More Oregon saltwater

The Hobbit trail



The Hobbit trail



The Hobbit trail



The Hobbit trail



Where the Hobbit trail leads.



The Hobbit trail is a few miles south of Yachats and just north of Heceta head where one of the last operating lighthouses still works.
It's a national park and it is being restored as we speak.
The coast trail leads from the lighthouse and connects to the Hobbit trail.
It's a four mile round trip from the parking lot at Heceta head.
More pictures later.

The weather here in Seattle is cold and damp with the sun peeking through every once in a while just to rub it in.

"You want to ride, don't you" it says mockingly, "Why don't you, you wimp, afraid of a little cold'n'wet are ya?"

The 2 violin concerto is at the point where it doesn't get better after hours of work.
So I guess it's done.

A local blogger who attended the Cornish's "Drums along Pacific" concerts made a wish that someone write a concerto for strings and crumpled paper.
Apparently as a joking comment on the various and sundry instruments used at the concert.
Brake drums, garbage cans, coffee cans, etc.
Now, is the winter of my considering that absurdity.
When you start to think about it, all the different kinds and weights of paper, from
thick card stock to fragile tissue, and the different sounds you could get by crumpling the stuff in different sized containers, why the imagination is made glorious summer.


Which is something the weather seems unable to do.

Molly on the shore

Driving through the chimeric mists to get to this.










More later, got to do stuff for the house in time to get to the Drums Along the Pacific festival tonight.
Last night's show was Henry Cowell.
Tonight it's Lou Harrison
Saturday it will be John Cage.
And Sunday will feature Gamelan Pacifica.

But now I must go to the store.

See Y'all later

Splash

New high speed connection works.
At last!

I've still got to process the rest of the pictures (mainly make them smaller)

More later, I've got to get back to the Concerto.

Holy hot Pumas, Batman

Yesterday we enjoyed the Symphonia Northwest's concert.
Bryan Schenkman played a piano concerto. Mendelssohn's I think
The orchestra played Berlioz' Beatrice and Benedict (from the Shakespeare)
And a symphony from somebody you've heard of before.

Spend an hour getting around the lack of a CD drive (you can load the CD stuff on a portable whatchacallit and use that for the installation)

And of course, that worked real good.

And also of course, the thing still doesn't work because between the time the wire was installed and yesterday, the jack has gone dead.

Anyway I'll be processing the trip pics soon.

I hope the one with Meredith wrestling the whale comes out ok.
The light wasn't right and the delay built into the shutter release makes it hard to time the moving bits.

After not listening to the 2vln concerto for a week, it sounded terrible listening to it when I got back.

So it's back to work on that.

My sentiments exactly

From the blog of one who knows what she is talking about but mainly agrees with me.

The concert concluded with a taut performance of Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique". In spite of the orchestra sounding a bit sterile, Slatkin coaxed the ensemble to give their best effort. Slatkin offers a sense of polish and refinement but he lacks the highly charged, dripping-with-intensity dynamism of a Gustavo Dudamel or Michael Tilson Thomas. I can't help but wonder what the Seattle Symphony might sound like with a truly charismatic and vitalizing force on the podium.

Word!

I hate the academic process of dividing music up into styles, schools, or eras.
Music is music, some of it is great, and some of it is garbage.
More of the classical is garbage because it is under the control of schools

There is absolutely no reason why classical music can't rock (see Beethoven's seventh last movement)(O.K. listen to it)

...for instance.

And, in a related story.

Happy birthday to Johann Sebastian Bach, the worlds first and arguably greatest jazz keyboardist.
Not as funky as Thelonius Monk, but considering the oppressive times he endured, a genius nonetheless.

I will in an hour or so be going to the Lutheran church up on Phinney Ridge to listen to the six suites for solo cello as performed by a humongous number of cellists.

I can't get two of these people together for a recording of my cello duet.
Maybe my music isn't as good as J.S.B.
Ya think!

Also I've been informed that the Great Elgar cello concerto was not immediately successful.

Yeah, well...neither am I.

So toodles girls, I've got to go dress up in my slick clothes and pretend I might be sombody

Tempus is fugiting and I must go chase it down.

Dining out

We stopped at a small diner in some little town on our way to the coast.
The waitress said the special of the day was Hot Lynx.
I said what the hell, I'll have that.
But they were out of that and I had a sausage instead.

I've never eaten Lynx.

Or Bobcat.

...I did have a bite of Lion once, but that was self defense.

Huffin'n'Puffin

Nice day for a ride.
First some work on the concerto, major surgery, to be exact.
What was once in the first chapter is now in the second inning and what was once in the second paragraph is now in the third act,
But it wont stay there, just doesn't fit.

Thence to the Jack in the Box for a teryaki bowl and to Fred Meyers for some provisions to leave with the security team who will be guarding the place while M and I while away some hours on the Orrygun coast hoping for some wintry weather to churn up the surf and create some nice splashery on the rocks and blowholes.
We will take pictures in hopes of frightening certain fun-loving Texans who shall remain (pseudo) nameless.

Hence and heretofore the ride;

From here to the head of the Chief Sealth trail (pictures in an earlier post) and on to a side hill jaunt to the ridge on Beacon Hill.
It's a long pump up sinewy paths and fast coasts down similarly spaghettioid paths.
Once at the top the road leads to Jefferson Park where I made a right turn at the north end of the golf course and wended my way to McClellen St. which is a very steep four block hill down to Rainier Ave.
When I was a kid on my 3 speed Phillips my paper route used to end here and I used to pedal the hell out of the first block and hang on tight for the rest of the drop.
Got airborne over the ridge of the last block.
I would swear I was touching 60.

I would so swear now that I'm a grownup anyway.

I didn't swear when I was a kid.

(several months ago).

Besides, today there was traffic and construction had closed off all but one narrow lane (no relation) so I ground down my brakes a bit and kept it under 20 and stopped to let the cars and busses go by.

After that, It's pretty easy to get down to the lake and the usual eventual climb out of Seward Park

I had planned on riding the whole of the Waters street hill but cars got in my way so I took a side trip about half way up and cruised around a bit to get the trip meter up to 14 mi.

Distance, 14.6 miles
Time, 1:36:58 hrs
Average speed, 9.0 mph
Max speed, 27.4
Odometer 1181
Temperature 56 deg

I still need an outer front chain guard so that I don't have to spend so much time looking down at the gears to make sure it goes in the right place.
It either won't shift at all or it falls off the gear completely.

Ta for now, see you guys in a week.
You may talk amongst yourselves.

aaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

I've been asked for a primal scream in the 2vln concerto.

I got one gratis when Quake played my "Aspice Quod Felis Attraxit".

I thought there was no place for a scream but on relistening, I remembered there was.
It wasn't a primal variety, however
More like a frustrated one.
Right when the full orchestra is ponderously pontificating it's privileged puissance and totally ignoring any attempts of the duetists to bring in a note of common sense.
By moving one note up a minor second and extending it another breve or so, it becomes bone-chilling.

Three movements;

I "Dancing backwards"
II "Oy Gavotte"
III "Victory dance"

What I said about yesterdays post has turned out to be not true
I'm still with my slow hookup.
Everything is fine except when I go to insert the installation CD I am reminded that it's gone
It broke and I took it out and there's nothing but a empty hole where it once resided.

Gigs and gigs

This will be my last post on my slow hookup.
Just installed a super duper fast modem and a seat belt on my twirly rocky chair.

Now where was we?

O yeah the opera was great especially the Schoenberg.
The Bartok was also s'mpn else but the Schonewhatsis. was a delicious mind trip.
All done up as a dream time drama.
A nightmare which is a better thing than the reality it hides.
Woman goes crazy in a 30 minute moment between consciousness and the un-version of same.

Whew!

Sunday was the Seattle Phil concert.
All America concert.

George Gershwin.....O.K... he's a staple of 20th cent. Amer. music.
Always have a few cans in your larder.

Overture "Of Thee I Sing" loads of fun is sweeping the concert hall.

Richard Peaslee...neverheardofim...

"Nightsongs" for alternating Fluglehorn and trumpet. Nice enough.

Oscar Levant....Yeah him...thinks he's funny or s'mpin.

Suite for Orchestra in three terrible movements pfaghh!

After the intermission we were treated to Aaron Copland's "Billy the Kid"

One of the great composers of the 20th.

Soon to be eclipsed by yerz trooly

Also my birthday during which I received mucho attention thanks in part to Facebook and my many friends whom I've never met.
And Some whom I have.

Also got a nice homemade cake from the stalwart Mrs M, a nice set of Sennheiser earfones from Keth, and the aforementioned hot-rod DSL hookup.

Book group was also a blast esp. when they stuck a candle in a partially eaten desert and sang the song.
Never did get around to eating any of it but it looked good.
And in that company it was undoubtedly delish.

And now as of a couple hours this morn, I have abt 2 1/2 mins of the third movement 2vln concerto.
Eat yer heart out Bela Bartok, Dave Brubeck and Leroy Anderson.

Now, M is to the library gone and I will away to the piano to pretend that I'm learning something.

Buckets

So, lemme see, roof leak, gutters, CPA ,2nd mvt. 2vln concerto, school, that's about it, I guess.

Yesterday (Thurs) I wanted to got to Ann Cumming's performance at the piano store (Sherman Clay) but it started at 12:15 so I didn't have time to park at SCCC and get to town.
Parked in a lot next to Bananaroyal hall and went to Caffe Ladro for the coff&carb ritual.
I thought I knew exactly where the store was but I spent 20 minnits walking up and down 2nd, 3rd, & 4th before I found it just in time right across from Macy's.
I don't think it used to be there.
Anyway besides a collection of lesser composers, she also played a piece by Gavin Borcherd.
It was a nice meditative piece that was a major contrast to the rest of the program.
Especially the Henryk Goerecki, and the Bela Bartok,
Ann is a strong player and seems to like big full works.
I imagine that the keyboard was quite warm after the workout.

The Borcherd piece was quiet, colorful and gave me the sense of being in a vast uninclosed space waiting for echoes that came only to the imagination.

Also on the bill were Aaron Copland, Jean Sibelius, and Joe Brahms

So, after that, having a couple hours to kill before class, I ransomed the Prius and tootled on up to QA and some refreshments.

It's not what you are thinking, this time I tried out Peet's Coffee and Tea.
It's across the street from the S'bucks in the same general vicinity of the the Seattle Symphony related traffic incident.

Had a couple bags of Earl Grey and a croissant, then zipped back to Cap Hill and my 'Ol Alma Mater.

After getting my weekly dose of inspiration I slogged home again to find that the furnace had burnt out it's little spark plug.

Which wasn't repaired 'till this morning.

The weather is nice, if a bit cold, so I Took Fidelio out for a ten miler which aborted after a mile and a half due to a loose cable which cost me most of my back gears.

Brought it home and fixed it.

Works fine on the bench.

The weekend promises to be a musical one, tonight there's the salon, tomorrow there's the opera, "Bluebeard's Castle" by the aforementioned Bela Bartok on the same bill as "Ewartung" by Arnold Schoenberg.
'sposed to be a great show, won't miss it.

And If that's not enuff to curl your hair, tomorrow we once again parade up to the UW for the Seattle Phil's version of some American music.

Then, for those of us of the Book Group persuasion, there's a discussion of "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" written by somebody whose name escapes mt right at the moment.

Here's what the bike excursion was like.

Splog;

Distance, 2.2 miles
Time on the trail, 16.29 minutes
Average speed, 8.3 miles per hour
Top speed, 28.00 miles per hour
Odometer total 1167 miles.
Ambient temperature 55 degrees

Nothing to brag about but a good time was had by all, I suppose.

My luck

It's supposed to rain so the stuff gets sucked into the crack path and clogs it up.
But, no...! the sun is out.
Nice bike weather.

I might do that.

But right now I'm going back to my big computer (named "Piano") and work on the 2vln concerto.
I'm well into the second act.

I mean movement.

I've been reading Ibsen.

I found an old book of his big hits.

Just finished "Hedda Gabler" and am moving on to "Ghosts"

Seems like a Joyce fan like me shoulda' done that long ago.
But... I read whatever I can find when I can find it.

How else would I know about Xanthan gum.

However it's spelled.