I was trying out the new Wolfram|alpha knowledge engine/search tool this morning when I made it freeze up. The fail-screen says it was because it has "exceeded its current maximum test load." But I think it's because I asked it for all Grateful Dead concerts.
In any event, I find the fail-screen charming. I'm a sucker for a clever fail-screen.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
I Find Myself Listening To Phil Lately
I'm a deadhead. I got on the bus 27 years ago and have been listening to the Grateful Dead ever since; sometimes more and sometimes less.
When I was a young man, I tended to listen with my focus on Jerry Garcia. He played lead guitar and, as a guitar player, I wanted to study him. Then I started to pay closer attention to Bobby Weir, the young "rock star" and rhythm guitarist. I liked his style and songwriting and I began to see how complex and musically cool was his playing.
Some years back, I became a drummer. I had married a music therapist and through her started to learn more about the healing power of music. I read books on the subject written by Dead drummer Mickey Hart. I began to play in drum circles. As I listened to the band I heard more of the two drummers, Mickey and Billy Kreutzmann.
Of late, I find myself listing to Phil Lesh, Dead bassist. I'd played some bass in college, and had always kept an ear on Phil. But it seems lately that his playing is really coming through. It may be the fact that my eldest child plays bass. And it may have something to do with the increased amount of high-quality Dead live recordings I am able to listen to via the Sirius/XM channel The Dead.
My car stereo is pretty good, and the digital satellite signal is pure, so I am physically able to hear more of the bass range. And what I hear Phil Lesh play is marvelous. This holds true for the full historical span of the Grateful Dead, from mid-60s recordings of the band jamming behind blues preacher Ron (Pig Pen) McKernan through the jazzy 70s, the rock-n-roll 80s and 90s and today, as the band is reborn.
Don't get me wrong. I still listen to the whole wonderful beast that is the Dead playing live. But I am particularly enjoying Phil Lesh right now.
When I was a young man, I tended to listen with my focus on Jerry Garcia. He played lead guitar and, as a guitar player, I wanted to study him. Then I started to pay closer attention to Bobby Weir, the young "rock star" and rhythm guitarist. I liked his style and songwriting and I began to see how complex and musically cool was his playing.
Some years back, I became a drummer. I had married a music therapist and through her started to learn more about the healing power of music. I read books on the subject written by Dead drummer Mickey Hart. I began to play in drum circles. As I listened to the band I heard more of the two drummers, Mickey and Billy Kreutzmann.
Of late, I find myself listing to Phil Lesh, Dead bassist. I'd played some bass in college, and had always kept an ear on Phil. But it seems lately that his playing is really coming through. It may be the fact that my eldest child plays bass. And it may have something to do with the increased amount of high-quality Dead live recordings I am able to listen to via the Sirius/XM channel The Dead.
My car stereo is pretty good, and the digital satellite signal is pure, so I am physically able to hear more of the bass range. And what I hear Phil Lesh play is marvelous. This holds true for the full historical span of the Grateful Dead, from mid-60s recordings of the band jamming behind blues preacher Ron (Pig Pen) McKernan through the jazzy 70s, the rock-n-roll 80s and 90s and today, as the band is reborn.
Don't get me wrong. I still listen to the whole wonderful beast that is the Dead playing live. But I am particularly enjoying Phil Lesh right now.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Prom Time
Sussex Tech held their prom last night at the new clubhouse at Heritage Shores Golf Club, in Bridgeville. Colleen attended with her young man. She in a lovely chocolate gown and he in a white tux.We went along to watch the "grand parade" that starts the event; couples and groups of friends descending a palatial staircase and making a short circuit around a walkway in front of parents and grandparents and dozens of cameras.
I spent my time trying to get good photos of Colleen's circle of friends, the children of our friends (often the same, of course), and a general sense of the moment. I hope the picture at right will give you an idea. This (I hope) anonymous young couple posing after the parade for moms and dads, in front of a putting green and the carts of a few late golfers, are representative of a large crown of high school kids who, in the words of one mom, "clean up real nice."
From a parental perspective, it is astounding the amount of work that goes into a prom. For the girls there are huge decisions: gown, shoes, hair, nails, make-up, jewelry, and such. The guys have easier decisions but tend to be less prepared to wear their finery. And those rental tuxes look hot and uncomfortable. Then there are protocols to observe; to her house for photos and then to his for photos. When will you fit-in dinner?
In the end, though, the prom is meant to be fun. I will guess that it was, but direct evidence will have to wait. My young prom-goer is still asleep.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Fifth Golf Game of 2009
Sandy Schenck, Pat Susi and I took vacation time today and played an afternoon round at Jonathan's Landing golf course, just south of Dover. We all had the same meeting this morning and so it seemed a good day to try to get out and play. I had the vacation time and nothing that needed to be moved; so it worked out.
Jonathan's Landing is a low, flat, "links" style course. It sits next to the St. Jones River and a complex of marshes. And it is close enough to Dover Air Force Base that one must pause now and again to let a C-5 scream overhead.
I think this could be a rough place to play in hot weather; the bugs would be rough. But today wasn't bad at all. We had worried about rain; it has done almost nothing but rain for what seems like a month. But bad weather held off and we played a dry, if cloudy, 18 holes.There was some sort of tournament starting off a bit later, so we started on 10. We managed to stay well ahead of the tournament, made the turn with a hot dog in hand, and finished on the front 9.
I had hopes for a while that I might score a personal best, but started to fall apart a bit. I ended with a 110, with one par and a few gratifying bogeys. I was hitting some decent drives and only failing in my putting. The greens were in terrible shape; I think the rain has kept them from a regular mowing schedule.
All things taken into consideration, it was a very pleasant afternoon.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A Small Drive in New Castle County
I had a chance to take a short drive around upper New Castle County yesterday afternoon. It wasn't as much of an automotive wandering as I might have wished, but I had a little time and a reason to be up there and so I took advantage of what I had.
Colleen's Sussex Tech lacrosse team had a game yesterday afternoon against Ursuline Academy. The game was scheduled late, 3:30 p.m., to allow for the several students, Colleen included, who took the SAT that morning.
She and a few others had to drive up separately from the team bus because of the test. Few parents wanted to have their 17 year old, relatively new drivers wheeling around New Castle County -- a place they have not driven before -- on their own. So I agreed to ride along and coach Colleen in her first foray onto I-95 and some of the crowded roads of New Castle County. We took two others with us.
The game was moved away from Ursuline's home field, adjacent to Barley Mill Plaza, because recent heavy rain had left that ground too soggy. We headed instead to Hockessin Montessori School, on old Lancaster Pike, where there was an artificial turf field. The field looked great to play on but it was surrounded by a fence, with no provision for spectators, and made a lousy place to watch a game.
It didn't help that one of the Ursuline moms was loudly disagreeing with the rulings of the referees all game long. I know she cared about her kid, and she may have thought she had a point, but there's no reason to be such a huge jerk. The refs felt it too; eventually one turned and said, simply, "That's enough out of you. Hush."
After the game, Colleen and her friends wanted to ride the team bus back home. It's part of team spirit and camaraderie and I think the coaches like to go over the games on rides home and talk about what went right and what went wrong.
That left me on my own in a part of Delaware I rarely get to visit, with an hour or so of daylight and a newly cleared sky. I headed north, into Hockessin, and west on Valley Road. I cut north again and crossed briefly into Pennsylvania on Little Baltimore Road (I wanted to see if I might spot a Boundary Monument -- no luck), then continued west and south on Doe Run Road and then Corner Ketch Road. I took that to Route 72 and jogged east a bit to hop onto Upper Pike Creek Road, which I followed south to Kirkwood Highway. I love the fact that Delaware, so flat and open where I live, also includes roads that wind along small stream valleys.
Eventually, of course, I had to return to modern highways and cruise back to Lewes. I comforted myself by listening to the first part of the evening's concert by The Dead, on Sirius Radio's The Dead Channel. I'm listening to the rest of that show on the Internet Archive as I write.
I like to get out a see new things. Sometimes I can make it a walk, and sometimes it needs to be a drive. But I am thankful that there is a world to see, roads to explore, and landscapes to learn.
Colleen's Sussex Tech lacrosse team had a game yesterday afternoon against Ursuline Academy. The game was scheduled late, 3:30 p.m., to allow for the several students, Colleen included, who took the SAT that morning.
She and a few others had to drive up separately from the team bus because of the test. Few parents wanted to have their 17 year old, relatively new drivers wheeling around New Castle County -- a place they have not driven before -- on their own. So I agreed to ride along and coach Colleen in her first foray onto I-95 and some of the crowded roads of New Castle County. We took two others with us.
The game was moved away from Ursuline's home field, adjacent to Barley Mill Plaza, because recent heavy rain had left that ground too soggy. We headed instead to Hockessin Montessori School, on old Lancaster Pike, where there was an artificial turf field. The field looked great to play on but it was surrounded by a fence, with no provision for spectators, and made a lousy place to watch a game.
It didn't help that one of the Ursuline moms was loudly disagreeing with the rulings of the referees all game long. I know she cared about her kid, and she may have thought she had a point, but there's no reason to be such a huge jerk. The refs felt it too; eventually one turned and said, simply, "That's enough out of you. Hush."
After the game, Colleen and her friends wanted to ride the team bus back home. It's part of team spirit and camaraderie and I think the coaches like to go over the games on rides home and talk about what went right and what went wrong.
That left me on my own in a part of Delaware I rarely get to visit, with an hour or so of daylight and a newly cleared sky. I headed north, into Hockessin, and west on Valley Road. I cut north again and crossed briefly into Pennsylvania on Little Baltimore Road (I wanted to see if I might spot a Boundary Monument -- no luck), then continued west and south on Doe Run Road and then Corner Ketch Road. I took that to Route 72 and jogged east a bit to hop onto Upper Pike Creek Road, which I followed south to Kirkwood Highway. I love the fact that Delaware, so flat and open where I live, also includes roads that wind along small stream valleys.Eventually, of course, I had to return to modern highways and cruise back to Lewes. I comforted myself by listening to the first part of the evening's concert by The Dead, on Sirius Radio's The Dead Channel. I'm listening to the rest of that show on the Internet Archive as I write.
I like to get out a see new things. Sometimes I can make it a walk, and sometimes it needs to be a drive. But I am thankful that there is a world to see, roads to explore, and landscapes to learn.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
10 Years of Librarianiana
Happy BlogsDay (a few days ago) to Jessamyn West's Librarian.net. Ms. Jessamyn started her library-focused blog ten years ago on April 20. She's just catching up to the anniversary now.I "met" Jessamyn on-line about five years ago through the group-blog Metafilter, for which she serves as a moderator. Metafilter was my entrée into this world of on-line communities. I count Jessamyn as one of my inspirations for starting Mike's Musings, which will celebrate a half-decade this fall.
Ten years is a long time for a blog, though there are some older out there. In her anniversary post, Jessamyn muses on the slowdown in posting that all bloggers eventually experience. I think sometimes it is the case that we reach a point at which we've covered all of our personal "evergreen" topics and become reluctant to repeat ourselves. So we count on real-life activities for inspiration. And there are times when the things that happen at work, or in our families, are not really appropriate to share with the world at large.
So we slow down a bit. and, as new technologies emerge, we spread our communications over new channels, some of which stick while some fade. Bloggers, if I may generalize for a moment, are people who want to communicate with a broad audience. We're excited by new possibilities and new tools. Hopefully, we return to home base often enough to keep a blog alive.
And on occasional anniversaries, we like to look back at who we were then. Jessamyn ends her anniversary post, as I will, with a link to the first few days of Librarian.net.
Who were you ten years ago? What were you thinking? What did you write?
Monday, April 27, 2009
I'm Amazed it Made It
This package arrived for me at the office today. It is a collection of goodies from the US Census Bureau intended to help me succeed in my role as Governor's Liaison for the 2010 Census.Think "trinkets;" the kind brought by European explorers when they were trying to impress the locals in various unspoiled lands around the world. In fact, I think the Bureau staff has referred to this as a collection of "trinkets." I'll have to check my notes.
What astounds me is that the package made it at all. It has had a rough trip. I have not yet tried to unpack this thing. There's no telling what's happened on the inside.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Fourth Golf Game of 2009
I was unable to scare up a golf partner in Andy's absence (he was traveling), so I headed out this afternoon to Midway Par 3 to hit a bucket of balls (with the big clubs) and play 18 holes of par-3 pitch and putt.I decided to make it another two-ball practice round. I kept a high score and a low score for each hole. My best ball score for the first 9 holes was a respectable 31. Over the second 9, I hacked and chopped my way to a 35, to finish 12-over at 66.
It was absurdly hot today. I think we hit 90 degrees on the course. According to Weatherbug, the high at the UD College of Marine studies, by the water, was 87 and the high at the Sussex County Airport, inland at Georgetown, was 94. I know that had some affect on my play. I walked the course and carried an almost full bag. By the turn I could feel the heat. I started losing my swing to fatigue.
I was happy with the bucket of balls that I hit. I concentrated on my woods and drivers, since those are clubs I leave in my car on the Par-3 course. I may have a decent driver shot this year, though it slices. My 3-wood is respectable, and I have found a comfortable place with the hybrid 4. Off a good fairway lie, this will be a good distance club.
But I need to work on short chipping and putting. And staying well hydrated. I had forgotten how hot hot weather can be.
A Return
The Dead have returned. And this time, I think, they are back to stay. This makes me happy.
For the non-cognoscenti, The Dead are the remains of the Grateful Dead -- after the losses of Ron McKernan, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland, and most recently, Jerry Garcia -- with the addition of keyboard player Jeff Chimenti and guitarist and singer Warren Haynes.
When Jerry Garcia died, in 1995, it was the end of "The Grateful Dead." They had survived the earlier losses with replacement members who grew and evolved with the band. Jerry, however, was a center and a prime mover and it made no sense to carry on without him. The other original members, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kruetzman, and Mickey Hart, weren't finished, of course. They all had solo musical identities and continued to play (check out the Evening Moods album by Bob's band Ratdog).
In 2004, the band hit the road for a tour as The Dead, with some of the same players, but it didn't work. The band members now admit that they weren't getting along very well, they weren't really committed, and the shows showed that. I made it to one, in DC, thanks to the kindness of my dentist (Thanks, Dr. B!), and I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away.
I did not make plans to check the band out for this new tour. I'm not sure why. It might have been inertia, doubt, or general busy-ness. But I now regret it. Have a listen to the first show in the tour, April 12, in North Carolina, for evidence why. The widget above will get you started.
It came to me during the fourth tune -- He's Gone -- that this was a turning point. This song is about loss, and accepting loss and carrying on:
This tour was inspired, it is said, by the group's pulling together a quick concert last fall in support of then-candidate Obama. They found that they enjoyed the music, and the sense of common purpose. In preparation for this tour they went into the woodshed for extended rehearsal.
This time, it seems, they are not just playing the old music by rote. They are playing the old tunes, but approaching them as new. And the set lists (I follow grateful__dead on twitter for updates) show that they are digging back into the early days of The Grateful Dead and trying things that had fallen out of the repertoire in the last days of the band.
This is good stuff.
For the non-cognoscenti, The Dead are the remains of the Grateful Dead -- after the losses of Ron McKernan, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland, and most recently, Jerry Garcia -- with the addition of keyboard player Jeff Chimenti and guitarist and singer Warren Haynes.
When Jerry Garcia died, in 1995, it was the end of "The Grateful Dead." They had survived the earlier losses with replacement members who grew and evolved with the band. Jerry, however, was a center and a prime mover and it made no sense to carry on without him. The other original members, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kruetzman, and Mickey Hart, weren't finished, of course. They all had solo musical identities and continued to play (check out the Evening Moods album by Bob's band Ratdog).
In 2004, the band hit the road for a tour as The Dead, with some of the same players, but it didn't work. The band members now admit that they weren't getting along very well, they weren't really committed, and the shows showed that. I made it to one, in DC, thanks to the kindness of my dentist (Thanks, Dr. B!), and I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away.
I did not make plans to check the band out for this new tour. I'm not sure why. It might have been inertia, doubt, or general busy-ness. But I now regret it. Have a listen to the first show in the tour, April 12, in North Carolina, for evidence why. The widget above will get you started.
It came to me during the fourth tune -- He's Gone -- that this was a turning point. This song is about loss, and accepting loss and carrying on:
Like a steam locomotive,This song has had special resonance since the death of Jerry Garcia and you can hear it in the crowd's reaction and their singing along. I was also struck by the moment, starting about 9 minutes into the performance when the band performs a vocal "nothings going to bring him back" coda. Warren Haynes, who has the unenviable job of filling Jerry's role, starts to take an emotional lead both celebrating and replacing Garcia. It's the moment where I thought: this time for real.
rolling down the track,
He's gone, gone...
And nothings going to bring him back.
He's gone.
This tour was inspired, it is said, by the group's pulling together a quick concert last fall in support of then-candidate Obama. They found that they enjoyed the music, and the sense of common purpose. In preparation for this tour they went into the woodshed for extended rehearsal.
This time, it seems, they are not just playing the old music by rote. They are playing the old tunes, but approaching them as new. And the set lists (I follow grateful__dead on twitter for updates) show that they are digging back into the early days of The Grateful Dead and trying things that had fallen out of the repertoire in the last days of the band.
This is good stuff.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday at JMU
We took a quick trip out to Harrisonburg, Virginia, for a campus tour of James Madison University this weekend.
We started with a family visit on Easter Sunday in Montgomery Village, west of Washington DC. My sister Margaret and her husband Lou host an Easter party most years at their home. We get to see most of not all of my family and lots of Lou's family as well. After loads of food and a great deal of conversation, we drove south to Manassas, Virginia, where we holed up in a Holiday Inn for the night.
Monday morning, we headed west on I-66 and south on I-81 to Harrisonburg and James Madison University.
JMU is a pretty cool school. It is a slightly sprawling campus; certainly walkable but spreading 100 years of architectural history across a series of hills. A young man from Karen's church is a freshman there and he joined us for lunch and gave us his own tour after we took the official tour.
Nice place. It might be worth an application for Colleen. If she wants.
I took a scenic detour on the ride home. JMU is in the Shenandoah Valley, between a pair of mountain ranges. It was just a short hop east off of I-81 to reach Skyline Drive, which follows the tops of the mountains through Shenandoah National Park. We got to drive the northern quarter of the park. It was late afternoon on a cloudy day, but worth the extra 45 minutes or so to it added to the drive home.
I am drawn to both mountains and water. I live near the ocean, but miss mountains. So I was happy to drive in even the low mountains of western Virginia.
We started with a family visit on Easter Sunday in Montgomery Village, west of Washington DC. My sister Margaret and her husband Lou host an Easter party most years at their home. We get to see most of not all of my family and lots of Lou's family as well. After loads of food and a great deal of conversation, we drove south to Manassas, Virginia, where we holed up in a Holiday Inn for the night.
Monday morning, we headed west on I-66 and south on I-81 to Harrisonburg and James Madison University.JMU is a pretty cool school. It is a slightly sprawling campus; certainly walkable but spreading 100 years of architectural history across a series of hills. A young man from Karen's church is a freshman there and he joined us for lunch and gave us his own tour after we took the official tour.
Nice place. It might be worth an application for Colleen. If she wants.
I took a scenic detour on the ride home. JMU is in the Shenandoah Valley, between a pair of mountain ranges. It was just a short hop east off of I-81 to reach Skyline Drive, which follows the tops of the mountains through Shenandoah National Park. We got to drive the northern quarter of the park. It was late afternoon on a cloudy day, but worth the extra 45 minutes or so to it added to the drive home.I am drawn to both mountains and water. I live near the ocean, but miss mountains. So I was happy to drive in even the low mountains of western Virginia.
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