Laguna Beach, CA (July 18-21)

We had enjoyed the Carole King - James Taylor concert in Arizona (described here) much more than expected, and had the idea to catch the last concert of their tour in Anaheim on July 20. A summary of the Anaheim concert is linked here - much enjoyed.

The next step was to build a bit of a road trip around the July 20th concert. We had enjoyed Laguna Beach during this visit a few years ago. Ended up taking a room at the Pacific Edge Hotel - an older property that has gone through some remodeling (and re-branding). It's now in good shape, with primary attraction being its location right on the water, and right in the heart of Laguna Beach. (Parked the car and didn't go near it again until time to drive to the concert.)

So off we went. Easy road trip on July 18; some slow-downs in the LA/metro area and in particular getting into Laguna Beach itself, but not bad.

After owning a vehicle with GPS for two years, we finally used it. What a nice technology. The voice commands are entertaining - "she" is polite, yet firm . . . maybe a bit bossy.

Checked in - and liked the room a lot. From the room, the ocean was almost overwhelming for we desert types. At high tide the water came up under the patio.

Top picture gives a sense of how it appears when you first open the door and step in; second picture gives a sense of the patio. (We spent lots of time sitting there and just watching. Virtually no TV for four full days!) Third picture is the beach we stepped down to via just one flight of stairs.

Laguna Beach is small, pretty crowded on the weekends in summer. But all in all I enjoyed being around. We didn't have a ton of time, but focused per usual on walking the area and finding good things to eat and drink. Concentrated our latter efforts in just two places: dinner twice at "230 Forest" and lunch three times at "Nick's." Scallops; short rib sliders; roast chicken; plenty of interesting beers; etc. At 230 Forest the couple sitting beside us featured the pianist (this fellow) for some guy named Luis Miguel, it was interesting.

Weather was unseasonably cool and generally cloudy/hazy - i.e. perfect for visitors from Phoenix.

Return trip was fine; stopped at the outlet mall in Palm Springs (which is quite the outlet mall) and actually found a few things that we had been looking for. Back into Phoenix at 9:30 and dinner at Delux.

Concert summarized here.

Nice trip!

Coincidence

Two probably unrelated things happened today:

1. We saw the movie "District 9" in late afternoon (recently had DVR'd it).

2. Patricia and I went out a few hours later and for dinner she ordered: prawns.

Reminder (Drinking Buddies)

For no particular reason, I've started posting "old days" stuff over at a companion website. Click "PMG look-back" (in the box below the picture at right) to visit the site.

I always get a kick out of the "drinking buddies" clip included in this post.

Choral Union/Lauridsen (April 19, 2010)

ASU Choral Union (featuring, so to speak, CPG and me) performed back in April, and I'm very belatedly getting around to posting a clip.

Our major work was Morton Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna. Five movements, delightful. I'm a big fan of his stuff, starting with O Magnum Mysterium.

About three minutes below, taken from near the end of the fifth movement.

4809 E Roanoke

For those that drove and walked around the Country Club Plaza area (June 10-11, 2010) looking for our 1981 apartment (photo shows its 1981 appearance): below is a map that shows its location.



View Larger Map

During our travels, we needed to go one block further west to find the address. Per this "streetview" - I think it's the building on the east side of the street (not the new construction on the west side of the street). Not sure.

View Larger Map

Visiting Missouri and Kansas (June 10-13, 2010)

Patricia and I had a very fun trip recently. Impetus for travel was the Thomas Stern - Amy Probst wedding in Lawrence, Kansas. We scheduled an extra day in Kansas City - after all, it was just 29 years since I had been a summer law clerk there, so time for a return visit.

Stuff that happened:

1. June 10 - PJ and I walked around the Country Club Plaza after checking in. Still a pleasant walk, but the place does feel quite a bit more like a standard shopping mall with national retailers prevailing. Had a fun lunch at Blanc burger.

2. Kerry flew into town and met us at hotel; followed by more walking and refreshments at reVerse.

3. Where Mike Hough (ND '80) met us; we repaired to O'Dowd's at his behest; Jill met us there. Fun. Onto barbecue dinner at JackStack down by Union Station. This was a fun evening.

4. June 11 - Nicole and Patrick flew in; we traveled to Lawrence. Checked into the Eldridge Hotel - a fine old establishment. We were told it burned down twice (including once at the hands of Quantrill's Raiders). So that was neat. Walked the main drag a bit while trying not to suffocate in high heat and humidity.

5. Rehearsal dinner in Eldridge lower level; moved to the hotel bar; moved to 715 (a restaurant) for pizza etc. Had fun yakking with the proprietor about food etc.

6. June 12 - Rainy, so our plans to walk the University of Kansas campus fell through. Wedding ceremony; gathering at hotel (lots of fine Iowa types); reception (where a never-ending "brother" joke provided entertainment); back to 715; very enjoyable.

Returned to Phoenix on June 13 following a brunch.

Everything was delightful, fun trip.

End note #1: we expended a fair amount of energy (and shoe leather) trying to identify our apartment from 1981. More to come on this topic.

End note #2: we discussed with Mike Hough an occurrence during one of our Spring 1982 parties at University Village - we told him to run out for hot dog and hamburger buns. We didn't know he was at the party without a car, and also didn't know that he would execute the directive literally. Photo below shows his return.

30th wedding anniversary travels

Patricia and I celebrated anniversary #30 on May 24.

I can report that a 30-year love affair is a fine thing - the best thing, I'm quite blessed.

Flew to San Francisco (photo along Golden Gate Bridge); lunch along the water in Sausalito (photo of PJ with San Francisco in background); then drove up to Sonoma Valley area. We had a delightful three-day stay at the Gaige House (photo) in Glen Ellen, California. Focused on relaxing, taking walks, finding interesting places to eat, and seeing a few Sonoma wineries. The hotel was a delight - including an evening reception and breakfast that we enjoyed on the patio (photo of PJ) each day. Just the kinds of things we like.

Enjoyed a tasting in the reserve room at Chateau St. Jean (three photos). Walked up to the Benziger winery one afternoon - a beautiful spot (two photos). Just spent a few hours on the Napa side on one of the days, it has gotten busy over there. But enjoyed lunch in Calistoga.

Had such a nice time at dinner on Saturday evening (Saffron, right in Glen Ellen (photo taken the "day after")) that the chef invited us to dinner at his house on Sunday (Saffron being closed that day). We didn't take up the offer. On 5/24, we had a wonderful dinner at Sante' at the Fairmont in Sonoma (lobster (photo); rabbit).

Then two days in San Francisco. Found a couple of our old favorites in Chinatown - Eastern Star Bakery and Oriental Pearl (photo). Walked for miles and miles on one of the days - hotel in Union Square, up Nob Hill (view to the east in photo), down through Chinatown (for a pork roll per usual), up to North Beach (espresso at Italian cafe), Telegraph Hill, Fisherman's Wharf (lunch; photo of PM with Alcatraz in background), then back down along the Embarcadero (where we encountered a Welsh Terrier named "Linus," per photo) with return to hotel. Vietnamese/French food at Le Colonial.

Last day: on-and-off rainstorms, which made a perfect opportunity to go to the DeYoung Museum - which was hosting an Impressionist exhibit with an opportunity to show works available because of construction at Musee d'Orsay.

These little trips are delightful. My wife is an excellent traveling companion.

Troubadour Reunion Tour

Patricia and I attended the "Troubadour Reunion Tour" in Glendale (Jobing.com Arena) on May 19. Paul Jr. and Nedda also went.

We had previously enjoyed seeing James Taylor in concert back in 2008. We were willing to listen to Carole King - but probably more concerned that she would eat up time better spent listening to JT. In the end, she almost stole the show - tremendous energy. Both were wonderful.

We decided it's highly, highly unlikely that we will ever enjoy a popular music concert as much as this one. Some reasons:

1. They can still perform. Their voices have deteriorated - he's 62 and she's 68 - but they still hit the notes, and probably communicate the music better than ever. Will they tour again? Not likely.

2. By design for this tour, they stuck to songs that are familiar. The performance lasted almost three hours, and they didn't come close to running out of songs that folks know and want to hear more of. Few others would have a catalog of that depth.

3. Just the mere overlap of time won't be duplicated - we liked these folks' music, a lot, going back 40 years. One of many nice things about getting older is that these things resonate in a way that wouldn't happen absent passage of time.

4. The two performers really get along - you can tell they appreciate each other as people, as professionals who helped each other at important career junctures decades ago, as musicians with overlapping and complementary styles etc. Of course the rapport could have been faked. But no one in this audience would have believed it.

5. And the main thing - the music was good. Much of this music will endure, at least to the extent any pop music endures. These folks could write, and they could (and still can) perform.

One of the annoyances of venue events these days is that a big chunk of the audience reflexively wants to be part of the show - scripted shrieking at every pause, ritual standing with arms waving, etc. That was not this audience. Often there was a quietness in the auditorium while folks just sat back and let the music envelope them; at song's end, the applause would start slowly and build and sustain - very unusual. Very non-ritual.

The video clip below is from a performance about a week prior to the one we attended - I include it because it gives a good sense of how this all came across.

For comparison I also include (at bottom) two 1971 videos featuring JT and CK. Last video has same bass player as in 2010 performance, just now has a longer (and whiter) beard.

Photos above are from the Glendale performance.

Revival of my (limited) ag skills?

I'm going to keep polishing my bean-walking skills after all. Full article here.

Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds

By WILLIAM NEUMAN and ANDREW POLLACK

Published: May 3, 2010

Heavy use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of herbicide-resistant weeds that could lead to higher food prices and more pollution.

Good conditions

Lots of rain and relatively cool this spring. PJ and I often hike in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve starting from the 40th street trailhead.

These views were taken April 10, 2010. The flowers were pretty much at prime; the light was working through very light cloud cover. Which was interesting to look at.

Surprisingly, my hiking pal wasn't interested in posing.

I hiked Squaw/Piestewa Peak yesterday and the brittle brush already are fading fast.

Chopin anniversary observance

Classical music programmers love to build off anniversary dates - this year is the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth, so ASU is one of many places doing a concert series.



That's good news for Patricia and me; we have much enjoyed running down to Katzen Hall. Last night was the third installment, probably the one we enjoyed most.

Things we liked:

1. The short pre-concert lecture is very interesting. Even if I can't remember what the lecturer told us to listen for when the music is actually being played.

2. Baruch Meir performed delightfully.

3. And gave a small talk right after intermission where he named two teachers who had helped him with Chopin and described how each took a different approach (one constantly teaching Chopin's music as poetry and words; the other constantly speaking of it as singing). Then he played the opening passage from one of the works two different ways (one for each teacher's approach).

This is fun stuff. As is late dinner at La Bocca, which was quite excellent on each of our three visits.

The video is Arthur Rubenstein's rendition of Chopin's Berceuse - a simple lullaby that we hadn't heard previously.

Spur Cross 2010

We reprised our hike from last February - went to the Spur Cross conservation area and did the Elephant Mountain loop trail. Delightful weather, upper 60s and sunny. About seven miles, a fair amount of climbing, we spent about three and a half hours.

Top photo is from a pass at the high point of the trail; click to enlarge and you can see some Indian ruins atop the ridge.

Second photo is from the same area but looking more to the south.

Third photo is a stand of saguaros a bit farther down the trail.

Last two photos are when we forded Cave Creek at the end of the hike. Heavy recent rain had flooded out the usual passage, so we had to do some rock hopping. It was very pretty, just ahead of sunset.

Went to a restaurant in Cave Creek after - enjoyed the company but the food was very average.

This area is well worth repeat visits.

December 2009

Oops, things got ridiculously busy for quite a stretch here. So I'll cover December in a single post. And rely totally on NMG photos.

Many nice things in the month.

CPG and I had the ASU Choral Union Christmas concert on December 6 - we actually liked the program, had a decent proportion of traditional carols plus portions of Vivaldi's Gloria. Good turnout, very nice event.

Kerry and Luis arrived December 18; Luis back to DC area on 12/22 after a flight confirmation "issue." Nicole arrived December 22, and she and Kerry both departed on 12/27. These visits were delightful as always.

We didn't put up the tree - too much stuff stacked in the living room still. And didn't have much emphasis on gift-giving (using $$ instead). Though I received some Scotch and an Ayn Rand novel, so that 's hard to beat.

Richardson's had burned down, which created some uncertainty about our Christmas Eve outing. Ended up going to a sister restaurant - the Rokerij - which we all liked better than Richardson's. Better menu, nicer setting. At least for this kind of meal. That's where the photos were taken.

On December 26, we attended a 3-D IMAX showing of "Avatar" (discussed here). It works, though the glasses are a bit goofy (just look at the picture).

As New Year's Day approached, lots of whining in the media about how tough '09 was, and how desultory the '00s were in general. Didn't feel like it from here.

Midwest tour (Nov. 13-18, 2009)

What a trip - don't think we ever covered this much ground, this quickly, on our various Midwest tours over the years.

Our flight had been rescheduled to a very early start time (thanks, M.B.) and we also arrived early. So had lunch at W.A. Frost - I think the best we've had there.

Onto the House house, always a fine landing place; we stayed there overnight. Dinner at Barley John's, which is a place we like quite a bit; Therese and Mark joined. Had to wait out a couple tables who lingered, to put it mildly, so that threw us off schedule a bit.

TMG stopped by with "Bread and Chocolate" treats Saturday morning; visited Cecilia's neat newish workplace and toured downtown Minneapolis; then to see the house where Margaret had moved in just recently.

On to Eau Claire, arrived mid-afternoon. First time, and we were very glad to make it. Beautiful house, nice area outside town. Delightful daughters, enjoyed the continuous artwork (including art on your pillow). Met "Champ" the new dog. Much enjoyed a driving tour of EC, including the PB logging camp where we had so much fun back in the 1990s. Saw various of the old Haag stomping grounds. Big dinner, long-ish conversation, nice evening.

Sunday Mass; brunch in downtown Eau Claire. Then made our way to Mason City - pretty day, easy trip. Nice dinner with Steve & Liz; Grandpa and Grandma were there, even Julia made an appearance. Glad we made the stopover.

Then to St. Joe. Spent some hours looking over Grandpa's recent photos, which is always fun. Relaxing Monday; road trip to Algona and saw Daryl & Kathy and Mary Lou (new house with Fr. Thomas). Played cards with Clarence and Caroline for some hours in the evening, had the usual beverages and a fine dinner there. We kept running into apple crisp for dessert, which was good luck for us.

Tuesday - went to hospital in afternoon because Grandpa had scraped his leg up. But first had lunch at Maggie's, and watched (to our consternation) Grandpa climb a bin at a site where they were harvesting for Mike Kohlhaas.

To Storm Lake in the evening - dinner, concert, conversation. All good, it was fun as we hadn't been over there in a few years. Wednesday morning - went by too fast and we were on our way.

So it was a full trip: New Brighton, Eau Claire, Mason City, St. Joe, Storm Lake. Drove 800 miles in addition to the flying. Very nice indeed.

This actually turned out quite well

Brined and smoked (by CPG), then eaten (by all).

PJ's stuffing outdid all prior versions - apricots were a fine add-in.

Note (a portion of) the new-ish planters serving as PJ's herb garden.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I sang with Chanticleer . . .

. . . as part of 100+ singers doing a workshop-type event on November 8. Who would ever have thought I would have this opportunity?

It was a unique and memorable event. PJ and MB showed up for the Chanticleer workshop portion (including the performance), which was much appreciated.



I'm posting the video off PJ's phone for the Ave Maria, even though the audio portion is just awful (though how amazing is it that we can capture any video at all off a mobile phone?) It does trigger memories for me, which is what this is all about anyway. I'm grateful she captured it.

This was a pretty unique event. We began with sessions with Charles Bruffy and Brook Larson, all of which was quite fine.

Chanticleer then showed up (they were performing in Wickenburg in a couple days). These guys can just sing. A few elements of interest (at least to me):

1. They talked about how the Ave Maria became one of their signature numbers - became known in the US in the late 70s.

2. They talked about meeting the composer (Franz Biebl, who wrote the piece in 1964) in Berlin - this was recounted by the choir member with by the far most experience, a bass who had been with the group 20+ years. (We had seen him at NAU with the Chaparral folks in ~2000.) A nice story.

3. The musical director was a pretty talented guy; he talked about how the 20th century seemed to need its own Ave Maria, and that the composer was perhaps a transcriber for something coming from outside himself. Nothing hip about those comments, which perhaps is why they struck home.

4. When we got around to singing the Biebl I had to pause during the first run-through. Evocative, to say the least. I first ran into the song at the ND Glee Club reunion in 2000; they had adopted the song sometime after my graduation. (By coincidence, the NDGC reunion was this same weekend and those guys no doubt were singing this same song.)

The WSJ had another article in the past week or so where the author discussed how various folks try to describe in words how/why music works. It was somehow reassuring to see how these attempts don't (and can't, I would say) succeed.

Nicole and POC in town

Short/fun visit by Nicole and POC the weekend of October 28 - November 1.

On Thursday arrival most of the group had lunch at House of Tricks in Tempe (where this photo was taken by PJ).

Had a v. nice gathering at the house on Friday evening, then the group went to the Homecoming football game at ASU on Saturday. Complete with another ASU loss, and an appearance by Meghan Stern as part of the homecoming court.

Our visitors left on Sunday just before our Choral Union concert, described here. It was nice to have 'em in town.

We (Choral Union) had a concert

We performed on Sunday, November 1 at Chaparral Christian Church. I ended up liking the program a lot.

There were three Anton Bruckner compositions. PJ did a nice job recording "Os justi" in particular (posted here) - and it is a delight.


English translation:

The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks what is just.

The law of his God is in his heart;

and his feet do not falter. Alleluia

I read that for this piece, "Bruckner created an extraordinary motet in the Lydian mode, which achieves striking harmonic effects without ever using a single sharp or flat note." It is the Mass part known as the "Gradual" - which I believe disappeared post Vatican II (i.e. quite awhile ago).

Another highlight was a Te Deum by a contemporary composer - Ron Nelson - this was quite a challenge for a once-a-week choir, one of the more difficult pieces we've taken on. But it was exciting to learn and exciting, if not stressful, to perform.

And the composer even showed up and expressed compliments for our performance, which was nice of him on both counts. CPG 'n me posed with Mr. Nelson.

This seems a little unnecessary

Notre Dame staggered to another loss to Navy - at Notre Dame Stadium, of all places. And Navy didn't even have Roger Staubach on the field.

Charlie Weis just hasn't worked out as head coach, to put it mildly.

It seems like a long time since I put up this post, probably seeking to bask in CW's reflected glory in the very early days of his reign.

The kid holding up the sign in this photo (click to enlarge) probably needs to consult that saying about glass houses.