If I hadn't seen it . . .

. . . I wouldn't have thought it possible. A quick note about Monday Night Football: it was fun to attend in person. A quick note about the Arizona Cardinals: they have an uncanny ability to find a way to lose. Since our opening day victory (read about it here), there have been three more home games. Each time, our local heroes take what seems to be an insurmountable lead, only to prove it surmountable. Tonight they had the undefeated Chicago Bears beaten up and down the field for 57+ minutes.

The good news is that some pals of Dennis Blaha arranged a major feed stop at the tailgate. Brats, Italian beef, sides. Weather was awesome. The game was very fun in its own way. And they opened the roof (see photo)! At this point, Cardinals fans tend to be fatalistic rather than frustrated or angry. No more home games until November 12, which is good because we could use a recovery period.

I can't stand to write about the game, but you can read about it here.

Signs of winter

Here in Arizona's Sonoran desert the onset of winter can be distinguished from the precursors that we noted back in the old country. (We got a chuckle out of Bill Seetch’s comment back at Notre Dame a couple weeks ago, which I hope was tongue-in-cheek, about the rats in the presbytery being extra furry this year, meaning of course a bad winter. I think caterpillar furriness also was considered to have forecasting value. Here's an academic discussion about fur and winter.)

Anyway, here you can see a rye grass winter lawn making its way through the Bermuda summer lawn. The winter lawn grows in after about two weeks of keeping the topsoil dampened. It looks great and doesn’t require much care thereafter. Especially if you are strategic (i.e. erratic) about mowing. And a winter lawn keeps down weeds that might otherwise grow in a dormant Bermuda lawn, as we learned last year.

ND Trip Day One

Finally getting around to posting some info on the ND trip. We left for South Bend on Thursday, September 28. Traveling party from Phoenix included Patricia and me, our three sons and Jon Blaha. I insisted on leaving early, so naturally offsite parking went smoothly, all lines were short and we ended up sitting around the airport awhile before take-off. (Snug and secure with our “A” boarding passes on Southwest, courtesy of PJ.) Flight was easy. Only glitch was getting our rental minivan, which counter girl at Budget wasn’t able to line up. Even that turned out well, as we were upgraded to a MASSIVE Suburban.

(An aside on the Suburban: this thing is an absolute monster. You could actually feel the gas tank lightening as you drove. Amazingly, I learned that all of the ads are totally true: by driving a monster vehicle, I received much more respect from everyone I encountered: fellow motorists, campus guards at various gatehouses, bookstore traffic handlers, etc. Plus this thing had about 20 cupholders, and you can never have too many of those. So it’s all worth it! Or something. I've posted a photo below of the beast taken on Sunday outside Moreau Seminary; the passengers look like mere ants.)

From Midway, we met “Nana” (Patricia’s mother, Shirley O’Donnell) for lunch at an Italian restaurant at 95th and Cicero. This ended up being lots of fun. Just look at the photo! We kept adding folks to our table. Mike O’Donnell showed up a bit and dropped off his son, Mike. Kerry arrived at Midway from D.C., and Nicole picked her up and the two of them arrived about 40 minutes after us. Got the food thing off to a good start with deep dish pizza. Turned out our waitress had been Mike’s kindergarten teacher, which was kind of entertaining.

Easy trip to South Bend, after killing about 30 minutes working through 294 construction. Courtesy of the Reverend Patrick Neary, we were able to stay at Moreau Seminary. Which is a classic place to stay when at ND. We found our rooms, mostly on the south side overlooking the lake with views of Golden Dome and steeple, etc. Pat wasn’t around. So we went out to dinner at The Vine in downtown South Bend. I’d go back willingly. Here’s a link to the restaurant’s website. Check out the menu when you’re there. I ordered the best dish: the Cajun Salmon Filet. Being in northern Indiana, this sounded dicey – but wasn’t. Pasta New Orleans was excellent. Hot asiago appetizer was excellent. Plus some IPA on tap. I was happy.

Then back to campus. The guard trembled at our Suburban and waved us on. Visited the Reverend John Conley at Siegried Hall. We had a nice chat, some nice munchies, and a nice tour (had never been in this hall before, it’s taking up a field where we Grace Hall studs used to throw the football around back in the 70s).

Went to Moreau. Did a short tour of the facilities (impressive as always). That was it for day one.

We're Back from N.D.

Our trip is over. Everything about it was great. I'll put in daily detail once I catch up at work. In the meantime, here's a family photo from the morning of Saturday, September 30. Also a photo taken from Moreau Seminary looking across the lake, taken near sunset on the same date. (Much) more to come.

Iowa trip

I wanted to mention a bit about our recent trip to Iowa. After our “short but fun” visit to Minnesota (mentioned here and here), Patricia and I drove down to my parents’ house in St. Joe on Sunday afternoon (August 27). We hadn’t been to the house for about two years, and were reminded that it is a really nice property. We like the furniture, the decorating, etc. And the view up to the Ernest J. Gales farm is sweet, take a look at the accompanying photo.

Dolores came over from Storm Lake with her three ever-taller sons late afternoon Sunday. That was fun. We caught up on stuff for awhile, then Dolores, Joe and I took a short jog west up past the hill farm, talking about RAGBRAI, choir, orchestra and other assorted things. Patricia meanwhile had her hands full in a euchre game with Tom, Kieran and their grandfather (who was providing advice that may have veered into table talk?) Nice dinner, including some impressive eating prowess by my nephews. In the evening we saw some of my dad’s new and somewhat new stuff, including a spiffy surround sound system (demo’d by Patricia’s cousin Danny O’Donnell), a computer desk that replaced the one that Ray Gales and I dumped on the road that I still call 408 a few years ago, etc. Also learned from my dad a new way to squeeze efficiency out of one’s computer experience: position your desktop icons so that – if you hit the icon in the exact right spot – your cursor is sitting right where it needs to be to launch the associated application. Who could debate that this is a good idea? It then being about 1 a.m., my dad and I called Carol & Jim in Nome. They reported on a fine hike (and there are some good photos on the hunky site to back up the story).

We went up to Algona on Monday. Stopped at the Capesius seed corn shed. Saw pretty much the entire crew plus guys like Alan Kohlhaas and Jim McEnroe. And I wouldn’t have recognized McEnroe (GHS ’76) on a bet. We very much enjoyed talking with this crew. But who wouldn’t? We also looked over or shopped in some of the Algona stores, including some really nice retail space on the revamped main street. Those places look good, and I hope there are enough customers for all. Too late our intended lunch destination so ended up with a fine Subway sandwich instead. Steve & Julia came over from Mason City and we had a nice visit through the dinner hour. Julia demo’d her clarinet. I like how that thing sounds.

On Tuesday, we spent a lot of time going through photos and various other books and materials in the archives. Looked over some of the correspondence, photos, diary, etc. from Irvin Bormann’s WWII service (discussed a bit here). It is quite an impressive collection and really gives some insight into what that must have been like; probably especially instructive for those of us too young to have lived through a war like that. We talked a bit about the St. Joe history book, this being the 30th year of its publication. Clarence & Caroline Bormann and their kids (some more than others) had put together a memoir-style book that was really nicely done. We also pulled out a bunch of picture boards from various events over the years – class reunions, geneaology projects etc. Took some photos of these which I still need to work on a bit. Then went and visited Clarence & Caroline after supper. They are doing great. Enjoyed catching up. Enjoyed having a traditional whiskey + mixer with Clarence. Then we played 500. Clarence and I won one more game than Caroline and Patricia (if I remember correctly). This was very fun.

Wednesday was our last day. Had a chance to visit the gravesites on the St. Joe cemetery, and also looked over the recently-redecorated St. Joe church. I think they did a great job, it looks very nice. My mom made an excellent rhubarb pie (discussed here).

As with the entire trip, the best part is just hanging around the house talking, enjoying the good cooking and the baking (cinnamon rolls in the morning, etc.), soaking up the overall hospitality. Patrick and Paul Jr. were not so happy about missing out on this trip (we being unable to pull it together until they were back on campus), and I’m not so happy they missed it either. It was nice that all of my in-area siblings took the time (including some significant driving) so that we could see them during this short trip. And we got a cookie stash for the road! These are fine, fine visits.

1532 15th St. N.W. -- New Look

Our ex-home on Cohansey Street wasn't the only place in MN with a new look (see here). Check out the spiffy new deck in the back yard of the House house. Photos (one with House house residents, one with select blue guys) were taken on the morning of August 26 after we had coffee and multiple pastries on a gorgeous morning.

We flew into MSP airport on August 25 and had a nice afternoon of it at the House house. Barb & Dan came over from Eau Claire with Emily, Allison and a grand dessert; Therese came over all the way from St. Paul; and Nick came over from somewhere in the St. Thomas environs. It was very nice chatting out on the deck on a gorgeous day. And we waited a respectable time before breaking out Summitt Pale Ale (which I like quite a bit) etc. Watched the Twins beat the White Sox at night.

Just another fine visit to Minnesota. We drove down to St. Joe next.

Home Opener!

Today we went to the home opener for the Arizona Cardinals. Which meant Patricia and I had our first visit to the brand-new, and very nicely put together, Cardinals Stadium. All of this resulted from Chris’s notion several months ago to buy season tickets, which at the time were available for a very reasonable price (this being the Cardinals, who historically have never sold out home games here in Arizona). Anyway, after we bought the tickets the demand curve spiked after the team picked up Edgerrin James and Matt Leinart. Plus the new stadium is an even bigger demand driver. The season is now sold out, and no doubt they’ll jack up prices next year. But we’re in for now.

Jon Blaha and his parents (Dennis and Pam) are in on the gag also. Photo shows the six of us enjoying, or at least presiding over, the remnants of our tailgater. The food/drink was like a pre-season effort – solid and workmanlike, but uninspired. We can and will do better.

The stadium deserves the hype. You can see photos and read about it here. It’s supposed to look like a barrel cactus – you can make your own judgment, just look at the cactus photo. I personally think the stadium looks like a spaceship. Here's an article discussing the architecture (which has won awards).

This did require a 25-mile trip out to Glendale, Arizona. Our seats were very nice. The only problem was that a fat guy sat beside me and invaded my personal space. Kind of like on an airplane. But he was nice. And take a look at the video of our heroes being introduced.

And oh yes, the Cardinals won. Mostly due to the effort of former Iowa Barnstormer and grocerybagger, Kurt Warner. Fun all around.

2498 Cohansey -- New Look

When we were in Minnesota at end of August, Patricia and I stopped by to check out our old home at 2498 Cohansey Street, Roseville. The fabulous yellow siding was gone (or at least colored over)! Check out the bland replacement. And the 1980s siding (2004 photos below), which you’ll agree was superior. And, they messed with the landscaping. Oh well, maybe they wanted to see out the front window or something. Basketball hoop down, which is a shame with the good-sized driveway.

Note the pooch in the top photo. The dog never approached us, which seemed odd until we saw the sign stating that the dog was hemmed in by an electronic fence. I would have been interested to see that product in action.

Finally, we felt that the “Whee Hill” in the backyard (to left of second photo) just doesn’t look as daunting as it did in 1985. N&C&K apparently were quite impressed at the time; they certainly screamed "Whee" quite vigorously during their 0.5 second sled rides down.

Something I had for breakfast

Take a look at this rhubarb pie. And the chef (with dish washing helper). My mom made this on the last day of our visit (Aug 30). We had a healthy slice for dinner (or lunch, whichever you prefer), and then packed a couple pieces for the road.

She used a recipe from her mother, Philomena Bormann. I don't know where my grandmother got the recipe, maybe she worked it up? There is a neat passage in Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop in which Bishop LaTour is complimenting Father Vaillant on the soup that he made as part of their Christmas dinner. These are two French priests out in what then was the wilderness of Santa Fe, New Mexico enjoying a rare opportunity to apply Vaillant's cooking expertise (developed in France prior to his coming to America). LaTour remarked that a sophisticated soup like this represented the culmination of centuries of history and fine-tuning by many cooks. OK, maybe a bit melodramatic, but I thought of that with this piece of pie. This kind of food doesn't just happen. It takes several generations to refine, and even then the baker needs the right skills, and must execute the dish. All that came together here

(By the way, Vaillant sounded a little like my mom would have -- taking LaTour's compliment but demurring that the soup wasn't as good as it could have been (in his case because he had to use onions, leeks not being available in New Mexico).)

We're back in Arizona after a very nice visit to Minnesota and Iowa. It was a fine trip. More to come about that, but I really should pay some attention to my business for awhile.

Our Roommates Left Us

We spent the weekend moving Patrick and Paul Jr. into their campus apartments. Friday (August 18) was move-in day for Patrick for junior year at University of Arizona. He’s staying at Sterling apartments west of campus (information here). We loaded up the Bonneville and our small-ish SUV and had an easy trip down to Tucson and back (minus Bonneville, which is staying in Tucson (keep your fingers crossed)). Plus we had a chance to have a late lunch with Patrick at Barrio in downtown Tucson (information here). We had been meaning to try the place. I ordered the fish taco, it was v. good.

Moved Paul into “The Village on University” for his sophomore year at Arizona State University on Saturday (August 19). These apartments (information here) are located less than a mile east of campus. Very nice except the carpeting could use a major cleaning (or replacement). The third-floor location is great except lugging stuff up there made Saturday’s humidity quite noticeable. Patricia and I went back down to Tempe on Sunday for some finishing touches and basics like grocery shopping.

Unlike last year, we failed to get any photos of the move-in. So I’m posting a photo showing these two guys starting school 14 years ago (August 1992).

We’ll miss having our two roommates around (even if they did tend to treat the house like a dorm every now and then). We’ve had several years or summers now with just the two of them around, our older three being all independent now. It’s a neat opportunity to live together in a smaller group, which I guess is something that often happens with the younger children in a larger family.

More on our Chicago trip (August 3-7, 2006)

Here is some info about our Chicago trip (Patricia, Patrick, Paul Jr. and me).

1. Food was v. good throughout. #1 food event was Arnie’s breakfast. Blackbeans, eggs, tortillas, potatoes with chorizo, coffee. And a Serrano pepper to nibble on plus a beer to sip on. Wicked good combination. (The Serrano pepper is pretty hot, read about it here.) Additional winners were deep-dish pizza (Gino's beats Lou Malnati’s, sorry Nicole), Sunday night dinner featuring Argentine meats at Tango Sur, and BBQ: a massive BBQ pork sandwich at the Pit, and BBQ everything at Patio.


2. On Friday (August 4), we parked at Nicole’s house and did some fun tourist things in Chicago. Check out the video below as we take the El and visit NikeTown and Millennium Park. Then we had a beverage at a bar right outside Wrigley and lunch at Lou Malnotti’s. And saw WiggleyField (a dog park, as you might guess).





3. Also on Friday (August 4), we drove out to Joanne’s place and then on to a rock-climbing wall at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Check out the video below. Only Patricia and Joann made it to the top. My personal effort was not impressive.






4. Saturday (August 5) was the morning of the major breakfast noted above. And a big get-together at Joanne’s house, which included lots of volleyball. Very nice.


5. On Sunday (August 6) we went bowling. Two games: Arnie was high score in game one (155) and Nicole was lights out in game two (189). Danny’s six-mile-per-hour rolls were amazingly effective. Said goodbyes on the south side and drove up to Nicole’s house. Walked to dinner at the Argentine place (the five of us plus Nicole’s boyfriend). It was interesting seeing the neighborhood on foot, lots of restaurants etc. Stopped at the neighborhood Walgreen’s for water and Nicole spotted somebody loading up a handbag and heading out. Clerk’s chase was short and futile. Some video below.






6. Joanne had a dog named Daisy. Pretty big, but still a puppy and ridiculously full of life. Daisy loved to go after the cat, and the cat loved to slap Daisy around. This was endlessly amusing. Daisy also chased around inside the house, especially when Patrick blew in her face.






7. Beautiful weather. Easy flights (except one passenger said we owed him a dinner, I think because EPG was chatting three hours with his seat-mate). Hotel also very nice, take a look here.

Mr. O'Donnell Testifies on Capitol Hill - 1933

Nicole found something really neat during a Google search the other day.

Who knew? Way back in 1933, a committee of the United States Senate turned to a true expert for advice about gangsters (in this case, how to discourage young people from becoming gangsters). This expert was none other than Patricia’s grandfather, (Mr.) Spike O’Donnell.

The video clip below – included in an archive of old newsreels findable via this link – includes a few seconds of Spike addressing the committee. The introduction to the video clip describes things thusly: "Chicago: 'Spike' O'Donnell, a former South Side beer baron, who bears the title of 'the most shot-at gangster in the country,' tells members of a Federal committee investigating crime, of his reaction to the latest Federal drive on kidnapers and other lawbreakers." Spike’s advice – which focuses on gangsters and the consequences of putting young folks in prison – seems reasonable enough; he falls into the camp of those recommending rehabilitation instead of incarceration. One would think he knew what he was talking about it. He apparently had quite a bit of experience with gangsters and even a brief experience with the inside of a prison, (though his political connections were good enough to keep his prison experience really brief).

The timing of this Senate committee is interesting. Prohibition started in 1919. Spike’s activities, whatever they were, had landed him in prison in Joliet in 1923. That’s when a corrupt Illinois governor had him released. (More on that in a future post.) His return to Chicago ignited some territorial wars among gangsters (at least per what I read online). Prohibition ended in 1933, and one would presume that some folks were trafficking illegally in liquor right up to repeal. 1933 also is the year in which this committee was convened. It would be interesting to know how a businessman like Mr. O’Donnell was publicly perceived at the time that he faced the committee in 1933.

In fact, it would have been truly great to talk to Spike about all sorts of things. The Prohibition era spawned all sorts of non-standard activities, and he must have been a tremendously talented guy; certainly he was right in the middle of lots of history.

I’ve also posted some still photos taken from the video. You can read more about Prohibition right here.






(The back half of the video is some entertaining footage from an Al Smith campaign stop. Not sure why it’s included in the clip, and I’m not sufficiently tech savvy to delete it. So enjoy. Al was a pretty interesting politician in his own right, as this article details.)

Blog anniversary #1; introducing blog #2

I noticed that my first post to this website was published exactly one year ago today. It featured a Gambel's Quail. You can visit that post by clicking here and scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

I recently started a second blog. You can visit blog #2 by clicking here, or by clicking on "PMG Reviews" on the right side of this page under the heading "Links." This post explains why blog #2 was started.

I forget what I don't write down, so am glad to have a convenient place to keep track of interesting (to me, at least) things.

Tourists Return to AZ

Patricia, Patrick, Paul Jr. and I visited Chicago and various of its suburbs from Thursday (August 3) through Monday (August 7). I'm including a photo from our visit to the new-ish Millenium Park in downtown Chicago, plus a photo of three tourists and one Chicago resident standing near the Chicago River.

Millenium Park was a neat place. One area was set up for performing arts - on the day of our visit, it was some "Silk Road" music. In another area is the famous "bean" - a source of a wide variety of reflections (click on the photo to better see the reflection of our tourists and a bit of skyline). Plus the park has other stuff, including your basic urban bums hogging all the best shady spots. And you can ice-skate in this park in winter. Click this link for an impressive panoramic view of Millenium Park (including the reflective "bean" and ice skaters). (When viewing the panorama, use the "shift" key to zoom in and the "ctrl" key to zoom out; just move the mouse to see the 360 degree panorama plus full up/down views.)

We had a good trip. I'll post more details and some video this weekend.

Lentil Loaf= Hiking Fuel?

1 onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp oil
2 cups cooked lentils (or one large can)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp sage
2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
2 tsp vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion in oil until slightly brown. Mix all ingredients except sesame seeds and place in greased loaf pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake 30 minutes covered, then 10 minutes uncovered.

“Great recipe! This is the easiest (and tastiest) lentil loaf I have tried. The walnuts were great, adding a little crunch to every bite. I added 1 shredded carrot and a pinch of celery seed to the original recipe and served it with steamed veggies & vegan gravy.”

Well, somebody apparently likes lentil loaf. And I hope somebody (actually, four somebodies) on our 2007 Grand Canyon hike will like this stuff also. We sent in a reservation request back in 2005 for 20 spaces at Phantom Ranch (at the bottom of Grand Canyon) in May 2007. And we were lucky enough to get all 20 spaces. I also requested 20 steak dinners at the Phantom Ranch “canteen” for the evening of the day that we hike down to Phantom Ranch from the South Rim. The reservation confirmation said that we would get 16 steak dinners and four vegetarian meals with “lentil loaf.” That sounded ominous, but the reservation person said we could call later and swap out the lentil loaf meals for steak meals.

Last week I received the following message:

“Dear Paul Gales,

Unfortunately, there are currently no steak dinners available for the night of May 18, 2007. A maximum of 16 steak dinners are made available for hikers, on a given day. Mule Trips reserve 20, until the day prior, when some may be released to the public, if not all mule trips are sold. You may inquire upon arrival at the Bright Angel Transportation Desk if any become available, but it is highly unlikely any will be made available prior to a day or so before your arrival.

That is the main reason I substituted the vegetarian dinners to complete your dinner meals for that date. They are served at the same time and include the same side dishes. If you (we) are unable to switch them, thereby guaranteeing you steaks for all twenty, you can still request (upon arrival) to have a steak substituted for the lentil loaf. If there are extra steaks in the refrigerator, I'm sure they will make every attempt to accommodate.

Best regards,

Barry Read
Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C.
Phantom Ranch Group Sales
PO Box 699
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023”

Sounds grim. Could there really be extra steaks in a refrigerator down there? If so, what condition will they be in? If not, how will we allocate steaks and lentil loaves among the starving hikers? Or is this gentleman hinting at some sort of gratuity to "fix" the situation?

Whats going on in MN?

The natural order of things was disturbed last year. The Twins have reliably rebuffed the White Sox as long as I can remember . . . until 2005. Now things appear to be getting back to normal. The screenshot from today’s game (conclusion of three-game sweep) confirms things (and it was fun learning how to capture it).

Then there’s this Mauer kid (he of the ridiculous batting average). I saw a reference to a blog by “bat girl.” I understand that she focuses on the Twins and, in particular Mr. Mauer. She calls him “Chairman,” even though he looks nothing like Mao Tse Tung. In the spirit of the Great Leap Forward, there was a contest for “best slogan” involving the Chairman, including the following entries:

• The Chairman is a shining son in the heart of the people's line-up


• Mauer to the People OR Mauer to the Meople


• Long Live Chairman Mauer's Bats O' Plenty and it Will Be Poured On


• Once All Struggle is Grasped, Base Hits Are Possible--Chairman Mauer


• Chairman Mauer's Great Guidance Gives Us Unlimited .OPS.


• Crouching Mauer, Hitting Dragon


• In Mauerist Minnesota, Sideburns Grow You.


• The Chairman uses his bat and his arm to fire benevolent beams of distress against his AL Central foes


• Sideburns, lumber and the gentle joy of victory. Vote Chairman!


• The Chairman's Bat is Benevolence to the People and Misery to the Opposition

I’m guessing this all is quite fun for folks in the Twin Cities, not so much White Sox fans (especially bandwagon riders).

I fell for it

I noticed that today was the date on which man first set foot on the moon, back in 1969. So I checked my trusty diary. I wrote: “Great Day for history – Apollo XI landed on moon!!!!!!! Neil Armstrong was first man to set foot on moon. Watched it live on TV. Pictures were real clear. We could see everything. Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin (2nd on moon) did [sic]. Historic day.”

Of course, we’ve since learned that this whole performance was faked. (Even though none of the actual conspirators have been identified in 37 years, and it must have taken quite a few to pull off the deception.) As a 13-year-old, I clearly fell for the whole thing, and it was great Sunday-evening TV fare. I was pretty much into understatement in my diary entries, and still gave this event seven exclamation points.

The next days we were back to events of a more earth-bound nature, including separating 12 and 18 chickens, respectively, from their heads on Monday and Tuesday. Not to mention hauling corn for Barney Thilges and his brothers and some bean-walking.

You can click here for a video clip of Armstrong making his not-so-spontaneous quote about the giant leap for mankind.

Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C Major

O Schmerz! Du Alldurchdringer!
Dir bin ich entrungen!
O Tod! Du Allbezwinger!
Nun bist du bezwungen!
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen,
In heißem Liebesstreben,
Werd’ ich entschweben
Zum Licht, zu dem kein Aug’ gedrungen!
Sterben werd’ ich, um zu leben!
Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du,
mein Herz, in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen,
zu Gott wird es dich tragen!

(O Pain, all-pervading,
I have escaped from you!
O Death, all-conquering,
now you are conquered!
With wings which I have won
In love’s ardent striving,
I shall soar upwards
to the light which no eye has penetrated!
I shall die in order to live!
Rise again, yes, you shall rise again,
my heart, in an instant!
Your beating
shall lead you to God!)

(Concluding lines, Symphony No. 2 in C Major)

Way back on April 28, our chorus (ASU Choral Union) performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Major at Gammage Auditorium. I started writing this up about a week later and have had trouble describing this event. Probably because music like this doesn’t lend itself well to description in words? So I’ll just describe what I can.

Mahler was especially good at putting together big works utilizing large groups of performers. This piece, which primarily is orchestral, is in that style. The orchestra had over 125 performers (some of whom performed offstage). Our chorus was joined by various other ASU choirs for a total of over 285 singers. Plus two dynamic soloists. Over 400 performers total.

Here’s an anecdote that gives a sense of what was going on in terms of intensity. At about the 2:20 mark in the video, you can (barely) hear the Gammage pipe organ’s entrance. Prior to the performance, they preset the organ to a volume level that complements the volume of the rest of the orchestra and chorus at the organ’s entry point. When the chorus was warming up at rehearsal, no one had brought a pitch pipe. So the conductor used the organ (with volume preset as described above) to lead the warmup. That is, he used it only until he realized no one in the chorus could hear a word he was saying (and eventually attempting to shout) over the organ. The organ – one small piece of the overall ensemble – was set that loud.

The music involves quite a bit more than lots of performers and occasional very loud moments. Mahler’s program notes discuss his goals for the five movements. “The first movement represents a funeral and asks questions such as "Is there life after death?"; the second movement is a remembrance of happy times in the life of the deceased; the third movement represents a complete loss of faith, and belief in life as meaningless; the fourth movement, a song, is a rebirth of faith ("I am from God, and will return to God"); and the fifth movement, after a return of the doubts of the third movement and the questions of the first, ends with a realization of God's love, and recognition of everlasting life.” All this is explored by the orchestra for about 65 minutes through the first 4+ movements while the choir sits quietly and waits. I can tell you that it was quite a buildup.

Toward the climax of the piece, we sing for about 15 minutes total (approximately the last three minutes are on the video). Mahler asks a lot from the chorus during that time. I’ve posted a couple pages of the score (click to enlarge). I enjoy his admonition “Mit hochster Kraft” (with maximum force); and I haven’t (tried to) hit a G in many years (bottom line, page 14). You can see how the four basic parts are subdivided as we approach the conclusion.

By the time (at 2:08 in the video, bottom line of page 14 of the score) that we reach the climactic message in the 5th movement– Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du,mein Herz, in einem Nu! (fourth line from the bottom in the German text above) – and after all that build-up now over 75 minutes and counting – I can report that this is an excellent moment to be in a chorus. I don’t know how you beat it.

And it was great that the crowd got into it. This easily was the longest, most spontaneous ovation I’ve ever experienced at any performance, including ND Glee Club days. As often noted, live performance has a power . . .

Patrick came up from Tucson to attend and videotape. Patricia came to our rehearsal on Thursday evening, back for the concert on Friday evening, and ran the usual post-concert party. This support makes for a nice event. A goodly number of friends also attended.

If you pause the video at 4:40, you can see a “photo” of the three performers. I’m just to the right of the fat bald guy in the second row from the top; Paul Jr. is to the right of me in the same row; Christopher is in the row ahead of us, just to the left of me.

(Information about Mahler is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Mahler. Information about this particular symphony is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._2_%28Mahler%29.)

Will post information about 2006-07 season later.

Happy 4th of July

The 4th of July certainly is an excellent holiday. When I was a kid, we always celebrated at the farm place of my Grandpa & Grandma Gales, up on the hill just west of St. Joe (Iowa). Lots of cousins milling around, lots of food; sometimes a baseball game; plenty of ice cream; mosquitoes; also sparklers, firecrackers and a few more interesting (though possibly illegal) fireworks courtesy of my truck-driving uncle, Daryl Baker, and his interstate travels. But we never had a poster or decorated cake as awesome as those in the accompanying photos (taken July 4, 1991).

Movie (sort of) review

We were going to the movies pretty regularly for awhile but have fallen out of the habit. But Saturday evening we went to see the movie version of the "Prairie Home Companion." Garrison Keillor wrote the script (not surprisingly). Robert Altman directed. As in several of his movies, he lined up a pretty long list of big name actors who presumably are performing at cut rates. Patricia and I both like it a lot. The story line rambled some, but I don’t think that was entirely unintentional. And sometimes they seemed to stretch a bit to work in the vagaries of live radio (e.g., the sound effects guy, what do you do when script papers are dropping all over the floor etc.) But those are very minor complaints. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin were very good as singing sisters, and Woody Harrelson and some other guy were funny as faux cowboy performers. Kevin Kline was funny. Etc. Then we had dinner at Chelsea’s Kitchen, which I can also recommend. Especially the roast chicken and Howie’s burger. Click here for info on the movie, and here for info on the restaurant.