I don’t normally post political items on this blog…there’s more than enough of that chatter on the Internet for me to weigh in. Plus, I try and focus on things in More to Come… that elevate my mood. But this video that was put together on how the late night comics handled “The McCain Wander” from the second presidential debate was too funny to pass up. Enjoy. More to come… DJB
About 15 years ago, my younger brother Joe left his corporate job to work full time as a blacksmith artist. It was a gutsy move, but he’s loving life and never looked back. Over that time, he’s matured as an artist and has received increasing publicity. So I was pleased but not surprised when I was looking online and found this Nashville Public Television blog for the Tennessee Crossroads program where my brother’s work was featured. For those in the Nashville area, the show airs on October 9th and 12th, but anyone can see the clip by watching the video at the NPT website. It is a good piece, but any short television feature isn’t going to capture the fundamental niceness that’s at the core of Joe’s being. He’s simply among the nicest people on the planet and he’d give you the shirt off his back. I’m looking forward to seeing Joe and his family next month when I’m in Tennessee. Maybe it will be warm enough to sit on that wonderful front porch of his and pick some …
Yesterday, on a beautiful fall afternoon perfect for the Feast Day of St. Francis, our Sussex Spaniel Lilly took a trip down to the Washington National Cathedral for the blessing of the animals. Dean Sam Lloyd gave Lilly her annual blessing in front of the beautiful Gothic cathedral. Since I was traveling, Claire reports that Lilly took it all in stride. Of course, as an older dog Lilly sleeps a lot these days and takes just about everything in stride. The custom of blessing pets is conducted in remembrance of St. Francis’ love of animals. It is great fun to join together with other owners of all manner of pets. (I’ve even seen goldfish blessed in past years…not sure they felt the drops of holy water.) Shortly after posting this picture, Andrew told me there was a great Gene Weingarten article in today’s Washington Post Magazine called Something About Harry: Old dogs…are the best dogs. I read it and knew immediately I had to update this post to link to the article. Because Weingarten (a writer Andrew …
While traveling on work today in North Carolina, I had an unexpected treat: the chance to hear Bach on a beautiful historic tracker organ that had been restored by some dear friends. First, a bit of background. As Wikipedia notes, tracker action is a term used in reference to pipe organs that “indicates a mechanical linkage between keys or pedals pressed by the organist and the valve that allows air to flow into pipe(s) of the corresponding note. This is in contrast to electrical or electro-pneumatic actions, which connect the key to the valve through an electrical link or an electrically assisted pneumatic system respectively.” Tracker organs are built the same today as they have been for hundreds of years. I came to love tracker action organs while living in the Shenandoah Valley and becoming friends with George Taylor and John Boody. George and John are the founders and principals of the world-renown Taylor & Boody Organbuilders located just outside Staunton, Virginia. These two men and a small group of craftsmen build and restore some of …
This is another one of my “I was searching the Internet and found something I had to share” posts. On the InterSportsWire (motto: “Because there aren’t enough sports blogs”) there’s this beautiful post entitled October Belongs to Baseball which has a “great sports folk song about the mystical aura of baseball.” The song is by Sam Baker. Click on the link to October Belongs to Baseball to see this video and give yourself a treat. More to come… DJB
Sometime between leaving Memphis this morning and arriving home this evening, More to Come…the DJB Blog passed 1,000 page views. I started this blog less than 45 days ago as a way to update family and friends on our western trip this summer, but it has become a bit of therapy over the intervening six weeks. Some fun stats: the highest day of activity had 73 page views; the lowest had two. I only started to figure out how to use this tag thing to attract visitors in the past two weeks, so my numbers since then have been much higher. I realize 1,000 page views isn’t a lot in the blogosphere, but I’m okay with that. Thanks to you for reading and for passing along some great comments. More to come… DJB
Last night’s game between the Nationals and Padres was tough. It is bad enough when two of the three teams with the worst records in baseball are playing. But when the Nationals enter the game needing to win 5 out of the remaining 8 games to avoid losing 100 games for the season, there’s extra pressure. The pressure won. Routine grounders that should extend a shutout pitching performance turn into 3 unearned runs. Balls lost in the lights turn into triples. And the explanation for the latter shows just what we’re facing. In this morning’s Washington Post, Nats left fielder Willie Harris provides the following explanation for his adventure in lights: “They’re among the brightest (lights) in the league, he said. Sure, they’re a problem for opposing outfields, too, ‘but, I mean, we haven’t been hitting many balls in the lights. They’ve been hitting the balls in the lights.’” Say no more, Willie. It is a tough time to be a Nats fan. But hey, let’s go win 5 out of 7. And remember, the …
Views of the iconic Monument Valley, photographed by Claire H. Brown.
I just heard from my good friend Susan in California. Her note reminded me of a wonderful time that my daughter Claire and I had a couple of years ago at Susan and her husband Bill’s vineyard and winery on the Sonoma/Napa border. Susan was writing to say she enjoyed the blog and that she loved baseball, acoustic music, historic places, and teenagers. Hey, she’s my target audience! This is a post to connections and friends. Susan is a preservation lawyer. Bill is a surfer, poet, and winemaker. Their wonderful wine is Random Ridge and Claire and I enjoyed a delightful lunch and afternoon at their winery a year or two ago with the staff and families of the Western Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The day was rainy (hence the appropriateness of Susan’s photo of the double rainbow at Glen Ellen) but the friendship was warm. Claire and the other children enjoyed playing with Susan’s dog and marveling at Bill’s ceilings made of surfboards. The adults enjoyed the wine, food from …
One of the unexpected joys of starting a blog is that as you move around the Internet to find information or connect links, you stumble across interesting blogs that catch your fancy. These blogs may or may not be connected to your topic(s), but you find the writing or subject so compelling you want to share with others. So every now and then I’ll share a discovery with you. And the first such find is Miss Music Nerd!…because nerd is the new cool . Last evening after posting a story on the new Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile CD, I clicked on the tag I established for Edgar Meyer and was taken to Miss Music Nerd’s blog. There I found a wonderful posting entitled Music Vocab: Catching Some Bass . Here was a witty take on the "lowest instrument or voice part in an ensemble, whose name is spelled like a fish but pronounced like a foundation: the bass." Miss Music Nerd is classically trained, but lest you think she’s boring (or too nerdy), read some more from Catching Some Bass …
MORE TO COME... 