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Nothing Beats Live Music

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First Friday Music Jam

Photo by Pepper Watkins

Virtually every year I’ve made a New Year’s resolution to “play more music with friends.”  But life (or the procrastination gene) kept getting in the way.

Until this year.

On the first Friday in January, we had two families over for dinner and the husbands brought their instruments. I had such a good time playing music with these talented friends that I decided to finally act on that resolution…and the First Friday Music Jam was born.

I went through my contacts list and found about 15 friends I’ve played with through the years.  Early in January I sent out a recurring invitation to join me in our music room on the first Friday of the month for some handmade acoustic music.

Two “first Fridays” later, we’re off to a great start.  Five friends have joined me both evenings for several hours of good music, fueled by adult beverages and snacks.  Among our crew we have old folkies, a young swing guitarist, bluegrass devotees, and multiple rockers. So far we’ve had an abundance of good-sounding guitars, but we also can throw in harp (or harmonica for those of you who don’t know your roots music), resonator guitar, acoustic bass, banjo, mandolin, and piano.  And in the tradition of “don’t give up your day job” the group that gathered the last two months includes preservationists, a librarian, the head of the science department at a local high school, and a management consultant among others.  Don’t let those jobs fool you, however, as these guys are good.  I’ve got to practice more and pick up my game so I can hang with these fellows.

Last night Pepper (he of the swing guitar) whipped out his smart phone in the middle of the evening and – unbeknownst to us – took the panorama picture you see at the top of the post.  (Sorry about the third ear, Tom.)  It is clear that everyone was having a good time.

We have a couple of other folks who are trying to make their schedules work so they can join us in the upcoming months.  As long as one other person shows up, I think I’ll keep this gig going.

Besides the good time with very talented friends, I have loved hearing new music. Last night was no exception.  Late in the evening Pepper pulled out a gem of a song, Ft. Worth Blues, and after playing his version he sent us to this wonderful Steve Earle performance from a Townes Van Zandt tribute.  It is wonderful, but I’ll warn you that you may want to join Nanci Griffith (at about the 2:48 mark) with a tear or two.

Enjoy the video, but remember that nothing beats live music.

More to come…

DJB

And the Winner Is…

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Film ReelWow! What a great year for movies.

On the eve of the Academy Awards, I’ve seen eight of the nine nominees for Best Picture.  (You can read my earlier posts here, here, and here.)  The only missing nominee?  That would be Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. I saw Tarantino’s Inglourious Bastards with its similar fantasy-laden subject area and over-the-top, almost cartoonish violence a few years back, and I simply decided that Django wasn’t Best Picture quality in my book.  The fact that it is never mentioned in the top five contenders just confirms my decision.

But this afternoon, I saw another controversial – but much more substantive – movie, Zero Dark Thirty.   Despite the controversy surrounding the movie, I’m here to say that it works on many levels and deserves the consideration for Best Picture.  Jessica Chastain is a real force, carrying the movie forward with her fine acting.

In the end, however, I have to agree with Timothy Egan of the New York Times, who writes about the problems of  Zero Dark Thirty.  The lack of a larger context is – in the end – much more problematic than the torture scenes.

It’s not just the torture and its inherent message that young, attractive Americans got the ultimate payoff in part by doing what German bad guys used to do in the movies.

It’s the omissions. In “Zero Dark Thirty,” several larger truths — the many intelligence mistakes, the loss of focus and diversion of resources, and the fallout from the folly of the Iraq war — are missing. This is a crucial point, because the film is likely to end up as the most popular version of the singular trauma in the first decade of the 21st century.

Given that, the flawed movie is still worth watching and I recommend it.

So…it is time for the envelope.

Best Actor:  This seems the easiest of all the choices.  Daniel Day-Lewis so becomes Abraham Lincoln in a commanding performance, that all the others pale in comparison.

Best Actress:  There are three great nominees for this award, and I think it may be the most difficult.  As noted above, Jessica Chastain is terrific.  Emmanuelle Rive turns in such a wonderful performance in Amour. And I fell in love with Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook.  I think Lawrence will win, but I’d be happy with any of these three ladies.

Actor in a Supporting Role:  This category also features a great deal of talented actors.  Robert De Niro was outstanding in Silver Linings Playbook, a performance matched by Alan Arkin in Argo.  But I am betting on Tommy Lee Jones, whose Thaddeus Stevens came alive on the screen and held its own with Lewis’ Lincoln.

Actress in a Supporting Role:  The fan favorite is Anne Hathaway for her role in Les Mis, but I would give the award to Sally Field, who did a superb job with the very difficult Mary Todd Lincoln.

Best Picture:  The rumor mill has Argo as the winner.  And why wouldn’t Hollywood want to give the award to a film that has Hollywood coming to the rescue! I could live with that – it was a terrific movie. My favorite remains Lincoln, which was compelling and it had an important story to tell. I’d also be thrilled if Amour pulled off a surprise win.

Behind those three, I have Zero Dark Thirty and Silver Linings Playbook.  These five films were all very good-to-terrific. After that, they drop off for me, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy Life of Pi or Les Mis.  In any event, here’s my final list:

1. Lincoln

2. Amour

2A. Argo

3. Zero Dark Thirty

4. Silver Linings Playbook

5. Life of Pi

6. Les Mis

7. Beasts of the Southern Wild

8. Django Unchained

It has also been fun to read other predictions, perhaps the most interesting coming from Nate Silver and his FiveThirtyEight blog.

So let’s sit back tomorrow night, and see what the evening brings. Bring on the popcorn!

More to come…

DJB

Amour Enters the Conversation

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Film ReelAs we enter the homestretch of the quest to see all the Best Picture nominees, Candice and I are now through seven of the nine pictures…and the plot thickens.  That’s because today we had the opportunity to see the achingly sad yet well crafted French movie Amour.

Candice and I had the afternoon free here in Southern California between a swim meet, lunch with Claire, and dinner with Claire’s swim team members, coaches, and parents.  We found that Amour was playing nearby, and took the chance to see this gem of a picture.

The movie, about an elderly pair of music teachers and their life together after the wife suffers a stroke, hit so many deep emotions – many of them close to home.  There was less action in the entire movie than what I expect to see in five minutes of Django Unchained, but the emotional depths that are plumed are raw and rich.

Emmanuelle Riva is wonderful as Anne, the wife, and well deserving of a Best Actress award this year.  She was beautiful and vulnerable and so much more.  People talked about crying through Les Mis…well, for my money Amour is a much better film and truly worthy of the tears that come at the end.

So, I have a bit of a shake-up in my list now, having seen 7 of the 9 nominees.  Lincoln is still my top choice, but I have Amour just edging out Argo – perhaps a 2 and 2A selection.  Here’s how the list looks now:

1. Lincoln

2. Amour

2A. Argo

3. Silver Linings Playbook

4. Life of Pi

5. Les Mis

6. Beasts of the Southern Wild

Like me, Candice’s list saw a shake-up as she also ranked Amour second.  Her list:

1. Lincoln

2. Amour

3. Les Mis

4. Argo

5. Silver Linings Playbook

6. Life of Pi

7. Beasts of the Southern Wild

We’re only a few days out.  I’m going to try to see Zero Dark Thirty at a minimum before the night of the show.  Until then, feel free to give me your thoughts – or your list – in the comments section below.

More to come…

DJB

Fine fiddling in Southern California

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When I signed up for family weekend at Claire’s college, I didn’t go expecting to have my bluegrass itch scratched.  Yes, Claremont has a wonderful Folk Music Center in the heart of the village*, but I generally have time for one quick stop to play an instrument or two between all the sessions lined up for the parents.

So imagine my surprise when I was reading the events for family weekend, and there — on Friday night — was an evening of “Bluegrass and Old-Time Music” with fiddler Richard Greene.

Wow!  Richard Greene is a fiddle god – one of those west coast players who paid his bluegrass dues in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in the 1960s, yet expanded the genre with the help of David Grisman, Clarence White, and so many others. I’ve been listening to his music since the early 1970s, yet had never seen him live.

So with Candice and Ella, one of Claire’s good friends at school who is — who knew — a bluegrass fan (her already high stock with me just soared!) we found our way to Bridges Music Hall for a night of fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar music.  (As an aside, the venue once again proves my point that the most beautiful building on many a college campus is the old chapel.)

Greene was playing with traditional musician Tom Sauber and Pomona professor Joti Rockwell in what felt like a living room concert for 600 people.  The laid back nature of the setting didn’t diminish the fine musicianship throughout the evening.  Sauber and Rockwell were first class players who carried the vocal duties, provided the rhythm setting, and added tasteful solo touches throughout.  Greene was as amazing as advertised, down to the final flourishes as he wrapped up beautiful traditional tunes such as Bill Monroe’s The Kentucky Waltz.

Highlights for me included Greene’s solo  musings on Northern White Clouds, the Monroe Brothers’ version of Nine Pound Hammer, and the fine Kessinger Brothers’ encore Wednesday Night Waltz.  Greene’s exploration of the old hymn Amazing Grace – retitled Amazing Graces – was a wonderful ending to the show.  He said, “It’s my best song” – and he may have been right.  I’ve included a video below so you can be the judge.

Nothing like an unexpected treat to close out a day.

More to come…

DJB

*The Folk Music Center in Claremont was founded by the parents of musician Ben Harper. He speaks of it fondly in many interviews.

Angels Stadium

My personal preseason

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This is my second installment of the things I do to get ready for the baseball season…which is necessary because pitchers and catchers report tomorrow.

Why’s he calling me meat?  I’m the one driving a Porsche.

Relax, all right? Don’t try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they’re fascist. Throw some ground balls – it’s more democratic.

The world is made for people who aren’t cursed with self awareness.

You just got lesson number one: don’t think; it can only hurt the ball club.

You’re gonna have to learn your clichés. You’re gonna have to study them, you’re gonna have to know them. They’re your friends. Write this down: “We gotta play it one day at a time.”

Man that ball got outta here in a hurry. I mean anything travels that far oughta have a damn stewardess on it, don’t you think?

(Nuke) I ain’t pissing nothing away. I got a Porsche already; a 911 with a quadrophonic Blaupunkt. (Crash) Christ, you don’t need a quadrophonic Blaupunkt! What you need is a curveball! In the show, everyone can hit heat.

(Larry) Excuse me, but what the hell’s going on out here?  (Crash) Well, Nuke’s scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man’s here. We need a live… is it a live rooster? We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose’s glove and nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present. Is that about right? We’re dealing with a lot of shit. (Larry) Okay, well, uh… candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she’s registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let’s get two! Go get ’em.

(Skip) Eight… and sixteen. How’d we ever win eight? (Larry) It’s a miracle.

Yep, friends.  The yearly preseason viewing of the best baseball movie ever, Bull Durham. 

A good friend of mine used to say, “This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.” Think about that for a while.

More to come…

DJB

To the Movies (an Update)

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Film ReelAlert readers have been waiting for an update on the Browns’ choices for Best Picture of 2013.  Well, wait no longer!

For others (who have better things to wait for) this is a follow-up post on our effort for the second year in a row to see all of the films nominated for Best Picture of the Year before the Oscars.

We’re now two-thirds of the way home, having just come from a showing of Silver Linings Playbook and having seen Argo last weekend.  These were two very good movies. I don’t think they’ll win Best Picture, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t take home awards in other categories.  Bradley Cooper was excellent in the lead of Playbook, and I think I’m in love with Jennifer Lawrence.  Robert De Niro was – well, he’s Robert De Niro.  (He wasn’t on the screen a minute when Candice – she of the maiden name Colando – turned to me and said, “This is SUCH an Italian family!”) Alan Arkin was also terrific in Argo (but both De Niro and Arkin have stiff competition from Tommy Lee Jones). I still believe  Daniel Day-Lewis takes home the Best Actor award and Lincoln is my favorite for Best Picture, but there have been some shake-ups below #1.

Here’s where I currently stand, with 6 out of 9 viewed:

1. Lincoln

2. Argo

3. Silver Linings Playbook

4. Life of Pi

5. Les Mis

6. Beasts of the Southern Wild

And where does Candice stand at the moment?

1. Lincoln

2. Les Mis

3. Argo

4. Silver Linings Playbook

5. Life of Pi

6. Beasts of the Southern Wild

We’re going to catch Amour online this week.  And while Candice has declared that she’s not watching the two violent ones – Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty, I’m still on the fence. Last year we made 8 out of 9, and I’d like to get to the finish line in 2013.

But there was one part of Silver Linings Playbook that I would give an Oscar to in a heartbeat.  For me, the attraction between Pat and Tiffany began to really simmer with the Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash duet of Girl from the North Country. I know they only give Oscars for best original music, but you can’t get more original voices than Dylan and Cash.  I love that song (and have since it came out on Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album). With the addition of Cash in the duet, it takes the song from very good to classic.

So I’ll leave you with that.  Enjoy the video (and the photos of Dylan and Cash), and go see the movie.

More to come…

DJB

Hope Springs Eternal

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Bottom of the 33rdWith less than two weeks until pitchers and catchers report (11 days to be exact, but who’s counting?), it seemed like a good time to get into baseball shape…with a visit to the bookshelf.

I had picked up Dan Barry’s 2011 book Bottom of the 33rd:  Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game while on a recent trip to Politics and Prose bookstore (home, by the way, of one of the best baseball sections of any bookstore in the Washington area).  I thought it looked like a fun read – a story about the longest game in baseball history. But what I found was much more – a little gem.

The game began at 8 p.m. after a 30 minute delay due to faulty lighting on April 18, 1981 – Holy Saturday – and was extended until 4 a.m. on Easter morning, April 19th, when the game was suspended after 32 innings and 8 hours with a 2-2 tie.  Two months later, on June 23rd, the Rochester Red Wings and Pawtucket Red Sox resumed the game at the top of the 33rd. In 18 minutes it was all over, a 3-2 Pawtucket win.

One of my favorite titles is Tom Boswell’s How Life Imitates the World Series, and Dan Barry’s book is full of the intersections of baseball and life, told against the backdrop of the holiest day of the Christian calendar. There are two future Hall-of-Famers in the lineups – Pawtucket’s Wade Boggs and Rochester’s Cal Ripken, Jr. (known in those days as J.R.). But since this is Triple A minor league baseball, the intriguing stories are about the men who have devoted their lives to baseball and yet – except for the occasional “cup of coffee” stint in the big leagues – won’t make it to the next level.

The game would have never achieved notoriety if the rule book that umpire Daniel Cregg was using wasn’t missing the section on an automatic curfew after 12:50 a.m. – a slip up in the International League offices that year. This book is full of such “you won’t  believe this” stories. Pawtucket pitcher Luis Aponte is permitted to head home after pitching three innings in relief, yet when he arrives his wife won’t let him in the door because she doesn’t believe his story as to why he was out until 3 a.m. Rochester outfielder Dallas Williams went 0 for 13 in the game – a “bad month.” Pawtucket’s Sam Bowen hit a ball so hard that it left the field…but the nasty wind blowing straight in blew it back into play and into the glove of the outfielder.

And because baseball is life, there is the bittersweet and sad to go along with the merely funny. The most touching story focuses on Red Sox first baseman Dave Koza and his new wife Ann, one of only 19 fans to stay to the end of the 8 hour marathon. Koza was a strong but inconsistent power hitter who happened to be in the Boston farm system when the team had an abundance of slugging first basemen. Koza got the winning hit in the longest game, a loopy single over Cal Ripken’s head, but he never made it to “the show.” After leaving baseball he struggled into alcoholism, and his devoted wife finally left with their three children. But in the touching final chapter, entitled “Thirty Years Later,” Koza and his former wife let Barry tell their story of hitting bottom, and then being rescued through the help of AA.  Koza now visits with his wife and her husband and takes his children to Cooperstown, where he mentions to the officials that he played in the longest game and is immediately escorted to the exhibit of the game. Hope and redemption permeate the story from start to finish.

I try to stay to the end of baseball games, but don’t always succeed.  After Bottom of the 33rd I might think again as I rise up to leave before that final out.

More to come…

DJB

Academy Awards Here We Come (Again)

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Film ReelLast year I broke a 57-year-old tradition and decided to see all the films nominated in  the Academy Awards Best Picture category.  We had a blast, updating More to Come… when I thought we’d seen the winner, as well as on the night of the awards.

This year, Candice and I are back at it again.

We thought we had an early start. Over the summer and fall we went to a couple of movies that, to our eye, had Best Picture possibilities.  We both loved The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Moonrise Kingdom. Shows what we know.

But we quickly hit our stride, and after tonight’s viewing of Beasts of the Southern Wild at AFI Silver Theatre, we’ve now seen four of the nine Best Picture nominees.

Since it is our most recent viewing, I’ll just say that Beasts of the Southern Wild is an interesting film, but best picture quality…ummm, I don’t think so.  And I’m sorry, but Quvenzhané Wallis did not deserve a nomination above Maggie Smith in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Knowing that you, dear reader, are waiting with bated breath, here’s how I rank the four I’ve seen:

1.  Lincoln

2. Life of Pi

3. Les Mis

4. Beasts of the Southern Wild

I just asked Candice for her rankings, and she has:

1.  Les Mis

2.  Lincoln

3.  Life of Pi

4.  Beasts of the Southern Wild

In the other categories, I think Daniel Day-Lewis is a lock for Best Actor (and I don’t even have to see the others). I haven’t seen enough of the Best Actress nominees to have an opinion.  I loved Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field in their supporting roles in Lincoln, but I have no idea if they’ll win.

So there you go…feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section.  I’ll update you again as we get a few more viewings under our belt.

More to come…

DJB

Standing on Shoulders While Looking to the Future

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National Cathedral pulpit for Presidential Inauguration Prayer Service 2013

Washington National Cathedral pulpit ready for the Presidential Inauguration Prayer Service (Photo credit: Suzy Mink)

Every four years, when the country gathers to inaugurate a president, some of the nation’s most historic buildings take center stage. From the Benjamin Latrobe-designed St. John’s Church where the First Family attends a morning service, to the White House where the President meets with his successor or the leaders of Congress, to the U.S. Capitol where the Chief Executive takes the oath of office under a magnificent dome largely completed during the darkest days of the Civil War—our nation’s peaceful transfer of power occurs in and around stately buildings that are cherished witnesses to history.

And the inauguration ceremonies end the following morning at yet another historic building — Washington National Cathedral — where the nation’s secular and religious leaders gather for the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service.

I have attended many different services and ceremonies beneath the Cathedral’s soaring vaults. I remember Evensong services in the great choir where I heard young trebles sing a Pie Jesu that lifted the congregants — all twenty of them — to another level of grace. The sanctuary worked surprisingly well as a backdrop for this intimate gathering. But when the sanctuary is filled to capacity with thousands of guests and visitors gathered in common cause, the transformative power of the Gothic structure atop Mount St. Alban becomes self evident.

What do historic spaces such as the Cathedral — where National Trust president Stephanie Meeks and I were privileged to attend this morning’s 57th Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service — have to offer that other buildings do not?

Washington National Cathedral, like any important historic building, reminds us that our lives are built on the shoulders of those who came before and that we have a responsibility to those yet to come. When the Children of the Gospel Choir sing the traditional spiritual Way over in Beulah Lan’ and we think of those who struggled to see beyond this time and place, their voices rise and linger in a building that holds a piece of lunar rock in the Space Window. Beautifully sung calls to prayer from the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian traditions remind us that the Cathedral was built as a House of Prayer for all people, not just the privileged and powerful. When The Reverend Adam Hamilton of Leawood, Kansas, builds a sermon around the emancipation story, the Walter Hancock statue of Abraham Lincoln bears silent witness to those who have made great sacrifice for the good of the nation.

These special places cannot serve the nation without the love, care, and support provided by countless stewards. Last year the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Washington National Cathedral a National Treasure to help those stewards recover from the damage of an unexpected earthquake and develop a vision forward for the preservation of this magnificent landmark.

It was clear again this morning why we need historic places such as Washington National Cathedral.  During the service, The Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, Senior Pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, asked everyone to join hands for the final prayer in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He did so in front of the pulpit where King gave the last Sunday sermon of his life.  In that sermon, King said, “We must all learn to live together as brothers and sisters or we will all perish together as fools.”

Throughout this weekend of the inauguration of a president, Washington’s historic buildings reminded the country that we have often disagreed — and even fought — as a nation.  However, they also speak to the fact that we have come together more often than not to focus on the ideals that make us Americans.  In the extraordinary, and yet also humbling, space of Washington National Cathedral, Dr. Warnock’s final prayer called us again to those ideals.

Let us recommit ourselves this day to one another and to the work of building together the beloved community. May God transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of the human family. And through us may all the families of the earth be blessed.

More to come…

DJB

(Note:  This blog post was originally written for the PreservationNation blog of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.)

R.I.P. The Earl of Baltimore and Stan the Man

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Musial Stadium at Busch StadiumBaseball lost two members of the Hall of Fame this past weekend:  Earl Weaver and Stan Musial.

There’s much that could – and has – been written about these two baseball greats.  I’ve linked to Joe Posnanski’s blogs above, but I could just as easily have sent you to read Tom Boswell’s column on The Earl of Baltimore or George Vecsey on Stan the Man.

I won’t go on about Weaver’s baseball genius – decades before Moneyball made his theories all the rage – or Musial’s quiet consistency – to the point where he was widely considered to be the best ballplayer of the postwar decade. No, I’m going to focus on their nicknames.

Baseball has the best nicknames. Period.  In Why Is Baseball So Much Better Than Football, Boswell touches on the topic in multiple ways, but he sums it up here:

Reason #85:  Baseball nicknames go on forever – because we feel we know so many player intimately.  Football monikers run out fast.  We just don’t know that many of them as people.

Then Boswell provides examples.

Reason #6 (close after “bands” (#1) “half time with bands” (#2), and “cheerleaders at half time with bands” (#3)): Baseball has Blue Moon, Catfish, Spaceman and The Sugar Bear.  Football has Lester the Molester, Too Mean, and The Assassin.

Reason #35:  Football has Tank and Mean Joe.  Baseball has The Human Rain Delay and Charlie Hustle.

Reason #51:  Football has Hacksaw. Baseball has Steady Eddie and The Candy Man.

Reason #59:  Football has the Refrigerator.  Baseball has Puff the Magic Dragon, The Wizard of Oz, Tom Terrific, Big Doggy, Kitty Kaat, and Oil Can.

In The Earl of Baltimore and Stan the Man, we have two more nicknames that have stood the test of time.  They brought so much pleasure to so many (except, in the case of Weaver, the umpires). May they Rest in Peace.

And Reason #99 that Baseball is so much better than Football? Most of all…because spring training is less than a month away.

Play ball!

More to come…

DJB