Fit To Print

 I've now had two piano lessons with Philip A., with a third one coming up next Thursday.  So far we have got through the two Scarlatti sonatas, the Haydn sonata, and two etudes by MacDowell.  Chopin and Brahms are left for next week.  The changes he proposes are always simple ones, and they involve physical as much as musical changes.  I have always played with a lot of physical tension, and Philip has worked tirelessly with me to make my body's job easier.  Right now my elbows have been freed up (again) and there is a marked difference in my tone and agility.  However, some of the musical changes are proving tricky to change, as I have been playing them "my way" for so long now.  Things are the kinds of changes that are easily fixed early in the study of a piece, but prove much more difficult to correct after a year.  Anyway, my practice sessions have become much more interesting and focused.

Philip's 7th program in the complete Beethoven sonatas has of course been postponed.  But he now has a date of October 29th.  He is calling the program "The Fabulous 50s," which is hilarious.  He will perform the Op 53, 54, and 57 sonatas, as well as an alternate movement Beethoven wrote for the Waldstein sonata.  I have asked him to play for me next Thursday, after my lesson.  He will play the original slow movement from the Waldstein, and then the alternate one.

In music listening news, Friday was a full moon.  In addition to baking a moon cake, we listened to a complete opera again.  This time it was Berg's Wozzeck, one of our very favourite of the repertoire.  Several years back we were fortunate enough to hear it performed live at London's Covent Garden.  We had to forgo our weekly episode of M*A*S*H and a martini, however.  A delicious German Weissbier went well with the opera.

In TV viewing news, we have been watching two older series on Britbox.  Cranford is a series of stories written by Jane Gaskell, all taking place in a small, backward English village in the 1840s.  And we have also watched a few episodes of Father Brown, a large series of short English  mystery stories originally written by G. K. Chesterton.  And in reading news, I am just into my tenth book of the month, short stories by James Blish.  Afterwards I have some short stories by August Derleth awaiting, and a novel by James Branch Cabell.

Here is a list of the movies watched lately on Criterion.  Sorry, no posters today.  Deb's two recent choices were His Kind of Girl, from 1951, and The Green-Eyed Blonde from 1957.  The blonde was played by a young Susan Oliver.  My two recent choices were Zatoichi Goes To The Fire Festival, and a recently restored indy film called Queen of Diamonds, from 1991.  I liked Queen a lot.  It owes much to Chantal Akerman, and is about the empty life of a young woman who deals black jack at a casino in Las Vegas.

I went along with Deb today to visit her mom, my 2nd visit.  She is doing well, and was quite lucid, much more normal than the last time I saw her.  She seems to be adjusting to her new home, and the people there.  Afterwards, I did something I haven't done in over a year and a half; I went to a brewery taproom!  There are three in downtown Kingsville, and I was able to walk the mile or so from the LTC home.  I added another stamp to my ale passport, the first one in a very long time!  I enjoyed a free flight of four ales today, and took home 4 cans of their different ales.  What a treat!  Deb picked me up afterwards and drove us home.

I visited Kingsville Brewery taproom today, a real treat!  I enjoyed my free flight (comes when you purchase a passport), and came home with 4 cans. 

A follow-up image of the new couch in action.  My daily afternoon reading session goes something like this. 

Auf wiedersehen!

Mapman Mike