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.

Evolution of hiking gear

One last post from our recent Flagstaff hike: I couldn't help notice the changes in hiking gear over a 20-year period, as modeled by my pretty little wife:

2009: hiking socks and hiking boots
1989: white socks and gym shoes

2009: pants with high-tech moisture-wicking fabric; legs zip off to convert to shorts as needed
1989: standard-issue sweat pants

2009: sunglasses
1989: squint as needed

2009: digitAL camera
1989: heavyweight SLR (not shown because it was in use)

2009: high-tech hiking poles
1989: big stick found randomly on the trail

2009: Camelbak (hydration system)
1989: Kidonback (dead weight)

Looked something like a Christmas tree

Noticed this going up the trail from Lockett's Meadow - interesting light, fresh leaf drop from aspens, etc. Looks very much like a nicely-decorated Christmas tree (at least if you click/enlarge the photos).

Lockett's Meadow 2009 (20th anniversary)

Patricia and I took a quick but most fun trip up to Flagstaff on Saturday, October 17-18. Main purpose was to hike the trail from Lockett's Meadow up to the Inner Basin. It was our first time on this trail since 2005 (reported here). We were pretty late in the season, but the weather was unseasonably warm in Phoenix, so temperatures were perfect for this up in Flagstaff.

The hike was delightful as always. Quite a few hikers, gorgeous day, brilliant colors at the trailhead and the lower part of the trail, more leaves had dropped as we approached the 10,000 foot level. We took our time, and took lots of photos. Sat in the meadow a bit after the hike and sipped a Chimay (white) and glass of wine. This is really a wonderful area and should not be taken for granted.

Something else interesting was that we have never walked downtown Flagstaff on any of our visits there over these two decades +. This was fun; ended up sipping and eating at a place named Cuvee 928 - excellent. Fun crowd. And enjoyed watching the games.

I later realized that this is the 20th anniversary of our first trip to Lockett's Meadow. That time we had five quite young kids in tow - young enough that for big chunks of the hike I was carrying Patrick, and Patricia was carrying Paul Jr. N, C, K trudged along on their own just fine. I'd guesstimate we've hiked the trail about half of those 20 years.

And will be back.

Quebec (September 21-24)

As much as we enjoyed Montreal, our time in Quebec City was better. We took a rental car and arrived in the evening of Monday, September 21. (After some challenging road construction.) Some cornfields and agriculture north of Montreal; we were running alongside the north side of the St. Lawrence River with occasional views of the water; beautiful wooded country as nearing Quebec.

Quebec City (I'll just refer to it as Quebec from here on) is simply different. The city had celebrated its 400th anniversary a couple years ago - which is remarkable for North America. I read that it's the only walled city in North America. We had been looking forward to it because it's just that much more remote than Montreal; plus my imagination was stimulated by this Willa Cather book.

We were momentarily a bit put off on arrival - unexpected tourist concentration in the area of our hotel. And at first blush some of the old architecture almost feels Disneyfied (even if it's real). And some street performers are just committing crimes against music - with amplifiers. But we got over that quickly and I barely recall any of those distractions. We learned that by going just a bit farther afield, could bypass the bigger tourist concentrations, and the Disney effect was lost in a beautiful city that just exudes a most interesting history.

So we checked into the Auberge Place d'Armes upon arrival - had a great location across from the Chateau Frontenac. This is in the upper portion of old city (Vieux Quebec). Given lateness of the hour, we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was good, but not up to the standards of our other dinners on this trip. Then we were upgraded to a much larger room due to some water dripping into our bathroom.

We ran into consistently excellent food the rest of the visit. French heritage or whatever, there is a shared assumption that food quality and the dining experience matter a great deal. Have to hand it to the French. Complex, sophisticated. Unhurried. Had dinner two evenings at L'Echaude - they had two lights-out entrees: a duck dish with duck gizzards, mushrooms, onions, reduction, bok choy etc.; and black cod with snail stew and leeks. Two lunches at La Brigantine - the table d'hote, including lamb shanks, a veal dish and a chicken sandwich that's difficult to even place in the same classification as what I normally think of as a chicken sandwich. And, of course, soup, dessert, coffee, a local wine.

We walked the city constantly. The weather was cloudy and rainy for a good portion of the time - but our last round of REI shopping left us well protected, and we never were limited by the weather. Sunny on the last day.

Visited the site of the famous battle on the Plains of Abraham; also walked around the Citadel - this is the highest point in town (Cap Diamante - where Cecile and Jacques went sledding). This is the battle that put the British into control of the area, for all practical purposes.

Visited interesting churches, as discussed in the preceding post.

Walked through the Chateau Frontenac, but lacked the patience to take the guided tour. We did spent lots of time on the Promenade of the Governors, and took every chance to look out over the St. Lawrence River.

The town is full of monuments and parks. Beautiful architecture; interesting old houses; narrow streets; hilly everywhere. We enjoyed walking into the lower town. And walking some more. French atmosphere more pronounced than Montreal - some folks with little or no English at all. Got to really enjoy the buzz of French conversation, the fun of working our way through the menus, etc.

Can't wait to get back.

Montreal - Quebec: old churches

As we walked the old areas of Montreal and Quebec, we much enjoyed visiting some impressive old Catholic churches.

Here are the ones we visited, in order:

1. St. Patrick's Basilica (top three photos) - we read this opened in 1847, focused (as you might guess) on the Irish immigrants (who apparently were flooding Canada as well as the US). It is "Gothic Revival." We encountered this church while on our very long walk on Sunday 9/20. We saw several very beautiful churches, but the experience here was our favorite.

Our timing was pure luck - encountered the last half of a Latin Mass. One forgets how solemn those old phrases sound (especially compared to the prosaic (or worse) stuff now ascendant) -- fiat voluntas tua; sed libera nos a malo; Corpus Christi; Agnus Dei. Etc. Also, it was a sunny day and the Gothic style permitted the place to be absolutely flooded with light. And neat artwork of the North American martyrs (Isaac Jogues et al). Old copper roof staining the exterior walls. So this was delightful.

2. Notre Dame Basilica (Montreal) (photos four through nine counting from the top) - the wikipedia article has a good summary: "The church's Gothic Revival architecture is among the most dramatic in the world; its interior is grand and colorful, its ceiling is colored deep blue and decorated with golden stars, and the rest of the sanctuary is a polychrome of blues, azures, reds, purples, silver, and gold. It is filled with hundreds of intricate wooden carvings and several religious statues. Unusual for a church, the stained glass windows along the walls of the sanctuary do not depict biblical scenes, but rather scenes from the religious history of Montreal." It was a sunny day, but somewhat dark inside. I am a big fan of the scenes of the French church in Canada. This place packs in the tourists. There is a wedding chapel in the back - quite large; unfortunately destroyed by fire in the 20th century and restored with hideous 20th century artwork.

The basilica was just a block or two from our hotel so we had the pleasure of walking around it from all different directions at all different times of day and night.

3. Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church (second- and third-last photos) - this one is in the Place-Royale, a great spot in old Quebec. Sits across from a small bust of Louis XIV, who supposedly chipped in a few louis in support of the project. It was built way back in 1688, with some connection to an earlier building that Samuel Champlain put up. Much smaller than the other churches mentioned here. We read that it is a restoration - the old church was leveled by British cannon balls during the famous "Plains of Abraham" battle in 1759. So how neat is all that? The square is very picturesque; the artists focusing on the tourist trade do charming little paintings of snow scenes with children enjoying winter in the Place-Royale. Maybe 10 minutes from our hotel, we walked past it constantly.

4. Notre Dame Quebec (last photo) - stopped here on our last morning in Quebec City. Less than a block from our hotel so we had walked by numerous times. Church for the very oldest parish in North America; original building from 1647. This also is a restoration (another victim of British cannon in 1759, and then it burned down again in 1922); so it looks relatively new. Interesting write-ups inside about the resentment toward the "Protestant conquerors," who eventually supported rebuilding after 1759. This is where several governors of New France are buried. We liked it.