - requiring owners' permission to test the land. <br /><br />In essence, this is a painstaking search for evidence of a people who had very little in the way of possessions and whose very existence depended on their ability to hide themselves. The project aims to recognise the existence of these people and their experiences by unearthing and officially acknowledging the home that they made in Florida. <br /><br />Of this long term project, Oldham says that the existence of Angola and its inhabitants was little known and almost forgotten and that "(their) story of courage, determination and enterprise deserves preservation and commemoration." <br /><br />The story of Angola shows us once again what human beings are capable of when faced with adversity – a reminder of the past that can surely stand us in good stead as we plot our course in the world today. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d2jZl9W92W4" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-4668325684052157832?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-88184166590748659392011-03-29T00:01:00.011-04:002011-04-03T13:30:09.490-04:00Sailing Past Lachenmann: Why I'm Ecstatic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lmMcDbLCwlo/TYaoeytmgdI/AAAAAAAAE60/gO5EEhHqPew/s1600/Elliot+Hundley+detail+P3041653_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lmMcDbLCwlo/TYaoeytmgdI/AAAAAAAAE60/gO5EEhHqPew/s320/Elliot+Hundley+detail+P3041653_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I may slouch along no longer. The <a href="http://kaufman-center.org/merkin-concert-hall/ecstatic">Ecstatic Music Festival</a>, several concerts of which I had the good fortune to attend, has ended, and Helmut Lachenmann, who provided the frame for my “<a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/search?q=slouching+toward+lachenmann">Slouching</a>” series, recently received the <a href="http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/galardonados/2010/index.jsp">BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Contemporary Music</a>, with <a href="http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/faq/index.jsp#15">400,000 Euros in prize money</a> attached:<br /><blockquote>The jury <a href="https://w3.grupobbva.com/TLFU/tlfu/ing/galeria/video/fichagm/index.jsp?idActividad=853">singled out</a> the importance of his creative works, which “based on an intimate knowledge of the musical past, have enlarged the world of sounds during the last fifty years in a way unmatched by any other contemporary composer."</blockquote><a name='more'></a>In receiving the BBVA award, Lachenmann is <a href="http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/galardonados/2010/musica.jsp#0">reported</a> to have been taken “completely by surprise. ‘I could never have imagined this,’ he remarked on receiving the news. ‘I can only say that this is a totally undeserved as well as unexpected honor.’” <br /><br />Lachenmann shows no trace of arrogance in his remarks, no sense of entitlement. Yet I can’t shake off a sense of foreboding or, at least, a terrible sense of waste. As the Ecstatic Music Festival so vividly demonstrated, countless young composers and ensembles are out there today, offering to enrich our lives with glorious music-making. Why, then, such a mammoth prize to this one man, when so much could be gained by spreading the wealth around? <br /><br />And there’s something else: I’ve spent most of my adulthood, insofar as classical music is concerned, unable to connect at all with the strands of music that seemed predominant. There is a reason so many of us stopped at Bach and Brahms (or <a href="http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300099140">Prokofiev</a> and Ravel), and I don’t credit the cause as our inability or unwillingness to embrace new or complex things. <br /><br />Like it or not, music-making is a compact among the composer, the performer, and the listener. Somewhere along the way, that compact was broken, and the listener abandoned. I know <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/slouching-toward-lachenmann-who-cares.html">Milton Babbitt</a> didn’t choose the title of his essay “Who Cares If You Listen?”, but I have read the essay—more than once—and I find the title apt.<br /><br />Like Babbitt did, Lachenmann follows his passion, and I respect that. Nor do I begrudge Lachenmann creating the music he wants to create. I do take note, though, that Lachenmann’s own favorite composer is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_Morricone">Ennio Morricone</a>, of spaghetti western soundtrack fame. There is a disconnect here, and I find it troubling.<br /> <br />I have constant reason to be grateful to composers of my generation and before who swam against the high Modernist tide, composers like <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/slouching-toward-lachenmann-bjorks.html">Steve Reich</a>, <a href="http://www.johnmetcalf.co.uk/">John Metcalf</a>, <a href="http://www.petersculthorpe.com.au/">Peter Sculthorpe</a>, and <a href="http://markerstetter.blogspot.com/2011/02/guest-writer-susan-scheid.html">Ned Rorem</a>. And I’m ecstatic, yes, ecstatic, to be able to witness a musical renascence led by the brilliant, effervescent composers coming up now, well grounded in the musical past, protean in their imaginative vision, and with delightful disregard for traditional musical boundaries.<br /><br />These composers are brimming over not only with desire to create, but also to connect with us as listeners. In my view, these men and women have saved classical music from itself and brought it back to joyous, ebullient life. All we need to do is listen. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The “Slouching” series is dedicated to composers <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/09/conversation-with-composer-john-metcalf.html">John Metcalf</a>, who opened the door, and <a href="http://insidetheclassics.myminnesotaorchestra.org/2011/03/first-contact-the-greenstein-interview/">Judd Greenstein</a>, for curating the Ecstatic Music Festival. I hasten to add that neither composer is responsible for the points of view I've expressed.</i><br /><br /><i>Postscript: As I was writing this post, <a href="http://nymag.com/arts/classicaldance/classical/reviews/new-composers-davidson-review-2011-3/">an article</a> in New York Magazine about young composers in New York City inspired a fascinating set of responses, the touchstone among which was composer Matthew Guerrieri's marvelous piece, "<a href="http://sohothedog.blogspot.com/2011/03/if-thats-movin-up-then-im-movin-out.html">If that's movin' up, then I'm movin out'</a>." Judd Greenstein's dazzling contribution to the discussion can be found <a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/why.html#goldencalf">here</a>. </i><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>*** </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yS2dxG9FQFs/TY1PjUrvgNI/AAAAAAAAE64/CNaWYa0mJn0/s1600/keaton+open.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yS2dxG9FQFs/TY1PjUrvgNI/AAAAAAAAE64/CNaWYa0mJn0/s320/keaton+open.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><i>Post-Postscript: As you might have gathered, I will not be writing about Lachenmann. Instead, I refer you to others who understand what he is up to and have written and spoken about it with thoughtful eloquence. Here is a little of what I found:<br /><br />For an excellent article on Lachenmann that includes a thorough-going listening list, click <a href="http://www.lafolia.com/archive/albertson/albertson200411lachenmann.html">here</a>.</i></div><i> <br />For a lovely article about Lachenmann by pianist Rolf Hind, click <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oct/14/helmut-lachenmann-rolf-hind">here</a>. </i><br /><i><br />Below you’ll find <a href="http://www.sedaroeder.com/">Seda Röder</a>’s charming and lucid explanation of Lachenmann’s music, through the piece Ein Kinderspiel.</i><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="308" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ticaZYv1EYM" title="YouTube video player" width="384"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>My sister has just sent a link to her favorite Morricone piece. In light of the comments and lively debate going on at <a href="http://one-rare-salad.tumblr.com/post/4264281451/helmut-lachenmann-vs-say-metallica">one rare salad</a> (on which I add a comment in an effort to dig even an deeper hole for myself on this issue), below is the Morricone piece, as well as an excerpt from Lachenmann's Mouvement.</i></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="308" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XoQ2yiS1lsY" title="YouTube video player" width="384"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="308" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wsPEO3RSXjE" title="YouTube video player" width="384"></iframe><br /><br />***</div><b>Listening List</b> (an eclectic sampling of contemporary music)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.johnlutheradams.com/">John Luther Adams</a>: <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnoxu4ocQb0">Inuksuit</a></i><br /><a href="http://www.calebburhans.com/">Caleb Burhans</a>: <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL_fxsnb_CI">Keymaster</a></i>, played by the marvelous <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/sailing-alone-from-song-to-song.html"><i>janus trio</i></a><br /><a href="http://_www.instantencore.com/contributor/contributor.aspx?CId=5145364">Jesse Alexander Brown</a>: <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_-qMK82EFY%20and%20http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPrwt7ftdtY">Through the Motions</a></i>, played by the terrific <i><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/11/only-connect.html">contemporaneous ensemble</a></i> <br /><a href="http://www.companionstar.org/">Companion Star (collaborative)</a>: <i><a href="http://www.companionstar.org/dream/dreamfly/showcaseaudio.html">Dream Seminar</a> (excerpts)</i><br /><a href="http://www.jeffersonfriedman.com/">Jefferson Friedman</a>: <i><a href="http://christinajensenpr.typepad.com/jefferson_friedman/mp3s/SQ3MVT1.mp3">String Quartet No. 3</a></i> <i>(excerpt) </i><br /><a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/">Judd Greenstein</a>: <i><a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/vayomer.html">Vayomar Schlomo</a></i>; <i><a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/tombeau.html">Le Tombeau de Ravel </a></i><br /><a href="http://www.ellenlindquist.com/">Ellen Lindquist</a>: <i><a href="http://www.ellenlindquist.com/ellen/?p=43">Nakoda</a></i><br /><a href="http://www.dylanmattingly.com/Site/Home.html">Dylan Mattingly</a>: <i><a href="http://www.dylanmattingly.com/Site/Works_files/Six%20Night%20Sunrise%20%28Music%20of%20Barges%20and%20Metallic%20Stars%29.mp3">Six Night Sunrise</a></i><br /><a href="http://www.missymazzoli.com/">Missy Mazzoli</a>: <i><a href="http://www.missymazzoli.com/?page_id=6">Still Life with Avalanche</a></i> (scroll down to get audio)<br /><a href="http://www.johnmetcalf.co.uk/">John Metcalf</a>: <i><a href="http://www.musiccentre.ca/influences/composer.cfm?authpeopleid=10597&themeid=4">Paths of Song</a></i>; <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtAHnv_gLp4">Never Odd or Even</a></i><br /><a href="http://www.meredithmonk.org/">Meredith Monk</a>: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwnuNyOkB2Q"><i>Dolmen Music</i></a> <i>(excerpts)</i><br /><a href="http://nicomuhly.com/">Nico Muhly</a>: <a href="http://nicomuhly.bandcamp.com/album/i-drink-the-air-before-me%20"><i>Fire Down Below</i></a><br /><a href="http://www.numinousmusic.com/index.php">Joseph C. Phillips, Jr.</a>: <a href="http://www.numinousmusic.com/media/upload/of_climbing_heaven_9_22_10_%281%29.mp3"><i>Of Climbing Heaven and Gazing on the Earth</i></a><i> </i> <br /><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/03/dali-for-ears-sound-world-of-derek.html">Derek Piotr</a>: <i><a href="http://soundcloud.com/derek-piotr/scrape">Scrape</a></i><br /><a href="http://www.stevereich.com/">Steve Reich</a>: <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mETgHllnu2U">Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards</a></i> <i>(excerpt)</i> <br /><a href="http://www.nedrorem.com/">Ned Rorem</a>: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtAh3hEBPnk"><i>Early in the Morning</i></a><br /><a href="http://www.petersculthorpe.com.au/">Peter Sculthorpe</a>: <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0MhMmO9jvw">Earth Cry</a> (excerpt)</i><br /><a href="http://valgeir.net/">Valgeir Sigurðsson</a>: <i>Nebraska</i> (reviewed <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/arts/music/21chiara.html">here</a>) <br /><a href="http://sarahkirklandsnider.com/">Sarah Kirkland Snider</a>: <i><a href="http://penelope-music.com/#/audiovideo">Penelope</a> (excerpts)</i><br /><a href="http://www.zhoutian.org/">Zhou Tian</a><i>: <a href="http://www.zhoutian.org/msamples.html">Symphonic Suite: The Grand Canal</a> (excerpt)</i><br /><br /><i>Credits: The photograph at the head of the post is a detail taken by Susan Scheid of <a href="http://www.regenprojects.com/artists/elliott-hundley/">Elliott Hundley</a>'s "put them together and dial anywhere" (2011). The photograph at the end of the post is of the <a href="http://sevenels.net/blog/?p=241">Keaton Music Typewriter</a>. No credit is provided, but the photograph appears to have been taken by <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/13153890530685124767">Olivander</a>. </i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-8818416659074865939?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-76218030128004817142011-03-24T16:56:00.010-04:002011-03-29T00:11:32.672-04:00My Minivan, Myself<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AKvheONENdw/TYuyL0hvaFI/AAAAAAAAAVw/CXAvFJzLqRo/s1600/red%2Bhonda.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587755678831700050" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AKvheONENdw/TYuyL0hvaFI/AAAAAAAAAVw/CXAvFJzLqRo/s320/red%2Bhonda.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a><br />My friend Jan hopped in my car after I moved some stray schoolbooks from her seat and asked, "What are you going to do when your minivan dies?" Luckily, it only has 93,000 miles on it, so I hope I have a few more good years left with it. Yes, that's right, I like, no LOVE, my minivan!<br /><a name='more'></a><br />Eight years ago when we bought it, we had little children and a van seemed the obvious way to go. Life was so physically draining at that stage that we didn't care what our vehicle looked like as long as the kids fell asleep in back and it started reliably. When you're lugging a diaper bag and stroller in your car, the ease of a van trumps any vanity concerns. The allure of the minivan, with its tempting separate bucket seats in the second row (No Sibling Touching Me!), and sleek backseat climate controls was hard to resist. Finally our old car broke down, then we broke down and bought A Minivan. My transformation to Suburban Mom was complete.<br /><br />Lost in suburbia, we were surrounded by minivans. In fact, people in our demographic who didn't succumb to the minivan's charms were a little suspect. We'd smile to ourselves as we watched a parent contort him- or herself to strap a pair of toddlers into the back seat of a sporty Altima sedan. "We know that's not fun, why don't you just come over to our side?" we'd coo. "Look, look at the abundance of cupholders! And the hands-free sliding doors! C'mon, you know you want one!" The minivan's practicality was so seductive. Friends would ask to look at the cargo space, but I knew what they really wanted. They really wanted to see how easily the third row Magic seat disappeared into the floor. And I'd show them. It was very enticing.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_NZt10jaXLE/TYuxso-myGI/AAAAAAAAAVY/oUIUsTaZ4jk/s1600/cupholder.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587755143155599458" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_NZt10jaXLE/TYuxso-myGI/AAAAAAAAAVY/oUIUsTaZ4jk/s320/cupholder.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 194px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 259px;" /></a><br />Well, my toddler is now old enough to possess his own driver's permit. At least once a month someone asks me when I am going to trade in my minivan. "Not until it dies," is my usual reply. While it might have been difficult to strap a toddler into the back of a sporty sedan, it is darn near impossible for my son to fold his 6'2" frame into one. And there would be no room left over for his equally tall friends and their assorted gear. The cupholders that once held sippycups now accommodate water bottles and <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/coffee-and-courtesy.html">Wawa drinks</a>. The Magic seat is usually in the upright position so I can drive a full complement of teens to practice or the mall or a movie. No one complains about sitting in the back.<br /><br />Well, what about a nice sporty SUV then? "Wouldn't you rather drive something with more style or a better image?" my husband asks. Perhaps, but who would I be fooling? So I no longer have to schlep a change of clothes, containers of Cheerios, and an assortment of plastic toys everywhere, but I still have mom duties. Even though these days I can listen to Green Day and wear high heeled boots, I still have to drive to the orthodontist and tennis practice. I can go into the office or meet friends for lunch, but I still have to stop for groceries on the way home. I know who I am and I know what I am. What I drive isn't go to change that.<br /><br />On the occasions when I happen to drive my husband's little convertible, I know the story. People no longer think, "Hey, who's that blonde?" like they would have when I was 25. It's more like, "Oh there goes Ryan's mom. Guess the van's in the shop."<br /><br />My car does not define me. It just gets me where I need to go, to do the things that truly define me. It allows me to drive my work colleagues to a meeting in comfort. I can haul donations for a non-profit I work with. I take my family on <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-for-road.html">road trips</a> with room enough for souvenirs. And yes, I can cart plenty of tennis gear and snacks for my kids and their teammates.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Some day, sooner than I would wish, I'll be able to trade in the van for a cute little two-seater, and then pick up a friend without fear that a stray tennis ball will roll around her feet in the car. It will be fun to drive away with the wind in our hair and our own music on the radio, but a part of me will always remember fondly when I needed extra cargo space and an abundance of cup holders.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hd5MM4p_lQE/TYux-87n-oI/AAAAAAAAAVo/nEpgdEKlyeU/s1600/miata.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587755457749449346" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hd5MM4p_lQE/TYux-87n-oI/AAAAAAAAAVo/nEpgdEKlyeU/s320/miata.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 195px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 258px;" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-7621803012800481714?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-85313267872390236142011-03-19T00:19:00.002-04:002011-03-24T20:33:59.027-04:00Dali for the Ears: The Sound World of Derek Piotr<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lNyeRufxrv4/TXG1qE2riuI/AAAAAAAAE6c/Q_EPSz_LrGM/s1600/elsewhere_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bYiYxMAEoIc/TW8MlfkZjzI/AAAAAAAAE6M/YUVb75BY3DI/s1600/salvador_dali_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bYiYxMAEoIc/TW8MlfkZjzI/AAAAAAAAE6M/YUVb75BY3DI/s320/salvador_dali_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The first I knew of Derek Piotr was his response to <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/slouching-toward-lachenmann-bjorks.html">a post</a>. I’d commented about Björk's remark that minimalism was her “abyss.” I hadn’t seen Piotr's name before, so, of course, I had to look him up.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />This led me to <a href="http://derekpiotr.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/new-years-occurrence/"><i>l:ife unfurl:ing</i></a>, where I found his benediction to the year then ending:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;">this year was marvelous</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">filled with moon halos and sudden lovers</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">memories split apart and reformed into more fortified shapes</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I have been blessed also with extremely powerful connections</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">and have enormous hopes for the coming year</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">and coming of the light</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">thank you.</span></blockquote></div>I thought the sentiment lovely, and well expressed. Whoever this fellow was, he knew where to locate the music in words, and I wanted to know more. <br /><br />Piotr is a sound composer, a term I’d not heard before. I wondered whether I could I follow him from words into sound. I wasn’t sure I had any antecedents for this, but I set myself the challenge to try. I contacted Piotr and, after an exchange of e-mails, we arranged to meet.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>We met at <a href="http://www.argotea.com/locations_new_york.shtml">Argo Tea</a>, a sound-filled café in New York City’s landmark <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatiron_Building">Flatiron Building</a>. Straight off, Piotr made clear he doesn’t see himself primarily as a poet, though his poetic leanings provide a clue to his approach to sound.<br /><br />Of <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/06/anne-carsons-nox.html">Anne Carson</a>’s <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780375724510.html">translation of Sappho</a>, for example, his favorite fragment is “you burn me.” “It’s just three words,” he said, “and it just kills me.” Of his own sound compositions, Piotr said, “the fewer elements in something, the more vividly it hits me. Always.” <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jwmiW1XNuLU/TXG1Z22PXCI/AAAAAAAAE6Y/XXsFFeRlmkQ/s1600/headphones_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jwmiW1XNuLU/TXG1Z22PXCI/AAAAAAAAE6Y/XXsFFeRlmkQ/s320/headphones_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Piotr is genuinely in love with sound, following the trail laid down by <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/12/slouching-toward-lachenmann-john-cage.html">John Cage</a>. “I think when John Cage was talking about bringing the background forward, I really just took that to heart and ran with it.” <br /><br />Piotr began to experiment with sound when he was fifteen. “I’d been into Madonna for a long time in middle school, and then moved to Björk.” He did not, however, take the ordinary musical route. “A lot of both Björk and Madonna’s music have remixes by kind of experimental people . . . . there was enough in there that was interesting to me to kind of push myself into that territory.”<br /><br />Trolling the internet for experimental music, he discovered Berlin-based <a href="http://poemproducer.com/antyegreie/curriculumvitae.html">Antye Greie</a>, a vocalist and digital songwriter also known as AGF. Of her work, Piotr said, “It’s so focused and so elaborately constructed of just these edited together voices.” <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="234" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yohDNsXzeIA" title="YouTube video player" width="384"></iframe><br /><br />AGF has had a profound influence on Piotr's work. In her work, he saw "where he wanted to go." But more than that, she reached out to lend encouragement of a very concrete sort, by offering to produce his work. Piotr was moved to tears, for here was someone he'd "looked to for so many years," saying back to him, "I’m not simply going to appreciate what you do, but I’m going to help you do what you do." <br /><br />Piotr knew early on, that, while limited resources confined him to being a “bedroom musician,” he wasn’t interested in thinking like one: “Not thinking, like, you know, I’m going to plug my fender into the amp and play three chords and record it and then sing and then play drums," he said. "Ninety-eight percent of guitar music, I just can’t stand.” Instead, the model Piotr used when approaching his compositions was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSIC-N">Bell Labs in the 1950's</a>. <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="234" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7JQ3xXtSFkg" title="YouTube video player" width="384"></iframe><br /><br />Piotr takes his sounds where he finds them: “Mostly I just try and enhance what sounds good to me.” Of <i>Midnight for Two Clocks</i>, perhaps his most accessible piece for the uninitiated ear, Piotr explained, “We were at my aunt’s house, and she just happens to have two clocks, and they both went off at the same time.” Another composition, <i>Sinners Rise Up</i>, got its start when Piotr dropped his microphone while recording something else, and he “looped” it. <br /><br />He has used his writings in sound compositions, but not the way one might expect. To create <i>Scrape</i>, for example, he “read the poem in entirety at the beginning of the piece and then kind of chopped it up and filtered it around.” For the final version, though, he took the full reading of the poem out.<br /><br />Yet another piece, <i>Focus</i>, Piotr called a "coincidental triumph." He'd asked <a href="http://zachthorpe.bandcamp.com/">Zach Thorpe</a>, "a fantastic singer," to send him a voice improv for use on his AGORA project. Though Thorpe hadn't heard the beat Piotr laid down for <i>Focus</i>, the vocal take fit as if he had.<br /><br />When asked how someone whose ear was attuned to classical music might approach listening to his work, he said, “I almost see what I do is, instead of composing for viola and celesta and glockenspiel, I’m composing blocks of sound and attempting to give them a permanent location in space the way <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/06/19/060619crat_atlarge">Morton Feldman</a> would do on a cello and a piano.”<br /><br />Though Piotr cites Björk as his primary influence, he cautions that the influence isn’t direct. “When a person is doing sound, you aren’t always hearing the sounds they’re making, but you’re getting their energy,” he said. “She’s someone who really takes me to my happy place.” <br /><br /><a href="http://www.meredithmonk.org/">Meredith Monk</a>, with whom Piotr interned, had an impact of a different sort, underscoring the value he places on “wordlessness.” “I don’t think you need words, and I think a lot of times you can just say things without words that you can’t say with words.”<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="234" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v49QX5aJ9mU" title="YouTube video player" width="384"></iframe> <br /><br />Piotr agreed with composer <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/11/only-connect.html">Dylan Mattingly</a>’s advice to “listen to as much new music as possible . . . and listen to it multiple times.” Piotr cited his own experience with <a href="http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=1389">Alfred Schnittke</a>. Piotr’s “favorite piece of music ever,” even over Björk, is the <i>Sanctus</i> from Schnittke’s <a href="http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/534329.html"><i>Fourth Symphony</i></a>, which he described as “killingly beautiful.” But it didn’t start out that way. The Symphony “wasn’t grabbing me. I listened to the first two movements, and then moved on to something else.”<br /><br />Among his most important musical influences, Piotr also named <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/08/listening-to-wales-arvo-part-and-vale.html">Arvo Pärt</a>, the Estonian composer who works in a minimalist style. “One of the reasons I listen to Arvo Pärt is every time I’m listening to him, I get this impression that I’m standing somewhere with immensely high ceilings.” <br /><br />Lately, Piotr has been listening to Morton Feldman. I’d just been to a <a href="http://new.lincolncenter.org/live/index.php/ts-2011-international-contemporary-ensemble">concert</a> at which Feldman’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J--sdXYik3Y"><i>For Samuel Beckett</i></a> was featured, and found that, by the end of its forty-four minute length, its charms had worn thin. With wisdom beyond his years—or perhaps, more justly, because of his years—Piotr offered this perspective: “He’s very spacious, but in more of a linear way. Whereas Pärt kind of gives you this big ceiling, Feldman kind of gives you a long corridor.” <br /><br />What Piotr said of Björk, “When a person is doing sound, you aren’t always hearing the sounds they’re making, but you’re getting their energy,” is true for Piotr, too. I’d come to his sound compositions wondering whether I’d be able to connect to them at all. I came away from meeting Piotr enlivened by his passion, intelligence, and spirit. That’s exactly what I hear in his sounds.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><i>This spring, Piotr will be touring his two albums, </i><i>Elsewhere and </i><i>AGORA, in several cities in the US. Watch for announcements <a href="http://derekpiotr.wordpress.com/">here</a>.</i><b> </b><br /><br /><b>Listening List</b><br /><br /><u>Derek Piotr</u><br /><i>from </i><i>Elsewhere</i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lNyeRufxrv4/TXG1qE2riuI/AAAAAAAAE6c/Q_EPSz_LrGM/s1600/elsewhere_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lNyeRufxrv4/TXG1qE2riuI/AAAAAAAAE6c/Q_EPSz_LrGM/s200/elsewhere_final.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://soundcloud.com/derek-piotr/sinners-rise-up">Sinners Rise Up</a><br />Midnight for Two Clocks<br /><embed flashvars="audioUrl= https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D659406_066378_6129842" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Derek Piotr. By kind permission of Derek Piotr.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1muTGfj0kbM/TXG11v4z8nI/AAAAAAAAE6g/e9K_eCn1Bh0/s1600/agora_front_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1muTGfj0kbM/TXG11v4z8nI/AAAAAAAAE6g/e9K_eCn1Bh0/s200/agora_front_web.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><i>from AGORA</i><br /><br /><a href="http://soundcloud.com/derek-piotr/focus">Focus</a><br /><a href="http://soundcloud.com/derek-piotr/belief">Belief </a><br /><a href="http://soundcloud.com/derek-piotr/winter-consummation">Winterconsummation (demo)</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Scrape <i>(Below is the demo version, using full text, offered as an exclusive to Raining Acorns readers. To compare the final album track, in which the full text has been removed, click <a href="http://soundcloud.com/derek-piotr/scrape">here</a>.)</i><br /><embed flashvars="audioUrl= https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D659406_066378_6129019" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Derek Piotr. By kind permission of Derek Piotr.</span><br /><i>For fascinating background information about AGORA, including an interview excerpt on the story behind the track Focus, click <a href="http://derekpiotr.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/agora/">here</a>.</i><br /><br /><u>AGF</u>: <a href="http://www.poemproducer.com/files/anime.mp3">Anime</a> (outtake from <a href="http://boomkat.com/vinyl/5999-agf-head-slash-bauch">Head Slash Bauch</a>, a major influence on Piotr's work)<br /><u>Björk</u>: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwSvmdZ1t_A">Mouth's Cradle</a> (from Medulla) <br /><u>Morton Feldman</u>: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj-FZXA2JIc">Samoa</a> (excerpt)<br /><u>Meredith Monk</u>: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RVRzqhZQaM">Dolmen Music</a><br /><u>Arvo Pärt</u>: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD3tRr2CkDo&feature=fvsr">Te Deum</a> (excerpt)<br /><u>Alfred Schnittke</u>: Symphony No. 4, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2l1-wmRhXQ">Sanctus</a><br /><u>Zach Thorpe</u>: Lungs (demo; music, lyrics & vocals by Thorpe) <br /><embed flashvars="audioUrl= https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D659406_066378_6130021" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Zach Thorpe. By kind permission of Zach Thorpe.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Credits: </i><i>The photograph of Derek Piotr is by Kit Crosskey. The Elsewhere album cover is by <a href="http://www.ericrosswiley.com/">Eric Wiley</a>. The AGORA album cover photograph is by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/meire">meire todao</a>. All by kind permission of Derek Piotr. </i><i>The photograph at the head of the post is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Halsman">Phillipe Halsman</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Salvador_Dali_A_%28Dali_Atomicus%29_09633u.jpg">Dali Atomicus</a>. There are no known restrictions on its publication. </i><i>(To view <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/02/beauty-of-object-megan-barrons-wrack.html">Megan Barron</a>'s joyfully antic homage to Halsman's work, click <a href="http://aukwrecksarklarks.blogspot.com/2011/02/halsman-had-it-right.html">here</a>.) </i><i><br /></i><br /><i></i></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-8531326787239023614?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-14209905224215481952011-03-14T09:30:00.005-04:002011-03-19T00:31:03.432-04:00Testing 1,2,3. . .<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ELDwbzWBBAI/TX1sEPTaKuI/AAAAAAAAAVA/gsVwbzKRDC4/s1600/test%2Bform.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583737933092498146" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ELDwbzWBBAI/TX1sEPTaKuI/AAAAAAAAAVA/gsVwbzKRDC4/s320/test%2Bform.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 160px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 160px;" /></a>The month of March means more than the start of training for spring sports and plans for the prom for public schools in the US. It also marks the season of standardized testing - an enormously important event for school district administrators. Under the terms of the federal <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html">No Child Left Behind</a> act, states must set measurable goals for all public school students and then assess those students, in order to receive federal funding.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />A short Raining Acorns blog piece is no place to debate NCLB, teacher accountability, public school funding or even the desirability or effectiveness of standardized tests. The fact is, these tests are mandated for now, and all I can do is give the reader a picture of what that means for an average middle or high school student in a typical United States school.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y18X1wTWfGc/TX1pXIvshbI/AAAAAAAAAUg/qrZgxxBvDbU/s1600/pssastudent.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583734959214724530" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y18X1wTWfGc/TX1pXIvshbI/AAAAAAAAAUg/qrZgxxBvDbU/s320/pssastudent.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 225px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 225px;" /></a><br />Today is the first day of PSSA testing - the <a href="http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_system_of_school_assessment_%28pssa%29/8757">Pennsylvania System of School Assessment</a>, in my state. Other states have similar tests created by their departments of education. Pennsylvania schools have a strictly enforced schedule for the next 4 weeks, during which most students in grades 3 and up will take math and reading tests, while 8th and 11th grade children will also be tested on writing and science. The Commonwealth sets out the specific information regarding the taking of these tests in a <a href="http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/http;//www.portal.state.pa.us;80/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_123031_1039285_0_0_18/PSSA_Handbook_for_Assessment_Coordinators_2011.pdf">60 page handbook</a> which can be downloaded in PDF form.<br /><br />So, this week, our middle school students will have PSSA testing for the first two hours of each day. The rest of the day will have abbreviated classes in order to fit in a full schedule. This means classes will be about 20 minutes instead of 40. The next week is reserved for make up exams for children who were sick - this requires teachers to act as proctors, so often substitutes are needed. The next week the 8th grade only will be tested for the first two hours; they will then miss two or three periods every day for the rest of the week.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rI5r3kEq_0Y/TX1psfX_qXI/AAAAAAAAAUw/OyWd_jqQv3U/s1600/testing%2Bsign.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583735326066583922" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rI5r3kEq_0Y/TX1psfX_qXI/AAAAAAAAAUw/OyWd_jqQv3U/s320/testing%2Bsign.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 196px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 285px;" /></a><br />The high school testing is even more disruptive to the schedule. The 11th grade is subjected to 12 days of testing in math, reading, writing and science. However, the 9th, 10th, and 12th grades are affected by this for a couple of reasons. First, teachers are needed to proctor the 2 hour exams, so they are not available for teaching the other grades. Second, many classes have multiple grades in them, so no classes which contain juniors can be taught, because some of the class would miss it due to scheduling. Logistically, it is impossible to hold meaningful class time with the other three-quarters of the school during the testing window.<br /><br />So the guidance department has to create relevant, appropriate assemblies for the rest of the school. While the juniors are in testing mode, the rest of the school will have a presentation on the dangers of drinking and driving, a preview of the spring musical (minus the junior cast members!), and a presentation on the college search process, among other things. And the 10th grade will also have its own tests - the 4Sight Benchmark assessments, which are designed to predict how students will do next year on the PSSAs, so the school can identify early on students who will need extra help to pass the PSSA.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yQYwkCAVo_s/TX1rPJnROJI/AAAAAAAAAU4/fagIGLUM3Ao/s1600/pssa%2Bexam.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583737021032118418" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yQYwkCAVo_s/TX1rPJnROJI/AAAAAAAAAU4/fagIGLUM3Ao/s320/pssa%2Bexam.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 54px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />The only upside to these three weeks for most students is, they have very little homework at night, since there is not time in the abbreviated class periods to teach anything truly significant. It does make sense to have some sort of yardstick or benchmark to ensure our students master basic math and verbal skills. But it often feels like the brighter students are held back, in order to make sure they keep familiar with the concepts to be measured on the PSSAs while the struggling students are overwhelmed with test taking practice and review. The vast majority of kids, somewhere in the middle, are all being taught to achieve uniform middle-ground results. Our children can write nice 5 paragraph essays on PSSA "prompts" which is not a bad skill to have. But all the essays seem to be structured the same way and use the same conventions.<br /><br />I suppose I have veered into debate territory here. Instead listening to me, I'll let the reader have a listen to the late, great Harry Chapin. This performance of "Flowers Are Red" illustrates the slippery slope of grading to one standard:<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N3f9gWbfZiE/TX1pdXo0eLI/AAAAAAAAAUo/HOMY3q48B28/s1600/graph.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/shTb6aq2mDY?fs=1" width="425"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Curious to see if you can pass a standardized test? Check out the 7th grade reading sample:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:AKJ41rPcdIkJ:www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open%3D18%26objID%3D354488%26mode%3D2+pssa+sample+problems&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiA-_vxiVQmCi_vNUQuZr614QyP8jPy9nQbbJ6EJBDnEZNjtixoBVpw7b_hoB5JgdTc1hE-9d4Vz2tIbHoO4H-LdN-adE-kHEuaQulNWVDIbDQMaFLB9VGbDkmyJNuB5JD6tqzt&sig=AHIEtbSE6dpXAjA7k3z3HZ3W8hISuVnK_Q&pli=1">7th Grade reading</a><br /><br />And here is the 11th grade math:<br /><br /><a href="http://www1.cbsd.org/schools/cbwest/PSSA%20Practice/PSSA%20Math%20Assessment%20Sampler.pdf">11th grade math</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-1420990522421548195?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-15065712934875967282011-03-09T08:40:00.003-05:002011-03-14T20:47:34.458-04:00Slouching Toward Lachenmann: Transfiguring the Night<div style="text-align: right;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNNftMhDovI/AAAAAAAAEzg/vd0Z1aWSTdo/s1600/KandinskyKonzert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNNftMhDovI/AAAAAAAAEzg/vd0Z1aWSTdo/s320/KandinskyKonzert.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>The only person who can help poor Schoenberg now is a psychiatrist. </i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Strauss">Richard Strauss</a></i><br /><br /><i>"You're a slouch not to like it," he said to me one day. "Studying ordered relationships is ultimately the best there is. Order is everything."</i><br /><i>-Thomas Mann, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Faustus-German-Composer-Leverkuhn/dp/0375701168">Doctor Faustus</a></i></div><br />When I was in high school, the curriculum included a mandatory music appreciation class. In addition to being mandatory, the class marshaled all the worst features of classroom instruction to make its case: a huge amphitheater of a classroom, an otherworldly teacher who wasn’t able to communicate his love of music to the class, and an approach of pure lecture with the odd bit of listening thrown in.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />How it came about I don’t recall, but perhaps in desperation, the teacher decided on a student lecture, and the student he chose for this assignment was me. My topic was the <a href="http://wiki.youngcomposers.com/Twelve_Tone_Composition">twelve-tone system</a>, about which I knew not a whit. I suppose he intended this as a reward to one of his few attentive students. I accepted it as such, though I knew it wasn’t bound to increase my high school popularity quotient very much.<br /><br />I took my assignment seriously. I found out the names of the twelve-tone big three—<a href="http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=1390">Schoenberg</a>, <a href="http://www.musicacademyonline.com/composer/biographies.php?bid=24">Berg</a>, and <a href="http://www.antonwebern.com/">Webern</a>—and got <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LP_record">LP records</a> containing music composed by each. I read up, as best I could in those pre-internet days, on what “twelve-tone” meant. The basic rule seemed to be that you had to use all twelve notes in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ChromaticScaleUpDown.ogg">chromatic scale</a> before you repeated any one of them.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNN32S0JrbI/AAAAAAAAE0I/rSMbQOaEod8/s1600/Schoenberg+1923-12-tone+as+ideal+type.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNN32S0JrbI/AAAAAAAAE0I/rSMbQOaEod8/s320/Schoenberg+1923-12-tone+as+ideal+type.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I don’t recall what pieces I listened to, but I do remember that, despite repeated attempts, I couldn’t make sense of them. I liked the idea of having a system for writing music, though. Sort of like the rules for a <a href="http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5791">sonnet</a>, I thought, a framework to guide you on your way. I decided, since I didn’t understand the stuff I was hearing, maybe I’d just write one that made sense to me. (Ah, the hubris of youth . . .)<br /><br />While the class dozed and doodled, I did my best to explain what I’d learned, including some examples from LPs. I saved the piece I’d written until the end. To my surprise, some of my classmates awakened long enough to proclaim it genius. My piece, they said, was so much better than those other ones.<br /><br />The piece I wrote is lost to time, but I guarantee you that genius it was not. What I’d done, as I recall, was to package those twelve tones into something like an ordinary melody. Not entirely hummable, but more like music familiar to us all. <br /><br />On that victory I rested, and that ended my travels into Twelve-Tone Land until today. There isn’t any way, you see, to slouch toward Lachenmann, without at least trying to listen to what came before. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNRgejx6srI/AAAAAAAAE0c/PQX-Kh8fnb8/s1600/Gerstl,_Richard_-_Arnold_Schoenberg_Seated_%281906%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNRgejx6srI/AAAAAAAAE0c/PQX-Kh8fnb8/s200/Gerstl,_Richard_-_Arnold_Schoenberg_Seated_%281906%29.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>Arnold Schoenberg invented the twelve-tone system. He’d been composing without any kind of system in a sort of musical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_verse">free verse</a>. When that became too exhausting, he went in search of “a more orderly way of working,” according to <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/alex-ross.html">Alex Ross</a>. Ross describes the method Schoenberg found like this:<br /><blockquote>A particular arrangement of twelve notes is called a series or row. The idea is not to consider the row a theme in itself but to employ it as a kind of fund of notes, or, more precisely, of relationships among notes, or intervals. . . . The composer can run the row in retrograde (go backward from the last note). Or he can use an inversion (turn it upside down).</blockquote>Ross reports that, in all, there are 479,011,600 permutations available, “the factorial of twelve.”<br /><br />And this <i>isn’t</i> exhausting? Just thinking about all those permutations puts my mind in a twist. Is this music or mathematics we’re talking about? I mean, I know there’s a kinship, but, as composer <a href="http://adagio.calarts.edu/%7Emsabat/bj/BJbio.html">Ben Johnston</a> said (to my great relief), “what is mathematically intelligible is not necessarily musically intelligible.”<br /><br />Still, I wanted at least to hear what all the fuss was about. After all, Schoenberg’s music inspired at least one <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky">Wassily Kandinsky</a> painting. He taught a lot of composers, too, including <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/12/slouching-toward-lachenmann-john-cage.html">John Cage</a>. And twelve-tone music and its <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/slouching-toward-lachenmann-who-cares.html">progeny</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnegans_Wake"><i>Finnegans Wake</i></a> of music <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/10/conversation-with-composer-john-metcalf_23.html">John Metcalf</a> spoke about, is the music many <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/slouching-toward-lachenmann-bjorks.html">Minimalists</a> reacted to and felt compelled to clear away. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNN4URj9IDI/AAAAAAAAE0Q/mo83A5ougkc/s1600/Anton+Webern+Oppenheimer2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNN4URj9IDI/AAAAAAAAE0Q/mo83A5ougkc/s200/Anton+Webern+Oppenheimer2.JPG" width="162" /></a></div>Alex Ross comments, “The early works of Schoenberg always come as a pleasant shock to listeners expecting a grueling atonal exercise.” My own experience bears that out: <a href="http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/010708-NL-Schoenberg.html"><i>Transfigured Night (Verklärte Nacht)</i></a> is a piece I actually enjoy. Ross is on target also when he writes that “Schoenberg’s early atonal music is not all sound and fury,” pointing to <i>Farben</i>, one of Schoenberg’s <a href="http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/piece-detail.cfm?id=324"><i>Five Pieces for Orchestra</i></a>, as an example to prove his point. But as Schoenberg and his students, Berg and Webern, move further into atonality and twelve-tone music, they still leave me behind. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNN5bq9uNRI/AAAAAAAAE0Y/8-yG02yWLb4/s1600/Berg_bySchoenberg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNN5bq9uNRI/AAAAAAAAE0Y/8-yG02yWLb4/s200/Berg_bySchoenberg.jpg" width="96" /></a></div>Last year, we ventured up to Bard to hear the final program in its <a href="http://fishercenter.bard.edu/bmf/2010/">summer concert series</a>, devoted to Alban Berg. One of the pieces on offer was the <i>Suite</i> from Berg’s twelve-tone opera, <i>Lulu</i>, mounted at the <i>Met</i> last season <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/arts/music/10lulu.html?_r=1">to much acclaim</a>. I found the music hard listening, and I marveled that the singer found her way through the thicket of disconnected notes. But every now and then I heard something weirdly beautiful, like the haunting music of a vibraphone sounding on its own.<br /><br />I don’t know whether Schoenberg, Berg, or Webern will ever make my <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/arts/music/09composers.html?_r=1&ref=anthonytommasini">top ten list</a>. On the other hand, I’ve signed up to hear Berg’s <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=407"><i>Wozzeck</i></a> at the <i>Met</i>. I’ve no illusions I’ll find it easy going, but I’m curious. And it does have the virtue of being short . . .<br /><br /><i>Postcript: The title of this post is taken from Schoenberg's </i><i><i>Verklärte Nacht, sometimes translated into English as Transfigured Night. I had originally entitled the post "Listening to the Unlistenable," but after listening to <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/slouching-toward-lachenmann-who-cares.html">total serialism</a>, the twelve-tone system seemed warm and cuddly by comparison (well, almost).</i></i><br /><br /><i><i>Post-postscript: To learn why Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus is quoted in this post, click <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2009/08/imaginary-concerts.html">here</a> and scroll down. (Or, better yet, read the whole of Alex Ross's fascinating article about "Imaginary Concerts.") </i></i><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><i>*** </i></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i></i></div><i><a href="http://www.mitsukouchida.com/biography.php">Mitsuko Uchida</a> talks about Schoenberg's Piano Concerto: "You must be stubborn to want to learn it."</i><br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PmWRttCo7lo?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PmWRttCo7lo?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>The painting at the head of the article is Kandinsky’s Impression 3 (Concert), which was inspired by Schoenberg's String Quartet No. 2. The painting of Schoenberg is by <a href="http://www.gseart.com/artists.asp?ArtistID=33">Richard Gerstl</a>. The painting of Webern is by <a href="http://weimarart.blogspot.com/2010/06/max-oppenheimer.html">Max Oppenheimer</a>, and t</i><i>he painting of Berg is by Schoenberg</i><i>. </i><br /><br /><i>The initial quotation is from <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=0MFx0rA4tdgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=richard+strauss:++man,+musician,+enigma&source=bl&ots=ADn6RbRmlf&sig=GPcwffa208LOR5E_XQ4qCYRJ2hk&hl=en&ei=sufNTNKZFYH-8Ab2ktGuDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false">Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma, By Michael Kennedy</a>, p. 173. The Ross quotations are from <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/noise">The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century</a>, pp. 212-213, 50, and 56. The Ben Johnston quotation is from <a href="http://www.billduckworth.com/writings">Talking Music</a>, by William Duckworth, at p. 153.</i><br /><br /><i><b>Listening List</b> </i><br /><br /><u><i>Schoenberg</i></u><i> <br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1548677125"></a></i><a href="http://www.schoenberg.at/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=467&Itemid=652&lang=en"><i>Verklärte Nacht</i></a><i> (1899)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90cgDmMhh0E">String Quartet No. 2, 4th Movement (I feel the air of other planets)</a> (1908) </i><br /><i><a href="http://www.schoenberg.at/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=185&Itemid=360&lang=en">Farben, from Five Pieces for Orchestra</a> (1909)</i><br /><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_mGY-bEAas">Friede Auf Erden (Peace on Earth)</a> (1911)(thanks to Mark Kerstetter at <a href="http://markerstetter.blogspot.com/">The Bricoleur</a> for alerting me to this piece)</i><br /><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LadWdCsGqE">Three Piano Pieces</a>, op. 11 (1909)</i><br /><i>Piano Concerto (1942), <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct47T9_liOU&feature=related">here</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXHJBxVu6mo">here</a>.<br /> </i><br /><u><i>Berg</i></u><i><br />Wozzeck (1914-1922), three excerpts <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLgCQuGBuL4">here</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vByxZUes__4&feature=related">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf-1qOLq5Oc&feature=related">here</a>.<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP12Bt9qjh4">Lulu Suite</a> (1913-1929) <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtMAz70lFX8">Violin Concerto</a> (1935) <br /><br /><u>Webern</u></i><br /><i> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCUj0_vqRmA&feature=related">Langsamer Satz</a> (1905) <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOnFKLvonQw">Five Pieces for Orchestra</a> (1913) <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0MvEUh5yKA">Variations for Piano</a> (1936)<span id="goog_1178431494"></span><span id="goog_1178431495"></span></i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-1506571293487596728?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-44135937844923464472011-03-04T08:25:00.006-05:002011-03-09T08:52:09.893-05:00Oscar's Best Picture "Lasts"<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-so1xuXxyE4A/TXDrsTce7vI/AAAAAAAAAVw/IHU8ECcMCe4/s1600/oscar-statue.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580219084678557426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-so1xuXxyE4A/TXDrsTce7vI/AAAAAAAAAVw/IHU8ECcMCe4/s400/oscar-statue.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 292px;" /></a><br />In my previous post, I wrote about <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/02/oscars-best-picture-firsts.html">Ocar’s Best Picture Firsts</a>. Now that the Academy Awards have come and gone and the Oscar went to 2011’s Best Picture – yes, the “King’s Speech,” Raining Acorns thought it would be a good idea to follow that post with a list of “lasts” in the same vein. Lest we forget, these are the things that we won’t be seeing again when the Best Picture is awarded in the future:<br /><a name='more'></a><br />The first film appearing on my list of Best Picture "firsts" also happens to be the first one here. “Wings”, in 1927, was the first, last and only silent movie to win Best Picture. <br /><br />When “The Great Ziegfield” won in 1936, it was the last time that all of the Best Picture nominees were filmed in black and white.<br /><br />The last year that the Academy Awards ceremony was held in a hotel was when the Oscar for Best Picture was presented to “Casablanca” in 1943 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.<br /><br />In 1946, Best Picture winner “The Best Years of Our Lives” was the last (and only) competitive Oscar that producer Samuel Goldwyn would ever win.<br /><br />“All About Eve” was the last film for which the Academy gave the Best Picture Academy Award to the studio which produced the film. That Oscar went to MGM, in 1951. <br /><br />The last time a foreign language film was awarded an Oscar as a special achievement Honorary Award was in 1955: the Japanese film “Jigokumon.” The Best Foreign Language Film category was introduced the following year. <br /><br />The last entirely black and white film to win the Best Picture Oscar was “The Apartment,” in 1960 (although 1993’s winner, “Schindlers List” was filmed almost entirely in black and white.)<br /><br />John Wayne appeared at the Oscars for the last time in 1979, when he presented the Academy Award for Best Picture to “The Deer Hunter.” He died later that year.<br /><br />The last film to win for Best Original Musical was “Purple Rain” in 1984. Though not officially retired, this particular award category has not been used since, due to “continuous insufficient eligibility.” <br /><br />The last (and only) hand-drawn full feature animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture before the Academy added a Best Animated Feature Film category (in 2001) was “Beauty and the Beast,” in 1991. <br /><br />The last year that there were 5 Best Picture nominees was in 2008 when “Slumdog Millionaire” took the top prize. In 2009, the Academy returned to featuring 10 Best Picture nominees.<br /><br />Curiously, this year was the first time that a well-worn curse word was used in an acceptance speech at the Academy Awards - hopefully it will be the last time that censors find it necessary <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/feb/28/colin-firth-pg13-kings-speech">to remove that same word from a pivotal scene in a movie</a>, in order to grant a PG-13 rating - in this case, 2011’s Best Picture “The King’s Speech.” <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Gy-lVUhzcps" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-4413593784492346447?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-13767629614874321712011-02-27T09:54:00.019-05:002011-03-04T10:40:11.569-05:00Oscar's Best Picture Firsts<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JVaOfe8lHCg/TWppuHO_E2I/AAAAAAAAAVo/WLye7lb-XGs/s1600/side_oscar.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578387329388581730" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JVaOfe8lHCg/TWppuHO_E2I/AAAAAAAAAVo/WLye7lb-XGs/s400/side_oscar.jpg" style="display: block; height: 397px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 219px;" /></a><br />The very first movie to win an <a href="http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/oscarlegacy/bestpictures/index.html">Academy Award for Best Picture </a>was a war film. It was 1927, the first year that the Oscars were held, and the winner was “Wings.” The most recent Best Picture winner was also a war film, “The Hurt Locker.” The shared genre is just about all that these two movies, 82 years apart, have in common. “Wings” was a silent movie shot in black and white and directed by a man, while “The Hurt Locker” was very much a “talkie” shot in full color and directed by a woman, Kathryn Bigelow. In fact, “The Hurt Locker” was the first film directed by a woman to win an Oscar for Best Picture.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />This year, the Oscar for Best Picture will most certainly not be awarded to a war film. None of the current nominees fall into that category. At the 83rd Annual Academy Awards Ceremony in Hollywood tonight, the Oscar will most likely go to one of two “biopic” films, that is, biographical pictures. It seems that the ultimate winner could be a film about King George VI’s speech impediment, <a href="http://www.kingsspeech.com/">“The King’s Speech.” </a>Or, the Best Picture Oscar could go to a film about Facebook’s beginnings, <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/10/accidental-billionaires.html">“The Social Network.”</a><br /><br />Either way, the 2010 winner will no doubt add to the long list of Best Picture winner “firsts” - a list that began with that first Best Picture in 1927. That list started growing in 1929 when “The Broadway Melody” became the first sound film to win an Oscar for Best Picture, while the first "talkie" war film to win was “All Quiet on the Western Front,” a film that was banned in Germany after the Nazis released rats into theatres to scare off patrons.<br /><br />The first and only film to date to win an Oscar for Best Picture without a single nomination in any other category was “Grand Hotel” in 1932. In 1934, “It Happened One Night” was the first film to win Best Picture as well as Best Actress and Best Actor. In 1939, “Gone With the Wind” became the first film to win 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. “Gone With the Wind”was also the first Best Picture winner to be filmed entirely in color, in addition to being the first in this category that was also a Pulitzer prize-winning novel.<br /><br />Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940-era “Rebecca” was the first and only film made by the legendary director to win a Best Picture Oscar. The first non-American director to win Best Picture was Laurence Olivier, whose production of "Hamlet" in 1948 was the first British film to win a Best Picture Academy Award. This year’s odds-on favorite, “The King’s Speech,” is also a British production - as is the film's director.<br /><br />In 1950, “All About Eve” was the first (and only) film to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture together with four female acting nominations. The shortest film to win? “Marty” in 1955, while 1958’s “Gigi” was the Best Picture winner with the shortest title - this film also had the distinction of being the first to win 9 Academy Awards (out of 9 nominations) a record shattered in 1959 when “Ben-Hur” became the first Best Picture film to earn 11 Academy Awards.<br /><br />The sixties were full of Best Picture firsts. In 1961, “West Side Story” won the most Academy Awards for a musical and in 1965 “The Sound of Music” toppled “Gone With the Wind” as the most commercially successful film to date, while in 1967 “In the Heat of the Night” became the first and only mystery film to win Best Picture. Then, in 1968, “Oliver!” became the first and only G-rated film to win in this category. In stark contrast the following year, “Midnight Cowboy” became the first and only X-rated film to win an Oscar for Best Picture.<br /><br />It was in 1973 that Julia Phillips became the first female producer to win a Best Picture Oscar with "The Sting". In 1974, “The Godfather, Part 2” won the first Best Picture Academy Award for a sequel, and “Rocky” was the first sports film to win, in 1976.<br /><br />Robert Redford won Best Picture directing his first film, “Ordinary People” in 1980. Then, in 1981, “Gandhi” won 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture – at the time, the first British film to earn this distinction. In 1987, “The Last Emperor” would be the first PG-13 rated film to win and in 1989 “Driving Miss Daisy” was to be the last (to date) Best Picture winner with a PG or lower rating.<br /><br />The nineties started with a double first for 1991’s Best Picture winner “Silence of the Lambs” – the first and only true horror story winner and the first to have been commercially available on videotape (remember that?) beforehand. In 1994, “Forrest Gump,” with 13 nominations, earned $300 million at the box office – still the most commercially successful Best Picture winner. In 1997, James Cameron’s “Titanic” became the first winner to be written, produced, directed and edited by the same person. At the time, it was also the most expensive Best Picture to make and the first winner to gross over $1 billion worldwide.<br /><br />In the new millennium, filmmakers went back in time with “Gladiator,” the first film to win an Oscar for Best Picture in 2000, then dove into fantasy with “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” in 2003, the first and only fantasy film to win. Incidentally, this film was the Best Picture winner with the longest title and the only “threequel” whose third installment won the Oscar. In 2005, “Crash” was the first film festival acquistion to win Best Picture. The following year, “The Departed” became the first and only remake of a foreign film to win the prize. With “No Country For Old Men” in 2007, the Coen brothers (directors) became the only sibling team to win in this category.<br /><br />Tonight we shall see the golden statue go to the first Best Picture in this new decade. If “The King’s Speech” wins, it will become the most successful independent British film of all time. If “The Social Network” wins, it will be the first movie about <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-good-is-internet-anyway.html">the internet </a>to win.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XoOIJWLl-Mo" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-1376762961487432171?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-69527718325063043052011-02-22T11:57:00.004-05:002011-02-27T11:23:49.183-05:00"What (Good) Is the Internet, Anyway?"This is a story that could not be written, or understood, back in 1994, when hardly anyone, including the hosts of the Today show, knew what the internet was.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">(Watch Bryant and Katie try to figure out what email and the internet are)</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JUs7iG1mNjI?fs=1" width="480"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><a name='more'></a>In those days, for example, my department at work had one or two computers for a staff of 10 or 11, and they were not connected to anything but a printer. A dot-matrix printer. (Look it up, younger readers). We had one CRT terminal, connected to the Bank's mainframe. where we could look up rudimentary data on customers that was updated in batches each night. Obtaining a credit report on someone involved inputting a specific sequence of data (Last Name, First Name, Social Security Number) separated by various punctuation marks into a machine, then using the telephone line to dial into the credit bureau, and waiting for the machine to print out a complicated report that loan officers would have to decipher. We didn't know any better, we thought we were cooking with gas!<br /><br />Flash forward a decade and a half, and our technological life is on a completely different plane from 1994. My husband and I often remark, "The internet is amazing." Just think what we can do on the Internet now - check the local library's catalog to see if a certain book is on the shelf, <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-cake.html">locate a photo of Christmas cake</a>, look for a replacement part for the refrigerator, or figure out what the #1 hit song was in 1978 ("Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb).<br /><br />So, try to imagi<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--gE6LTJQvrE/TWPlGeR8uDI/AAAAAAAAAUI/qF2PSvbasLs/s1600/canada.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576552662985127986" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--gE6LTJQvrE/TWPlGeR8uDI/AAAAAAAAAUI/qF2PSvbasLs/s320/canada.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 98px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 148px;" /></a>ne this story taking place in 1994. In January, I was reviewing our credit card activity <span style="color: #993399;">online</span> before <span style="color: #993399;">downloading</span> it into our <span style="color: #993399;">personal finance software</span>. (See, right off the bat, that sentence is unintelligible to the 1994 reader). I noticed a small $5 charge to the Disney Movie Club of Canada on there, plus a foreign transaction fee. My husband was working on his computer upstairs, so I <span style="color: #993399;">Instant-Messaged</span> him and asked him about the charge, since our kids are past the Disney movie stage, and, more importantly, we have never lived in Canada. We've never even been to Canada. We don't even like hockey. (Although <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-for-road.html">we did come perilously close to visiting it last summer</a>, but for the fact that we lacked passports).<br /><br />He replied back that it wasn't his charge. A minute later, after searching his <span style="color: #993399;">hard drive</span>, he forwarded to me an <span style="color: #993399;">email</span> he found in his <span style="color: #993399;">Spam</span> folder, welcoming him to the Disney Movie Club of Canada. Huh? The email listed the account as being in his name, but at an address in Toronto, Canada! He <span style="color: #993399;">Googled</span> the Disney Movie Club to find its <span style="color: #993399;">website</span>, and from there was able to <span style="color: #993399;">Live Chat</span> a customer service rep, who, in the end could not give him any more information on the apparently fraudulent account.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7pMTbU3iHiU/TWPk6spWFUI/AAAAAAAAAUA/8mqf-CMDcyY/s1600/internet.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576552460682925378" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7pMTbU3iHiU/TWPk6spWFUI/AAAAAAAAAUA/8mqf-CMDcyY/s320/internet.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 156px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 195px;" /></a><br /><br />Meanwhile, I pulled up <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ct=reset" style="color: #993399;">Google Maps</a> and input the Toronto address. In a flash, I was able to see a map of the what I will refer to as The Perp's neighborhood. Cul-de-sacs and swimming pools were visible in the satellite photo. In the lefthand portion of the <span style="color: #993399;">Google map</span> page, a close-up photo of The Perp's house was conveniently displayed. I Instant-Messaged a copy of the photo upstairs to my husband.<br /><br />I could see a nicely kept single-family 2 car garage house in a residential neighborhood. By <span style="color: #993399;">scrolling with my mouse</span>, I could look up and down the street of tidy homes and late model cars and vans. "Thief!" I wanted to yell at the photo! Who commits fraud to buy movies for their kids? I would have had much more respect for him had he used his own cash to enroll in the Movie club and nicked our Visa for the Beer of the Month club.<br /><br />Upstairs my husband was calling our Visa card company to report this suspicious activity. They told him they had to immediately suspend our account, cancel our number and would overnight us 2 new Visa cards. Frustrated by the whole situation, my husband added a <span style="color: #993399;">Status Update</span> to his <span style="color: #993399;">Facebook</span> account, briefly mentioning that some guy in Toronto had gotten our Visa number and used it, and remarkably we had his address and list of movies. ("The Rescuers" in Wide-Screen? Really?)<br /><br />Within a few minutes, one of my husband's friends <span style="color: #993399;">posted a reply</span> saying that he had to go to Toronto on business that week and would be happy to pay a visit to The Perp. Not wanting this to escalate into Dirty Harry territory, we decided to leave justice to the fraud department at Visa.<br /><br />This entire exchange took place in less than 10 minutes. That quickly, I was able to see evidence of a crime, report it, and pull up photos of the criminal's home, in quite the "Big Brother" fashion. The final piece of the story that could not be understood in 1994? <span style="color: #993399;"> Posting the whole episode to a blog for the world to see</span>, of course.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Just for fun, I highlighted <span style="color: #993399;">in purple</span> those phrases that I thought would be unknown to a 1994 era reader. What do you think? Do you agree? Let me know in our Comments section~</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For another blog post that would be entirely incomprehensible to our 1994 follower, check out Carol-Ann's essay on </span><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/02/social-suicide.html" style="font-style: italic;">Social Suicide</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, posted here just about a year ago.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-6952771832506304305?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-1364325741307041702011-02-17T23:33:00.003-05:002011-02-22T12:47:24.023-05:00The Conservatory Garden in Winter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A7baO68hlv4/TVcLgt_xGPI/AAAAAAAAE5w/Ds5r3pa0hTQ/s1600/Flute+Winter+P1291283_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A7baO68hlv4/TVcLgt_xGPI/AAAAAAAAE5w/Ds5r3pa0hTQ/s320/Flute+Winter+P1291283_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The young boy played his flute, calling to birds; his companion lifted a snow-laden bowl where they might drink. While sparrows flitted near in search of seeds, not one came to visit this snowbound pair.<a name='more'></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SxOtftGCDUg/TVcIxuJJvzI/AAAAAAAAE5g/m83HtxSvI_4/s1600/Maidens+Winter+P1291209_edited-1+%25281106x1069%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SxOtftGCDUg/TVcIxuJJvzI/AAAAAAAAE5g/m83HtxSvI_4/s200/Maidens+Winter+P1291209_edited-1+%25281106x1069%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Three maidens danced in a frozen whirl. The fountain was missing its triumphant plume, and the pool below was filled with snow.<br /><br />While still a fine place for city walking, the <a href="http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-see/north-end/conservatory-garden.html">grand garden</a> seemed off-kilter. Color, dazzling in other seasons, was confined to muted tones of white, brown, and gray, leavened only with a bit of ivy or yew clinging to green. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GUnAfx5HjxM/TVcI9f99nQI/AAAAAAAAE5k/8Glms8tBPg0/s1600/Benches+Winter+P1291248_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GUnAfx5HjxM/TVcI9f99nQI/AAAAAAAAE5k/8Glms8tBPg0/s320/Benches+Winter+P1291248_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Shapes were muted, too: snow blunted carefully sculpted bushes, tree limbs carried snowy shrouds, and snow commandeered the benches where one might sit and admire the view.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LQ2xgpSpKGc/TVcJiWOYEkI/AAAAAAAAE5o/qW4ffslrsJs/s1600/Maidens+Fall+PA303266_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LQ2xgpSpKGc/TVcJiWOYEkI/AAAAAAAAE5o/qW4ffslrsJs/s200/Maidens+Fall+PA303266_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>We knew, when fall’s glorious colors came on, they wouldn’t last. We knew the profusion of mums would wither soon enough. The dancing maidens knew it, too, and picked up their step.<br /><br />But we also know that winter, as inevitably as it began, will end. The little piper and his companion will shake off their snow, the dancing maidens will revel in the coming warmth, and the garden will reawaken into spring.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YjBgM258iBw/TVbPyy2UQrI/AAAAAAAAE5Y/nhi55QcjTJg/s1600/Spring+5+P4233108_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YjBgM258iBw/TVbPyy2UQrI/AAAAAAAAE5Y/nhi55QcjTJg/s320/Spring+5+P4233108_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-136432574130704170?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-7888109761161325172011-02-11T10:16:00.014-05:002011-03-17T12:50:11.972-04:00Listening to Penelope<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_ZCJoJ_WI/AAAAAAAAE3M/b0EdjOsIlo0/s1600/odysseus_penelope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_ZCJoJ_WI/AAAAAAAAE3M/b0EdjOsIlo0/s320/odysseus_penelope.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Penelope "may be the best thing to happen to Homer since Joyce."<br />—George Wallace<br /><br />It moves like a live thing in his hands<br />The story, his story<br />Bloody and sacred, truth and lie<br />—Ellen McLaughlin</i></div><br />A few years ago, a series of little novels started to appear, preceded by a book of introduction called <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4992705"><i>A Short History of Myth</i></a>. The first novel in the series was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/books/review/11alexander.html"><i>The Penelopiad</i></a>, by Margaret Atwood. Atwood’s premise, “to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids,” was promising.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />In <a href="http://us.penguingroup.com/static/packages/us/fagles/poem.html">Homer’s version</a>, Odysseus, after dispatching the suitors who’d made themselves at home in his hall, commanded his son Telemachus:<br /><blockquote>And once you’ve put the entire house in order,<br />march the women out of the great hall—between <br />the roundhouse and the courtyard’s strong stockade—<br />and hack them with your swords, slash out all their lives—<br />blot out of their minds the joys of love they relished<br />under the suitors’ bodies, rutting on the sly!</blockquote>In an act of ostensible mercy not explained, the errant maids were merely hanged:<br /><blockquote>Then, as doves or thrushes beating their spread wings<br />against some snare rigged up in thickets—flying in<br />for a cozy nest but a grisly bed receives them—<br />so the women’s heads were trapped in a line,<br />nooses yanking their necks up, one by one<br />so all might die a pitiful, ghastly death . . .<br />they kicked up heels for a little—not for long.</blockquote>It’s too bad Atwood’s approach didn’t work. She did offer up some beautiful lines for the maids:<br /><blockquote>We were animal young, to be disposed of at <br /> will,<br />Sold, drowned in the well, traded, used,<br /> discarded when bloomless.<br />He was fathered; we simply appeared,<br />Like the crocus, the rose, the sparrows<br /> engendered in mud.</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_fqa6dMPI/AAAAAAAAE3o/QmHWOV9iGMY/s1600/the-penelopiad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_fqa6dMPI/AAAAAAAAE3o/QmHWOV9iGMY/s200/the-penelopiad.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>But Penelope’s tone at times seemed glib, as if lifted out of a book by <a href="http://www.salon.com/books/int/2010/11/07/nora_ephron_i_remember_nothing">Nora Ephron</a>. Consider this, in the chapter “Asphodel”:<br /><blockquote>There are of course the fields of asphodel. You can walk around in them if you want. It’s brighter there, and a certain amount of vapid dancing goes on, though the region sounds better than it is . . .</blockquote>The central problem with Atwood’s novel was a conflict in tone that didn’t cease to jar. Not that Atwood needed to choose between the maids’ and Penelope’s voices, but rather that the voices chosen didn’t work in the same version of the tale. <br /><br />Over the course of literature, many efforts have been made to tell a protagonist’s story from the distaff or an antagonist’s point of view. A tally of these attempts would likely yield more failures than successes, as it takes an exceptionally skilled and imaginative hand to honor and at the same time break free of the original work. <br /><br />In the category of successes, I think of Anne Carson’s magical <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2009/12/anne-carsons-red-monster.html"><i>Autobiography of Red</i></a>, but then, she’s certainly a special case. This past October, I had the chance not only to see Anne Carson, but to listen to her, live. Or rather, to listen to several people read a play about her reclusive Uncle Harry, who, <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,21159-1,00.html">she once described</a>, lived “in the woods in northern Ontario wearing the same underwear all winter.” (There was a reason: “It was too cold to take it off.”) <br /><br />The readers of Uncle Harry included a chorus of four <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/315">Gertrude Steins</a>. (Before the reading, the four Steins sat at the table to test the microphones. They recited lines of poetry, chanted nonsense syllables, or simply made random noise. I was sorry I hadn’t the presence of mind to record it: a marvelous web of sound floated out across the room, reminiscent of one of Derek Piotr's fascinating <a href="http://soundcloud.com/derek-piotr">sound compositions</a>.)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_ZTK57B8I/AAAAAAAAE3Q/BrsfPV-3CJU/s1600/Carson+Steins+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_ZTK57B8I/AAAAAAAAE3Q/BrsfPV-3CJU/s320/Carson+Steins+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Carson wasn’t the main reader, but one of the four Gertrude Steins. She wore a leather jacket, jeans, red cowboy boots, and a large red patterned tie. The performance also included two people standing in the background folding sheets.<br /><br />In lesser hands this might have come off as mannered, downright peculiar, or both. In Carson’s hands, though, we were transported to the land of Uncle Harry:<br /><blockquote>Up at his end of the table, Harry sat peacefully lining up peas on his knife. He filled the length of the blade with single file peas and raised it to his open mouth and shot it with a motion like a sword swallower. Never a pea was spilled.</blockquote>Though Carson would be uniquely suited to do so, she hasn’t yet given us a Penelope. Perhaps one day she might. <br /><br />Happily, we need not wait for Carson’s rendering, for there is another, and, unlike Atwood’s, this one works. While Ellen McLaughlin’s text for her <i>Penelope</i> has its roots in <i>The Odyssey</i>, she takes us somewhere wholly new.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_adNE9-4I/AAAAAAAAE3Y/clLgB2h2C6Y/s1600/Ellen2+%2528340x500%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_adNE9-4I/AAAAAAAAE3Y/clLgB2h2C6Y/s200/Ellen2+%2528340x500%2529.jpg" width="136" /></a></div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_McLaughlin">McLaughlin</a> is both a playwright and an actress, best known for originating the role of the Angel in Tony Kushner’s <a href="http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9f0ce2dc1431f936a35756c0a965958260%20"><i>Angels in America</i></a>. In his foreword to McLaughlin’s book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Plays-Ellen-McLaughlin/dp/1559362405"><i>The Greek Plays</i></a>, Kushner reveals that McLaughlin’s “completely original works” have “had a tough time on contemporary American stages.”<br /><blockquote>It’s difficult for a playwright to keep writing without a welcome. Finding a less-than-warm welcome for her writer’s voice, Ellen has flirted with silence, with leaving the stage as a writer . . . . Fortunately, for nearly a decade now, the playwright has resisted the temptation to fall silent; instead, she has enlarged and refreshed her writer’s voice by turning to the Greeks.</blockquote>McLaughlin is sometimes seen to let her ideology overtake her prose, so that the result is didactic, rather than resonant. I expected, therefore, that <a href="http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?html_title=&tols_title=PERSIANS,%20THE%20%28PLAY%29&pdate=20030611&byline=By%20MARGO%20JEFFERSON&id=1077011432708"><i>The Persians</i></a>, which she wrote in “direct response to the American invasion of Iraq in March 2003,” would fall prey to that, but it did not.<br /><br />It’s essential, in good writing, for the power to come from the prose, not the point of view. This McLaughlin achieves again and again, most particularly when she writes of the pain of those left behind.<br /><blockquote>Here a curtain is pulled back<br />And a pale face appears at a window.<br />Wife or mother<br />She looks once again, she can’t help it,<br />At the bend in the road where she last lost sight of him.<br />She knows she won’t see him there, rounding that curve,<br />His shoulders tilted at that familiar angle, <br />His gait unique, his alone.<br />Once again, he is not there.</blockquote>These words are McLaughlin’s rendering of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylus">Aeschylus</a>’s text, but in the song-cycle <i>Penelope</i>, McLaughlin achieves power in words that are hers alone. <br /><br />The <a href="http://penelope-music.com/#/about">story told</a> in McLaughlin’s <i>Penelope</i> is this:<br /><blockquote>a woman’s husband appears at her door after an absence of twenty years, suffering from brain damage. A veteran of an unnamed war, he doesn’t know who he is and she doesn’t know who he’s become. While they wait together for his return to himself, she reads him <i>the Odyssey</i>, and in the journey of that book, she finds a way into her former husband’s memory and the terror and trauma of war.</blockquote>The plain-spoken lyricism of McLaughlin’s <a href="http://penelope-music.com/#/lyrics">text</a>, its cadences and repetitions, demand to be sung, as in these lines from “Home”:<br /><blockquote>Home is where I’m going, but never coming.<br />Home is someplace I can’t recall,<br />but head for still.<br />Across the waste of water I search for her:<br />Dear blue land,<br />show your blessed curve,<br />so tiny and only mine.<br /><br />No, no you can’t go home, she says, the world,<br />where do you think you’re going?<br />We’re not done with you.<br />No, no, you can’t go home, she says, the world,<br />where do you think you’re going?<br />We’re not done with you.<br />The world is never done with you. </blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUSh-XQ1y4I/AAAAAAAAE4Y/upwzSktWq4I/s1600/Sarah_Shara_300X300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUSh-XQ1y4I/AAAAAAAAE4Y/upwzSktWq4I/s200/Sarah_Shara_300X300.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The composer, <a href="http://sarahkirklandsnider.com/biography/">Sarah Kirkland Snider</a>, invests the lyrics with a waterborne motion, hypnotic in its effect. With her lovely, dusky alto, <a href="http://www.mybrightestdiamond.com/biographical-information/">Shara Worden</a>, accompanied with graceful precision by the ensemble <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/arts/music/19glas.html">Signal</a>, transports McLaughlin’s words into another realm: they sink, waver, shudder, or soar, as their meaning requires. <br /><br />Many before me have spoken with eloquence about this spell-binding work. I commend to you particularly <a href="http://www.afoolintheforest.com/2010/11/-the-pages-turn-and-tell-themselves-.html">George Wallace at <i>a fool in the forest</i></a> and Jennifer Hambrick at <a href="http://www.wosu.org/blogs/classical/songs-sung-and-unsung-sarah-kirkland-sniders-penelope/"><i>Classical 101 FM</i></a>. I can only add my voice to theirs in encouraging you to listen, just listen, to <i>Penelope</i>. <br /><span id="goog_496815564"></span><span id="goog_496815565"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_cfnd5e1I/AAAAAAAAE3k/DWxFETWY3L8/s1600/P-Cover-1400x1400-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TS_cfnd5e1I/AAAAAAAAE3k/DWxFETWY3L8/s1600/P-Cover-1400x1400-300x300.jpg" /></a></div><br />See a trailer for <i>Penelope</i>, and hear from McLaughlin, Worden, and Snider here: <br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18035949" width="400"></iframe><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/18035949">Penelope, trailer</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3528276">New Amsterdam Records</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />Listen to “The Lotus-Eaters” here: <br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16319487" width="400"></iframe><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/16319487">Penelope - The Lotus Eaters</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3528276">New Amsterdam Records</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br /><i>Penelope</i> can be found at the redoubtable <a href="https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/#Album/Penelope">New Amsterdam records</a>, and I'll take this as an opportunity to extend applause to <a href="http://lawsonwhiteproductions.com/projects/181">Lawson White</a>, who had so much to do with the sound of this and other New Amsterdam recordings.<br /><br />If you’re in New York City this spring, there will be opportunities to hear excerpts from <i>Penelope</i> live:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kaufman-center.org/merkin-concert-hall/event/ecstatic-music-festival-sarah-kirkland-snider-ymusic">Ecstatic Music Festival, March 16, 2011, Merkin Concert Hall</a><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_496815683"> </a><br /><a href="https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/#Event/PENELOPE_Excerpts_at_21c_Liederabend_at_The_Kitchen_2">21c Liederabend Festival, April 9, 2011, The Kitchen</a><br /><br />For those of you who could not get to the Ecstatic Music Festival concert (or even if you made it there, as once is not enough!), here is the audio, courtesy of WQXR's wonderful <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/q2-live-concerts/2011/mar/14/live-web-cast-shara-worden-sarah-kirkland-snider-and-ymusic/">Q2 internet radio</a>:<br /><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/115720/&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/115720/" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="515" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br /><i>The quotations are from the works linked in the post. <br /><br />Photos: <a href="http://www.vroma.org/images/raia_images/index5.html">Terracotta plaque</a> (Odysseus taking hold of the wrist of dejected Penelope upon his return, Greek Melian, 450 BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art) by Ann Raia, 2006, courtesy of <a href="http://www.vroma.org/images/">VRoma</a>. Anne Carson still from a video of excerpts of the <a href="http://poetryproject.org/multimedia/video-multimedia/david-shapiro-anne-carson-excerpts-10610.html">October 6, 2010, reading at The Poetry Project</a>. No credit could be found for the photograph of Ellen McLaughlin as the <a href="http://iambicadmonit.blogspot.com/2010/10/interview-with-ellen-mclaughlin.html">Angel</a>. Sarah Kirkland Snider and Shara Worden by <a href="http://www.muratphoto.com/home.html">Murat Eyuboglu</a>, who also created The Lotus Eaters video. Penelope cover design by <a href="http://dmstith.com/">DM Stith</a>.</i></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-788810976116132517?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-84258301621173559612011-02-06T11:29:00.009-05:002011-04-14T22:04:54.771-04:00Bowled Over<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TU7PS6ByqVI/AAAAAAAAAT0/0F_q1qbW29s/s1600/cowboy%2Bstadium.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570617712825248082" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TU7PS6ByqVI/AAAAAAAAAT0/0F_q1qbW29s/s320/cowboy%2Bstadium.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 202px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 249px;" /></a><br />Today is that most American of holidays. No, not Independence Day, or Thanksgiving, or even Labor Day. Today is Superbowl Sunday, the most-watched television event in the USA, and one of the most-watched programs in the entire world. Sports fans, spouses and partners of sports fans, and even non-fans will gather to watch the American football championship game.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />Watching the game usually involves copious amounts of food and drink, lots of discussion of the commercials shown on TV, and plenty of scrutiny and opinions regarding the choice of pregame and halftime entertainment. There will be some attention paid to the the football game on the field; that is, if it ends up being interesting and not a one-sided blowout,<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TU7ORTURC-I/AAAAAAAAATc/Qd0aOUw8_-Q/s1600/super%2Bfood.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570616585742257122" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TU7ORTURC-I/AAAAAAAAATc/Qd0aOUw8_-Q/s320/super%2Bfood.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 194px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 259px;" /></a> which is a frequent occurrence.<br /><br />Every year I marvel at the size and spectacle this event has become. Weeks before the game, retailers advertise big screen TVs, "for the big game," they cryptically note, since use of the term "Superbowl" is strictly licensed by the National Football League. Supermarkets pass out recipes for Game Day snacks and treats. Newspapers cover all aspects of the event regardless of whether their local team is in the game or not.<br /><br />Just how bloated has the Superbowl and its attendant activities become? Let's break it down by the numbers:<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TU7OaAqF4oI/AAAAAAAAATk/wk6_vLjQjZQ/s1600/chicken-fingers.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570616735352349314" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TU7OaAqF4oI/AAAAAAAAATk/wk6_vLjQjZQ/s320/chicken-fingers.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 167px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 167px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">825</span> - Number of calories in a Superbowl party menu, per person, of: 1 beer, 3 chicken wings, chips and cheese salsa, 1 slice pepperoni pizza</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">185</span> - Number of calories in Cooking Light's "<a href="http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000479069">Oven 'Fried' Chicken Fingers with Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce</a>"</li></ul><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">2nd</span> - Rank in calories consumed in one day by Americans (Thanksgiving is first)</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">17 million</span> - <a href="http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/us_hunger_facts.htm">Number of US households</a> with "food insecurity," a measure of hunger in the nation</li></ul><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">100,000+</span> - Number of fans who can fit in Cowboys Stadium, site of Superbowl XLV</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">1600</span> - Number of high school students registered at the <a href="http://www.societyforscience.org/intelisef2011">Intel Engineering and Science Fair</a>, the world's largest pre-college science fair</li></ul><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">$1,970,982</span> - Average <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0807/nfl.average.salaries.by.position/content.1.html">NFL quarterback</a> salary</li></ul><ul><li> <span style="font-weight: bold;">$43,365</span> - Median <a href="http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary">high school teacher</a>'s salary</li></ul><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">$3596 </span>- Average StubHub price of a Superbowl ticket</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">$10</span> - Average price to a screening of "<a href="http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/trailer">Waiting for Superman</a>," the documentary about the state of education in America<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TU7OolNxVwI/AAAAAAAAATs/Cuv7p43y7Qk/s1600/superman.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570616985683842818" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TU7OolNxVwI/AAAAAAAAATs/Cuv7p43y7Qk/s320/superman.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 273px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 184px;" /></a></li></ul><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">$3 million</span> - Cost of a 30 second ad during the Superbowl</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">69.1</span> - Number of high school teachers whose annual salaries could be paid for with the cost of 1 Superbowl ad</li></ul><br /><br />Full disclosure - I watch the game every year with my family and a college friend and it's always a great diversion in the middle of winter. I don't mean to take the fun out of one day spent watching sports and socializing. That's quite okay in my opinion. I just wish there were opportunities to celebrate other, more lasting achievements in our society, on a similar scale.<br /><br />Maybe someday a small fraction of Superbowl viewers will have the opportunity to watch a different type of TV special. One on kids who are developing cancer treatments for science fair projects, or kids who succeed in inner-city schools despite overwhelming odds, odds that are much more serious than the ones Vegas presents on today's Steelers-Packers match up.<br /><br />I take heart in observing that last year's ESPN broadcast of the <a href="http://www.spellingbee.com/">Scripps National Spelling Bee </a>drew 4 millions viewers, compared to Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup finals, which only pulled in 3.1 million. That's a step in the right direction.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-8425830162117355961?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-31452961181858332672011-02-01T09:57:00.009-05:002011-03-29T00:21:03.244-04:00Slouching Toward Lachenmann: Who Cares If I Listen?<div style="text-align: right;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUQ0skNOk6I/AAAAAAAAE4I/vYBeA06ZDBM/s1600/Who+Cares+5+P1211012_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUQ0skNOk6I/AAAAAAAAE4I/vYBeA06ZDBM/s320/Who+Cares+5+P1211012_edited-1+%25281280x960%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><i> Schoenberg is dead.<br />-Pierre Boulez<br /><br />Boulez is alive.<br />-Judd Greenstein</i><br /><br /><i>Milton Babbitt, 1916-2011. In Memoriam. </i></div><br />I’ve been affected, in writing this post, by the <a href="http://kaufman-center.org/merkin-concert-hall/ecstatic"><i>Ecstatic Music Festival</i></a> going on in New York City (through March 28, 2011). I was able to attend only a small part of the opening day’s <i><a href="http://kaufman-center.org/merkin-concert-hall/event/ecstatic-music-festival-marathon/">Marathon</a></i>, but the part I attended was sublime. The <i><a href="http://www.chiaraquartet.net/">Chiara String Quartet</a></i> played <a href="http://www.jeffersonfriedman.com/">Jefferson Friedman</a>’s <i>String Quartet No. 3</i>, and the <i><a href="http://www.nowensemble.org/">NOW Ensemble</a></i> played <a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/">Judd Greenstein</a>’s <i><a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/cityboy.html">City Boy</a></i>. Both pieces were superb, the musicians excellent, and the composers were in attendance. I was, yes, ecstatic, to be able to attend two more concerts that week.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/11/only-connect.html">As I’ve written before</a>, there’s something exhilarating about attending a concert where the composer is present (and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/arts/music/21chiara.html">sometimes performing, too</a>). I love so much of the music by these young composers, and it’s exciting to hear from them directly and offer my applause.<br /><br />I’ll always remember attending a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/21/arts/music/21nyph.html">concert</a> of Shostakovich’s <i>Tenth Symphony</i> and <i>A Minor Violin Concerto</i>, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich. At the end of the concert, Rostropovich held up a score and pressed it against his chest, in loving remembrance of his former teacher and friend. Now, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/28/arts/28rostropovich.html">Rostropovich, too, is gone</a>. <br /><br />I took away from that what a precious opportunity we're given to see and hear from composers while they’re here. With some trepidation, I realized that, to be true to my view, I couldn’t simply slide past <a href="http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=236">Elliott Carter</a> or <a href="http://www.musicacademyonline.com/composer/biographies.php?bid=96">Pierre Boulez</a>.<br /><br />I set about my duty without much hope of finding anything to like. There was, though, one glimmer of light: Olivier Messiaen. Though Messiaen is no longer with us, <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/alex-ross.html">Alex Ross</a> wrote that “the avant-garde era may be said to have begun” with his <i>Quartet for the End of Time</i>. <br /><br />While, <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-defense-of-difficulty-music-edition.html">when I first listened to the <i>Quartet for the End of Time</i></a>, I found it hard to grasp, I quickly warmed to the two gorgeous <i>Louanges</i>. That encouraged me to listen, again and again. As my ears became accustomed, I grew to appreciate, then to enjoy, the strangely beautiful solo clarinet in <i>Abîme des oiseaux</i>. Perhaps the same could happen for me with the music of these two men.<br /><br /><i>Elliott Carter</i> <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUQ7QJjT4FI/AAAAAAAAE4M/RfXQxzr8zm8/s1600/big-carter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUQ7QJjT4FI/AAAAAAAAE4M/RfXQxzr8zm8/s200/big-carter.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>As I’d heard <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/arts/music/07aima.html">Pierre-Laurent Aimard play Elliott Carter</a>, I thought I’d try Carter first. (He’s the elder statesman of the two, <a href="http://www.sequenza21.com/2010/12/happy-102nd-birthday-elliott-carter/">at 102</a>.)<br /><br />Of Carter, Ross wrote:<br /><blockquote>At around the same time that Babbitt was theorizing his version of total serialism, Carter renounced Copland-style populism and embraced the aesthetic of density and difficulty. . . . “I decided for once to write a work very interesting to myself . . . and so say to hell with the public and with the performers too.”</blockquote>I’ll have to say, this put me off a bit. What the devil is wrong, after all, with <a href="http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/appalachian.html"><i>Appalachian Spring</i></a>? And why should I try listen to Carter, if he doesn’t care a whit whether I do? <br /><br />Still, I soldiered on, turning to a book I’d found by musicologist, music historian, and critic <a href="http://music.berkeley.edu/people/profile.php?person=15">Richard Taruskin</a>, for further insight and advice. Well. Taruskin, I discovered, sputters repeatedly, albeit eloquently, about this music, even referring, at one point, to work by Carter (and Babbitt) as “absurdly overcomposed monstrosities.”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.earbox.com/posts/73">The debate goes on</a>, but for most of us as listeners, it’s probably beside the point. The question for me is, simply, can my ears find a way in? <br /><br />Thinking back on how exciting it was to see Aimard play Carter, I decided it might help not just to listen, but to watch. This isn’t Aimard playing Carter's <i>Caténaires</i>, but it’s pretty darn good:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="308" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GdPW8oMwjoY" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="384"></iframe><br />This gave me heart, and I headed on to listen to Boulez.<br /><br /><i>Pierre Boulez</i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUQ7svg5rUI/AAAAAAAAE4U/qScqUrjfahY/s1600/Jorge+Franganillo+Boulez25oct2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUQ7svg5rUI/AAAAAAAAE4U/qScqUrjfahY/s200/Jorge+Franganillo+Boulez25oct2004.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>As a younger man, Boulez was the <i>enfant terrible</i> of avant-garde music, most infamously upon the death of Schoenberg, about which he seemed almost to gloat:<br /><blockquote>. . . I do not hesitate to write, not out of any desire to provoke a stupid scandal, but equally without bashful hypocrisy and pointless melancholy: SCHOENBERG IS DEAD.</blockquote>Boulez was also, for a time, a practitioner of and advocate for total serialism. In my own shorthand, total serialism is a sort of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-tone_technique">twelve-tone music</a> cubed, but here’s a fuller definition:<br /><blockquote>serialism is a set of methods for composing and analyzing works of music based on structuring those works around the parameterization of parts of music: that is, ordering pitch, dynamics, instrumentation, rhythm, and on occasion other elements into a row or series in which each gradation is assigned a numerical value within that series. In its strict definition each pitch, dynamic, colour or rhythmic element should only be used in its order in the series and used only once until the series repeats. The terms total serialism, integral serialism, and multiple serialism describe music which is serial in several parameters. </blockquote>I found this definition on a <a href="http://www.exampleproblems.com/wiki/index.php/Serialism">mathematics site</a>, which is emblematic of the problem I faced. Yet, while Boulez’s music was difficult for me to understand, I noticed that, as the result of dogged listening, my ear was becoming a little more attuned. And, too, Boulez’s compositional style changed over time. Ross wrote:<br /><blockquote>Years later, in conversation with Joan Peyser, he casually dismissed his early ventures in total serialism, saying that <i>Structures 1a</i> had been not “Total but Totalitarian.” He also brushed away the formerly dire necessity of the twelve-note composition. “I’ve often found the obligation to use all twelve tones to be unbearable,” he said in 1999.</blockquote>Boulez is a towering presence, both as composer and conductor, whom even younger composers don’t feel they can ignore. Judd Greenstein described his own struggle with Boulez's total serialist music, "that is mostly, to my early-21st century ears, pretty terrible." He found something to like in "the texture of the music," though, and decided "to explore the textures on my own, to see what I could take for myself from this music that has kept me at a distance."<br /><br />The result of Greenstein’s exploration (though taking as his inspiration Boulez's first two <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_sonatas_%28Boulez%29"><i>Piano Sonatas</i></a>, which are not total serialist works, and which, as Greenstein notes in his comment to this post, he finds compelling), is the composition <a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/boulezisalive.html"><i>Boulez Is Alive</i></a>, about which he wrote:<br /><blockquote> . . . I know that there's still a residue of my time spent with that music. I wouldn't be so hostile to it if it didn't still have some hold on me. And so, in addition to the other readings that one might make of it, the title is also an admission of this music, dead as I may perceive it to be, being alive in me and in my own composition.</blockquote>I’d thought that, once I completed my tour of duty amongst these avant-garde composers, I'd be able to put them on a shelf next to my unread copy of <i>Finnegan’s Wake. </i>What Greenstein wrote resonates just a little more than will allow for that.<br /><br />Classical music very nearly lost its audience, many felt for good, during the reign of this particular segment of the avant-garde. And composers may have been the ones who suffered most if they hazarded not to fit. Had it not been for the courage of some, among whom I count <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/09/conversation-with-composer-john-metcalf.html">John Metcalf</a> and <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2011/01/slouching-toward-lachenmann-bjorks.html">Steve Reich</a>, to follow their own muse, I shudder to think where we’d be now. I’m stunned to realize that even someone of Greenstein’s generation didn't evade the avant-garde's grip.<br /><br />If, in the face of that, Greenstein can be so gracious, who am I not to follow suit? Carter and Boulez, though thorny and far beyond my ken in their music and their thought, are part of the century in which I was born and have spent more than fifty years of my life. Whether I stand with or against them, they’re part of me. <br /><br />So, who cares if I listen? The answer is, I do. The composers participating in the <i>Ecstatic Music Festival</i> nourish me more than these avant-garde composers will likely ever do. Even so, I’ll count myself lucky should I ever get the chance to hear Boulez’s work in a concert he conducts.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="290" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0tQe59D5Pzs" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="440"></iframe><br /><br /><i>Postscript: Milton Babbitt </i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUQ7goBXqJI/AAAAAAAAE4Q/vkN9pWb7PUs/s1600/clestur+1999_babbitt.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TUQ7goBXqJI/AAAAAAAAE4Q/vkN9pWb7PUs/s200/clestur+1999_babbitt.JPG" width="146" /></a></div><a href="http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=52">Milton Babbitt</a>, in some ways the most formidable member of the serialist wing of the avant-garde, died on January 29, 2011. He was 94. The title of this post is taken from his essay, “Who Cares If You Listen?” (not Babbitt, but <i>High Fidelity</i>, the magazine in which it appeared, chose the title).<br /><br />As described in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/arts/music/30babbitt.html"><i>New York Times obituary</i></a>, Babbitt was the first to use total serialism in his compositions “and adhered to it through his entire career.” Ross wrote that Babbitt, “the emblematic Cold War composer, produced music so byzantine in construction that one practically needed a security clearance to understand it.”<br /><br />In his <i>High Fidelity</i> essay, Babbitt analogized a “lay listener's” experience of this music to that of a layperson attending a mathematics lecture:<br /><blockquote>Imagine, if you can, a layman chancing upon a lecture on "Pointwise Periodic Homeomorphisms." At the conclusion, he announces: "I didn't like it.” Social conventions being what they are in such circles, someone might dare inquire: "Why not?" Under duress, our layman discloses precise reasons for his failure to enjoy himself; he found the hall chilly, the lecturer's voice unpleasant, and he was suffering the digestive aftermath of a poor dinner. His interlocutor understandably disqualifies these reasons as irrelevant to the content and value of the lecture, and the development of mathematics is left undisturbed.</blockquote>Yet Babbitt also had an early, and lifelong, affinity for theater music and jazz. Ross wrote that Babbitt’s own “rigorously organized music ends up feeling mysteriously prankish, antic, loosey-goosey; it shuffles and shimmies like jazz from another planet.” <br /><br />I had trouble locating this in Babbitt’s work until I found a rendition of <i>Semi-Simple Variations</i> by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/07/bad-plus-all-care-review"><i>The Bad Plus</i></a>, accompanied by members of the <a href="http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/"><i>Mark Morris Dance Group</i></a>:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="308" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p-PJw2lqW7c" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="384"></iframe><br /><br />Babbitt, by all lights, had a wonderful sense of humor. I like to think of him, somewhere out there, watching and listening to this.<i> </i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">*** </div>Boulez invokes the <i>Finnegan's Wake</i> analogy:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="290" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R6hYMN0EoRE" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="440"></iframe><br /><br /><b>Listening List</b><i> </i><br /><br />For an invaluable introduction to avant-garde music of the '50s, including audio excerpts, click <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2007/01/chapter-11-brav.html">here</a> for the Audio Guide to Chapter 11 of Alex Ross’s <i>The Rest is Noise</i>.<br /><br /><u>Judd Greenstein</u> <br /><br />To hear <i>Boulez is Alive</i>, click <a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/boulezisalive.html">here</a>. To hear the effervescent <i>City Boy</i>, click <a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/cityboy.html">here</a>. To hear two other exquisite Greenstein works, <i>The Night Gatherers</i> and <i>Le Tombeau de Ravel</i>, click <a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/thenightgatherers.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/tombeau.html">here</a>. (<i>The Night Gatherers</i>, performed by the <i>Chiara String Quartet</i>, can also be found on violist <a href="http://www.nadiasirota.com/wp/">Nadia Sirota</a>’s excellent CD <i><a href="https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/#album/first_things_first">first things first</a></i>.)<br /><br /><u>Milton Babbitt</u><i> </i><br /><br /><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7FVSvzthZQ">Three Compositions for Piano</a> </i>(1947)<i></i><i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_ErRFJRL7g"><i>Composition for Twelve Instruments</i></a> (1948)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngw1AzxGF0Y"><i>Philomel</i></a> (excerpt) (1964)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkB_qJW0JR8"><i>String Quartet No. 4</i></a> (excerpt) (1970)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gpKea02bjA"><i>A Solo Requiem</i></a> (excerpt) (1977)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukbyFV6stRk"><i>Clarinet Quintet</i></a> (Section III) (1996)<br /><br />For an utterly appealing documentary about Milton Babbitt, <i>Portrait of a Serial Composer</i>, just out now, click <a href="http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2011/01/31/portrait-of-a-serial-composer-the-milton-babbitt-documentary/">here</a>. <br /><br /><u>Pierre Boulez</u><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyXGfztLEMA"><i>Notation VII</i></a> (excerpt) (1945/1997)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsfcURY5Zuc"><i>Le marteau sans maître (Ninth Movement)</i></a> (1953-55)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chJJHbkDR9I"><i>Structures II</i></a> (1961)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhcZM7cFy_c"><i>Le soleil des eaux</i></a> (1948-65)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxYCLbbW12c"><i>Dérive 1</i></a> (1984)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tQe59D5Pzs"><i>Sur Incises</i></a> (excerpt) (1996-1998)<br /><br /><u>Elliott Carter</u><i> </i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lbivEE8kPU"><i>Sonata for Piano and Cello (Allegro)</i></a> (1948)<i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC6qTmsAnQI"><i>String Quartet No. 2</i></a> (excerpt) (1959)<i> </i><i> </i><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Double-Concerto-Harpsichord-Chamber-Orchestras/dp/B00122FJEM"><i>Double Concerto for Piano, Harpsichord, and Two Chamber Orchestras</i></a> (excerpt) (1959-1961)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m-cqwNnEII"><i>Caténaires</i></a>, played here by Aimard, for whom it was written (2006) <br /><a href="http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2008/12/carter.htm">Several compositions for piano</a> (excerpts)<i> </i><br /><br /><i>Photo credits: detail from "White Light," by Jackson Pollock (1954), Susan Scheid; Elliott Carter, unknown; Pierre Boulez, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boulez25oct2004.jpg">Jorge Franganillo</a>; Milton Babbitt, <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1999_babbitt.JPG">Clestur</a>.</i><br /><br /><i>The Boulez quotation at the head of the post can be found in several sources, one of which is Alex Ross, <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/noise/">The Rest is Noise</a>, p. 274. The Greenstein quotation at the head of the post is the title of the Greenstein composition mentioned in the post. <br /><br />The Ross quotations in the text are from <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/noise/">The Rest is Noise</a>, pp. 271 (Messiaen), 305 (Carter), 274 (Schoenberg is dead), 301 (Boulez), and 303 (Babbitt). The Taruskin quotation is from his essay “The Poietic Fallacy" in <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520268050">The Danger of Music and Other Anti-Utopian Essays (2010)</a>, p. 311. The Greenstein quotations can be found on his website at <a href="http://www.juddgreenstein.com/works/boulezisalive.html">Boulez is Alive</a>. </i><i>The Babbitt quotation is from his essay, “<a href="http://courses.unt.edu/jklein/files/babbitt.pdf">Who Cares If You Listen?</a>” High Fidelity, v. 8, no. 2 (February, 1958, pp. 38-40). </i><i>All other quotations can be found at the links provided in the post. </i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-3145296118185833267?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-31582101252419265292011-01-27T10:45:00.004-05:002011-02-01T09:59:56.061-05:00Coffee and Courtesy<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TUDaANdMeXI/AAAAAAAAATE/M4loT01sfYM/s1600/wawa.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566688836576901490" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TUDaANdMeXI/AAAAAAAAATE/M4loT01sfYM/s320/wawa.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 214px;" /></a><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Life is not so short but that there is always time for courtesy</span>.<br /><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-Ralph Waldo Emerson</span><br /></span></div><br />For years we have been hearing about the decline of civility - in schools, offices, even our government. That good manners are vanishing due to (take your pick) increased reliance on technology, poor parenting, cable TV, or Facebook. And I must admit that I do see evidence of this everywhere, much to my dismay.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />I do, however, have one little oasis of courtesy in my neck of the woods. It's not a fancy hotel, or upscale spa, other genteel establishment. It's a chain of. . .wait for it. . . convenience stores called <a href="http://www.wawa.com/WawaWeb/">Wawa</a>.** First the reader must be acquainted with what Wawa is and is not. It is NOT like the average 7-11 or Circle K mini-mart, selling mostly junk food, cigarettes, and hot dogs under a heat lamp. Wawa stores are clean, brightly lit, and offer hand made sandwiches, soup, and salads. They also have fresh fruit, vegetables, and hummus, all packaged to go. And the most attractive thing about Wawa is its wonderful, freshly brewed coffee station. Coffee is available in several flavors, with a variety of sugar and cream to enhance it. One of the store's slogans is <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TUDZmutPchI/AAAAAAAAAS0/vBffJTbySRA/s1600/wawacoffee.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566688398825976338" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TUDZmutPchI/AAAAAAAAAS0/vBffJTbySRA/s320/wawacoffee.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 128px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 248px;" /></a>"Wawa - <a href="http://www.wawacoffeetopia.com/">Coffeetopia</a>!"<br /><br />Pardon me, my love for Wawa has caused me to digress.<br /><br />Everyone stops at Wawa - business types picking up coffee and a paper, kids getting snacks after school, workers on the road stopping for lunch, and parents running in to grab a container of milk. Almost everyone is in a hurry and almost everyone is carrying something out of the store. Here is where the civility comes in. Almost everyone holds the door for each other at Wawa. Everyone! I have made it my own little game, to see how far from the door I can be and still have someone wait for me. Landscapers, bus drivers, businesspeople, teenagers, they all have held the door for me time and time again, and vice versa.<br /><br />It puts a smile on my face to see people from all walks of life making small talk at the coffee urns, or nodding politely while waiting for their sandwich orders. A few years back, the New York Times did a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/magazine/30wwln_consumed.html?_r=1">small piece</a> on the company and its friendly corporate culture, which I believe then extends to its customers. People seem to enjoy being there, and that is all they need to offer a smile to fellow customers.<br /><br />Examples abound of the Wawa effect. One summer, after a tremendous thunderstorm, most of my town was without power. It seemed like we all ended up at Wawa to get our morning coffee fix and pick up some fresh food to eat later - the convenience store had turned into a de facto town square. Neighbors caught up on damages to trees, what stores were open, and what roads were still closed.<br /><br />More recently I sat in my car enjoying my Coffeetopia and noticed a Marine in full dress uniform getting out of his vehicle to go in Wawa. He got stopped a few feet from his car by another customer who came over to talk and then shake his hand. I watched as another customer reversed her direction and also stopped the Marine. On his way out, the same thing happened, several people coming over to him to undoubtedly thank him for his service and shake his hand. If only all our random encounters with strangers could be this respectful.<br /><br />One cold winter Saturday morning, I ventured in to the store at 6 am to get a large coffee and a bagel, after dropping my son off at an early morning practice. The place was empty except for a couple of workers and two men who looked like they were loading up for a day of hard labor, dressed in work boots and coveralls. Half-asleep, I managed to smile at everyone but I just wanted to get back in my car and enjoy my coffee. When I made my way to the register, the clerk surprised me by saying, "No charge - your order was paid for by those two guys who just left here. Have a nice morning!" I was speechless.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Coffee and good karma. You can't beat that combination.</div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TUDZx1aIy3I/AAAAAAAAAS8/wyDnMVTpi4I/s1600/gottawawa.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566688589603457906" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TUDZx1aIy3I/AAAAAAAAAS8/wyDnMVTpi4I/s320/gottawawa.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 155px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 258px;" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">**No doubt many readers are curious about the name Wawa. According to the company, Wawa is the Lenni-Lanape word for Canada goose. It also the name of a small rural town in Pennsylvania where the company was founded. </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-3158210125241926529?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-77086898256713351142011-01-22T17:16:00.016-05:002011-01-27T20:53:42.684-05:00Winter à la Sarasota<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTtapO2DxcI/AAAAAAAAAU0/xmgiQPjStlA/s1600/02%2B2010%2B106.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565141428952352194" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTtapO2DxcI/AAAAAAAAAU0/xmgiQPjStlA/s400/02%2B2010%2B106.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />I have written before about our looong Floridian summers. About how we try so hard to live the outdoor life, faced with a seemingly endless parade of photo-opportunity days that give the lie to what is really a swamp-like climate. But the truth is that we spend all summer hiding out indoors in a sort of hibernating state. We go about our daily lives, moving sluggishly from air-conditioned homes to cars with matching temperatures and tinted windows - into shops, offices, malls and all manner of buildings with piped-in icy air where we take shelter from the invisible onslaught. Even then, the heat and humidity leave us damp before we can get from car to building. The only difference between night and day here is that the sun disappears. The temperature and humidity levels hardly change - it’s impossible to sleep without the air turned really low. Forget about cracking a window.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />But now it’s winter – that most blessed time of year. This is our awakening, our spring, when we emerge from shelter and look around in wonder. In this upside-down world, winter is when we do our spring cleaning, when we fling open our windows and shake out the cobwebs – literally and figuratively.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTtbs7ZOiAI/AAAAAAAAAU8/avXG-yfzP4k/s1600/02%2B2010%2B092.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565142591962253314" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTtbs7ZOiAI/AAAAAAAAAU8/avXG-yfzP4k/s400/02%2B2010%2B092.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br /><br />We smile more broadly, breathe more deeply. We’re out and about in the sunshine. Look closely, you can see the tell-tale spring in our step.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTteIG6YCEI/AAAAAAAAAVc/6yfc3atOvdU/s1600/02%2B2010%2B065.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565145257933801538" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTteIG6YCEI/AAAAAAAAAVc/6yfc3atOvdU/s400/02%2B2010%2B065.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 263px;" /></a><br /><br />Today the sun is shining, the sky is clear and the air is a fresh, crisp 68 °F. At last, a day at the beach is an exciting prospect. We can bask in the sun for hours (even though we shouldn’t ) without roasting and stewing in our own juices, while the brave among us can actually feel refreshed after a plunge in the Gulf of Mexico, at 61 °F. Even our friends the dolphins prefer Winter in these parts. Wherever you go you’ll hear locals agreeing with each other – isn’t this a gorgeous day? There’s a buzz in the air. We’re just so happy to be alive.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTtcjAd-NUI/AAAAAAAAAVM/Qsj4VCpIj80/s1600/02%2B2010%2B099.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565143521037268290" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTtcjAd-NUI/AAAAAAAAAVM/Qsj4VCpIj80/s400/02%2B2010%2B099.JPG" style="display: block; height: 247px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 351px;" /></a><br /><br />And when it’s really cold – yes, we do have the occasional night that gets down as low as 32 °F – it’s a thrill to dig out that gorgeous woollen suit, the jaunty hat and stylish scarf, the boots. Although we don’t own coats anymore. Everybody who makes their home here eventually gets rid of the bulky outer layers. Our winter clothes last for years and years. When you wear a jersey for a few days a year, it always looks new. We keep only the cutest things – and we never have to worry about dodging snow flakes when we wear them. It’s nice to be able to cover up and remember how many sins clothing can disguise!<br /><br />Some of us pump up the heat and light the fires, but really it’s not necessary. We can unseal our homes and actually enjoy al fresco dining without mosquitos or sweat - pure unadulterated pleasure.<br /><br />We profess to love summer – that’s exactly why so many of us live here – we wouldn’t choose a full-on snowbound northern winter over our summer. But in truth, we come alive when that season departs. There’s a whole segment of the population, the “snowbirds,” who live here in winter. They come from Canada and the mid-western states of this country. They drive down the the I-75 corridor to their winter home. When May brings with it the unmistakable hint of humidity, they pack their cars and head back up north, while we sigh.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTtdBfoCdoI/AAAAAAAAAVU/WwUQSeimmoQ/s1600/02%2B2010%2B102.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565144044797064834" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TTtdBfoCdoI/AAAAAAAAAVU/WwUQSeimmoQ/s400/02%2B2010%2B102.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 269px;" /></a><br /><br />We know that these blissful days are numbered. Summer is coming.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-7708689825671335114?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-51220077551869518402011-01-17T08:36:00.008-05:002011-02-22T10:59:40.908-05:00Sailing Alone From Song to Song<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TPwHjGSjnRI/AAAAAAAAE1s/b6dTw6RqjvU/s1600/Songhuizong5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TPwHjGSjnRI/AAAAAAAAE1s/b6dTw6RqjvU/s400/Songhuizong5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: right;">I was going wherever I happened to go,<br />giving myself over to whatever I met,<br />-Su Tung-P'o<br /><br />How easy he has made it for me to enter here,<br />to sit down in a corner;<br />cross my legs like his, and listen.<br />-Billy Collins</div><br />One evening, in the manner of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Shi">Su Tung-P'o</a>, I followed the path of composer <a href="http://www.missymazzoli.com/">Missy Mazzoli</a> to <i><a href="https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/">New Amsterdam Records</a></i>, where a <a href="https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/#Album/Cathedral_City">new CD</a> of her music was on offer. From there I spotted a trio called <i><a href="http://www.janustrio.org/">janus</a></i>, with a first CD just out. The trio intrigued me because of its instrumentation: flute, viola, and harp.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/debussy.html">Debussy</a> was the first to compose for this set of instruments. He’d planned six sonatas for diverse instruments, after Bach’s <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_concertos">Brandenburg Concertos</a></i>. He completed only three, one of which, lucky for us, was the <i><a href="http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/76976.html#tvf=tracks&tv=about">Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp</a></i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TPwM8IrQX2I/AAAAAAAAE14/aNNdS_7dENI/s1600/janus_image5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TPwM8IrQX2I/AAAAAAAAE14/aNNdS_7dENI/s200/janus_image5.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Many composers since have followed Debussy’s lead, including <a href="http://www.musicweb-international.com/bax/biosketch.htm">Arnold Bax</a> in 1916 and <a href="http://www.naxos.com/person/Toru_Takemitsu/23861.htm">Toru Takemitsu</a> in 1992. Now <i>janus</i>, a three-woman ensemble based in Brooklyn, New York, has released a CD entitled <i><a href="https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/#Album/i_am_not">i am not</a></i>, featuring work by composers <a href="https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/#Jason_Treuting">Jason Treuting</a>, <a href="http://www.calebburhans.com/">Caleb Burhans</a>, <a href="http://angelicanegron.com/">Angélica Negrón</a>, <a href="http://www.annaclyne.com/">Anna Clyne</a>, <a href="http://www.ncameronbritt.com/">Cameron Britt</a>, and <a href="http://www.ryanbrownmusic.com/Ryan_Brown.html">Ryan Brown</a>. The music is engaging and cleverly anchored by four Treuting pieces that give the album its name.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />The first composition, <i>i,</i> employs a series of statements, each offering a different answer to the what of <i>i am not</i>. The vocals are simple spoken phrases like "I'm not awake" accompanied by sustained, single notes on the flute and plucked phrases on the viola and harp. By means of these simple gestures, the piece gives full expression to the complexity of daily life.<br /><br />The album itself is a tour de force of composition, with each piece complementing the others to create a mesmerizing whole. No special knowledge is required to enter: the CD provides a cornucopia of fascinating listening for all. <br /><br />I didn’t rest at <i>janus</i>, but, in the manner of Su Tung-P'o, I sailed onward, ready to give myself over to whatever I met. I’d recently heard the <i>janus</i> harpist, <a href="http://www.janustrio.org/about/nuikowadden.html">Nuiko Wadden</a>, perform with the much-lauded <i><a href="http://www.iceorg.org/">International Contemporary Ensemble</a></i>, so I decided to follow her path next. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TPwTM-HLyvI/AAAAAAAAE18/PhSMwel0sqU/s1600/Billy_Collins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TPwTM-HLyvI/AAAAAAAAE18/PhSMwel0sqU/s200/Billy_Collins.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I was well rewarded, for Wadden led me to the <i><a href="http://cedillerecords.org/music/product_info.php?products_id=1089">Billy Collins Suite</a></i>. <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins">Collins</a> is an American poet who served as <a href="http://www.loc.gov/poetry/more_collins.html">Poet Laureate of the United States</a> from 2001-2003. Though highly regarded by many, I've learned there are some who consider him lightweight.<br /><br /><i><a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=176056">Introduction to Poetry</a></i>, set to music by <a href="http://www.garrop.com/HOME.html">Stacy Garrop</a>, seems to me to speak directly to that concern. The poem starts on an inviting, hopeful note:<br /><blockquote>I ask them to take a poem<br />and hold it up to the light<br />like a color slide</blockquote>The ending, though, is dark:<br /><blockquote>But all they want to do<br />is tie the poem to a chair with a rope<br />and torture a confession out of it.<br /><br />They begin beating it with a hose<br />to find out what it really means.</blockquote>As I listened to the other pieces in the <i>Suite</i>, I tried to take Collins’ admonishment to heart. I’ll confess I found a couple of the poems either light entertainment (<i>Sonnet</i>) or downright silly (<i>The Willies</i>). I wondered why a composer would bother to set them at all, but then I remembered what composer <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/09/conversation-with-composer-john-metcalf.html">John Metcalf</a> had said:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-9b12fb84383209a7" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v15.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D9b12fb84383209a7%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329995222%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D647A311B6E5101ACF3EC457A4E03368C719C2484.176785CEB2A9196B551037623DC034B757C66CD6%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D9b12fb84383209a7%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DZX41DW_mZwnFYWuxWmplZ5aBUdY&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v15.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D9b12fb84383209a7%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329995222%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D647A311B6E5101ACF3EC457A4E03368C719C2484.176785CEB2A9196B551037623DC034B757C66CD6%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D9b12fb84383209a7%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DZX41DW_mZwnFYWuxWmplZ5aBUdY&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object></div><br />I had no such doubts about the poem to which Wadden led me, though. She played harp in an elegant setting by <a href="http://www.zhoutian.org/">Zhou Tian</a> of <i><a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=29783">Reading an Anthology of Chinese Poems of the Sung Dynasty, I Pause To Admire the Length and Clarity of Their Titles</a></i>. Collins' meditation on classical Chinese poetry begins:<br /><blockquote>It seems these poets have nothing <br />up their ample sleeves <br />they turn over so many cards so early, <br />telling us before the first line <br />whether it is wet or dry, <br />night or day, the season the man is standing in, <br />even how much he has had to drink.</blockquote><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TPwLLpuSvyI/AAAAAAAAE1w/lkfkuNBZCZY/s1600/Ma+Yuan+Scholar+by+a+Waterfall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TPwLLpuSvyI/AAAAAAAAE1w/lkfkuNBZCZY/s200/Ma+Yuan+Scholar+by+a+Waterfall.JPG" width="200" /></a>As I read, I thought back to images of classical Chinese art: graceful evocations of the natural world, a scholar sitting by a waterfall. I realized that, apart from poetry that accompanied the art, I’d read none of the poetry from that time at all.<br /><br />I sailed out the door to a <a href="http://vsa.vassar.edu/hudsonvalley/shopping/threearts">bookstore</a>, in hopes that this deficit could soon be filled. Only one slim book stood on the shelves, but the bookseller, alert to the possibility of another, retrieved from the basement a more substantial tome. Then I thought, well, I’ve not read any Billy Collins, either, and that too should be cured. I searched eagerly, in hope of finding a volume containing <i>Reading an Anthology</i>, and there it was: <i>Sailing Alone Around the Room</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Home again, my new books by my side, I replayed the <i>Suite's </i>setting of <i>Reading an Anthology</i>. The poem is rich in associations, but even so, the music multiplied the poem’s effect. I listened more intently to discover how: maybe the way the flute bends a note at the end of a phrase, I thought. Or the way the viola glides in to echo the melody, perhaps that’s it. Or maybe it’s the silvered shimmer of the harp before the narrator reads a line.<br /><br />I realized, as I listened, that I’d sailed back to where I’d begun: the instrumentation Zhou Tian had chosen was none other than Debussy’s ethereal trio of viola, flute, and harp.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br />For a related article, on musical settings of poems that explores Ned Rorem settings of Wallace Stevens poems, see Raining Acorn's piece, "<a href="http://markerstetter.blogspot.com/2011/02/guest-writer-susan-scheid.html">The Song as the Thing Itself</a>," at <i>The Bricoleur</i>. <br /><br />The image at the head of the post is of the poem and painting <i>Auspicious Cranes</i>, Emperor Huizong, Northern Song Dynasty. The painting in the body of the post is <i>Scholar by a Waterfall</i>, Ma Yuan, Southern Song Dynasty. The photograph of <i>janus</i> is provided as part of its press packet; the photograph of Billy Collins is provided through <i>wikimedia commons</i>.<br /><br />The quotations at the head of the post are from <i>Midsummer Festival, Wandering Up As Far As The Monastery</i>, Su Tung-P'o, Song Dynasty, in the Anthology <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/classicalchinesepoetry"><i>Classical Chinese Poetry</i></a>, translated and edited by David Hinton, and <i>Reading an Anthology of Chinese Poems of the Sung Dynasty, I Pause To Admire the Length and Clarity of Their Titles</i>, Billy Collins, in the book <i><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780375503801.html">Sailing Alone Around the Room, New and Selected Poems</a>.</i><br /><br /><b>Listening List</b><br /><br /><i>janus</i> playing Caleb Burhans' <i>Keymaster</i> from <i>i am not</i>:<br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RL_fxsnb_CI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RL_fxsnb_CI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br />To hear other tracks from <i>i am not</i>, click <a href="https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/#Album/i_am_not"><i>here</i></a>, click on a track, and play at lower left.<br /><br />For short clips from the <i>Billy Collins Suite</i>, click <a href="http://www.emusic.com/album/Steve-Robinson-The-Billy-Collins-Suite-Songs-Inspired-by-his-Poe-MP3-Download/11838857.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Debussy's <i>Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp (</i><i>Pastorale):</i><br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rRzWGIhwWAI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rRzWGIhwWAI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br />Arnold Bax, <i>Elegiac Trio</i><br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XpKQ4HkpfS4?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XpKQ4HkpfS4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br />For an excerpt from Toru Takemitsu's <i>And Then I Knew 'Twas Wind</i> (poem by <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/155">Emily Dickinson)</a>, click <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song_details/1444756">here</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-5122007755186951840?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-53463245806190042652011-01-12T12:46:00.015-05:002011-01-17T08:47:43.431-05:00January Blue<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TS3r_cbaDlI/AAAAAAAAASE/x6W3mf2a1xU/s1600/phillynight.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561360590067863122" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TS3r_cbaDlI/AAAAAAAAASE/x6W3mf2a1xU/s320/phillynight.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 188px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 268px;" /></a>The first day of 2011 found Wide Open Spaces in downtown Philadelphia in the immediate aftermath of the <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/search/label/Mummers%20Parade">Mummer's New Year's Day parade</a>. As we parked the car, we watched a few straggler Mummers making their way back home, still in full make-up and costume. We left the garage and exited onto <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_Street_%28Philadelphia%29">Broad Street</a> and into the largest sea of crushed beer cans I have ever seen in my life. It was impossible to take a step without landing on a can - Coors Light seemed to be the beverage of choice for the New Year's Day revelers.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />We were here to take in the <a href="http://www.blueman.com/">Blue Man Group</a> show, and enjoy a relatively balmy January evening out.<br /><br />Remarkably, there were very few people on the streets. We soon found out why - almost every business and store was closed in the immediate area. We first tried to stop in the lobby of the Hyatt <a href="http://www.philadelphia.bellevue.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp">Bellevue </a>to regroup, but the hotel's doors were locked and only guests could enter. I suppose all those beer cans added up to a lot of beer-drinkers looking for facilities - and local places did not want to provide that type of service! We continued walking, along Sansom and Chestnut Streets, but the only doors open we found were to pubs.<br /><br />With over an hour until our main attraction, we decided to head to the Comcast Building to view its spectacular 3-D holiday video light show. In the weeks before Christmas, the video show was presented in front of packed, standing room only audiences. This night, however, we were part of a handful of visitors who showed up and we could relax and stretch out on benches or the floor to take in the show.<br /><br />The Comcast show is a series of vignettes projected on a wall of LED screens. Ballet dancers, jugglers, and snowflakes all flutter by in crisp, life-like images. At one point, viewers have the impression that they are skiing down a snow-covered mountain; later we are in the air looking down at all the lights illuminating the city.<br /><br />After Comcast, we needed a bite to eat before the theatre. When we made plans, we figured there would be a hundred little places at which to stop on a Saturday night in the city. Wrong. The sidewalks apparently rolled up before the Mummers strutted past. Even Dunkin' Donuts was closed. Thank goodness for tiny Ciao Pizza on 17th street or else we would have been famished for the evening.<br /><br />A little before 8:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TS3s4DYf5xI/AAAAAAAAASc/boZ8V4W9gxs/s1600/BMG.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561361562597320466" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TS3s4DYf5xI/AAAAAAAAASc/boZ8V4W9gxs/s320/BMG.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 270px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 187px;" /></a>, we took our seats in the <a href="http://www.kimmelcenter.org/">Merriam Theatre, part of the gorgeous Kimmel Center</a>. I had never been to a Blue Man Group show and had no idea what to expect, but I thought a review of the show would make a great post for Raining Acorns. So I took a lot of notes during the show and the next day sat down to compose my review. But I had a problem.<br /><br />I couldn't write the review.<br /><br />It's impossible to describe the lightning quick action on the stage in a fashion that would make sense to the reader. And even if I could, reporting on what sort of musical antics the <span style="font-weight: bold;">BMG</span> pulled off during the show would ruin it for anyone who would see it in the future. The <span style="font-weight: bold;">BMG</span> show can be described as a sort of pastiche of comedy, music, pantomime, percussion, and what appears to be improv.<br /><br />Suffice it to say, the show involved plenty of the group's signature drumming - on drum heads filled with paint, on PVC pipes outfitted like a marimba, and on plenty of other surfaces. The show also made heavy use of video technology, including one scene with 3 giant iPad-like devices that provided simultaneous video in a bit that was a part commentary on current culture and the decline of reading, and part summary of the world's greatest literature. With men painted blue. See, hard to describe.<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TS3sonKHvwI/AAAAAAAAASM/a6SWMmqGkWs/s1600/blue-man-group-01.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561361297322786562" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TS3sonKHvwI/AAAAAAAAASM/a6SWMmqGkWs/s320/blue-man-group-01.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 225px;" /></a><br /><br />The program also involved things like a Twinkie dinner party, spin-art, fire extinguishers, marshmallows, Cap'n Crunch cereal, and a dissertation on cone and rod photoreceptors in the eye. Somehow, those things fit together seamlessly over the almost 2 hour show. The crowd varied in age from young to old, and the humor likewise ranged from slapstick to sophisticated. All without any words uttered by the blue men.<br /><br />After the finale, encore, confetti, streamers, and jokes were finished, we made our way back out to Broad Street. The street and sidewalks had been entirely swept clean of all beer cans, litter, and traces of the thousands of parade-goers who had congregated here just hours before. The city looked appropriately brand new on the first night of the year.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 130%; font-style: italic;">Click here for a peek at a BMG performance:</span><span style="font-size: 130%;"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.blueman.com/about" style="font-weight: bold;">Blue Man Group</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Here is a glimpse of the Comcast show:</span><br /><br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uIWvUedZ3-4?fs=1" width="480"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-5346324580619004265?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-27650389835367926782011-01-07T14:11:00.025-05:002011-01-13T19:25:36.639-05:00A Voice Made for Radio<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TSdm6KLIKTI/AAAAAAAAAUk/TjRtf4A8PA0/s1600/williams.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559525414361639218" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TSdm6KLIKTI/AAAAAAAAAUk/TjRtf4A8PA0/s400/williams.jpg" style="display: block; height: 144px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a><br />A mother and her middle-aged son were reunited yesterday, after many years of estrangement. A mother myself, my heart went out to Julia Williams as she sat on the set of the "Today Show" this morning. Seated beside her was her only child, 53 year old Ted Williams. Although her son had just been catapulted into the limelight and was clearly thrilled and overwhelmed by turns, this mother was holding onto what was obviously a hard-earned habit of skepticism. She told him not to hang around with the wrong people and not to disappoint her. After all, just last week he was a homeless man holding a cardboard sign.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />“I would say to him: ‘Why don’t you let God in to straighten your life,’ and he would say: ‘Goodbye’.”<br /><br />Ms. Williams said that her son came from a nice family and that she was embarrassed that he had been holding a sign up in that way. She added that prayer was the only thing that helped her through this. Clearly, she was not going to fully embrace her son’s new-found fame and fortune until he could demonstrate that, this time, he could “keep his life together.”<br /><br />Last month, Williams was “flying the sign” off northbound I-71 in Columbus, Ohio, when a man en route to church with his family pulled up in his car, wound down the window, and gave Williams $20. Williams said that it was like winning the jackpot – people in such hard economic times did not stop and give him that much money. A couple of weeks later that same man, Doral Chenoweth III, returned, saying that he had been searching for Williams. This time, Chenoweth, a videographer with “<a href="http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/multimedia/video/video.html?videoUrl=http://www.dispatch.com/live/export-content/sites/dispatch/videos/2011/01/03/golden-homeless-voice-092457.xml">The Columbus Dispatch</a>,” came armed with his camera. He gave Williams a couple of dollars and said that he wanted him to hold up his sign and say something with his great radio voice. Chenoweth filmed him and published the video which went viral just this week with over 11 million views in the first few days.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jaGLDKBE8Ho?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jaGLDKBE8Ho?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />A media frenzy has surrounded Williams ever since, attracting numerous job offers – he's already recorded audio spots for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and has fielded an offer of a home with a job from the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.<br /><br />His hand-written sign read:<br /><br />“I have a God given gift of voice, I am an ex radio announcer who has fallen on hard times. Please! Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless you. Happy Holidays”<br /><br />Williams, a recovering addict, says that he found God and has been sober for two years and that this whole experience, culminating in the emotional reunion with his “Mommy” was like a dream – “like Dorothy when she landed in Oz, or like <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-mother-queen-and-susan-boyle.html">Susan Boyle</a> must have felt.” He said that some people had noticed a resemblance to President Obama and had actually stopped to take a picture of him because of that. Williams - honorably discharged from the United States Army after a stint in Korea - said that he did not want to cast direspect on the Commander-in-Chief; even though (despite the difference in sartorial style) his look and his velvety voice are eerily reminiscent of the President.<br /><br />Asked what his dream job would be, Williams said that he still wanted to go back to radio, that “theatre of the mind,” because it was his first love. He said that his passion for radio harked back to when he met the late Hank Spann from the “Soul Station” Radio WWRL as a teenager in his home town of Brooklyn, New York.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uhWnaI-YXfc?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uhWnaI-YXfc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Google the word “homeless” and you'll find pages and pages about "the homeless man with the golden voice,” as though his is the only homeless story out there. As Williams himself says: “This is outrageous!”<br /><br />As for Mommy, she thinks it’s outrageous that her son has been all over television saying that she is 92 years old. After all, she says, she is only 90.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-2765038983536792678?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-55060839514830690882011-01-02T08:20:00.020-05:002011-01-07T16:03:18.595-05:00Slouching Toward Lachenmann: Björk’s Abyss<div style="text-align: right;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYmze4CCpI/AAAAAAAAEyk/vNtnPOM3LwY/s1600/bjork+singing+glasses+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYmze4CCpI/AAAAAAAAEyk/vNtnPOM3LwY/s400/bjork+singing+glasses+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><i>What Weill said in the twenties held true again: "Once musicians obtained everything they had imagined in their most daring dreams, they started again from scratch.”<br />—<a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/alex-ross.html">Alex Ross</a></i></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>It was like heaven itself had opened up to me and shown me not a vision of the future at all, but better than that, the beginning of the road to the future. I had come into the world at the end of an old, complex, overweighted style groaning with European modernist baggage, and history offered me a chance to step onto the ground floor of a bold new enterprise. I didn't even try to resist.<br />—<a href="http://www.kylegann.com/">Kyle Gann</a></i></div><br />Alex Ross, that indispensable source for all things musical, reported that Björk once said, “Minimalism is my abyss!” This came to me as something of a shock, as Björk had narrated <a href="http://synth.me/music-gear/modern-minimalists-documentary-narrated-bjork">a series for the BBC</a> on that very thing.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />But when I went back to watch the series, having read up a bit on who’s who, I realized she didn’t mention any of the minimalist “Big Three”: Terry Riley, Steve Reich, or Philip Glass. Without Björk to guide me, I was thrown back on my own devices and, in quintessential <a href="http://www.doceo.co.uk/background/gradgrind.htm">Gradgrind</a> fashion, I set about listening to them all. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYnLA5A1WI/AAAAAAAAEyo/UL50u90OH_0/s1600/Steve+Reich.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYnLA5A1WI/AAAAAAAAEyo/UL50u90OH_0/s200/Steve+Reich.png" width="200" /></a></div>I felt hopeful about my project, for, at the suggestion of <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/10/conversation-with-composer-john-metcalf_23.html">John Metcalf</a>, I’d picked up a CD by <a href="http://www.stevereich.com/">Steve Reich</a>. (I'd asked Metcalf about <a href="http://www.earbox.com/biography.html">John Coolidge Adams</a>, whose music I know and like. Of Adams, Metcalf said, “John Adams is a very good composer, but I think Steve Reich is a more individual voice.”)<br /><br />Reich’s <a href="http://www.stevereich.com/mp3.html"><i>Music for 18 Musicians</i></a>, the CD I happened upon, is a masterpiece of exuberant rhythms and tones. I put it right up there with <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2009/11/music-to-jog-by-beatles-remastered.html">The Beatles as Music to Jog By</a>. (I swear I cut my running time by a minute.) One cautionary note: you may find you keep jogging in your mind long after the music has stopped.<br /><br />But as I listened, I kept thinking about Björk’s abyss. Steve Reich seemed to be right up her alley, so what was it about? <br /><br />Time to venture further. I bought a book called <a href="http://www.billduckworth.com/writings"><i>Talking Music</i></a>, by another composer, <a href="http://www.billduckworth.com/">William Duckworth</a>, that included interviews with Riley, Reich, and Glass and another fellow, La Monte Young. Even more than <a href="http://terryriley.net/">Riley</a>, Young, often described as the Father of Minimalism, was a little too far out for me. I thought I’d best save him for later and go next to Riley’s <a href="http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=6239"><i>In C</i></a>, which Metcalf had also suggested as a starting point.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNR7Sn4FXDI/AAAAAAAAE0k/a7SMBlx8Pyg/s1600/Terry+Riley+Last+fm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TNR7Sn4FXDI/AAAAAAAAE0k/a7SMBlx8Pyg/s200/Terry+Riley+Last+fm.JPG" width="120" /></a></div>I ended up being more interested in the idea of <i>In C</i> than in the fact. The piece consists of fifty-three short phrases, and the musicians choose when to move from one to the next. To keep everyone together, one musician has to play high C in a robotic pulse. (No mean trick, as the length of the piece from beginning to end can be as long as several hours. Repetitive stress syndrome, here we come.) <br /><br />While <i>In C</i> didn’t grab me the way Reich’s music did, I could understand it as a foundation on which a lot of other stuff was built. But as I read more about Riley and Young and listened to some of their music, a sinking feeling crept up in me. Could I finally be peering over the edge of Björk’s abyss? Or if not hers, my own? <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYsgaE5LVI/AAAAAAAAEzQ/bVcGqvtTzpQ/s1600/La+Monte+Young+last+fm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYsgaE5LVI/AAAAAAAAEzQ/bVcGqvtTzpQ/s200/La+Monte+Young+last+fm.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>The abyss yawned before me when I delved into the music of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Monte_Young">La Monte Young</a>. The instruction for his <i>Composition 1960 # 10</i> is the <a href="http://www.diacenter.org/exhibitions/main/3">Sol Lewitt</a>-ish “Draw a straight line and follow it.” Other compositions call for building a fire, releasing a butterfly, and feeding a piano. <i>Composition 1960 #7</i> consists of two notes, a B and an F-sharp, with the instruction, “To be held for a long time.” Historical curiosities, for sure, but music? I don’t know.<br /><br />Of the Big Three (plus La Monte Young) I’d set myself to listen to, only one now remained: <a href="http://www.philipglass.com/">Philip Glass</a>. You might be thinking I’d saved the best for last, but, to borrow a favorite line from the <a href="http://jmsbizblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/blogging-hewlett-packard.html">Family Historian</a>:<br /><br /><i>Oh so not the case.</i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYok4AkrzI/AAAAAAAAEzE/pd42RoXM1Xs/s1600/Philip+Glass+GLASS2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYok4AkrzI/AAAAAAAAEzE/pd42RoXM1Xs/s200/Philip+Glass+GLASS2.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>I’d known about Glass long before any of the others and had conceived an immediate dislike. I remember getting an earful in the movie <a href="http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org/films/koyaanisqatsi.php"><i>Koyaanisqatsi</i></a>. If I could have, I’d have hit the mute and let those fast-moving landscapes roll past on their own.<br /><br />But hey, I discovered I shared a birthday with the guy, as well as an alma mater. Besides, hadn’t there been things about John Cage, of whom I’d held a similarly dyspeptic view, that I’d learned to appreciate and even like? So why not give Glass another try?<br /><br />With that in mind, I proceeded to play Glass, clip after clip: from the sound track for <a href="http://www.philipglass.com/audioplayer/audioplayer.html"><i>The Hours</i> to <i>Einstein on the Beach</i> to the <i>Violin Concerto</i> to <i>Études for the Piano</i></a>. The music was just a little too lugubrious for me. After a few measures of each piece, I couldn’t help myself: I’d hit the pause button and go in search of Björk.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYoQUS2XII/AAAAAAAAEzA/9oB4x5sHGZ0/s1600/bjork+singing+glasses.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYoQUS2XII/AAAAAAAAEzA/9oB4x5sHGZ0/s200/bjork+singing+glasses.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Even though she had nothing to say on the subject, I took respite in the <i>YouTube</i> of Björk in full red feather regalia, slipping along the stage in bare feet as she sang <i>Possibly Maybe</i>, or prancing about in an acid yellow dress while <a href="http://www.alasdairmalloy.com/">Alasdair Malloy</a>, the glass harmonica virtuoso, rang glasses to the strains of <i>Violently Happy</i>. <br /><br />Sorry, Phil. I know it’s me, not you. But, hey, you’ve got plenty of listeners without me. For now, it seems you are my musical abyss. <br /><br />There’s still hope, though. As Kyle Gann will tell you, there’s plenty more out there than the Big Three plus La Monte, so I’ve got lots of exploring still to do. In the meantime, I’m all right with Reich. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYpUN83ojI/AAAAAAAAEzM/BorvVZN9UXA/s1600/bjork+feathers+harp.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TMYpUN83ojI/AAAAAAAAEzM/BorvVZN9UXA/s320/bjork+feathers+harp.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><i>Postscript: Since writing this post, I've continued to explore minimalism and found much to enjoy. For some examples of what's out there, see the "Listening List" at the end of this post. I've also heard the ensemble <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/11/only-connect.html">contemporaneous</a> give an affecting performance of Glass's <a href="http://www.philipglass.com/music/recordings/kronos_quartet_performs_philip_glass.php">String Quartet No. 5</a>. I'm not ready to revise my overall view of Glass, but this piece, I'll have to admit, I liked.</i><br /><br /><i>Here's an appealing trailer for a CD of Reich's Music for 18 Musicians:</i><br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CHVMVDhC-UA?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CHVMVDhC-UA?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>To find out more about the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble and their recordings, click <a href="http://www.newmusicensemble.org/">here</a>.</i><br /><br /><i>For a far more intelligent disquisition on minimalism, I recommend to readers the inestimable Kyle Gann. Click <a href="http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=1521">here</a> for a great place to start. An interesting article on how to listen to minimalism can be found <a href="http://chambermusiciantoday.com/blog/posts/How-to-Listen-to-Minimalism/">here</a>.</i><br /><br /><i>The two initial quotations are from Alex Ross, <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/noise">The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century</a>, p. 516, and Kyle Gann, <a href="http://www.newmusicbox.org/page.nmbx?id=31tp00">Minimal Music, Maximal Impact</a>, The New Music Box, November 1, 2001. The Björk quotation from Alex Ross appears in the chapter “Björk’s Saga” in Ross’s new book, <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/listentothis">Listen to This</a>.</i><br /><br /><i>The photographs of the composers are from <a href="http://last.fm/">last.fm</a>. The other three </i><i>images are stills from </i><i>YouTube videos of </i><i>Björk tunes mentioned in this post </i><i>that can be found <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpLRdDZodJI&feature=related">here</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ7yrISdzfM">here</a>.</i><br /><br /><i><b>Listening List</b><br /><br />Like any categorization, “minimalism” is deceptive and imprecise. A narrow definition that many in the U.S. use seems to include little beyond the Big Three plus: Riley, Reich, Glass, and Young. In the subsequent generation, John Coolidge Adams is the one most people know here. Minimalist music, however, is not confined to the States. Some of the most beautiful works referred to as minimalist can be found abroad.</i><br /><i> </i><br /><i><a href="http://www.joepfranssens.com/site/page.php?fsID=2522&framedPageID=83&lang"><u>Joep Franssens</u></a> <br />Old Songs, New Songs (hear an excerpt below)</i><br /><br /><object height="20" style="vertical-align: middle;" valign="middle" width="200"><param name="movie" value="http://static.boomp3.com/player2.swf?id=prhoxojn58k&title=oldsongs+newsongs"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="false"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://static.boomp3.com/player2.swf?id=prhoxojn58k&title=oldsongs+newsongs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="false" width="200" height="20" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>© Joep Franssens. By kind permission of Joep Franssens. </i><br /><br /><i>(For a list of Franssens' CDs and to listen to more samples of his music, go to his <a href="http://www.joepfranssens.com/site/page.php?fsID=2522&framedPageID=83&lang">website</a> and click on discography.</i><i>)</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.hubiware.nl/chielmeijering.html"><u>Chiel Meijering</u></a><br /><i> Go where the angels are<br />Floating into space<br />She disappears in my dreams</i><br /><br /><i>The pieces by Meijering and Franssens listed above are part of the <a href="http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Brilliant+Classics/9171">Minimal Piano Collection, Vol. XI-XX</a>, a remarkable compendium of pieces for two to six pianos produced by <a href="http://www.jeroenvanveen.com/">Jeroen van Veen</a>, which also includes John Metcalf’s terrific piece for six pianos, <a href="http://www.johnmetcalf.co.uk/works.php?name=Never+Odd+or+Even&id=15">Never Odd or Even</a>, played with verve and precision by van Veen himself. </i><i> </i><br /><i><br /><u>Steve Reich</u><br /><a href="http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Steve-Reich-New-York-Counterpoint/1394">New York Counterpoint</a><br /><a href="http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Steve-Reich-Vermont-Counterpoint/5292">Vermont Counterpoint</a></i><br /><i>(Both Counterpoints can be found on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Music-Masters/dp/B000QQZ2JW/ref=tmm_other_title_0">New Music Masters</a>.) <br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Double-Sextet-2x5-Digital-Booklet/dp/B0041VBQ7K#mp3TrackPlayer">Double Sextet and 2x5</a><br />Music for 18 Musicians<br /><br /><u>Philip Glass</u><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kronos-Quartet-Performs-Philip-Glass/dp/B00122FT9W/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpd_1#mp3TrackPlayer">String Quartet No. 5</a></i><br /><br /><i><u>Terry Riley</u></i><br /><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harp-New-Albion-Lands-End/dp/B002SJ13IY">Land’s End</a> (from The Harp of New Albion, for a piano tuned in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_intonation">just intonation</a>) </i><br /><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Terry-Riley-Rainbow-Curved-Air/dp/B0000024QA">A Rainbow in Curved Air</a></i><br /><i><br /><u>John Coolidge Adams</u></i><br /><i></i><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00122HSCI/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002N5KEHO&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1JKATDK74RCD1BW6SVQY#mp3TrackPlayer">Nixon in China</a></i><i> </i><br /><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fearful-Symmetries-The-Wound-Dresser/dp/B00122905Q/ref=tmm_other_title_0">The Wound Dresser</a> (text sung by Hampson is from the poem <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=237970">The Wound-Dresser</a> by Walt Whitman):</i><br /><i><br /><object height="231" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1bW6XEGluvw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1bW6XEGluvw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="231"></embed></object></i><br /><br /><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_G%C3%B3recki"><u>Henryk Górecki</u></a></i> <br /><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Henryk-Gorecki-Symphony-Sorrowful-Songs/dp/B000005J1C">Symphony No. 3</a> (Lento</i><i>—</i><i>cantabile-semplice):<br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qq2IJGl3Y5E?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qq2IJGl3Y5E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/08/listening-to-wales-arvo-part-and-vale.html"><u>Arvo Pärt</u></a><br />Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten</i><br /><i> Berliner Messe (Alleluia, Sanctus, Gloria): </i><br /><i><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mbxI1nalsmU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mbxI1nalsmU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br />Both pieces listed, as well as a host of other beautiful pieces by Pärt,</i><i> can be found <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Being-Music-Arvo-Part/dp/B00168OU9M/ref=tmm_other_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1293297856&sr=1-11#mp3TrackPlayer">here</a>. </i><br /><i><br /><a href="http://www.naxos.com/person/John_Tavener_23874/23874.htm"><u>John Tavener</u></a> <br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Protecting-Veil-Wake-Die/dp/B000009MON/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1293298392&sr=1-1">The Protecting Veil</a> <br />Song for Athene (performed by The Sixteen): </i><br /><i><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3-FupDIrfLs?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3-FupDIrfLs?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /> </i><br /><i>Song for Athene, sung by <a href="http://www.the-sixteen.org.uk/">The Sixteen</a>, can be found <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ikon-Sergey-Rachmaninov/dp/B000EGD21Y">here</a>. I haven’t yet been able to obtain the Tavener CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ikon-of-Light/dp/B000QZWCX2/ref=tmm_other_title_0#mp3TrackPlayer">Ikon of Light</a>, but the recommendation comes from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/04277167831642088694">Friko</a>, a trusted source.</i><br /><i> </i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-5506083951483069088?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-22234934916478311842010-12-26T15:00:00.005-05:002011-01-02T12:25:36.756-05:00Another New Year's Day with the Mummers<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/SzwiAGbngNI/AAAAAAAAADg/jc4gjHgscnE/s1600-h/mummers-parade-philadephia.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421245436569026770" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/SzwiAGbngNI/AAAAAAAAADg/jc4gjHgscnE/s320/mummers-parade-philadephia.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 214px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />Every New Year’s Day, thousands of Philadelphians, mostly men, don elaborate costumes of sequins, spangles, and feathers. They carry banjos, saxophones, and double-basses to march in one of the most unusual events in the world - Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />The quirky parade was officially organized in 1901, but unofficial cultural celebrations were held as far back as the late 17<sup>th</sup> century. The Mummers are rooted in the city’s ethnic neighborhoods, particularly South Philadelphia. Mummer members are mostly working class:<br /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421245141168133842" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/Szwhu5-jltI/AAAAAAAAADY/hNJuax6gqxw/s200/15054360-20085837.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 133px;" />longshoremen, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, in their everyday lives. But once a year, these blue-collar workers become stars - dancing, strutting, and creating music that lifts an entire city’s spirit.<br /><br />In today’s Mummer tradition, associations or “clubs” compete in one of four categories of Mummery: the Comics, the Fancies, the Fancy Brigades, and the String Bands. The experience is often a family affair, with many Mummers first marching on Broad Street as children. The parade is built around music and you can expect to hear the Mummers’ signature tunes – the vaudeville-esque “Oh Dem Golden Slippers” and “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover,” – over and over throughout the day.<br /><br /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421243200412733394" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/Szwf98GaT9I/AAAAAAAAADA/PmxZVNsDfYk/s200/153739.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 133px;" /><br /><div class="MsoNormal">The primary mode of Mummer locomotion down the Broad Street, the parade route, is the Mummer “strut.” The strut is a joyful dance where one bounces along in a hop-step, slightly bowed, with arms outstretched (often holding a decorative umbrella!) Picture a man dolled up in sequined cape and pants, who’s thrown his back out and can’t quite stand up straight, bouncing down the street while waving his arms. Hmmm . . this may be one instance where <a href="http://www.uwishunu.com/tag/mummers/">video is worth a thousand of my words.</a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">The marathon parade, which in the past would last 10 or 11 hours, kicks off with the <a href="http://www.phillymummers.com/comics.htm">Comics division</a>. The Comics clubs spoof current events and newsmakers during their strut down Broad Street. Also known as the “clowns,” these clubs march to recorded music and perform quick skits to entertain the crowd. Historically women were not part of Mummery, so men would dress in drag to play female roles. Today even though women have joined the ranks, the custom of men dressing as comic “wenches” is still part of the Comic tradition. The Comic strut starts early in the morning, with the result that many clowns are still . . .shall we say. . . feeling the effects of their New Year’s Eve celebration, making for a raucous and enthusiastic performance for the spectators.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The <a href="http://www.phillymummers.com/fancies.htm">Fancy club</a>s have elaborate costumes and floats and provide the most dazzling displays to watch. The <a href="http://www.phillymummers.com/fancybrigades.htm">Fancy Brigades </a>produce 4 or 5 minute Broadway-worthy musical numbers, complete with costumes, props and back drops. They strut only part of the way down Broad Street before heading indoors to the convention center to present two performances for ticket-holders.</div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Finally, the String Bands arrive for the highlight of the parade. String Bands strut to live music played by their members, all amateurs, on banjos, saxophones, accordions, double-basses, and percussion, combining to create the signature String Band sound. Members wear costumes bedecked with sequins and feathers, often with backpieces that are 6 or more feet in diameter. The heavy costumes can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars apiece. Ornate Captains’ costumes can weigh up to 100 pounds. They also must be seen to be believed, as it is near impossible for written description to convey the spectacle of so many men outfitted in feathers, make-up and swirling capes, performing show tunes with military precision.</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421243199169864754" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/Szwf93eFpDI/AAAAAAAAADI/JHGt35vjQTY/s200/14870436-20085953.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 133px;" /><br /><div class="MsoNormal">The sights and sounds of the Mummers are not limited to January 1<sup>st</sup>. To raise money for costumes, most clubs play parades and events all year long and participate in SummerMummer concerts at the Mummers Museum. At Philadelphia weddings, bar mitzvahs and other festivities, it is not unusual for the Mummers strut to break out mid-celebration. I must admit that we had the band at our wedding reception play “Oh Dem Golden Slippers” during the dancing, to simultaneously thrill my Philadelphia relatives and baffle my husband’s out of town family.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So while most of the world is nursing a hangover, eating black-eyed peas, or watching the bowl games on New Years Day, we here in the City of Brotherly Love indulge in a day-long folk-music ritual of the best kind. A folk music ritual as interpreted by 10,000 people who put their heart and soul into their show, strutting in a riot of color and glitter and melody - starting the new year off in a celebration unlike that of any other city.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Click <a href="http://www.fralinger.org/video2009.asp?year=2009">here to see a video of the Fralinger </a>club Mummers in action~<br /><br />This piece first appeared at the end of 2009. This year, Wide Open Spaces will be venturing into downtown Philadelphia on New Year's Day evening - not to see the Mummers specifically, but their presence is sure to be noticed!<br /></i></div><i><br /><a href="http://www.mummerabilia.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=STMBDM01"></a></i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-2223493491647831184?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-77103617910321925112010-12-22T00:10:00.005-05:002010-12-26T18:27:33.932-05:00In Search of a Silent Night<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TQwbtQeKaGI/AAAAAAAAE2Y/CKi4gGudNpk/s1600/ldn5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TQwbtQeKaGI/AAAAAAAAE2Y/CKi4gGudNpk/s320/ldn5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>©</b> <i><a href="http://www.sansfacon.co.uk/">Sans façon</a>. By kind permission of Sans façon.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />The holiday season is upon us, in case the endless <i>Jingle Bell Rock</i> loop at Starbucks hasn’t given it away.</div><div style="text-align: right;">-Jon Stewart</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;">A few chocolates, a glass of mulled wine and a CD by the <i>The Sixteen</i> playing quietly. Sublime.</div><div style="text-align: right;">-Friko</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;">Here today we are doing something special, we are stopping and appreciating the space between things, the unintentional sounds that make up our world.</div><div style="text-align: right;">-Dave Hilliard, <i>Cage Against the Machine </i></div><br />Last year, in her post <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2009/12/do-you-hear-what-i-hear.html">“Do You Hear What I Hear?”</a>, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341">Wide Open Spaces</a> remarked on the auditory invasion of Christmas music at this time of year:<br /><blockquote>It’s not that I don’t enjoy Christmas music; I do have a nice collection of CDs that I bring up from storage this time of year. I just don’t understand the need to have it invade all my listening hours. Last year one radio station started playing Christmas music on November 1st –in effect, they devoted 17% of their annual product to these tunes. (And need I mention that these tunes are associated with a religious holiday that not all people celebrate?)</blockquote>As she noted, while there is some decent holiday music out there, “not everything is listenable. For every Bing Crosby or “O Holy Night”, there is Alvin and the Chipmunks or “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Blech.”<br /><a name='more'></a><br />Blech is right. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/04277167831642088694">Friko</a>, in her marvelous <a href="http://frikosmusings.blogspot.com/2010/12/day-1-letter-to-my-friends.html">Advent series</a>, <a href="http://frikosmusings.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-miscellany-16th-window.html">lamented</a> this phenomenon as well: <br /><blockquote>Don't you all hate supermarkets at this time of year? . . . All I wanted were some food bags and clingfilm for leftovers. And while I was stomping through the aisles, backwards and forwards, I was forced to listen to an endless loop of Christmas jingles, a tinny, badly arranged, flat, featureless cacophony of sound.</blockquote>On <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/"><i>The Daily Show</i></a>, in a hilarious <i><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-6-2004/mark-your-calendar---christmas">Mark Your Calendar</a></i> segment, Samantha Bee tried to remind us that there's more to December than Christmas and its music. In the end, though, she gave up: <br /><blockquote>But really, let’s face it. All other days bow down to the 25th, Christmas. It’s the only religious holiday that’s also a federal holiday. That way, Christians can go to their services, and everyone else can stay home and reflect on the true meaning of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state">separation of church and state</a>.</blockquote>At times like this, we might long for <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/12/slouching-toward-lachenmann-john-cage.html">John Cage</a>’s <i>Silent Prayer</i>, “a piece of uninterrupted silence” that he intended to sell to <i>Muzak</i> as “an attempt to break through the din of mid-century American culture . . . and to present the beauty that comes out of stillness.”<br /><br />While Cage didn’t complete <i>Silent Prayer</i>, we do have <i>4’33",</i> and this year, a campaign called <a href="http://www.catm.co.uk/"><i>Cage Against the Machine</i></a> sought to take <i>4'33"</i> to the top of the UK Christmas charts, with all proceeds going to charity. (While <i>4'33"</i> didn't top the charts, it did take <a href="http://www.theofficialcharts.com/">21st place</a>, a remarkable achievement.)<br /><br />As reported in the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/dec/13/cage-against-machine-christmas-no-1"><i>Guardian</i></a> on December 13:<br /><blockquote>Last Monday, a group of musicians gathered in the intimate surroundings of Soho's Dean Street studio to record a charity single that they hope will compete against <a href="http://xfactor.itv.com/2010/"><i>X Factor</i></a> winner <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Cardle">Matt Cardle</a> for Christmas No 1. . . . The silent musicians, including the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thekooks">Kooks</a>, <a href="http://www.loopz.co.uk/">Orbital</a>, <a href="http://www.entershikari.com/">Enter Shikari</a>, <a href="http://www.danlesac.co.uk/">Dan Le Sac</a>, <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88110225">Scroobius Pip</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggs_%28singer%29">Suggs from Madness</a>, and (by phone) <a href="http://www.billybragg.co.uk/">Billy Bragg</a> and <a href="http://www.imogenheap.com/">Imogen Heap</a>, were recording a cover of John Cage's <i>4'33"</i>, which features four minutes and 33 seconds of an orchestra not playing anything. </blockquote>At the opening of the session, Julie Hilliard, one of the organizers of <i>Cage Against the Machine</i>, read: <br /><blockquote>Here today we are doing something special, we are stopping and appreciating the space between things, the unintentional sounds that make up our world. I now invite you to honor John Cage’s legacy for our culture, bring your individual meanings to <i>4’33”</i>, and enjoy the next 4 minutes and 33 seconds together.</blockquote>Watching the rockers sway in silence as they held their instruments was unexpectedly sweet. I had to agree with <a href="http://www.mrhudson.com/">Ben McIldowie (Mr. Hudson)</a>, one of the performers, when <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/06/john-cage-cover-christmas-no-1">he said</a>, “There is already enough noise out there. This is giving people a little time to think.” <br /><br />To think, yes, and perhaps just to be. My own thoughts turned to a project by British artist Tristan Surtees and French architect Charles Blanc, who work together under the name <i>Sans façon</i>. <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/10/conversation-with-composer-john-metcalf_23.html">John Metcalf </a>worked with <i>Sans façon</i> to create <a href="http://oddsympathies.co.uk/"><i>Odd Sympathies</i></a>, the sonic walk in Cardiff for which Cage’s <i>4’33”</i> had been the inspiration.<br /><br />One of <i>Sans façon</i>’s current projects is called <a href="http://www.sansfacon.co.uk/projects/LSN/LSN.shtml"><i>Limelight: Saturday night</i></a>. "In 2010 in six cities across the UK and America, a selection of sidewalks has been turned into impromptu stages by turning streetlights into theatre spotlights." The image at the head of this post is one result.<br /><br />As I looked at the <i>Sans façon</i> photograph, I listened to CATM’s recording of 4’33” and wondered what sounds surrounded this graceful young man. The car passing, the hum of a streetlight, his own breathing, his footfalls as he moved?<br /><br />I felt somehow refreshed, perhaps as Friko felt on settling in at home after that annoying trip to the supermarket:<br /><blockquote>How much more civilised it was to sit after dinner and write Christmas cards. A few chocolates, a glass of mulled wine and a CD by the <a href="http://www.the-sixteen.org.uk/">The Sixteen</a> playing quietly. Sublime. My rage melted like snow in the sun.</blockquote>Or as Wide Open Spaces described last year:<br /><blockquote>One December many years ago, before satellite radio and 24/7 holiday music stations, the head of my department at work let us leave early one afternoon. As I made my way home, snowflakes began falling from the skies. And in a wonderfully serendipitous moment, the radio began to play “White Christmas,” one of my favorite songs. That happenstance became a wonderful Christmas memory of mine.</blockquote>Whether your holiday is Christmas, or another, or none at all, we here at Raining Acorns wish for you the sounds—and the silences—that bring you joy.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TRAZaUUqlNI/AAAAAAAAE2c/NeopgUL8g-w/s1600/kc8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TRAZaUUqlNI/AAAAAAAAE2c/NeopgUL8g-w/s320/kc8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>©</b> <i><a href="http://www.sansfacon.co.uk/">Sans façon</a>. By kind permission of Sans façon.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">*** </div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The photographs in the post are from </i><i>Sans façon's </i><i>Limelight: Saturday night project. For more great photographs from this project, click <a href="http://limelightontour.blogspot.com/">here</a> and scroll down to snapshots.</i><br /><br /><i><u>A Potpourri of Sounds and Silences</u>: </i></div><br /><i>Bing Crosby-Fred Astaire, Happy Holidays Remix: </i> <br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3k_q_UMI3tQ?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3k_q_UMI3tQ?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>Drop by <a href="http://sohothedog.blogspot.com/2010/12/their-songs-employ.html">Soho the Dog</a> to hear a rendition of Joy to the World like none you've heard before.</i><br /><br /><i>To hear The Sixteen, click <a href="http://www.the-sixteen.org.uk/">here</a>.</i><br /><br /><i>For a beautiful meditation on silence, read Clare Kirwan's poem <a href="http://brokenbiro.blogspot.com/2010/12/silence-museum.html">The Silence Museum</a>. </i><br /><br /><i>Cathedral Bells:</i><br /><object height="234" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KTWzz0hU4Bs&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KTWzz0hU4Bs&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="384" height="234"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>And for silence of another sort, here's Cage Against the Machine's 4’33”</i>:<br /><br /><object height="249" width="414"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GYedTIMAf7E?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GYedTIMAf7E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="414" height="249"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>The source for the Cage Silent Night quotation is</i><i> "<a href="http://www.rosewhitemusic.com/cage/texts/WhatSilenceTaughtCage.html">What Silence Taught John Cage</a>," by James Pritchett.</i><br /><br /><i>An excellent L.A. Times essay on the Cage Against the Machine campaign, including references to some intriguing books about silence, can be found <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-yearend-swed-essay-20101219,0,6011027.story">here</a>. The essay notes that, ironically, "FCC regulations against extended periods of silence would forbid this "American Icon" single to be played on U.S. airwaves."</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-7710361791032192511?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-65811449765694854832010-12-19T00:02:00.001-05:002010-12-22T00:19:52.165-05:00In Search of Lost Cookies Redux<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzPP3ARzdQI/AAAAAAAADAM/yZfw5atyNjk/s1600-h/Cookies-PC215247_edited-1+-+Copy+%28533x800%29.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzPP3ARzdQI/AAAAAAAADAM/yZfw5atyNjk/s200/Cookies-PC215247_edited-1+-+Copy+%28533x800%29.jpg" width="121" /></a><i> And suddenly the memory appeared. That taste was the taste of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray . . . my aunt Léonie would give me after dipping it in her infusion of tea . . .<br /></i><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Proust">Marcel Proust</a></i></div><br /><br />'Tis the season of the cookie. With visions of Mom and Grandma baking Christmas cookies dancing in my head, I put out a call for family reminiscences and got this reply: “No doubt you will make mention of Mrs. Schweer's cookies.”<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzDx7TNlleI/AAAAAAAAC_c/Tfci62b2zxY/s1600-h/800324.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzDx7TNlleI/AAAAAAAAC_c/Tfci62b2zxY/s200/800324.jpg" width="63" /></a>Mrs. Schweer? Who the devil is Mrs. Schweer? I turned in desperation to the internet. Lo, there she was! She’d been written up in <i>Life Magazine</i>, and she’d died at age 105 in the very hospital where I was born. I wrote Mom to confirm.<br /><br />“Not our Mrs. Schweer.”<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzEp5LnK8_I/AAAAAAAAC_8/zwR4qxFfnb0/s1600-h/Cookies-test+batch.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="88" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzEp5LnK8_I/AAAAAAAAC_8/zwR4qxFfnb0/s200/Cookies-test+batch.jpg" width="101" /></a>With a prompt from my sister (the Family Historian), I dimly recalled a plate of white-iced ginger cookies, but no Proustian epiphany occurred. The only cookie-based memory I could conjure was of my own baking attempt: peanut butter cookies with burnt bottoms and weird fork marks on the top, flour-covered counter tops, and an oily smell of peanut butter that lasted for days.<br /><br />So who, I asked, was<i> our</i> Mrs. Schweer?<br /><br />The Family Historian reported: “I don't have much information but I remembered we loved the cookies and looked forward to them every year. I did find an entry in my baby book that verifies the spelling as Schweer, but that's about it (entry made 1956).”<br /><br />Mom filled in the blanks: “Mrs. Schweer, a.k.a., Grandma Schweer (first name may have been Laura) lived next door to us in Chicago Heights. She was a true renaissance woman of homemaking. Quite elderly when I first met her circa 1948, I marveled at her vigor.<br /><br />“Mrs. Schweer maintained an immaculate house and garden, pushing the vacuum indoors and the lawnmower outdoors with no help to get in her way. She hung her laundry to dry outdoors on a line in the sun. In the winter she single-handedly shoveled the snow off her walks.<br /><br />“She did all of her own cooking and at Christmas baked batch upon batch of cookies, plates of which she wrapped and distributed to her neighbors’ children. Mrs. Schweer sent cookies to you two even after we moved away. As to why she brought you cookies, I don’t know. Probably because it was a renaissance woman’s thing to do!”<br /><br />We still had a historical gap to fill. Mom had certainly baked cookies each Christmas, and Grandma<i> must </i>have done so, too. <br /><br />To borrow a phrase from the Family Historian: <a href="http://jmsbizblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/blogging-hewlett-packard.html"><i>Oh so not the case. </i></a><br /><br />“We did not bake cookies at our house,” reported Mom. “Great Grandma L. baked mincemeat pies and Grandma G. baked applesauce cake, coffee cake with a crumbly, sugary topping, and pumpkin pies . . .<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzPQE9rO9tI/AAAAAAAADAU/fhAR9zO6sdQ/s1600-h/Cookies-image001_edited-1+-+Copy+%28800x546%29.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzPQE9rO9tI/AAAAAAAADAU/fhAR9zO6sdQ/s200/Cookies-image001_edited-1+-+Copy+%28800x546%29.jpg" width="190" /></a>“Somehow I did not inherit the baking gene. In spite of that, I always baked birthday cakes to order for you two; the occasional cherry pie while our tree was bearing; and Christmas cookies only because it was <i>de rigueur</i> in our happy homemaker Village of Homewood. If it weren’t for Mrs. Schweer and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabisco">Nabisco</a> you would have been seriously cookie deprived.”<br /><br />Thanks be to Mrs. Schweer! (I’ll leave Nabisco aside.) Mystery solved, I’m off to the <a href="http://www.duaneparkpatisserie.com/images/seasonal-items/winter/christmas-chanukah-new-year">bakery</a> to get myself supplied.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzPQchrHMWI/AAAAAAAADAc/xQVCU7FW-30/s1600-h/Cookies-PC215235_edited-1+-+Copy+%28800x656%29.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/SzPQchrHMWI/AAAAAAAADAc/xQVCU7FW-30/s320/Cookies-PC215235_edited-1+-+Copy+%28800x656%29.jpg" width="297" /></a></div><br /><i>This post was first published <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2009/12/in-search-of-lost-cookies.html">December 23, 2009</a>, and the commenters at that time told wonderful and funny stories all their own. We hope you, too, will add to the story by offering your own holiday memories!</i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>*** </i></div><br /><i>For those who like to bake, click <a href="http://leslieland.com/2009/12/holiday-cookie-recipes-pepparkakor-plus/">here</a> for a great recipe for Pepparkakor cookies and links to other cookie recipe delights. </i><br /><br /><i> The beautiful (and delicious) cookies in the photograph at the top of the post were made by Duane Park Patisserie.</i><br /><br /><i>The cake shown in the birthday party photograph was, as requested by its recipient, purple with green icing.</i><br /><br /><i>The cookies on a plate (the closest replica of Mrs. Schweer’s recipe found so far, though without the decorative bits) were test-baked by the Family Historian. She pronounced the recipe not good enough and continues her search.</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-6581144976569485483?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-90967868085120711492010-12-12T13:02:00.016-05:002010-12-22T20:05:29.518-05:00Christmas Cake<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TRKgQSkOQVI/AAAAAAAAAUY/mijwBh_8pLs/s1600/christmas2010%2B007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TRKgQSkOQVI/AAAAAAAAAUY/mijwBh_8pLs/s400/christmas2010%2B007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553677492223361362" /></a><br />My husband only asks for one Christmas gift every year without fail - a Christmas Cake baked by me. This tradition started when we came to America, the land that does not know Christmas Cake. Until then, I could stroll into any food store in South Africa (even at the last minute) and buy a perfect Christmas Cake – non-baker that I am. Or, we could go to our mothers’ homes where my husband could get his home-baked fix. But that first Christmas in America, I just could not find the cake. You see, in this country, “Christmas Cake” is plain old fruitcake. Once I figured out that that was what I should be asking for, I was surprised to find that not only was it hard to find a good fruitcake in America (or at least in Florida) the cake was much maligned here – so much so, that there’s actually a Fruitcake Toss festival held in Colorado every year:<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><i>“What: Great Fruitcake Toss<br />Where: Manitou Springs<br />When: First Saturday in January<br /><br />At last, the answer to that age-old question: How do I get rid of this *$&*@#! fruitcake?<br /><br />People in Manitou Springs have found the answer. Throw it as far as you can, by any means that you can, and hope it’s never found again. You can come watch this amazing event for free (however, contestants pay a small fee or donate a can of non-perishable food to enter the events).<br /><br />To be fair, separate prizes are given to numerous special tossing divisions. That is, athletes choosing to toss their fruitcakes by hand are not competing directly with those who use a catapult, giant slingshot, or spud gun (or is that a fruitcake gun?). The audience needs to be ever-vigilant for those fruitcakes that end up being tossed straight up in the air by contestants whose timing on the catapult isn’t quite perfect. You know you’re having a bad day when you get hit in the head with a frozen fruitcake falling from hundreds of feet above you Several local Inns offer Fruitcake Toss specials, including a heavy-duty cake to use in the event, and advance coaching on the art of fruitcake tossing.<br /><br />The day also includes a Fruitcake Glamour Competition, with prizes for most Beautiful, Ugliest, and most Creative fruitcakes. Or, you might enjoy the team Spatula Relay race.<br /><br />Heads up!” </i><br /><br />Given this rather hostile environment, I am always surprised to see fruitcakes in stores around here at Christmas time, even though they’re pretty puny by our standards, and the flavor is not quite right. Perhaps it’s because they lack that all-important ingredient - alcohol. So 15 years ago I had to resort to baking the cake myself. At first I could find or adapt most of the ingredients for the cake by combing the aisles of my local grocery store but, in recent years, fruitcake staples such as glace (candied) fruit and peel have disappeared from the shelves and I’ve had to resort to doctoring the dried fruit and peel myself.<br /><br />Fruitcake is probably the most labor-intensive cake imaginable. I start mine early in November, with days of soaking the prepared fruit in brandy, followed by a couple of hours’ worth of assembling an arm-numbing mixture on the day, and 4 ½ hours of hovering while the cake slowly bakes. Then it’s a stiff pour of brandy (for the cake, not me!) and a good 3 hours or so for it to cool. I "feed” the cake with brandy weekly until Christmas Eve, when I wrap the cake in christmas paper and put it in pride of place under the tree with my husband’s name on it. Even though he knows he’s getting the cake I always bake and handle it when he’s not around so that the element of surprise is not completely lost.<br /><br />Where we come from Christmas Cake is not only eaten at Christmas time - the traditional cake for weddings is made from the self- same fruitcake recipe. The top layer is supposed to be kept for the first child’s christening. That’s how long this cake can last. Some people have kept fruitcake in their pantries for years, feeding it periodically before they feed it to their guests. My husband, with only a little help from the rest of us, normally polishes his cake off within a month.<br /><br />Imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that a respectable version of this cake, duly laced with alcohol, is available from an unexpected source in this country – the Trappist monks of Gethsemani:<br /><br /><i>“Since 1848, when 44 Trappist monks from the Abbey of Melleray in western France made themselves a new home in the hills of central Kentucky, Gethsemani has been a hardworking community. Supporting themselves at first by farming, the monks now depend on their mail-order sales of homemade fruitcake, cheese and bourbon fudge.<br /><br />To a Trappist, work is a form of prayer. In fact, the cycle of public prayers the monks chant seven times daily is known as the Work of God, or Opus Dei in Latin. <br /><br />Trappists also pray privately at intervals throughout the day, encountering God through the ancient monastic discipline known as lectio divina, or sacred reading.<br />The Wall Street Journal rated Gethsemani Farms fruitcake as the "best overall" in quality and value. These dense, moist and spicy cakes have a truly delicious and distinctive flavor because they're handmade with only the finest, freshest ingredients... and seasoned with fine Kentucky bourbon. Fruitcakes are delivered in<br />attractive gift boxes. We're happy to ship individual cakes to your gift list.”</i><br /><br />I have dutifully baked my husband’s Christmas gift every year that we’ve lived here, and I’m not about to stop. But if I do get lazy one year I think I’ll turn to those monks for help.<br /><br />One thing I have not yet had the courage to do is to ice the Christmas Cake. This year I’m going to give it a whirl. How difficult can it be to paint the cake with apricot glaze, cover it with a layer of rolled-out marzipan, then top the whole concoction with a flourish of Royal Icing (which I’d have to make myself)? Hmm, maybe I’ll try that next year.<br /><br />Anyway, in case anyone out there actually likes fruitcake, here is my favorite Chrismas Cake recipe - courtesy of my 1986-vintage “Cooking the South African Way” recipe book. Admittedly, this version is heavy enough to fare well in any cake tossing competition!<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TQUZXDr1xoI/AAAAAAAAAUI/M7w6E5Olp7g/s1600/scan0007.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549869999720875650" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TQUZXDr1xoI/AAAAAAAAAUI/M7w6E5Olp7g/s400/scan0007.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 156px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-9096786808512071149?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-43761092584296461472010-12-05T00:01:00.006-05:002010-12-12T13:58:27.595-05:00Slouching Toward Lachenmann: John Cage, In Silence and in Sound<div style="text-align: right;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TKalRpUl2zI/AAAAAAAAExE/1QZMmERhIsE/s1600/Cage+Experiments+in+Chance+Operations.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TKalRpUl2zI/AAAAAAAAExE/1QZMmERhIsE/s320/Cage+Experiments+in+Chance+Operations.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><i>And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,<br />Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?<br />-<a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=172062">William Butler Yeats</a><br /><br />I love John's mind, but I don't like what it thinks.<br />-<a href="http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/artist/biography?ART_ID=BOUPI">Pierre Boulez</a></i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I remember once, in my college days, going with friends to a posh art gallery in Chicago. Down the middle of the gallery floor were piles of dirt and stone. We drifted past, reaching down to touch the piles. We thought we’d come too early, that the show wasn’t yet up, and the gallery was still under construction. I’d been to Chicago’s <a href="http://www.artic.edu/aic/">Art Institute</a> many times, so I knew what art looked like, and this gallery had no art.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />The gallery matron raced toward us, her gaze severe. “Please,” she said with determined calm, “don’t touch the exhibit.” Exhibit? As we left, we wondered: How much was the gallery charging for those piles? And who would be fool enough to buy them?<br /><br />I tell you this because, as I embark upon a journey into contemporary music, that’s the metaphor for the place from which I start. I may not have bothered to go further, but for a challenge thrown down: that fellow <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Lachenmann">Lachenmann</a>, with his peculiar collection of sounds. The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/arts/music/03helmut.html">reviewers</a> give him such obeisance, yet I’ve tried to listen and understand not a jot. Why is this noisy desecration of instruments considered music?<br /><br />I’ve been advised by composer <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/10/conversation-with-composer-john-metcalf_23.html">John Metcalf</a>, however, that I don’t need to start with him:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-9553ae4b9fe55972" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v15.nonxt8.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D9553ae4b9fe55972%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329995222%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D2B3F2A8C32D3134AB4A4478E84135E52FED93454.83862FFB26F7F91B9CDD6CEA53AD21F9107967F3%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D9553ae4b9fe55972%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3D2IYI6M3Pz9gSrhX3PKSuv8FuHpg&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v15.nonxt8.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D9553ae4b9fe55972%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329995222%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D2B3F2A8C32D3134AB4A4478E84135E52FED93454.83862FFB26F7F91B9CDD6CEA53AD21F9107967F3%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D9553ae4b9fe55972%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3D2IYI6M3Pz9gSrhX3PKSuv8FuHpg&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object></div>I’m only too happy to comply. Instead, my exploration of contemporary music will start with John Cage. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>A college classmate of mine was <a href="http://www.radicalphilosophy.com/default.asp?channel_id=2191&editorial_id=11226">Norman O. Brown</a>’s daughter, and, out of that, she’d met John Cage. She told me about Cage’s composition<i> <a href="http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/4-33/">4’33”</a></i>, now famous, in which the performer sat down at a piano for four minutes and thirty-three seconds and played not a single note. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Just like the piles of dirt and stones, it seemed ridiculous to me. I decided then and there that Cage was a charlatan, and left it at that. But more recently I fell upon this from <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/alex-ross.html">Alex Ross</a>, and it required me to think about Cage, and particularly <i>4’33”</i>, anew: <br /><blockquote>The music was the sound of the surrounding space. It was at once a head-spinning philosophical statement and a Zen-like ritual of contemplation. It was a piece that anyone could have written, as skeptics never failed to point out, but, as Cage seldom failed to respond, no one did.</blockquote>Cage’s venture into composing didn’t have a promising start: <br /><blockquote>I certainly had no feeling for harmony, and <a href="http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=1390">Schoenberg</a> thought that that would make it impossible for me to write music. He said "You’ll come to a wall you won’t be able to get through." So I said, "I’ll beat my head against that wall."</blockquote>Cage also said, “I don’t have an ear for music, and I don’t hear music in my mind before I write it. And I never have. I can’t remember a melody.”<br /><br />It’s hard to imagine wanting to be a composer without possessing what seem to be the most rudimentary elements of musical sense. But there may have been something Cage possessed that no one else did. <a href="http://www.newalbion.com/artists/harrisonl/">Lou Harrison</a>, a fellow composer, provides a clue. Of avant-garde music, he said, “I regard the so-called avant-garde as a research and development section of a bigger enterprise, which is the whole world of music.”<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TKakruCjO1I/AAAAAAAAExA/7_RWAtmjaqo/s1600/Cage+Prepared+Piano.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TKakruCjO1I/AAAAAAAAExA/7_RWAtmjaqo/s200/Cage+Prepared+Piano.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Cage’s father was an inventor, and it was from this that Cage may have taken his compositional cue. Cage’s father invented an early submarine. An invention for which Cage is remembered is the “prepared piano.” As described by Alex Ross:<br /><blockquote>The prepared piano, his most famous invention, never fails to surprise listeners expecting to be battered by some unholy racket; the preparation process, involving the insertion of bolts, screws, coins, pieces of wood and felt, and other objects between the strings, is conceptually violent, but the sounds themselves are innately sweet.</blockquote>Cage experimented with everything—with time, with space, with sound—and with silence. Anyone would have to appreciate his desire “to compose a piece of uninterrupted silence and sell it to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_music">Muzak Co</a>.” The piece he envisioned, <i>Silent Prayer</i>, <br /><blockquote>was to be an attempt to break through the din of mid-century American culture, a way of establishing a foothold for silence in the offices, shopping centers, and elevators of America, and to present the beauty that comes out of stillness.</blockquote>From silence, Cage ventured deep into the territory of chance, moving from “nonintentional” music “produced by chance,” but “fixed as a piece of music thereafter,” to “indeterminate” music, where “no two performances of the same piece will ever be exactly alike.” He used pieces of <a href="http://www.johncage.info/workscage/landscape5.html">magnetic tape</a> and <a href="http://www.johncage.info/workscage/landscape4.html">radios</a> as instruments; he based compositions on consultation with the <i><a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/ich/index.htm">I Ching</a></i>. He proceeded from the belief that music was to be found everywhere: from the sound of a <a href="http://www.johncage.info/workscage/waterwalk.html">goose whistle and a pressure cooker releasing steam</a> to the traffic outside his apartment window. <br /><br />I seem to want something more <i>intentional</i> from a composer: affirmatively chosen melody, harmony, and rhythm are what I yearn to hear. While Cage’s inventiveness is interesting to read about, it’s often hard to get my ears around the results. I suppose, as Metcalf said of Lachenmann, I’ll need to work up to that. <br /><br />For now, I’m left to wonder whether, as Cage couldn’t hold a melody in his head or grasp harmony, did he make any music I’d want to hear? The answer is he did: the captivating rhythms in <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonatas_and_Interludes">Sonata No. 5 for Prepared Piano</a></i>, the eerily meditative <a href="http://www.moderecords.com/catalog/027cage.html"><i>String Quartet in Four Parts</i></a>, and the evocative music for the <a href="http://www.merce.org/about/biography.php">Merce Cunningham</a> ballet, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seasons_%28Cage%29"><i>The Seasons</i></a>.<br /><br />And there is also the appeal of Cage himself. Here he is talking about his macrobiotic diet (as you listen, note the title—twenty-seven sounds manufactured in a kitchen—vintage Cage):<br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mGrhL49-YQw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mGrhL49-YQw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br />I ask you, who could fail to be charmed?<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br /><i>--For <a href="http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/09/conversation-with-composer-john-metcalf.html">John Metcalf</a>, who opened the door.</i></div><br /><i>A campaign called "<a href="http://www.catm.co.uk/">Cage Against the Machine</a>" is going on in the UK to take Cage's 4'33" to the top of the charts for Christmas. All proceeds will go to charity. Here's a teaser from the story in the Guardian December 6: </i><br /><blockquote><i>Famous as it may be, winning the Christmas No 1 remains an uphill battle. First of all, there is The X Factor to contend with. Ladbrokes is offering odds of just 8-1 that John Cage will take the top spot. But the greater enemy, the movement that could split the anti-Cowell vote right down the middle, is a campaign that has gathered 600,000 supporters to Cage Against the Machine's 60,000. Will the ridiculous 1963 single Surfin' Bird be the Cage conceptualists' undoing?</i></blockquote><i>You can read the whole story <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/06/cage-against-machine-x-factor">here</a>.</i><br /><br /><i>A wonderful article about John Cage by Alex Ross can be found in the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_ross">October 4, 2010, edition of The New Yorker</a>. A New York Times review by <a href="http://www.earbox.com/biography.html">John Adams</a> of a new biography of Cage can be found <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/books/review/Adams-t.html?ref=review">here</a>. An excellent place to start for further exploration of Cage and his music can be found <a href="http://www.instantencore.com/contributor/contributor.aspx?CId=5002743">here</a>.</i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>David Greilsammer playing Sonata No. 5</i></div><object height="308" width="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DiXS2WnlfSE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DiXS2WnlfSE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="385" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>The image at the beginning of the article can be found <a href="http://www.impetustoanalysis.com/2010/04/509/">here</a>. </i><br /><i> </i><br /><i>Sources for Quotations:</i><br /><i> </i><br /><i>"<a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/noise/">The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century</a>," by Alex Ross.</i><br /><i>"<a href="http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/dacapo/book_detail.jsp?isbn=0306808935">Talking Music</a>," by <a href="http://www.billduckworth.com/bio">William Duckworth</a> (Cage-no ear for melody; Lou Harrison-non-intentional/indeterminate).</i><br /><i> "<a href="http://www.rosewhitemusic.com/cage/texts/WhatSilenceTaughtCage.html">What Silence Taught John Cage</a>," by James Pritchett (Muzak/Silent Prayer).</i><br /><i>Cage's quotation about Schoenberg and harmony can be found in multiple sources.</i><br /><i>Boulez's quotation can be found in "<a href="http://solomonsmusic.net/4min33se.htm">The Sounds of Silence</a>," by Larry Solomon.</i><br /><i> </i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-4376109258429646147?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-34609374917079764972010-11-28T08:00:00.001-05:002010-12-05T00:10:01.279-05:00The Real Santa<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TPG5scFMTuI/AAAAAAAAARw/IgUNBgC3Zv4/s1600/images.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544416789373144802" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TPG5scFMTuI/AAAAAAAAARw/IgUNBgC3Zv4/s320/images.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 192px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 263px;" /></a><br />Last week's newspaper came with an unusual sticker affixed to it. It advertised a local mall's "<a href="http://www.santasfastpass.com/mview/398/willow-grove-park?utm_source=studio_link&utm_medium=small_ad&utm_campaign=willow-grove-park">Fast Pass</a>" to Santa. Apparently parents can now go to a website, purchase a photo package and then print out a Fast Pass which enables them to "<span style="font-style: italic;">bypass the regular line and hop onto our faster VIP line</span>" to visit Santa.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TPG5FiAwBRI/AAAAAAAAARY/EeMoGqLkYkE/s1600/fastpass.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544416120950228242" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TPG5FiAwBRI/AAAAAAAAARY/EeMoGqLkYkE/s320/fastpass.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 84px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 243px;" /></a><br /><br />Ho! Ho! Ho!<br /><br />I can't help but feel that this reduces a child's visit to the Jolly Old Elf to just another consumer transaction. Americans today (and I think it's mostly Americans) are so used to instant gratification that they can't even teach their kids how to wait 10 or 15 minutes for something. They miss the opportunity to stand in a short line and talk about what they're going to say to Santa, watch all the other little kids climb on his lap, and generally savor the anticipation of meeting the big man himself.<br /><br />The Fast Pass, right down to its Disney-fied name, promotes the notion that a child's visit to Kris Kringle is just another item to be crossed off on the huge December To-Do list. It creates an image of harried parents corralling their offspring in the minivan and racing to the mall to get there at the appointed time for a meet-and-greet with Santa, before hurrying through the rest of the mall to pick up the "Must-Have" gifts, without which retailers tell them no holiday is complete.<br /><br />The Fast Pass creates no memories, no enchanted feelings of the season of anticipation. There is no opportunity for a serendipitous encounter with something magical. In a Fast Pass experience, my family never would have realized we met the Real Santa.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TPG5OPsLfeI/AAAAAAAAARg/cG0HlcQrwBI/s1600/ryan%2Bsanta.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544416270650932706" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TPG5OPsLfeI/AAAAAAAAARg/cG0HlcQrwBI/s320/ryan%2Bsanta.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 211px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />I'll explain.<br /><br />For us, the Christmas season always included a trip to see Santa on my son's birthday, which falls in December. We'd venture out to <a href="http://www.kingofprussiamall.com/">King of Prussia</a>, home of the East Coast's largest shopping mall, because it always had a wonderful Santa and beautiful displays. Santa had a real white beard and white hair, with a luxurious plush red outfit. He'd always take his time with the little ones, and parents could bring their own cameras to take photos with Santa. We have photos of him over a seven year span.<br /><br />One year we wandered up to Santa's chair just as he was leaving "to feed his reindeer." Santa told my son that he would be back in an hour to talk to him. "That's fine," I said," Today is Ryan's birthday so we'll go out to dinner and then come back to see you." And off we went, with Ryan still clutching his handwritten wish list.<br /><br />An hour or so later we joined the short line to see Kris Kringle. When it was time for our son to climb up on his lap, Santa called out, without skipping a beat, "Come on up, Ryan, and tell me what you want for Christmas!"<br /><br />My husband and I looked at each other - "he's the real Santa!" I mouthed. We were so surprised that we forgot to remind Ryan to bring back his Christmas list when he was finished his visit. Not to worry, the real Santa managed to surreptitiously pass it to my husband before we left. (Just in case he wasn't, you know, the real Santa.) That memory of Santa calling Ryan by name is one we recall year after year, always with a smile. No Fast Pass necessary.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TPG5UMLyJiI/AAAAAAAAARo/3JJ3W9Z8rBI/s1600/Santa%2Bkids_0001.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544416372788962850" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TPG5UMLyJiI/AAAAAAAAARo/3JJ3W9Z8rBI/s320/Santa%2Bkids_0001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 214px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-3460937491707976497?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-40217163975494382632010-11-21T22:14:00.004-05:002010-11-28T10:27:35.385-05:00Thanksgiving In South Africa<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TOnh5xEXmJI/AAAAAAAAATQ/kwClSkRFU8A/s1600/sathanksgiving.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542209198996560018" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TOnh5xEXmJI/AAAAAAAAATQ/kwClSkRFU8A/s400/sathanksgiving.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br />South Africans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, nor do we have an equivalent to this uniquely American tradition.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />I’ve been privileged to experience Thanksgiving with family and friends for each of the fourteen years that I’ve lived in America. This year, we’re in South Africa. I feel oddly disoriented.<br /><br />It seems strange to be surrounded by Christmas trees and all things Christmas this early in November, as the country gears up for the holidays. It’s as though a crucial step has been skipped. I want to let everybody know what they’re missing. I want to say that Thanksgiving is a wonderful way to prepare for December and the end of another year; whether we celebrate Christmas or not. I want to explain how, every year on the fourth Thursday of November, Americans join together around bountiful tables to share a meal of Turkey with all the trimmings, celebrating their ties to people they love and giving thanks for their blessings - without the stresses and strains brought on by excessive commercialization.<br /><br />Christmas is big in South Africa - the major celebration of the year, in this predominantly Christian country. Here, November is merely a warm-up in the race to Christmas and the New Year. Without the grace note of Thanksgiving, it’s a dizzyingly fast course.<br /><br />With the zeal of a convert, I want to spread the message of Thanksgiving far and wide: We all have something to be thankful for, we all deserve the opportunity to celebrate our gratitude together with all of our fellow countrymen, in an atmosphere of tolerance and goodwill. What better way to do this than with a national holiday like Thanksgiving?<br /><br />May we all experience such a hopeful tradition.<br /><br />Thanksgiving, as we know it today, could be one of America’s best gifts to the world.<br /><br /><i>Postscript: This post first appeared November 21, 2009. </i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-4021716397549438263?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Carol-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390714553925368818noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-23534365520591915362010-11-16T09:34:00.038-05:002011-01-29T00:16:10.999-05:00"Only Connect!"<div style="text-align: right;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TN_soAPCGuI/AAAAAAAAE1A/Aoi9sv1HY3A/s1600/Kandinsky+Transverse+Line.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TN_soAPCGuI/AAAAAAAAE1A/Aoi9sv1HY3A/s320/Kandinsky+Transverse+Line.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted . . .</i></div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-E. M. Forster, Howard’s End</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Music is my optimal language, and I want it to express my world.</i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i> -Dylan Mattingly, Composer</i></div><br />In 2006, a group of teenage musicians in California called <a href="http://www.formerlyknownasclassical.com/">Formerly Known As Classical</a> presented a program of classical music that had been written “Since We’ve Been Born.” That meant 1989, and the program they came up with was this:<br /><br />Hallelujah Junction (1996) by John Adams<br />Nickelcurve (2005) by Preben Antonsen<br />Sonata for Lou Harrison (2004) by Matthew Cmiel<br />Of A Summer Evening (1988) by David Conte<br />Last Round (1996) by Osvaldo Golijov<br />Cantos Desiertos (1993) by Terry Riley<br /><br />I knew the names of only two of the composers: <a href="http://www.earbox.com/biography.html">John Adams</a>, who by that year was almost in his dotage, having reached the ripe old age of 59, and <a href="http://terryriley.net/">Terry Riley</a>, who, at 71, was even older. The others were unknown to me: though Conte and Golijov were younger, they were well into middle age. Antonsen and Cmiel are both quite young.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />A few months ago, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=112067485476946&topic=15">Antonsen proclaimed</a> that he was ready to give up:<br /><blockquote>Here’s an obvious but inconvenient truth: the contemporary classical music world is absolutely tiny. Our market share looks like a decimal error, and even many of our listeners are reluctant converts from Brahms and Beethoven.</blockquote>He has a point. The convention about those who listen to classical music is we’re a graying audience that confines itself to Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, perhaps straying into Brahms from time to time. And many people don’t listen to classical music at all. <br /><br />I suspect there are a lot of us who feel the same pull backward when it comes to books. I’ve lost count of the contemporary works of fiction I’ve put down unfinished to go in search of the “real deal”: a nineteenth century novel.<br /><br />Yet it’s a shame. As I begin to venture into contemporary classical music, I’ve discovered that, whether I comprehend a piece or not, it’s often thrilling to go to live performances of compositions written more or less in real time. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TN8sOR7PB_I/AAAAAAAAE0w/IBKvS8dLLXk/s1600/ElliotCarter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TN8sOR7PB_I/AAAAAAAAE0w/IBKvS8dLLXk/s200/ElliotCarter.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>I’ll always remember going to a recital by the pianist <a href="http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/artist/biography?ART_ID=AIMPI">Pierre-Laurent Aimard</a>. The program was called "Carter in Context," featuring several pieces by <a href="http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=236">Elliott Carter</a>, a composer still among us who'd reached the estimable age of 100 the year before. What drew me wasn't Carter, whose music I didn't know, but the "context," which was Bach’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Fugue"><i>Art of the Fugue</i></a>.<br /><br />I made little sense of the Carter pieces, but I was enthralled watching Aimard go at them with such zest. And, at the end of the concert, Aimard beckoned to someone in the audience. It was Carter, who came on stage to much applause. There was magic in that I’m not really able to explain.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TN8sVmgYQKI/AAAAAAAAE00/QSaUYYyw5BY/s1600/Mattingly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TN8sVmgYQKI/AAAAAAAAE00/QSaUYYyw5BY/s200/Mattingly.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Along with Antonsen, <a href="http://www.dylanmattingly.com/Site/Home.html">Dylan Mattingly</a> is another young composer who was part of that San Francisco group. Now he’s here in the Hudson Valley and, along with composing and performing, he’s co-artistic director, with <a href="http://www.instantencore.com/contributor/contributor.aspx?CId=5135677">David Bloom</a>, of an ensemble called <a href="http://www.contemporaneous.org/About/About"><i>contemporaneous</i></a>. Like Antonsen, he’s frustrated by the unwillingness of many people to listen to something new, but he refuses to hoist the white flag just yet:<br /><blockquote>Music has the ability to connect people like few other things, and the music that we listen to is the music which we best understand. Some people will tell you that they identify more with Mozart than with anyone else. And that’s fine—if it’s true. But I challenge you, anyone reading this who is afraid of any of the thousands of strands of new music that exist today, anyone who settles for Beethoven (because what could be better?), or who doesn’t listen to anything without words (because it’s boring and quiet), or who assumes that what you listen to is what you like: make an effort to listen to as much new music as possible, listen to it loud (because music is meant to be heard!), and listen to it multiple times. Some of it you will hate. But there are some works which you will find indescribably beautiful, being produced all over the world, all the time, which are so much more meaningful because they describe a time and place to which we can relate.</blockquote>I think of all the aspiring writers cranking out poetry and prose, trying to find an audience among a smaller and smaller band of people who read books, and burning with the same passion as Mattingly, Bloom, and others like them to make something new. The only difference, really, is the choice of palette: one dreams in words, the other in sounds.<br /><br /><a href="http://withinthenoise.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/don%E2%80%99t-just-find-inspiration-abuse-inspiration/">Scott Barnebey</a>, a young composer in Pennsylvania, writes about finding musical inspiration by means any writer or poet will recognize:<br /><blockquote>I enjoyed my professor’s examples of how he would sometimes find inspiration. He had, among other domestic animals, a love for fish. He would stare for hours at his fish tank, which sat atop his living room counter. He loved coming home after a long day and watching the fish swim up, down, and all around. . . . he would stare at the fish tank because he found something more in there beyond the Platys and the Guppies – he found inspiration.</blockquote>Can there be anyone who’s ever tried to grab hold of an idea who isn’t familiar with that sort of inspirational technique?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TN8sbgzqCWI/AAAAAAAAE04/fN_eWDKd_OY/s1600/mazzoli2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="103" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TN8sbgzqCWI/AAAAAAAAE04/fN_eWDKd_OY/s200/mazzoli2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Another young composer, <a href="http://www.missymazzoli.com/">Missy Mazzoli</a>, whose music <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/arts/music/02missy.html?_r=1">Steve Smith</a>, a reviewer for the <i>New York Times</i>, describes as “a swirling current beneath a smooth surface,” finds comfort in embracing a <i>life</i> in music, not just a career. Happily, it appears she’s finding both. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/arts/music/20steve.html">As Smith wrote last year</a>:<br /><blockquote>I do not consider myself prone to rash prognostications. But on a chance sighting in the Metropolitan Opera House lobby last month, I could not resist pulling out my cellphone for a quick <i>Twitter</i> post: “I’ve spotted Missy Mazzoli at the Met for ‘<a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/production.aspx?id=10625">House of the Dead</a>.’ One day I’ll be here to hear her. Bank on it.”</blockquote>Yet another young composer, <a href="http://www.masonicelectronica.com/">Mason Bates</a>, “<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/04/16/070416on_ross">leads a double life as a composer and a d.j.</a>,” to exuberant effect. As <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2007/04/16/070416crmu_music_ross#ixzz15BJOmSml">Alex Ross</a> alerts us:<br /><blockquote>An exceptionally vital group of young composers is driving the proliferation of new music. As they pontificate on blogs and Web sites such as <a href="http://www.sequenza21.com/"><i>Sequenza21</i></a> and <a href="http://newmusicbox.org/"><i>NewMusicBox</i></a>, distribute music via <i>MySpace</i> pages and Internet radio, and post flyers for their shows, they act for all the world like unsigned rockers trying to make it in the city.</blockquote>Just as writers need readers, composers need listeners to bring their works fully to life. As listeners, we’re not required to become musicologists or to like everything we hear. We need only to open our ears. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-In remembrance of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/arts/music/13gorecki.html?ref=obituaries">Henryk Górecki</a> (1933-2010) </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br /><a href="http://www.contemporaneous.org/Events/BreakingSoundBarriers">contemporaneous at the Hudson Opera House</a> November 14, 2010 (a montage):<br /><br /><object height="270" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/F6OILWj0cds?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/F6OILWj0cds?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="448" height="270"></embed></object><br /><br />Missy Mazzoli and her ensemble <i>Victoire</i> play <i>A Song for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Russell_%28musician%29">Arthur Russell</a></i>:<br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aAm8krC28MY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aAm8krC28MY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object> <br /><br />Mason Bates and the <i>YouTube Symphony Orchestra</i> play <i>Warehouse Medicine</i>:<br /><br /><object height="270" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/n4tJKh__fak?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n4tJKh__fak?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="448" height="270"></embed></object><br /><br />Missy Mazzoli talks about making a life in music:<br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-q60V68Zmvk?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-q60V68Zmvk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br /><b>Listening List</b><br /><br />Jesse Brown: <a href="http://www.myspace.com/jessebrowncomposer/music/songs/through-the-motions-66847845"><i>Through the Motions</i></a><br /><br /><div><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="songId=66847845&pid=-8451071837743117320" height="77" id="FlashDiv" quality="high" src="http://lads.myspace.com/Embeds/SongEmbed/SongEmbed.swf" style="display: inline;" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed></div><br /><i> Video of contemporaneous playing Through the Motions (first part) </i><br /><br /><object height="270" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/J_-qMK82EFY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/J_-qMK82EFY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="448" height="270"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>Video of contemporaneous playing </i><i>Through the Motions (second part)</i> <br /><br /><object height="270" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mPrwt7ftdtY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mPrwt7ftdtY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="448" height="270"></embed></object><br /><br />Matthew Cmiel: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6bjgP4oMq8"><i>Their Darkest Longing</i></a><br /><br /><object height="308" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H6bjgP4oMq8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H6bjgP4oMq8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="308"></embed></object><br /><br />Aaron Grad: <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/project-440/2010/jun/15/aaron-grad-program/"><i>The Aeolian Harp</i></a><br /><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/66994/&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/66994/" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br />Judd Greenstein: <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/project-440/2010/jun/15/judd-greenstein/"><i>The Night Gatherers</i></a> <i>(excerpt)</i><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67557/&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67557/" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br />Yotam Haber: <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/project-440/2010/jun/15/yotam-haber/"><i>Espresso</i></a><br /><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67620/&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67620/" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br />Paula Matthusen: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5574060146103839230&postID=2353436552059191536"><i> </i></a><i><a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/project-440/2010/jun/15/paula-matthusen/">but because without this</a></i> <i>(excerpt) </i><br /><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67588/&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67588/" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br />Dylan Mattingly: <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/project-440/2010/jun/15/dylan-mattingly/"><i>Homeward Angel</i></a> <i>(excerpt) (the title is taken from the poem <a href="http://www.bigbridge.org/issue5/po_matt.htm">Homeward Angel</a>, by his father, George Mattingly)</i><br /><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://audio.wnyc.org/project/project440_dylanmattingly_homeward.mp3&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http%3A//audio.wnyc.org/project/project440_dylanmattingly_homeward.mp3" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br />Missy Mazzoli: <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/project-440/2010/jun/15/missy-mazzoli-program/"><i>These Worlds in Us</i></a><i> (excerpt)</i><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/66344/&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/66344/" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br />Polina Nazaykinskaya: <i><a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/project-440/2010/jun/15/polina-nazaykinskaya/">Konzerto for A</a> (excerpt)</i><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67584/&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67584/" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br />Cynthia Wong: <i><a href="http://www.wqxr.org/articles/project-440/2010/jun/15/cynthia-wong-program/">Three Portraits</a> (excerpt)</i><br /><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67046/&repeat=list&autostart=false&popurl=http://www.wqxr.org/audio/xspf/67046/" height="29" quality="high" src="http://www.wqxr.org/media/audioplayer/blue_progress_player_no_pop.swf" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed><script type="text/javascript">(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();</script><br /><br /><i>The image at the head of the post is Kandinsky's Transverse Line.</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-2353436552059191536?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-23244197787697056862010-11-11T06:00:00.001-05:002010-11-16T09:59:27.542-05:00Oh What a Night<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TNtE9TCelbI/AAAAAAAAARI/2HWWQgNViI4/s1600/images.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538095986655532466" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TNtE9TCelbI/AAAAAAAAARI/2HWWQgNViI4/s320/images.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 196px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 179px;" /></a><br />The sign in the lobby said, "This show contains strobe lighting, gunfire, and profane authentic Jersey language," so I knew I was in for a good time when I arrived at <a href="http://www.forrest-theatre.com/">Philadelphia's Forrest Theatre</a> for a production of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jersey Boys</span>.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jersey Boys</span> tells the story of the rise and fall (and rise) of the singing group <span style="font-style: italic;">The Four Seasons</span>. Tommy DeVito a musician from Belleville, New Jersey, formed several different bands in the 50's, all of which were unsuccessful. He and his various bandmates were Italian-American blue collar kids from central Jersey who dabbled in gambling and petty crimes before making it big. In 1965 they added Frank Castelluccio, then apprenticing as a barber, to the group. Castelluccio quickly changed his name to Frankie Valli ("Valli with an I, a vowel on the end, 'cause you're Italian!") and joined DeVito, Nick Massi, and Bob Gaudio as the fourth member of the newly christened Four Seasons.<br /><br />Over the next years, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Four Seasons</span> had several #1 hits and appeared on American Bandstand. They continued to dominate the charts in the early 60s, the Beach Boys being their only real American competition.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TNtExlFMN7I/AAAAAAAAARA/fY8SHRo5BEo/s1600/images.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538095785340319666" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TNtExlFMN7I/AAAAAAAAARA/fY8SHRo5BEo/s320/images.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 223px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 226px;" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Four Seasons</span> music highlighted Frankie Valli's impressive falsetto voice in its pop hits like "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry." Indeed, these hits and a string of others are featured during the rollicking two hour show. (The Playbill helpfully lists "The Ones That Got Away" - <span style="font-style: italic;">The Four Seasons</span> hits that didn't make it into the show - just to reinforce the achievements of the group). It is remarkable that producers have been able to find a string of actors who can replicate Valli's falsetto - and who are also very short. (Valli's small stature is well-known and is mentioned in the dialogue of the show.)<br /><br />The musical is structured like a documentary of the group's rise to fame. It is divided into four parts, labeled Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, naturally, and corresponding to DeVito, Gaudio, Massi, and Valli. The set is rather spare, with smaller props and pieces gliding quickly in and out when they are needed for a song or story. The supporting cast members all play multiple parts, and they too seem to glide in and out of scenes in countless different costumes. There is no orchestra in the pit - the musicians actually appear on stage as part of the production, and in some cases the actors play guitar in character as well.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TNtEfE3hnQI/AAAAAAAAAQw/--L_rQo5PXY/s1600/images.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538095467455421698" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TNtEfE3hnQI/AAAAAAAAAQw/--L_rQo5PXY/s320/images.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 182px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 277px;" /></a><br />The national touring company leads of Matt Bailey (Tommy DeVito), Steve Gouveia (Nick Massi), Quinn VanAntwerp (Bob Gaudio), and Joseph Leo Bwarie (Frankie Valli) have been together for months on the road and for the most part, they make the audience believe it's watching and listening to the real <span style="font-style: italic;">Four Seasons</span>. Quinn VanAntwerp, however, will never look like an Italian street kid, no matter how good his Jersey accent is and how much black hair dye he uses - he can't hide the fact that his face resembles a Hummel figurine . This is just a minor complaint though, his singing and acting were top-notch.<br /><br />The four leads sing and dance on all the big <span style="font-style: italic;">Four Seasons</span> hits including "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)," "My Eyes Adored You," "Dawn (Go Away)," "Let's Hang on (To What We've Got)," and "Walk Like a Man." It's impossible not to sway along to the doo-wop rhythm of the music.<br /><br />Interestingly, on the night I attended, Courter Simmons, the understudy, played the lead role of Frankie Valli. The understudy (not the alternate actor) who usually plays a bit part in the show stepped up to the spotlight. He was so good we did not realize we were not seeing the headliner until intermission. At the end of a big medley of songs in the middle of the second act, Simmons received a huge ovation from the audience and he appeared to briefly break character, with a few extra nods of his head and a wave to the audience in appreciation for the extended applause.<br /><br />The performance I attended also was interpreted in sign language for a section of the audience. Three sign language interpreters were on the orchestra floor, stage left, and interpreted the whole show. It was fascinating to watch, especially the interpretation of the "pr<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TNtEpnu3RmI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/zBz66hJQ8Iw/s1600/images.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538095648613025378" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ke_25LnO6oU/TNtEpnu3RmI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/zBz66hJQ8Iw/s320/images.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 206px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 245px;" /></a>ofane authentic Jersey language" some signs of which I was already familiar!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jersey Boys</span> is the universal story of rags to riches for these kids. Along the way there is success, discord, friendship, and tragedy, all accompanied by snappy rhythms and soaring harmonies. It's easy to see why this show won the Tony for best musical in 2006. It's two hours of pure musical merriment and diversion from real life.<br /><br /><br /><object height="295" style="background-image: url("http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/H78l0ArPEiY/hqdefault.jpg");" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H78l0ArPEiY?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H78l0ArPEiY?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="295" width="480"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-2324419778769705686?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Wide Open Spaceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04573357176617683341noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-55878493419480341812010-11-06T07:48:00.001-04:002010-11-11T09:06:06.830-05:00A Welcome Sound<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLO2Hug2ahI/AAAAAAAAEx4/4GdF_1E0skM/s1600/7-PA039404_edited-1+%281280x960%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLO2Hug2ahI/AAAAAAAAEx4/4GdF_1E0skM/s320/7-PA039404_edited-1+%281280x960%29.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This past summer, the Hudson Valley was dry and hot. Ponds disappeared, turning beautiful vistas into tableaux of mud. Turtles abandoned a log beached in waterless ooze. Fewer insects meant fewer birds and dragonflies. A catastrophe, albeit of a minor sort when thought of against the world at large.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLO2yxdS6-I/AAAAAAAAEyI/RnltAG64W_g/s1600/4-P9199267+%281280x960%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLO2yxdS6-I/AAAAAAAAEyI/RnltAG64W_g/s200/4-P9199267+%281280x960%29.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>On the lake at <a href="http://www.innisfreegarden.org/">Innisfree Garden</a>, the lotuses, once abundant, struggled upward and failed to bloom. Lily pads, lacking water on which to float, perched midair.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLn0SSYfJZI/AAAAAAAAEyM/mAPW9XkcaBc/s1600/Calendar+2011+5+P5073510_edited-2+%281280x1084%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLn0SSYfJZI/AAAAAAAAEyM/mAPW9XkcaBc/s200/Calendar+2011+5+P5073510_edited-2+%281280x1084%29.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>At <a href="http://ny.audubon.org/CentersEdu_RheinstromHill.html">Buttercup Farm</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wappinger_Creek">Wappinger Creek</a> was nearly dry, and silence trumped sound. Odd to think back to springtime, when the crossing was flooded, and we had to take the long way round. Odd, too, that, by mid-summer, the tree swallows had all but disappeared from the spot where we could count on seeing them swoop past, sometimes almost close enough to touch.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLO2Rs07XSI/AAAAAAAAEx8/t8R0FMS8-gM/s1600/8-P9199265_edited-1+%281280x821%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLO2Rs07XSI/AAAAAAAAEx8/t8R0FMS8-gM/s200/8-P9199265_edited-1+%281280x821%29.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>This fall, after two days of soaking rain, we regained the courage to set out. On the road to Innisfree, we saw the first evidence of hope: the pond had water now, and the turtles had repossessed their log. The lake had filled so much the lily pads were submerged, and a great blue heron resumed its fishing spot.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLO2bqREArI/AAAAAAAAEyA/EM4MYxyNkYM/s1600/9-PA089501_edited-1+%28954x1040%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UWoW2cVfc68/TLO2bqREArI/AAAAAAAAEyA/EM4MYxyNkYM/s200/9-PA089501_edited-1+%28954x1040%29.jpg" width="183" /></a></div>At Buttercup, yellow rumps chirped and flitted in the trees. Ducks splashed airborne at the sound of footsteps in the leaves. The hill path was alive with insects, and, best of all, the creek was running again, full tilt.<br /><br />A welcome sound.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-b060049a8c1a1f98" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v6.nonxt3.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Db060049a8c1a1f98%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329995222%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D73A8DDF6917DFD3EF6931BE1420376DE47618071.20AB8031FC0C735EAABB4B956C506F2676D0C813%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Db060049a8c1a1f98%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DumVxNSqRoe5ZDbvnFROQ42Mh2mo&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v6.nonxt3.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Db060049a8c1a1f98%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1329995222%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D73A8DDF6917DFD3EF6931BE1420376DE47618071.20AB8031FC0C735EAABB4B956C506F2676D0C813%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Db060049a8c1a1f98%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DumVxNSqRoe5ZDbvnFROQ42Mh2mo&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5574060146103839230-5587849341948034181?l=rainingacorns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Raining Acornshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574060146103839230.post-37032615323643918502010-11-01T08:29:00.021-04:002010-11-06T07:50:46.185-04:00Here Today, Gone Tomorrow<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM7CO40x2zI/AAAAAAAAASg/oyRDclkI7K4/s1600/Chalk+festival+3+032.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534574553112632114" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM7CO40x2zI/AAAAAAAAASg/oyRDclkI7K4/s400/Chalk+festival+3+032.JPG" style="display: block; height: 280px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />Street painting originated in Europe in the 16th Century, when artists known as “I Madonnari” created images of the Madonna on street surfaces in exchange for bread and olive oil. Modern day “Madonnari” continue this artistic tradition by creating fine art with chalk as their medium and the street surface as their canvas.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM6-roaFiXI/AAAAAAAAASA/BFrMPl7bU-g/s1600/chalk+art+festival+019.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534570648875403634" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM6-roaFiXI/AAAAAAAAASA/BFrMPl7bU-g/s400/chalk+art+festival+019.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />On the 30th and 31st of October 2010, the third annual <a href="http://www.chalkfestival.com/">Sarasota Chalk Festival</a> (billed as the first international street-painting festival in the United States) was held in downtown Sarasota. Over 250 street painters from Mexico, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, the Netherlands and the United States donated their artistic services, while local sponsors provided travel and lodging in exchange. This year’s theme was "Halloween".<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM6_DDroFlI/AAAAAAAAASI/nqwSHrXGleU/s1600/Chalk+festival+3+046.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534571051333719634" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM6_DDroFlI/AAAAAAAAASI/nqwSHrXGleU/s400/Chalk+festival+3+046.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />The featured artist at the festival was <a href="http://www.metanamorph.com/">Edgar Mueller </a>, from Germany. Mueller is known as a master of 3D pavement art who has worked all over the world - this was his first work in the United States. Titled “Save Me!” the latest dual piece in Mueller's "Unconditional Love" series depicted a giant climbing out of a “crater” on a 70 x 82 foot section of the street. The piece contained a second hidden painting of a baby that could only be seen at night. The painting-within-a painting was drawn with a type of phosphorescent chalk that allowed it to emerge in the dark when the main picture faded out. Mueller and two assistants arrived in Sarasota on the 25th of October to start working night and day on this giant piece of street art. His installation drew record crowds who could be seen lining up during the festival to view his artwork through a specially mounted fish eye lens.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM7FXev1V8I/AAAAAAAAAS4/nzpD74pmgOs/s1600/chalk+festival+2+006.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534577999266273218" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM7FXev1V8I/AAAAAAAAAS4/nzpD74pmgOs/s400/chalk+festival+2+006.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />The festival incorporated a large "Little Chalkers" section for children to try their hand at street chalking. Each of the professional Madonnari and artists took turns to guide and work alongside the children - it looked like fun for all on this blacktop blackboard.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM6_bA8fzwI/AAAAAAAAASQ/FRaObTehLeg/s1600/chalk+art+festival+002.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534571462916034306" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM6_bA8fzwI/AAAAAAAAASQ/FRaObTehLeg/s400/chalk+art+festival+002.JPG" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br />Street painting is not just fine art, it’s performance art too - watching the artists at work was most entertaining. Some used a grid to guide them, while others sketched free hand. Either way, the results were astonishingly lovely.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w0JfuJM67zY/TM6-QsKCxlI/AAAAAAAAAR4/9bcsbULHf-M/s1600/Chalk+f