All posts filed under: Random DJB Thoughts

Mike Seeger Passes Away

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I was saddened to read in today’s Bluegrass Blog of the passing of roots musician extraordinaire Mike Seeger. Half-brother to the more famous Pete Seeger, Mike was one of those people who loved old-time music and the people who played it.  He was a great musical scholar who worked to expand the audience for American roots music.  I had the chance to hear him play live on a couple of occasions after he moved to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, and he was just one of the giants in the field. I found this wonderful clip on You Tube of Seeger talking about – and then playing – Elizabeth Cotten’s classic Freight Train. Rest in peace. More to come… DJB P.S.  – An update:  Here’s the posting on Seeger from the always informative, The Music’s Over But the Songs Live On blog.

Jane Jacobs, Robert Moses and the Future of the American City

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One of the blogs I check on a regular basis is The Edge of the American West. It features a variety of viewpoints, sharp writing, and intelligent discussions on history.  On the about page, the blog features the quote:  History is Philosophy teaching by example. Today there’s a post on the site entitled “I hate the government for making my life absurd” – a quote from urban crusader and preservation heroine Jane Jacobs. The writer is highlighting a new book on the relationship between Jacobs and the New York City power broker Robert Moses, which was featured in the New York Times on Tuesday. Writing in the Times, reviewer Dwight Garner provides the background for the Wrestling With Moses: Moses and Jacobs clashed during the 1950s and ’60s over three of the huge public works projects Moses tried to force on Manhattan. It is hard even to list them now without cringing — or nearly weeping with gratitude that they never came to pass.There was his plan to build a four-lane highway through the middle …

Summer Saturdays

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As summer Saturdays go, this was a pretty good one. First of all, I’m focused on moving things off my desk so that both my head AND office are cleared to begin vacation on Monday.  So I went into work this morning.  That may not sound like fun on a summer day, but if no one’s around and you can put on the Bluegrass Instrumentals playlist off the iTunes site and crank up the sound, it makes for a great setting for getting things done. I didn’t stay too long, however, as I wanted to catch the championship game of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Baseball League, featuring the Bethesda Big Train.  My colleague at work (and fellow baseball enthusiast) Dolores and her son Noah joined me at Povich Field where – after the strangest “sun downpour” (this was more than a shower) – the Big Train played a stellar game and beat the Maryland Redbirds 7-0. to cap a 31-10 season with both the regular season and playoff titles.  The Big Train pitcher had a …

Brooks, Big Train, and The Onion

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I’m not sure it is a good sign when New York Times columnists begin showing up at Bethesda Big Train wooden bat league baseball games. Tonight I was at Shirley Povich Field for the Cal Ripken, Sr. League playoff game between Big Train and the Herndon Braves when I look down my aisle to the right (of course) and there sits David Brooks, conservative voice of the Times editorial page and PBS’s Newshour with Jim Lehrer.  Brooks is a commentator who says enough sane things (e.g., see comments about Sarah Palin) to make some believe he’s bi-partisan.  I’ll reserve judgment on that…but I usually agree with how his columns are “interpreted” by the Daily Kos Abbreviated Pundit Round-Up (e.g., David Brooks recycles another “we’re all going to die” column). Nonetheless, I’m not picking on conservatives.  Heck, I’d be concerned if it was Maureen Dowd sitting down the row in the bleachers from me.  Part of the fun of college wooden league baseball is that it really has that small town, family feel.  Kids throw out …

Modernism and baseball stadiums

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My colleague Dolores recently pointed me towards a springtime blog rant by long-time preservationist – and baseball fan – Clem Labine.  Entitled Hey Nick – Get REAL, the blog goes after New York Times architectural critic Nicolai Ouroussoff for panning the two new baseball stadiums in New York City by saying that “American stadium design has been stuck in a nostalgic funk, with sports franchises recycling the same old images year after year.”  Read it for the writing, if nothing else.  (Clem was the founder of The Old House Journal eons ago and you’ll see his way with the written word.) Camden Yards in Baltimore (photo at the top of the post) began the trend toward throwback stadiums. Having attended many a ballgame there (and in other similarly inspired parks), I agree with Clem that these ballparks work AND give the fans what they want. But my recent trip to Kansas City gave me the chance to visit one of the first of the good modernist sports venues – Kauffman Stadium.  The architects here show …

Northern Ireland Photos

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Late last month, Claire and Andrew took a trip to Northern Ireland with their youth group.  While there they walked the wonderful coastline of County Antrim and the Giant’s Causeway; visited sites of the National Trust of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland; met with groups focused on peace and reconciliation; and took lots and lots of photographs. In looking at those photos, my mind went back a decade to my own trip to Northern Ireland for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  Like the children’s trip, mine was an eye and mind-opening experience.  I recently looked at my diary from that trip and enjoyed reliving my experiences. So I’ll share Andrew’s (color) and Claire’s (black-and-white) photos from June/July 2009, and I’ll share a few diary entries from December 1998. 12/8/98 – I found Crom Castle most interesting.  As we arrived, Irish deer – with huge racks – stared at us from the deer park…had my first Irish whiskey of the trip.  Great for warming chilled bones! 12/8/98 – We have a late afternoon stop at …

Bluegrass in Nashville

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There’s an interesting article in last Monday’s Washington Post about bluegrass music venues in Nashville.  For those who live in the city, this report is old news.  For many of my friends and colleagues coming to Nashville in the fall, however, this will be important information you’ll want to tuck away for those times in between conference sessions.  If you want to find bluegass music in Nashville, you’ll want to visit places like the Ryman Auditorium and the Station Inn. At the top of this post, you’ll see an old black-and-white photo of the author – in his college days – playing some bluegrass very near Nashville with good friends:  banjo-picker John Balch and singer Jody Kammerud.  Thought it would be fun to see those Tennessee pickers in their youth! The article mentions the family band Cherryholmes.  Enjoy the video of the band. More to come… DJB

Wooden Bat League Baseball Makes the Big Time

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Our local college wooden bat league – the Cal Ripken, Sr. League – made the big time tonight when the DC/Baltimore regional sports network (MASN) carried the Wooden Bat League All Star Game between the Ripken and Valley League all stars.  Held in Waldorf, Maryland, this was a great showcase for a wonderful summer tradition. Just like last evening’s MLB All-Star game, pitching dominated, with the Ripken All Stars taking a 2-1 win in a crisply played contest.  It was great to see Staunton Braves players, from our former home in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, battling players from the Bethesda Big Train and the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts. There’s still plenty of time to catch a Wooden Bat League game in your area…whether it be DC, the Shenandoah Valley, Cape Cod, Alaska, California…you name it! More to come… DJB

As We Approach the All-Star Break…

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Regular readers know that I like good baseball writing.  So on a night when the Nationals are uncharacteristically beating up the Astros with 13 runs and 21 hits in a laugher, it was a double treat to find a great story on ESPN.com by Jayson Stark. Best, worst, and weirdest of the first half is a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of April – July 2009 in Major League Baseball.  Stark goes through his first half Cy Young winners, but he also calls out the Cy Yuk winner for the worst pitcher in each league.  Yep, you guessed it…former National Daniel Cabrera won that dubious award for the National League.  Cabrera got the boot… …from a boss so exasperated by his work that GM Mike Rizzo actually announced to the Washington Post, right out loud, that he had to dump this guy because “I was tired of watching him. There are little gems throughout, but the laugh out loud stuff comes in the “Injuries of the Year” section.  Here’s Stark’s take: …

Happy July 4th

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We’re at the end of a busy July 4th celebration here in the Brown household.  The picture at left is a photo Andrew took this evening of the fireworks on the National Mall as viewed from the grounds of the National Cathedral (with a bit of a time lapse). But I’m getting ahead of myself. Andrew and Claire returned from a pilgrimage to Northern Ireland  on Friday (pictures to come in the days ahead) which meant we jumped right in to the July 4th celebration.  They had a swim meet this morning, so Andrew and Claire left with Candice bright and early while I began to put the house together following a week’s worth of painting. One of the down sides of July 4th falling on a Saturday is that we have a swim meet and miss the annual 4th of July parade in Takoma Park.  We’ve been going for years, and love the quirky, small town sensibilities the parade provides in this unique community full of eclectic historic houses.  So I’ll post a photo …