New Beginning

Today seems like a great day to revive this old Blog. But I got nothing. Blogging is hard work.

Perhaps I will go catch up on some Archer episodes.

Panic, Aisle 16

And I am not prone to panic, much less in the grocery store.

I had already fought through the problem of forgetting most of our shopping bags at home. In Austin, stores are not allowed to give customers plastic bags to tote home their purchases - you bring your own. Before I left the house I threw our bags into the back of my car, then went back in to get a jacket and iPod and headphones, of course. My wife asked me then to take her car and fill it with gas on the way. Sure, piece of cake. So we traded keys and I was off - bags still in my car and me in hers. Oh well.

I have an emergency plan when this happens, and it does often. Go into the produce area and nick an empty box or two. Luckily somebody had just stocked a lot of bananas so there were some sturdy big empty boxes, and I got one. This in addition to a stray I found in her car were all I could find.

This was a large shopping trip - the buggy was full. The store was full, of people. Lines were long at checkout. But luckily I saw a very short line and got in it - somebody in a Rascal, a motorized cart for disabled shoppers but are used by able-shoppers a lot. He had quite a few items too. Shortly the girl began checking my purchases. I went and starting putting items in my box. About halfway through I went back to slide my credit card to pay - the girl still swiping items over the scanner - and I looked up at her aisle light over the register - and it said "10 items or fewer". I gasped! Oh no, and said "10 items or fewer! Oh no!" She looked at me, realized my panic, and said - Wait! I just turned that light on. You are my last customer before this is an Express Lane.

Relief washed over me. But the guy who walked up to get in line a moment later gave me a long stern disapproving look.

PS nothing says don't talk to me in the store like someone wearing headphones.

48 Across

Trying to solve yesterday's Wall Street Journal crossword, is this clue for 48 Across: Crude oil, informally.  I've known this answer since my age was in single digits, over 40 years.

It involves a man named Jed (a poor mountaineer) who barely kept his family fed. Then one day he was shootin' at some food, when up from the ground comes a bubblin' crude (oil that is, black gold, Texas Tea).

And there it is - TEXAS TEA -the answer.

I am beginning to think crosswords are a form of meditation, unearthing pleasant memories, allowing a few moments of enjoyment, and then on to the next.

Here's my hero Uncle Jed:



 PS  unpleasant memories,  I've tried to quarantine, expurgate, and cement them away. The one of my youngest brother having a small playground slide cutting open his nose when he was 3 or 4 years old almost made its way out over the holidays but I reined it back into its pen.

oh and by the way, I love the TV show the Beverly Hillbillies, absolute gold.

Reborn Germ-a-phobia

This morning immediately upon waking from sleep, alarm induced waking, I proceeded to knock glasses off the night stand. Glasses hit the floor and bounced under bed about 2 or 3 feet. Wonderful. I tire of always being tied to a pair of reading glasses. Can't read a thing if its inside 3 feet, over that, pretty good.

Yesterday on a small grocery run, as I stood in line to check out, there was next in line behind me a father and his daughter, the little girl 3 to 4 years of age. The dad was busy looking at his phone. The little girl was down in the cart, not in the seat, and was running her mouth all over the top of the wire cart. I watched not knowing what to say or do - it was horrifying as she gummed that cart, the cold metal probably feeling good to her - but oh the humanity. The dad finally looked up - said in a somewhat cool voice, hey honey don't do that, its dirty. And then turned back to his phone. I pretended to be picking out a candy bar.

In grocery stores I am a reborn germ-a-phobe. I like kids, well I like my kids (who are now 19, 22, and 25 years old), but they always seems to be coughing, with running noses, reaching out of the buggy to grab stuff, especially produce which seems to be right at their eye level and at a short arm's length.  I choose food and boxes that are far up high and back. Bon appetit.

2014 wheels are off the ground

The New Year is off and running and I'd say its a good start. New Year's Eve and Day were spent watching a fair amount of Twilight Zone episodes on SciFi Network marathon. Also took in a few football games. But mainly spent the day unpacking and cleaning up after holiday trip to see my folks in Louisiana.

Today is trash and recycling materials pick up day - and I put out our bins last night. This morning I had one last bag to put in trash before pick up. I noticed upon lifting the lid on the bin that a neighbor had filled our container with overflow from their house. As I reached in to grab a big bag to reposition it to make more room, a sharp thick wire poked through the bag and stuck me in the finger. Not sure I was punctured because I tried to squeeze some blood out but got nothing, and later noticed a good scratch on another finger. Went in to wash hands, and hopefully wash away all infections. So be careful out there.

Before leaving for Lake Charles, LA, my family here watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, on VHS no less, a version which is not intended to be a faithful rendition of the Dickens classic, but I rate it high on entertainment, and Michael Caine is terrific as Scrooge. (check Hypnogoria podcast for a rating of the Christmas Carol movies) As a result I decided to re-re-re-read the original story to refresh my memory on the variances between most "Carol" movies and the source material. So I downloaded the novella from Project Gutenberg, migrated it to the Nook, and casually read. I came across this paragraph in the second stave which I didn't remember:  (emphasis added at the end by me, and copied from the ebook I downloaded from Gutenberg)

The idea being an alarming one, he scrambled out of bed, and groped his way to the window. He was obliged to rub the frost off with the sleeve of his dressing-gown before he could see anything; and could see very little then. All he could make out was, that it was still very foggy and extremely cold, and that there was no noise of people running to and fro, and making a great stir, as there unquestionably would have been if night had beaten off bright day, and taken possession of the world. This was a great relief, because “three days after sight of this First of Exchange pay to Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge or his order,” and so forth, would have become a mere United States’ security if there were no days to count by.

Obviously the bold text intended to imply that Scrooge's assets would become worthless. I had no idea there was a US reference in Christmas Carol much less using its financial instruments as a metaphor for loss in investment. Scrooge has always been portrayed in the movies as a ruthless landlord ready to throw out his renters as soon as rent went in arrears. Apparently he turned cash futures that depended on timely execution of deals.

Hopefully the future contains no possibilities for this US security metaphor to be repeated, but I fear the likelihood of the opposite is increasing.

Aces

May 4, 2013 Bastrop State Park Golf Course, Hole 8

Pictured above are my brother John and me (in red). The very next day John would collect his first lifetime hole in one on his home course in Dallas Texas. This leaves me as the last of four brothers and our dad as not making an Ace.

I have seen two aces in my life, both from my other brother Eric. The first when he was about 10 years old and the other when he was 50. I believe he has a few others in between.

We as a family group celebrate all milestones such as holes in one. When I got word from John of his first I  gave him the congratulations he was due. He told me he regretted leaving me as the last without.

I have had close calls. In the past year on #13 of Roy Kizer GC here in Austin, my shot finished a mere inch away. On the day of the above picture I had a shot from about 170 yards out on the first hole, a par 4, stop about 2 inches out. So I still have game.

A fear I have is that I will ace a hole on a little 9 hole course I sometimes go to. It has 6 par 3's, all decent length but this significantly increases one's chances over a regular course. Or that I will score one without having a witness.

On the radio recently I heard talk of a golfer getting his first ace at the age of 75, and then seven holes later he had his second!

Gotta keep giving myself chances.

Ah, a nice dream remembered

I go through periods of a week or two where at night I dream vivid, often incoherent dreams. At some point in the night my dog will wake me to be let out, or I wake me to let myself out, and I can clearly remember everything about the dream.

At the time I think, there is no way I am going to forget this dream, its so clear, remarkable, and easy to remember. Then in the morning nothing, barely a recollection that I dreamed at all. During one of these bursts of dreams I kept a notepad nearby the bed to scrawl something that would key my memory, but mostly I couldn't read my own handwriting from 3AM.

This week I remembered one of the dreams. Not right away in the morning though, but later in the day. Its one of the better ones that I've ever remembered and I am glad it came back. One note before the dream, I have 3 children: my two oldest sons are now 24 and 21, and my daughter is 18.

The dream:  I am watching a family video tape on a smaller TV that we used long ago. On the screen one of our former cars is approaching the camera - the camera appears to be moving in the same direction as the car - and the perspective changes smoothly throughout the dream. My two sons are hanging out the back driver side window and they appear to be the same age, about four to five years old, and they are laughing and waving at the camera. The car rolls alongside the camera for a distance, and looking in the driver's window my daughter is seen. She looks four to five years in age and it appears as if she is driving the car. She too is laughing and waving at the camera. The camera moves closer at this point and then you see that I am in the car too, the driver seat is fully reclined, and that I am lying on it with my daughter seated on my lap, and I am in fact driving the car. The car eases past the camera so that the back of the car is seen, my two sons continue to laugh and wave at the camera. Fade to black - the end.

This is one of my warmest dreams in recent memory. Lots I can't explain about it. Namely how could my two boys both be hanging out the same window, especially if the driver seat and dad is reclining right in their way.  But other things too - why are they all about the same age? Why is daughter the fake driver? On and on.

I can now replay the dream at will in my brain. Its very pleasant and enjoyable. I think I will put it on a loop for a few days.

Fixing The American Ryder Cup Team

 

I want my weekend refunded. After watching most of the matches from Friday afternoon through Sunday's conclusion, I don't believe the Americans gave me my monies worth.

Something rotten has infested the US side and the whole thing needs to be gutted and re-tooled:

Tiger Woods does not care. He looked disinterested throughout much of the competition. He rarely had anything to cheer about since he trailed most of his matches. No more Tiger on the Ryder Cup team. ( I concede this will never happen.)

Stricker looked lifeless. It appeared he had no confidence in anything he was doing. His putts down the stretch could not have been more timid. Stricker - you are out.

Same for Furyk. I like Jim Furyk but he has failed so many times on the closing holes lately he is just undependable. Sorry Jim, you are out too.

Phil Mickelson - fellow left hander, you have to go. I can appreciate good sportsmanship as much as anyone, but I was disappointed to see you applauding your own demise. At times you appear stiff and blank and confused out on the course. It was a struggle to watch you get defeated. Admittedly Justin Rose holed some mighty long distance putts, but I wanted fire from you, not a mutual admiration society reaction -save that for the press room.

So that leaves the remaining eight. Zack Johnson, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Matt Kuchar, and Brandt Snedecker. We start building around these younger guys. Watson and Bradley showed they fully embrace and are fired up about this competition and the team concept. Each player now has a bitter taste in their mouth to wash out. Mix in some other aggressive players: Rikki Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Bo Van Pelt - these guys are dying to play.

Big Change: I want a playing Captain, and put the C on his shirt like they do in hockey. I want someone to lead. I want someone who is standing shoulder to shoulder with the others, who knows first hand how everyone else is playing, feeling, and what is working. Let non-playing assistants handle all the other stuff.

Get together earlier and find out who is playing their best. Find out who works best together. Build some chemistry. (Tiger and Stricker were deadmen walking.) Be prepared if trouble arises, have a Plan B. If a team gets hot ride them to exhaustion. Justin Rose played every segment and he didn't look overused in the end. Pulling Bradley for Saturday's matches was a mistake. He said he'd play a hundred holes if he needed to. Mickelson said he needed a rest. Blah. Rest Monday.

I am sick of losing. The Euros clearly outplayed us, and I congratulate them - now - but during the competition I am all about them losing. Watching the US Team break down was tough duty. The Euros win with fire - witness Ian Poulter's eyes for a sample. I love his act and hate it at the same time. Clearly our side needs more of that.

Piano Square One More Time

Music For Millions Vol 27, MFM27, More Easy Classics To Moderns. Its got what I will be working on for awhile. I have chosen Six German Dances by Beethoven to try out. I have a CD with these being played and they sound great - in the hands of a pro. Me, not so smooth yet.  I don't know why either. The music is self-described on the title of the book as "easy" and looking at it you'd think, piece of cake.

Nothing complicated, you see F and C7, 3/4 time simple. Yet I get brain freeze from measure to measure, and playing with a metronome there is no time for brain freeze. Its a problem of breaking my hands apart, a pesky grace note (all are) and a repeating f note in the left hand. So I will play a measure over and over until I start to get it right and can transition to the next without pause. Is it rote memorization? I don't think so because I have to look at the music on the page to get it right.

To avoid getting bored I have moved on to the second of the dances which involves more scale-like play in the right hand with droning chords in the left - still, staying in time with the metronome is testing.

What it really boils down to is that my technique is badly rusted. Fortunately these German Dances have different types of melody and accompaniment that will keep breaking my hands apart further.

I am using some advice from Bill Hilton on this video as a guide for this return to the classics:

Piano - Square 1 again

Taking a cue from several different sources, I am trying to re-re-re-re-kickstart my piano efforts again by settling in with some classical music. I dug out my volumes 17, 27, and 37 of Music For Millions (MFM) and am playing through some music in it. Well, so far the first, Volume 17.(PS Don't buy new editions of these books - I found mine at Half Price Books years ago, but spent about $10 for all 3, used but in mint condition)

Its not that I stopped, only other stuff has been in the way. I also decided I didn't have a good plan before, relying on playing whatever I felt like, and not really getting anywhere. This way I can measure, so to speak, a few things. This practice will help with reading the music, not relying on ear or memory too heavily, because I am not overly familiar with this music anymore. My memories of it are returning tho.

By the way, the title, Easy Classics To Moderns, what a laugh. Some of this music is tough. Its not abridged in anyway. Lucky for me I like music from Anna Magdalena Notebook, Schumann Album for the Young, Tchaikovsky's Album for the Young, or Ivan's Adventures. And nowadays you can tune into YouTube to find some 8 year old playing the music you are having problems figuring out.

Here is Ivan Sings from MFM17:

Bill Hilton and Jamcast

I want to give some quick praise to a site authored (or co-authored) by a fellow named Bill Hilton. He has a very impressive You Tube video collection of piano mentoring. I hope he doesn't mind the mentoring tag because its where I go to get a shot of "hey, this is something you can do, relax!".  I must say he is pretty diligent about keeping fresh content moving on to the site as well uploading frequently - the video above was uploaded this week. Oddly enough, Bill is silent in this one, using annotations.

I haven't watched nearly all of the videos there, but what I've seen Bill puts good thought into his effort. He has a concept to get across, and demonstrates from a basic idea, and then moves to more pianistic ideas, giving explanations that are clean, uncluttered, and that make you think its something you can do and use. And, Bill offers a nice laugh here and there so as to keep your attention fresh and receptive.

Bill also has a book for sale, which I haven't bought yet, sorry Bill. I have a lot of other stuff to work through, but I hope to do so at some point. He will make a sales pitch near the end of some of the videos. Nothing pushy, and hey, the video was free.

Also - look at Jamcast - his blog. Not updated as frequently as his You Tube site.

I think Bill is over in Wales. Coincidentally, my favorite author currently is Jasper Fforde and is also from Wales.

Good stuff, Bill and thanks from Austin TX.

Piano and Summer Vacation

The Sad Piano awaits.

Summer has arrived and with it a vacation or so, which does not lend itself to keeping up with piano goals. Spent about two weeks away from home due in part to a death in the family and then a week off to travel. Meanwhile back at work, responsibilities there backed up so upon returning I have been pretty busy trying to move things along. That has combined with my daughter's summer volleyball league and various other activities to diminish a lot of piano time.

I have had a few nights of just 5 to 10 minutes of something, a time or two with nearly an hour, but nothing on a consistent basis. That can be discouraging. I have acquired a keyboard tho that should enable me to play, very quietly or over headphones, without disturbing everyone in the house.

My philosophy to piano is not surprisingly much like my approach to golf. I look for successes to rally around, that provide something to focus on and try to build on. On occasion something will sound musical, and surprising, and I try to replicate that success.

I am also working on memorizing Joplin's "Palm Leaf Rag". I selected it because it has 3 sections instead of 4, so voila 25% less to cram in. Its coming along, slowly. And by the way, a very nice composition by Joplin with some quirky neat sounding passages.

Onward. Listening to my Vince Guaraldi station on Pandora. Like golf, I at least think I learn something from listening and watching the greats, whether it translates into practice, we'll see.

Piano Woes

Last week was not a good week for advancing my cause in piano playing. I know this is a building process, one brick at a time a city the size of Rome, but I would like to get some good momentum before coasting.

Two days with nothing, then one night with about 20 to 30 minutes stumbling about, three days off, then another night of 30 minutes or so of bumbling. No sense of progress.

As far as getting instruction, I found a book at our library that focuses on exactly what I am interested in. Maybe. How To Play From A Fake Book by Blake Neely (keyboard edition). So far it is the Dr. Suess of chords. Tunes include Yankee Doodle, Bear Over The Mountain, Yellow Rose Of Texas, Battle Hymn Of The Republic, etc.  But these are no gimme's. Come Back To Sorrento was no picnic. The focus is chords. Covered are majors, minors, inversions, 7ths, alterations such as diminished and augmented chords, 6ths, maj 7ths. The left hand is not given too much to do. Block chords mostly, an alternating bass sometimes, a walking bass line between chords. I will work all the way thru it, or as much as possible before I have to turn it back into the library. Altho it doesn't look like it gets checked out much, and I can probably get it any time needed.

I have found some videos by a fellow named Bill Hilton that appear to be good. I will watch a few before describing them.

But for now, the only way to learn to read music is to read a lot of it, often, on a consistent basis, and use various stuff. Keep moving and don't fall backwards.

Notes To Self

Even with total dedication to daily practice and playing to improve my piano, not much is going to happen unless some sort of instruction is involved. Much like my younger brother learning Spanish, I don't want to spend a bunch of money, or any if I don't have to, so lessons are out for now. Where do I get the info, teaching, or feedback I need to learn?

I have started watching and listening to other pianists play trying to see if I can figure out some bit of technique. For example our church has a jazz pianist playing each Sunday that I've come to know. At a recent retirement party for one of the church staff he played (in combo with a saxophonist) for about an hour. I found a chair behind and to his left to observe and learn. First off his was a remarkable feat of piano playing since during most of it a dozen or more children were playing nearby and batting balloons all around him. But he carried on unaffected and marvelously.

So what did I learn? I saw lots of left handed work that was at times simple, at times complicated, chromatic runs, fingers sliding, steady fluid tempo, and great improvisation. Through it all, melody is the most important element. In short a professional using the tool of his trade.


If this were golf, I have a few thousand practice shots to hit at the practice range.

Learning to play from "Fake Books"

One of my two big piano playing goals is to be able to play from a Fake Book. This is music with simply the melody, usually on a treble clef, chords above - the pianist has to provide his own accompanyment. There's really no other way to learn how to do this other than sitting down and doing it. I have started with a collection of Beatles songs in a paperback. I know the melodies, and they are written in the key that the song is performed in. So these are not boiled down, in the key of C, big note arrangements.

Not so easy either. I enjoyed tinkering with For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite, and there are some rather tricky chords in it. Still, I can only manage blocking the chords in the left hand now.

Sightreading the melody is not such a piece of cake either, and finding the proper finger on each note is not happening with any great ease. This needs a lot of work. I forget what fingers are on what notes, look down to find out, then look back up and can't find where on the page I am playing from.

Nothing smooth, but, a few moments musical! Its like cracking a big drive on the golf course or sinking a long putt, something that makes sense, and the whole reason for doing this exercise seems worthwhile.

Piano Redux, Again

Looming in a room next to our kitchen is my upright piano. I bought it shortly after my 33rd birthday, nearly 19 years ago. I still have the urge to learn to play it. Unfortunately, other things tend to take up my time, and the piano sits largely unused. So now once again, for some reason I can't explain, I find that I want to improve my playing.

There are two simple goals I have set out for myself this time. 1) learn/memorize some short pieces that I like, maybe some I have played before and need to rework, plus new stuff; and 2) learn to play songs from "lead sheets". Its this second goal that I am most interested in.

I am going to plan, analyze, or otherwise think about my methods, successes, and failures here to keep me motivated. I want to stay with it, make progress, and improve. Even tho I am 51, soon to be 52 years of age, this is a skill I have long wanted to attain, and think I can do.

Reading? When? Where?

Not a lot myself. I try but fail. People often talk about books they are reading, or books they've read. When does this reading occur? And where?

For me its usually late at night, before sleeping, and my Pavlovian response is sleep usually within about 5 minutes of finding the page I left off on, remembering what's going on, and then zzzzz .... This doesn't lend itself to actually finishing books or much involvement in the story.

So the answer must be not lying down to read, and reading earlier in the evening or day. But that's when other stuff is going on.

And I've got stuff I want to get to.

Isn't it ironic

How convenient. With nationalized healthcare just around the corner a new study comes out advising that women begin mammogram testing much later in life, and less frequent testing.

http://us.mobile.reuters.com/m/FullArticle/p.rdt/CHLT/nhealthNews_uUSTRE5AF5OS20091116

Undoubtedly this study will be used to ration healthcare. I suspect a rash of similar studies to support cutting corners and treatments. While some may actually have merit it will be difficult to tell - simply because I don't trust the government with healthcare decisions. Leave those choices to doctors and their patients.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod Touch. -

Nothing to see here

Facebook has sapped all my strength, and I barely use it. Blogging is hard work. I have nothing in the bag anymore. What is lefty that hasn't been said?

Occams Razor or What I Learned From The Simpsons

... or subtitled What I Learned While Watching the Simpsons.


Occam's Razor: from Wikipedia

To straightforwardly summarize the principle as it is most commonly understood, “The simplest explanation for a phenomenon is most likely the correct explanation."

Until I saw this episode of the Simpsons, I had no idea of what Occam's Razor is.

A New Push To Play God From Washington

Beautiful article by Thomas Sowell ...

A New Push To Play God From Washington

Shared via AddThis

I have also begun reading Mark Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny". Need to make quick work of it tho, since its from the library and there's another HOLD on it.

Obviously Presbyterians

And they thought my idea of an Uncle Sam theme (groomsmen in red, white, and blue tuxes, and groom in US suit) for my wedding was over top. I don't think this would've played well 26 years ago in a Baptist church in Sulphur LA.

Don't Call Them Dummies

Ventriloquists take offense at the word "dummies."

The performers brought their dummies along for the trip too."[They're] wooden Americans. They don't call them dummies," Ferrese said.

Probably from Native American Pine trees.

That had to sting

Ouch! Anthony Kim's drive on 18 gets a bad bounce. I saw this live and it made me laugh then as it does now.

Tea Party July 3, 2009 Austin, TX

Another Tea Party here in Austin this morning and I managed to get out and attend again. This time out among the oaks in Zilker Park. The shade provided some relief from the heat, but not much. Still quite a few Austinites showed for the event. I went with my friend Philo who posts his pictures here, and here.

Another friendly crowd - pleasant, enthusiastic, and cordial. Several speakers, most with genuine passion about the political dilemmas we find ourselves in today. Joe The Plumber was the keynote speaker.

As a Conservative, I think I feel like the Generals who play the Harlem Globetrotters night after night, and get beat routinely. We play sound ball, by the rules, and compete fairly. All for naught as the 'trotters have the razzle dazzle, get all the calls, go behind the official's backs, make lots of noise, have the press is behind them, and don't forget the bucket of confetti thrown on the crowd - a good show, but nothing of real substance.