It turned into a light week of teaching, with 4 students missing lessons. As a result I managed to get in my practicing without having to stay up late. With just over one week to go before my recital, I am feeling pretty confident. With 13 pieces on the program, some of them should go well!! My right ear is stable at the moment, with 40% hearing still gone. I dug out my hearing aid from the back of the closet, and it is ready to go if needed. So far I can still play well enough without it.
Despite a rainy day, I managed to get outside for a walk, wearing my squishy waterproof clothing. Deb stayed home and worked on the treadmill. We are now into our second week of training. We will manage 5 weeks before we leave for London.
And now for a reading report. I just finished reading #20 (of 27) in my Avon/Equinox SF series, a strange little tale by an American by the name of Hal Clement. Before I got to that book, here is what I have read since #19 in the series:
Dark Heart of Time, by P.J. Farmer. Literally one of the worst books I have ever read. Stinky.
His Share of Glory, by Kornbluth. A wealth of short stories, and totally fabulous!
King of Dreams, by Silverberg. A late Majipoor story. Flawed but always worth while.
Songs From The Stars, Spinrad. California after the Big War. Very good alien contact story.
Steppe, by Piers Anthony. History of the Steppes, made into a story. History and fun.
A novella and 3 short stories by Eric Frank Russell. He is incredible, and a favourite author!
Broken Eagle, Chad Oliver. Riveting account leading up to Little Big Horn. One of the best!
Cloud on Silver, by John Christopher. The real Gilligan's Island story. Good but flawed.
Make Room Make Room, by Harry Harrison. Overpopulation in NYC. Quite good.
Beyond The Silver Sky, Kenneth Bulmer. Classic SF, and very good! With women scientists!
Meeting at Infinity, by John Brunner. Complex tale of the future, with many layers.
World In Torment, by E.C. Tubb. The mutants take over! A good classic.
Girl From Mars; Prince of Space, by J. Williamson. Very early SF. Think Buck Rogers.
First To The Stars, by Rex Gordon. Excellent story! A new favourite author.
Tuesday, March 27th/18
Yesterday was Detroit day. 3 books were waiting at the mailbox, and one from Canada was in our home box when we returned. Only one book is missing from the last (very large) on-line order I put in. We enjoyed a sunny, mild day in Detroit, walking from Midtown to Downtown and back, with stops at Hopcat Taproom, New Order Coffee, and Whole Foods (for vegan cookies!). Downtown continues to be one giant construction zone, with 90% of it being renovations on once-abandoned buildings. There are no more abandoned buildings downtown. The new skyscraper, which will be Detroit's tallest, is blocked off and will get underway soon, too. New apartments are underway, and condos. Somehow they are managing to keep the street car system running, but just barely. And if the strong rumours prove to be true, the forever-abandoned train station in Corktown, once the symbol for Detroit's decline, will be renovated by Ford Motor Company, and used for their young engineers and high tech development, bringing about 1300 more workers downtown.
Renovations of old buildings continue in Detroit. About 15 have been completed, with about 15 more in development. Also, several new building projects are underway, or about to be. Not since the 1920s has Detroit seen such a boom in downtown development. Just north of downtown is a vast housing project underway, and I mean vast.
Here at the Homestead it was back to work today, plus a lot of practicing. Invitations to the two recitals are sent. So far, Friday seems the more popular day, but I'm hoping that Saturday will fill up, too. As for Easter weekend, Amanda and Jennifer should both be around. I might get to run through the program once and see how things are with it. I play a piece now and then for a student, but that is not the sustained period of intense concentration required for a full recital. And guess what? The pieces for the next one are already chosen.
Saturday, March 24th/18
I'm caught up on my astronomy notes. I managed to get my 4 good nights of observing in for the month. I logged a total of 48 new deep sky objects in February and March, along with a large number of double stars. It has been a very cold season, though. I am running very low on hand warmers. Things have wrapped up now until after my recital, in two weeks time. By the time I finish playing the final chord of the Liszt piece on the Saturday night, thoughts will be turning back to astronomy. I have a lot of work to do on the pieces over the next two weeks, and will be devoting more and more time to that project.
Tonight we heard the DSO perform Beethoven Symphony #7, the best of the bunch outside of the 9th. Finnish conductor Saraste lead the orchestra in a very different reading of the score, as he emphasized many of the under melodies and the wonderfully dissonant harmonies. Much of the symphony seemed brand new as a result. The orchestra performed with its usual virtuosic polish, with the wind players especially doing exceptional musical work. Even after more than 40 years, I still can not get used to the idea of an orchestra this marvellous close to where I live! And we can get $15 tickets for virtually any performance.
The walking program has been in full swing for nearly a week now. Today was our first long walk. We made it, but barely. Things had dropped to a pitiful level, and we'll be lucky to be ready for London. We hope to complete more of the London Loop, the outer trail that stretches for 140 miles around the capital. It will require lots of travelling to get to the trail each time, and then home again. We need to start staying in north London next time, instead of the south. Still, we love the area of Croydon near our hotel, with almost limitless pubs, cafes, shops, and restaurants. Not to mention the best transport connections of any major world city.
Monday, March 19th/18
And thus comes to an end another long and peaceful vacation. Back to teaching tomorrow, from 4 pm till 9 pm. Ugh. I am slowly getting my immune system back into shape, though problems with my right ear have resumed. It began with a low grade fever a few weeks back that came with a mild flu. It is ringing and about 40% plugged. I can still practice, at any rate. I got quite a bit of that done during the time off. And two whole evenings of observing. I actually spend more time preparing object lists than I do actually observing. It's kind of a sad life being an amateur astronomer. And on-going problems with my focusing mount means I will have to send it back to the manufacturers for repair. Any bets on what the sky conditions will be like when I don't have a functioning telescope?
At long last, despite cold temps and blustery north winds, the walking program is finally underway. In 28 days we should be in moderately good shape. London walking is less than 5 weeks away. Concert in less than 3. Things are going to be busy here for awhile. Upon returning from London, it's back to Iaido for the summer.
One of Deb's newest films has just been picked up by a film festival in Minnesota, and will be showing next weekend. Virtually every month she has a film or three showing somewhere in the world. Hove, England soon, too.
Thursday, March 15th/18
How time flies when you are on a holiday break. It was Detroit day today, our first visit in 10 days. We started out at Germack Coffee Roasters in Detroit, then went over to my favourite craft ale taproom/store. I tried 4 different ales, and came home with a 6-pack of 4 different bottles, most from Germany (5/6; the other was from Belgium). We left the car parked on the street, which is still free in that neigbourhood. We then walked to Woodward Ave. and took the streetcar downtown. It cost $1.50 per person for a 3-hr. fare. We went to a new and very funky and fun place for lunch. The Checker Bar has always been a downtown institution, but is now under new management. In addition to a great tap list, they have many vegan options, and the pizza we had today was one of the best. Called the "Gringo," it features their homemade vegan chorizo, spicy sauce, and a good brand of vegan cheese. Add on onions and tomatoes and it turned into a feast! And upstairs they have around 30 vintage pinball and Atari-type games. We will be back! The Twilight Zone pinball game looks really amazing, and so does the Star Wars one.
We then took the train back uptown and went to New Order Coffee, on Woodward and not too far from the station. It is one of the newer roasteries in town, and one of our favourite places to go. Then it was back to the car and out to Dearborn to visit our UPS mailbox. I had placed a large book order recently, and 8 or 9 books were waiting, along with a neat little promo package Deb received from the California film festival that Deb had been selected for (the Coffee Film again).
We just found out tonight that Deb's new "Alice" film won Best Animation at the Alternative Film Festival in Toronto! She will have an upcoming screening, but we don't know when yet.
Yesterday we received our new, improved CD storage case. It is a rotating one, with four sides for storage. We put it together yesterday (once wrong, and then correctly), and today we began to load it down. All of our CDs are now in one place, though not completely organized yet, along with our large collection of cassette tapes! There is still plenty of room left, so soon my PC games will have a new permanent home, easily accessed. Any leftover space will house our DVD collection.
I recently completed work in Auriga, a winter constellation bustling with clusters and double stars. I finished a new blog entry on some of the bigger objects, and have one more part to go. It's been cloudy since Sunday night, but we are being PROMISED 3 clear nights in a row, beginning Friday. I fervently wish this to come true.
And last but not least, about two weeks ago I began complaining to Amazon Prime that part 2 of a new series was missing from their website. I could write a long short story about how involved it was contacting them and getting them to actually understand the problem. However, as of today, episode 2 of Detective Anna is up and running, and we finally got to see the conclusion to the first story (there are 8 stories, each in two parts). It is in Russian, with subtitles, and is quite an engaging series. And the lead actress is quite wonderful. Score one for the little guy!
Monday, March 12th/18
Last night was clear and cold, and I made my first excursion of the year to Hallam Observatory in Comber for some deep sky fun. At least 8 others were out as well. It was 27 F, and I was outside for 2 1/2 hours without being cold. That is when you know you are properly dressed! I finished up work in Auriga, a winter constellation I began a few years ago, and continued work in my newest winter playground, Orion. This marks the 2nd clear night of this session--I am really hoping I can get at least two more. After that I will move into my spring work. Randy G. was out briefly, doing some photography. He got this terrific shot of me at the eyepiece, with Orion in the background.
Photo of yours truly, hard at work in Orion. Taken by Randy Groundwater.
Old Man Winter continues to bite us, with snow still flying and daytime temps hard pressed to get much above freezing. It's been a winter, I can tell you.
I am hoping to get to my 2nd lesson with Philip A. later this week. We also have a trip to Detroit planned for mid-week. And we have ordered a single CD rack for our CDs and my PC games. By the weekend there should be a dramatic improvement to our living room and music room area.
Saturday, March 10th/18
I managed a happy two hour observing session on the back deck last night, though it apparently affected my immune system. Last Wed. I had a major sinus attack, out of the blue. I somehow made it through 3 hours of teaching, though I went through a box of Kleenex. After three hits of meds it finally calmed down at bedtime. Thursday I was tired. These attacks really suck the strength out of you. Friday I felt normal again. I had a wonderful time on the back deck, but towards the middle of the night in bed, I could feel my throat getting scritchy. Today I am attacking it with zinc and plenty of rest. I will likely have to miss a clear night tonight, something that pains me deeply. It is going to take awhile for my immune system to recover from all this. We have yet to begin our walking program for our upcoming London journey. It had better start real soon, or it will not be a walking trip. That means even more pubs. Good grief.
Sometimes there are some very funny posts on Facebook. This one from yesterday still has me chuckling....
Thursday, March 8th/18
Today would have been my Uncle Jimmy's 71st birthday! Jimmy died as a result of a car accident when he was 33. Jimmy was really an older brother to me, rather than an uncle. We shared things that no one else in my family could have shared--our love for similar books, movies, board games, outdoor adventures.... And he always treated me as an equal, never as a "little brother." I'm happy that I got to introduce him to Classical music, and to astronomy. Coincidentally, I concluded my 200th book related to my Avon/Equinox SF series today. I just read "Broken Eagle" by Chad Oliver. It is not SF, but could be considered as a historical Western novel. But it is much more than that. It tells the story of The Battle of Little Big Horn. It tells the story from the point of view of a Native American, and from the point of view of a captain under the command of General Custer. And it is told by a masterful writer and an anthropologist. It is easily one of the ten best books I have ever read, and I know that Jimmy would have started reading it as soon as I had shipped it out to him. As I said, we had similar interests. The book leaves the reader with a very deep understanding of what was transpiring those days, out on the plains that I love so much (1864-76). And what was transpiring was not a pretty sight. No wonder the "empty" prairies have so much to say to me when I visit. What a fucking mess the white man has made of this world. It can never be forgiven, and never made right. What really strikes home is how much Custer comes out looking like Trump. Enough said.
All music students reported for duty this week. I am very recently done teaching, and will not have to resume until March 20th. This thought lifts my heart above my head.
The weather this week is remarkably similar to what we usually experience in mid-December. The difference now is that we are not in the beginning stages of winter, but are watching its final, painful throes before succumbing to spring. Nothing that winter can still throw at us bothers me now; I laugh at winter, as it slowly dies and makes room for new life. I will feel differently next December, though.....
Monday, March 5th/18
Today was Detroit day! We only went there once in February, mostly due to weather issues. However, the previous weekend we were sick. Anyway, we made it over today. We visited a new coffee roasters, and one of the world's more unique cafes. Qahwah Cafe in Dearborn (https://www.qahwahhouse.com/) features in-house roasted organic coffee grown in Yemen, along with some wonderful sweets. Deb bought some of the medium roast beans, as well as some green ones to roast herself. We also tried a pot of coffee (with added cardamom), and a kind of tea-coffee blend that turned into one of the best beverages we have ever tasted. Called
Jubani (medium, light roast with husks, cardamom, ginger, and
cinnamon), it must be tasted to be believed. If you think it is easy getting Yemeni coffee out of Yemen, read this Detroit Free press article about the poor owner's epic ordeal to get his beans to Dearborn! https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2018/01/13/dearborn-coffee-shop-yemen/1022161001/
We also went back to Founders Brewing in Detroit for lunch. I enjoyed a 4-glass sampler (they have about 25 brews on tap), and came home with a 4-pack of their Sumatra Mountain Brown Ale, one of the world's greatest coffee beers (it scores 99% on RateBeer.com)!! From there we walked over to Woodward Ave. and took the street car downtown, then gradually walked back towards Founders. We stopped for some more coffee beans on the way, at Ashe Supply Co. Deb purchased a bag of their blended beans, Papua New Guinean and Guatemalan.
The previous night looked clear enough to set up my scope on the back deck, but it turned out to be a frustrating experience, with more clouds than clear sky. The night before that (Saturday), Randy and Anita dropped by for a visit. In addition to a wood fire and some great eats, Randy and I went out on the back deck with Deb's 6" scope and had a look at a few seasonal objects. It was very clear, but the moon was rising and very bright. Still, it did whet the appetite for some real observing again! Anita is continuing weekly chemo treatments in London, ON, and is making slow but steady progress towards someday being cancer free. The drive to London and back, and the long wait time to receive her treatments, plus the drugs themselves, all take a heavy toll on a human being. Hopefully Anita can stay strong and persevere in a good state of mind.
Group shot, with Randy and Anita Groundwater.
It is now officially astronomy season. Except for Tuesday and Wednesday ofthis week I will be heading out to Comber on any other available clear night. I only have 3 more nights of teaching, and then I am off for 12 days. I'm hoping for at least 4 clear nights over the next two weeks. We'll see. We are expecting more snow overnight tonight, and temps are going to remain below average for the next little while. I can observe if it's cold, but not when it's cloudy. I handed in my March article for the club newsletter, and my clipboard is filled with objects I hope to see this spring.
February 28th was sunny, with a high of 61 F. March 1st was a snowstorm. Go figure. First we got 1.8" of rain on the 1st. Just north of us it was already snowing. By mid-afternoon it was snowing hard and heavy in the 'burg. We got about 3" of very heavy, watery snow. It was an ugly mess, and of course the police scanner was busy with car accidents all over the county. No use changing any driving habits for a bit of messy weather. Today was sunny and cool, but most of our snow has already melted, at least where the sun has struck.
We watched the first episode of a Russian paranormal detective series on Amazon Prime recently (Detective Anna). There are supposed to be 16 episodes. Episode 2 is missing from the line-up. I have spent the past week trying to get Amazon to rectify this situation. Do you think they can? Chat, e-mail, phone calls-doesn't matter, they are incapable of fixing it. One response was that they were sorry the subtitles weren't working, something I never mentioned in any correspondence. Still no Part 2, so we will forgo the rest of this promising series. Sigh. Dealing with mega corps or government has to be the single most frustrating experience for a human being, and yet the one that teaches us the most about communicating in the modern world.
After teaching last night, we had a wonderful full moon party. We made one of our now famous apple/pear crisps, lit a wood fire, turned on some music, and spent a relaxing night (while the snowstorm raged outside). Music was provided by Orchestra Baobab (whom we will hear soon in London!), and Jordi Savall playing music by Marin Marais, Sainte Colombe, Couperin, and Lully. One more week of teaching to survive, and I get another week off! In addition to being an intense week of practicing, I hope it is also an intense week of astronomy.
We are looking forward to a visit tomorrow evening from Randy and Anita. It's time to catch up!
Mapman Mike
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