I found Rebecca D. Costa’s book, The Watchman’s Rattle: Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction, sitting on the new shelf at the library on Saturday.

I have been thinking a tiny bit about science and politics and thought this might have some insights in it so I grabbed it and put it on my stack after perusing it briefly.

It seems to have been a lucky and serendipitous choice. Costa is talking about thinking our way out of our current global problems and adds the neuroscience of the past decade.

After writing yesterday’s blog, before church, I sat down and started reading it. After I had put stickies in several places for excellent ideas and quotes, I bought an ebook copy of it online.

One of the things I am discovering about the Kindle software that I use (Kindle for PC) is the ease and helpfulness of bookmarking and putting in comments for myself.

Here are some of the sections I found interesting yesterday.

First a summarized list of the juxtaposition of the six things that were necessary before she could write this book.

It took all these discoveries—evolution, genetics, sociobiology, memetics, neuroscience, and my work in the vortex of Silicon Valley—to bring me to the biological reasons for the ascension and decline of civilizations.

Costa, Rebecca (2010). The Watchman’s Rattle: Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction (Kindle Locations 214-215). Vanguard Press. Kindle Edition.

“Memetics is a theory of mental content based on an analogy with Darwinian evolution, originating from Richard Dawkins’ 1976 book The Selfish Gene. It purports to be an approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer.” (Wikipedia link where I found this definition)

Costa’s working in Silicon Valley (impressively to me) was being in on the the ground floor of CAD (Computer Aided Design) development as a science writer.

Besides the juxtaposition of the items on the quoted buy diazepam bali list above, Costa enumerates the signs of decline in our global civilization.

“Today, the issues that threaten human existence are clear: a global recession, powerful pandemic viruses, terrorism, rising crime, climate change, rapid depletion of the earth’s resources, nuclear proliferation, and failing education.”

I was struck by several of her sources and colleagues. Primarly, E. O. Wilson who is someone I have admired and read and apparently is a founder of the field of sociobiology.

Richard Dawkins (memetics) is also someone I am aware of and admire. Finally, Jared Diamond seems to have had a bit influence on Costa’s argument. I recognize her description of the rise and fall of the Mayan civilization from reading Diamond myself (Guns, Germs, and Steel).

A couple more quotes I had to mark yesterday morning.

She quotes Yaneer Bar-Yam, president of the New England Complex Systems Institute and professor at Harvard University from his book, Making Things Work.

“The rule of thumb is that the complexity of the organism has to match the complexity of the environment at all scales in order to increase the likelihood of survival.”

The other salient quote:

“The point at which a society can no longer “think” its way out of its problems is called the cognitive threshold.”

It was at this point I put the book down for a while and resisted purchasing it for about a half hour. When I returned to it, I realized I was going to want to do a lot of bookmarking of ideas, so I just went ahead and bought it online.

I then decided  I would finish Chairs are where the people go by Misha Glouberman with Sheila Heti before reading further in Costa.

I generally keep several books going but try to restrain myself to one per genre: non-fiction, light fiction, heavier fiction, music stuff.

Finished off a reading of The Hobbit last night. I wanted to finish it before starting a new novel or two.

I find characters in books have so much more texture and depth than movie characters. Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf seem much more real to me as personalities in the world Tolkien creates with the words in his novel.  It is the difference between two dimensional experiences and three dimensional ones.

Tolkien creates in Baggins a person who combines the self-interest of someone whose takes a deep delight in creature comforts with the irresistible charm of someone who cannot stop themselves from being drawn in to adventures and who is caught up in wonder and curiosity at the world. The reader develops an affection that is pretty unique for this literary character. At least this reader did.

Gandalf also surprisingly leaps off the page as not only the mysterious wizard of the movie but a fallible interesting person whose self interest is off set by his obvious affection for Baggins.

Maybe this stuff is in the movie, but I certainly don’t remember it.

I find that most movies bore me with their predictable formula like creations of stereotyped people and plots. But maybe that’s just my age showing.

I particularly liked (and identified with) this description of Bilbo at the end of the book:

Upon returning to his hobbit-hole at the end of this adventure and discovering that all of his belongings had just been auctioned off since his absence had been so prolonged everyone thought he was dead, Bilbo Baggins attempted to retrieve his property. He gets a lot of it back but has lost many of his silver spoons.

Then Tolkien writes:

“Indeed Bilbo found he had lost more than spoons—he had lost his reputation. It is true that for ever after he remained an elf-friend, and had the honour of dwarves, wizards, and all such folk as ever passed that way; but he was no longer quite respectable. He was in fact held by all the hobbits of the neighborhood to be ‘queer’—except for his nephews and nieces on the Took side, but even they were not encouraged in their friendship by their elders.

“I am sorry to say he did not mind. He was quite content….”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

I smiled when I read that.

My quasi son-in-law, Jeremy Daum, (as he charmingly describes himself in his relationship to me through my lovely daughter, Elizabeth) recently recommended an author to me.

I went to the library yesterday and picked up a couple titles by the recommended writer, Charles Stross. After finishing The Hobbit, I dipped into Stross’s short story collection, Wireless and read an inventive little novella called Missile Gap. The outrageous plot is based on the notion that during the Cuban missile crisis some incredible powerful and mysterious power moved the surface of the entire earth to an unthinkably large disc of which earth is so small in comparison it makes up only a very tiny portion of  its spinning surface. In the resulting story one wonders whether the characters in the story are simply earth memories appropriated for an alien experiment and whether the incredible alien species that infiltrates the earth inhabitants are the ones who “moved” the earthlings or are themselves a species that has been transplanted to this huge galaxy size disc world. Not a bad plot.

Then I started the novel by Stross I had checked out, The Family Trade.

It is the first of a trilogy and Jeremy was quick to point out that it is more fantasy than sci-fi and he didn’t vouch for Stross’s fantasy writing. No matter to me.

I find Stross himself pretty engaging. It was actually his introduction to the collection, Wireless, that helped me to overcome my natural disinclination initially to choose a collection of short stories in addition to a novel by a new writer.

Then there’s his website, where you can download his novel, Accelerando, for free, and read his moderated blog which seems to include several guest writers.

This morning I found his FAQ on why there is no tip jar on his web site enlightening in its description of how book publishers differ from music and movie distributors.

More on books tomorrow.

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On the Party Circuit, And Upsetting the Party – NYTimes.com

Chinese fiction writer. I would be interested in reading this dude once the English translation becomes available.

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John H. Marburger, Bush Science Adviser, Dies at 70 – NYTimes.com

The description of Marburger in this obit is intriguing to me because Marburger seemed to have kept his own scientific opinions to himself and propagated the conservative political needs of his masters. A Democrat working for Republicans in a bitterly partisan era.

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My Very Own Captain America – NYTimes.com

Charles Blow touchingly writes a tribute to his heroic grandfather inspired by noticing the historical inaccuracy of the new Captain America (integrated troops in WWII).

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The Centrist Cop-Out – NYTimes.com

Krugman makes it clear that pundits who try to put the blame for the current mess equally on the President (whose budget proposals have been right of center) and the House Republicans freshmen (who are radically and extremely right of center and brook no compromise) are wrong. I especially found it hilarious that at the end of the article there is a typical notice that columnist “David Brooks is off today.” Brooks has been popping up all over touting that very notion.

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Americans Who Tell the Truth Robert Shetterly

Shetterly paints portraits. This is his web site.

Bill Ayers Biography

Educational Theorist, Professor, Writer, Anti-War & Civil Rights Activist. b. 1944

“There is, after all, no basis for education in a democracy outside of a faith in the enduring capacity for growth in ordinary people and a faith that ordinary people … can, if they choose, change the world.”

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I have drawn a bit of fire on Facebook.

When I put up this link: Should we teach examples of scientists falling for unscientific practices? | Code for Life an old high school acquaintance took the opportunity to echo ideas about Al Gore and “global warming” as an example of bad science.

Partisans love to get emotional these days. I am finding the whole hate and anger thing less and less interesting.  It troubles me, of course, but I think I am at the end of my tether regarding trying to understand people who don’t make sense to me.

When I tried to point out that global warming is accepted by the world-wide scientific community via links to National Geographic and then a pretty good wickipedia article, my acquaintance just kept focusing on Al Gore.

I’m not really that into Gore. I read about half of his “The Assault on Reason.”

When I think of Gore, I think primarily of how the Supreme Court handed the election to Bush in 2000 reversing their own conservative principles of states rights.

I find that people who describe themselves as  conservative stay pretty consistent but sometimes falter when their principles have to be applied to something near and dear to their heart. Just something I have observed living in Western Michigan.

Anyway, Gore’s book is good and full of ideas. I seemed to have left off reading in the long chapter on carbon emissions. Not sure why.

some quotes from the excellent introduction:

“… [S]o long as the dominant means of engaging in political dialogue is through purchasing expensive television advertising, money will continue in one way or another to dominate American politics. And as a result, ideas will continue to play a diminished role.” The Assault on Reason, p. 8

“The mental muscles of democracy have begun to atrophy.” p. 11

“It was universally understood that the ultimate check and balance for American government was its accountability to the people. And the public forum was the place where the people held the government accountable.”

“The three most important characteristics of this marketplace of ideas [jupe note: wherein the accountability occurs – the public forum]:

1.  “…. open to every individual”

2. “… fate of ideas … depended … on an emergent meritocracy of ideas…”

3. “…. discourse presumed …. [a] search for general agreement… a ‘conversation of democracy’….

p. 13

My facebook friend’s idea seemed to be that politics should keep out of science.  (Here’s the URL for the conversation… not sure if it will take you there… ). I disagree.  I see the concepts of government and society as positive forces wherein informed conversations and decisions responsibly happen. My freedoms end where your nose begins and vice versa. Granted all this rarely works out in practice, but it’s how I perceive the ideas of government and society.

So it makes no sense to me to disconnect science and clarity of thought from the conversation and process whereby we decide how we as a society should live and elect our leaders.

I have a theory that many angry people in the USA live mostly in echo chambers that reinforce their understandings of the world however confused.

The ones that disagree with me probably think that I live in an echo chamber as well. This may be, but I do try to break out of it and engage with ideas and people I disagree with on occasion.

And I admit that people who excoriate the New York Times as wildly partisan must live in another universe than I do.

I regularly read many different news organizations online and find that the NYT often gets a lot right (I’m talking about reporting). And reading any news report often sends me to a quick research online to verify or find out more about ideas and people.

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Useless Pharmaceutical Studies, Real Harm – NYTimes.com

More bad science.

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Disney Wins Marvel Comics Copyright Case – NYTimes.com

I put this link on my niece’s husband’s facebook wall. He is a comic book artist extraordinaire.

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I Do Not Want Mercy, I Want You To Join Me | Common Dreams

My daughter Eliz linked me to this.

“Tim DeChristopher, who was sentenced Tuesday to two years in federal prison and a $10,000 fine for ‘disrupting’ a Bureau of Land Management auction in 2008, had an opportunity to address the court and the judge immediately before his sentence was announced. This is his statement:
“… those who write the rules are those who profit from the status quo. If we want to change that status quo, we might have to work outside of those rules because the legal pathways available to us have been structured precisely to make sure we don’t make any substantial change.”

I used our handy dandy outdoor gas grill yesterday so I wouldn’t heat up the kitchen.

I put creamed corn and water in a small pot. One of the burners on my grill works like a stove top burner. I put the corn on that. Meanwhile I grilled sliced potatoes, onions and mushrooms. When the corn was done, I heated up the left over green beans.

When Eileen came home, she picked some more basil and we added it to the pesto I had been making in the food processor. This was excellent. I had it on my potatoes, Eileen ate it on crackers.

I served all this with a plate of fantastic sliced tomatoes dressed with olive oil, Parmesan cheese and more basil.

For dessert we had pitted cherries, blueberries and peaches with ice cream.

Life is certainly rough at casa Jenkins.

I have been very discouraged by the behavior of our leaders in Washington.  I follow Lewis Black in that he voted for Obama but  noticed a telling feature about him. He is a Democrat. He says that if Republicans stink up Washington by farting , the Democrats simply waft the aroma to their noses and go “Ahhhh.”

My congressman, Huizenga, is so far to the right of me, I have quit bothering with the letters and emails. He votes the opposite of the way I would like to see on almost every issue. He seems pretty much in lockstep with  the inexperienced, freshman reps.

It’s hard to tell how dishonest these people are being about the budget or if its sincere misreading of the situation. I still suspect at least some of them have no belief in government and simply want to kill it. Others represent interests which I am sure benefit from their presence in Washington. I am thinking mainly of business interests but I’m sure there are others.

I yelled at the television last night over my excellent supper.

The House is stalled over a bill that the Senate has vowed not to pass and the President has promised to veto.  So the actions of the House and the reporting on it seem like theater to me.

My response is to read more in two books I have been reading.

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

and the Political Mind by George Lakoff.

I am convinced that the paucity of the political discussion and the reporting on it results at least in part from people who are not educated in any sense I can recognize.

By this I mean they cannot reason well, they “believe” things in their hearts that are more about their emotions and anger than reality.

Kearns tells a intricate story of Lincoln’s abilities. They are heartbreaking to read about now since America has no leaders of any real quality. I do continue to support Obama, but I do not understand much of what is happening right now and cannot coherently evaluate what he is doing. I can see coherence in his rhetoric. At the same time I am convinced that much of the rabid opposition to him is squarely seated in racism and self serving positions if not out and out corruption.

Lakoff’s book is an argument for a New Enlightenment which combines traditional American rational values like government as a societal force that protects and empowers citizens with the necessary emotional framework of a morality based on empathy not authority.

Half way through the book he starts to sound like a wild eyed idealist. I find it both attractive and sad. I think I’m one myself.

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Should we teach examples of scientists falling for unscientific practices? | Code for Life

I found this link on my Twitter feed. The answer, by the way, is yes we should teach this idea since there is so much misinformation and bad science in the mix these days. It even comes from scientists. Badly educated ones.

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President on Sidelines in Critical Battle Over Debt Ceiling – NYTimes.com

Despite the headline, like so much criticism I read these days, this author doesn’t only hold the President responsible for the current crisis.

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Human Run-Ins With Bears May Portend Deeper Changes – NYTimes.com

The basic insight in this article is that it’s not just bear populations that are changing the interaction between humans and bears. It’s much more complex and includes larger human populations and different bear behavior.

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This Is Called ‘Small’ Government – NYTimes.com

This editorial outlines the recent debacle at the F.A.A. courtesy House Republicans.  Maybe you’ve heard about it.

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Obama and His Discontents – NYTimes.com

The author of this article, Ta-Nehisi Coates, critically if sympathetically analyzes a historical metaphor Obama used in a recent speech, namely the Emancipation Proclamation.

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Keeping Abloom the Inspiration for Monet’s Masterpieces – NYTimes.com

Monet’s actual garden.

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Hard Times Causing Rifts Among Mariachi Bands in Los Angeles – NYTimes.com

It’s 50 bucks an hour for the good musicians, $30 an hour for the less good.

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America’s own Taliban – Opinion – Al Jazeera English

A frightening lengthy look at “dominionism”. Crazy scary stuff.

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Saturn’s water mystery finally ‘solved’ – The Times of India

Water is gushing from one of Saturn’s moons to the planet. Only known instance of water coming from space to a planet in this manner. Very cool.

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I played Bach inventions, a Mozart sonata movement and a Beethoven sonata movement for the residents at my Mom’s assisted living facility yesterday. The inventions gave me an opportunity to talk briefly not only about my grandchildren but also musical texture. I personally am always a bit dazzled that Bach wrote the inventions and sinfonias for students.

I played the C major and F major 2 part inventions and the Eb 3 part sinfonia. I don’t remember ever performing the F major in public before. When I first began piano lessons I already had a copy of the inventions. I talked my teacher into letting me learn the F major. Unfortunately this was in Flint and I was in my very early teens. I wasn’t a great student. I lacked discipline (that came later).

So what I did with the F major invention then was more harmful than helpful. These beginning stumbling attempts colored my approach to playing it for years. I love it and am glad to say I can now play it after working hard to offset my initial goofing around with it.

Its basic melody of leaping notes always reminds me of Bach’s take on Vivaldi.

I played the first movement of Mozart’s piano sonata, K. 279. This is one of several I can basically pull out of my hat and often use at weddings or funerals.

The Beethoven was the slow movement from his Sonata Pathetique.

For years Karl Haas used this as his theme song for his radio show, “Adventures in Good Music.”

Several in the audience recognized his name when I introduced this piece.

After the classical music I played several numbers like “Raindrops keep falling on my head” (It was raining), “How much is that doggie in the window,” and “Whose sorry now?” There was much singing along to these.

Then since it was the July birthdays we were celebrating, we did a stanza each of America, “O beautiful for spacious skies,” and the National Anthem. I suggested that maybe the audience didn’t need to stand for the latter as is usual. This was a bit unnecessary since many of them were in wheelchairs and weren’t actually able to stand.

So that whole gig went well.

Today all my rehearsals and appointments have canceled so I have the day free to relax and read.

I went to the Farmers Market yesterday and picked up cherries, blueberries, onions, corn, tomatoes and more. I will probably cook up something nice for us to eat this evening.

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Not O.K. at the O.K. Corral – NYTimes.com

Maureen Dowd gets witty using the new movie, “Cowboys and Aliens,” to talk about John Boehner (the cowboy) and Barack Obama (the alien).

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Geographic Information Systems Help Scholars See History – NYTimes.com

Report about new 3D images of reconstructed historical landscapes.

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That’s Not Trash, That’s Dinner – NYTimes.com

Cooks using parts of plants usually discarded for interesting eating.

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Brown Butter Nectarine Cobbler/Cake — Recipe – NYTimes.com

This recipe looks great for fresh fruit!

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Survivors Recall 1927 Michigan School Massacre : NPR

In this case the killer was angry about the use of taxes for public education.

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Gidon Kremer: why I quit the celebrity ratrace

The letter this famous violinist sent to the director of a festival withdrawing recently.

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I woke up late this morning. Sarah, my daughter living in England, put a message on Facebook saying that it was already noon there and I hadn’t posted my daily blog.  My public awaits!

I received an email from the church bookkeeper that there was a check in my box. The church short-changed me $50 from my last wedding. And I have another wedding this Saturday. My boss said she would include the missing $50 in my next check.

Of course it was all confused and short the $50.

I emailed my boss, the bookkeeper and the church treasurer (who signs the checks).

My boss directed the bookkeeper to make out a check for the missing $50.

I spend more time than I am comfortable with begging people to pay me the money I think they owe me. Poor me, eh?

My wife used to have a bunch of 45s from her teen years.

When Napster was first available (The Celestial Jukebox, remember?), I tried to run down recordings of many these tunes.

Yesterday while filing numerous bills and receipts I ran across this old list. So I thought I would look on Spotify for them.

So far I have found only 5 tunes:

Butterfly and It Doesn’t Take Very Long by Andy Williams

Goodbye, Charlie by Patti Page

Cindy Oh Cindy by Vince Martin and the Tarriers

Hey Good Lookin” by Jo Stafford and Frankie Lane

I actually quite like the old tunes of my wife’s youth.

The social director from my Mom’s assisted living facility emailed me yesterday. Her July birthday party entertainment canceled. Could I do it? I checked my calendar and then told her yes. It’s today at 2:30 PM.

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The Terror From Within – NYTimes.com

“Most threats and violence tend to emerge from within a society, not from outside it. John F. Kennedy, Anwar el-Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin were all assassinated by their fellow countrymen. Cautious citizens may push for better street lighting, but they have more to fear from a spouse, ex-spouse, friend or co-worker than from a stranger on the street.”

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Treat People With Respect, and Pack Duct Tape – NYTimes.com

On my first trip to Japan, I met with seven Japanese businessmen. The gentleman who arranged the meeting also invited me to dinner that night with the group. At the end of the meeting, they thanked me and said goodbye with no mention of the dinner. I whispered to the person who set up the meeting and asked him about dinner plans. He was quite dismissive and said they were no longer available. I thought I must have offended them and I felt terrible about it. I went to go eat dinner by myself.

Several weeks later my business partner and I received a letter telling us the Japanese businessmen wanted to proceed and partner with us. I was astounded. I really thought I had screwed up. Years later I told the story to an American businessman who lived in Tokyo and was married to a Japanese woman. He explained that the guys I met with probably lived far from the city center and didn’t want to commute home late. Since they had already decided to go forward with us, there was no need to take me to dinner. If they had decided not to do business with us, they would have taken me to dinner so I wouldn’t be offended.”

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Marshall McLuhan Speaks — Centennial 2011

Collection of videos of McLuhan

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New York – Empire of Evolution – NYTimes.com

Fascinating article about studying evolution in the city.

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Triassic Extinction Caused by Methane Gas From Seafloor, Research Finds – NYTimes.com

Another theory.

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Using Spotify, I’m working my way through Largehearted Boy’s interesting music of the week.

Did you know R.E.M. released an album in March of 2011? I sampled this album and put four tunes on my new music play list.  So far I kind of like the cut, Überlin, which apparently was released as a single in January, 2011. “Oh My Heart” is tribute to New Orleans.

Spotify didn’t have tracks by all of the artists on Largehearted Boy’s list. But here are some of them. Click on the album cover to go to a related site. I’ve only put videos up of tunes I kind of like.

I think that’s enough for today’s post.

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Fellow Prisoners
by John Berger July 2011

“I’m looking for nothing more than a figurative image to serve as a landmark. Landmarks don’t fully explain themselves, but they offer a reference point that can be shared. In this they are like the tacit assumptions contained in popular proverbs. Without landmarks there is the great human risk of turning in circles.

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The landmark I’ve found is that of prison. Nothing less. Across the planet we are living in a prison.”

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Messing With Medicare – NYTimes.com

“Medicare, with all its flaws, works better than private insurance. It has less bureaucracy and, hence, lower administrative costs than private insurers. It has been more successful in controlling costs. While Medicare expenses per beneficiary have soared over the past 40 years, they’ve risen significantly less than private insurance premiums.”

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More Than Kin, and Less Than Kind – NYTimes.com

Shakespeare and the Murdochs….. very cool.

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Europe Turns to the Cloud – NYTimes.com

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Pics from last week’s Barefoot Jazz gig are up on Facebook. Here I am with the excellent Bass Player, Nate Walker.

In this one, you can also see the sax players, Jordan VanHemert on the left and Connor Prins on the right.

Nice shot of our drummer, Roman Tarchinski.

The rehearsal the night before and this gig were a lot fun for me. I could hear a lot happening in the rhythm section that seemed exciting and particularly coherent.

Church went well yesterday. I nailed the prelude by Krebs and the postlude by A.W. Leupold, both based on the closing hymn, “If thou but suffer God to guide thee.” I had several people comment on my playing. One elderly man with a cane remarked that the prelude sounded like it had required some preparation. This was true, it had required rehearsal.

I reflected on the walk home that though my self image is one of an introvert who would prefer to not schmooze with people, that I had actually had many conversations with fellow parishioners that morning. I find this satisfying because I think it’s important to connect to the people you serve.

I guess my vacation helped, eh?

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A Fashionable Getaway, Saugatuck Battles Change – NYTimes.com

Eileen and I had dinner with some friends Friday evening in Saugatuck. Interesting to see the little town made headlines in the NYT.

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Tom Coburn, a Rock-Solid Conservative Who’s Willing to Bend – NYTimes.com

Coburn sounds like someone interested in helping the country.

As Glouberman says in The Chairs Are Where the People Go

“I’d love to see institutions that somehow operate on the assumption that people can hold vastly different opinions and preferences and desires without having to become enemies, and also without having to lose track of the desires they have that are shared.”

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What Apple Has That Google Doesn’t – An Auteur – NYTimes.com

“The contest is not even close. The company that has a single arbiter of taste has been producing superior products, showing that you don’t need multiple teams and dozens or hundreds or thousands of voices.”

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Ralph Nader and the Airline Refund – The Haggler – NYTimes.com

Nader still at it.

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Rude Britannia – NYTimes.com

So much of what John Burns says about Britain in this article is true of the USA in an American way.

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The  offertory hymn this morning at my church is “Just A Closer Walk with Thee.” I was thinking about this hymn and the various versions of it I have heard and performed yesterday.

I quite like Dave Van Ronk’s rendition on this record.

I still own the vinyl of this one.

My fondest memory of a performance of this song took place in a downtown Detroit church, First Presbyterian. First Pres was a very prestigious church in its heyday. The tradition was that one of its pastors penned the vigorous hymn, “Stand up, stand up for Jesus.”

A quick google doesn’t seem to bear this out, but no matter.

It had a huge square sanctuary that had wooden floors and pews and a wrap around balcony.

The organ was a fine old Cassavant-Frere. It was the largest organ I was every in charge of. Five or six manuals and zillions of pipes. The pipes were hidden behind a facade at the front of the church. One could climb around inside the three stories of pipes something I did do on occasion.

The offertory of the service was usually an organ solo followed by the singing of “Praise God from whom all blessing,” what is sometimes called the Doxology.

The historically upper-class white members of the congregation had long since fled to the suburbs. What remained was an interesting mix of urban peoples including a group of mentally impaired men who sat together at service.

After the organ offertory solo, I would play a strong introduction to the “Praise God” and the congregation would stand and sing.

One day the piece I had chosen to play for the offertory involved a pretty substantial crescendo. The minister later informed me (for the hidden console of the organ prohibited me from seeing the congregation) that the entire section of impaired men dutifully stood up when the organ got loud fully expecting to launch into “Praise God from whom all blessing flow.”

I remember that two of the impaired men were twins. The were rather tall and both of them were blind. Many of these men had jobs and were relatively self sufficient. I remember that one of the twins was named Teddy and he played the harmonica.

I noticed that there were a quiet set of pipes that invariably seemed to stick and not release properly. This only occurred on the Doxology. I mentioned this to the pastor once and he said, “O, that’s probably Teddy. He plays harmonica along with the doxology from his pew.”

I got to know Teddy after that. I convinced him one Sunday to join me at the offertory and play a version of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” with me on guitar.

At the time this was a pretty radical step for this still uptight downtown Detroit church.

Teddy and I sat next to the minister who was appropriately seated in the center of the platform and gently played.

As I say it’s a fond memory and colors my thinking about the song.

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Healthy Recipe: Green Chile Corn Tamales: Organic Gardening

Eileen thought this sounded good. Me too. However I’m not sure any recipe calling for a pound of butter can lay claim to “healthy.”

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MusicReader – AirTurn, Inc.

I entered a drawing for an Ipad yesterday. Second prize was an Airturn Music reader. I hadn’t seen one of these before. Cool. Except you have to have a fairly large laptop for it to work. My netbook is too small.

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Elliot Handler, Co-Founder Of Mattel Toys, Dies at 95 – NYTimes.com

Rev. Mary M. Simpson, 85, Dies – Pioneer in Episcopal Clergy – NYTimes.com

Two very interesting obits.

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Politicians keep marking time until a fiscal crisis.

The Republican Party Can’t Say Yes – NYTimes.com

Remarks by the President | The White House

No new deal after White House meeting on debt limit – Political Hotsheet – CBS News

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The Great Evil – NYTimes.com

Charles Blow explains why the current political climate is like the movie, “The Fifth Element.”

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From Budget Cuts to Dirty Bombs – NYTimes.com

“This is the second time in six months that lawmakers have voted to cut funding for programs to prevent nuclear terrorism.”

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My final three hours of ballet accompaniment took place in an un-airconditioned studio.  It rained most of the morning yesterday, so the temperatures were a less brutal. Still it was very hot. The students were tired both mentally and physically. In each of the two classes, the teachers had their work cut out for them.

I came home much more tired than I had anticipated.  I fell asleep briefly reading under the fan. Then I deposited the check from the ballet people now that I had earned it, practiced organ and did grocery shopping. Eileen came home and we drove to Saugatuck for a relaxing evening of chatting with some new friends acquaintances.

Eileen works as a volunteer Master Gardener at the Farmers Market today and has already left. I am planning to go purchase some local produce then Eileen and I are meeting in air conditioned restaurant for lunch.

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Lawyers rush to cite Henry v. Dow | Michigan Messenger

Businesses are benefiting from this recent Supreme Court ruling. In this case the business is Dow Chemical company. The denied class action is regarding the deadly mess they have of our beautiful Michigan environment.

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CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: The Supply of Science Ph.D.’s

I find it kind of sad and funny that this article is about how higher ed isn’t keeping up with technology. It points to an article in Nature about it which of course is pay only to view. This is part of the problem with so called educated people and their weird attitude toward information and technology. As long as we understand our lives as one of consuming and content of living as commodity, we are going to miss much of what makes life interesting and worthwhile.

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Hello, Adjunct, Meet Prof. Cozy

This point of this  book review of The Faculty Lounges and Other Reasons Why You Won’t get the College Education You Paid For seemed so obvious to me that at first I didn’t bother to read it.

Incompetent and ill informed professors seem to be very prevalent. Adjuncts are doing most of the teaching in the USA for much less money.  I have felt for decades that the education system in the US is broken and not working.  This is both as a student myself and a parent of students.

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I had a full day of playing yesterday. Four and half hours of ballet and two hours of jazz. By the end of day I was pretty tired.

After ballet, I came home and made myself a smoothie using frozen blueberries, raspberries and mango with lime sherbet.

I rested for a half hour and then began experimenting with microphones for the evening gig.

It turns out that one of the mics my friend Ray Hinkle gave me is supposedly better for vocals than the others.

My song, “Moneyland,” was on the set list last night. The Barefoot Jazz people asked me to sing it, so I had to think a bit about how I was going to mike my voice.

This also entailed hauling this little puppy to the gig:

It’s Fender Powerstage 100 monitor I bought a while back.  The user manual says it weighs 45 pounds. It felt like a hundred to me.

In class yesterday, I worked with three ballet teachers I have never worked with before. It is fascinating how diverse the approaches of different teachers are for the same ends. I was quite moved by the first teacher’s philosophical approach. All three were brilliant. In my last class of the day, the teacher was very removed from his teaching. He began seated and gave pretty subtle instructions and corrections. He barely looked at me. He did smile and perfunctorily comment, “very nice.” At one point he told me that my tempos were “nice” and that tempos had been a problem with him and other accompanists.

I think that my abilities as a ballet accompanist have improved from working in the Hope college ballet department.  I also think it’s a good thing because in several situations I have been in this year, I would have been in over my head with my previous abilities. As it was I acquitted myself to my own satisfaction.

I also did this with the Jazz gig last night. I think my Jazz chops are improving a bit. I “comp” better. That means using the keyboard as a third of the rhythmic section of piano, bass, drums and sort of doing little rhythmic riffs to keep the music going.

So today I have my last two ballet classes with the Cecchetti ballet camp. Then I can cash the check they have already given me. I’m planning to grocery shop in the afternoon so I can do some resting on Saturday. In the evening we are meeting friends in Saugatuck for a meal.

I had a surprisingly fun 2 and half hour rehearsal last night with the Barefoot Jazz people. Even after a long day of rehearsals and meetings, I left tired but refreshed. We added another sax and a flugelhorn player.

So I guess it was the Barefoot Jazz Sextet.

The three horns and the added people changed the energy quite a bit. The whole evening was a bit more playful. I especially enjoyed the spontaneity and imagination I heard in some of the music. Hopefully tonight’s street gig will have some of this.

Came and home found that Spotify had finally sent me an email with a link for a free membership. I don’t think this a specific link for just me so help yourself to the link. My understanding is that this music service has several levels of membership including a general free one.

Spotify has been running in Europe for awhile. It has just recently expanded to the USA. It provides access to many specific tunes which you can call up online.  I immediately checked to see if it had classical tunes. It does. Very cool.

The difference between the free and paid is that the free versions has ads. I think that there is also the possibility of downloading a few tunes a month. But the idea is that you access it and listen to stuff online. If this service is as promised, I will probably subscribe to it.

This blogger thinks it sucks for classical music. He is probably right.  It’s not designed for literate classical music fans. That’s for sure. But I was glad that it has any classical at all.

It went into my hard drive and copied my playlists from Windows Media. Normally this pisses me off, when software reaches into my stuff. But in this case, I have been trying to shed Windows Media for quite a while. The problem is that I have some playlists in it that I use quite a bit. This way I can stop using it all together, I think. Very cool.

Having my old playlists automatically available also adds to Spotify’s value, classical music wise, since I have many of the recordings I want to listen to already sitting on my hard drive. I’m not sure how this will work when I access Spotify from other computers (and maybe someday phones or pads). But I’m wondering how long the copyright police of the RIAA (and now AT&T and Comcast) will allow this service to function in the USA anyway.

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Open-Access Advocate Arrested for Huge Download – NYTimes.com

Speaking of keeping people from information and ideas, Aaron Schwarts downloaded all or most of the articles at Jstor in what looks a protest move. I am sympathetic to this man’s ideas. Just yesterday I was trying to look up something quickly online and hit Jstor’s firewall against non-subscribers (read non college profs & students because they are ones whose colleges and universities pay Jstor for access).

I actually have some access, but was in a hurry and just thought my usual “fuckit” and went on.

It’s hard to believe that the keeps of knowledge really want to share it when they set up so many barriers.

I was looking up the Proust reference in yesterday’s blog. If the knowledge police have their way, I figure in fifty or so years no one will be reading or thinking about Proust anyway. Silly people.

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“Our” Troops vs. Our Eco-System | The Fair Share of the Common Heritage

This is a bit of a left wing rant and thought I am definitely to the left of most breathing Americans, I’m uncomfortable with how it sort of “blames the victim” by holding people who serve in the military for our collective societal guilt and stupidity.

But I did find this succinct synopsis helpful. Did you know that

• 80% of the world’s forests are gone?
• 90% of the large fish in the ocean are gone?
• 80% of the planet’s rivers can no longer sustain sustain life?
• 200,000 acres of rain forest are destroyed each day?
• 200 animal and plant species go extinct every 24 hours?

Yikes and yet again Yikes!

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This is the painting “Contemplation” by Kramskoy. I was reading in Brothers Karamazov yesterday. The narrator mentioned this painting describing the mysterious young servant, Smerdyakof, who is possibly  a half brother to the other Karamazov brothers:

“A physiognomist, studying him, would have said that his face showed neither thought nor reflection, but just some sort of contemplation.”

I love the fact that when I read about a painting in a novel or non-fiction book I can immediately get an idea of what it looks like by searching online. I did this quite a bit the last time I was reading Proust. He often compares his characters to certain people in certain paintings. In fact he usually does this via Swann himself.

Someone in Proust (I thought it was Swann but I could be wrong, it could be the narrator) describes one of the main characters, Odette, as resembling Botticelli’s Zipporah:

It’s turning into a busy week for me. By the end of the week I will have earned over $400 playing ballet accompaniments. I have an impending prop tax bill. Since the house is paid for, this is really the only bill for housing (besides the usual utilities). Unfortunately, it’s not monthly but is twice a year and is a considerable sum for our modest income ($1200?).

I am planning to give my son a ring in California this morning. He has told me about when he leaves for his morning commute and I have figured out the time difference. Hopefully we can chat a bit while he drives (he has to use a hands free phone dealy since talking on the phone while driving is actually illegal in California….. I still saw many people doing this while I was out there).

After that I meet with my boss. Then 2 ballet class. Then I have to prepare the scores for tonight’s rehearsal with the Barefoot Jazz Quartet.

So it’s pretty much back to the grind for jupe.

I chose two pretty cool organ pieces for Sunday yesterday. Both are based on the german chorale, Wer nur den lieben, or If thou but suffer God to guide thee. This is the closing hymn I suggested for Sunday. I have always admired this tune.

I seem to be rehearsing and thinking about Bach’s 2 part invention, sinfonias and fugues from the WTC a lot. I have been working on the C major versions of these and plan to move on to other keys. Also rehearsing other inventions and sinfonias. I worked a bit on Mendelssohn’s first organ sonata, first movement, when I was at the bench yesterday.

Returning to the Bach pieces is a delight. Each time I learn or re-learn a piece by Bach I see deeper into the meaning. The melodies sing to me. The motivic relationships seem more and more elegant as I age.

I have been losing interest in Jazz. I think some of this has to be the fact that my little Jazz ensemble is not near the pleasure I thought it would be. In addition, I find that the way we are doing Jazz is pretty much theme and variation in form with the themes being melodies that are about 30 or 40 measures long. I like variations, but it’s just one way to make music.

Bach’s ideas are so much more varied than Jazz to me.

Anyway I plan to prepare, go and play and do my best even though I am the Holland Hack. heh.

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Counting Calories? Your Weight Loss Plan may be Outdated by Jane Brody

Choose Foods to Shed the Pounds by Jane Brody

I have been reading Brody for years and own cookbooks and nutrition books by her.

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Software Designer Reports Error in Casey Anthony Trial – NYTimes.com

Looks like another case of prosecutor misconduct, even though they lost.

“Mr. Bradley’s findings were not presented to the jury and the record was never corrected, he said. Prosecutors are required to reveal all information that is exculpatory to the defense.”

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The Road Not Taken – NYTimes.com

Brooks continues to critique his own party.

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform has been instrumental in every recent G.O.P. setback. He was a Newt Gingrich strategist in the 1990s, a major Jack Abramoff companion in the 2000s and he enforced the no-compromise orthodoxy that binds the party today.

Norquist is the Zelig of Republican catastrophe. His method is always the same. He enforces rigid ultimatums that make governance, or even thinking, impossible.

Brooks cites Norquist as an example of a Republican “Beltway Bandit.” I hate to beat up on a party I disagree with so much, but I have been following Norquist for years and have thought that his ideas have damaged the country. But I believe in government as important societal organizing principle. Not something to take into the bathroom and drown in the bathtub (Norquist’s image).

There’s more stuff in the article but you can read it for yourself if you wish.

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Can a Playground Be Too Safe? – NYTimes.com

Some sensible sounding conclusions from recent studies.

“Paradoxically,” the psychologists write, “we posit that our fear of children being harmed by mostly harmless injuries may result in more fearful children and increased levels of psychopathology.”

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David Sedaris: Chicken toenails, anyone? | Eating in China | Life and style | The Guardian

Bookmarked to possibly read.

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Eileen video-taped me playing some piano pieces yesterday after I got back from a morning of accompanying ballet class for Cecchetti. These people are always so last minute with me. I expected a phone message on Sunday night to tell me where and when I was to play on Monday. Instead were two confused panicked messages asking me to call. Sheesh.

I did manage to find out where and when to be and was there.  I do need the money and I don’t really mind the work. I was surprised that several of the young (7th graders?) dancers complimented me on my piano playing. I don’t seem to impress people quite as much as I used to judging by how often people comment to me. I think this might be as much about the way people are these days as the fact that I’m sort of an old fart looking guy.

While I was visiting in California I played around with music and two of my grandkids. Nicholas is studying piano. I showed him the concept of major and minor chords. Then I played several Bach pieces for him, both to expose him to Bach and to show him how texture works in music.

I think the C major 2 part invention is a quintessential example of two part texture. I was exposed to the inventions by my cousin, Jerry, when I was 12 or 13. He played a recording of them for me while I was visiting in W. Virginia. I can still remember his enthusiasm and my amazement at the music.

I showed my grand-daughter, Savannah, the “harp song” while visiting. This is an easy playful way to show kids arpeggios.  We played around a little bit with chopsticks so I thought I would record that as well.

My 3 year old grand-daughter, Catherine, ran away when I invited her to do music with me. I explained to Savannah that with kids that small you can play a game of “high and low.” Ask them to stand up when you play a high note and then sit down with a low one.

I also showed Nicholas the Bach F major invention.

and the Eb major 3 part sinfonia

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Our Broken Escalator – NYTimes.com

As Derek Bok, the former Harvard president, once observed, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

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Ethnic Music Tests Limits in China – NYTimes.com

Many interesting musicians mentioned in this article. Would love to hear them. Some googling is in order, no doubt.

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Books and Other Fetish Objects – NYTimes.com

There is a funny pun in this article that I wonder how many people noticed:

“…[H]istorians know the feeling well [of handling a book in person] — the exhilaration that comes from handling the venerable original. It’s a contact high.”

“Contact high” also means getting a buzz while in a room full of pot smokers without actually smoking yourself. The Bill Clinton high, if you will.

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Prison Hunger Strikes – Barbarous Confinement – NYTimes.com

This is a heart breaking injustice of man to man.

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Letting Bankers Walk – NYTimes.com

Good questions about how the rich and powerful get off easy.

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I read the first 5 chapters of The Hobbit last night.  When we offered to buy each of our grandchildren a book or two at the bookstore (an annual California event for us), my grandson chose this title. I admit I was surprised. I remember recommending this book to my brother when he was around 11 years old (my grandson’s age).  My brother later seemed to feel the book was not a good recommendation for someone his age. (* see the comments for a correction about this)

However, my grandson seems highly motivated. I watched him turn immediately to the back and read an excerpt from The Lord of the Rings. Also we came home and that evening he put on the DVD of one of the movies.

I know I have read The Hobbit at least once before and probably all of The Lord of the Rings. But I’ll probably re-read them now that a family member is reading them.

On the last plane ride of our journey I noticed someone in front of me was reading poetry in manuscript. He was probably a teacher. But it got me thinking how few people I talk to about poetry and music even though they are very important parts of my own life.

This kind of thinking inevitably leads to examining my life of isolation from people who have stuff in common with me like poetry and music. There are of course, poets and musicians, in this area. At least I assume there are poets, not having met many. The musicians seem to think I’m not all that good or worthy of discussing music with, much less playing it with. This is one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to play with the Barefoot Jazz Quartet this year.

But still, my own idea of what makes good music is a bit different from the people in this group. I’m not sure about how they see my work and abilities. But no matter. I enjoy playing even when I’m not sure how well I’m being listened to or understood.

I have made peace with the fact that musicians and listeners in this area probably think of me as a musical hack. At the least, I am invisible to them. So be it. I still have my music and my poetry. I have companions in music and they are superb: Bach, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Bartok, Zappa, Prokofiev, and many others.

“When you come to university you’re crammed together with a couple of thousand people who are around your aged and who share a bunch of stuff in common with you, and most, important, are at that very same moment also looking for new friends.”

This quote from The Chairs are Where the People Go by Sheila Heti and Misha Glouberman describes my experiences of finding friends earlier in my adult life.

“But adult life isn’t like that. You may move to a new city, maybe for a job that doesn’t easily put you into contact with a lot of people with whom you have much in common. So what that means is that it’s work, and maybe for the first time in your life you have to actually take making friends on as a project. I knew so many people around that stage of life who suddenly found themselves isolated and couldn’t understand why, and had never thought of making friends as something they had to bring conscious effort to.”

Unfortunately, this took me so long to figure out here in Holland that I probably have missed the boat over and over in this department.

There have been some interesting situation-specific aspects of my life as a musician in Holland. I did examine the local college music department in 1987 when I arrived. I found a department typically at each other’s throats and with very uneven quality so I pulled back a bit from that.  I was involved with the Roman Catholic diocese here and made some colleague type friends most of whom I no longer see.

I was involved with local American Guild of Organists until the new organ teacher at Hope arrived. I, myself, nominated him as Dean realizing that although he was the logical choice, he and I had a history of conflict in Detroit. Ever since I have been isolated from the classical pipe organ community.

So now my musical companions are largely dead ones.  And as a matter of course my abilities and work are often under-estimated or unnoticed here in Holland. Fortunately, this feels less and less important to me.

What is important is my daily contact with wonderful music as I sit and hone my skills at the piano and pipe organ.  And I  have a new found joy and interest in leading congregational singing.

More from Glouberman:

Chapter 13. Social Music

“Over the past hundred years or so, music has become a much less social experience for a lot of people. Music used to be something you did, something you made with the people around you. Now, for many, people, it’s something made by skilled professionals you have never met, that you listen to as a largely passive audience often at a substantial spatial and temporal distance from the performer.”

later in the chapter, Glouberman describes an event he organizes:

“You get a roomful of people and you ask them to close their eyes and make and hold a vowel sound together. And you know what? It sounds amazing! I mean, it’s the most boring, unmusical sound you can imagine—-a couple of dozen people holding an unpitched drone. But when you’re in it, when you are doing it with people, it can be very beautiful and very interesting.”

This chapter reminded me a lot of congregational singing considered as a remnant of “social music.” Probably part of why I continue to enjoy it.

I didn’t blog yesterday because I was traveling home from California. We had good flights.

Eileen and I both returned pretty exhausted from our “vacation.” Heh. But, all is well. I do not have to play church today and that seems very wise. I rested well last night, but it’s good to have a day before I have to work.

Tomorrow, I begin playing the Cecchetti Ballet camp here in Holland. I haven’t listened to phone messages yet, but I’m expecting a phone message with instructions on when my first class is scheduled and also where it is to be held.

Vacation is often a time to do some pondering and gain some perspective.

I did this last week. It seems to me as I approach my sixtieth birthday, that I have shed a bit of the habit of continually doubting myself in an effort to see issues from all sides. This is either maturing or the influence of my wise wife.

Probably a bit of both. At any rate, it is much easier for me to dampen the voices of unreasonable doubt with common sense than it used to be.

I am hoping to retain the mild sense of balance and perspective that can come from some time away. I could probably use another week, but that’s probably always the case.

Several of the books I have been reading over vacation have helped guide my ponderings.

The musings and interesting perspective Misha Glouberman provides in his co-authored Chairs are Where the People Go: how to live, work, and play in the city continue to echo in my head even though I haven’t finished the book yet.

“At a certain level, virtuosity has only one thing to say, and that is: Look at how good I am.”

Misha Glouberman as told to Sheila Heti (2011). The Chairs Are Where the People Go: How to Live, Work, and Play in the City (p. 43). Faber & Faber. Kindle Edition.

I’m glad he qualifies his statements with phrases like “at a certain level.” Skill and virtuosity is something that musicians never quit seeking. But when it becomes the ends rather than the means I find my own interest waning.

Glouber says this and I have found this to be my experience as an improviser:

“So what is true improv? I guess the biggest thing is that it’s actually about letting yourself be surprised and letting yourself be off-balance.

In my life long love of music, I have found this to be true. From the beginnings of sitting down alone at the keyboard and figuring out sounds to becoming a seasoned more mature improviser, I have always been more interested in discovery and surprise than anything else.

I have found as a composer, I sometimes dry up. But as an improviser, so far, every time I have put myself in the presence of an instrument, I seem to find something to say. And it often if not usually is a moment of surprise and loss of individuality and control. I love this.

I finished reading Josephine Tey’s murder mystery, The Man in the Queue, somewhere in the sky between Houston and Grand Rapids.

I associate Josephine Tey with the late great Alec Wyton, Episcopalian musician extraordinaire. He died recently with Alzheimers. I was the one lucky enough to escort him back and forth from a workshop once in Detroit. He was a gracious and interesting conversationalist. Our talk drifted to reading and murder mysteries. He mentioned Josephine Tey as a special love of his.

The story in this book takes place largely in London. The murder is in a line for a  play on the West End. I have been to many places mentioned in the book. This made an added pleasure as I read it.

I also have been reading and benefiting from these two:

I know I’m repeating myself. But I am thinking about my musings during vacation.

I read the first 3 chapters of my son’s copy of the Doris Kearns Goodwin. I will definitely get hold of a copy and continue reading about Lincoln and the men who were the “Team of Rivals.” Goodwin tells a fascinating historical story and I was getting a lot out of it.

I am well into Lakoff’s exposition of ideas and theory that integrate brain science insights into ethics and politics. His ideas are clear and engaging and I plan to finish reading it.

I found that Uncle Tom’s Cabin sometimes was a bit victorian for me. At points Stowe’s prose and plot just about rises to sounding a bit like Dickens but not always. It’s still on my list, however, and I would like to read more in it.

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The Good Short Life With A.L.S. – NYTimes.com

If you missed this, I recommend clicking the link and reading it. Dudley Clendenin, the author of the article,  is dying. But as he faces his own death, he finds a new meaning in living. Very instructive and moving.

David Brooks commented on this article and then also linked 3 more I plan to read:

Thinking about aging

L’Chaim and its limits Why not immortality

Born Toward Dying | First Things

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ArtsBeat Blog: A Word With Kent Tritle

I have been following Kent Tritle’s career as a church musician from afar for years. I admired his ease with various musical styles as he headed up the program at St. Ignatius Loyola, New York.

Now he has gone to the Cathederal of St. John the Divine, (Alec Wyton’s old gig).

I found out from this article that he (like myself) was a non-Catholic serving in the Catholic world. He also mentions that he thought being gay and partnered was more congruent with the Episcopal church than the Catholics (carefully pointing out that his previous employers had no problem with it, even if the official stance of the church was against it).

Yay! It looks like he is a very good choice for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Here’s where I first read about it:

Sacred Musical Chairs: Tritle Leaving St. Ignatius Loyola for St. John the Divine
By DANIEL J. WAKIN

Today is the last day of my visit to California.

I have enjoyed seeing my grandkids quite a bit. Getting away from my little town has helped me gain a small bit of perspective.  I have had time to read, reflect and relax. But I am looking forward to the return trip with Eileen.

I seem to be reading sad poetry online this morning.

Some of the ones I like:

Horse Horse Hyphen Hyphen?
BY MARILYN CHIN
I hate, I love, I don’t know how
I’m biracial, I’m torn in two

Tonight, he will lock me in fear
In the metal detector of love

Rapeflowers, rapeseeds, rapiers
A soldier’s wry offerings

more

MyKillAdoreHer
BY PAUL MARTINEZ POMPA
That Lucia broke the machine twice in one week was evidence enough. He also offered this—she’s no longer automatic, her stitches are crooked and once another seamstress found Lucia’s “lost” sewing patterns in the trash. The security guard half listened as Lucia gathered her things. Then the manager turned directly to her—what is it with you? We give you work, put money in your pocket. She put on her best disappointed face as they escorted her past rows of itchy throats, bowed heads, the refrain of needle through fabric.

link

“Weep You No More, Sad Fountains”
BY ANONYMOUS

Weep you no more, sad fountains;
What need you flow so fast?
Look how the snowy mountains
Heaven’s sun doth gently waste.
more

This is all of this poem:

Let me not thirst with this Hock at my Lip
BY EMILY DICKINSON

Let me not thirst with this Hock at my Lip,
Nor beg, with domains in my pocket—
link

“Hope” is the thing with feathers
BY EMILY DICKINSON
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

more

Gracious Living ‘Tara’ ?
BY TOM RAWORTH
lonely as four cherries on a tree
at night, new moon, wet roads
a moth or a snowflake
whipping past glass

more

Admittedly sad poetry. But these poems seem to fit my mood.

Here’s a bit more from Chairs are Where the People Go

To learn to play charades, you have to learn to enjoy yourself while trying to communicate with people who don’t understand you and don’t know what you know.

I’m pretty sure Glouberman and his Boswell, Heti, clearly see Charades as not only a fun activity in and of itself, but also an analogy to effective human communication.

The chapter on Charades is full of observations on communication. I quite like it.
more from this chapter:

“When you’re acting out a clue for another person, it’s really important to remember that the other person does not know what you’re acting out. This seems obvious, but a lot of the time, people will act out a charade in a way which would make perfect sense if you knew what the title was, but from which the title would be completely impossible to guess if you didn’t know it. This seems like a trivial point, but it’s important. It means that, if at all possible, you shouldn’t get angry at the other person for not knowing what it is you’re trying to act out.”

and

“[E]veryone involved is [in]… dialogue. That is, it’s your job to respond to each other. So, as the guesser, throw lots of guesses at the person acting out the clue, because this allows them to change what they are doing, or lets you know if you’re on the right or wrong track.”

This is actually a pretty clear description of “reflective listening.”

Finally

“Playing charades is specifically about the difficulty of communication. Without the difficulty, there is no game. With practice you could get better at communicating through the obstacles that charades presents you, but that’s not really the point. It’s a game, so the point is not the elimination of obstacles—it’s enjoying yourself.”

This has been a learning vacation for me. I garnered some insights and food for thought not only from Glouberman, but also Doris Kearns Goodwin and Charles Lakoff.

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Google+ Improves on Facebook
By DAVID POGUE
Published: July 13, 2011

I have signed up for Google+ and Pogue points out some salient advantages to it. I will watch to see if many of the people I care about migrate to using it. So far it’s pretty sporadic.

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New Service Offers Music in Quantity, Not by Song
By BEN SISARIO
Published: July 13, 2011

I also emailed a request to use this service for free. (link) I hope they have classical music as well as popular. I could see subscribing to this service if it’s selection is wide enough for my tastes.

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The Republican Case for Compromise
By AL HOFFMAN Jr.
Published: July 13, 2011

Compromise keeps looking like the only way forward for the government. But it also keeps looking like a very long shot.

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Josef Suk, Czech Violinist, Dies at 81
By ALLAN KOZINN
Published: July 8, 2011

I admire this man’s playing.

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I was thoroughly charmed by this article I found on line yesterday:

Paris Review – Harvard and Class, Misha Glouberman

I liked how the author goes to Harvard expecting it to be a place with interesting intelligent people then remembers that on Gilligan’s Island it’s Mister Howell that went to Harvard not the Professor.

I liked the article so much I downloaded a book by Glouberman which seems to have been released on Tuesday.

The Chairs are Where the People Go: How to Live, Work and Play in the City.

You’ll notice it’s co-written by Sheila Heti.  The article is actually an excerpt from this book which she also co-wrote.

Heti confesses she has always liked the way Glouberman speaks. She tried to write a book about him but decided that it would be better to simply let him talk and write that down. The result is this book.

Here’s a sample.

“I went to the gym pretty regularly for a long time, and it always felt so crazy to me. The gym is like the meeting point of all these different things that are emblematic of our time. It looks like the shopping mall and the factory, and it’s where our crazy desire to exert ourselves and work hard meets our crazy desire to be young forever, along with our crazy confusion about our appetites, and our imagining that we can subject everything to rational, super-mechanistic processes. Fifty years from now, if you wanted to pick something that encapsulates the old days of the early twenty-first century, you’d show the gym. “

The chapters so far are short. It’s an excellent choice for summer reading for me.

Yesterday I sat down and showed my grandson, Nicholas, all the major and minor triads on the piano. I did this by asking him to find them by ear. This is something I do with beginners in an effort to get them thinking and exploring the keyboard.

I read an apocryphal story about Handel in which he is supposed to have taught himself a great deal while sitting at a broken clavichord or harpsichord in an attic. I imagine him figuring out the chords and how music works by just sitting at the keyboard. I did a lot of this as a kid myself, although I’m obviously no Handel.

I encourage people to use their ears when they are doing this kind of exploring. It seemed to work with Nicholas yesterday.

I also showed my grand-daughter, Savannah, how to identify the notes on the keyboard by name. “Play all the two black key groups. Play all the three black key groups. See the two black key group?  They are like a hot dog bun and the white key in the middle is the hot dog. It’s a D. Play all the Ds.”

And so on. I did the same thing with Nicholas when he was younger.

This sort of thing is not necessarily something kids remember or retain but it’s fun. And it situates learning squarely where I think it belongs: in play.

It’s my understanding that humans (and chimps and apes and monkeys) learn by playing.

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The Washington Monthly – The Magazine – The Lions of Lagos, the Rotarians of Rawalpindi

That’s “Lions” like “Rotarians.”

While Americans abandon the idea of community, others in the world are reaching for it.

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Theodore Roszak, ’60s Expert, Dies at 77 – NYTimes.com

I never became a hippie until I was well into my forties. By this I mean that was when younger people began calling me one. This was not how people talked then. At least not the people I knew. Living through the 60s was so different than the current popular image of it. Roszak definitely articulated many of the interesting aspects of being alive (in general) with his books. I don’t think of him as a good writer particularly. But still I read him.

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Counties Propose Secession in the Name of South California – NYTimes.com

Jeff Stone, one of the guys behind this idea is the head of the county agency where my son works in the Mental Health services.

Hard to say what all of this is about. Americans thrive on anger these days.

“The politics of victimhood are very powerful,” said Shaun Bowler, a political science professor at the University of California, Riverside. Mr. Stone’s effort taps into an angry undercurrent among many conservatives in the eastern part of the state. “People have been mad for a long time. They seem to have a sense that if they keep shouting louder that they are right that they will convince the rest of the state that they are right.”

…

A state government spokesperson, Gil Duran, pointed out “that the area Mr. Stone wants to peel off collects more money from the state than it generates.”

This is the area I’m staying right now. Last night my daughter-in-law, Cynthia, took the scenic route home from supper. It was just twilight. The waning light was diffused gently on the surrounding mountains while we descended into the valley where they live. The full moon shone on the opposite side of the sky. When I visit here, I always think it is a breath-takingly beautiful area.

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Why Taxes Will Rise in the End – David Leonhardt – NYTimes.com

A desire to return to the good old days “depends on a misunderstanding of the budget. It imagines a budget in which the United States indefinitely has the world’s highest medical costs, its largest military, an aging population and, nonetheless, taxes that are among the world’s lowest. Economists have a name for that combination: a free lunch.”

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Creative License: how the hell did sampling get so screwed up and what the hell do we do about it? – Boing Boing

By Cory Doctorow, one of my heroes.

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A Pathway Out of the Debt Crisis – NYTimes.com

“The House speaker, John Boehner, said Tuesday that the debt ceiling was the president’s problem, as if Mr. Obama alone had cut taxes, started wars, expanded Medicare and bailed out Wall Street. Republicans are no less complicit in running up the nation’s borrowing; they simply do not want to pay the bills now that they have come due.”

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Monkeys Don’t Do Fair Use; News Agency Tells Techdirt To Remove Photos

I found this story quite funny. Also some of the comments are very witty.

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Presidential Historian and Colleague Arrested in Theft of Documents in Maryland By SABRINA TAVERNISE

This is either funny or sad, can’t figure out which.

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Visa Delays Put Iraqis Who Aided U.S. in Fear by Tim Arango

I’m against war generally. But I think it’s wrong to abandon people who helped us while we were there. Reminds me of the situation of South Vietnamese people I have known. Sometimes siding with the U.S. can be bad for your health especially when they won’t evacuate you from the country where you have helped them.

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Boston Review — John R. Bowen: Europeans Against Multiculturalism

Very clear discussion of European challenges in this area.

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Shelley in Egypt: How a British Poem Inspired the Arab Spring | Book Think | Big Think

This article led me to read Shelley’s “The Masque of Anarchy” in it’s entirety. The poem was more compelling to me than the article.  The article calls this poem “stale,” “predictable,” and “earnestly polemical.” However, I still enjoy reading historical poetry like this. In this case, it made me wonder about the basic ideas Shelley was clothing in allegorical garb like Murder and Fraud. I especially like that Hypocrisy was “clothed with the Bible, as with light, and the shadows of the night.”

Anyway, you can read the article and the poem and make your own conclusions.

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It’s a season of recall for Voters in Wisconsin by Monica Davey

I continue to marvel at instances where people insist on  language to serve their own ends:

“Mr. Tate predicted that Democrats would win back control of the Senate, even with what he called “the fake Democrats” (the Republicans, who encouraged those bids, prefer the term “protest candidates”) running in Tuesday’s races.” from Monica Davey’s article linked above

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Dissent Magazine – Online Features – Blaming Women for the Infantilization of Men –

I have this bookmarked to maybe read.

I find when writers or commentators begin talking about gender roles, they lose me. I had to turn off NPR this morning because I couldn’t stand listening to descriptions of “gender” issues that were put forth as typical that strike me as so idiotic and superficial.

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Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth

According to the Writers Almanac Site, today was the day that Wordsworth began writing this poem. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Romantics. I also like today’s poem for the day, “Joy” by George Bilgere which ends nicely this way:

And this morning I woke up
feeling like a little French village
the Nazis suddenly decided to pull out of
after a particularly cruel occupation.

The baker has come back to his store
and everything smells like warm baguettes.
The children are playing in the schoolyard,
the piano bars along the river
have thrown open their doors.

And here you are, with coffee
and an open blouse, and two cool breasts
from the land of joy.

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I need to wrap this up. First a few links from Boing Boing I plan to check out:

Creative License: how the hell did sampling get so screwed up and what the hell do we do about it?
Cory Doctorow at 5:44 AM Friday, Jul 8, 2011

Woman Faces Jail Time For Growing Veggies In Front Yard
By Ben Popken on July 11, 2011 12:00 PM

NuPenny Store in Wichita is never open
Mark Frauenfelder at 4:05 PM Tuesday, Jul 12, 2011

Animated GIFs Triumphant

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And a couple of links about the place I’m visiting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancho_Temescal_(Serrano)

Temescal is a local place name that you see on road signs. It is Spanish for “Sweat bath or lodge.”

On the road signs “canyon” is often abbreviated to “cyn” which I think looks vaguely Welch.

Links from vacation reading:

What’s a metaphor for? by Carlin Romano

I thought the ending paragraph of this article was nice. I like asterisks and footnotes.

“Writing with or about metaphors is not dancing with the stars, but dancing with asterisks—pointers to the figurative understructure of our supposedly literal language. The more we stay sensitive to that, the better we dance. As the Chinese say, “It’s hard to dismount from a tiger,” and every metaphor starts out as a wild beast, waiting to be tamed by usage.

Metaphor is a huge topic. As someone interested in poetry and “meaning making” in general  the concept is one I continue to think and learn about. The online comments which follow this article were very interesting to me. They actually made me want to give the book being reviewed,I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World by James Geary, a second look.

My daughter “invited” me to connect with Google+ yesterday.

This is the first article I cross posted from Facebook (and now my blog):

Why We Need the New News Environment to be Chaotic « Clay Shirky

I found this article helpful. Shirky explains his understanding of how newspapers and journalism work(ed) and how the old ways fail to operate in the new environment.

He concludes that “markets supply less news than democracy demands.” This makes sense to me. “But even in their worst days, newspapers supported the minority of journalists reporting actual news, for the minority of citizens who cared. In return, the people who followed sports or celebrities, or clipped recipes and coupons, got to live in a town where the City Council was marginally less likely to be corrupt.”

He doesn’t see a clear solution. Points toward subsidization by foundations, non-profit situations…. mentions that while some Europeans do subsidize media with public dollars this really doesn’t fly in the good old U.S. of A.

He also startled me with this reminder: “Someone who turns 19 this year will have not one adult memory of the 20th century…” Good to remember.

Rethinking Addiction’s Roots, and Its Treatment – NYTimes.com

This article helped me do some re-thinking myself. First of all, it hadn’t occurred to me how some medical professionals would dismiss addiction as a social construct and not be open to its physical aspects.  Also comparing addiction to diseases like asthma, hypertension and diabetes is helpful when thinking about the idea that addicts are never “cured,” but learn to live with their condition.

After decades of hard-fought progress, black economic gains were reversed in Great Recession – The Washington Post

The struggle continues.

Underpaid Judges? – NYTimes.com

And speaking of morality, this letter writer makes a point that occurs to me often about service to the public (this applies to judges but also politicians, governmental workers, all citizens really), namely whatever happened to the importance of the public good?

Facundo Cabral, Argentine Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 74 – NYTimes.com

I find obituaries can tell some very enlightening and wonderful stories. I didn’t know this guy’s work (I listened to his song, “No Soy de Aquí, ni Soy de Allá” (“I’m Not From Here, I’m Not From There” on Youtube with this link. If you do so, be aware that the first 4 minutes or so are him talking in Spanish about his ideas). But, I like what I read in his obit about his life.

“A bomb makes more noise than a caress, but for each bomb that destroys, there are millions of caresses that nourish life.”

Facundo Cabral

I continue to enjoy sitting by the pool and reading these books as well. Life is good.