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Island Hopping

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Belle-Ile, France Citadel DetailThe past two days we’ve visited two islands on our tour of European Coastal Civilizations:  the beautiful Belle-Ile in France and the equally intriguing British island of Guernsey.

In the spirit of “quick posts” from the field, I’ll include three pictures, with “more to come” after our return home over the weekend.

The first two are of Belle-Ile:  a detail from the very impressive Citadel restoration and a view of the town.

The final one shows a German gun placement on a Napoleonic ruin along the rugged Guernsey coast.

Our tours were very different in style and topic, with Belle-Ile focused on the beauty of the island and its coastline.  In Guernsey we toured sites of the German occupation of WWII, in anticipation of today’s visit to the beaches at Normandy.

This will probably be the last post from the trip until we return home, so thanks for checking in and look forward to one or two more extensive follow-up posts…with many more pictures…in the coming days.

More to come…

DJB

Belle-Ile, France

Guernsey Coastal Defenses

Bilbao: The Cliff Notes Edition

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Detail of the Guggenheim Bilbao

Detail of the Guggenheim Bilbao

Wow!

I had read the stories of how a gritty, shipbuilding city in Spain had reinvented itself as an arts and cultural center built around the signature Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum. I had seen the pictures. But I wasn’t ready for the reality.

We spent Sunday in Bilbao, Spain — after a drive through the lovely heart of the Basque country — and Candice and I found the first city where we are set on finding a way to return as soon as possible. Bilbao in the 1980s saw the closing of an iconic shipyard and had the foresight to think creatively and boldly about a new future which blended new and old.

It is the last part — the blending of new and old — that is often missed in the write-ups about Bilbao’s renaissance.  You get the impact of Gehry’s Guggenheim, along with the works of Calatrava, Norman Foster and other modern masters.

But what is often missing is the context for these works: a walkable and vibrant historic city dating back to the 14th century.

I took over 160 pictures on Sunday, so with spotty internet connections this will be the Cliff Notes (or whet your appetite) version of our visit. Return over the weekend when we’re home with consistent connections that make uploading easier, and I’ll recap Bilbao and — in fact — the entire trip.

Until then, enjoy two pictures of the Guggenheim, a shot of the Calatrava bridge (yet another in my collection), and one teaser for the great, yet unheralded, historic district in Bilbao.

More (definitely) to come…

DJB

Gehry's Guggenheim

Calatrava in Bilbao

A Glimpse of Bilbao's Historic Center

Santiago de Compostela: Our visit to the final destination of the Camino de Santiago

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Saturday of our European Coastal Civilizations tour took us to Santiago de Compostela, the famous destination of the medieval pilgrimage trail Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Camino de Santiago

The morning began as we docked in La Corona, Spain, after sailing past the Tower of Hercules, the oldest Roman lighthouse in use today.  It makes for a dramatic entrance into the port city and set the stage for what was in store.

After an hour-long bus drive, we arrived at Santiago de Compostela, with its cathedral of St. James.  The picture at the top of the post marks the official end of the Camino de Santiago, and we had a chance to talk with pilgrims who were arriving in a steady stream – many on very nice road bikes!

Tower of Hercules 042713 (4)

The city’s importance came from a visit by the Apostle James to this outpost in Spain to convert people to Christianity.  Centuries later, in 813, a hermit saw a vision of a shining field, and from the Latin “Campus Stellae” (field of the star), Compostela – and an important pilgrimage site – was born.

The cathedral dominates its end of the city, with facades from four periods and surrounding plazas, chapels, and shops.  French Romanesque, Baroque, and other styles can be found throughout the complex.

Enjoy the photos from our visit to the final destination of centuries of pilgrims walking the Way of St. James.

More to come…

DJB

St. James
The Cathedral Tower
A Plaza in Santiago de Compostela

Porto, Portugal – A great start to our tour of European coastal civilizations

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Candice and I just completed the first day of our European Coastal Civilizations tour, spending a delightful day in Porto, Portugal.  After setting sail from Lisbon, our ship headed north overnight and docked on Friday morning at the Port of Leixoes which services the city of Porto.

Bell Tower, Church of St. Francis

Quoting from the ship’s news,

The city of Porto, built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the Douro river, is an outstanding urban landscape with a 2,000-year history. Its continuous growth is linked to the sea (the Romans gave it the name Portus, or port). It is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon, and one of the major urban areas of Southern Europe.

Porto’s history goes back to pre-Roman, Celtic times, and it was during the Middle Ages that it developed into one of Portugal’s most important trading cities.  It was in the 18th century that Porto became an important link between the Douro Valley wine producers and wine importing countries like England.

The old city – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – is where we spent most of our day.  Two outstanding interiors, the Stock Exchange Palace and the Church of St. Francis, were off-limits to cameras, so you’ll have content yourself with click-throughs on the links.  We were able to take some exteriors around the city, which will give you a flavor of an extensive center city that is struggling, under difficult economic conditions, but nonetheless remains lively and attractive.

As we enjoyed a beer and sangria in an old city market with new friends from Texas, Candice and I agreed it was a great start to our trip.

Center City, Porto, Portugal
A Street in historic Porto, Portugal
The textured history of Porto, Portugal

More to come…

DJB

Opening Day Finally Arrives!

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Nats Opening Day 2013A quick lunch break shout-out for the arrival of opening day!  Let’s go Nats!!

I’m part of a season ticket group, so the “coordinator” of the group gets – as it should be – the opening and closing games of the season.  Tom’s photo from 20 minutes ago is at the top of the post.  But come Wednesday night, for game #2 of 162 (and more!) this year, Candice and I will be in these same seats ready to cheer on Gio and the rest of the boys of summer.

I know that the first day of the season was actually yesterday when the Astros played the Rangers, but it was just weird to see the Astros as an American League team. I was glad to see former Nat Rick Ankiel get the key home run.  Maybe when a recent N.L. doormat roughs up a recent perennial A.L. playoff contender, it just shows that the N.L. has passed the A.L. in playing quality baseball.  But I digress.

It has been a long winter since our season ended much too soon last year…but expectations are high and we’re ready for another great year of baseball.  For as Annie Savoy once famously said,

I believe in the Church of Baseball. I’ve tried all the major religions and most of the minor ones. And the only church that truly feeds the soul, day-in day-out, is the Church of Baseball.

Play ball!

More to come…

DJB

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