tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3327743708411155992024-02-06T23:18:55.914-06:00The Curmudgeon Beyond the WallVeritas lux mea...Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.comBlogger682125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-87621107833301767582017-03-31T12:26:00.002-05:002017-03-31T22:08:54.695-05:00- 30 -<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">My Boulder</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MeNBlEyO7oD4TKF_BtJK6SHZI4PXnzmVZA7k3AAI8tm2hDztHOryTtV7xJyyD2C2B-5sMcJyBa1eZCK0Ut3__iyYMraUjf8IxSxtmBBGN4jGCI0RPJSJmbDJAegd68yi9LaA_AIXEiY/s1600/von+Stuck+-+Sisyphus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MeNBlEyO7oD4TKF_BtJK6SHZI4PXnzmVZA7k3AAI8tm2hDztHOryTtV7xJyyD2C2B-5sMcJyBa1eZCK0Ut3__iyYMraUjf8IxSxtmBBGN4jGCI0RPJSJmbDJAegd68yi9LaA_AIXEiY/s320/von+Stuck+-+Sisyphus.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sisyphus</i>, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Stuck">Franz von Stuck</a></span></td></tr>
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Although I had hoped to maintain the daily blogging in this space until at least May 19, the two-year anniversary of its launch, when it became clear that I could not reach that goal I decided I would settle for ending this <a href="http://www.yourdictionary.com/sisyphean">Sisyphean</a> project on the final day of March.<br />
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In the 682 entries I have published, counting this one, I have done my best<br />
to stay true to the blog's <a href="http://curmudgeonbeyondthewall.blogspot.com/2015/05/its-fair-question.html">stated purpose</a> from the very first entry.<br />
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Whether I succeeded is not for me to judge, of course, but unlike my previous exercise in blogging I am not turning this one off. The site will remain "live" online, and its archives will be there for interested folks to read if they choose. At the very least, some might find the evolution of the blog's content and appearance amusing...<br />
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I might also try to implement a couple of enhancements I could never quite find the time to work on before. It has always bugged me a little that the Thought for the Day and various recommendation links do not "anchor" to the entries on particular dates. When you use the Archives to go back and read an entry from a year ago, for instance, the Thought you'll read is not the one that appeared that day, but rather the most recent one I've posted. Same with the Book, Video, and Music recommendations (although the "Until Next Time..." songs are embedded and don't have that problem). What I'd like to add here is an archive of Thoughts for the Day, and another for the various recommendations I've made in the nearly two years I've been doing this.<br />
An index of all the musical artists and songs I've featured would also appeal to me.<br />
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I did find this project helpful in giving me an outlet for my desire to write, and that urge is deeply enough <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ingrained?a=british">ingrained</a> in me that I might actually return to blogging again, someday. If I do, though, it will not be a resumption of this particular project, which has run its course. That's why I chose "- 30 -" as the title today. Back during my days<br />
as an ink-stained wretch writing for newspapers that was how you ended every submission, to let the copy editors know that there was no more to the story...<br />
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I know, I know...but at least we'll still be together, no matter what comes next...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">One More Time...</span></span></h4>
When this blog began back on May 19, 2015 the very first song featured in this space was my hero <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a>'s "Asking Around for You," recorded live on May 4, 2009 at his <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bonamassa-Live-Royal-Albert-Hall/dp/B002L5GQGY/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1490973970&sr=1-2&keywords=Joe+Bonamassa&refinements=p_n_format_browse-bin%3A2650304011">Royal Albert Hall concert</a>. The idea of revisiting the song again to serve as a sort of "bookend" appeals to me, especially since its <a href="http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Joe_Bonamassa:Asking_Around_For_You">lyrics</a> are as <a href="https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=poignant">poignant</a> as ever given the circumstances of my life. (I also did the "bookend" thing with the Thought for the Day, featuring my writing hero <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler">Raymond Chandler</a> today as I did on Day One.)<br />
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2013 was a <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/watershed?a=british">watershed</a> year in my life emotionally, and so it seems especially apt<br />
to choose a rendition of the song recorded that year. In late March of 2013 Joe did<br />
a series of shows in London that he called his "<a href="https://www.jbonamassa.com/tour-de-force/">Tour de Force</a>," four concerts on four different nights in one week at four different venues featuring four different backing bands and set lists. It was an amazing feat, and fortunately for his fans it was filmed and released on CD and DVD.<br />
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The show on March 27 was at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_Bush_Empire">Shepherd's Bush Empire</a>, and the set list that night included "Asking Around for You," with Joe playing his <a href="https://youtu.be/Nl_ehPyRSwQ">signature Gibson ES 335</a>.<br />
This is the official concert video of that performance, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JoeBonamassaTV/videos">Joe's YouTube channel</a>...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-28823819968833443382017-03-30T11:37:00.001-05:002017-03-30T11:37:36.288-05:00Penultimate<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Other Side of the </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="vmod">Cliché</span></span></span></h4>
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One of the more durable <span class="def-body"><span class="eg" title="Example">clichés</span></span> when it comes to dealing with life's slings and arrows is the familiar "<a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel">light at the end of the tunnel</a>" metaphor. Almost equally common is the <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tongue-in-cheek">tongue-in-cheek</a> reminder that the light we are seeing may simply be <a href="https://staticseekingalpha.a.ssl.fastly.net/uploads/2016/2/20/5088811-14559799819634757.jpg">an oncoming train</a>.<br />
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In my own life at present, my concern isn't that the light is<br />
a locomotive bearing down on me, but rather the fact that the light<br />
is growing <i>dimmer</i>, no matter how fast I try to move toward it. <br />
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As it stands now, tomorrow's entry will be the last one for awhile, and possibly the last one period. I will try to explain the reasons for that in tomorrow's entry...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"So, what's the plan, then?"</span></td></tr>
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Working on that...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Tomorrow...</span></span></h4>
Every song in my iTunes "Tearjerkers" playlist is guaranteed to have that effect on me, but even in such a collection of heart-tugging music there are a handful of songs that evoke that tearful response to a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fare-thee-well">fare-thee-well</a>. Today's featured song is one of that handful, and has spent some time at the very top of the list.<br />
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Country music artist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Jackson">Alan Jackson</a> released his debut album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_in_the_Real_World"><i>Here In the Real World</i></a> on February 27, 1990, barely a month before the birth of my son. Since my (now ex) wife liked this album a lot, it got played rather often in our home. For a period of time Jackson was probably her favorite artist, and that fondness colors my own feelings about his music even all these years later.<br />
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"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_in_the_Real_World_(song)">Here In the Real World</a>" was the second single release from the album, and began Jackson's string of 23 consecutive Top 5 hits on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Country_Songs">Billboard Hot Country Songs</a> chart, including 14 that reached No. 1. At the time of its release, I thought that its theme of the contrast between fictional romance and real life's <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/vicissitudes?a=british">vicissitudes</a> was a good one. It wasn't until my wife left me, though, that the full emotional impact of that metaphor took hold of me. In the weeks after she left, I probably listened to this song dozens of times, and cried buckets of tears.<br />
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The emotional situation I find myself in right now is different, but the feelings are much the same: If life <i>were</i> like the movies, I'd never be blue...<br />
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This is the official music video for the song, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/alanjacksonVEVO/videos">Alan's VEVO channel</a>...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-77123327227846939812017-03-29T09:57:00.002-05:002021-03-31T18:19:05.311-05:00Looking Deeper<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">More From the Gallery</span></span></h4>
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Back in the days when I decorated my classroom walls with fine art prints, I always had them arranged in a progression beginning with strongly <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-representational-art-182705">representational</a> works (beginning with something <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorealism">photo-realistic</a> like <a href="http://i2.wp.com/fineartblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/photorealistic-still-life-paintings.jpg?resize=640%2C562">this</a>) and ending with extremely abstract paintings like today's featured work. The main purpose of that exercise was<br />
to help illustrate a basic principle of how we first acquire and then master language. One of the most rewarding things a teacher ever sees is the look on a student's face when she/he takes in a new idea, and the conversations those paintings sparked were<br />
a lot of fun as well...<br />
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Reactions to this particular painting were always strong either way. Sometimes, when a student would say that it "doesn't look like anything" I would flip the painting upside down. Abstract or not, doing that helped students see that the artist was trying to show them some particular thing, and that it actually <i>did</i> matter how the painting was oriented. It also helped when I explained that Kandinsky's title translated into English as "With and Against."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mit und Gegen</i>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky">Wassily Kandinsky</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgly4zQ0b9LW5ClhlAVRwnDa6lCkdeq_GmAVsYDxQlnWKIJ_jrZjrRHSkuCQYjlGkUyRegg-20crdpxkCEtEak5wIN8ozE5V_VDPKkrQ1z7Dfj5EY_jPKf5lbVt26pgs8rn_Jsd8gTfzWM/s1600/Anteater+27c.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgly4zQ0b9LW5ClhlAVRwnDa6lCkdeq_GmAVsYDxQlnWKIJ_jrZjrRHSkuCQYjlGkUyRegg-20crdpxkCEtEak5wIN8ozE5V_VDPKkrQ1z7Dfj5EY_jPKf5lbVt26pgs8rn_Jsd8gTfzWM/s400/Anteater+27c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"You just like it because it's mostly red."</span></td></tr>
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I will neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of that observation...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
On March 29, 1943 Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou was born in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agria">Agria</a>, in what was then Italian-occupied Greece during World War II. A child prodigy, he began composing his own music as early as age three, and went on to achieve considerable renown as a composer and performer under his professional name, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vangelis">Vangelis</a>.<br />
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Electronic music of the sort Vangelis specializes in is not a big favorite of mine, but he did compose the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariots_of_Fire_(album)">score</a> for 1981 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture">Best Picture</a> winner <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariots_of_Fire"><i>Chariots of Fire</i></a>, one of my all-time favorite films. Vangelis took home the Oscar for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Original_Score">Best Original Score</a>, and the popular soundtrack album spent four weeks at No. 1 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200">Billboard 200</a> as well.<br />
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Three selections from the album are in my "Tearjerkers" iTunes playlist, but as it happens "Abraham's Theme" is not one of them. I chose it today because it reminds me of one of the film's <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAETtEWDFdGKRIYxdUUmh_fDXaMMVWqTtxLJUtgRiYQgHrv4RYJgOHEKSoy8StNCov4xL2sGba0qoSXjTGR6Yla2v63i0DQ7Xb9ixw-57sl0G4YHa37oZvVFegL-7-HJ5BO2SOlqQrEtOO/s1600/Ben+Cross+Chariots+of+Fire.PNG">lead characters</a>, who overcomes adversity and self-doubt to find both <a href="http://www.themoviethemesong.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Chariots-of-Fire-3.jpg">ultimate victory</a> <i>and</i> <a href="https://therabbitfilm.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/kla.jpg">true love</a> as well. Well done, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Abrahams">Mr. Abrahams</a>...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-17627248297075365422017-03-28T11:14:00.001-05:002017-03-28T11:14:11.801-05:00Glimmers<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Morning Light</span></span></h4>
When you've been as miserable both physically and emotionally as I've been over the past two weeks, even the tiniest bit of improvement is most welcome. My nasty flu-like symptoms stubbornly linger on, but this morning they seem to have diminished a bit. And for the first time in nearly a week I see a glimmer of hope on the emotional front as well, like the first faint ray of sunshine on the horizon after a <i>very</i> long, dark night. It might turn out to be illusory, but for now I'll take whatever I can get...<br />
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As I try to keep the daily blog entries coming until at least the two-year anniversary, one thing I plan to do is to share some bits and pieces of my life that are much on my mind these days. Of late, for instance, I have had reason to reflect on the various physical spaces that were my classrooms during my teaching career. In particular,<br />
I've been reflecting on the change I made a few years back from the usual motivational posters to fine art prints to adorn my classroom walls. It was one of my better ideas,<br />
as those works of art provided a rich supply of teachable moments with the kids.<br />
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During however much time the blog turns out to have left, I will occasionally share some of those paintings here when they happen to tie in to what is going on with me right now. <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/apropos?a=british">Apropos</a> of the "morning light" metaphor, for example, is one of the coolest sunrise paintings I own. It was always a favorite of my students (who were quite fond of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism">Impressionist</a> school of painting), and is such a well-known exemplar of that style that it is currently featured on that school's Wikipedia page...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0uC329n06LeBuIRw4XVkqBEZe7n6MQTQCKkTdOs4HBQHl8_DPOHFfYILNuJUjsentDhB9EDBo451toRxI_7t6BZx7I_ac7QKK-2hOlhJ3ZUxUvGc-HordyomJut1kL2dy2pZI42cqJE/s1600/Monet+-+Impression+Sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0uC329n06LeBuIRw4XVkqBEZe7n6MQTQCKkTdOs4HBQHl8_DPOHFfYILNuJUjsentDhB9EDBo451toRxI_7t6BZx7I_ac7QKK-2hOlhJ3ZUxUvGc-HordyomJut1kL2dy2pZI42cqJE/s640/Monet+-+Impression+Sunrise.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Impression: Sunrise</i>, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet">Claude Monet</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Is that a whiff of optimism I'm smelling?"</span></td></tr>
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With a nose like <i>yours</i>, who can tell?<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
On March 28, 1903 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Serkin">Rudolf Serkin</a> was born in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheb">Cheb</a> (aka Eger), in what was then known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Bohemia">Bohemia</a> (now the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic">Czech Republic</a>). A true child prodigy on piano, Serkin made his first public concert appearance when he was only 12.<br />
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Serkin first came to my attention thanks to my fondness for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven">Beethoven</a>, as he is regarded as one of the premier interpreters of the maestro's music of the 20th century. As I have noted in this space on several occasions, Beethoven's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._5_(Beethoven)"><i>Piano Concerto No. 5</i></a> (aka the <i>Emperor Concerto</i>) is my favorite single work of the classical canon, and Serkin recorded it several times with various major orchestras and conductors. Today I'm featuring one of those recordings, a cherished favorite of my own collection.<br />
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This is Serkin masterfully navigating the concerto's gorgeous second movement (<i>Adagio un poco moto</i>), a <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/nocturne?a=british">nocturne</a> that has always had a remarkable calming effect<br />
on me, from the sublime recording he made with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Ormandy">Eugene Ormandy</a> and the splendid <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Orchestra">Philadelphia Orchestra</a> in 1953, the year of my birth...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-12081659441569808852017-03-27T07:21:00.001-05:002017-03-27T07:21:27.542-05:00Anagnorisis<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Must <i>This</i> Show Go On?</span></span></h4>
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My life has been<br />
a difficult struggle lately, and today gives me one more reason<br />
to be gloomy...<br />
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It is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Theatre_Day">World Theatre Day</a>, a celebration of the theatrical arts, but also a reminder of how much I miss teaching and directing...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKehFhTnqQmX-ymQwkiKnfi26fh0-FJjkpldVChkkb7fvg5FTaNCDoQCEzvwmj9BPuf9-HrRIzbhn2MDtHN-AoQfm8kB-OA4J_kGjes4bIWGjkcYOYom1UnysnHUk_KF0m1RnJJegnDRE/s1600/Anteater+19e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKehFhTnqQmX-ymQwkiKnfi26fh0-FJjkpldVChkkb7fvg5FTaNCDoQCEzvwmj9BPuf9-HrRIzbhn2MDtHN-AoQfm8kB-OA4J_kGjes4bIWGjkcYOYom1UnysnHUk_KF0m1RnJJegnDRE/s400/Anteater+19e.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"You got to do it 28 times, though, and changed those kids' lives in the process."</span></td></tr>
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I know...I just wasn't quite ready to let it go, though...<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Miscalculation</span></span> </h4>
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Sometimes the only real way to adequately explain my screwed-up life is by referencing beloved cartoon characters from my childhood, so bear with me...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBF416Sd4-4xMY4lRU5sew_-u24wjPjxtuygh_on3AG5PsGIhi0Ae6pG-v2bLhmwA1w5scDdGQO1wZR6uxwgJKHtbgMjZijqrL0pySEb05bmitjkSlrdtxq1zO0FPW2PvHIiBa4okYakU/s1600/Mr.+Peabody.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBF416Sd4-4xMY4lRU5sew_-u24wjPjxtuygh_on3AG5PsGIhi0Ae6pG-v2bLhmwA1w5scDdGQO1wZR6uxwgJKHtbgMjZijqrL0pySEb05bmitjkSlrdtxq1zO0FPW2PvHIiBa4okYakU/s320/Mr.+Peabody.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Sorry, Shu, but the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WABAC_machine">WABAC Machine</a> was fictional."</span></td></tr>
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In <i>my own mind</i> I am <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Peabody">Mr. Peabody</a>, the smartest person around, someone whose problem-solving ideas never fail to work out splendidly, even if they sometimes occur to him barely<br />
<a href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/in-the-nick-of-time.html">in the nick of time</a>...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Have you tried Acme's online catalog for ideas?"</span></td></tr>
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...while the <i>reality</i> is I'm usually more <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wile_E._Coyote_and_the_Road_Runner">Wile E. Coyote</a>, who considers himself<br />
a <a href="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8140/10227056515_8cb331b0c9.jpg">Super Genius</a> but whose <a href="https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=harebrained">harebrained</a> schemes invariably end in disaster...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9HEH-7Xesw1tveiECEtnQlWWbecb5uOyCS0VE0WlWUQe8e91kWr9spLizI4cPUplKEvg2uwDVDQsqGE4YgXX5qWoOPKNxnHWsriOe-_IvFNR55uuejFK0VGIbSHAJk-eFxsnDSlyDWg/s1600/Wile+E.+Coyote+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9HEH-7Xesw1tveiECEtnQlWWbecb5uOyCS0VE0WlWUQe8e91kWr9spLizI4cPUplKEvg2uwDVDQsqGE4YgXX5qWoOPKNxnHWsriOe-_IvFNR55uuejFK0VGIbSHAJk-eFxsnDSlyDWg/s400/Wile+E.+Coyote+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Visual depiction of how my "brilliant" plan for March 9 worked out...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Looks painful."</span></td></tr>
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Old friend, in this instance you truly have <i>no idea</i> how painful...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
A lot of the songs in my "Tearjerkers" iTunes playlist are there simply because the artist's voice tugs on my heartstrings, or because there is a bit of mournful guitar<br />
or violin or piano that seems especially <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/poignant?a=british">poignant</a>, or because the lyrics speak to some particular flavor of emotional pain I happen to be experiencing. And then there are<br />
a handful of songs that irresistibly combine all three factors.<br />
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I first heard country artist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Gill">Vince Gill</a>'s heart-rending "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryin%27_to_Get_Over_You">Tryin' To Get Over You</a>"<br />
in early 1994, during a period of my life when both my spouse and the car dealership where I was working played country music pretty much nonstop. It was the fourth single from Vince's multi-platinum smash album<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Still_Believe_in_You_(album)">I Still Believe In You</a></i> to reach No. 1 on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Country_Songs">Billboard's Hot Country Songs</a> chart, and his first-ever single to crack the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100">Billboard Hot 100 Singles</a> chart, establishing his crossover appeal beyond the country audience.<br />
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Vince has one of the best singing voices in American popular music, regardless of genre, and he is also one of my favorite guitar slingers (in no small part because he excels at of the sort of understated, soulful playing he exhibits here), but the <a href="http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/clincher">clincher</a><br />
is the song's <a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=&as_epq=Tryin+to+Get+Over+You&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=#hl=en&as_qdr=all&q=%22Tryin%27+to+Get+Over+You%22+lyrics&*">lyrics</a>, which made it one of my wallowing favorites when my marriage unraveled in 1995. These words are not so <i>literally</i> appropriate now as they were then, but <i>metaphorically</i> they perfectly fit my present emotional state. I don't want to reach the fatalistic conclusion Vince reaches, but "stiff upper lip" stoicism has gotten harder to manage as I have grown older.<br />
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This is the official music video for the song, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/VinceGillVEVO/videos">Vince's VEVO channel</a>...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-7020678755530737802017-03-26T09:58:00.000-05:002017-03-26T09:58:20.522-05:00Tristis Corde<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Status: Unchanged</span></span></h4>
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Still sick, and sick at heart...<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Requiescat In Pace </span></span></i></h4>
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On March 26, 1827 composer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven">Ludwig van Beethoven</a> died at his home in Vienna at age 56.<br />
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The maestro's health had been failing for some long time late in his life, though this did not prevent him from composing some of his greatest works, including the peerless <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Beethoven)"><i>Symphony No. 9</i></a> and the sublime <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabelli_Variations"><i>Diabelli Variations</i></a>. <br />
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There is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ludwig_van_Beethoven">considerable controversy</a> about the actual cause of his death, but his funeral in Vienna was attended by tens of thousands of people. Among those leading the funeral procession were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schubert">Franz Schubert</a> and Beethoven's former pupil <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Czerny">Carl Czerny</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Proof positive that even a <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/curmudgeon?a=british">curmudgeon</a> can be beloved."</span></td></tr>
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They loved his <i>music</i>, not so much the man himself...and he was more <a href="https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=grouch">grouch</a> than curmudgeon anyway...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
Somewhat uniquely among the greatest composers of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music">classical music</a>, Beethoven<br />
wrote relatively little sacred music in his career. What he <i>did</i> write in the genre was outstanding, though, as one might expect from such a genius. Although Beethoven's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_in_C_major_(Beethoven)"><i>Mass in C major, Op. 86</i></a> is not so well known, popular, or frequently performed as the magnificent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missa_solemnis_(Beethoven)"><i>Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123</i></a>, I have always found its unabashedly emotional style to be joyful and inspiring, something which certainly offers me some much-needed comfort at this juncture of my life. <br />
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This live performance of the Mass's "Kyrie" by the <a href="https://www.music.ucla.edu/choral-ensembles">UCLA Chorale</a> and <a href="http://www.uclaorchestras.com/the-orchestras.php">Philharmonia</a>, joined by the <a href="http://www.angeleschorale.org/">Angeles Chorale</a>, was filmed on June 7, 2014 at the splendid <a href="http://www.roycehall.org/">Royce Hall</a> on the UCLA campus...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-15710117997737715922017-03-25T09:37:00.002-05:002017-03-25T09:37:39.753-05:00Soggy Saturday<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, How Am I Doing These Days?</span></span></h4>
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Not great, to be honest with you...it is cold and rainy here in the Bluffs again this morning, which isn't doing anything good for my flu-like symptoms...and as for my ongoing emotional crisis...no end in sight...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHrMEQ-rQGYJ3ZWTjc8lY_rK4V9N5-YHs3xaOXA5e_cYCT-Jo9wQOGWK8nu_uEPjPQPuFy1qQc4LC_0SQgzzLJ-ThtFZXAzu3rVuvHNar60USHM6AuRJDOPWkCQsZXiaLoVWBruBowH7c/s1600/Vettriano+-+Heartbreak+Hotel+%25281951%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHrMEQ-rQGYJ3ZWTjc8lY_rK4V9N5-YHs3xaOXA5e_cYCT-Jo9wQOGWK8nu_uEPjPQPuFy1qQc4LC_0SQgzzLJ-ThtFZXAzu3rVuvHNar60USHM6AuRJDOPWkCQsZXiaLoVWBruBowH7c/s640/Vettriano+-+Heartbreak+Hotel+%25281951%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Heartbreak Hotel</i>, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Vettriano">Jack Vettriano</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ziZRIDiXBPYRPZ0-KcmV0br2Il_kOX3HrmMnvxJE_mwezRFU8B_pL_ybaOPss0Y1rt8REZXV4JDb6wOazySppgS6H2Ofn6zKg5nLSS2AokXwjUgOMgP3xfTwIMDOomB2LfVD3NLydQc/s1600/Crying+Anteater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ziZRIDiXBPYRPZ0-KcmV0br2Il_kOX3HrmMnvxJE_mwezRFU8B_pL_ybaOPss0Y1rt8REZXV4JDb6wOazySppgS6H2Ofn6zKg5nLSS2AokXwjUgOMgP3xfTwIMDOomB2LfVD3NLydQc/s400/Crying+Anteater.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"You quit smoking almost four years ago..."</span></td></tr>
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It's a <i>painting</i>, doofus...metaphor much?<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Feast Day</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary</i>, by Augustine Pichot</td></tr>
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Today we celebrate the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Annunciation">Solemnity of the Annunciation</a>, marking the occasion of the visit of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel">Archangel Gabriel</a> to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_mother_of_Jesus">Virgin Mary</a>, at which time he informed her that she was to be the mother of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus">Jesus Christ</a>.<br />
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Although March 25 is the customary date (at one point Catholics during the Middle Ages assigned it as the start of the calendar year), this feast is not permitted to fall on a Sunday, or during <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Week">Holy Week</a><br />
or on Easter.<br />
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When that happens (as it did just last year), the Annunciation feast is moved to the Monday following the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_of_Easter">Octave of Easter</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBP7rGvgfzPl9TY07Vet77Jys0frMMNJuDumns943RnyRDRQ6cS6OrXNAuflwI-wknqQNOWH-QeuafyA5G4ZGsD8dmxVWRn6VTpAggomSeTG1htCrUQsedqVT4EDUVDQYuJy7ubyuOuQ/s1600/Anteater+35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBP7rGvgfzPl9TY07Vet77Jys0frMMNJuDumns943RnyRDRQ6cS6OrXNAuflwI-wknqQNOWH-QeuafyA5G4ZGsD8dmxVWRn6VTpAggomSeTG1htCrUQsedqVT4EDUVDQYuJy7ubyuOuQ/s400/Anteater+35.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Any chance Mary might be able to help with your current crisis?"</span></td></tr>
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I've told you before...that isn't how <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplication">supplication</a> works...and even if my pals <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-eth/">Aristotle</a> and <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/practical-reason-med/">Aquinas</a> would call <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_in_the_Catholic_Church#Petition">what I want to pray for</a> "right desire" (an open question),<br />
my failure was so comprehensive that even a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novena">novena</a> most likely wouldn't be enough<br />
to undo it...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ave_Maris_Stella"><i>Ave Maris Stella</i></a> originated as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plainsong">plainsong</a> chant in the 8th century, and since that time it has grown into one of the most popular <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymns_to_Mary">Marian hymns</a>. It is commonly sung<br />
in both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_devotions">devotional</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgy">liturgical</a> services, and has received <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ave_Maris_Stella#Musical_settings">musical settings</a> from<br />
a who's who of noted composers including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_Luis_de_Victoria">Victoria</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Pierluigi_da_Palestrina">Palestrina</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Monteverdi">Monteverdi</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k">Dvořák</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt">Liszt</a>, among others.<br />
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This performance of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Grieg">Edvard Grieg</a>'s setting by the <a href="http://www.latvianvoices.lv/">Latvian Voices</a> ensemble was filmed live at the <a href="http://www.cittolosa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=178&Itemid=1&lang=en">Tolosa Choral Contest</a> in 2012...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-6168444700870598672017-03-24T10:35:00.002-05:002017-03-24T10:35:39.071-05:00Cruel Fate, or Nah?<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Thank <a href="http://supernatural.wikia.com/wiki/Atropos">Atropos</a> It's Friday!</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"This is how it's <i>supposed</i> to be. Says so right here in my book, fool."</span></td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Wrong Fork</span></span></h4>
Officially, the Catholic Church believes both in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination#Roman_Catholicism">predestination</a> (what some people<br />
call Fate), and in <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a3.htm">free will</a>. Regarding the alleged incompatibility of those beliefs, I have always been a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomism#Free_will">Thomist</a>, which means I don't believe the loss I have recently suffered was brought about by anything other than my own errors. As has been the case with previous mistakes of this kind, the path I should have chosen is now clear to me. But as has also been the case with those previous heartbreaks, I shall not be allowed a second opportunity to choose.<br />
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My current misery is not "fate," but a product of my own catastrophically defective judgment at a critical moment...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"You can only control so much of what happens in life..."</span></td></tr>
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'Control' isn't the point...this disastrous turn of events is entirely my fault...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Make Up Your Mind</span></span></h4>
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From the <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/inimitable?a=british">inimitable</a> comic strip <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes"><i>Calvin and Hobbes</i></a>, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Watterson">Bill Watterson</a>, sadly missed in my daily morning reading.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
There was a fair amount of silliness in the '60s concerning the role of Fate (or Destiny) in human affairs. I knew a large number of people who were <i>deeply</i> into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology">astrology</a> in those days, for instance, and since a couple of them were cute girls I desired to date,<br />
I sometimes pretended I bought into that nonsense as well. It was also the age of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Castaneda">Carlos Castaneda</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary">Timothy Leary</a>, and others arguing for the use of drugs to achieve<br />
a higher level of consciousness, discover hidden dimensions, etc. I never indulged in drugs (aside from alcohol), and I much preferred <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nicomachean-Ethics-Aristotle-ebook/dp/B00A4J1VR8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1490367826&sr=8-10&keywords=Aristotle">Aristotle</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Free-Will-St-Augustine-ebook/dp/B003M0N9LW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1490367916&sr=8-5&keywords=St.+Augustine">Augustine</a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Prayer-Contemplative-Saint-Thomas-Aquinas-ebook/dp/B0082PM7QA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490368266&sr=1-1">Aquinas</a><br />
to the best-sellers of the day like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts">Alan Watts</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_D%C3%A4niken">Erich von Däniken</a>.<br />
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As silly as the '60s were, they <i>did</i> produce some of my all-time favorite music, and as the blog winds down you may expect to see some more of my favorites from that era squeezed in under the wire. The true gems of that time period are as much a part of who I am as anything else about me. <br />
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One of those '60s gems is "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Has_Come_Today">Time Has Come Today</a>," by the "<a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/psychedelic?a=british">psychedelic</a>" soul-rock fusion group <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chambers_Brothers">The Chambers Brothers</a>. Released in December 1967, it was their biggest chart success, reaching No. 11 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100">Billboard Hot 100</a> and driving sales of the band's album <i>The Time Has Come</i> to No. 4 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200">Billboard 200</a>. The full-length version featured here was only played on FM stations, of course, but edited versions were all over Top 40 radio at the time. Since then, the song has been featured in dozens of movies and TV programs, including <a href="http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=2.02_Everybody_Loves_a_Clown">an episode of <i>Supernatural</i></a>, one of my all-time favorite shows. Here the music is paired with a video montage of the band and some weird visual effects typical of the era.<br />
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Musical nostalgia aside, the <a href="https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tzamev4yogfweunvw2q2rmskewi?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics">song's lyrics</a> are also on point for me right now, especially the lines about being "put aside" and "crushed by the tumbling tide"...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-39858025561191639012017-03-23T08:31:00.001-05:002017-03-23T08:34:12.200-05:00The Abyss Beckons<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Communication Breakdown</span></span></h4>
The past couple of weeks have been horrible for me both physically and emotionally, and the major cause of the deepening crisis has been my <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/abject">abject</a> failure to communicate my thoughts and feelings clearly when it counted the most...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">How I <i>imagine</i> my communication skills functioning to help me solve problems...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">...versus where they <i>actually</i> get me in critical, life-changing crises.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Funny, but he 'actually' <i>lives through</i> that experience."</span></td></tr>
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He <i>doesn't</i>, as a matter of fact...he dies, then is resurrected...that point is made quite explicitly in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fellowship-Ring-Publisher-Mariner-Books/dp/B004QO0IOE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1490226515&sr=8-6&keywords=The+Fellowship+of+the+Ring">book</a>, but gets glossed over in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Fellowship-Widescreen-Theatrical/dp/B00003CWT6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1490226515&sr=8-7&keywords=The+Fellowship+of+the+Ring">movie</a>...in any event, <a href="http://cdn.tinybuddha.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Love.jpg">what has died in <i>this</i> instance</a> will <i>not</i> be resurrected...hence my present state of anguish...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
Even for people like me who have read the books a number of times, <a href="http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Gandalf">Gandalf</a>'s plunge into the abyss from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moria_(Middle-earth)#Durin.27s_Bridge">Durin's Bridge</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moria_(Middle-earth)">Khazad-dûm</a> is an undeniably <a href="https://youtu.be/HKGQFkWI_bM">powerful moment</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson">Peter Jackson</a>'s 2001 film of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring"><i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i></a>.<br />
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Canadian composer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Shore">Howard Shore</a> won the Academy Award for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Original_Score">Best Original Score</a> for the film, and his use of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Voices">London Voices</a> in the aftermath of Gandalf's fall beautifully captures the sense of bereavement and helplessness felt by the remaining members of the Fellowship. As it happens, those are emotions with which I have been grappling for a couple of weeks now...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-87692912010059944502017-03-22T09:54:00.001-05:002017-03-22T09:54:54.214-05:00My (Very, VERY) Bad<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Selva Oscura</span></span></i></h4>
At the outset of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante)"><i>Inferno</i></a>, poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri">Dante Alighieri</a> famously relates how he found himself "astray in a dark wood," called "The Dark Wood of Error" in most English translations. Unlike Dante, however, I now have a pretty good idea of just how I wound up in that same dark, forbidding place...and those grievous errors are entirely my own doing...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXo7D_fN5xDZg4wWXcM84PY7LpYsn1tuzkSa8GMKocKo6siQPdZ9BDMaXbCspMzP3pepqY9i9maFXwXhL4kln_rw3A75pIW8e9p1XiBcMZdItpDtM6XHXd32eFIdUIhY5K_OnGpR7XDS4/s1600/Dark+Wood.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXo7D_fN5xDZg4wWXcM84PY7LpYsn1tuzkSa8GMKocKo6siQPdZ9BDMaXbCspMzP3pepqY9i9maFXwXhL4kln_rw3A75pIW8e9p1XiBcMZdItpDtM6XHXd32eFIdUIhY5K_OnGpR7XDS4/s640/Dark+Wood.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"He found his way out again though, right?"</span></td></tr>
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Yes...but he <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil">had help</a>, and there shall be none forthcoming for me...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
There are only a handful of musical artists who have more than one song in my iTunes "Tearjerkers" playlist. Legendary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_rock">blues-rock</a> icon <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_Raitt">Bonnie Raitt</a> is one of them, chiefly because her live album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_Tested"><i>Road Tested</i></a> was released in the fall of 1995, a time when my marriage was ending and my career as a play director was beginning. I listened to it pretty obsessively at the time, and selections from it still get regular listens on various of my iTunes playlist, not just in "Tearjerkers." It remains one of my all-time favorite live recordings.<br />
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The album featured performances of several recent Raitt hits from her multi-platinum-selling albums <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_of_Time_(album)"><i>Nick of Time</i></a> (Raitt's first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200">Billboard 200</a> No. 1 album), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luck_of_the_Draw_(album)"><i>Luck of the Draw</i></a> (peaked at No. 2), and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longing_in_Their_Hearts"><i>Longing in Their Hearts</i></a> (also a No. 1). Those albums account for the bulk of Raitt's eleven Grammy Awards, and her biggest <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100">Billboard Hot 100 Singles</a> chart successes.<br />
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At the time <i>Road Tested</i> was released, the song which hit me the hardest emotionally<br />
was "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can%27t_Make_You_Love_Me">I Can't Make You Love Me</a>," written for Raitt by former Penn State football star and Cincinnati Bengal Pro Bowler <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Reid_(singer)">Mike Reid</a> along with songwriter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Shamblin">Allen Shamblin</a>. The studio album version of the song reached No. 18 on the Hot 100, Raitt's second-highest ever placement on that chart.<br />
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The helplessness I felt as my marriage was ending is perfectly captured by the the <a href="https://play.google.com/music/preview/Trk2g7x5xpjgvutjd62zvrgapdu?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics">song's yearning lyrics</a>, which also speak to the sense of helplessness and loss that<br />
I am currently feeling as well...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-70329469331659679192017-03-21T10:35:00.000-05:002017-03-21T10:35:13.345-05:00Spring...Back?<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">If Only...</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pal">George Pal</a>'s famous creation for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Machine_(1960_film)"><i>The Time Machine</i></a> (1960)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"You wouldn't <i>actually</i> risk taking a ride in something like that, would you?"</span></td></tr>
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Like most people who have deep regrets, I would certainly think long and hard about doing so, yes...even though it is, at root, a selfish impulse...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
Songs in my iTunes "Tearjerkers" playlist wind up there for a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with the resonance of the lyrics with difficult emotional periods of my life. It helps if the artist is a favorite, too. The versatile singer-actress <a href="https://www.birdyork.com/">Kathleen "Bird" York</a> had long been a favorite of mine, in no small part because of her work on the TV series <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_West_Wing">The West Wing</a></i>, when I moved from <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57675b1020099e297413ef40/t/5773411fff7c50ba12f70267/1467171114551/School+front.jpg?format=1500w">St. Joseph</a> to <a href="http://965ksom.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/76/Atlantic-High-School1.jpg">Atlantic</a> in 2004. It was during that stressful period of my life that I first heard the York song that is today's send-off.<br />
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"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Deep">In the Deep</a>," written for the 2005 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture">Best Picture</a> winner <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_(2004_film)"><i>Crash</i></a>, was itself nominated for an Academy Award for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Original_Song">Best Original Song</a>, and York (the song's co-writer) performed it live at that year's Oscars. It was also used in <a href="http://house.wikia.com/wiki/Autopsy">an episode of <i>House, M.D.</i></a>, one of my all-time favorite TV shows. Because I so strongly associated the song with my move to Atlantic, I used it as intermission music for <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52889850@N07/20518538343/in/dateposted-public/"><i>The Late Great Me</i></a>, my final play production there. The <a href="https://genius.com/Bird-york-in-the-deep-lyrics">song's lyrics</a> were appropriate to that play's story line, and they also aptly describe my current life circumstances... <br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-33191277802766757932017-03-20T09:24:00.001-05:002017-03-20T16:21:44.650-05:00Sick and All Done In...<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">...Standin' in the Rain</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Man in the Rain at Night</i>, by Ignace Kennis</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"It has been a rough 10 days, but it's going to get better, isn't it?"</span></td></tr>
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Every indication is that it won't, actually...sorry, old friend...</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: small;">One of the lessons I keep having to re-learn is just how cruelly ironic the universe can be sometimes. My current calamitous physical and emotional state is a direct result of my attendance at a show </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">last Thursday </span>in Des Moines by my hero <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a>. Had I simply skipped the show and stayed home that night, I would not have gotten sick and I would not have made the mistake which has cost me the most precious thing in my life, a loss which now has me at rock-bottom...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In 1978 the multi-talented <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Curry">Tim Curry</a> released <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read_My_Lips_(Tim_Curry_album)"><i>Read My Lips</i></a>, an album of covers ranging from </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The Beatles to Irving Berlin. One of the songs on the album was his rendition of "Sloe Gin," written </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ezrin">Bob Ezrin</a> (the album's producer) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kamen">Michael Kamen</a>. The album was not especially successful and before long Curry would decide to focus on his acting career, but good songs have a way of living on.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">In 2007 Bonamassa released a cover of the song on his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloe_Gin_(album)"><i>Sloe Gin</i></a> album, and it quickly became a fan favorite and a staple of Joe's live performances. <a href="https://youtu.be/F1_6yCHnSI4">The rendition from his 2009 Royal Albert Hall concert</a> includes one of his most searing guitar solos, but I also enjoy Joe's softer, more melancholy rendition from his acoustic show recorded at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_State_Opera">Vienna Opera House</a> in 2013. The <a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=&as_epq=Sloe+Gin+lyrics&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=">song's lyrics</a> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">perfectly capture how I'm feeling today...</span></span></div>
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-56822477186809131462017-03-19T10:49:00.001-05:002017-03-19T10:49:48.629-05:00Fade to Black...<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Going Dark</span></span></h4>
Turns out my life situation was even more dire than I had thought, and I'm going to have to give up writing in this space every day. There will be new daily images and music posted for a little while longer, while I figure out what to write for the curtain call (sort of hoping I make it to May 19, the blog's two-year anniversary), but in the meantime, thank you for your attention...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhth1I3cdaA8m7GHnXTUXAD4q1BMzRhHHQ6vIAtQUv1yZJWVwg6LS3DOTEFXzeKZJ-91mBj4x7QCixjq1n7DQg3c2SgQWVR0Rr2Nkn6P8n1M5kh5tfGjpcdu3yHmjptZhTjvK-vKdoOTmA/s1600/Empty+Theater+Stage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhth1I3cdaA8m7GHnXTUXAD4q1BMzRhHHQ6vIAtQUv1yZJWVwg6LS3DOTEFXzeKZJ-91mBj4x7QCixjq1n7DQg3c2SgQWVR0Rr2Nkn6P8n1M5kh5tfGjpcdu3yHmjptZhTjvK-vKdoOTmA/s640/Empty+Theater+Stage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Requiescat In Pace</i>...</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtVRu0Fb3Zgy6nC4EgwLfGxcceQ2eIcsn831pUDLp2RkAjs-hBFno8Obc6tKmdWo_ZPLGhJJ6LLoo0xCZKRnvTvczWQWbadAfJutnbK-Zr24FdAjldivLcYcXilnKOjtPI4BG15IqBH0/s1600/Chuck+Berry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtVRu0Fb3Zgy6nC4EgwLfGxcceQ2eIcsn831pUDLp2RkAjs-hBFno8Obc6tKmdWo_ZPLGhJJ6LLoo0xCZKRnvTvczWQWbadAfJutnbK-Zr24FdAjldivLcYcXilnKOjtPI4BG15IqBH0/s320/Chuck+Berry.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Berry with his <a href="http://www.theadditionstudio.com/chuck-berry-gibson-es-350-guitar/">Gibson ES 350T</a> in 1957</span></td></tr>
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<br />
Yesterday was basically a relentless barrage of bad news, one gut-wrenching event after another. Haven't had a day like that in quite some time... <br />
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Just when I thought my Saturday couldn't get any worse, late last evening I heard of the <a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/arts/chuck-berry-dead.html">death</a> of the legendary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Berry">Chuck Berry</a>.<br />
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If you don't know who Chuck Berry was, nothing I say here will matter to you, and if you do know who he was you don't need me to tell you what a tremendous loss this is to those of us who love rock and roll music.<br />
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All of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Berry#Legacy">awards and accolades</a> aside, Berry was that rarest of artists in <i>any</i> medium: Someone whose work actually changed the world for the better.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZpUrZ1U34g3VUi4wq3Fi7AqNHRTWyD2mPvgLO39GRMCSj8JPsLP5uWmH7V99ZfmKhjBiHkgQI9BR6O1sig6ZUlV3LWJXTvROe8g02d_5RTwb-szsxLxVjn6KdJRm5sCwFL6jgmG5tYk/s1600/Crying+Anteater+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZpUrZ1U34g3VUi4wq3Fi7AqNHRTWyD2mPvgLO39GRMCSj8JPsLP5uWmH7V99ZfmKhjBiHkgQI9BR6O1sig6ZUlV3LWJXTvROe8g02d_5RTwb-szsxLxVjn6KdJRm5sCwFL6jgmG5tYk/s400/Crying+Anteater+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yesterday was the ugliest day in a week full of them...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
Chuck Berry was such a gifted and prolific songwriter that he is one of the few artists for whom the term "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_signature_songs">signature song</a>" has little usefulness. For all intents and purposes, virtually his <i>entire catalog</i> of songs is Berry's signature. <i>Six</i> of his songs can be found on <i>Rolling Stone</i> magazine's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Songs_of_All_Time"><i>500 Greatest Songs of All Time</i></a> list, for instance.<br />
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That said, of course his passing calls to mind his 1958 Top 10 hit "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_B._Goode">Johnny B. Goode</a>," the song guitarist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Thorogood">George Thorogood</a> calls "the Rock and Roll National Anthem."<br />
The song was chosen for inclusion in both the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Hall_of_Fame">Grammy Hall of Fame</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame">Rock and Roll Hall of Fame</a>, and places high on every list of greatest rock and roll songs, greatest guitar songs, etc. It was the only rock and roll song included as part of the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record">Voyager Golden Record</a> carried by both of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record">Voyager spacecraft</a> that were launched back in 1977.<br />
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It is also one of the few songs which has appeared in this space on more than one occasion. Since today's blog is announcing Chuck's departure (as well as my own,<br />
in a manner of speaking), I'm inclined to feature the sequel, "Bye Bye Johnny," which tells the story of how Johnny's mother scrimped and saved until she could afford to send him to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune... <br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-34887150941335999812017-03-18T07:45:00.001-05:002017-03-18T12:48:44.783-05:00Pardon the Interruption<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Regrouping...</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZjMebuVH8T-d3cv1DzNmhjePLNfs4dMYy831dOBYOYAFUZjKEiRkaIjyItzSK3ZHyNuCXFrYZL3DYTEfc2O34XRafuoWqlxzIJQtJpLKMNO5_tO_miuKOEtIq34XY96nY_lABKJv-8U/s1600/Closed.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZjMebuVH8T-d3cv1DzNmhjePLNfs4dMYy831dOBYOYAFUZjKEiRkaIjyItzSK3ZHyNuCXFrYZL3DYTEfc2O34XRafuoWqlxzIJQtJpLKMNO5_tO_miuKOEtIq34XY96nY_lABKJv-8U/s400/Closed.png" width="368" /></a></div>
Between the ravages of the physical ailments and the heartbreak I'm experiencing right now, I really don't feel much like writing today, and probably won't feel much like it tomorrow, either.<br />
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If you go back and read this blog's <a href="http://curmudgeonbeyondthewall.blogspot.com/2015/05/its-fair-question.html">first entry</a>, it is quite possible that I have already more or less accomplished my stated purpose anyway.<br />
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I've written and published not quite two years worth<br />
of daily glimpses into me, my life, and how my mind works, all of it still readable via the handy Blog Archive in the right-hand sidebar.<br />
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If all of that hasn't been enough to satisfy any potential future <a href="https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=spelunker">spelunkers</a> of my life,<br />
it is not clear to me what else there is to tell. And until I figure out an answer to <i>that</i> question, there are some more pressing matters requiring my attention... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8DHrsoO9SZQbct3oHNjRykIHiH2lPtJNNAd73nsuxaTJIJ198Fj3ks6tpagsXHKKzgcMTLsWwfbc6piykHYe1Sjp9vtfD4p1vX1rZBXQb9Jtmln-7hclJfL1Rg18Cwa75x18kVDHa6Ac/s1600/Anteater+7n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8DHrsoO9SZQbct3oHNjRykIHiH2lPtJNNAd73nsuxaTJIJ198Fj3ks6tpagsXHKKzgcMTLsWwfbc6piykHYe1Sjp9vtfD4p1vX1rZBXQb9Jtmln-7hclJfL1Rg18Cwa75x18kVDHa6Ac/s400/Anteater+7n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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"Giving up" isn't the best description, but I'm afraid there isn't much fight left in <i>me</i>...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Way of the World</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2uqPXxdfW98R-ugnYVXxGSIEdRyNzxKvDhODomaEI2hqrr-95Upe4SKRXHUq658QzY7vpTxOVbfQoaiST-fu-IjeZbihliHKWbgsApzFmjXMj59cV9DNFyPz1vRhjxyBepZclofwy3k/s1600/3-18+Things+Fall+Apart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2uqPXxdfW98R-ugnYVXxGSIEdRyNzxKvDhODomaEI2hqrr-95Upe4SKRXHUq658QzY7vpTxOVbfQoaiST-fu-IjeZbihliHKWbgsApzFmjXMj59cV9DNFyPz1vRhjxyBepZclofwy3k/s640/3-18+Things+Fall+Apart.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
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From the webcomic <a href="https://xkcd.com/"><i>xkcd</i></a>, by <a href="https://xkcd.com/about/">Randall Munroe</a>, which you should read every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
One of the nice things about my "Tearjerkers" iTunes playlist is that it has grown<br />
so large over the years there's a song in it which is perfect for just about every sad occasion one can imagine. <br />
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Today's send-off is perfect for the way I feel right now, that's for sure. Can't really recall any other song on which <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Ronstadt">Linda</a>'s voice sounds so wounded, so anguished...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-77600324511457783492017-03-17T09:13:00.001-05:002017-03-17T11:20:39.412-05:00St. Patrick's Day 2017<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Thank <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airmed">Airmed</a> It's Friday!</span></span></h4>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedx7pyOyKS-z0i7QxGhAeY3_ICAJQLC0ym3TCjfeCRP3Tfo6PN6ziIDNS4XZYMcYdFALpjp_V9an6U5-FdhhNhc6P4lZmH5DVJxTxsVXSuLDzZWDeLjwh0tmty6dFDE-5GpJ8nLsZWoU/s1600/Airmed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedx7pyOyKS-z0i7QxGhAeY3_ICAJQLC0ym3TCjfeCRP3Tfo6PN6ziIDNS4XZYMcYdFALpjp_V9an6U5-FdhhNhc6P4lZmH5DVJxTxsVXSuLDzZWDeLjwh0tmty6dFDE-5GpJ8nLsZWoU/s400/Airmed.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"No, there are no healing herbs that can remove <b><i>your</i></b> pain. Sorry."</span></td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Melancholy, Baby...</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsDYDFE6JsW4I4xklWIC_RTnFkpOM9ZAM_4ZSNSv9Wql78t1z3CD0mutQk3egWjMB4UEmvgEGn4cLclzlwHbn_m6ONRR3E-v7cSpunIIAKOuTleH-uovuCWk-GIaAeNkw-SfKyj5ytYI/s1600/Near+Galway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsDYDFE6JsW4I4xklWIC_RTnFkpOM9ZAM_4ZSNSv9Wql78t1z3CD0mutQk3egWjMB4UEmvgEGn4cLclzlwHbn_m6ONRR3E-v7cSpunIIAKOuTleH-uovuCWk-GIaAeNkw-SfKyj5ytYI/s320/Near+Galway.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Countryside near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galway">Galway</a></span></td></tr>
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I'm another year older, meaning it has become yet more unlikely that I'll ever have the opportunity to actually visit Ireland. What makes me sad about that is that it is due almost entirely to my own foolish reluctance to fly, which has only recently gone into remission.<br />
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I'm also <a href="https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=melancholy">melancholy</a> today because March 17 is my mother's birthday (there is surely no cooler birth date to have for someone as Irish as my mom). She's been gone nearly 21 years now, and there isn't a single day that goes by when I don't miss her. It is a source of great sadness to me that she died before digital cameras and smartphones were a part of my life. I do not own a single picture of her, digital or conventional...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmdsTn6uHeTKZP1w2DURQBagpdXqBMZtYaRftCW_ZhOTQVjkT6cHBi4F_SmffzDt3zUwoUauKBdES7ZrivtCrponGgEr5g3Zs6hKEk0ENb6NVTr_7iM5Jsb49zfwE-7ts45dYnf-LtWo/s1600/Anteater+28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmdsTn6uHeTKZP1w2DURQBagpdXqBMZtYaRftCW_ZhOTQVjkT6cHBi4F_SmffzDt3zUwoUauKBdES7ZrivtCrponGgEr5g3Zs6hKEk0ENb6NVTr_7iM5Jsb49zfwE-7ts45dYnf-LtWo/s400/Anteater+28.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Do you think she could cheer you up if she were here?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Maybe...at the very least, she would have some good advice about how I might try to fix the problem...and merely talking with her about it might just give me the courage<br />
I need to face the situation...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Feast Day</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuiC1LBEoi4yvxY2mlx2fvRJdSbCrqdOU055rpVz1iUq4ob1RITzMD_Jpxl80wpczfzIoaaYWVTATxINYKTgvdud22FGa_shspOz_uttslgmCvgDAMdXE_cm70_WlokP-YOIBYBQc2ocI/s1600/St.+Patrick+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuiC1LBEoi4yvxY2mlx2fvRJdSbCrqdOU055rpVz1iUq4ob1RITzMD_Jpxl80wpczfzIoaaYWVTATxINYKTgvdud22FGa_shspOz_uttslgmCvgDAMdXE_cm70_WlokP-YOIBYBQc2ocI/s400/St.+Patrick+2.JPG" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Statue at <a href="http://hilloftara.org/">Hill of Tara</a>, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Meath">County Meath</a>, Ireland</span></td></tr>
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Even non-Catholics know that <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=89">St. Patrick</a>, whose feast we celebrate today, is the patron of Ireland. Not
many know that<br />
he was not, in fact, Irish. He was born in Roman Britain
in 387 A.D.<br />
<br />
Patrick spent
six years in captivity in Ireland after being taken as a slave by Irish raiders when he was 14 years old. Upon being reunited with his family
back in Britain, Patrick had a vision which led him to study for the
priesthood.<br />
<br />
In 433 he was ordained a bishop and sent to Ireland to carry the gospel there, a task at which he excelled. He is commonly portrayed holding a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamrock">shamrock</a> because he famously used one to illustrate the concept of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity">Holy Trinity</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
On March 17, 461 after nearly thirty years of service to the faith, Patrick died at Saul (where he had built the <a href="http://www.downcathedral.org/saul-church">first Irish church</a>). He is buried on the grounds of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, also known as <a href="http://www.downcathedral.org/">Down Cathedral</a>, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downpatrick">Downpatrick</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland">Northern Ireland</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Baking Therapy</span></span></h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEkX9O3AEH1oNvwBvoEPgU0baiXo3lNwadeDmOTRj8Lk2WDXe0RXHvM00Tj8_sCFnI5Ptxp98YMeH6ubCim06g4Ux2q03zgk_zoKmIY6utlxoadUGogZR63z2iZExELhVHDbMIhi_n3A/s1600/Scalia%2527s+Irish+soda+bread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEkX9O3AEH1oNvwBvoEPgU0baiXo3lNwadeDmOTRj8Lk2WDXe0RXHvM00Tj8_sCFnI5Ptxp98YMeH6ubCim06g4Ux2q03zgk_zoKmIY6utlxoadUGogZR63z2iZExELhVHDbMIhi_n3A/s320/Scalia%2527s+Irish+soda+bread.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I am still miserably sick this morning, so it seems unlikely that<br />
I will be enjoying my traditional <a href="http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/beer/images/9/92/Guinness.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130322204725">Guinness</a> or <a href="http://whiskying.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Redbreast15-main.jpg">Redbreast</a> today.<br />
<br />
If I feel up to it later on, though,<br />
I am hopeful of trying an Irish soda bread recipe <a href="http://aleteia.org/2016/03/15/the-best-irish-soda-bread-recipe-ever/">published recently</a> by Elizabeth Scalia, a noted Catholic author and <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/">blogger</a>.<br />
<br />
This recipe has gotten some rave reviews from people I respect, and it seems simple enough that even I can manage. None of the grocery store bakeries in my area seem<br />
to have a clue about how to make proper <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_bread#Ireland">Irish soda bread</a>, so perhaps it is time I took matters into my own culinary hands. There will be photos in tomorrow's entry if I'm able to accomplish the task...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiak5Q3YnJUik0vB1EF79Y0nwAceThX6F9OdeFJwNmDuhP7DNCfxWd7ShkPNVONFkOKUHNQZRrqAthxoR1UNfs5F5yB-qiYveSbLAD96wpFsVAbPpS3xe5tAgLqNFeZLTYgRvMZUiuebI/s1600/Anteater+36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiak5Q3YnJUik0vB1EF79Y0nwAceThX6F9OdeFJwNmDuhP7DNCfxWd7ShkPNVONFkOKUHNQZRrqAthxoR1UNfs5F5yB-qiYveSbLAD96wpFsVAbPpS3xe5tAgLqNFeZLTYgRvMZUiuebI/s400/Anteater+36.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Save some for me!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You don't even have teeth, dummy...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">You Got a Problem With That?</span></span></h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Y5cjKcA86MI7b12M7I47oXarZguOIOytIFAfehz3xkuQuBoN_dSd2bTXaLLyGBWMosD2WDMvfAshWEghWeejoshJvujA7tlqthoii9UzYv7Bu6aQxAuHkLyHHnrxrFOBvabR92Ask9E/s1600/3-17+Scowl+O%2527+the+Crabby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Y5cjKcA86MI7b12M7I47oXarZguOIOytIFAfehz3xkuQuBoN_dSd2bTXaLLyGBWMosD2WDMvfAshWEghWeejoshJvujA7tlqthoii9UzYv7Bu6aQxAuHkLyHHnrxrFOBvabR92Ask9E/s640/3-17+Scowl+O%2527+the+Crabby.jpg" width="499" /></a></div>
<br />
From the pen of <a href="http://online.hallmark.com/maxine/about/">John Wagner</a>, whose <a href="http://online.hallmark.com/maxine/">Maxine</a> is a best-selling character for <a href="http://www.hallmark.com/">Hallmark</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
Growing up in a large Irish family there was always plenty of Irish music being played on special occasions, especially St. Patrick's Day. Over the years I have amassed quite<br />
a collection of such musical artists and groups myself, but I'm always on the lookout for new material. I often make pleasant discoveries of this kind when doing searches for a particular Irish song on Amazon.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrUDWcCEMl41J_Sq366JVRYKT1Jt8s88wB-0kMiZhsjrvwIy2M2wUR26c33THXhNT_TU1fl4ZkAELsnMJmrlOVGbo66aYtTFp4rvQxMcjX-TPPs7ELrOSv1SAtHy71ifcRXKi_Vp3ZPE/s1600/The+High+Kings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrUDWcCEMl41J_Sq366JVRYKT1Jt8s88wB-0kMiZhsjrvwIy2M2wUR26c33THXhNT_TU1fl4ZkAELsnMJmrlOVGbo66aYtTFp4rvQxMcjX-TPPs7ELrOSv1SAtHy71ifcRXKi_Vp3ZPE/s320/The+High+Kings.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
One relatively recent discovery<br />
is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_music_of_Ireland">Irish folk</a> group <a href="https://www.thehighkings.com/">The High Kings</a>, <br />
an ensemble formed in 2008 which has released a handful of highly acclaimed recordings, including three which placed No.3 or higher on <a href="http://www.billboard.com/charts/world-albums">Billboard's World Music</a> charts.<br />
<br />
Their <a href="https://www.amazon.com/High-Kings/dp/B0013HE4HO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489756992&sr=8-1&keywords=The+High+Kings">eponymous debut album</a> in 2008 was a deft blend of original material and traditional Gaelic songs. All four members of the group are accomplished musicians, but their vocal harmonies are the real treat for me.<br />
<br />
<br />
One of my favorites on the album is the Irish folk song <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Ar Éireann Ní Neosainn Cé hÍ">"<a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/ar-aireann-na-neosainn-ca-ha-lyrics-the-high-kings.html">Ar Éireann Ní Neosainn Cé hÍ</a>,"<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">traditionally</span> </span>sung first in Gaelic and then in English. Since it is a song about a <span style="font-family: inherit;">romantic <span style="font-family: inherit;">relat<span style="font-family: inherit;">ionship</span></span></span> that "</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Ar Éireann Ní Neosainn Cé hÍ"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">never could be,</span>" and <span style="font-family: inherit;">someone who "vanished forever<span style="font-family: inherit;">" from the singer's life, it is hitting me like </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Ar Éireann Ní Neosainn Cé hÍ"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">a wrecking ball right now.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
Today's send-off is the quartet's achingly beautiful rendition of the song, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSSfNxmLHfxqJS7d0xOaZ8Q">their YouTube channel</a>. Enjoy...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NogtO3zYVcA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NogtO3zYVcA?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-11513603804621095992017-03-16T11:30:00.001-05:002017-03-16T11:30:33.519-05:00Tip-Off Thursday<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Stuck</span></span></h4>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-n6ph4cVNk1jpXSwSdVjem8w7pUBtBUPo6Rf0ZFk8aTc5T4KL8v8fEfveIcuxsr3KeQnHgAwD08DT6ge3egxJh3IRI8rzjrLpZlk6nhm3TfbaY8EhuLKb899GXbxP51fWgaEcFMjCbQ/s1600/Rippl-R%25C3%25B3nai+-+Woman+in+Bed+%25281891%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-n6ph4cVNk1jpXSwSdVjem8w7pUBtBUPo6Rf0ZFk8aTc5T4KL8v8fEfveIcuxsr3KeQnHgAwD08DT6ge3egxJh3IRI8rzjrLpZlk6nhm3TfbaY8EhuLKb899GXbxP51fWgaEcFMjCbQ/s400/Rippl-R%25C3%25B3nai+-+Woman+in+Bed+%25281891%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Painting by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zsef_Rippl-R%C3%B3nai">József Rippl-Rónai</a> (1891)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today's entry is going to be a bit on the thin side, content-wise.<br />
<br />
My ongoing illness continues to sap my energy, kill my desire<br />
to eat, and make even the simplest tasks laborious and painful.<br />
<br />
<br />
As usual, medication is fighting a losing battle against these symptoms, which won't end until the disease has actually run its course. We're in Day Seven since the onset<br />
of serious symptoms, so I am hopeful the end will come soon.<br />
<br />
As for the <a href="https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=concomitant">concomitant</a> depression I've been battling over the same time frame, now that a week has passed it has become clear to me that the blunder which plunged me into this particular pit cannot be undone. That realization would be cause for despair even if I were in perfect health. Since I am <i>not</i>...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9tnJESvrkShD0IhOAn7fnRxgHeFwZ-sgGrzsLQkt4znGOrOJLlrVzNBSl4NjQbivM7UAaq3NvFM_DK7MEEGKZ9AqpDfaxg080mw7D9NnJDw341G3x-K7OVfACqfSifA07cxPzrxyywo/s1600/Anteater+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9tnJESvrkShD0IhOAn7fnRxgHeFwZ-sgGrzsLQkt4znGOrOJLlrVzNBSl4NjQbivM7UAaq3NvFM_DK7MEEGKZ9AqpDfaxg080mw7D9NnJDw341G3x-K7OVfACqfSifA07cxPzrxyywo/s400/Anteater+13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Come on, now, it can't be as bad as all <i>that</i>."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It is <i>every bit</i> as bad as all that...you have <i>no idea</i>...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Zero for Two</span></span></h4>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4QUHHaowkUqEwwUqNs6JAyS5EhpDbynCtL3005OxRcucP3b_MR8Sa8dzHPkLQWvINpNwAN03VKoCjTcjQVV-DHI55bgUhs8ILqmX8nH0XHYbsw5VfiRKcU8AruPUMWPK4PGyfPsrU2k/s1600/UCI+in+the+NIT.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4QUHHaowkUqEwwUqNs6JAyS5EhpDbynCtL3005OxRcucP3b_MR8Sa8dzHPkLQWvINpNwAN03VKoCjTcjQVV-DHI55bgUhs8ILqmX8nH0XHYbsw5VfiRKcU8AruPUMWPK4PGyfPsrU2k/s320/UCI+in+the+NIT.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Sometimes you <a href="https://ucirvinegradinterconnect.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/anteater.png">zot</a>, sometimes you get zotted."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/bracket">NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament</a> begins in earnest today, but there <i>was</i> some college basketball played last night. My rooting interests didn't fare well.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2507/providence-friars">Providence</a>, the only Catholic institution playing Wednesday night (both the <a href="http://www.gazellegroup.com/main/cbi/">CBI</a> and the <a href="http://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/">CIT</a> fly beneath my radar), did <i>not</i> become the twelfth Catholic school in the NCAA Tournament field of 64, <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400946443">losing 75-71 to USC</a> in their First Four match-up even though they held a 17-point lead in the second half.<br />
<br />
And as for my wingman's beloved <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/300/uc-irvine-anteaters">UC Irvine Anteaters</a>, they <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400946460">lost to Illinois State 85-71</a> in opening round of the NIT.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4j33WxramAhXoSYo8_RjHGH9zPRPEVhUxWkMn_Tk00RSWohA_GorQbLMhH8PLcxF602io65_xcYweb6JkkfPSEw2UqB-_YqtwaRPDYE_VdXJIOOS9KRFCAGH_5ZX0EgkIPLTbuGqIMVo/s1600/Anteater+10b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4j33WxramAhXoSYo8_RjHGH9zPRPEVhUxWkMn_Tk00RSWohA_GorQbLMhH8PLcxF602io65_xcYweb6JkkfPSEw2UqB-_YqtwaRPDYE_VdXJIOOS9KRFCAGH_5ZX0EgkIPLTbuGqIMVo/s400/Anteater+10b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"One and done. Bummer."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Disappointing, I know...but they had a winning record, won their league's regular-season championship outright, and made it to the post-season...that's a pretty good season by any <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/reckoning?a=british">reckoning</a>...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Namesake</span></span></h4>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJfl27JuYG7wlWD3s5XOgxGQSaa5Vbeq_wqSLkFrXHamJtnp5btmSWn6_DYHnG_5s6d3qK33IVy7ISGRV-TaPlMsBdxUhVkCmSPJ5jp4lbXqpHP6yGlutYFPyVQbXz9jQKhmZDKbVX04/s1600/Joe+and+Magellan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJfl27JuYG7wlWD3s5XOgxGQSaa5Vbeq_wqSLkFrXHamJtnp5btmSWn6_DYHnG_5s6d3qK33IVy7ISGRV-TaPlMsBdxUhVkCmSPJ5jp4lbXqpHP6yGlutYFPyVQbXz9jQKhmZDKbVX04/s320/Joe+and+Magellan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A pair of world travelers</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On March 16, 1521 the Portuguese explorer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan">Ferdinand Magellan</a> reached the island of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonhon">Homonhon</a>. In doing so, Magellan and his crew became the first Europeans known to have reached the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines">Philippines</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The only reason that historical tidbit rates a mention here is because it reminds me that my hero <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a> is playing his <a href="http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214801">1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar named "Magellan"</a> on his current tour, the first time it has gone on the road with him since 2014. The famous <a href="https://reverb.com/p/gibson-les-paul-standard-burst-1958-1960">"burst"</a> got its name from the fact that it has traveled all over the world with Joe.<br />
<br />
The guitar <a href="https://youtu.be/bINgVykAodI">sounds great</a>, and while I have heard it on numerous recordings I'm glad<br />
I finally got to see it live on stage in Des Moines <a href="https://forum.jbonamassa.com/viewtopic.php?id=29629">last Thursday night</a>. <br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pro Tip: The Proper Stance is Key</span></span></h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YxzLQyiStRaT5WlXQ3AmqcIvsEbRQcecYNfRbLelSiZh6jUOyIp78S8mSzu1hWmRFhPEv8vIDV8h1TzJLfmnFqqtoW7d4uHDTWgZZoQ-gajCHqifdgHqLRQwvOQrD7PxM4a2iZxGGdQ/s1600/3-16+Depression+Stance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YxzLQyiStRaT5WlXQ3AmqcIvsEbRQcecYNfRbLelSiZh6jUOyIp78S8mSzu1hWmRFhPEv8vIDV8h1TzJLfmnFqqtoW7d4uHDTWgZZoQ-gajCHqifdgHqLRQwvOQrD7PxM4a2iZxGGdQ/s400/3-16+Depression+Stance.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
From the classic comic strip <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts"><i>Peanuts</i></a>, by the late <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_M._Schulz">Charles M. Schulz</a>, sorely missed...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
In this space yesterday I mentioned that the HBO TV series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_(TV_series)"><i>Rome</i></a> was one of my summer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binge-watching">binge-watching</a> favorites. Another favorite is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FX_(TV_channel)">FX</a> network series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justified_(TV_series)"><i>Justified</i></a>, which is a strong contender for my favorite TV show of all time.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB7y93_KxiARToxeDAUCwi-7Mxzb0VDP2y0__nOqVTmS08EtpP7L823x9aZ3KDY2YeKqFvIZevh9RFG5_APqPfoakcUE6bImR5euZbyyk_PGYDr4_dkCsg2O7nEz2OpFiaZRJlrhjFHh0/s1600/Justified+Poster+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB7y93_KxiARToxeDAUCwi-7Mxzb0VDP2y0__nOqVTmS08EtpP7L823x9aZ3KDY2YeKqFvIZevh9RFG5_APqPfoakcUE6bImR5euZbyyk_PGYDr4_dkCsg2O7nEz2OpFiaZRJlrhjFHh0/s400/Justified+Poster+1.png" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fanboy poster hanging in my bedroom</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One of the show's sublime pleasures was<br />
its use of music, which deftly blended scoring by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Porcaro">Steve Porcaro</a> with an eclectic mix of country, blues, rock, and bluegrass tunes suited to particular episodes.<br />
<br />
The Emmy-nominated opening theme, "<a href="https://vimeo.com/60607547">Long Hard Times To Come</a>," set the musical tone for the show. It was performed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangstagrass">Gangstagrass</a>, an offbeat but compelling combination of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music">hip-hop</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluegrass_music">bluegrass</a> genres. I also loved the song's <a href="http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Gangstagrass:Long_Hard_Times_To_Come">lyrics</a>.<br />
<br />
Other than its theme, the song most closely associated with the show was the <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/elegiac">elegiac</a> "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." This song was played at the end of every season finale episode except for Season 3.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The producers used recordings by <a href="https://youtu.be/c9p534Q5hhw">Brad Paisley</a> (Seasons 1 and 2), <a href="https://youtu.be/4RqQMTSf_nM">Dave Alvin</a><br />
(Season 4), the <a href="https://youtu.be/wiE_Bk8FOY0">Ruby Friedman Orchestra</a> (Season 5), and the song's own composer <a href="https://youtu.be/cco-pCb0klU">Darrell Scott</a> (Season 6, the series finale).<br />
<br />
Although I enjoy all of those versions, for me the rendition that comes closest to capturing the song's spirit is one recorded by country music artist <a href="http://www.pattyloveless.com/">Patty Loveless</a> for her 2001 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Soul"><i>Mountain Soul</i></a> album. The song's <a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=&as_epq=You%27ll+Never+Leave+Harlan+Alive&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=#hl=en&as_qdr=all&q=%22You%27ll+Never+Leave+Harlan+Alive%22+lyrics&*">lyrics</a> are a reflection on how we live our lives trapped by our circumstances and life choices, a theme which is much on my mind at the moment. Patty's bluegrass-inflected version does a fine job of conveying that sense of mournful resignation...<br />
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Today's send-off was never actually used on the show, but it easily could have been. Enjoy...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-33814498477208073092017-03-15T12:25:00.001-05:002017-03-15T12:28:23.024-05:00Ides of March 2017<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Did I Not Ask Nicely Enough?</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOirV0LbNITAImhdck5TQediUTsol8AqpCInaTNUehPKzRp-ecu4gKBng31UAImKHzeime9CiR6srLS43rieP758WfRxQlMP5fXCKmoXXZRWcK2bCA1pnuRmo-SnHwbY7UZ5F7cPsgrg/s1600/Sick.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOirV0LbNITAImhdck5TQediUTsol8AqpCInaTNUehPKzRp-ecu4gKBng31UAImKHzeime9CiR6srLS43rieP758WfRxQlMP5fXCKmoXXZRWcK2bCA1pnuRmo-SnHwbY7UZ5F7cPsgrg/s320/Sick.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Yesterday's section on my health status bore the subtle heading<br />
"Just Shoot Me Now," and the past 24 hours have not shaken my view that that might be my best hope.<br />
<br />
Yesterday I tried adding some<br />
new (and supposedly more potent) medicines to the mix, with barely noticeable effect on my symptoms.<br />
<br />
<br />
I know that these kinds of illnesses typically take awhile to run their course, but that doesn't make me any less miserable.<br />
<br />
As for the emotional turmoil resulting from my own stupidity and thoughtlessness last Thursday, it remains ongoing and is showing every sign of being <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/irremediable?a=british">irremediable</a>. If I'm right about that, I honestly don't know what I'll do...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5dSuw-9a6ZUoR8CvTMmAwGU_GZQ6arpbZtiaSQbJUZlHoOjU0eS8TMTxBj-uc0mKImiLyfzbZG355viYg-EhjF2ICcWjXFjNJxD2pecViGhpdrJAn1U89xKVq4ygXvvObqFZFdTWnks/s1600/Crying+Anteater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5dSuw-9a6ZUoR8CvTMmAwGU_GZQ6arpbZtiaSQbJUZlHoOjU0eS8TMTxBj-uc0mKImiLyfzbZG355viYg-EhjF2ICcWjXFjNJxD2pecViGhpdrJAn1U89xKVq4ygXvvObqFZFdTWnks/s400/Crying+Anteater.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"You're really starting to worry me, you know?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Care to trade places? Yeah, didn't think so...<br />
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="la"><span class="">Videte</span> Idibus Martiis</span></span></span></i></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3GlOmfJOOjvFe7qh7I_4koeUlXywIdHy9uDxaAddew4D04DQGmyeoMC_b0OVA4lXeVinnLHkub0QLQDnhQkt3lOnRHN0fZoJ8u1m4TlKvs-DUJ7aKBpP3xagKCMGEehUA1jN_QNLKW0/s1600/Julius+Caesar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3GlOmfJOOjvFe7qh7I_4koeUlXywIdHy9uDxaAddew4D04DQGmyeoMC_b0OVA4lXeVinnLHkub0QLQDnhQkt3lOnRHN0fZoJ8u1m4TlKvs-DUJ7aKBpP3xagKCMGEehUA1jN_QNLKW0/s320/Julius+Caesar.jpg" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The famed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusculum_portrait"><i>Tusculum Bust</i></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On March 15, 44 BC <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar">Gaius Julius Caesar</a> was stabbed to death in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_Pompey">Theatre of Pompey</a> by a group of conspirators famously led by Caesar's good friend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Junius_Brutus_the_Younger">Marcus Junius Brutus</a>.<br />
<br />
Caesar's death is one of the best-known and most frequently portrayed stories from antiquity. It was the basis for Shakespeare's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar_(play)"><i>The Tragedy of Julius Caesar</i></a>, which I taught many times in my career. That play served as the basis for the classic film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar_(1953_film)"><i>Julius Caesar</i></a>, which was released a few months after my birth in 1953 and was nominated for five Academy Awards including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture">Best Picture</a>.<br />
<br />
Caesar's story was also the inspiration for the Emmy Award-winning HBO TV series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_(TV_series)"><i>Rome</i></a>, one of my all-time favorites and a staple of my annual summer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binge-watching">binge-watching</a> rotation.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ULrPVX3QURZxuGgGKvO2B4vT5EpwSmrNOWIt32ZM7LMizKT3UDtM6WN_DQQrj3qa2anII2hpry02tZkAYdA4Ozut3ztO7rduOp6bDvwXY05xJCSH9iJmxUs2ib5vqNeNhn5QM2FkCo8/s1600/Anteater+11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ULrPVX3QURZxuGgGKvO2B4vT5EpwSmrNOWIt32ZM7LMizKT3UDtM6WN_DQQrj3qa2anII2hpry02tZkAYdA4Ozut3ztO7rduOp6bDvwXY05xJCSH9iJmxUs2ib5vqNeNhn5QM2FkCo8/s400/Anteater+11.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"After which I get to listen to weeks of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0027721/quotes">Titus Pullo quotes</a>."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Pullo_(Rome_character)">Pullo</a> was my favorite character on the show, so I make no apologies for that...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Eleven and Counting</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqGUxoLFbzZg2ObCydDz1PcDI42Nxgwny1uFx-wFQNTiostOsqhRsV3y6jghEo3yA1z1dee4Y57wMUS8_5G2LyMh-uMYqXLPXCYNEx_B929ztJDoYUhT-SbFZeMn0UlWnGalM-nXZDoA/s1600/MSM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqGUxoLFbzZg2ObCydDz1PcDI42Nxgwny1uFx-wFQNTiostOsqhRsV3y6jghEo3yA1z1dee4Y57wMUS8_5G2LyMh-uMYqXLPXCYNEx_B929ztJDoYUhT-SbFZeMn0UlWnGalM-nXZDoA/s320/MSM.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The number of Catholic institutions playing in the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament increased by one as <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/116/mount-st-marys-mountaineers">Mount St. Mary's</a> just did squeak past New Orleans <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400946453">67-66 yesterday in one of the so-called First Four games</a>.<br />
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<br />
<br />
They join No. 1 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/222/villanova-wildcats">Villanova</a> (whom they will play next in the Round of 64), No. 1 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2250/gonzaga-bulldogs">Gonzaga</a>, No. 5 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/87/notre-dame-fighting-irish">Notre Dame</a>, No. 6 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/156/creighton-bluejays">Creighton</a>, No. 7 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2608/saint-mary's-gaels">St. Mary's College</a>, No. 7 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2168/dayton-flyers">Dayton</a>, No. 9 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2550/seton-hall-pirates">Seton Hall</a>, No. 10 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/269/marquette-golden-eagles">Marquette</a>, No. 11 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/87/notre-dame-fighting-irish">Xavier</a>, and No. 14 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/314/iona-gaels">Iona</a>. If <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2507/providence-friars">Providence</a> beats USC in another of the First Four games tonight, they will make the field of 64 as a No. 11 seed, which would make it<br />
an even dozen Catholic schools for me to root for in addition to No. 5 seed <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/66/iowa-state-cyclones">Iowa State</a>. There are no Catholic institutions in the 32-team field for the <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/nit">NIT</a>.<br />
<br />
Play in the NCAA Tournament begins tomorrow, while the NIT began last night...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzXNOGXS0pkVlU3BQMAMWifqZRT7j-HoyCAs1yBeU2ISDwoFUBrAnATN5kvXp0fDAbou-eHN66EICXVnPk4MxFKrezx1RRVHNc_xKYThRv2FeJhxnfRVP8UtOj7rLiz9OfH7Eh_0D4wVo/s1600/Anteater+35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzXNOGXS0pkVlU3BQMAMWifqZRT7j-HoyCAs1yBeU2ISDwoFUBrAnATN5kvXp0fDAbou-eHN66EICXVnPk4MxFKrezx1RRVHNc_xKYThRv2FeJhxnfRVP8UtOj7rLiz9OfH7Eh_0D4wVo/s400/Anteater+35.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"And <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/300/uc-irvine-anteaters"><i>my</i> team</a> plays...?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Yes, yes...they play their 1st round NIT game on the road this evening, and that's all I'm saying...I've probably already jinxed them just by answering your question...<br />
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Gotta Love Baseball Players</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWn4MLayeGpGWf3e-nQJqHjqhS03JwwlxvHPLOhlBUQ8gs99QaVr6ALTyrcf1odnGerhL0dKsHthCUI_AMQ4tu623A6libOsvNJ4V3Ve8UNB47yL4iRuzRbDy8_Cx6xGEus5CEFimKfQ/s1600/Pi+Day+Jerseys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWn4MLayeGpGWf3e-nQJqHjqhS03JwwlxvHPLOhlBUQ8gs99QaVr6ALTyrcf1odnGerhL0dKsHthCUI_AMQ4tu623A6libOsvNJ4V3Ve8UNB47yL4iRuzRbDy8_Cx6xGEus5CEFimKfQ/s320/Pi+Day+Jerseys.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
To celebrate <a href="http://www.piday.org/">Pi Day</a> yesterday, members of the Colorado Rockies baseball team lined up before their <a href="http://cactusleague.com/">Cactus League</a> game so that their jersey numbers, read left to right, represented the first 30 digits of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi"><i>pi</i></a>.<br />
<br />
That's just goddamned cool, even if the Rockies <i>are</i> a !@#$% National League team...<br />
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<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">It's Dark Horse and Cinderella Time, Bay-bee!</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFkk40NZ2eastObONNDiAO96RdSnT5FAYG0ynvpgJ5nYGEFxy-AkWfcfdL1ao9k9VQGgx-ske76sxipZxqn4jEgyMo7ueFctha4Zekj_qWtc1v997Pin95JaWfDZ8r8CZi2kWOjXZOYAE/s1600/3-15+Bracket+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFkk40NZ2eastObONNDiAO96RdSnT5FAYG0ynvpgJ5nYGEFxy-AkWfcfdL1ao9k9VQGgx-ske76sxipZxqn4jEgyMo7ueFctha4Zekj_qWtc1v997Pin95JaWfDZ8r8CZi2kWOjXZOYAE/s640/3-15+Bracket+2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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From the pen of <a href="http://henrypayne.com/">Henry Payne</a>, whose <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/henrypayne">editorial cartoons</a> you should read often, as I do.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
On March 15, 1947 Ryland Peter Cooder was born in Los Angeles. He would grow up in nearby Santa Monica, where he graduated high school. He learned to play guitar at age three, and by the time he was 20 he was playing professionally, although his hoped-for success with an established touring band eluded him.<br />
<br />
Instead, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry_Cooder">Ry Cooder</a> forged an impressive career as a studio guitarist, composer, and producer. He has worked with some of the biggest names in popular music, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones">The Rolling Stones</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Young">Neil Young</a>, and the legendary Irish band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chieftains">The Chieftains</a>, a favorite of mine for much of my life.<br />
<br />
Cooder also began composing film scores in the 1980s, to considerable acclaim. His soundtracks for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Texas-Original-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B000002L7L/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1489593110&sr=8-4&keywords=Paris%2C+Texas"><i>Paris, Texas</i></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crossroads-OST-Ry-Cooder/dp/B001IUKCA4/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1489593222&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=Crossroads+soundtrack"><i>Crossroads</i></a> are among my favorites. Cooder's work has won him half a dozen Grammy Awards and a spot on <i>Rolling Stone</i> magazine's <i> </i><br />
<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123"><i>100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time</i></a> list.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl65MTj4pIrgBkxdLZyVGFvG-1ALrOcLgMa0WcqNGX-dzNKEbv-PAc8-wQgWzHChXGxXEyvhoi9expKlgP_JVpUcucrm7uLckKJuKMdFZpW6ajFkOxQjdLsh0Gx0nJn_2do3yRoIi1r4/s1600/Ry+Cooder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl65MTj4pIrgBkxdLZyVGFvG-1ALrOcLgMa0WcqNGX-dzNKEbv-PAc8-wQgWzHChXGxXEyvhoi9expKlgP_JVpUcucrm7uLckKJuKMdFZpW6ajFkOxQjdLsh0Gx0nJn_2do3yRoIi1r4/s320/Ry+Cooder.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
In December 1970 he released his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry_Cooder_(album)">eponymous debut album</a>, which didn't crack the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200">Billboard 200 Albums</a> chart or produce a hit single (it would be nearly a decade before Cooder's label would even <i>try</i> releasing any of his songs as singles). Cooder's brilliant guitar playing shines, though.<br />
<br />
As one might expect from an album released so early in a blues artist's career, there was only one original song included. The rest of the album consisted of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry_Cooder_(album)#Track_listing">covers of songs by other artists</a>, some well-known, some relatively obscure.<br />
<br />
The best of those covers, in my opinion, was Ry's instrumental version of the classic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Willie_Johnson">Blind Willie Johnson</a> song "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Was_the_Night,_Cold_Was_the_Ground">Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground</a>," a mournful slide guitar <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tour-de-force?a=british">tour de force</a>. Johnson's original 1927 recording of the song was one of only 27 selections included on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record">Voyager Golden Record</a> launched with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_program">Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes</a> in 1977. <br />
<br />
Ry himself described Johnson's song as "The most soulful, transcendent piece in all American music." Johnson's own raw original was selected for inclusion in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Recording_Registry">National Recording Registry</a> curated by the Library of Congress in 2010, and whenever I am at particularly low ebb emotionally, as I am today, the song speaks to my pain.<br />
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Today's send-off is the original album track, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpVcS5v4aswxvZ2U_lwFDWA/videos">Ry's YouTube channel</a>. Enjoy...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iOGT2drN-lc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iOGT2drN-lc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-38826257675881951992017-03-14T11:37:00.001-05:002017-03-14T11:37:17.322-05:00A Slice of Pi<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just Shoot Me Now</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWD2GM16T6o9HUUn4cAj6vild1w8T_mNy_GsQZT7ArjMU8VuZRN22k8FNOW_N3HLpshhd4MCFjZcAHc-OXasd4G4kUlPd4B3xKUu0BpMPOhOToEGfloqmcnZIc-4vRErQXRJnLMmko-nI/s1600/Just+Shoot+Me.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWD2GM16T6o9HUUn4cAj6vild1w8T_mNy_GsQZT7ArjMU8VuZRN22k8FNOW_N3HLpshhd4MCFjZcAHc-OXasd4G4kUlPd4B3xKUu0BpMPOhOToEGfloqmcnZIc-4vRErQXRJnLMmko-nI/s320/Just+Shoot+Me.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even when I <i>can</i> sleep, it doesn't help much</span></td></tr>
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Today's blog is going to be a bit thinner content-wise than usual,<br />
as the combination of illness and emotional turmoil which currently afflicts me is seriously impairing my ability to focus and get anything useful done.<br />
<br />
The medicine I'm taking is only partially effective, and there are timing issues with taking it. I have no appetite, and my sleep has been fitful, diminishing its effectiveness.<br />
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<br />
It isn't helping that the weather has remained cold and miserable since Thursday<br />
(it is 22 degrees and windy as I type these words). Things are supposed to warm up<br />
a bit in a couple of days, but the <a href="http://www.weather.gov/">National Weather Service</a> has been wrong a lot lately, and the way I feel today Thursday seems like forever away. Perhaps my suffering, like the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_representation">decimal representation</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi"><i>pi</i></a>, will have no end...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMcHrdSa5HRh8ov47n62v9-MovKQCdZEVV-EKLy4LZcttFn44zMbxJMmaMLDSOZjWTjNClmDV9ewvaRlSXfmSJtXC85pBTB11WEmowCDmRwjLDmrD17_D1qwbP4yg-SFaKtaUXAt4y7o/s1600/Anteater+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMcHrdSa5HRh8ov47n62v9-MovKQCdZEVV-EKLy4LZcttFn44zMbxJMmaMLDSOZjWTjNClmDV9ewvaRlSXfmSJtXC85pBTB11WEmowCDmRwjLDmrD17_D1qwbP4yg-SFaKtaUXAt4y7o/s400/Anteater+12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"If you're going to croak, can you at least let me outside first?"</span></td></tr>
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<br />
I'll try my best...Heaven forbid you should learn how to operate a doorknob yourself...<br />
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Trouper</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9IYXwAmnvduFR3J3pTpaPl4vCWpz09Rphj7DkDrYKyZve0Pb-Fq9eZsJ4BHpJqGvBprGkhp9fhzsZN_OUVOUEfUAemHgGz9-zlO-f4D57qqXQ9Md4ap6p7cq9h9iHEHDbav_zIrpSMI/s1600/Joe+in+KC+2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9IYXwAmnvduFR3J3pTpaPl4vCWpz09Rphj7DkDrYKyZve0Pb-Fq9eZsJ4BHpJqGvBprGkhp9fhzsZN_OUVOUEfUAemHgGz9-zlO-f4D57qqXQ9Md4ap6p7cq9h9iHEHDbav_zIrpSMI/s400/Joe+in+KC+2017.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Joe says 'good night' at <a href="https://visitkcfiles.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/styles/carousel/s3/29052_Midland-06-752.jpg?itok=9PC2wu3f">Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My blues guitar hero <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a> is still battling what is now believed to be a case<br />
of <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bronchitis/basics/definition/con-20014956">bronchitis</a>, but he's certainly more able to function than I am at the moment.<br />
<br />
Last night's show in Kansas City, which<br />
I was forced to miss, was by all accounts<br />
a great performance...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pi in the Face</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfa3uWcGfRl6EwYPXsKYygf4WuPL9H77HVQeKostFvXmWd5WJOktBA3V66x4Hao-9RTB7TolMQtE4nvxKkJScapCf4Nt9g_2iw9kwKeBHlV-_DoUIUmE2kSz6uomc3b8Sglh_IrEnu7Q/s1600/Pi+Ala+Mode.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfa3uWcGfRl6EwYPXsKYygf4WuPL9H77HVQeKostFvXmWd5WJOktBA3V66x4Hao-9RTB7TolMQtE4nvxKkJScapCf4Nt9g_2iw9kwKeBHlV-_DoUIUmE2kSz6uomc3b8Sglh_IrEnu7Q/s320/Pi+Ala+Mode.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Design courtesy of the cool cats at <a href="http://www.snorgtees.com/">Snorgtees</a></span></td></tr>
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One of the things I miss the most about teaching is being at school on a "special" day for kids that aren't necessarily the most athletic or popular. <a href="http://www.piday.org/">Pi Day</a> was one such day.</div>
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Some people would argue that the <a href="http://mediacdn.snorgcontent.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/1800x/6b9ffbf72458f4fd2d3cb995d92e8889/u/l/ultimatepiday_fullpic_5.jpg">ultimate Pi Day</a> was two years ago (3.14.15), but that's just the sort </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
of controversy which I try to avoid whenever possible. </div>
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I gave up dessert for Lent, but even if I hadn't I wouldn't want <i>this</i>... </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrUxuvW33zKNJPuUXYC3X2Idx0Jt0058eMJ-TdltjHjFWgskITNNM6E1oLB45QdyXxU3LXjyO-4k_b7EGa8NNGLBMHLZsCKMLx5sJZqzJNKc88gJd9bbQz_gFMqax2RzpovEF5oAoEodg/s1600/Albert+Einstein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrUxuvW33zKNJPuUXYC3X2Idx0Jt0058eMJ-TdltjHjFWgskITNNM6E1oLB45QdyXxU3LXjyO-4k_b7EGa8NNGLBMHLZsCKMLx5sJZqzJNKc88gJd9bbQz_gFMqax2RzpovEF5oAoEodg/s320/Albert+Einstein.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"I know, right?"</span></td></tr>
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<br />
And how ironic is it that Pi Day also happens to be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein">Albert Einstein</a>'s birthday?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMY0zi8S6sQ-RGAxpYm6qZBRDNpybkSK5iu_DN1G5ICEu5e2Up_4fYh1ovZsKVkgPzPBAhBwUuS1FA8BqQu1jeK8GvoMT29TLKlHbfUDjkzGd6zJ6lw1q4f9rCKGeXvbtuRwLfvGMMu_0/s1600/Anteater+32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMY0zi8S6sQ-RGAxpYm6qZBRDNpybkSK5iu_DN1G5ICEu5e2Up_4fYh1ovZsKVkgPzPBAhBwUuS1FA8BqQu1jeK8GvoMT29TLKlHbfUDjkzGd6zJ6lw1q4f9rCKGeXvbtuRwLfvGMMu_0/s400/Anteater+32.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"That's ironic to like to 12th power of the square root of..."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Just shut your pipe..<br />
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">It's a Communication Jungle Out There</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj537L82RWxdZy5mRI34poNp5-3Vz3peQ_Kg1xI1nMoaHbfeS9CMSSskUnl4rXxsEX5Mezpfp4Mig1uqJdQhZLc_eNNrn2mIR12V49KwPvah1C8zkjUyiUnaK2Y4_CKAjDFlBUQwa3oHTE/s1600/3-14+Chat+Problems.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj537L82RWxdZy5mRI34poNp5-3Vz3peQ_Kg1xI1nMoaHbfeS9CMSSskUnl4rXxsEX5Mezpfp4Mig1uqJdQhZLc_eNNrn2mIR12V49KwPvah1C8zkjUyiUnaK2Y4_CKAjDFlBUQwa3oHTE/s640/3-14+Chat+Problems.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
From the delightfully off-kilter webcomic <a href="https://xkcd.com/"><i>xkcd</i></a>, by <a href="https://xkcd.com/about/">Randall Munroe</a>, which you should read every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
Several of the selections in my "Tearjerkers" iTunes playlist are instrumentals, since certain pieces of music can move me to tears even without lyrics. This is because I have used the music in one of my play productions (I usually get emotional when recalling those memories), or because it is from a motion picture or TV program which used it in an especially sad scene.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYCSdurMc-_LGODUqBulb79IKgO2edsmZrUCC7nb-ZWgn8eDK0qK1puO3E6CuOEcw0j7peptm99vhG66sdkI3ycBp24K3opTViCEZ-GqAiJiuXuheiFc03unHv0k3_Etc3LkyxTaxD-XY/s1600/Serenity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYCSdurMc-_LGODUqBulb79IKgO2edsmZrUCC7nb-ZWgn8eDK0qK1puO3E6CuOEcw0j7peptm99vhG66sdkI3ycBp24K3opTViCEZ-GqAiJiuXuheiFc03unHv0k3_Etc3LkyxTaxD-XY/s400/Serenity.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Original 2005 "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_sheet">one sheet</a>" poster</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
An example of the latter is composer<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Newman_(composer)">David Newman</a>'s score for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon">Joss Whedon</a>'s 2005 film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(film)"><i>Serenity</i></a>. Based on the TV series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)"><i>Firefly</i></a>, to which I was introduced by my late best friend Matt, this movie is one of the rare ones which I never get tired of watching. It ranks highly on my all-time list, and even spent some time at the top<br />
of that list.<br />
<br />
I have used a few tracks from Newman's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Serenity-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B00FKQ52F2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489507353&sr=8-1&keywords=Serenity+soundtrack">evocative score</a> in my play productions, and I'm currently using today's featured selection for my profile page on a social networking site to which I belong.<br />
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The film functions as a sort of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prequel">prequel</a> <i>and</i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequel">sequel</a> to the TV series (which won't make sense until you've seen both). One of the more remarkable aspects of <i>Serenity</i> is that not one but <i>two</i> of the major <i>Firefly</i> characters die.<br />
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Both of those packed an emotional punch, but the death of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd_Book">Shepherd Book</a> hit me especially hard, since he was the character with whom I most closely identified. Even though I know it is entirely a work of fiction, even now I can't watch the character's <a href="https://youtu.be/JjYx2Q--kwg">death scene</a> without tears. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Glass">Ron Glass</a>, the actor who played the character, passed away himself last November 25.)<br />
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Today's send-off is Newman's underscore for that moment, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCabzC2_ljJ8_pTa5G6cs5ow/videos">his YouTube channel</a>. Enjoy...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-28886951686322896152017-03-13T10:54:00.001-05:002017-03-13T10:54:58.996-05:00Frosty Monday<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blown Opportunity</span></span></h4>
It is difficult to say what is making me more miserable today: Whatever illness(es) are ravaging my body in a way I haven't experienced (at least not this extent) since I left teaching, or screwing up a rare opportunity to visit with my best friend Skip this past weekend in Kansas City.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xN5K0dgJzIeidL_-io3fbnmPn7QIC1FmqWCL3FfgRKM80GUcOjd3HDzXefV4KCdfhjzHNlBQHLROH1gI4HIJkTG8lkY72nkldlHm_zKhsRxAl2fMvSIhPpgrWg6LZBYq_mdK0xjDWzU/s1600/Cathedral+of+the+Immaculate+Conception+-+Kansas+City.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xN5K0dgJzIeidL_-io3fbnmPn7QIC1FmqWCL3FfgRKM80GUcOjd3HDzXefV4KCdfhjzHNlBQHLROH1gI4HIJkTG8lkY72nkldlHm_zKhsRxAl2fMvSIhPpgrWg6LZBYq_mdK0xjDWzU/s320/Cathedral+of+the+Immaculate+Conception+-+Kansas+City.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception </span></td></tr>
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One of the highlights of meeting Skip in KC is always Sunday Mass at the <a href="http://www.kcgolddome.org/">Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception</a>. It is a very beautiful church, which is to be expected since it is the seat of the <a href="https://kcsjcatholic.org/">diocese</a> and therefore is also the bishop's home church.<br />
<br />
Skip has attended Mass with me there on two previous occasions when he has flown in to visit from his home in Pennsylvania.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtHYKKn1wfwWwaTqowut7A61bISkIxGtmanbRcZbX2JXri99yKAe_yXai6DVMrBfZV3BynsgihIuRwBK9ROMx6o3C_G3PLy5L8Ke8TKDPSj0TTaO0uR2i7QXfCgXGIrc3gd0akhjVi00/s1600/Arvest+Bank+Theatre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtHYKKn1wfwWwaTqowut7A61bISkIxGtmanbRcZbX2JXri99yKAe_yXai6DVMrBfZV3BynsgihIuRwBK9ROMx6o3C_G3PLy5L8Ke8TKDPSj0TTaO0uR2i7QXfCgXGIrc3gd0akhjVi00/s320/Arvest+Bank+Theatre.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.midlandkc.com/">Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland</a></span></td></tr>
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The highlight of this particular trip was going to be taking Skip to see my guitar hero <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a> tonight at the Midland, including a pre-show opportunity to meet Joe. <br />
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After seeing Joe myself in Des Moines last Thursday, there was <a href="http://i.axs.com/2015/09/79449246-1-optimized_55e51057398a0.jpg">one aspect of his current touring line-up</a> and set list I really regret not getting to share with Skip...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5m4oGgBzG0fHQDaXBjV1sm5b33d_gN7FTI-lWiK3QxoJIz8Q6oXoM0YM3eSCDrGCBZEgFT2pY8cqvaJXwqQxuHU13wugVVnNEtOnfaX0uyfolZWHsC5CsINU_y-or-GkfVvOrIUz89E/s1600/Anteater+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5m4oGgBzG0fHQDaXBjV1sm5b33d_gN7FTI-lWiK3QxoJIz8Q6oXoM0YM3eSCDrGCBZEgFT2pY8cqvaJXwqQxuHU13wugVVnNEtOnfaX0uyfolZWHsC5CsINU_y-or-GkfVvOrIUz89E/s400/Anteater+13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"If you're going to screw up, might as well screw up <i>royally</i>, am I right?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'm sick, but not so sick I won't tie your snout in a knot, wise guy...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">On Top of Everything Else</span></span></h4>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41CIg2CIVnkMfsTgDZLHN7Ms3xyUm1Ah_6xjHCHQXWtzm77Wh3tKzkraVbmKzwHLCztkLyP0rCZ3B6-CppqKBscsztM9_YCRMOcYgK5lmjNwdQ6MQRA4UPA87xDRkSqvlgk06OPfq6DQ/s1600/3-13-17.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41CIg2CIVnkMfsTgDZLHN7Ms3xyUm1Ah_6xjHCHQXWtzm77Wh3tKzkraVbmKzwHLCztkLyP0rCZ3B6-CppqKBscsztM9_YCRMOcYgK5lmjNwdQ6MQRA4UPA87xDRkSqvlgk06OPfq6DQ/s400/3-13-17.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">View from my porch at 8:10 AM CDT, temperature 21 degrees</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
As if I didn't have enough problems to deal with right now, Mother Nature has decided to give us some really nasty February weather in mid-March.<br />
<br />
Perfect.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjoGpiqMn7qPi_TUX4S_-SiC73J3CSOqUuaoTqQxKkL2UpiJO-FQiL9zze1KKAIwQ7ds0X_gg7uQJyPEyU8Ti1UN8-xW4MbKviISKJb0d3Gt9W5zuupK75Bp5AROrKZuZ_uICXQMSc7Y/s1600/Anteater+15c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjoGpiqMn7qPi_TUX4S_-SiC73J3CSOqUuaoTqQxKkL2UpiJO-FQiL9zze1KKAIwQ7ds0X_gg7uQJyPEyU8Ti1UN8-xW4MbKviISKJb0d3Gt9W5zuupK75Bp5AROrKZuZ_uICXQMSc7Y/s400/Anteater+15c.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Sticking your nose in frozen ground to eat is no fun, for sure."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'll have to take your word for it, old friend...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Change of Pace</span></span></h4>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3xT4OKknrdYPKMyYLpFsUy3F99ioRzCOhfuA01DrNWBAI5XuwkrpBJnVQaRAR3tdkh0446CKz8LwN82prkfdDFg5FNuSDHjqR9Al_pEhWUcuO0gGhyNRuEDwl7KBD_HtmNGXitr0F7k/s1600/Death%2527s+Door+Gin.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3xT4OKknrdYPKMyYLpFsUy3F99ioRzCOhfuA01DrNWBAI5XuwkrpBJnVQaRAR3tdkh0446CKz8LwN82prkfdDFg5FNuSDHjqR9Al_pEhWUcuO0gGhyNRuEDwl7KBD_HtmNGXitr0F7k/s400/Death%2527s+Door+Gin.png" width="153" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Ordinarily when I'm in the mood for a nice <a href="http://www.ginandtonicjuly.com/images/gin-and-tonic.jpg">gin and tonic</a> with lime, or a <a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b2/4e/2f/b24e2f3f4dedf636915f08a992fd652d.jpg">Tom Collins</a>, or even the occasional <a href="http://del.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/10/54f67f8a6c644_-_smir_lemondropmartini-xl.jpg">martini</a>, my gin of choice is <a href="http://theginisin.com/gin-reviews/bombay-sapphire/">Bombay Sapphire</a>, with <a href="https://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/boodles/boodles-british-gin/">Boodles</a> a very close second.<br />
<br />
I do try other brands like <a href="http://theginisin.com/gin-reviews/aviation-gin/">Aviation</a> and <a href="http://theginisin.com/gin-reviews/brokers-gin/">Brokers</a> from time<br />
to time, but I don't really drink enough gin to justify a lot of experimentation. Better to mostly stick with gins I already know I like.<br />
<br />
That said, given my current mental and physical state,<br />
I'm thinking of giving a <a href="https://www.deathsdoorspirits.com/spirits">new player</a> an audition...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Made You Look, Though</span></span></h4>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0UJhCS-a1fiRdSrxVami2H7JesX6BLJHbOxg14qNG7X2RD2Buw63MeoEVP4tPBfRy-XWamOfneMWU-u3B8BSvw5PLvOvMxDWlm3GjkaFTCBSDPuvAfHG1PvrKe62dOlmtjAzyvegAYI/s1600/3-13+No+New+Messages.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0UJhCS-a1fiRdSrxVami2H7JesX6BLJHbOxg14qNG7X2RD2Buw63MeoEVP4tPBfRy-XWamOfneMWU-u3B8BSvw5PLvOvMxDWlm3GjkaFTCBSDPuvAfHG1PvrKe62dOlmtjAzyvegAYI/s640/3-13+No+New+Messages.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
From the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_MacNelly">Jeff MacNelly</a>-created comic strip <a href="http://www.shoecomics.com/"><i>Shoe</i></a>, now being produced by Gary Brookins and Jeff's widow Susie.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
The songs in my "Tearjerkers" iTunes playlist are there mostly to provide me with what my pal <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/">Aristotle</a> called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharsis"><i>catharsis</i></a>, which they typically do by reminding me<br />
of specific people or moments in my life which bring on tears. A small handful of the songs are there to serve as a reminder not to give in too fully to the darkness whose <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren_(mythology)#Sirens_and_death">siren song</a> is characteristic of depression.<br />
<br />
One of those songs is "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everybody_Hurts">Everybody Hurts</a>," released as a single on April 15, 1993 by my faves <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.E.M.">R.E.M.</a> from their multi-platinum-selling 1992 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_for_the_People"><i>Automatic for the People</i></a>. The song's <a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=&as_epq=Everybody+Hurts&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=#hl=en&as_qdr=all&q=%22Everybody+Hurts%22+lyrics&*">simple message</a>, sung beautifully by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Stipe">Michael Stipe</a>, never fails to move me.<br />
<br />
"Everybody Hurts" is one of the rare songs that is in that playlist twice. The second <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/instantiate#instantiate">instantiation</a> is a gorgeous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version">cover version</a> by Irish band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corrs">The Corrs</a>, another long-time favorite of mine. (I have a thing for female Irish singers.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjj0Zi7ijci9nK-WrYBAQDN8pvUDmhrc16vybx7dJBt-ONrexYC59p-IHqcg2YCoGoKxou1KLFFBW7tDqXGyjF_j629FLCjxn6ixaG5MuFt2_vA9emY2oqoTI3S-BJdu_IaYce3vfwsQ/s1600/The+Corrs+Unplugged.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjj0Zi7ijci9nK-WrYBAQDN8pvUDmhrc16vybx7dJBt-ONrexYC59p-IHqcg2YCoGoKxou1KLFFBW7tDqXGyjF_j629FLCjxn6ixaG5MuFt2_vA9emY2oqoTI3S-BJdu_IaYce3vfwsQ/s320/The+Corrs+Unplugged.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
On October 5, 1999 The Corrs appeared on the popular cable TV show <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Unplugged"><i>MTV Unplugged</i></a>, and gave<br />
a memorable performance that showcased their musicianship and gorgeous vocals. The performance was released on both <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Corrs-Unplugged/dp/B00I7UJA4M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1489419066&sr=8-3&keywords=The+Corrs">CD</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Corrs-Unplugged-CORRS/dp/B00004RJEG/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1489419166&sr=1-4&keywords=The+Corrs&refinements=p_n_theme_browse-bin%3A2662339011">DVD</a>.<br />
<br />
One of the unexpected highlights for me when I watched the show was their heartfelt rendition of "Everybody Hurts." I'm not a huge fan of other groups doing covers<br />
of R.E.M. songs, but The Corrs version is as beautiful and moving in its own way as the original.<br />
<br />
Today's send-off is their hauntingly lovely performance of the song, from the DVD<br />
of the original MTV broadcast. Enjoy...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VtGZGBvb7ic/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VtGZGBvb7ic?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-26347868000175416852017-03-12T10:58:00.001-05:002017-03-12T11:39:03.325-05:00Selection Sunday 2017<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Sick Unto...?</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskcKfO6OK4CXikEmmZYNZSTTsUmpEUI4MWm-HU7jhdqDFIbfFMgYgqjaFT0gmbdIaJlkdu1dcYhi4eUTx4EucMreor3lAhCiYAsn0WxSgeA-xpDXldAIxCjN2DYuLk3AD-rV86PKiJYY/s1600/Toe+Tag+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskcKfO6OK4CXikEmmZYNZSTTsUmpEUI4MWm-HU7jhdqDFIbfFMgYgqjaFT0gmbdIaJlkdu1dcYhi4eUTx4EucMreor3lAhCiYAsn0WxSgeA-xpDXldAIxCjN2DYuLk3AD-rV86PKiJYY/s320/Toe+Tag+1.jpg" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some guys have all the luck...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Men have a reputation for being<br />
big, whining babies when they get sick. Personally, I always considered that <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/canard?a=british">canard</a> to be unadulterated female propaganda, but I'll admit<br />
I have no experience with having<br />
to take care of sick guys.<br />
<br />
In any case, in addition to the fever, chills, headache, aching muscles, lack of energy and appetite, and assorted other symptoms which began manifesting Thursday night and kicked into overdrive Friday morning, I have my usual depressive tendencies to cope with as well.<br />
<br />
That ain't easy under normal circumstances, but when you hit me with
physical <i>and</i> emotional crises at the same time...well, that is a recipe for your basic "<a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev">the living will envy the dead</a>" situation...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjuJPZT7fyqePwftPBpW5D_qymfHoO6Ha00EK6KCup-mGQ5PdxWM0jllDJpZrbXAj0T9DLNSMIX1v-6lkuUf6kxrefDE7yicHzonpkgByD-hIBJ8g_LpOSEwjFz63W3lyHx5CeSDZRJo/s1600/Anteater+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjuJPZT7fyqePwftPBpW5D_qymfHoO6Ha00EK6KCup-mGQ5PdxWM0jllDJpZrbXAj0T9DLNSMIX1v-6lkuUf6kxrefDE7yicHzonpkgByD-hIBJ8g_LpOSEwjFz63W3lyHx5CeSDZRJo/s400/Anteater+12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"You can't check out now! Who would take care of me?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Don't know, but you're cute and cuddly, so I'm sure you'll be just fine...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Springing Forward</span></span></span></h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsULHF6yuL7iAFLtnS27fEOqnlzexsVZ-Fi9Qn3JLteA5Sq4ArIcSyNyJoPN3uGq1beOF9_ex4PGkmXOoW9UJ_qRHdRFLzZpjCJ1ZPm6xEMRfmXQUmA2Q7aAQ8qm8QGvxGgUB9gSTJs0M/s1600/Daylight+Savings+Time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsULHF6yuL7iAFLtnS27fEOqnlzexsVZ-Fi9Qn3JLteA5Sq4ArIcSyNyJoPN3uGq1beOF9_ex4PGkmXOoW9UJ_qRHdRFLzZpjCJ1ZPm6xEMRfmXQUmA2Q7aAQ8qm8QGvxGgUB9gSTJs0M/s400/Daylight+Savings+Time.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
What could be better for a person who's sick and depressed than being deprived of an extra hour of sleep?<br />
<br />
I might be at <a href="https://www.wofford.edu/artTour/content.aspx?id=51132">death's door</a>, but I can still spot a <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131101-when-does-daylight-savings-time-end-november-3-science/">pointless government idea</a> when I see one...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Cyc'd</span></span></h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEjlIz7327EWzcJ3yNDEbGg3fEiwTNpP33Mmjodsg8uCoJTrzAuOtaxb7OHmRNK-S3UVWLyf0cB4aqwyfMy_xK1pSdVuzTmPXss2rtQwuw-PWjutIImWP4UWh-vSXLCCxKqjegeHzDic/s1600/usa_today_9934368.0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEjlIz7327EWzcJ3yNDEbGg3fEiwTNpP33Mmjodsg8uCoJTrzAuOtaxb7OHmRNK-S3UVWLyf0cB4aqwyfMy_xK1pSdVuzTmPXss2rtQwuw-PWjutIImWP4UWh-vSXLCCxKqjegeHzDic/s320/usa_today_9934368.0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
My planned trip to Kansas City this weekend got canceled, contributing to my misery, but thousands of Iowa State basketball fans made the trip, and had a great time, too.<br />
<br />
The Cyclones won three games, including <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400946266">an exciting 80-74 win over West Virginia</a> in the Big XII Tournament championship game.<br />
<br />
<br />
It is the Cyclones' third Big XII Tournament championship in the past four seasons. Fans are hopeful that this one will spur the team to a better showing in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.<br />
<br />
The only drama left for <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/march-madness-selection-sunday-dates-schedule">Selection Sunday</a> is how high the Cyclones will be seeded, and where they'll play in the first round. In addition to Iowa State, I'll be rooting for all<br />
of the Catholic institutions in the field, including defending national champion and No. 2-ranked <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/222/villanova-wildcats">Villanova</a>, No. 4 <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2250/gonzaga-bulldogs">Gonzaga</a>, No. 19 <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2608/saint-mary's-gaels">St. Mary's</a>, and No. 22 <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/87/notre-dame-fighting-irish">Notre Dame</a>. The <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology">current projection</a> shows another eight Catholic institutions making the field also.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbVFj7V8Nj76HqqXuXCdxDRF9QaaCP8jAjE2QG9rKEMZvzOdkb1wWLt1uNBtwahbniXle774B3nurw_hN52s4HoPvv4-1wlOPMpvqgjDSJLCwHtEDM5Icin7C6z7g_gFRQeqsz5Vlgn8/s1600/Anteater+10c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbVFj7V8Nj76HqqXuXCdxDRF9QaaCP8jAjE2QG9rKEMZvzOdkb1wWLt1uNBtwahbniXle774B3nurw_hN52s4HoPvv4-1wlOPMpvqgjDSJLCwHtEDM5Icin7C6z7g_gFRQeqsz5Vlgn8/s400/Anteater+10c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"So, will <i>my</i> team be dancing?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I'm afraid not, old friend...<a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/300/uc-irvine-anteaters">UC Irvine</a> won the Big West Conference regular-season championship, but <a href="http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400946270">lost in the finals of the conference tournament</a>...they <i>will</i> be playing in the <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/nit">NIT</a>, though, and that's nice reward for a fine season...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Filling Out Your Bracket</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gGoCVHSB129ibKbGOKFRnPmiqr7EDXObDnh176IEbjP1jylLzWseySP2VeEmnj6LTis1HZxRgj6YkK9VCeTHSto7LanIJkXpuxyBK06jG_xZsQj1vIMcXlW9P5bD_E04ng1lx98EaHU/s1600/3-12+Bracket.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gGoCVHSB129ibKbGOKFRnPmiqr7EDXObDnh176IEbjP1jylLzWseySP2VeEmnj6LTis1HZxRgj6YkK9VCeTHSto7LanIJkXpuxyBK06jG_xZsQj1vIMcXlW9P5bD_E04ng1lx98EaHU/s640/3-12+Bracket.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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From the wry comic strip <i><a href="http://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot">FoxTrot</a></i>, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Amend">Bill Amend</a>, which you should read every Sunday, as I do.<br />
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
As I have mentioned in this space on many occasions, I am a big fan of the current practice by producers of TV dramas to use popular music in addition to traditional scoring. I have discovered a number of musical artists this way, and every so often<br />
I also get to hear a song from an artist I've followed for a long time.<br />
<br />
The circumstances of my life have made me an emotional pushover for dramas featuring bittersweet romantic story lines. When I'm feeling blue, as I am at the moment, I also like to wallow just a bit by listening to sad songs. Those two tendencies collided yesterday, as I watched a rerun of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCIS_(TV_series)"><i>NCIS</i></a> Season 11 premiere episode, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskey_Tango_Foxtrot_(NCIS)">Whiskey Tango Foxtrot</a>," which <a href="http://www.tunefind.com/show/ncis/season-11/15668">featured a song</a> by a longtime favorite of mine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLcr4BOqbGqHTZDpJDxvm8XKbPeWVZV_jdUmgyPIGolNpX1KAjv5Viyp1Ps7ggoYCaW7B8njs1o-_YVJuZGPFV7-F1r_NS72krDu9LeMD8RhyphenhyphenS899McxComiHBASLB4jq61qHqm_hjbwU/s1600/Amarantine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLcr4BOqbGqHTZDpJDxvm8XKbPeWVZV_jdUmgyPIGolNpX1KAjv5Viyp1Ps7ggoYCaW7B8njs1o-_YVJuZGPFV7-F1r_NS72krDu9LeMD8RhyphenhyphenS899McxComiHBASLB4jq61qHqm_hjbwU/s320/Amarantine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enya">Enya</a> Patricia Brennan, who goes professionally by just her first name, is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose music has been enchanting me for more than 30 years. I'm not alone, as she is one of Ireland's most popular recording artists, having sold more than 80 million records and won four Grammy Awards.<br />
<br />
The most recent of those was for her album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarantine_(album)"><i>Amarantine</i></a>, which was certified platinum by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America">RIAA</a> within<br />
a month of its release and peaked at No. 6 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200">Billboard 200</a>.<br />
<br />
The album's song "If I Could Be Where You Are" plays at the episode's conclusion,<br />
as one of the main characters, separated for some time from his true love, <a href="http://tvline.com/2013/09/24/ncis-season-11-premiere-recap-ziva-missing/">wonders where she is</a>. Enya's haunting voice and heartfelt <a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=&as_epq=If+I+Could+Be+Where+You+Are&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=#hl=en&as_qdr=all&q=%22If+I+Could+Be+Where+You+Are%22+lyrics&*">lyrics</a> hit me like a sledgehammer<br />
as I watched the scene unfold. It had had quite an impact on me when I saw it the first time on September 24, 2013, and it slammed me again for a related reason last night.<br />
<br />
Today's send-off is the original album track paired with an evocative video that captures my current mood quite well. Enjoy...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-36478332578005016892017-03-11T09:09:00.001-06:002017-03-11T09:09:46.685-06:00Best-Laid Plans, Etc.<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">'Tis the Season</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5wIb1sPeA8_Usv5ui7Bs7FyPvh8rvyfYfuOKHlJbH-0Dn7vxXPlkI0J4J8eSP0Q7H9fLegFJviBktPc3fx0Oj8q5-pHfNzxKkEGzF0LhYnG3k-gd-Sn6mWOlx_CwFJqg3n3woquOUOLA/s1600/Man+with+flu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5wIb1sPeA8_Usv5ui7Bs7FyPvh8rvyfYfuOKHlJbH-0Dn7vxXPlkI0J4J8eSP0Q7H9fLegFJviBktPc3fx0Oj8q5-pHfNzxKkEGzF0LhYnG3k-gd-Sn6mWOlx_CwFJqg3n3woquOUOLA/s320/Man+with+flu.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
So, after walking five blocks in bitter wind and cold Thursday night to get to the Des Moines<br />
Civic Center from the closest parking I could find, then mingling in a small, warm, confined environment with around 2,000 <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a> fans, then walking back to my car in a wind chill of around 15 degrees, I was pushing my luck...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It appears that I may have pushed it too far, as by the time I went to bed last night<br />
I had a fever, muscle aches and weakness, and assorted other health issues that may<br />
or may not be the actual flu.<br />
<br />
There may also be some connection between the way I feel and the way my Thursday ended and my Friday began, but all I know for sure is that I'm still sick as a dog this morning. Flu or no flu, it's a miserable feeling...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRKe7YnQly2T6Q6Nr9PcQYHn9zJl83Ty7t8rdqIahv0-1cOkho6qkAgrCNERM4SgeNkGGA1vRfCpqKT2h5TSn3eUZ1EnILE2toTmNVEMuhdcqK5OLLYOpt1M8fzGV-hROiT6ZZVuiO8o/s1600/Anteater+10b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRKe7YnQly2T6Q6Nr9PcQYHn9zJl83Ty7t8rdqIahv0-1cOkho6qkAgrCNERM4SgeNkGGA1vRfCpqKT2h5TSn3eUZ1EnILE2toTmNVEMuhdcqK5OLLYOpt1M8fzGV-hROiT6ZZVuiO8o/s400/Anteater+10b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"What about the road trip to Kansas City?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Canceled...sorry about that, old friend...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">A Sure Sign of Spring</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOBS3mlJmUJEoMR7NYopvapVDMjF46m2ARGwy42HKIsIAAlbd5wPWyvm3BlBBL6dqecpQ8NmfxaU6Iy_J8c1vHMH6zfZjkDQB-0W4E-tWAoFSrd6CbENAWAGeyC00qfqiyYOLTkEwG2Q/s1600/Snow+shovel+sale.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOBS3mlJmUJEoMR7NYopvapVDMjF46m2ARGwy42HKIsIAAlbd5wPWyvm3BlBBL6dqecpQ8NmfxaU6Iy_J8c1vHMH6zfZjkDQB-0W4E-tWAoFSrd6CbENAWAGeyC00qfqiyYOLTkEwG2Q/s400/Snow+shovel+sale.JPG" width="272" /></a></div>
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<br />
Never mind groundhogs, or sightings of robins or squirrels. The surest sign that winter is almost over is when local retailers begin having clearance sales<br />
on snowshovels, rock salt, windshield scrapers, and other necessities for dealing with midwestern weather during the winter months.<br />
<br />
My local Hy-Vee is basically selling its remaining inventory at cost, judging by what I saw on my last visit...<br />
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<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Foolish Optimism</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdztTAj48JOYv6N_fzyfp4ZVKaQmIksHOaUbAY0jGor1gVxhYvGgum7MrXXjcZruAzEfN64o1EaymDP9SzJjYrkCfyHqI1jZ0hLYwBX17AJ-DWT2oz9zmwJkogcgIKyBLfzL5p7fE0t8/s1600/3-11+Fix+It.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdztTAj48JOYv6N_fzyfp4ZVKaQmIksHOaUbAY0jGor1gVxhYvGgum7MrXXjcZruAzEfN64o1EaymDP9SzJjYrkCfyHqI1jZ0hLYwBX17AJ-DWT2oz9zmwJkogcgIKyBLfzL5p7fE0t8/s640/3-11+Fix+It.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
From the incisive pen of <a href="http://michaelpramirez.com/index.html">Michael Ramirez</a>, whose <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/michaelramirez">editorial cartoons</a> you should read often, as I do.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
All of my life I have struggled to deal with separation and loss, and I haven't gotten<br />
any better at it with age. It doesn't help when movies or TV shows I watch for escapism incorporate such themes into their storylines. The <a href="http://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/Run">Season 7 finale</a> of <a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/criminal_minds/"><i>Criminal Minds</i></a>, one of my favorite shows, did just that when dealing with the departure of <a href="http://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/Emily_Prentiss">my favorite character</a> from the show.<br />
<br />
"<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2336723/?ref_=ttep_ep24">Run</a>" was originally broadcast on May 6, 2012. Although it was kind of a downer to watch, it did introduce me to a piece of music that I quickly purchased and added to my "Tearjerkers" playlist on iTunes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwLKN1kTRgRvRynbw8q6qLJw8HpiJ3hxqjGaMg6RHH5TwWaDZwh5eRLslP3dADU6S4BrCcV8htrPYDUwOLLNkCBThNAVWPs1M9hrPYcLgX1cfAwG2JqAW8fUEl4H8JrQfQf94pb5XMPI/s1600/Midnight+In+the+Garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwLKN1kTRgRvRynbw8q6qLJw8HpiJ3hxqjGaMg6RHH5TwWaDZwh5eRLslP3dADU6S4BrCcV8htrPYDUwOLLNkCBThNAVWPs1M9hrPYcLgX1cfAwG2JqAW8fUEl4H8JrQfQf94pb5XMPI/s320/Midnight+In+the+Garden.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Singer-songwriter <a href="http://lilykershaw.com/">Lily Kershaw</a> released <a href="http://lilykershaw.com/album/midnight-in-the-garden/"><i>Midnight In the Garden</i></a>, her debut album, in the fall of 2013, to good reviews. Well before that, though, her music had come to the attention of the producers of <i>Criminal Minds</i>, who selected an as-yet unreleased song from her album to help them send off a beloved character from the show.<br />
<br />
"<a href="https://www.amazon.com/As-It-Seems/dp/B00CRTDGCG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1489243223&sr=8-2&keywords=Lily+Kershaw">As It Seems</a>" was the song used at the conclusion of "Run," and I liked it enough that I used it as the curtain call music for <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52889850@N07/20518538343/in/dateposted-public/">my last play production at Atlantic</a>.<br />
<br />
The song's lyrics tied in with that play's theme, but also with the fact that everyone knew it was my final AHS production. It was "curtain call" music in more ways than one, and even all these years later still moves me to tears.<br />
<br />
Today's send-off is a "lyric video" version of Kershaw's song. Most of the time I'm not a fan of such productions, but I think this one is pretty well done. Enjoy...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-39193171042989515242017-03-10T15:35:00.002-06:002017-03-10T15:35:57.066-06:00Black(ish) Friday<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank <a href="http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Tessa">Tessa</a> It's Friday!</span></span></h4>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmw-rqFN0ZF96FhGvBgIRMtbcGE9ZCN3y0BU90-oEMkGN-PpdiMjhe1LmL66k3ZUWShTAVO2uqgz75P8Y0fgUNQCBGRLzm4lY383Rf31eTPuy7ljiBy1meq6g-ZnK7BtwPZInxjUyk2K0/s1600/Tessa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmw-rqFN0ZF96FhGvBgIRMtbcGE9ZCN3y0BU90-oEMkGN-PpdiMjhe1LmL66k3ZUWShTAVO2uqgz75P8Y0fgUNQCBGRLzm4lY383Rf31eTPuy7ljiBy1meq6g-ZnK7BtwPZInxjUyk2K0/s400/Tessa.JPG" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"I've been <i>very</i> patient, but you know it's time, right?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">The Show Must Go On</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchcB8g4zp9lC-r_X6znjzCdkD3GgvvpjPqxMXTZrnegTXjWEODwJp_5PwyGQtpEqif0q8byecvOXnD4S8B7qDBbvC9VyCZKAOjsO_6_KGItneSWjj3ZZ9q_o_RAweyloU1L2zvYNL4iY/s1600/DM+Civic+Center+Sign+2017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchcB8g4zp9lC-r_X6znjzCdkD3GgvvpjPqxMXTZrnegTXjWEODwJp_5PwyGQtpEqif0q8byecvOXnD4S8B7qDBbvC9VyCZKAOjsO_6_KGItneSWjj3ZZ9q_o_RAweyloU1L2zvYNL4iY/s320/DM+Civic+Center+Sign+2017.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Signage outside Des Moines Civic Center last night</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My hero <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a>'s current U.S. tour hit a snag recently when he had to reschedule two shows due to what he's been describing<br />
as a sinus infection. The next show after those cancellations was Des Moines, so I was very happy he felt well enough to play last night...<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAp0BlenKEF2zvqmpt6_I-sbOQTQfpRNgOM9bPZXG2zuR2RH9_0_ZD6n7rd0rNpG5xteVVoetuTW6yuZHpxUcPSPgQiDYN0A9aCrRu11dPkfaGXs5dCCY5qA-ad3L3RyTPWO17nU4UTbI/s1600/DM+show+2017+seat+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAp0BlenKEF2zvqmpt6_I-sbOQTQfpRNgOM9bPZXG2zuR2RH9_0_ZD6n7rd0rNpG5xteVVoetuTW6yuZHpxUcPSPgQiDYN0A9aCrRu11dPkfaGXs5dCCY5qA-ad3L3RyTPWO17nU4UTbI/s320/DM+show+2017+seat+view.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The view from my seat moments before showtime</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'm not good enough with my smartphone camera to take good pictures in low-light conditions, but I had an excellent seat...<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-h02lLjgadlrmhm8y2S94U2XB7lt7-KG_7JU5lq12uhYyM4mNkd7WQg74BNYDRC9c54rGA2yBtQWVpn2WJeJgwpvccZWEbmaEMOlq98bolfv0Juoq_8WuMvxJQXVDLm7NmCVoFU5NwN0/s1600/Lucky+at+DM+Joe+Show+2017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-h02lLjgadlrmhm8y2S94U2XB7lt7-KG_7JU5lq12uhYyM4mNkd7WQg74BNYDRC9c54rGA2yBtQWVpn2WJeJgwpvccZWEbmaEMOlq98bolfv0Juoq_8WuMvxJQXVDLm7NmCVoFU5NwN0/s320/Lucky+at+DM+Joe+Show+2017.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Fourth-row center, baby! Woo!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
...Seat A53, which of course I was delighted to share with my trusty wingman...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXSyuB9_chwJPdIFC0FuIVWefI3haaY99VLxxOoOL_ihMw07f_OtmqJf-2b7CWfZeq_yyMyjBlfBKjDMjswArCN5Mtug3EXtNm4QUOhSSRAOUufu78kUaKp2HS53bdyTXfNWbU2crLUY/s1600/Framed+Joe+Pic+with+Tele+2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXSyuB9_chwJPdIFC0FuIVWefI3haaY99VLxxOoOL_ihMw07f_OtmqJf-2b7CWfZeq_yyMyjBlfBKjDMjswArCN5Mtug3EXtNm4QUOhSSRAOUufu78kUaKp2HS53bdyTXfNWbU2crLUY/s320/Framed+Joe+Pic+with+Tele+2b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
...in a nice bit of irony, the first time I saw Joe at the Civic Center on May 3, 2012 my seat was A54...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5rl_7KxCwSRx4TO_21dFqVGii6ifnmgZ1CYhPUMAUtGfr732M91CYpm4oIWlHXxLn-Qg72wJhgYjlD9BfAkEosl5uR7ztL1H59elh9Ey6JLaLLxZr_O-E1QqjYa8H45su-jngP83prc0/s1600/Joe+in+Des+Moines+2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5rl_7KxCwSRx4TO_21dFqVGii6ifnmgZ1CYhPUMAUtGfr732M91CYpm4oIWlHXxLn-Qg72wJhgYjlD9BfAkEosl5uR7ztL1H59elh9Ey6JLaLLxZr_O-E1QqjYa8H45su-jngP83prc0/s400/Joe+in+Des+Moines+2017.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
...and despite being under the weather (which was pretty obvious to me sitting as close as I was), he put on a most satisfying show, and not long afterward posted this photo of the show's conclusion...I'm visible in this image, but you would need my help<br />
to find me...<br />
<br />
<br />
For reasons that aren't really blog material, I was up very late last night, and part of how I processed that turmoil was writing a review of the show, which you find <a href="https://forum.jbonamassa.com/viewtopic.php?id=29629">here</a> if you're interested...the time stamp on that post ought to be a hint as to how much I was struggling...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQhv19si_HqvyPBwSddVUPDr2T1HHgbJKr60lanb-Hq1m7qJb_8t18dBE78Fp5XgDe3aGi0YT66C4MqqOYXgbq0HMzM4jyeqXwGWIpQINSK_1d1P-bQfJKMMAjymcOtOVl8PdkF1u5dE/s1600/Anteater+34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQhv19si_HqvyPBwSddVUPDr2T1HHgbJKr60lanb-Hq1m7qJb_8t18dBE78Fp5XgDe3aGi0YT66C4MqqOYXgbq0HMzM4jyeqXwGWIpQINSK_1d1P-bQfJKMMAjymcOtOVl8PdkF1u5dE/s400/Anteater+34.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"You <i>did</i> have a pretty rough day that didn't end well, but today is a new day!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And this morning things got much, <i>much</i> worse, so what's your point again?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Big XII Tournament</span></span></h4>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GJN6GFHsYFT-6pefuNlBkVl_UEuBBQVlJi43BDduELRhFPIryP9loBMH7WMGIkv6D1pwoL-_kDOjNhlp0CkeFoPVivJMqh6r-E3cw2GElUAWfKw1KD6Sr1Z3xhG2PKpmufqlwCOJ5QY/s1600/KU+TCU+big+12+quarterfinal+0363+SK+20170309F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GJN6GFHsYFT-6pefuNlBkVl_UEuBBQVlJi43BDduELRhFPIryP9loBMH7WMGIkv6D1pwoL-_kDOjNhlp0CkeFoPVivJMqh6r-E3cw2GElUAWfKw1KD6Sr1Z3xhG2PKpmufqlwCOJ5QY/s320/KU+TCU+big+12+quarterfinal+0363+SK+20170309F.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
Aside from the wonderful concert, yesterday was pretty ugly for me, and this morning...well, you know what they say about "it could be worse"? That's my day <i>today</i>...<br />
<br />
The only ray of sunshine was seeing that the hated Kansas Jayhawks <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article137528128.html">lost to TCU</a> in the opening round of the Big XII Men's basketball tournament, a defeat which will certainly cost them their No. 1 ranking and possibly a No. 1 seed in March Madness.<br />
<br />
Although I no longer root for Missouri, the former fan in me can't help mentioning that Mizzou <i>won</i> their first game in the SEC tournament, something their old Border War<br />
rivals couldn't accomplish.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPrXlqVxsaPxVVpe1ysQi1TECfSdfwPwZGaYKBTx8f18fRADJKzmZKyaI9cCXuf1kRjRyTbTj-5VgbHeODntbqXrIJhRoNyQ5buSGjN4VfZsBUapv8vqyToS4mUxgG-eoWaFXOvhj4Os/s1600/Anteater+11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPrXlqVxsaPxVVpe1ysQi1TECfSdfwPwZGaYKBTx8f18fRADJKzmZKyaI9cCXuf1kRjRyTbTj-5VgbHeODntbqXrIJhRoNyQ5buSGjN4VfZsBUapv8vqyToS4mUxgG-eoWaFXOvhj4Os/s400/Anteater+11.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Hey, what about <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56282076e4b01002889e0abe/5725bbc907eaa04b68660e3f/5725bbcd746fb941a5c9d535/1462090703843/UC-Irvine-Logo-Redesign.jpg?format=1500w"><i>my</i> team</a>?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You <i>know</i> I'm a jinx, so don't even try to trick me into answering...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">What Hell Will Be Like When I Get There</span></span></h4>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlfUPO-i9i3kUuohbsIhcReLatAYhwXW4vWC6fXw9T8T55SRigIJor_X97h0S6ngGrrg-t71v2C38_ORXO8mGbkejINOTFwvSNlaNnst4iwNw1d2WYWlIodCNR8CL4DsWCkhWulPKeEw/s1600/3-10+Politeness+Seminar.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlfUPO-i9i3kUuohbsIhcReLatAYhwXW4vWC6fXw9T8T55SRigIJor_X97h0S6ngGrrg-t71v2C38_ORXO8mGbkejINOTFwvSNlaNnst4iwNw1d2WYWlIodCNR8CL4DsWCkhWulPKeEw/s640/3-10+Politeness+Seminar.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
From the indispensable comic strip <a href="http://dilbert.com/"><i>Dilbert</i></a>, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Adams">Scott Adams</a>, which you should read every day, as I do.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
Last night was my eighth time seeing my hero Joe Bonamassa perform. His set lists and band configurations have varied from show to show, but regardless of who is playing with him and what songs he performs, he always gives it everything he has.<br />
<br />
For the most part, I enjoy hearing Joe perform his own original material rather than <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version">covers</a>, but at the past two shows I've attended he has chosen <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Russell">Leon Russell</a>'s 1970 song "Hummingbird" as his encore. Joe began playing live as part of his "<a href="http://www.jambands.com/news/2015/02/02/joe-bonamassa-launches-three-kings-tour">Three Kings</a>" tribute tour set list.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXHDPmENrY5Fzg3nHweMMlFTOfWGa3UaZOJywt7-IUJVIdfsV4kOIShg3g0YWfL5No7K-h7WdOpWZddYjsAYRPFNCM43pOTq5kAzlAHkHSZDPk8a2QaC0YBSIfYirj-iFWnmIYlNYlig/s1600/Indianola+Mississippi+Seeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXHDPmENrY5Fzg3nHweMMlFTOfWGa3UaZOJywt7-IUJVIdfsV4kOIShg3g0YWfL5No7K-h7WdOpWZddYjsAYRPFNCM43pOTq5kAzlAHkHSZDPk8a2QaC0YBSIfYirj-iFWnmIYlNYlig/s320/Indianola+Mississippi+Seeds.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
That's because not long after Russell released the original, Joe's mentor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King">B.B. King</a> recorded it for his famous electric blues landmark <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianola_Mississippi_Seeds"><i>Indianola Mississippi Seeds</i></a>, which for 30 years was King's highest-charting album on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200">Billboard 200</a>, peaking at No. 26. King himself has called this his best album from an artistic standpoint.<br />
<br />
"Hummingbird" was released as the album's lead single, and made both the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100">Billboard Hot 100</a> and Rhythm & Blues charts.<br />
<br />
<br />
I really enjoyed the version I heard in Omaha last May, but last night's version added singers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_MacRae">Jade MacRae</a> and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/385527-Juanita-Tippins">Juanita Tippins</a> to the mix, and they were awe-inspiring. They gave me chills, and before the song concluded their beautiful singing had brought me to tears as well. One of my peak experiences from the any of the Bonamassa shows I have attended.<br />
<br />
The song's <a href="http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/leonrussell/hummingbird.html">lyrics</a> hit me pretty hard last night, and after the morning I've had are now are even more <a href="https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=poignant">poignant</a>...<br />
<br />
Today's send-off is Joe's fiery performance of the song filmed at his Greek Theatre "Three Kings" show in 2015, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JoeBonamassaTV/videos">his YouTube channel</a>. Enjoy...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KxCETqCv3g4/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KxCETqCv3g4?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-59460787618837396382017-03-09T14:16:00.001-06:002017-03-09T14:16:53.971-06:00Merciful Angels<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Road Trip!</span></span></h4>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JFruAcwG4UaC5Kytz9ATO5cVZ_Huq0rSUHb0Vsg60CieDrgsxg_Zm1xDSUjw12gQ4GF2I2MPOaqJMFHyaQg-SGPb4zxjwI0eemI39VC1ER2fot2oErYgvUWh49Yn2JvReW5xA8ZrLE4/s1600/DM+Civic+Arena+Sign+2014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JFruAcwG4UaC5Kytz9ATO5cVZ_Huq0rSUHb0Vsg60CieDrgsxg_Zm1xDSUjw12gQ4GF2I2MPOaqJMFHyaQg-SGPb4zxjwI0eemI39VC1ER2fot2oErYgvUWh49Yn2JvReW5xA8ZrLE4/s400/DM+Civic+Arena+Sign+2014.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Display sign from Joe's 2014 show at the Civic Arena</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Blogging is going to be a bit lighter than usual for awhile starting today, as my exciting Bona-weekend kicks off with a <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a> show in Des Moines tonight at the splendid <a href="http://www.proaudiodesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/desmoines1.jpg">Civic Center</a> there.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Due to a nasty sinus infection Joe had to cancel the two previous shows, in Peoria and in Milwaukee, but I was delighted yesterday when he posted a message on Twitter that he was feeling better and looking forward to tonight's show. Me, too!<br />
<br />
The Bona-weekend continues with a trip to Kansas City on Friday to meet my best friend Skip, who is flying in to attend Joe's show on Monday. Prior to attending the show, we plan to visit some of KC's finer dining establishments and eat a bunch of stuff we probably shouldn't...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMusUrbUmvAKz6X8_ToWECnBRJeuihSP3S49vpAVuCfrk8WFmYxVypr5T39IZXEpJnUuLmSC8pa7djXaumWfSFMQd_VXIZ83XKu9Zx4GVn5N60eqIKnrTza8Avl13ZVBOo7CtaPXpo84Q/s1600/Anteater+20c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMusUrbUmvAKz6X8_ToWECnBRJeuihSP3S49vpAVuCfrk8WFmYxVypr5T39IZXEpJnUuLmSC8pa7djXaumWfSFMQd_VXIZ83XKu9Zx4GVn5N60eqIKnrTza8Avl13ZVBOo7CtaPXpo84Q/s400/Anteater+20c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"In other words, a typical Skip visit?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Well, he's never been to a concert with me, but in terms of the food binge, yeah...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Feast Day</span></span></h4>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3gkDvcZP6VXXpyALWZtF5Iq16FQg_43vrsrHxyCPPksNMf_ofUaZ-UGIikpZc-yZyrjjR06zlf_SuHwSBJzKdngDrqMm9Cr_De2fzzTvYBqyj7gTs9klijufGfITCPoa9fUTRY6_gh30/s1600/Baciccio+-+Saint+Francesca+Romana+Giving+Alms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3gkDvcZP6VXXpyALWZtF5Iq16FQg_43vrsrHxyCPPksNMf_ofUaZ-UGIikpZc-yZyrjjR06zlf_SuHwSBJzKdngDrqMm9Cr_De2fzzTvYBqyj7gTs9klijufGfITCPoa9fUTRY6_gh30/s400/Baciccio+-+Saint+Francesca+Romana+Giving+Alms.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>St. Frances of Rome Giving Alms</i>, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Gaulli">Baciccio</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Today Catholics celebrate the feast day<br />
of <a href="https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-frances-of-rome/">St. Frances of Rome</a>, a woman from an aristocratic family who wished to become<br />
a nun, but instead found herself at the end of the 14th century in an arranged marriage to a soldier from an even wealthier family.<br />
<br />
This did not prevent Frances from dedicating her life to her faith, and she spent that lifetime devoted to charitable works. She became an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblate">oblate</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Saint_Benedict">Order </a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Saint_Benedict">of St. Benedict</a>, and early in the 15th century she received permission to found an order, now known officially as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblates_of_St._Frances_of_Rome">Oblates of St. Frances of Rome</a>, which was devoted to prayer and community service but which did not involve its member women taking public religious vows.<br />
<br />
<br />
Frances was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonization">canonized</a> in 1608 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_V">Pope Paul V</a>, and is the patron of widows (because her husband died of war wounds in 1436) as well as automobile travelers (thanks to a story that an angel would always light the road for her as she traveled, to keep her safe from harm).<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Royals Update</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyVHLLUGn6o6kBi2LjNr4bEZqAj2sZM0g27_egXPc3-7Lh6XnHjvo0DTh-dBYOa58wLReN7GsPrT6F3t9epppU2IF4GBpB9Y15aVilFCxWZlzA94azIsIlf-UkEpYA8AnO9fYKg8lzIw/s1600/Esky+WBC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyVHLLUGn6o6kBi2LjNr4bEZqAj2sZM0g27_egXPc3-7Lh6XnHjvo0DTh-dBYOa58wLReN7GsPrT6F3t9epppU2IF4GBpB9Y15aVilFCxWZlzA94azIsIlf-UkEpYA8AnO9fYKg8lzIw/s320/Esky+WBC.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
There hasn't been a lot of good news to report about spring training lately, but my beloved <a href="http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=kc">Kansas City Royals</a> did participate in this year's <a href="https://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/">World Baseball Classic</a>, <a href="http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/218487098/alcides-escobar-tough-on-royals-in-exhibition/">losing to Venezuela 11-0</a> yesterday afternoon.<br />
<br />
Losing is never fun, but at least Royals All-Star C <a href="http://m.mlb.com/player/521692/salvador-perez">Salvador Perez</a> and Gold Glove SS <a href="http://m.mlb.com/player/444876/alcides-escobar">Alcides Escobar</a> led the way for Venezuela with two hits apiece (and Alcides's hits were both triples).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDW55kFk2wenr3KFycWmmCvUnbowXLALzfepYVg3aXMPF26QDNHLwJS3v1HGgxum9-zTYcIcN17L50VcPLGgPOOKY_oCGlposWoQ76zOt-eDJb61WXFs3ds0vAUMpOPz_p9W_6bheidFI/s1600/Anteater+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDW55kFk2wenr3KFycWmmCvUnbowXLALzfepYVg3aXMPF26QDNHLwJS3v1HGgxum9-zTYcIcN17L50VcPLGgPOOKY_oCGlposWoQ76zOt-eDJb61WXFs3ds0vAUMpOPz_p9W_6bheidFI/s400/Anteater+6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"See? You can so write about the Royals after they lose a game."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I never said I couldn't...I just don't <i>like</i> to write about them after a loss...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Big Improvement</span></span></h4>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwSKCQEMm7r6qPCkv-C62NqBBt1thCCH5npbhRcPfkHPw7jZRs5RKqorXYeSIPsv4rp_iPG7DQJV9go53cwZNrcoFkIJq0naXjEorOUqs1plms1Mnu1xL7rc0EYijKmwQgqnZnNPWjyc/s1600/3-9+Big+Improvement.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwSKCQEMm7r6qPCkv-C62NqBBt1thCCH5npbhRcPfkHPw7jZRs5RKqorXYeSIPsv4rp_iPG7DQJV9go53cwZNrcoFkIJq0naXjEorOUqs1plms1Mnu1xL7rc0EYijKmwQgqnZnNPWjyc/s640/3-9+Big+Improvement.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
From the pen of <a href="http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoonist/profile.cfm/BensoL/">Lisa Benson</a>, whose <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/lisabenson">editorial cartoons</a> you should read often, as I do.<br />
<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
The last time I got to see my hero Joe Bonamassa perform live was <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52889850@N07/32987676316/in/dateposted-public/">in Omaha last </a><br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52889850@N07/32987676316/in/dateposted-public/">May 4</a>. It was a wonderful evening, as I got to treat one of my former TJ students<br />
(my tech wizard, actually) to the show, and on top of that <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52889850@N07/26228917693/in/dateposted-public/">he even got to come with me to meet Joe before the show</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZSDNEyHJCbSsxk7aJDPa63PaF0H6nyC4vzQkgABBRb8GbzEnYZfeCmpqjoLRds24N_GC0Ql9c2Z8bLCdWMSvr9qUlesER5TMFaBvHmiQeEOaxA0xQIuPy8h61rYjSukzUo32L11KYKQw/s1600/Live+at+the+Greek+Theatre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZSDNEyHJCbSsxk7aJDPa63PaF0H6nyC4vzQkgABBRb8GbzEnYZfeCmpqjoLRds24N_GC0Ql9c2Z8bLCdWMSvr9qUlesER5TMFaBvHmiQeEOaxA0xQIuPy8h61rYjSukzUo32L11KYKQw/s320/Live+at+the+Greek+Theatre.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
That evening's set list was heavily loaded with songs from Joe's 2015 "<a href="https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/23222-joe-bonamassa-and-the-three-kings">Three Kings</a>" tour, a tribute to the music of blues legends <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King">B.B. King</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_King">Albert King</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_King">Freddie King</a>. Joe's affection for those artists and their music came shining through.<br />
<br />
That tour finished with a show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles,<br />
a performance which was filmed and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Live-At-Greek-Theatre-2DVD/dp/B01JP4KY8Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1489086832&sr=1-1&keywords=Joe+Bonamassa&refinements=p_n_format_browse-bin%3A2650304011">released on DVD</a> in 2016, along with a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Live-Greek-Theatre-Joe-Bonamassa/dp/B01JCY13NM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1489086477&sr=8-2&keywords=Joe+Bonamassa">music CD</a> as well.<br />
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<br />
<br />
The set list for this tour is different, based on what I've been reading, but some<br />
of the songs I enjoyed the most last year are apparently still on the menu, including Albert King's "<a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/angel-of-mercy-lyrics-albert-king.html">Angel of Mercy</a>," played on a Flying V just as Albert himself favored.<br />
<br />
Today's send-off is Joe's performance of the song at the Greek Theatre show, from<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JoeBonamassaTV/videos">his YouTube channel</a>. Enjoy...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-65324219309293181852017-03-08T16:20:00.002-06:002017-03-08T16:20:48.208-06:00Look Out, Kid<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Doing Without</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesKNnPhh2_06RPxJJYTgBz8JSukl4mDv3ZF46zEy1gcNpO2NbNomvDV0IBm5f4Qh6-grAuT1OKfwI4ODhyphenhyphenBk0UXGlDDQ-zShzNrpVt8x2e-UYboZN4KUL_Z31Yi-oS9JSeEkrYU2nTu8/s1600/womens-strike_twitter_759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesKNnPhh2_06RPxJJYTgBz8JSukl4mDv3ZF46zEy1gcNpO2NbNomvDV0IBm5f4Qh6-grAuT1OKfwI4ODhyphenhyphenBk0UXGlDDQ-zShzNrpVt8x2e-UYboZN4KUL_Z31Yi-oS9JSeEkrYU2nTu8/s400/womens-strike_twitter_759.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The latest bit of silly, tiresome progressive street theatre (but then I repeat myself) is the absurd "<a href="https://www.womensmarch.com/womensday/">Day Without </a><br />
<a href="https://www.womensmarch.com/womensday/">a Woman</a>" nonsense happening today.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
As near as I can tell, these silly females are determined to prove how valuable they are by...not doing a lick of work. Seems like an odd way to make a point, especially when<br />
it will <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/08/day-without-woman-strike-shuts-schools-down-as-teachers-bolt.html">inconvenience a whole bunch of people</a> (half of them women) and accomplish nothing. Wouldn't it better make the point to actually show up for work and kick ass<br />
at your job, whatever it might be? Or is that just the testosterone talking?<br />
<br />
Also, they want free abortions and birth control and stuff. Duly noted...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguz1ILrBm7mSUnFlnAnClb2NvEqItX_KhpWrW_WqXCUIxtyrNRd-GXUm5jYHKITeA9VN28V2BZTu_D1Mo0RAncGt8dF1Fij_jF6YD8IvfublNYYFwtNjI2wg1vz8c0-LRO6dYgTLy5mOw/s1600/Anteater+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguz1ILrBm7mSUnFlnAnClb2NvEqItX_KhpWrW_WqXCUIxtyrNRd-GXUm5jYHKITeA9VN28V2BZTu_D1Mo0RAncGt8dF1Fij_jF6YD8IvfublNYYFwtNjI2wg1vz8c0-LRO6dYgTLy5mOw/s400/Anteater+13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Say, don't you have 'Day Without a Woman Day' <i>every</i> day?"</span></td></tr>
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<br />
You are skating on thin ice, my friend...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Feast Day</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4RuZI2UGEK5UffioVGDIiYQflPPbhOo_WcPKrGopx2pV8GkgOzlGhyX8R5_3egy5PH3v_Kcg-T9IaE0w9POZk1KueYkfEu4TPYPuc_5KVGUqi4W8iTHfYaCIiwa00NpCmDLY5N7Keoo/s1600/St.+John+of+God+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4RuZI2UGEK5UffioVGDIiYQflPPbhOo_WcPKrGopx2pV8GkgOzlGhyX8R5_3egy5PH3v_Kcg-T9IaE0w9POZk1KueYkfEu4TPYPuc_5KVGUqi4W8iTHfYaCIiwa00NpCmDLY5N7Keoo/s400/St.+John+of+God+2.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Statue in <a href="http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/monumenti/basilica-di-s-pietro.html">St. Peter's Basilica</a>, Rome</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today is the feast day of <a href="https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-john-of-god/">St. John of God</a>,<br />
a Spanish soldier who upon leaving the military retired to live a quiet life. He was so inspired by a speech by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_%C3%81vila">St. John of Ávila</a>, though, that he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to helping the poor and the sick.<br />
<br />
John gathered a small group of like- minded men to aid in this cause, a group which eventually became a religious order, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Hospitallers_of_Saint_John_of_God">Brother Hospitallers of Saint John of God</a>. The order now ministers to the poor and the sick in 46 countries around the world.<br />
<br />
One of the most revered Spanish saints, John of God is the patron of hospitals and nurses, the sick and the mentally ill, those suffering from alcoholism, and booksellers (due to his practice of selling books to raise money to fund his ministry).<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">(No) Surprise Update</span></span></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHT37NszLph41KrFCLG25pLviw8oBMqx37Drkgg2-zln29kZo706KXb_SgyM3dyDb7QJ5hWILG6AqGQ2H0kYegVmc46NisvkNRlOzvU7g8QC2ASG264DdTeNWhkByDW1CiAjI6zY508Gc/s1600/Josh+Staumont+ST.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHT37NszLph41KrFCLG25pLviw8oBMqx37Drkgg2-zln29kZo706KXb_SgyM3dyDb7QJ5hWILG6AqGQ2H0kYegVmc46NisvkNRlOzvU7g8QC2ASG264DdTeNWhkByDW1CiAjI6zY508Gc/s320/Josh+Staumont+ST.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"I'm happy to pitch anywhere they send me."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We've reached the point in spring training where my beloved <a href="http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=kc">Kansas City Royals</a> start sending players out to the minor league camp, mostly pitchers. It is tough to find enough innings for pitchers in the big-league camp.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Royals <a href="http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/218448630/kyle-zimmer-josh-staumont-among-royals-cuts/">announced today</a> that they'd be sending top pitching prospects <a href="http://m.mlb.com/player/622251/josh-staumont?year=2017&stats=career-r-pitching-minors">Josh Staumont</a> and <a href="http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/218448630/kyle-zimmer-josh-staumont-among-royals-cuts/">Kyle Zimmer</a> to the minor league camp, along with 7 other players.<br />
<br />
This is hardly a surprise, as Zimmer is coming off of a significant injury and Staumont isn't even on the team's 40-man roster. They both need regular work, which is easier to come by at the minor league camp.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacw6sIWtoGtrtYmqh_M3I3shynZ_jTBPX_ksijM58ybizHNahModhvMMhleO16mUMIVTHs_auoSdZxpqlQGKwLb4jQbnpJW1-KgWgjPoaHs0TCHdoQwvZ7VRDClwE1dVZ4hrUSGeLGQ0/s1600/Anteater+33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacw6sIWtoGtrtYmqh_M3I3shynZ_jTBPX_ksijM58ybizHNahModhvMMhleO16mUMIVTHs_auoSdZxpqlQGKwLb4jQbnpJW1-KgWgjPoaHs0TCHdoQwvZ7VRDClwE1dVZ4hrUSGeLGQ0/s400/Anteater+33.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"So how come you haven't written anything about the Royals lately?"</span></td></tr>
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<br />
You know the rules...now <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=j41z0yeKbeIC&pg=PA205&lpg=PA205&dq=%22go+peddle+your+papers%22&source=bl&ots=BIDGiYlRyM&sig=Ua9j61A2YUOfhx6T6Fh7eCBt19Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwij_YK_9sfSAhVnw4MKHYFaCnUQ6AEITDAJ#v=onepage&q=%22go%20peddle%20your%20papers%22&f=false">go peddle your papers</a>...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Feminine Side</span></span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuy5Y2Tg7tGN0sHHpAVvc9_92XeuzS3IPvInW5etmO0dHqc1GisMsMp-6GtR25DNHzG9g7tdT57TaJWsLFzpvS-uy8XS4YHbxj7Vke36HVL0hvmDkqegrIwbCCqihionTEHv7BqKVg1w/s1600/3-8+Feminine+Side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuy5Y2Tg7tGN0sHHpAVvc9_92XeuzS3IPvInW5etmO0dHqc1GisMsMp-6GtR25DNHzG9g7tdT57TaJWsLFzpvS-uy8XS4YHbxj7Vke36HVL0hvmDkqegrIwbCCqihionTEHv7BqKVg1w/s640/3-8+Feminine+Side.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
From the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_MacNelly">Jeff MacNelly</a>-created comic strip <a href="http://www.shoecomics.com/"><i>Shoe</i></a>, now being produced by Gary Brookins and Jeff's widow Susie.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
For a variety of reasons, Bob Dylan and his music were never as important in my life<br />
as you might think, given that I'm a child of the '60s. A lot of it has to due with timing.<br />
<br />
When Dylan <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan_(album)">first turned up</a> as a folkie in 1962 my main musical interests were whatever my parents were listening to, mostly jazz and vocal pop. The only time<br />
I listened to music on the radio was in the car, if there wasn't a ballgame on. The first Dylan song I remember encountering was "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowin%27_in_the_Wind">Blowin' in the Wind</a>," which we were taught by a nun in choir class in 4th or 5th grade.<br />
<br />
By the time Dylan was making a big commercial splash in the mid-60s I was heavily into rock music, not folk, and bands like The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Monkees, and other artists I enjoyed were releasing albums two or three times a year. And when I finally decided to take a deep dive into his music when I bought his multi-platinum-selling 1967 compilation <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan%27s_Greatest_Hits"><i>Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits</i></a> (an album pretty much everyone<br />
I knew had a copy of), he was making his turn into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_music">country music</a> with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Harding_(album)"><i>John Wesley Harding</i></a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Skyline"><i>Nashville Skyline</i></a>. I didn't follow. When I got into folk music (mostly trying to woo girls who liked folk music, though I grew to love it myself over time),<br />
it was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%26_Garfunkel">Simon & Garfunkel</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan">Donovan</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Collins">Judy Collins</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Mitchell">Joni Mitchell</a> (who happened<br />
to be one of my late first wife's favorites when we met).<br />
<br />
I started paying serious attention to Top 40 radio in 6th grade, and not long after that Dylan scored his first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200">Billboard 200</a> Top 10 album as well as his first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100">Billboard Hot 100</a> Top 40 single.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTc0G1OsPu9exV7WeSLF41vbzect15_VnMjpOUVbHZ-LzTCroCSE8RNo1Kox0DVmVSPseEE0pO1ESGfKD0kxZ6Sqmy-j310HBhZuV3rLV0FfFq8RDrs9J14D8aVHUZJ7v9t2l7XTDlTA/s1600/Subterranean+Homesick+Blues+45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTc0G1OsPu9exV7WeSLF41vbzect15_VnMjpOUVbHZ-LzTCroCSE8RNo1Kox0DVmVSPseEE0pO1ESGfKD0kxZ6Sqmy-j310HBhZuV3rLV0FfFq8RDrs9J14D8aVHUZJ7v9t2l7XTDlTA/s320/Subterranean+Homesick+Blues+45.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Original 1965 45 rpm single</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On March 8, 1965 Bob released "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterranean_Homesick_Blues">Subterranean Homesick Blues</a>"<br />
as the lead single from his new album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bringing_It_All_Back_Home"><i>Bringing It All Back Home</i></a>. The album peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, and that first single reached No. 39 on the Hot 100 Singles chart, which was Dylan's first appearance there.<br />
<br />
Bob was never that interested in radio airplay, but he did wind up charting 11 more Top 40 singles<br />
in his career, including four Top 10 hits. He never scored a No. 1 single. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Noted filmmaker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._A._Pennebaker">D.A. Pennebaker</a> shot a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dont_Look_Back">documentary</a> of Dylan's 1965 British tour in support of the album. Released in 1967, the film included a stylized, whimsical scene<br />
in a London alley with Dylan flipping cards with lyrics from "Subterranean..." printed on them. This scene is cited as a major influence on the music video culture which sprang up in the early '80s.<br />
<br />
Today's send-off is that amusing video version of Dylan's first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_signature_songs">signature song</a>, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/BobDylanVEVO/videos">his VEVO channel</a>. Enjoy...<br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332774370841115599.post-45582805208574217682017-03-07T14:38:00.001-06:002017-03-07T14:38:20.730-06:00Turbulence<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://youtu.be/b5D_ELKJbe4"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Stormy Monday</span></span></a></h4>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmi22eA1spYGq1vvAB43TM9uXF8UG1BdDgQxm3ehnpNY18fMM4NZRZsHq7foRT2p-daUZt8KMJSorW9XnjenwTG4oQN-I7oLiW_zo8pHMG01xLH6HUAEtksJCJj4kHcyFxCTuyVDLX_c/s1600/Storm+3-6-17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmi22eA1spYGq1vvAB43TM9uXF8UG1BdDgQxm3ehnpNY18fMM4NZRZsHq7foRT2p-daUZt8KMJSorW9XnjenwTG4oQN-I7oLiW_zo8pHMG01xLH6HUAEtksJCJj4kHcyFxCTuyVDLX_c/s400/Storm+3-6-17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cootchie-cootchie-coo">Cootchie-cootchie-coo!</a>" - Mother Nature</span></td></tr>
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What began as a warm, pleasant, sunny day here in the Bluffs yesterday turned quite treacherous by mid- afternoon, as <a href="http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news/local/council-bluffs-residents-escape-storm-with-little-damage-power-lines/article_7b15d240-f3ac-5218-8627-29f6b5fe688c.html">a severe storm blew threw the area</a> leaving felled trees, downed power lines, and thousands of residents temporarily without electricity.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLkXUKFr5WXQMvnpyXXbESStRJald_GqCToVnWlUrI5OI1pAII5EIF-e9Dxu504JM0amw_uxWGCZDL388G-o3ounmOrsMC3Z8qD7aDRYb-m_Ox9Dh1BeT-2ARujieOYIJ8khYgzwsMd8/s1600/Anteater+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLkXUKFr5WXQMvnpyXXbESStRJald_GqCToVnWlUrI5OI1pAII5EIF-e9Dxu504JM0amw_uxWGCZDL388G-o3ounmOrsMC3Z8qD7aDRYb-m_Ox9Dh1BeT-2ARujieOYIJ8khYgzwsMd8/s400/Anteater+6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Not to mention the flooded anthills. I just HATE when that happens!"</span></td></tr>
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I know you do, but it is supposed to be sunny, windy, and dry today, so cheer up...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Feast Day</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2aUQDySs2H9atKjyEWSn4FdYRrhqTiOUUR_X1BNKzPUryRpeBt_awTwECVSL-O97Z9AwDJ9QbhYlxHcWNOyxJum0NcNFf5pwBCMyjnzJ3LpzDNne8x8Qc8z8r52wT_Epamq2pjyNfV9k/s1600/Leullier+-+Perpetua+and+Felicitas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2aUQDySs2H9atKjyEWSn4FdYRrhqTiOUUR_X1BNKzPUryRpeBt_awTwECVSL-O97Z9AwDJ9QbhYlxHcWNOyxJum0NcNFf5pwBCMyjnzJ3LpzDNne8x8Qc8z8r52wT_Epamq2pjyNfV9k/s320/Leullier+-+Perpetua+and+Felicitas.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Perpetua and Felicitas</i>, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Louis_Leullier"><span class="irc_su" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Félix Louis Leullier</span></a></span></td></tr>
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Today is the feast day of <a href="https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saints-perpetua-and-felicity/">Saints Perpetua and Felicity</a>, a pair of women who along with some male Christian companions were martyred for the faith in typically brutal Roman fashion at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage">Carthage</a> in 203 AD.<br />
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A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_of_St._Perpetua,_St._Felicitas,_and_their_Companions">text purporting to be Perpetua's diary</a> of her confinement is one of the earliest surviving Christian texts. Perpetua and Felicity are also two of just seven women commemorated by name in the second part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_of_the_Mass">Canon of the Mass</a>.<br />
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Perpetua was still nursing her infant son when she was imprisoned, and Felicity gave birth to her child in prison, not long before her death. The two women are the patrons of mothers and especially expectant mothers.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Happy Birthday!</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZiSmMN7aqvBZHeEKxzWftON5sr0SQRWFFhZGfcTvturkWP3lr3T4zVjR_3misPdK6Lrsw-kCEnKkmWWI-mSXNnM_p_ezlPxBJ3vRtbdCNzQM1BTc1FmwFKezXWs13EU1Tp31OhIjIDE/s1600/Mondrian+-+Composition+in+Red%252C+Blue%252C+and+Yellow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZiSmMN7aqvBZHeEKxzWftON5sr0SQRWFFhZGfcTvturkWP3lr3T4zVjR_3misPdK6Lrsw-kCEnKkmWWI-mSXNnM_p_ezlPxBJ3vRtbdCNzQM1BTc1FmwFKezXWs13EU1Tp31OhIjIDE/s320/Mondrian+-+Composition+in+Red%252C+Blue%252C+and+Yellow.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow</i> (1930)</span></td></tr>
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On March 7, 1872 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian">Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan</a> was born in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amersfoort">Amersfoort</a>, in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands">Netherlands</a>. The spelling<br />
of his last name would be changed to "Mondrian" in 1906, and he preferred the diminutive "Piet."<br />
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Mondrian made his reputation as<br />
a practitioner of the Dutch artistic movement known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijl">De Stijl</a>, which in painterly terms he called neoplasticism. He typically painted black grids on white backgrounds, occasionally filling in blocks with primary colors.<br />
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When I used to decorate my classrooms with fine art prints, the Mondrian shown above always provoked a strong response from my students, who either loved it or hated it. The whole point of hanging all of those works of art, of course, was to get<br />
the kids talking about communication and how various artists approached the task<br />
of reaching their audience with a message.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Cause for Concern</span></span></h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9daHF_90mZqrOaf5RXCFlWLyAV9dqDcw3K3zixSHla4GDhZDXent9oQTAfCS5LEu6YQzOxbhf2lMciOHd8R-KM9P1iWs-idNjCCTChw8C4OQ0bcZRTQJYeeCVGciUMStPbtjlewCqLg/s1600/Joe+in+Hershey%252C+PA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9daHF_90mZqrOaf5RXCFlWLyAV9dqDcw3K3zixSHla4GDhZDXent9oQTAfCS5LEu6YQzOxbhf2lMciOHd8R-KM9P1iWs-idNjCCTChw8C4OQ0bcZRTQJYeeCVGciUMStPbtjlewCqLg/s320/Joe+in+Hershey%252C+PA.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Joe in Hershey, Pennsylvania on February 28 </span></td></tr>
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My guitar hero <a href="https://jbonamassa.com/">Joe Bonamassa</a>'s spring tour is underway, and I have tickets to see him in Des Moines on Thursday and again in Kansas City on Monday. My best friend Skip<br />
is flying in to attend the KC show with me.<br />
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Joe's relentless schedule may have caught up with him just a bit, as he has had to cancel his March 6 show in Peoria and his March 7 show in Milwaukee. Both shows were rescheduled for this coming August.<br />
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His next scheduled appearance is the March 9 show in Des Moines, so I'm hoping he's feeling much better by Thursday!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBFDm-gnT-X8hzz_zh91gq7ThPF_3gEV_SakOiYETj1NzSN6N-sH25E2v160TFmrS4PNMYM8dRVXramcBEUJllhpiJNbv5UAOLs0K03akyrwVzIgeqMk-HX4AF8Rjqs3AtYuZyGIhnEc/s1600/Anteater+20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBFDm-gnT-X8hzz_zh91gq7ThPF_3gEV_SakOiYETj1NzSN6N-sH25E2v160TFmrS4PNMYM8dRVXramcBEUJllhpiJNbv5UAOLs0K03akyrwVzIgeqMk-HX4AF8Rjqs3AtYuZyGIhnEc/s400/Anteater+20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"That young man needs to get more rest..."</span></td></tr>
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He really does...but he really, <i>really</i> loves performing and recording, too, so...<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Good Luck With <i>That</i>, GOP</span></span></h4>
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From the incisive pen of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ramirez">Michael Ramirez</a>, whose <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/michaelramirez">editorial cartoons</a> you should read often, as I do.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Until Next Time...</span></span></h4>
On March 7, 1875 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Ravel">Joseph Maurice Ravel</a> was born in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciboure">Ciboure</a>, France, a small town<br />
in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_Country_(greater_region)">Basque country</a> near the Spanish border. Supported by both of his parents in his pursuit of musical interests, by age 14 Ravel had gained admission to the prestigious <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatoire_de_Paris">Conservatoire de Paris</a>.<br />
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Ravel's musical skills as a pianist did not exactly flourish at that institution, but after leaving it for a brief period he was readmitted and turned his energies to the study of composing. He excelled there, becoming France's most celebrated and noteworthy composer of the early 20th century.<br />
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For the most part I enjoy Ravel's piano works, but he also wrote some nice <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_music">chamber music</a> pieces. I have several recordings of his "<a href="http://imslp.org/wiki/Berceuse_sur_le_nom_de_Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9_(Ravel,_Maurice)">Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré</a>," which I have used to dramatic effect in play productions I have directed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiK8wuMX5yEtMWAKnp9PjoZAXWS3q6_HEfaU8qenIwGeDnXwPuvW59gOshEJRAidSqIX9HN-13iSeqJXaeaFoAs-zRI6gsE3J74U7tZfJcveAfYlJnysOUQCoROw8-NWtqKjLHDqvIkXw/s1600/Ravel+String+Quartet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiK8wuMX5yEtMWAKnp9PjoZAXWS3q6_HEfaU8qenIwGeDnXwPuvW59gOshEJRAidSqIX9HN-13iSeqJXaeaFoAs-zRI6gsE3J74U7tZfJcveAfYlJnysOUQCoROw8-NWtqKjLHDqvIkXw/s320/Ravel+String+Quartet.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
Ravel's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_(Ravel)"><i>Quartet if F major</i></a> was first published in 1903, and had its premiere in Paris on March 5, 1904, just two days before Ravel's 29th birthday. <br />
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Composed in honor of Ravel's former teacher <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9">Gabriel Fauré</a> (who did not much like the piece), the quartet is similar in many ways to his friend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy">Claude Debussy</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_(Debussy)"><i>String Quartet in G minor</i></a>, published a decade earlier.<br />
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Like yesterday's featured Beethoven piece, Ravel's quartet has been recorded by some of the world's leading ensembles, including the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Ravel-Kod%C3%A1ly-String-Quartets/dp/B009I9YHMQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1488907930&sr=1-3&keywords=Ravel+String+Quartet&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625150011">Melos Quartet</a>, the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ravel-String-Quartet-F-Major/dp/B00I6AB9JC/ref=sr_1_4?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1488907930&sr=1-4&keywords=Ravel+String+Quartet&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625150011">Budapest String Quartet</a>, and the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Ravel-Dutilleux-String-Quartets/dp/B001V6K4XA/ref=sr_1_5?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1488907930&sr=1-5&keywords=Ravel+String+Quartet&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625150011">Juilliard String Quartet</a>. <br />
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Today's send-off is a live performance of the quartet's first movement by the Austrian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagen_Quartet">Hagen Quartet</a>, filmed at <a href="https://www.uni-mozarteum.at/en/">Mozarteum University</a> in Salzburg in 2000. Enjoy... <br />
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Terrance Shumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031065181784142295noreply@blogger.com0