Jelisava

Little hands learning how to pick crabs / The Mountain House, Lake Chrisann / Sept. 2006

Paper goes down, we all gather 'round
The crabs are here, and so's the beer
It's real nice when they got lots of spice
Crabs get picked around here

~ Verse #10 of We Ain't Goin' Nowhere (the Mountain House version of You Ain't Goin' Nowhere)

The poetry of hands / Easter Poetry Brunch / April 2007

“Love ever gives. Forgives, outlives.
And ever stands with open hands.
For while it lives, it gives.
For this is love's prerogatives --
    to give, and give, and give.”

    ~ John Oxenham

My mother with her brother and sister at the Philadelphia Zoo: Frances, Marion, Elizabeth / 1946

   Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
     purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.

~ an excerpt from "Kindness" by Naomi Shihab Nye

Colorful Conjunto Folklorico dancers and their pint-sized audience at the New Jersey Folk Festival / April 2007

These talented young people are part of a dance troup that performs Dominican folk dances [Salves (the music of festivals for the saints) and Palos (a long-drum dance)] and social dances [e.g., Merengue, Pambiche, Valse, Sarambo, and Polka]. They were accompanied by singers and musicians on a variety of drums and rhythm instruments. Dominican music includes call-and-response singing and lots of clapping to keep the rhythm. The group's spokesperson explained how slaves from the U.S. brought square dancing and the accordion with them to the Dominican Republic. The square dancing morphed into a new dance form and the accordion, with its big sound, meant they didn't need as many musicians. According to Salsa & Merengue, dancing the Merengue is all about the rhythm and is an easy dance to learn as the accordian and tambura drum help to "lift" the feet of the dancers.

Pictures of the musicians after the jump.

White dogwood blossoms against a Jersey Blue sky / May 2007

Thoughts for the day:

1. Chris' corollary (paraphrased by me): There are hundreds of ways to do things the wrong way and only one or two ways to do something the right way. [This is a reminder to give good instructions and directions and not to assume that everyone thinks the way you do.]
   
2. Writing a blog is an interesting exercise in taking whatever is racing around your head and spitting it out on "paper" (or a keypad). Once it's out of the brain you can get on with your day. It is also a good excuse to look words up in the dictionary. [cor·ol·lar·y, n.  1. proposition that follows obviously from an already proven proposition and therefore requires no separate proof.  2. easily drawn inference or deduction.  3. anything that follows naturally.]
   

The Jersey Shore Rock-n-Soul Revue does "The Sound of Motown" at the Count Basie Theatre; on-stage Ricky Collins glows and the instruments dance / May 2007

Another amazing show by Bobby Bandiera and the Jersey Shore Rock-n-Soul Revue. The Revue is an ongoing project that pays tribute to the great artists of rock and roll. They pick a theme  (this one being "The Sound of Motown"; we also saw "Roy Orbison" and "The British Invasion") and then recreate the sound with a mix of musicians and instruments. The music comes to life with their original arrangements, interpretations, and enthusiasm. Bobby (dressed in a double-breasted, pin-striped suit, fedora, and fake mustache) opened the show with "Do you Love me (now that I can dance)". Other standouts were Layonne Holmes singing "My Guy" (I'm stuck like glue to my guy...), guest Southside Johnny joining the group for "My Girl," and the inspired version of "War" (what is it good for? absolutely nothing).   

Detail from Franciska's kitchen painting on wood, circa 1960s

I love doing research and getting lost in a topic or an idea (the blog is a wonderful outlet for my need to research and constantly learn new things). The internet is such a vast resource -- what fun to muck around in it.

Research is what I'm doing
    when I don't know what I'm doing.
        ~ Wernher von Braun

If we knew what it was we were doing,
    it would not be called research, would it?
        ~ Albert Einstein

The best (and often only) mode of transportation in Dubrovnik is your own two legs / Dubrovnik, Croatia / July 2001

The day an artist starts becoming predictable,
    he ceases to be an artist.

        ~ Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
            (writer/director of "The Lives of Others")

Elvis Presley's Gold Piano at the Country Music Hall of Fame / Nashville, TN / Jan. 2007

Here it is -- Elvis Presley's gold piano. I'm not sure if it's covered in gold leaf or gold spray paint. There is a long history of decorating musical instruments with paint and carvings. Check out this spinet made for Eleonora della Rovere, this richly painted double virginal, and a carved pipa, all at the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In comparison, Elvis' piano looks rather dull. Perhaps it needs a good motto like the one inscribed above the keys on Eleonora della Rovere's spinet:

“I am rich in gold and rich in tone;
if you lack goodness, leave me alone.”  

My sugar cubes have been supersized / May 2007

I know this is a little thing in the grand scheme of things, but it's the little pleasures in life that get you through. I like to use sugar cubes in my tea. A nice compact measurement of sweetness. You know exactly how much you're getting so the tea isn't too sweet or not sweet enough. For years I purchased the smaller-size sugar cube and now, suddenly, I can only find the “supersized” version (according to the box it equals 9/10s of a teaspoon). It has thrown my tea routine into a tizzy! Two is too many and one not enough!

The word sugar is probably derived from the Arabic al sukkar, derived from the Persian shaker, derived from the Sanskrit sarkara. (Portuguese: açucar; Spanish: azúcar; Italian: zucchero; French: sucre) According to sucrose.com, in 510 BC the Emperor Darius of what was then Persia invaded India where he found “the reed which gives honey without bees” (i.e., sugar cane). Did you know you could buy fancy decorated sugar cubes? (I didn't)