History Repaired, etc.

A few things since last we met, I spent Saturday morning at the Chapel (Historic St. Mary’s City - more later), and in the afternoon we drove up to Annapolis to make sure Nordstrom’s (where “customer service” still means something) remained in business. That wasn’t necessary because there were a lot of people with the same idea and they filled the parking lot and we had to park across the road. I was also informed that there is a Coldwater Creek in the “new” center there in Parole. MFO did her part there also. That place is crawling with security. Makes one wonder. Didn’t explore the eateries, I hear there is a PF Chang’s which some people like if you’re into chains. Aside from the usual road race to the south, the return trip was uneventful.

Yesterday was a big event at Historic St. Mary’s City. As I’m sure you all know, after William and Mary gained the throne, they made the Anglican Church the “official” Church of England. So, in 1704 laws were enacted making it illegal to worship as a Catholic in a church or chapel (in England and it's colonies), and the royal-appointed Governor of Lord Baltimore’s colony ordered the Chapel in St. Mary’s City to be locked. And, it was. That act was symbolic of the end of “Freedom of Conscience” in Maryland, and once again the government could dictate how you could worship.

So, after 300 odd years, with the (nearly) completion of the re-construction of the Chapel, it was decided that it was high time to “unlock” it. Sheriff Tim Cameron agreed to undo what his predecessor had done, and yesterday it was accomplished.

Quite a crowd assembled,



the (I think I got this right) Ancient Order of the Hibernians,



our “Militia”,




several from the Society of Jesus (aka the Jesuits – who caused the chapel to be built originally), other clerics and even the Archbishop.



Dr. Henry Miller brandished the Key



And Sheriff Cameron revived the Chapel and freedom of religion!



The doors were opened!!




Of course previous to all the action there were speeches which not everybody paid attention to



And so at the end of a (long) day, the Chapel was restored to it’s full prominence in St Mary’s city



It really is worth a visit to see the chapel (along with the rest of "the City" sometime. And after that you can

DFD

Music Lessons...

Foodie day off...

A carefully orchestrated (intended) day yesterday, trying to juggle ferrying MFO to the tire place, then Leonardtown, a mow of the grasses at the digs, cleaning of the kitchen, all carefully scheduled to arrive at the Concert in Montgomery hall, exactly at 4:30 for the concert which I did (with some creative driving). I arrived to a very packed room, with pretty much every seat taken except for one in the (old) front row. So, with as much dignity as I could muster, I strode to the front and sat down just as Brian Ganz began talking. I was so close to his piano I could have touched it, and not much more from the orchestra. Any closer and I should have had a violin. Room 25 in the hall is not an auditorium, and the audience and performers are all on the same level. So, as close as I was, with the grand piano’s lid up, only after the music began was I aware that there was a conductor leading the orchestra as occasionally a mop of gray hair and a couple of hands appeared above the lid. Thankfully, Brian figured that out and lowered the lid revealing Mr. Silberschlag.

Alert readers will remember that I attended a performance of Bach’s Piano Concerto last Tuesday in St. Mary’s hall. That one had Beverly Babcock (very nicely) playing the “orchestra” part on another piano, so I was eager to see the difference with a real orchestra. I won’t get into the “best” game, this was just different. I think the orchestra served to highlight the soloist more, just because the strings are, well, not another piano and provide a different musical experience. I suppose this was more how Bach intended the piece to be played.

I think they played through the complete movement, and then a surprising thing happened which proved to be a real insight for me. You know, I/you go to a concert and the conductor stands there, keeping time with his baton, occasionally pointing to a section, and at the end gets all the accolades. How hard is that? Yesterday really opened my eyes to what a real job it is to be the conductor. After the applause subsided, they didn's start again, and Jeffrey began talking to the cellists, asking them if they could hear Brian and if they couldn’t they were playing too loud. He then asked them to be more “fluid” with a few notes, and had them play several measures until he thought it about right. He worked with the first then second violins, wanting more vibrato with this stroke, more “joy” in the first few bars, and so forth. He had the violinists play very slowly (I’m sure there is a musical description) to make sure they got the timing right, then had them play real time with Brian only playing the right hand. Then the cellists again with Brian playing only the left (bass) hand. Then Brian alone, with both hands. Then everybody. Then just the violins again. Violas. Cellos. Piano. Over an over. Stopping and starting, always with Jeff asking for this and that, occasionally sort of singing/humming for demonstration . And, apparently Jeff and Brian had different editions of music with different annotations, so when Jeff said “let’s start again at F”, Brian would have to figure out where that was, because his set of music had no “F”. This generated a series of trips back and forth between the podium and piano stool and got to be quite fun, especially when they started in different places. In the end, they played the complete movement again and I really think it was much more polished.

It turned out that this was more of an “open rehearsal” rather than a concert, and as Jeff explained it was only the second time they had played with piano and orchestra. It was another peek at what hard work it is to produce this wonderful music, obviously a work of love for them. Stuff you don’t get to see that reveals what talented people they really are. I'll revise my appreciation of conductors now. It wasn’t all hard work either, at one point they had fun talking about a cadenza, with Brian explaining that he could improvise (especially with this Baroque piece), and how this sometimes left the conductor “hanging” with baton in the air, while the soloist played on. Jeff demonstrated. Great fun.

At the end, Jeffrey talked to us about how we should listen to a piece more than once, and that the musicians by playing a piece over and over during rehearsal and so forth develop a real appreciation of some of the nuances and discover things one might not at first hear, and what a wonderful part of music that was.

All this took place between 4:30 and five, and only after it ended did I learn/remember that it actually started at four. Sigh, early dementia keeps creeping in. There is supposed to be another session sometime in October. Although the flutters will be spending a lot of October on the road, pay attention. It is well worth your time. Makes you want to

DFD

120 Weasels and more...

A very nice day yesterday for the flutters. As previewed, we went up the road to join a tour of the Smithsonian Museum Support Center in Suitland as part of the Smithsonian Residents Associate Programs. As an aside (and plug) here, the “associates” offer the opportunity for wonderful tours, lectures, classes, and so forth on a wide range of topics. You should check it out. Anyway, despite my normal apprehensions of “Driving to DC”, the trip up on Rte.4 and Suitland Parkway to the facility on Silver Hill Road was uneventful and even pleasant. The main tour itself launched from the Mayflower hotel in DC, but we were offered the option of just meeting them at the Center instead of boring into downtown. We were able to park inside the facility grounds, which was welcome, given the general conditions of the area outside the gates. Eventually the tour bus struggled to the main entrance and disgorged the complete tour, about 40 folks.

The support center (oddly, i couldn't find a link, sorry) houses archives and serves as the storage facility for most of the non-exhibited collections of the Smithsonian Museums. It has sometimes been dubbed “the Nation’s attic”, a claim they strongly disagree with. The have millions of cataloged and preserved specimens (including the famous 120 Weasels – maybe Jimmy Roberts will eventually join them) of plants, fishes, bones, textiles, fossils, you name it. It consolidated storage from all the various basements, closets, and boxes from the member museums and "the castle". It serves as a major research facility, the collect things on their own, accept donations (Teddy Roosevelt’s stuffed deer heads), and do trading with other institutions around the world.

We were divided into 4 groups (blue, pink, yellow, and green). We were slated to visit four areas, the first of which was the textile area where they are currently working on restoring and preserving a donation of the entire holdings of the (now closed) Black Fashion Museum which will eventually be displayed in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. They had several dresses and hats that they were in the process of conserving. MFO was pleased to see that the first thing they did was don the white gloves. Fascinating stuff.

Next we went to the Photography/Imaging lab and were shown the equipment and how it is used to shoot the specimens, both for preservation and exhibits. Mr. Hurlbert (one of three photographers employed by the Smithsonian) showed us the rudiments of lighting using all sorts of neat shades, reflectors, and general technical photo gear stuff. He did it in what he called “table top” shooting. For my photographer friends, let it be noted that the Feeder held in my hand an over $30,000 Hasselbland "system" (along with Mr. Hurlbert’s). It was a 50 mega pixel unit, and each image was around 280 megabytes! As part of his talk, he said that despite the digital age, the best pictures are still film (which he uses in his personal life). He also stated (with MFO’s agreement) that film images are the best for archival purposes. Properly stored, they will last (almost) forever, and they will always be there. He warned us that pinning your hopes on digital means you have to upgrade the software for “reading” them continuously, store them on at least two dedicated hard drives. He showed us some images he’s doing on Northwest Indian wear that were just beautiful.

We then took a break for a “gourmet” box lunch billed as: ‘Grilled lemon oregano scented chicken wrapped in a whole pita with chopped tomatoes, red onion and Feta Tzatziki yogurt sauce. A side of Broccoli with red pepper salad and a chocolate truffle brownie with nuts for dessert”. Reality was that it was two half pitas that had separated top from bottom, the tomato was sort of whitish slices, and the chicken portion was not large. The Tzatziki was pretty good for dipping. The broccoli at first appeared to be cauliflower, as it was pale white. The structure did in fact appear broccoli like but the taste was no clue, as it was sort of pickled. The red pepper turned out to be one strip.

Thus fortified we started the afternoon half with the fishes. Not swimming with, but observing. You know those bottles of staring fishes you see in museums? Picture thousands of bottles neatly stored in collapsible storage, all labeled as to specie and place of collection. They have several “type” specimens which are sort of the benchmark for a particular species. They are used extensively for research (what’s this fish?). When somebody asked if they could be removed from the bottle, Mr. Williams grabbed one, unscrewed the lid and took little fishy out for us to see. Again, properly stored in alcohol (151 proof Bacardi) they will last almost forever. We then went to what looked like a funeral parlor, a room with many, many stainless steel coffin like boxes which contained the larger specimens (sharks, swordfish, and the like) and showed us a preserved (about) 4 foot Coelacanth (see-la-canth), a fish thought to be extinct but “recently” (~1938) discovered. Again, he reached in and grabbed a pectoral fin and shook hands with the deceased fish.

Our last stop was the Botany lab, with thousands of dried plants in flower presses. We heard the story of collection, drying, categorizing, and distribution of speciments.

Sorry for the length and in retrospect I should probably have lugged the camera, but what a great tour. And what was equally as interesting was the enthusiasm in which these people talk about their “jobs”. It’s obvious that they just love what they do. They probably repeated the same spiel to each of the four groups, but you would have thought you were the first ones they talked to. The overused “passionate” comes to mind. If you ever get a chance to tour the facility – do it.

Nothing to do?

Today (Friday) – Concert in Montgomery Hall, SMCM, 4:30

Saturday: Artfest at Anne Marie Gardens (both weekend days)

Sunday (apparently the big day of the weekend):

Noon to five: Taste of St. Mary’s in Leonardtown sample offerings (for a fee) of many of the local eateries (CD café, Café Des, Corbels, etc.)

Five: “Opening” of the re-constructed chapel of 1667 at Historic St. Mary’s City. “locked” in 1704 by the sheriff when the Anglican Church became the official church of England, it will be ceremoniously re-opened by Sheriff Cameron.

Three: Lecture series at Sotterley Plantation, a panel discussion on the future of archeology at the site.

Pick one and go!

DFD

Short Thursday

After extolling the wonders of Bach and Waffle Snacks yesterday we're taking today off.

MFO and I are going "up the road" to do a tour of a Smithsonian Facility. Report tomorrow. After swallowing hard, I'm leaving the camera home. you never know. I'll have to paint the pictures with words..

Seems like every day brings another loss. Yesterday Mary Travers passed. Being a child of the 60's, PPM was a large part of our musical firmament in the "hippie days". At least her music will live on.

DFD

Brows: high and low

Higher...

I have seen it during performances of Rev. Gary Davis, Doc Watson does it, as well as BB King (who is 84 today, by the way). At some point while they’re playing, you notice that they seem to have left the role of “performer” and joined you as “audience”. They get this sort of detached look of amazement on their face, sort of: “wow! What beautiful music is coming out here!”, and just sort of observe and enjoy along with us. Almost as if their hands have left their body and have become part of the instrument, not them. I saw that again yesterday at St. Mary’s City, where I enjoyed a concert by Brian Ganz and Beverly Babcock. They played two pieces, a Bach “keyboard” Concerto (No. 5 in F minor) and also Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (called the “Emperor”). They were such a joy to watch, they looked like they were mostly playing for their own enjoyment and were graciously allowing us to observe them. Several times during the performance, Brian would just sort of appear to be listening to, rather than playing, the music. Wow! What nice music – where’s that coming from? A couple of times he even adjusted his tie (as he was DFC) during the piece. As they say, music hath the power to, in this case, make a malfunctioning e-mails seem trivial. It was also nice to see a wide variation in age of the audience, not just stodgy “genarians”, but many young people as well. A good sign that classical music still attracts all ages. It was a great concert by two talented musicians, and not only for the music they played. Prior to the performances, Brian offered some notes about the pieces, gave some history about them (including the story of why the Beethoven was dubbed "Emperor") making it a great listening and learning experience. And not only that, their “page turner” (a complicated musical term) was Jonah Yeh, that insouciant young pianist of great talent and promise. Even he seemed to be enjoying the fun. If you would like to have more fun, there will be another edition this Friday at 4, in Montgomery Hall 25, and will have Jeffrey Silberschlag and the college Orchestra. Same pieces. Get out and listen to real music. It’s good for you.,.


Going Lower:

While wandering the aisles at Giant the other day (I think the same trip that resulted in the top sliced buns), I came across a little display that brain flashed me back to my youth. It was a little bag of:



I seem to remember that they came in some sort of tube, but anyway I picked up the package and brought it home. I think all good snacks involve cheese and these are no different. If you remember, it is composed of cheese like material between some almost cardboard like waffle wafers. Somehow the combination just works and, as you know I'm a big fan of "what works".




And even the serving fits, some have busted apart (for all you Oreo lovers) some are cracked, so you get to pick the one that’s most pleasing to you.





A great little snack from the past.

And speaking of snacks, it reminds of a time when we had an interesting discussion as to what constitutes “bar snacks”. You know, those little bowls of something that often sit on the bar that increases your salt intake and makes you thirsty? After much discussion we concluded that the main qualification is that it has to be orange. Think about it. All those “mixes” contain orange bits, cheetos, cheez its, bbq fritos, Doritos, what color? Orange. A rule of life..and after the bar

DFD