Summer Reading and Not So Very Long Ago...

Shakespeare 2009

The best of times...

 The French Royal Family Portrait.

My mother was my brother, 

and my father was my friend. 

See the resemblance? 

...

But where is Choo?

In Honor of The "American Sound"

~*~*~*~*~

What forms the American musical ethos?

Hint: It has nothing to do with Rebecca Black's "Friday". May good American music have nothing to do with this...song.

Amen.

Wikipedia, I ask you this: Must "Americana Music" be synonymous with "Country Music"? 

What makes the music of Aaron Copland sound so distinctively "American"?

Again, what is the "American" sound?

Brass? Why so much brass?

Sometimes Wikipedia is helpful: ...Don't kill me.

"The open, slowly changing harmonies of many of his [Copland's] works are archetypical of what many people consider to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit. ~*cough*courtesy of wikipedia*cough* 

Do you want to witness the vast American landscape? Try road-tripping across America. 

In fact, why not do it twice? 

You might appreciate Copland more if you do. ;-) 

You'll also appreciate fresh vegetables more than you ever thought you would. 

(But don't try to drive through Texas and New Mexico in one day. Bad, bad, bad idea. Never again.)

~*~*~*~*~*~

 In honor of today:

(please excuse the Space images.  I picked this recording because the of the sound quality. However, watch this video if you have time. James Levine! His epic conducting face.) 

Fanfare for the Common Man

(Composed by Aaron Copland)

Apparently this piece was inspired by a speech about "The Century of the Common Man" given by former vice president Henry A. Wallace. You can read the excerpt here if you are interested. I especially suggest it to all you Johnson House Sophomores. Yet whether or not you agree with his arguments, please, please spend some time listening to Aaron Copland's music. :D

In fact, go out and buy a CD that includes his Appalachian Spring*. Wake up early in the morning, pour yourself a cup of tea (toaster waffles are suggested, too), and listen to the entirety of this piece.

(*It's funny that Copland did not write this ballet/piece with the title in mind. In fact, the title came after the piece was composed. However it's hard not to think of Spring (the season) or springs (water) when listening to the piece. Why? Maybe the power of suggestion is too strong. Hmm.)

Also,
when you need a pick me up in your day, skip the drink and instead listen to Leonard Bernstein's Overture to Candide.

 
Oh, why not watch it now?

Conducted by the Bernstein himself!

(Fine, fine. Have the drink, too.)

"We would picnic by the James River...

...shielding ourselves with a yellow umbrella in a manner befitting those from the Orient."

~September 20th, 2010

Who Put The Bomp...?

Being the recovering perfectionist/type A/achievement driven Asian that I am, (ha), I sometimes feel the need to "CLEAN ALL THE THINGS" (courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half!). However, the "recovering" part of me finds daily dance parties in the kitchen a necessity. So what happens when you combine dancing + cleaning + bad biomechanics + one unfortunate-"the-dishrack's-too-high"-reach via tippy toes?

You'll wind up with some mean ol' Metatarsalgia.

So much for Ballet this summer. :-P

Ah well.

Now I have time to...
...READ ALL THE BOOKS.

Oh wait.
There I go again!
 ...

While my sister drove me to In-N-Out for luncheon (isn't my sister the best?), we listened to the radio and discovered this Doo-wop jem:

Alright, you probably think it's a weird nonsensical song. Hang in there, though. My sister and I thought it was strange the first time we heard it, too. Especially this part:

When my baby heard
"Bomp bah bah bomp "
"Bah bomp bah bomp bah bomp bomp"
Every word went right into her heart...

 Seems unbelievable that any girl/baby/pretty mama would fall for a guy when she heard "rama lama ding dong"...But maybe that's the point?

My sister guessed that the song pokes fun at the way Doo-wop music inserts nonsensical wording after heartfelt declarations. Whoever wrote the Wiki article seems to agree.
Either way, I was glad to learn that the song wasn't meant to be taken too seriously. ;-)

Silly old me! 

Ah well.

Even though I can't dance or clean all the things right now, I did try to figure out "Who put the ram
/ In the rama lama ding dong?".

Hmm.

The Edsels?

Enjoy!

If you're washing dishes in 90 degree weather,

Amuse yourself.

Practice singing harmony.

Enjoy the pitchy fiddle!

(My apologies for the rather not-so-pleasant blue screen with white lyrics. 

However I didn't feel comfortable posting the original music video

even though the Old Crow Medicine Show cover is my favorite. Their sound is a bit heavy and scratchy, rather similar to the way hot and smoggy California afternoons feel. Scratchy from all of the flies? I don't know.)

So turn away from your computer screen,

and commence dishwashing!

:)

Or you can sit on the front porch and drink a Fat Tire (if you're my sister). 

Many thanks to Han and Dr. Guy for the introduction (to Wagon Wheel, not Fat Tire). 

Oh wait!

It's summer! 

Why are you washing dishes in the afternoon?

Fry some pancakes or something.

A "Little House" Day

Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a Pioneer Woman and a friend of the Ingalls Family. I think Laura would find me too stuffy, but maybe Mary and I would get along. Maybe. 

While I don't butcher pigs or milk cows, I still find shopping for a week's worth of groceries deliciously satisfying. And of course I buy good and wholesome foods, like bacon. Oh, and dried cranberries. (And bacon.) And almond milk. (And bacon.) And frozen green beans and a package of Persian cucumbers. (And perhaps bacon again.) 

Don't worry, I only bought one package of bacon. 


Then to come home and lay bacon slices on a tray to freeze, because, you know, winter is coming (in 8 or so months). Or because I can only eat so much bacon before it spoils in the refrigerator! Even better is putting a tray of lemony-garlic onions, potatoes, and chicken in the oven to roast. (And freezing the leftover pieces of chicken, 'cause, well...winter, right?)

Didn't Ma do something similar? Except she probably slaughtered, drained, and plucked the chicken herself. And she set it to bake with Rye n' Injun bread and a pan of beans. 

OH WAIT. 

Wrong Mom. That's "Mother" (Almanzo's) who always did that.


Don't forget the sour pickles, quivering salt pork, piles of mashed turnips, and that final slice of pumpkin pie. Yeap, it takes a lot to feed a growing boy.


It takes a bit to feed a girl who-won't-grow-much-taller, too. 

While my cooking does not always turn out tasty, I still enjoy the weekend when I have time to shop and play "Little House" in preparation for a busy week. 

And there's something so fun about wrapping meat or slices of cake to squirrel away in the freezer for  later. 


Can I name my freezer "The Attic"? 


I need strings of onions! 


But I'll pass on the headcheese, thank you.

Simple Saturdays

I'm beginning to savor my Saturdays again. 

Rather than filling my weekend with half-hearted homeworking,

I leave the house and search out a grassy lawn.

You know,

the kind of lawn on which you can sit and color pictures.

..

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...And sometimes I find little treasures.

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What sort of treasure do you find?