15 July 2008
Favourite Funeral Music
Looking for music for your memorial service? Check out these ideas, which include the Monty Python song, 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'; Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem (Kempe or Klemperer versions, 79 minutes long); Bach's 'Sleepers Awake;' Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy;' Gillian Welch's 'I Dream A Highway;' Crash Test Dummies' 'At My Funeral;' requiems of Verdi, Faure, and Mozart; AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' ...
(My list includes, at the moment, Louis Armstrong's 'What A Wonderful World,' Kate Smith's 'I'll Be Seeing You,' and either Ella's or Bobby Short's 'They Can’t Take That Away from Me')
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29 February 2008
EmoMusic
Tagging along to Belle Lettre at Law and Letters' list of music she listens to "in order to exaggerate a certain emotion," which in her case consists of country and jazz (esp. for music of longing), here's a first stab at mine. What are yours?
(I can't vouch for the YouTube videos -- I'm including most of them for the audio performances)
Wallowing, Despondent
Unbreak My Heart - Toni Braxton
Pills - The Perishers with Sarah McLachlan
Leave Me Be - Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Damn Crazy - disappear fear
Somebody Already Broke My Heart - Sade
Quickly Enough - Scissor Sisters
Still Within the Sound of My Voice - Linda Ronstadt
Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
Seven Year Ache - Rosanne Cash
What You Didn't Say - Mary Chapin Carpenter
Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen
Bursting with Happiness
While You See A Chance - Steve Winwood (my favourite song to wake up to)
Life - Des'ree (the lyrics may not be much but the music is so happy)
The Lucky One - Alison Krauss and Union Station
It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere - Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet
La Danse de la Vie - Beausoleil
Quelle Belle Vie - Beausoleil
Defiant
Don't Turn Around - Ace of Base
Hard Way - Mary Chapin Carpenter
You Win Again - Mary Chapin Carpenter
Headstrong - 10,000 Maniacs
I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Longing: Nostalgic
Sweet Virginia Breeze - Robbin Thompson
Southland in the Springtime - Indigo Girls (video is only a clip)
Come On, Come On - Mary Chapin Carpenter
What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Bound By the Beauty - Jane Siberry
Theme from A Summer Place - Percy Faith and His Orchestra
Summertime's Calling Me - The Catalinas (starts at 3:15 on the YouTube video)
Myrtle Beach Days - Fantastic Shakers
Verdi Cries - Natalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs
Longing: Tempted
Dance Along the Edge - Concrete Blonde
Once or Twice - Holly Near
Indoor Fireworks - Elvis Costello
Deep Dark Despair
I Eat Dinner (When the Hunger's Gone) - Kate and Anna McGarrigle (clip is Rufus Wainwright, Kate's son, and Dido)
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
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27 February 2008
RIP Larry Norman, 1947-2008
Christian rocker Larry Norman died on Sunday, at age 60, of heart ailments. His music meant a lot to me when I was in college. More at Christianity Today and The Huffington Post, where Mark Joseph comments:
"Norman will be mentioned in obits as the Father of Christian Rock, but that's a misunderstanding of who he was. Someone once said 'I'm too saved for the Sinners and the Saved don't want me around' and that best described Norman's amazing life and career."
I wouldn't mind that epitaph.
His "The Great American Novel" is remarkably current, though written in 1972:
"You are far across the ocean in a war that's not your own / And while you're winning theirs, you're gonna lose the one at home. / Do you really think the only way to bring about the peace / Is to sacrifice your children and kill all your enemies? / The politicians all make speeches, while the newsmen all take notes / And they exaggerate the issues as they shove it down our throats ...."
"The Outlaw" is lovely, and it probably influenced my understanding of Jesus more than I know, though the assumption in this song and his others that leaving earth for a better life in heaven equals eternal life isn't part of my current delusion. That said, "Reader's Digest" (not on YouTube yet) is one of my favourite Norman songs. All the songs I mentioned are on the 1972 album Only Visiting This Planet, which I own, but he's actually quite prolific and has been covered by a variety of folks.
His official website, with a note on Larry's death written by his brother, Charles. Some interesting background and a tribute of sorts from Ben Anastas at Moistworks. Apparently (per CT via Wikipedia), a documentary on his life is due out this year.
16:24 Posted in death , music , pop culture , theology, spirituality, philosophy | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
26 December 2007
RIP Oscar Peterson, 15 Aug. 1925 - 23 Dec. 2007
I heard on All Things Considered Monday that great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson had died the day before, at age 82. Today Sheila Lennon at Projo offers a short list of links to mp3s, including Peterson playing The Christmas Waltz, and obits. More at NPR here and here, and at Wikipedia.
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08 November 2007
What I'm Reading: Teens, Happiness, Theology, Music, Violence, Death (the usual)
Assorted reading:
1. What teen girls are made of, in Salon: "In their own dark and funny words, four teenage girls tell us everything we need to know about sex, parents and gym class." Excerpted from Red: The Next Generation of American Writers -- Teenage Girls -- on What Fires Up Their Lives Today, edited by Amy Goldwasser (2007). Better than you think it's going to be. (If you're not a Salon subscriber, you may be asked to watch an ad or two.)
2. Two from Gretchen at The Happiness Project:
Four tips for surmounting boredom or irritation. I'm rarely bored but frequently irritated. The one that almost always works for me is: "Take the perspective of a journalist or scientist. Really study what's around you. What are people wearing, what do the interiors of buildings look like, what noises do you hear? If you bring your analytical powers to bear, you can make almost anything interesting."
What’s making you 'feel bad'? I don't think I agree with all she says here, but it seems worth thinking about: The premise is that "removing sources of bad feelings will protect your good feelings from being swamped by guilt, anger, remorse, irritation, envy, fear, anxiety, boredom, and all the rest of that awful family. ... These emotions are unpleasant, but they're VERY valuable. They're showing you what you need to change or accept. These feelings are so unpleasant, however, that we often pretend that we aren't experiencing them, or we try to ignore them. In some situations, this attitude is useful. But for this exercise, really concentrate on your negative moments."
3. What We Learn from the Dying by T.E. Holt, M.D.: A doctor shares what his patients' last moments have taught him, in Men's Health. The incidents are well-selected and well-written (i.e., made me cry).
4. Curing the Religious Disease, Part 4: A/theism by Richard Beck at Experimental Theology. Quoting from Peter Rollins in How (Not) to Speak of God: "We ought to affirm our view of God while at the same time realizing that that view is inadequate. Hence we act as both theist and atheist. This a/theistic approach is deeply deconstructive since it always prevents our ideas from scaling the throne of God. Yet it is important to bear in mind that this deconstruction is not destruction, for the questioning it engages in is not designed to undermine God but to affirm God." ... This approach is "a recognition that negation is embedded within, and permeates, all religious affirmation. It is an acknowledgment that a desert of ignorance exist in the midst of every oasis of understanding." Lots more at ET, including comparison to theologians Tillich and Barth.
5. Violence: A Micro-sociological Theory by Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution. Cowen talks about Randall Collins' new book with this title: "The main argument is that people are not as predisposed to violence as we might think. Collins cites a wide array of evidence, from military behavior in the field to, most intriguingly, video studies of the micro-expressions of violent perpetrators. People are more naturally tense and fearful, sometimes full of bluster but usually looking to avoid confrontation unless they have vastly superior numbers on their side. The prospect of violence makes people feel weak and scared. The greatest dangers of violence arises from atrocities against the weak under overwhelming conditions, ritualized violence enacted in front of supportive audiences, or clandestine terrorism or murder. ... 'Violence is not primordial, and civilization does not tame it; the opposite is much nearer the truth.'" The last line and the bit on ritualized violence in particular could be read as consistent with Girardian thought, but the idea that violence is synonymous with physical confrontation seems plain wrong. People who are fearful of confrontation may act from and cause great violence all the same, and their actions (or inactions) may even lead to physical violence down the line, where it can't be traced back to them. Think about gossip, numerous kinds of passive-aggressive behaviour, actions that derive from envy and jealousy, cruel acts disguised as kind ones, and so on.
Some of the topics sound fascinating: discussions on "the micro-dynamics of the Rape of Nanjing, how British soccer stadium designs were (but now less) conducive to violence, how demonstrations can turn into violent confrontations with the police (lines break down and micro-situations of overwhelming power arise), which children and schools are most conducive to bullying, why basketball has fewer fights than football or hockey (no padding), the dynamics of a mosh pit, and how hired assassins motivate themselves."
6. Looking for a good book? Fall Books: Slate's take on this season's books. Fiction and non-.
This one sounds promising to me: A Secular Age by Charles Taylor: "In medieval times virtually everyone in the Western world believed in God; disbelief was hard since magic appeared to be everywhere. Charles Taylor describes this earlier time as having 'the social grounded in the sacred' and "human drama unfolded within a cosmos." Today belief in God is often seen as 'optional,' most of all in Western Europe. The modern world, Taylor argues, creates an open space where people can wander spiritually. Reason has been exalted as the best road to knowledge, and thus many people choose uncertain detachment rather than commit to one particular religious worldview. Taylor's masterful integration of history, sociology, philosophy, and theology demands much of the reader."
And an engaging review of three short non-fiction titles about classical music: "The Musical Mystique: Defending classical music against its devotees," by Richard Taruskin, in The New Republic (22 October 2007). The books reviewed are Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choice and Musical Value by Julian Johnson; Classical Music, Why Bother? Hearing the World of Contemporary Culture Through a Composer's Ears by Joshua Fineberg; and Why Classical Music Still Matters by Lawrence Kramer.
18:20 Posted in books and reading , death , girardian anthropology , health and medicine , music , neuroscience, psychology, the mind , pop culture , theology, spirituality, philosophy | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Hendrix, Beethoven, Keren Ann, Coltrane, Nick Cave, Lucinda Williams ...
... and more, on crime fiction writer Peter Robinson's predictably eclectic playlist, at Paper Cuts.
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27 September 2007
Phrases in the Aether
I imagine this is true for other people too: The lyrics I hear (find salient) when I listen to music lodge in my head like pieces of a dream. They resonate and reverberate inside me, contributing to my mood, my choices, my actions, what I say and don't say; and, if you ask me what I dreamed about three days ago, or what were the words of the song I listened to yesterday, I probably can't tell you. In both cases, if you could start me off with a few lyrics, or a few images, I could give you the next line of the song, or describe the dream scene in some depth. In other words, dreams and songs are powerful for me, sometimes influencing far-reaching decisions made in a split second, and yet they feel so transient because after a very short time, they are not accessible to me by intention, only by chance. Does anyone know what I mean? (Looks like anyone who does might actually be fortunate, according to this article ...)
What I'm listening to today -- or rather, what I'm hearing today -- and won't remember (consciously) tomorrow unless I'm cued (I wonder if you could cue the unheard lyrics, too, what I listened to but didn't seem to notice ...):
------
^ "I used to live alone before I knew you"
^ "We knew all the answers and we shouted them like anthems / anxious and suspicious that God knew how much we cheated"
^ "Let him know that you know best / Cause after all you do know best / Try to slip past his defense / Without granting innocence / Lay down a list of what is wrong / The things you've told him all along / Pray to God he hears you / And pray to God he hears you"
^ "Pour me something tall and strong, make it a Hurricane before I go insane."
^ "I'm 99 for a moment / Dying for just another moment / And I'm just dreaming / Counting the ways to where you are"
^ "Everything's stuck together"
^ "Life is demanding without understanding"
^ "Hey, you're extraordinary, how come you act like such a clown?"
^ "Yes, it's been quite a summer, / rental cars and westbound trains"
^ "Felt tragic without reason / There's magic and there's malice in every season"
^ "You've got to take the edge off / if you want to get the glow"
^ "One may think we're all right / but we need pills to sleep at night / We need lies to make it through the day /We're not O.K. / One may think we're doing fine / But if I had to lay it on the line/ We're losing ground with every passing day / We're not O.K. ... / That's one thing I would never / say to you"
^ "Your voice it chased away / all the sanity in me"
^ "But it's one missed step / You'll slip before you know it / And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed / Though I've tried, I've fallen / I have sunk so low"
^ "Where's it gone, / oh where's it gone?"
^ "Just put your thoughts away / Never mind how it seems"
^ "Sometimes you say a look will cross my eyes / While we're sitting close to touch and talking / It's like my heart is saying, 'Don't go it all the way, / save that kind of feeling for another day'"
^ "To you, the next best thing to playing and winning / is playing and losing. / You're the lucky one."
^ "My occupational hazard is / my occupation's just not around"
^ "There's just too much that time cannot erase"
^ "That's what I like about you: / you really know how to dance"
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31 August 2007
Glenn Gould
If you have an interest in Glenn Gould, I recommend this article from the Toronto Star to you: "The Secret Life of Glenn Gould: Nearly 25 years after the death of perhaps the greatest piano virtuoso of the 20th century, the Star reveals a dramatically fresh portrait of the Canadian icon." Describes his relationship with a married woman (and quite a bit about her apart from him), his unusual sense of humour, his paranoid episodes, and his phobias, addictions and obsessions.
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03 July 2007
Ned Rorem's Diaries
I'm re-reading American composer Ned Rorem's diaries from Paris (1951-1955) and New York (1955-1961), after just finishing his jottings and meditations in Facing the Night (in which "Rorem finds himself alone after the death of Jim Holmes, his companion of thirty-two years. Grief-stricken, he struggles to find his way in the world, while seeing his eightieth birthday celebrated nationwide with concerts and programs befitting a celebrity.").
Alex Ross, writing about Rorem in The New Yorker in Oct. 2003, pretty well sums up my impression of Rorem, whose diaries I've been reading since I was 16:
"The oddity of Rorem's career is that ever since he made his literary début, in 1966, with Paris Diary, he has been known more for his writing than for his music. The writing has an insolence and a swagger that the music lacks. The spectacular self-absorption of the diaries -- 'A stranger asks, "Are you Ned Rorem?" I answer, "No," adding, however, that I've heard of and would like to meet him"' -- made the young Rorem famous for being famous in his mind. He was, at the same time, a pioneer of modern gay culture, speaking freely and fearlessly of his desires."
Rorem's underlying melancholy, which Ross identifies, also seems ubiquitous and sometimes verges into melodrama, the kind of superstitious melodrama I am very familiar with in my own journals, as when he predicts at age 27 that he won't live long (he's 84 now): "Perhaps I write this from fear, knowing that what is written does not occur. I feel that I shall die 'in a certain way' before I grow old; I'm not sure of it and don't want it but I feel it." His emphasis on his own aloneness, homelessness, and intactness -- "I permit people to think they are 'communicating' with me, but they aren't really " -- is also hauntingly familiar, especially as it's immediately followed by the sheer honesty of "I need their love, not their complicity." In another place, he writes: "I am never with anyone, anyone -- but nobody knows, because my barriers are made of glass." Even now, I can hear this as a comment typical of a naïve youngster, unencumbered and heedless, and yet as the truth about us all.
Reading Rorem at age 16, what pierced my soul was his brash arrogance, feigned and true impatience with the company of others, and sense of himself as superior (in looks if in nothing else), coupled with his gigantic capacity for self-reflection, oftentimes harsh and searing. In the diaries, it seems that he had, and has, nowhere to hide from his own relentless observations. Even when drunk for days, engaging in hundreds of one-night stands, in the diverting throes of falling in love, travelling to and fro, attending numerous dinner parties, and so on, he can't escape and he knows it. This reality of no-escape was something I had discovered by the time I was 10 but I had rarely heard anyone else speak so truthfully and unapologetically about it. It was and is a relief to read Rorem.
As a composer, although he's written symphonies, concerti, and string quartets, he's best known for his 'art songs,' in which he sets poems to music (including Wallace Stevens' "Sunday Morning"); as Ross says, he has an "uncanny ability to breathe notes into words while leaving a poet's thoughts intact."
Some lines that strike me so far from this reading of his Paris diary:
"One New York evening long ago, at Virgil Thomson's with Maurice Grosser and Lou Harrison, the four of us planned to dine in, and as the maid was absent, we proposed preparing the meal ourselves. So everyone bustled about. Everyone but me. I stood around inefficiently not knowing how to behave. (I've always disliked domestic cooperation.)" (Paris, 1951)
"Still, I'm capable of arguing any view or its opposite, depending on whom I'm trying to persuade what to." (Paris, 1951)
"I feel he is drawn to me, and as I consider this a weakness, I become bored." (Hyères, 1951)
"Later we had a long whimsical talk on the nature of family structure, with the kind of fresh and precipitating inspiration that comes after vomiting." (Hyères, 1951)
"Julien [Green] says that his idea of Paradise is to be alone in a room full of nothing but beautiful statues. And I, being American, quite understand the fear of all that is flesh." (Hyères, 1951)
"Last night we had a bouillabaisse which I couldn't touch because of the terror in its preparation. The secret is to throw live sea creatures into a boiling pot. And we saw a lobster who, while turning red in his death, reached out a claw to snatch and gobble a dying crab. Thus in this hot stew of the near-dead and burning, one expiring fish swallows another expiring fish while the cook sprinkles saffron onto the squirming." (Hyères, 1951)
"Being myself a coward, a cheat, a weak-kneed opportunist, stingy and dishonest -- I despise these things. Yet I have scant respect for courage and find that nine times out of ten it's the result of dullness or vanity." (Hyères, 1951)
"When I was younger, I was scared by my loss of conversation at a party; that is still why I drink; though I find that if I begin discussing crime everyone becomes interested." (Fez, Morocco, 1951)
He describes someone as "depressing all the same, since he would like to save the world, and this is something I generally try not to think about." (Paris, 1951)
"My passivity was always stronger than other people's aggression." (Marrakech, Morocco, 1952)
"I suppose this is why I keep a diary (or let myself by painted, fornicated, led into foreign countries). Fear of being forgotten is so compulsive I'd like to be remembered for each time I go to the bathroom, and I'd even prefer not to go alone." (Paris, 1952)
"I'll always be the prodigal son as long as I live away from America, and landmarks, any arms I find along the way, are just substitute's for Father's. Unfortunately arms are a comfort only when they are being a comfort (that is the present); one cannot go about daily chores handicapped by a pair of open arms." (Paris, 1952)
"The force of a dictator (as of a saint) lies in the absence of personal libido; not caring, he can focus equally on everyone." (Germany, 1953 or 1954)
(Photo of Facing the Night book cover from official Ned Rorem website.)
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28 May 2007
Britten's WAR REQUIEM
It seems fitting on Memorial Day to remember Benjamin Britten's War Requiem (Op. 66), written in 1961 for the re-consecration of Coventry Cathedral on 30 May 1962. Coventry was destroyed on 14 Nov. 1940, the "burnt offering" of Luftwaffe bombs during that night of World War II.
Britten's War Requiem is dedicated to four friends*, all of whom fought in World War II and three of whom died or went missing in the War. The Requiem is "a profound and deeply disturbing creed, particularly notable for its juxtaposition of [nine] war poems by Wilfred Owen alongside the Catholic Mass for the Dead."
The first -- and most famous -- recording of the piece features Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya (who did not sing at the re-consecration), German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and English tenor Peter Pears (both of whom did), with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Britten, produced in 1963 on the Decca label.
The ruins of the bombed-out Coventry Cathedral are still visible through the clear glass of the Western Door of the re-built Cathedral. (Take the virtual tour and see for yourself.)
____________________
* The four friends:
>> Roger Burney, Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He was a friend of Britten's partner, the tenor Peter Pears, and a former chorister of St Paul’s Cathedral. He died aboard the French submarine Surcouf in 1942.
>> Piers Dunkerley, Captain, Royal Marines. One of Britten's closest friends. He actually survived combat, taking part in the 1944 Normandy landings. He committed suicide in June 1959, two months before his wedding.
>> David Gill, Ordinary Seaman, Royal Navy. He was killed in action in the Mediterranean.
>> Michael Halliday, Lieutenant, Royal New Zealand Volunteer Reserve. He was a friend of Britten's from prep school, reported missing early in 1944.
_____________________
All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful. -- Wilfred Owen
_____________________
SOURCES
Britten-Pears Foundation: Featured Work: War Requiem Op. 66
Inkpot #83: Classical Music Reviews: Britten War Requiem, by Chia Han-Leon with Ng Yeuk Fan
Pondering Music (Andrew Massey): Britten's War Requiem
Text of the War Requiem (based on Wilfred Owen's poems)
Sounds Clips of the War Requiem
Wikipedia: War Requiem including Movements and Structure
Coventry Cathedral: History and Virtual Tour
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09 April 2007
Taking Time to Stand And Stare
Best story I've heard in a long, long time.
14:25 Posted in art and photography , music , pop culture , simple living , theology, spirituality, philosophy , travel and place | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this
15 March 2007
Pop Maven Update
Love pop culture.
Here's what I'm grooving to lately:
- Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars ... "Let's waste time Chasing cars Around our heads // I need your grace To remind me To find my own // If I lay here, If I just lay here, Would you lie with me and just forget the world?"
- The Fray's Over My Head (Cable Car) ... "I wish you were a stranger I could disengage, say that we agree and then never change ... " Also: How To Save A Life -- powerful video
- Green Day's Holiday
- Daniel Powter's Bad Day ... Just this: "Where is the passion when you need it the most ... "
- Kelly Clarkson's Because of You
- Usher's Great live performance of 'Caught Up', along with James Brown's Sex Machine
- The Gin Blossoms' Hey Jealousy: "The past is gone but something might be found, To take its place... If you don't expect too much from me, You might not be let down. Cause all I really want is to be with you." Also Allison Road. OK, and Found Out About You.
- Pussycat Dolls' Don't Cha
- Gnarls Barkley's Crazy ... "Ha ha ha, bless your soul, You really think you're in control! Well, I think you're crazy... I think you're crazy... I think you're crazy...Just like me."
- Pink's U + Ur Hand: "I'm not here for your entertainment, You don't really want to mess with me tonight."
- The Killers' Mr Brightside: "I just can't look, it's killing me, And taking control ... Jealousy, turning saints into the sea."
- The Perishers' Pills (with Sarah McLachlan): "One may think we're doing fine, But if I had to lay it on the line, We're losing ground with every passing day We're not ok. But that's one thing I would never, One thing I would never, that's one thing I would never say to you."
- Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved and Sunday Morning
- Rufus (Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk) and Loudon Wainwright (White Winos)
- and NPR news
And watching on TV:
- ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, a couple of nights per week. Love Mike, like Tony. But now that it's mostly basketball, I watch a lot less than during baseball and football seasons. Also catch Around the Horn from time to time.
- NASCAR races on the weekends -- the season has begun! Wouldn't say I'm a NASCAR fan -- I don't know much or care much about the competitors -- bu I like to watch the cars go round and round.
- Golf on the weekends
- HGTV's House Hunters once or twice a week. Usually the re-run at 7:30.
- TLC's What Not To Wear. It's kind of a sick show.
Bad stuff that happens:
- Tons -- maybe literally -- of perfectly good clothes are thrown out. Hopefully, they're actually given away, but because the clothes are stuffed and thrown into a metal trash can, I'm not confident that they are donating these clothes so others can reuse them.
- Women who look perfectly fine are told they're lacking somehow because they're not wearing trendy clothes or clothes that are feminine enough. As a good friend taught me long ago, whatever a woman does is feminine, because she's female. Period. Pointy-toed shoes and flouncy skirts are optional.
- No woman is told not to wear makeup; all are made up with cosmetics to some extent. For whose benefit is this?
The good stuff is that sometimes women learn how to dress their particular bodies, how to emphasise what they like, how to live with their bodies so that every trip to buy clothes doesn't end in tears and self-recrimination -- and that can be empowering.
The show featuring Seattle gal Rita Marshall (Mitchell?), 34, was an example of the good stuff and some of the bad. She looked perfectly fine before they transformed her; she was beautiful and somewhat androgynous in clothing, shoewear, hairstyle, and minimal makeup.( Her newlywed husband apparently nominated her because he was "eager to draw out her feminine side." Hello! She's a woman -- she's all feminine!) She didn't need a makeover, IMO, but she in the process of being made over, she seemed to learn a lot about how to fit clothes to her body, which increased her pleasure in finding clothes and in wearing them. And they didn't do anything too elaborate to her hair or face, nothing that required much everyday maintenance, whew.
And watching on DVD:
- Bob Newhart, season 4
- BallyK, season 3
- The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (just finished the series)
Into online:
- Technorati
- Bloglines
- Flickr
- Live 365 Internet Radio - lounge music, exotica, Caribbean, and beach music:
- MusicFromTheBlueLight
- Paris on the Air
- Chillout.fm
- Vegas Vics Tiki Lounge
- Coconut Groove Lounge
- Scotia Surfer
- Permanent Vacation
- Parrot Island Radio
- Island Time
- DcCaribbeanConnection
- Old School Beach Jam
- Shaggin' Time
- Hot 100 Beach Music USA
- The Morning News headlines (3 times each weekday)
- CNN Internatonal Edition
- Cryptic Crosswords (premium NYT service)
- Godblogs like open source theology, Velveteen Rabbi, Preaching Peace, Coming to the Quiet, scott... diagonally parked in a parallel universe, James Alison, Bending the Rule, Priestcraft, Experimental Theology, Young Anabaptist Radicals, Ekklesia blogs, Ktismatics. (All links available here under 'Faith')
- whatever James Alison offers (in English, that is)
Reading
- Books and articles: The usual crime novels, either the latest series titles or re-reads. James Alison. Re-reading Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby for bookgroup. Not much else offline.
- Magazines and newspapers: Only two offline: The Economist and Living Etc. A Wall St. Journal when I can find one lying around the coffee shop.
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05 February 2007
Mnemonics Resources
Some websites offering mnemonic poems, phrases, lists, etc., for all disciplines and spheres of life:
I. Mnemonics Guide (UK): Organised by topic, with title of specific mnemonic provided from the contents list. Topics are:
- Astronomy: Men On The Moon; Moon, Waxing/Waning; Order of Planets; Ten Brightest Stars; Classification of Stars
- Biology and Nature
- Business
- Chemistry
- Geography and Geology
- History
- Language and Literature
- Math
- Music
- Mythology
- Physics
- Religion
- Society: Champagne Bottle Sizes, Crossing the Road, First Aid, British Hereditary Titles, Organising Items, People of Letters, Survival in Extremes, Table Setting, Vehicle Journey Checks
- Sports and Pastimes
- Time
- Others: Burning Firewood, Connery's Bond Films, Marine Traffic Rules, Marx Brothers Films, Mechanical Machines, Metric Lengths, Oscars for Best Films, Port/Starboard Lights Rev., Turning Screw Threads
II. Mnemonic Devices (ICT4US): Organised by topic, with title of specific mnemonic provided from the contents list. Topics are similar to above list, with additions of aviation, information and communication technology, justice, learning, navigation, and shipping. What's different about this site is that there are images (photos, maps, paintings, etc.) illustrating or accompanying all the mnemonics. They also offer another section on Rules of Thumb for various aspects of life and learning.
III. Wikipedia Mnemonics Lists: Online collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia offers a few mnemonics lists.
Their List of Mnemonic Verses has a handful rhyming mnemonics in each of these categories
- Science and Technology: Medicine, Chemistry, Measurement
- Humanities: History, Chronology, Music, Literacy
- Popular Culture: Astrology
Their List of First Letter Mnemonics ('easily remembered word, phrase, or rhyme whose first letters are associated with the list items') is rather longer; categories are:
- Science and Technology (many sub-categories)
- General Knowledge: Measurement, Sailing, Recreation, Geography, Military, Music, Calendar, Bible/Christianity, History, Debating
- Psychology
- Law and Legal Studies
- Language (small section)
Through WikiQuote (English), thy also offer mnemonics lists for:
IV. Mnemonics (Poetic Expressions, UK): A page of mnemonics, not categorised at all. Includes mnemonics for the value of pi, the continents, the Great Lakes, the order of the streets in downtown Seattle, the longest rivers in the world, when to use 'affect' vs 'effect,' the seven hills of Rome, the royal families of England, and so on. Pretty general. Not a good research tool but fun to read through.
Specialised Mnemonics Lists
V. Aviation Mnemonics
Useful Aviation Mnemonics (Dauntless Aviation): Easy to use, attractive site.
Aviation Acronyms and Mnemonics (Scott Cameron Todd): 'For student pilots or those getting ready for BFRs or practical tests, and for general review.'
Aviation mnemonics: Not necessarily a good idea?
VI. Birdsong Mnemonics (Tomm Lorenzin): Offers mnemonics by voice and by bird.
VII. Boating Definitions and Mnemonics (Geoff Kuenning). Extensive.
VIII. Math Mnemonics for K-12: 'Memorable Math Mnemonics, Daffy Ditties, Goofy Gimmicks, and other Tricks of the Teacher's Trade to help students Memorize Math Minutiae. The purpose of this website is to list mnemonics and similar devices that math teachers have found useful for helping students remember math conventions, algorithms, definitions, techniques, and formulas.' Categories are:
- Pre-Algebra: Coordinate Plane, Decimals and Percents, Distance Conversions, Fractions, Measures of Central Tendency, Metric Units, Order of Operations, Positive and Negative Numbers, Properties of Our Number System
- Algebra: Formulas, Linear Equations, Slope-Intercept Form, Multiplying Binomials, Quadratic Equations
- Geometry: Circle Formulas, Remembering Pi
- Trigonometry: Function Definitions, Function Properties
IX. Medical Mnemonics Galore. Organised by discipline and then system, with number of mnemonics lists in parenthesis after each system. Disciplines listed are:
- Anatomy (52 mnemonics just for the skeletal system!)
- Anesthesiology
- Behavioural Science / Psychology
- Biochemistry
- Biology
- Cardiology
- Chemistry
- Dermatology
- Embryology
- Emergency Medicine
- ENT
- Epidemiology / Biostatistics
- Gastroenterology
- Genetics
- Histology
- Immunology
- Internal Medicine / Family Practice
- Interviewing / Physical Exam
- Microbiology
- Neurology
- Neurosciences
- Obstetrics / Gynecology
- Ophthalmology / Optometry
- Orthopedics
- Pathology
- Pediatrics
- Pharmacology
- Physics
- Physiology
- Podiatry
- Psychiatry
- Radiology / Oncology
- Rheumatology / Allergy
- Surgery
- Urology / Nephrology
The list can be resorted by System or Body Part, too. (Disturbingly, Embryology and Ophthalmology are both spelled incorrectly, so proceed with caution.)
And McSweeney's comes through with a short and silly list of 'Mnemonic Devices to Help You Remember How to Spell 'Mnemonic Devices.'
13:40 Posted in health and medicine , language , lists , music , pop culture , science and tech , travel and place | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this
13 December 2006
Best Jazz Since Vietnam War
Ethan at Do The Math offers a list of best jazz albums from 1973 (slightly before the end of the war) to 1990. Some of my favs are on the list -- Charlie Haden, Stan Getz, Dave Holland Quintet/Trio, Keith Jarrett, The Brecker Brothers, Weather Report -- but there are a lot I don't have and haven't even heard of. Time to listen to some music! (Where is Oscar Peterson, I wonder?)
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30 November 2006
Train Trip Travelogue - Day Two
Monday, 7 a.m. NORTH CAROLINA:
Train running about 4 hours late. It was 1.5 hours late out of D.C. , which worked in my favour because my train from Boston was 1.5 hours late getting into D.C. -- we stopped for a while to pick up the second batch of passengers stranded hours before by a disabled Acela Express train ... SRO for 2 hours -- so I was able to have what felt like a very rushed meal with my sister M. and her friend J. at the station.
The sun's coming up here in North Carolina. We were in Charlotte at 6 ... now we're stopped again but not at a station. Directly under some power lines. The freight train we must have been stopped for is just going by now. Amtrak doesn't own the rails; Norfolk Southern and CSX do, and freight always has precedence over people on the rails.
I slept pretty well after 1 a.m., when we stopped in Danville and I got a double seat to myself and could lie down. The train yesterday and earlier on this route (19) were packed, but it's thinned out quite a bit now.
School buses are going by on the parallel road. Water tower says Grover, N.C. Most of the trees have leaves, browns, some reds, yellows, oranges, and a few still green. And lots of vines and pines, of course.
Carolina Asian store.
Tobacco Outlet, exit 102, 3 miles.
If I were Proust [I'm reading Swann's Way], I'd go on for 5 pages about how the quality of the sky's colour is like the ocean's or some fruit's, but I won't.
7:40 a.m. : Mist in the valleys in the early morning light. Spartanburg, SOUTH CAROLINA, is the next stop. We're still about 3.5 hours late. Probably nice for these de-boarders to get in to their stations in the light of day rather than at 4:14 a.m. as scheduled.
I may have just written on my face accidentally.
BP gas. Vic Bailey Ford. Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Bible Church. Brilliant red maples, Monday morning traffic.
Leaving Spartanburg station at 7:50. Clear sky and sunny. Almost every house by the tracks is posted with No Trespassing or Keep Out. Black dog in a chain-link-fenced yard.
Tindall Corp. industrial plant. Tijuana Mexican Restaurant, adjoining the gas station.
The train seems like a great way to meet a mate. Most people are at their worst under minor stress, like that caused by late trains, trains stopped for 2 hours for no discernible reason, bad food, lack of good sleep, waiting in lines, talkative seatmates, hearing the buzz of other people's iPods, overhearing long and awful cell phone calls, etc. But a few people remain gracious, kind, polite, considerate, compassionate, or at least detached, instead of whining complaining, threatening, passive aggressive, accusatory, threatening, argumentative, demanding, pushy, etc. I hope to be like the former more and more, but I recognise that I am more like the latter, especially with lack of sleep.
A guy was telling anyone who'd listen that his dinner on the train last night was not as good as what the prisoners at Guantanamo get. I didn't have dinner on the train, but I bet it was better than being force-fed. He seems like poor mate material. Who wants that kind of self-serving exaggeration and self-victimisation in their lives?
Someone stopped on the side of the road and got out of a red pickup to take a photo of the train as it went by. Probably doesn't come through in daylight too often.
Gigundo magnolia, lawn ornament snowmen, harvest scene (straw, pumpkins, hay), conical trees with shining leaves that are half red, half green ... Trailer park. I can see the front of the train as we round the curves.
Duncan Town Hall.
"Sometimes we fight in public darling
with very little cause
But different kinds of sparks would fly
if we got on our own behind closed doors" (Indoor Fireworks, Elvis Costello)
Hound dog tied in the backyard.
Allied Crawford Steel.
Piedmont Academy of Gymnastics (Greenville SC).
Coming into Greenville, SC at 8:30.
Printed on train cars sitting the yard: "Do not use steam, boiling water or sharp objects to clean. Enter car with clean soft-soled shoes."
Saco Lowell plant. Bantam Chef. Aloe Vera Cosmetics Boutique.
Scraggly, dried-up kudzu everywhere.
10:16 a.m. : Slept some. "I'm not empty on my own / For inside, I'm alive." (The Corrs, "One Night")
10:30 a.m.: Gainesville, GEORGIA. Supposed to be here at 7 a.m. I called the hotel in New Orleans to let them know my ETA (midnight).
11:17 a.m.: Sign for a business: Deceased Pet Care.
New brick and tudor mini-mansions built right by the RR tracks.
11:30 a.m. : ATLANTA. Sunny, a little hazy. Got out and took a few photos. A few minutes out of Atlanta, saw a GOAT -- light brown, with horns -- near the Birmont RR Junction chewing kuzu on a hillside by some dilapidated-looking buildings and the tracks.
When we left Atlanta 3 hours and 11 mins late, the conductor said we would probably lose ground due to freight trains and being out of our normal slot.
Some of the major train/ship carriers in the train yard:
NedLloyd (part of Maersk)
EMP (grey with yellow and black logo)
Maersk (grey or blue)
JB Hunt (grey/white with gold and black scroll-shaped logo) .. Info on the founder, Johnnie Bryan Hunt
Schneider (orange with black letters)
MOL (grey with an alligator), owned by Mitsui OSK
Hyundai (orange) [Link has music and is animated]
Evergreen (green)
K Line (red)
Hapag-Lloyd (orange)
Hub Group (red with white letters)
Billboard near Atlanta: The FISH 104.7 Safe for the Whole Family!
Four men in a dirt area by the train, waving at us.
Austell, GA. Just sat for 15 mins waiting for a freight train and then a little caboose and engine combo that followed.
"Say something once -- why say it again?" ("Psycho Killer, Talking Heads)
One almost right after the other: Lithia Springs United Methodist Church. Victory Family Life Church. Union Grove Baptist Church.
Huge hollies, magnolias, vines, pines laden with dark cones.
Lots of new and large home construction by the tracks ... wood, vinyl siding, and brick exteriors.
Douglas County Fire Dept. ambulance with lights flashing waiting at the RR crossing for us to pass by....
Water tower: Mirror Lake, City of Villa Rica. Los Cowboys Mexican Restaurant. Happy Valley Baptist Church. First Presbyterian Church.
City of Bremen. Jud's Coffeehouse.
12:54 p.m. Central time. : In ALABAMA. Fifteen or so vultures standing on the limbs of a dead tree. We are easily overtaken by an Alabama pickup on the parallel country road.
1:07 p.m.: Wildlife Management Area posted to the right. I haven't seen many wildlife yet.
Spoke too soon: Two hawks -- with red on them, rather stout in shape -- flying low in a field.
Calhoun County. BP gas station - an older man sitting outside it in a chair, smoking, facing the tracks.
Southern Natural Gas, an El Paso Company.
Lee Brass Co - "World's Largest Brass Foundry."
1:20 p.m.: Vast hill in the distance, made up of rich fall colours - reds, oranges, yellows, greens. Coming towards Anniston, I think.
Elks Lodge. Anniston Veterinary. Lott Cabinet Shop. Bobby Horne Used Cars. Circuit City, Office Max. Winn Dixie. Compass Bank - tallest building, maybe 10 or 12 stories.
Anniston doesn't look like much. Cinder block low buildings, abandoned-looking brick buildings with windows shot out. Not much by way of beauty. Except the hills to the north, or west ...
My hair is a Superfund site.
Large neighbourhood of what look like brick military barracks, a la Hinesville, GA (with Fort Stewart).
Large rock, sand, gravel concern.
United Freewill Baptist Church.
Wellborn, AL: Home of the Lady Panthers Softball. Ten or more horses in all colours: brown, black, white, and grey. Earlier, I saw a black, black and white, and one brown cow grazing together.
Aha! Anniston Army Depot sign. And buildings, It's like a flat city with lots of industrial factories, a training center, a post office, etc. Spans perhaps a mile or two. Reminds me of a Hollywood set depicting a light industry scene.
Now green tanks on a hill facing us. Each has a brown sign I can't read from here. Perhaps 15 in all, sometimes three grouped together, sometimes singles. Sign for Anniston Munitions Center.
The south entrance of the Anniston Army Depot: "Home of Nichols Industrial Complex." So the whole place was maybe 5 miles long.
Dozens more tanks but not arranged -- they look more like the junky cars I've seen so many of along the tracks.
1:49 p.m.: Exceedingly vast Honda plant! With two water towers.
"Plantation Mobile Home Park - waterfront lots"
Crossing a lake .. they're browner in the South than in New England.
On a billboard: mtlaurel.com - Reminds me of Santee, SC -- places trying to market themselves not to tourists and visitors but to prospective residents, as a place to live. (The website makes it look great!)
Welcome to Pell City, Home of the Panthers
4:45 p.m. Tuscaloosa, AL : The vines are green here instead of dried-up and grey-brown as they were north near Birmingham. Sunset at 4:50ish. Swamps alongside tracks. Thin pink clouds in a pale blue sky. Some clouds dark grey with pink-tinged edges.
5:45 p.m. Heading for Meridien, Mississippi. I'm eating the other half of the cheese and cracker plate I got for lunch. I programmed the mp3 player for the first time and it's working!
Listening to Evanescence's "All of Me" and remembering listening to it with C. at open-mic too soon after J. died. Callista sang it and we cried through it.
"If you have to leave,
I wish that you would just leave,
'cause your presence still lingers here,
and it won't leave me alone,
These wounds won't seem to heal,
This pain is just too real,
There's just too much that time cannot erase ...
You used to captivate me with your resonating light,
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind ..."
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Train Trip Travelogue - Day Seven
Saturday, 5:41 p.m. Minneapolis
Busy day. I <heart> Minneapolis. Feel relatively safe walking around on my own, even on a weekend and well off Nicollet Mall, the pedestrian walkway surrounded by retail, hotels, businesses, churches, public arts venues.
Last night, I had a cabbie who's from New Orleans. He and his family moved to Minneapolis to raise their three daughters, because they felt they couldn't raise them well in the social environment of New Orleans. His wife's brother lived here and recommended that they try it. His girls are now 13, 16, and the oldest works now in New Orleans with the sheriff's office. His parents still live in New Orleans -- ages 76 and 73, IIRC. They will head down there for T'giving next week.
Got to bed around midnight last night, feeling lousy. Slept off and on, finally getting continuous sleep from around 3 a.m. until 7 a.m. Got up at 9 and was out on the streets by 10:15. Walked to nearby Dahl Pharmacy for DayQuil, hard candy, and a stamp for C's postcard, which I mailed in a postbox on the sidewalk in front of Dahl. Then hoofed it about 14 blocks on Nicolett and another 8 blocks or so along 3rd St. and Washington, past some large parking-lot tailgate parties for the Minnesota Gophers (vs. Iowa) college football game at the Humperdome that afternoon, to the new Guthrie Theater and the Spoonriver Restaurant, both on 2nd Street and Chicago, bordering the Mississippi River. S's mother, who lives in Minneapolis, had recommended both.
Had brunch at Spoonriver, a cool, sophisticated-feeling bistro with lots of vegetarian and vegan choices. Loved it. Had chestnut bisque, then a butternut squash, onion, Fontina cheese omlette, and fruit cup, and a mango bellini. Then herbal citrus tea. One of those places where everything on the menu looks worth trying. The waiters are young, apparently gay (the men), with funky clothes, funky hair, and piercings.
After breakfast, went next door to see the interior of the new Guthrie Theater, finished in June. It's open for public viewing from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day except Monday (open 8-8), which impressed me (keeping a public space open long hours so the public can actually enjoy and inhabit the space), and there are multiple restaurants and a gift shop inside. The architecture of the building -- French architect Jean Nouvel's first project in North America -- has been drawing lots of comments. I love it. There are several large black and white images around the building, who turn out to be Sir Tyrone Guthrie and well-known playwrights August Wilson, Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Anton Chekhov, Eugene O'Neill and George Bernard Shaw.
Wandering around, I ended up getting a ticket to another play tomorrow (already have an e-ticket for Sheridan's "The Rivals" at The Jungle Theater uptown for 2 p.m. tomorrow), "Edgardo Mine," a play by Alfred Uhry based on David Kertzer's book, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, which is based on a real event. Edgardo is a Jew living in Italy, baptized informally by a servant girl when he is an infant with a serious acute illness; he survives the illness, the Catholic authorities (who are not only the religious but also the political leaders of the day) hear about the baptism, consider him a Christian, and kidnap the boy to bring him up in the Vatican. That's tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
I was cutting it close on time, so I took the light rail from the Humperdome station (where the football game is going to be held) to Nicollet and 5th Street and then walked a fast 8 blocks to be at the hotel for the Metro Connections bus tour pick-up at 1 p.m.
The tour was good and felt like it covered vast spaces. Saw the Walker Art Center sculpture garden, Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun (part of the Chain of Lakes), many opulent prairie style homes on Mt. Curve (a neighbourhood near the lakes), then ran out the highway to the Mall of America, where we dropped off and picked up everyone but me and changed tour guides. It just looks like a big mall from the outside.
Then we went by Fort Snelling, which is a state park, a former military fort (no shots were fired from it, IIRC), and is now also the 5th largest national cemetery in the U.S., with 20 burials every day (the tour guide said; the website says up to 17 per weekday). Went past an 8,000-acre urban wildlife sanctuary, the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (4th largest in U.S.). Stopped for 15 mins at Minnehaha Falls and Park.
Then on to St. Paul, through the Highland Park neighborhood, which boasts the Hollyhocks House, the former lair of gangsters during Prohibition times. Then to lower town St. Paul, an arts area (saw the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary School there); past Landmark Center and the bronze Charlie Brown statues in Landmark Plaza; and the House of Hope Presbyterian Church on Summit Avenue, which is where Hubert Humphrey's funeral was held in 1978; and past the Tudor style Governor's Mansion; the Minnesota State Capitol Building (2nd most beautiful in the U.S., after Utah's, said the guide), the James J. Hill House, the largest house in the midwest, built in the late 1800s for $1 million by a railroad magnate who had 6 boys and 3 girls ... it's 35 rooms ... quite nice looking. We drove along Summit Avenue, which has more than 200 Victorian homes along it, almost all of which seemed to be in good repair, at least in their exteriors. American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald's house (scroll down) is one of them (593/599 Summit); he was born in St. Paul at 481 Laurel Street. Also on Summit is the founder of 3M's house (Ordway is his name).
Then we went to the Cathedral of St. Paul, which was having a worship service. We walked quietly through and around the Cathedral, which seats 3,000 people. There are lots of statues, of St. John, St. Anthony, St. Patrick, etc., and stained glass. Also on exhibition in the sanctuary was this painting by Minneapolis native Mark Balma, titled "Pieta," of Jacqueline Kennedy cradling John Kennedy's head in the car in Dallas after he was shot. It will reside in the Vatican. It felt jarring to me to come across this very modern interpretation of the Pieta in this ornate and ancient-feeling building.
Afterwards, we drove back into Minneapolis, past the arched pedestrian bridge linking downtown Minneapolis with the St. Anthony/Riverfront neighborhood (both are part of Minneapolis; as the tour guide said, crossing the Mississippi doesn't necessarily mean you go from St. Paul to Minneapolis or vice versa). They dropped me off at my hotel around 4 p.m.
After a quick stop at the hotel room, I was back out, walking 5 blocks to MACY's (until very recently, Marshall Fields, and before that, Dayton's) to see their Mary Poppins exhibit, not windows this time but a walk-through selection of life-sized dioramas on the 8th floor. It was free. A crowd of us walked along a pathway through the mechanised scenes depicting about 20 episodes from the Broadway show. Fun! Afterwards, I bought a gingerbread man cookie to eat, saving it for when I was writing this, along with some ginger lemon tea.
Strolled along the skyways a while, getting totally lost. Backtracked, got lost again, and finally got back to MACY's (after buying a Tazo Green Ginger tea at Starbucks along the way) and walked back to the hotel down the Nicollet Mall. I found it felt less safe to walk in the skyways than on the street -- on a weekend evening, they were largely deserted, and most of the retail stores' entrances and all of the businesses were closed, unlike on the streets below.
On the way to MACY's, I'd stopped in at the Dakota Jazz Club to see about getting a walk-in seat for the Cuban pianist playing there tonight, Nachito Herrera. When I had called from the train a day or two before, I was told that all the reserved seats and tables were gone but that some are always held for walk-ins, if you get there early enough. When I walked in around 4:15, the place seemed empty, but I heard voices in the balcony and called out, "Hello?" A man who introduced himself as Jim came right down and showed me around the place. He said he'd leave a note with my name on a bar seat (small bar -- about 6 seats) so I'd have a spot if I get there by 7, which is my plan.
Tomorrow, I am debating going to church at 8:30 or at 9:30 (eucharist) at Westminster Presbyterian Church, across the street (not sure I want to get up that early), then I think I will take the bus to Lake Harriet and walk around it, then head to Emma's for lunch and The Jungle Theater by 2 for the play, then take a bus back, maybe finding dinner or a snack, and then see the play at the Guthrie at 7.
So much to do here!
T. called this morning to let me know that E. died, with her family around her (J. had called the house to let me know). Her viewing is Monday, with funeral on Tuesday. I'll miss both of those.
Now I'm going down to the hotel's computer room to drop J. a note and check the metro website for my bus plans tomorrow. Then, out for dinner and jazz ...
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Train Trip Travelogue - Day Eight
Sunday, noonish (Minneapolis)
I didn't use the computer room. I did look over bus plans, using the route schedules I'd ordered and received before I left on the trip. The Minneapolis Metro Transit website is fantastic, by the way. I worked out lots of routes and schedules, and got a good overview of public transit and downtown/uptown in general, from home on my computer, and it's really smoothed the way for getting around on my own here (though I miss the cabbie conversations). I also got some help from the hotel's doorman as to the safest routes and walks.
Then I went to the Dakota Jazz Club ... Got there by 7 and my seat had been temporarily given to some guys having a "quick drink." All the staff was exceptionally nice to me -- the hosts and hostess, including a friendly, happy-looking guy named Tom, who leaves for New Jersey and Princeton Seminary next year (and who encouraged me to go to church in the morning!), and the bartenders, Karl and Dave and one who didn't introduce himself. Karl in particular had his eye out for me, making sure I got the bar seat when it was vacated. He also gave me a complementary drink. He has a friend who lives in Portsmouth, NH. I ordered a gin gimlet and stood drinking it, waiting for the guys to move. Finally two of them did (the other two stayed for the show) and I got my seat around 7:30. Ordered peeky-toe crab cakes (three of them, small and columnar, with a very spicy remoulade) and the Local Beet and Apple Salad with Frisee, Pistachio and Truffled Pecorino. Both delish. Later, got a Pimms and lemonade, then pumpkin cheesecake brulee and herbal tea. Ate the brulee part and left most of the cheesecake, which I don't like; I got sucked in by the word "brulee."
The jazz set went from 8-9:30, with the pianist, Nachito Herrera, a timbalis player, a percussionist, someone on bass, and a female vocalist for some of the songs. I chatted off and on with folks at the bar, including a woman, Patty, who lived in L.A. for 30 years but 4 months ago moved back to Minneapolis (her company offered her a transfer) to be near her parents, because every time she heard the phone ring in L.A., she was worried something had happened to them. She feared Minneapolis would be all "wallpaper and doilies" and is pleasantly surprised at the edginess. She also said that you can't hear jazz in L.A. -- they think the Doobie Brothers are jazz. She and I both bought reserved tickets to tonight's late show, Dr. John, at 9:30 p.m.
Bed by 11:30 but didn't sleep well with this cold. Up at 7:20 this morning and over to Westminster Presby. for worship at 8:30. There were about 120 of us wedged into the chapel (why not the lovely, big sanctuary, I sadly thought?) and it was Stewardship Sunday. Very traditional service. A youth orchestra played the prelude and offertory. I knew both hymns we sang ("Praise Ye The Lord, the Almighty" and "God of Grace and God of Glory"). Almost everyone was dressed up, in suits or dresses. I saw only one other person in jeans. The sermon was short and not memorable -- something about giving, Thanskgiving, hope. The minister did call the war ill-conceived, and intimated that we need to cling to hope ever more in these times. There was quite a lot of lay leadership in the service; the minister was not the MC. A trustee spoke about moving to Minneapolis, church-shopping, hearing Harold Kushner speak at Westminster Town Hall Forum and so deciding to stay with this church, but she didn't become a member, though she served on committees and most people assumed she was a member. Then someone looking over the rolls and finding her name not listed told her that she needed to "step up to the plate" and join the church. She did, and then became involved with the new members' committee (she was asked to join it and did so reluctantly but is glad she did) , then became an elder, then a trustee, etc. She spoke of attending worship and thinking that that was enough of a commitment, then coming to realise that she was "taking and not giving back." The cliches mounted as she spoke and I felt she was reading a script. Her mother had died in a sudden accident and she herself had had a life-threatening illness for 9 months -- both of these things not so long ago -- so obviously she has suffered and has a depth of experience from which to speak, but what she expressed felt shallow to me, not derived from personal experience but from something external. All in all, the service was pretty disappointing and I was glad when it ended. Obviously, I was in more of a judging and evaluating place than a worshipping place that morning.
After church, I got on the 17C bus to Lake Calhoun (Lagoon and Knox). Decided on it rather than Harriet because it was more straightforward to get to by bus. Lots of folks were walking, walking dogs, running, cycling (usually on a separate path), skating (in-line skates) around the lake, which was sparkling in the sun. There were even a few people canoeing, though it was about 38F out. I walked the 3+ miles around it, part of the time talking with T. on the phone and leaving messages for C. and B. And part of the time just looking.
It's a gorgeous day, in the 30s, no breeze, sunny as all get out. I'm writing this at Egg and I, a bustling diner type place near the Jungle Theater in uptown, recommended by someone at Emma's, which isn't open for lunch (I called the night before to check). The service is pretty mediocre but the food is good. I walked here from the lake across on Lake Street, about 8 blocks, ducking into Lunds grocery (lots of natural foods and products there) for tea and to look for more cold meds.
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