Fish Names
This is wonderful. You know how excited I can get sometimes about resolving an issue related to common / regional names for things. Well, tonight, during research for a completely other topic, I tripped over this page from the NOAA Fisheries, Office of Science and Technology, called "Local Fish Names".
For the perfectly reasonable reason that "Anglers in different geographical areas often use different local names for the same species of fish", plus "The Recreational Fisheries Statistics Program uses a standard list of scientifically accepted common names" to do their work, they compiled an extensive list of local names (by regions : Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, Pacific Coast, and Hawaiian Islands) and drawn up the correspondences to "common names" and "scientific names".
For instance, in Alabama, the "Cobia" ("RACHYCENTRON CANADUM") is known as the "Crab Cruncher". Meanwhile, in the Pacific Northwest, the Queenfish (SERIPHUS POLITUS), Sablefish (ANOPLOPOMA FIMBRIA), and White Sea Bass (ATRACTOSCION NOBILIS) are all known as "Sea Trout".
Wow. All those names.
Houston: Vote for Parker
Why? Because she's a lesbian, that's why.
There could be other reason, and I'm no single-issue voter, but this seems to be the approach taken by her opposition.
Think of the number of times we've heard talk–demonstrably empty talk–about "loving the sinner, hating the sin", not really being homophobic ("some of my best friends…"), and how gays and lesbians are not really, actually discriminated against as a group. Now, let's hear this analysis of the mayoral race in Houston:
A cluster of socially conservative Houstonians is planning a campaign to discourage voters from choosing City Controller Annise Parker in the December mayoral runoff because she is a lesbian, according to multiple ministers and conservatives involved in the effort.
The group is motivated by concerns about a “gay takeover” of City Hall, given that two other candidates in the five remaining City Council races are also openly gay, as well as national interest driven by the possibility that Houston could become the first major U.S. city to elect an openly gay woman.
[Bradley Olson, "Ministers, conservatives work for Parker's defeat : Group opposes a lesbian in office", Houston Chronicle, 13 November 2009.]
My bold, of course.
Does this mean that we can finally see the lack of clothes on the Emperor? Can we now stop the silliness of social conservatives endlessly repeating that gays and lesbians are not a group discriminated against, for what is discrimination except a prejudice based, in the case, on the irrelevant fact that Parker is a lesbian?
I also like that bit about the "gay takeover". In general my thought on the subject of conservative paranoiac fears along these lines is this: yes, the homosexual menace is clever and powerful and, yes, we certainly could take over governments both local and federal if we wanted to — but who would want them? We have far more fabulous things to be doing than running the country (well, except, perhaps, for a few control queens who shall remain nameless).
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Prejean? Postjean!
I've seen a bit more of the latest Carrie-Prejean hilarity than I really needed to read about; her bench just didn't have the depth for a nine-inning game. (Sorry; my sports metaphors probably suck because, well, because I know nothing about sports.)
One does wonder, though, how a person could forget having made a video of oneself masturbating. Okay, if you were my age it might be easy to forget — I've forgotten far more interesting things than that, I think — but for the young Miss Carrie to forget seems incredible.
It is, however, far from surprising. Not that she "forgot", but that she did that thing and then so publicly adopted her holier-than-thou attitudes. But then, how surprising is even that? Haven't we noticed that arch conservatives, the "social conservatives" who know exactly how everyone should act, and who think "there should be a law", seem to be embroiled more than average in scandals of what they would deem "morality issues"?
Aside from the well-known fact that the Republican party attracts bullies, I suspect that it also attracts the morally repressed cynics of the there-should-be-a-law ilk, people who, in essence, have deep moral conflicts / issues and are hoping to be saved from themselves. In effect: "there should be a law to prevent people like me from being — like me!"
Now, it is well-known folk wisdom, supported by scientific studies, that the worst homophobes, the real homo haters, have some sexuality issues of their own and are feverishly repressing their own urges. I think it extends further to those bullies who are repressing their own urges to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the top. Lacking empathy
So the problem then, with morally craven cynics is that they think everyone else is motivated like they are, and that seems to them such a horrible thought that they try to prohibit such behavior.
Alas, should this be so, I don't see yet how this empowers the rest of us with useful tactics to fend off the morally repressed, but I'll think about it.
———-
In: All, Current Events, Reflections
An American Original
I haven't entirely decided — well, haven't come very close to deciding, actually — exactly what I want to be when I grow up. Lately, though, I've been thinking that maybe I'd like to be an "American original".
I admit, I'm not entirely sure what "an American original" is, but I tend to like the way it's used to label someone creative and iconoclastic. The google suggests there might a as many as a quarter-million "an American original"s, but I think this exclusive, elite set of authentic American originals would probably be somewhat smaller.
Without trying too hard, some example names come to mind: Walt Whitman, Charles Ives, Theodore Roosevelt, Leonard Bernstein, Georgia O'Keefe, Walt Disney, Martha Graham, Robert Rauschenberg, even Michael Jackson. They all seem worthy of admiration for one reason or another, although I don't know that I see yet what characteristic, what American originality, they all share. I think it's interesting that some of them would have known one another, though.
So, now I guess I'm on the look-out for some hints on how to become "an American original".
Mini Gardening
Today was a very nice day here, sunny and warmish for this time of year. We celebrated with a short burst of gardening. (We rarely do long bursts; life keeps being busy and our backs get sore too quickly.)
We did a little bit yesterday, in fact, making a symbolic start on our new daylily bed. That project has been underway for awhile actually, as I decided where to put all the plants, put in some bushes not in the bed, killed what passed for grass in that spot. A few weeks ago a friend (that would be Elizabeth, who gave us the Spiraea x vanhouttei earlier in the year (see this posting)), which we planted just at the edge of the daylily bed. For those familiar with our yard, the new bed is at the far corner of the east lawn.
Anyway, yesterday we finally lifted a few plants from their "temporary" spot (of about 8 years) in front of the house, divided them, and replanted them in the new bed. It felt like progress!
While we were doing this we noticed that there were a number of seedlings of Cercis canadensis, the Eastern redbud tree (article with photos, or something more botanical), progeny of our mature redbud tree in front of the house. They were mostly growing in the yellow garden, among the prospering Mahonia that we planted last December.
Now, at the foot of the west lawn, I've imagined for several years a gently curving row of some sort of ornamental tree, originally laid out for four specimens. A few years ago a friend gave us some chaste tree seedlings, but they succumbed in the winter. For awhile I was promised some Carolina silverbell seedlings, but they never materialized.
Yesterday, then, we saw these seedlings and thought they would make a good line of specimens on the east lawn; I've become a fan of the redbud as our current one has matured (and after I pruned it a few years ago). It has turned out to be a very attractive and well-mannered tree, and surely it would like some companions.
So, today, we extracted the seedlings (not so simple, since they seemed to like growing amidst rocks) and moved them to that spot on the east lawn. Now they are visible mostly thanks to tall stakes, but experience shows that they will put on some height next season if they don't succumb to the winter. I hope not. I like that they're all children of the tree across the driveway from them, so I'll hope for their hearty best.
The Kids at Camp
While we were away in Rome, the kids (i.e., our greyhounds Azalea & Grant) went to "camp", as Isaac referred to their sojourn at the house of friends Deanna & Brian — and their three greyhounds Wren, Symbra, and Blitz. What a great camp, too: beds and sofas everywhere, a doggie door for going in and out whenever, a big yard for full-out running, and greyhound friends to take naps with, a very good thing since napping is the primary activity of greyhounds.
You will be little surprised to learn that this posting is really just a pretext to show pictures of the kids. Deanna took some lovely, and very characteristic, photographs and posted them in the Greytalk forum. (Attention greyhound folks: if you don't already know about greytalk.com, now you do. Others: if you've never seen greyhounds sleeping on their backs–a popular position–here's your chance.)
Here, then: Azalea's photos, and Grant's photos. Thanks, Deanna, for the great mementos.
Flying Can Be Trying
Perhaps it would be more accurate for me to say: not flying can be trying. We did make it home from Rome in some comfort this weekend, but our itinerary held a few surprises.
Our original plan was simple: we were scheduled to leave Rome/Fiumicino last Friday morning about 9:30. Consequently we hired a taxi to fetch us at our hotel (Hotel Maryelen, which we wholeheartedly recommend) at 6:30 am. A pleasant, if brisk, ride later were were at the airport with ample time to do security and prepare for our flight.
Now, the essential element in this story is to remember that we were flying with a friend, a former airline employee, who took us with him on "buddy passes", thus making the entire vacation affordable for us. A moment's reflection should make clear to you, dear reader, that we were therefore flying on standby status.
Flying standby, of course, requires that there be seats wanting passengers on one's flight of choice. On that flight, on that morning, however, there were none for us. From Rome, only one flight a day (on planes of our friends former employer) departed, and the flight for Saturday already looked amply booked with paying passengers.
Thus, quick thinking on our buddy's part found a flight we could get on to go to Frankfurt, a city with four flights a day to the US, a fact that we felt would significantly increase our chances of getting home. And so we departed Rome in the afternoon for Frankfurt.
The detour was unexpected and I admit to being, at times, a bit tense about the arrangements. However, our (as it turned out) brief stay in Frankfurt turned out to be restful and rather pleasant, I'm happy to say.
Arriving at the Frankfurt airport around 5pm, our group's fourth, who works in the hotel industry, was put in charge of selecting accommodation. He found what sounded very agreeable in terms of price, accessibility, and amenities. We took a short shuttle ride some few minutes later to the Holiday Inn, Frankfurt Airport-North.
One virtue of this side trip is that we arrived early in the evening. Thus, we could freshen up a bit, have a leisurely dinner, and still go to bed so early in the evening that returning to the airport at 8am the next morning was not a hardship. Phew.
The hotel had a very nice restaurant, featuring an alluring buffet and an adventurous, nouveau-ish menu. The only drawback was that prices were rather high — the buffet was 39 euros — but this may be common in Germany. At any rate, our companions had buffet and Isaac and I ordered from the menu. He had a mixed grill of meat, I had a mixed grill of fish. It was all quite tasty.
We retired early, about 9:30pm, after turning on the TV and watching a few fleeting minutes of "The Simpsons" in German. Very droll. The beds were comfy, the duvets were extremely snuggly, and our room was so quiet that I fell asleep to the whisper of the ventilation in the bathroom.
In the morning we enjoyed the lavish, and free, breakfast buffet in the dining room. At 8am we were shuttled back to the airport to take our chances for the day.
Let's keep the story short. There were four flights that day. As time came and went we discovered, in turn, that none had a seat to spare. We went to the gate to await our last chance for the day, a 777 that left about 4pm. We saw there several standby passengers who had similar problems to ours–we'd seen them all day long. Remarkably, none of us tried to bump the others off for their spaces.
Let's keep this story short and with reduced anxiety, too. At the very, very last minute our party's name was called and we were given, at last, the elusive boarding passes. We were on the plane! We were the very, very last ones taken, too.
Our relief was extreme, of course. As an added bonus, our buddy had manage to upgrade me and Isaac to business class. Hey! Those seats would have been empty otherwise.
Now there was a treat that seemed like the consolation for our long detour from Rome to Frankfurt. Being a midwestern, very middle-class, democratic liberal (and cheap!) person, I had never flown business class before. I don't want to gloat, but the service was better, the food was better, the roominess was incomparable–the entire experience almost made trans-Atlantic flying bearable. Whether I would ever actually pay for the accommodation is another matter, but it's easy to imagine at this point that I would.
And thus, we made it back to the airport in Washington, DC (Dulles) at about 9pm. It only took an hour or two to make our way back to Bjornslottet, here in Bowie, ready to tell other stories.
Feeling a Little Behind
I've been around here where you can't see me, not so much busy really as suffering a bit lately from constrained time availability.
Over the past two weeks our musical-theatre troupe did its fall production, "Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know" (a telling review), a light, inconsequential, but diverting musical review. Although I avoided weeks of rehearsal by working light crew this time rather than performing, four full rehearsals and five performances in those two weeks consumed a number of hours.
About a week ago, two of my websites were maliciously hacked in the internet version of high-spirited vandalism. Everything appears recoverable, but it's tedious and takes some time. If you wondered why this blog suddenly disappeared for a few days, that was the reason. Naturally, I hope I've thwarted the particular mode of attack that appeared most recently, but parasites evolve and the war escalates, so I'm not sanguine for long.
Interspersed in there were some deadlines to meet, rehearsals for other things to attend, medical appointments (relatively routine), parties, visitors, and diverse social obligations that seemed to pile up in October for some reason. Each was pleasant enough but they all squeezed out a few hours here and there.
Next up: Isaac and I are leaving on Tuesday for a 10-day sojourn in Rome, obviously a favorite destination of ours. We are going with a small group of friends, only six of us all together. Oh, it's all gay men this time, so we'll expect a fabulous time in Rome.
This means, of course, that another brief hiatus is on the horizon, but it, too, shall pass soon enough.
Julian Bond at National Equality March 2009
No people of good will should oppose marriage equality. We have some real and serious problems in this country; same-sex marriage is not one of them. Since when did we believe that trust, loyalty, and love are bad things?
–Julian Bond, Chairman, NAACP, speaking on 11 October 2009 to the National Equality March in Washington, DC.
At this past weekend's National Equality March there was a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm — a lot of happy, fabulous people! There were also a lot of great speeches from people it was great to hear from.
Among those, the one I thought to keep here as a memento is the remarks made by Julian Bond, a person I am grateful to have on our side in the struggle for equal rights. In two parts, it lasts about 13 minutes.
Julian Bond @ NEM: Part I
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Julian Bond @ NEM: Part II
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize
When I awoke this morning I thought I was hearing unusual sounds coming from outside the house, sounds I couldn't quite identify. Now I realize it must have been the sounds of conservatives' heads exploding.
I have to admit that I didn't really expect this news this morning. It does make me try to remember the last time a Republican president won a Nobel Prize;* even a Republican vice-president. Odd. I suppose they have more important things to do.
OSLO — President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday [9 October 2009] for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” a stunning honor that came less than nine months after Mr. Obama made United States history by becoming the country’s first African-American president.
[Walter Gibbs and Sheryl Gay Stolberg , "In Surprise, Nobel Peace Prize to Obama for Diplomacy", New York Times, 9 October 2009.]
In addition to recognizing Obama's efforts at diplomacy, I can't help thinking that this award also acknowledges the people of our country for finally dumping the disastrous Republican international policies of the Bush Administration, and for having the courage to elect a black man to do it. What a nice idea.
———-
* Of course, Theodore Roosevelt, famed early RINO.
In: All, Current Events, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
The March Toward "Justice for All"
I’ve seen thousands of people naked. I have inspected their insides and outsides, felt their pain and sometimes their souls, and after all that, I can see we all are pretty much the same. That equality in human essence makes it impossible for me to see why gay people are not allowed the right of civil marriage.
We have been told that right would damage the institution of marriage, rock the foundations of the American family and runs contrary to the intentions of our Maker. But the clothing of rationality and God’s word have been used forever to hide the naked truth of racism, sexism and other prejudices. The arguments against the right of gays to civil marriage is no different; if you peel off the clothing, what lies underneath most opposition to civil marriage rights for gays is just naked fear, ignorance and prejudice.
[…]
In the end, though, gay marriage is not about marriage or teenagers, and it is not even about gays as much as it is about us. Over the last 250 years, Americans have slowly chipped away the bias and ignorance used to deprive almost every American except wealthy, white men of equal standing before the law. The right of civil marriage for gays is about continuing that same march toward “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” You cannot oppose it without betraying American values and the rights hard won for you by those victims of prejudice in almost every family tree who fought in their time for the rights we have in ours.
[Dr. Erik Steele, "Offering the naked truth on same-sex marriage", Bangor [ME] Daily News, 6 October 2009; h/t Towleroad.]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Olympic Gloat
I'm sure you've heard before of the ironically named "Americans for Prosperity", a so-called "grass-roots" organization funded by oil & gas magnate and David Koch, the Americans who love America so much that they reflexively oppose everything president Obama does and infamously applaud and cheer the news that Chicago "lost" the Olympics. The "members" are rabid conservatives who like to style themselves as "libertarians" (sorry, libertarians — Christians are having the same problem) and love to be duped into fighting for economic freedom–for large corporations, like Koch's, as it happens.
Although it's not clear to me what line of their's they feel they've stepped across, the official voices of the group seem to be slightly embarrassed at the popularity and spreading fame of that "applaud America's losing" moment, which seems reason enough to me to have another little peek. Don't you hate it when the truth slips out?
By the way, before we get to the video, I want to pass along the news that we now know why Chicago lost it's Olympics bid. The story began in 2006 when Chicago hosted the "Gay Games VI", Apparently, hosting the Gay Games was all part of an insidious homosexual plot to convince the International Olympic Committee to let Chicago host the 2016 Olympics, which would somehow further the insidious homosexual agenda.
I'm a little unclear on that latter point, but it's all moot. There were a few God-fearing "former homosexuals / christian activists" willing to do what was necessary ("risking their lives"–somehow) and be at those games for Jesus. Because of them "the Spirit of the Lord was released upon Chicago's demonic gay agenda in 2006" (via Joe.My.God). The Spirit has wrestled since then with the homosexual agenda and finally prevailed by redirecting the gaze of the IOC towards Rio. Phew. America saved! (I wish I could make up shit like this–my stories would be so much better.)
Ah, "American saved" reminds me that we were talking about that other group. So, on to Rachel Maddow:
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Feeling Peevish
Got Marriage?
"It's about love and commitment."
— Lennie, who has been with her partner, Pearl, for 43 years.
Billboard from Triad Equality Alliance, in Greensboro, NC. Fox 8 News, Greensboro, reports "Gay Marriage Billboard in Greensboro Stirs Emotions" (short video).
Prayer: Not Just for Straight People
Today, Jeremy at Good As You ("We're don't want to ruin your days, Linds. We also don't want you to ruin our marriages/truths/families/rights/protections") brought us the touching but inspiring story of one Lindsey Douthit, a concerned woman for America, who lives right here in the bowels of the liberal menace, Washington, DC.
As the story opens Ms. Douthit is commuting to work with the rest of the uncaffeinated, mostly liberal horde from whom she needed to protect her vulnerability spirituality. In their midst she was horrified "as homosexual activists, pro-abortion groups, radical leftists, and environmentalists pushed their agendas forward with nods of approval by the new commander in chief." Please! Anything but radical leftists and, and — environmentalists!
But wait! As if in a vision a beam of light pierced the acrid brimstone haze and illuminated for Ms. Douthit a most inspiring scene:
As I made my way to the Metro station, preparing myself for another day of legislative difficulties and setbacks, I passed a café and noticed three men sitting at a table near the window. But they weren’t just drinking coffee — they were huddled together, with their heads bowed and eyes closed. Thankfully, since they couldn’t see me staring, I was able to look more closely and witness something truly inspiring. With a Bible open in the center of their table, the men were praying.
Hallelujah!
But Ms. Douthit, perhaps distracted by the singing of choirs of cherubim, overlooks one obvious possibility. Shall I spell it out?
If I see three men huddled together, clasping hands, I naturally assume that they are gay men. (Wanna bet that the café was in Dupont Circle?) If there's a Bible on the table, I'd simply assume that they were three gay men praying.
In her haste to believe that she and her christian-soldier friends know the one true way, Ms. Douthit incorrectly supposes that prayer is something that only straight people do. I know that she would be shocked to learn the truth: gay and lesbian people, many of whom are self-identified christians, actually pray.
Now, you know probably what my attitude is about the effectiveness of prayer, but that's not really the issue here. The issue is that Ms. Douthit and her ilk seem to believe that they own prayer, just as they feel that they own morality, marriage, and the history of our country.
However, I know plenty of gays and lesbians who pray. As Austin Cline once put it so eloquently ("Mine! Mine! Mine!"), pissing on it doesn't make it yours.
In: All, Faaabulosity, Laughing Matters
Read a Banned Book
Every year at this time we pour out a tall glass of apple cider and celebrate us some good reading, thanks to "Banned Book Week" and the American Library Association.
Of course, it's not the attempts at book banning that we celebrate, but, as the ALA puts it, we are "celebrating the freedom to read".
It's odd to look at the list of frequently challenged books — "challenged" because front-line librarians are often able to beat back the challenges from the ignorant to keep the books on their shelves — and reflect on what they might have in common.
The one characteristic I can find that seems common to all is that each one deals in ideas, and some people are uncomfortable with unfettered access to ideas. Governments, religions, and controlling parents are sometimes overcome by the threat they perceive from ideas, ideas that might subvert their authority by leading readers to think. Thinking, for some, is very scary indeed.
Thinking about ideas vigorously and freely is refreshing, stimulating, makes one grow and keeps one alive. One can embrace and celebrate the exhilaration that comes from a diversity of ideas, or one can fret and snarl and snap and become morally and intellectually diminished. Myself, I'm pretty clear about choosing the diversity-of-ideas route.
From the list of "100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999" I found fewer titles than I had hoped that I have already read. Clearly I have some reading cut out for me. The ones I've read:
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
24. The New Joy of Gay Sex, by Charles Silverstein
40. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
43. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
54. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
67. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
81. Carrie, by Stephen King
83. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
I liked and admired all of them, except for Carrie.
I did rather better from their list of "Banned and Challenged Classics", thanks largely to Ernest Hemingway, Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, and Margaret Mitchell.
I think maybe I'll add writing a banned book to my bucket list.
One Visible Gay Marine, a Thousand in Shadows
I felt that it was important to put this image right here, in my blog, on the internet, where it would be easily visible. It needs to be seen — it will be seen.
Pictured is Tim Smith, a former US Marine, "honorably discharged after a military minister outed him." (source) Last week, as one in a series of five billboard images created by the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center to celebrate National Coming Out Day (11 October, annually), this image was pasted on a billboard in Memphis, Tennessee.
Friday night, vandals shredded the billboard at the corner of Poplar and High Street near Downtown Memphis. The billboard featured a local man who was in the Marines and forced out of the military under the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. [source]
"Shredded" is not hyperbole; the vandals tore off every bit of the offending image from the billboard so that not even a shred of the write background remained.
"It felt like somebody had violated the honor and commitment that we as military veterans feel about our service," Smith said in an interview Monday. [cource]
What is the wellspring of the hatred that would so enrage these vandals to try to obliterate this image? Why would the Mormon and Catholic churches waste tens of millions of dollars trying to scuttle marriage equality for gay and lesbian people? Why did police in Texas and Georgia invent a pretext to raid gay bars and physically assault patrons? Why? Why? Why?
All of these groups of haters — who feel that being labeled "haters" is unfair and uncomfortable — try to maintain that they don't actually hate gay and lesbian people. No one believes them any longer, except, perhaps, their self-delusioned followers.
Oddly, these groups of haters are surprised, sometimes even shocked that their actions now call attention to themselves along with disapprobation from their community. Homosexuals, just a few decades ago, used to be such an easy target. Whatever happened to the good-old days?
One billboard is torn down, a thousand reproductions appear all over to torment the vandals who can't face their inner demons.
Also see: Andy Towle, "Coming Out' Billboard Featuring Gay Soldier Destroyed in Memphis", Towleroad, 27 September 2009.
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Friday Soirée VII: More Light Comedy
I enjoyed the humor so much last week that I thought we'd have a bit more tonight, not just because I had so many leftovers. Besides, the tone tonight is a wee bit different, although I'd be hard-pressed to say just how.
P.Q.D. Bach: Iphigenia in Brooklyn (Cantata, S. 53162)
If there is someone reading this who has never heard of P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742?), I'll be very surprised; there's always the Wikipedia biography, but P.D.Q. Bach is really a cultural phenomenon — can the music's meaning be captured in a few minutes of reading about how the notion of the "last and least" of the sons of J.S. Bach has kept Peter Schickele busy "discovering" this Bach's works and performing them?
The joke has been going on since 1965; the first concert was held in Town Hall (New York), 24 April 1965, and released as "Peter Schickele Presents An Evening with P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742)?". (The official page for the recording.)
One of the four pieces presented was this unique and delectable cantata, "Iphigenia in Brooklyn"; it may still be my favorite of PDQB's works. One feature noted by Shickele in his introduction is that although many composers had previously written for double reeds, P.D.Q. Bach was the only one to have done so without the use of oboes or bassoons. This is that original performance (hence audio only), sung admirably by John Ferrante, bargain counter tenor, who doesn't laugh once.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Julia Child Cooks Up Carbon
Here's another venerable name in American culture, Julia Child. I'll have some things to say about her and her influence on my meager culinary skills elsewhere, but tonight we're all about Julia's contribution to science literacy in America, using her reputation in the kitchen to teach us some important lessons in fun and tasty ways.
In this first segment she's helping to make a point with one of my physicist heroes, Philip Morrison, in his six-part PBS series "The Ring of Truth" (1987). It's a great series by Morrison, a very profound thinker; as Chet Raymo wrote at the time in the Boston Globe (26 October 1987), "The subject of the series is not what we know in science, but how we know it."
You'll note that this seems to be the Japanese-dubbed version of the film, since nobody's lips seem to move at the right time. Thanks to friend of this blog, Jeff Li, for pointing this video out to me.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Igudesman & Joo: "Rachmaninov had Big Hands"
In this short comedy routine, pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo, assisted by his partner Aleksey Igudesman (their website), performs the famous Prelude in c-sharp minor, op 3, no. 2 of Rachmaninov (see the very scary first four bars of the recapitulation here).
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Julia Child Prepares Primordial Soup
Tonight's pièce de résistance is deftly prepared by Julia Child: Primordial Soup. This is a short film from 1976, apparently produced for exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum. Her subject is the famous experiment of Urey and Miller in 1952, demonstrating that "lightning" (represented by a spark) in an atmosphere that at the time was presumed to be similar to that of an early Earth could produce amino acids, "the building blocks of life".
We know more now about the Earth's early atmosphere than we did then, and quite a bit of the picture we had then about the "primordial soup" has shifted with this new knowledge, but there is no doubt that the experiment was groundbreaking and path setting. It set off many fruitful lines of investigation into the question of how life may originally have gotten started from inorganic molecules by showing that essential organic molecules could be produced by natural effects. In science, often knowing that something is even possible is a great advance and fruitful hypotheses don't have to be correct.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Malcolm Arnold: A Grand, Grand Overture
I hadn't even realized that today, 25 September, is the 50th anniversary of the death of Gerard Hoffnung, about whom I know very little (here's his "official web page") except for his association with the somewhat eccentric Hoffnung Music Festivals. I don't think I can argue with anything in this summary:
The Festival was named after the originator, Gerard Hoffnung, whose humorous cartoons of musicians in the act are somewhat better known in Britain than they are in the U.S. The Festival, which was an annual affair, assembled top-flight UK musicians and singers to perform specially prepared spoofs of the classical repertoire. These occurred in the 1950s. If you've never heard French horn virtuouso Dennis Brain play the garden hose, or a suite for tuned vaccum cleaners, not to mention the Horror-torio based on the doings in Dracula's castle, then you should seek out these recordings [listed later]. Needless to say, Hoffnung Festivals inspired the creation of PDQ Bach. [source]
Now, from what I gather listening to the recordings of the festivals, the musical satire was of a somewhat more sophisticated nature than we sometimes find with P.D.Q. Bach, but there is indeed a family resemblance.
That more refined tone is evident in this "Grand, Grand Overture" by Sir Malcolm Arnold; it's more giggles than guffaws, but there is a certain subtlety in the obbligato parts for the Hoovers and floor polisher. Given the tone of this evening's soirée it seems entirely appropriate to me that we should end with an overture.
This performance comes from the "Last Night at the Proms" (2009), which has lots of traditions all its own, not least of which is a rather rowdy (by English standards) atmosphere. We hear the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by American David Robertson, joined by Sir David Attenborough on floor polisher, and three classical musicians on vacuum cleaners, and also Rory Bremner, Martha Kearney, Goldie and another classical musician firing rifles.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Dessert: Paravonian on Pachelbel's Canon
I apologize to Mr Paravonian that I hadn't heard of him before, but I have now, so there. He seems to be a musician and comedian, demonstrating here that he can talk and play guitar at the same time. I can so relate to his theme, which is that playing Pachelbel's Canon is exceedingly boring for cellists. (You know, I think it was my pusher Jeff Li who put me onto this, too.) I don't know about that Taco Bell thing, though.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
In: All, Friday Soirée, Music & Art
65% Still Favor Government-Run Health Insurance
So: "57. Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan – something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get – that would compete with private health insurance plans?" Despite all the propaganda that has eroded this figure since Obama has been in office, 65% still say yes.
[Avedon Carol, "To your health ", The Sideshow, 25 September 2009; commenting on a NYT/CBS poll on healthcare.]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
Friday Soirée VI: Something Lighter
Tonight I decided I needed a bit of levity, so humor (and "humour") is the theme. We have two very special guests to spend some time with: Anna Russell and Sir David Attenborough.
Anna Russell Analyzes Wagner's Ring (Part 1)
I expect I first found Anna Russell in my college days, thanks to friend and music mentor Richard Boylan (facebook), and that's when I first heard this routine, on her album "Anna Russell Sings?" This version is from her "(First) Farewell Concert" of 1984. Her own introduction will tell you what will become evident later: that her audience has memorized every joke and still laugh at all the same places they laughed when they first heard it years before. I know I do.
For tonight's humor the tone is maybe a bit high-brow; this routine probably is funnier if one is a little familiar with Wagner's Ring, but maybe it's funny anyway. You tell me. Just remember, it all happens as she describes.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Sir David Attenborough talks to John Ross (Part 1)
Being a PBS type of person (at least in the days when I still watched television), I've been familiar for some time with the wonderful nature films of David Attenborough. I may have mentioned that recently Isaac and I watched Sir David's relatively recent "The Life of Birds" and enjoyed it immensely. After we'd watched the first 10 minutes or so I remarked to Isaac that, for some reason, Sir David seemed not to be ending his sentences with his very, very characteristic "indeed". Right then he started in and continued for the rest of the series, so I felt much more at home.
I'm afraid I have no idea who John Ross is, except that he appears to be a British talk-show host. Regardless, he has a nice conversation with Sir David. While this may not be exactly humour, we do find Attenborough in a light-hearted, relaxed mood compared to his role as nature-film narrator, and it all seems like good fun. Oh, and I rather liked the musical introduction he got.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Anna Russell Analyzes Wagner's Ring (Part 2)
Russell's telling of the Ring continues, and we learn about Siegfied and his aunts.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Sir David Attenborough talks to John Ross (Part 2)
I'm inclined to think that Attenborough would be very close to the top of my list of people I'd like to have dinner with. I think we could have very entertaining dinner conversation.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Anna Russell Analyzes Wagner's Ring (Part 3)
It's easy to spot another Anna Russell fan: just wait for the right moment and say "I'm not making this up, you know!"
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
Last Word: Sir David Attenborough on Science & Religion
For pudding, here's a very short (2.5 minutes) video of Attenborough giving his thoughts on some people's perceptions of god. I thought the words sounded almost familiar; it's nearly the remarks I quoted of Attenborough earlier this year in this space. ("Attenborough on Creationism")
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
In: All, Friday Soirée, Laughing Matters, Music & Art, Notes to Richard
Pelosi on Milk & Pride
The occasion was the dedication of a building in San Francisco to Harvey Milk. The video below is a short speech by Nanci Pelosi that I enjoyed listening to, and not only for the part that I transcribe here (blame me for any mistakes, please):
I always say to my members of congress and to my constituents, as I did during the fight against Proposition 8, I won't say anything in my district that I won't say on the floor of the House of Representatives about how proud we are.
My colleagues sometimes say to Barbara and to me, and to others, and to Senator Boxer, "It's easy for you. People in the San Francisco area — they just are all so tolerant."
I say, "You know, you just have it all wrong. It's not about being tolerant, it's about respect. It's about taking pride. So, while in another era a long time ago, maybe people called that 'tolerance' — we find that almost condescending now — this is about taking pride and how much pride we take.
–Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives
At the end she unveils a bust of Milk and it made me feel good.
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
(via Joe.My.God)
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity