May 25-27
*A most agreeable MemDayWeekend, with a smattering of yard work 'midst the general relaxation, as well as occasional visits with neighborhood canine pal Tasha and her weekend guest, the aptly named, sweet-souled Pokey.Other highlights include: a Sunday afternoon-evening dinner party with our friends' new neighbors, who prove to be quite familiar with many of our acquaintances in area folk music and dance circles -- an intriguing development, indeed; and watching a demonstrably, frustatingly flawed but spirited Celtics team complete the comeback of all play-off comebacks on Saturday...only to exhibit, and succumb to, their limitations on Monday.
*Family hosting OD's historical fiction workshop has innovative -- and meaningful -- idea for observing Memorial Day: hosting a dinner of Italian spaghetti and Japanese vegetable, using GI-style tin plates, cups and cutlery. Honor the combatants, not the combat.
*Viewing: "The Ninth Gate" -- for all the pyrotechnics, it seems a rather pedestrian Roman Polanski work. Johnny Depp, as an amoral rare books dealer embroiled in the Search for Satan, and Emmanuelle Seigner -- his guardian angel, in the loosest, and most ironic, sense of the phrase -- ain't exactly Tracy and Hepburn, or even Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. At the risk of offering a minor spoiler, here's a cinematic truism: In any thriller/suspense movie where a character uses a mechanized wheelchair, you can be sure that the device will somehow figure prominently in his or her death scene.
May 20-24
*Ahhh, the last production cycle of the year, as the campus becomes a flowery vale of near-silence. My window's open, the neckties are all back home, and something approaching serenity abounds.*More morris dance retrospectives:
Somerville Garden Day (May 4)
Lilac Sunday (May 12)
...and, courtesy of our English visitors, another view of the May 11 Day of Dance.
*Recent musical acquisitions:
==
May 13-19
*Was there truly nothing else taking place this period, other than the Photoshopping of digital images shot at morris dance events whilst recovering from same? Well, actually, not much -- just preparing for the climax of the academic year, and figuring out how to shoehorn all the material into our last issue of the semester. That, and working out a schedule for Red Herring and Banbury Cross to finish out their respective seasons.The weekend is notable for a very cold rain that briefly turns to sleet (and snow elsewhere), prompting many glances at the calendar to be sure we are, in fact, halfway through May. Some house-cleaning and rock garden construction takes place, and Sunday night I go play again at O'Hanlon's .
*Recent musical acquisitions:
==(Mix) The Mollys, "Tidings of Comfort and Joy"/Billy Bragg/Dick Gaughan/Chumbawamba/Pogues/The Men They Couldn't Hang--The Mollys have always seemed to me a good band to catch live: Their repertoire tends to the old faithfuls like "Finnegan's Wake" and "Drill Ye Tarriers," but they appear to have a gosh-darn good time playing it. Other material of note on this mix includes the Pogues' wonderful "Fairytale of New York," a characteristic Shane MacGowan blend of love and hate, for self and others, and a spirited Billy Bragg-Dick Gaughan duet of "The Red Flag."
==Vic Gammon and various others, "The Tale of Ale" -- Ah, where would the morris dance community, or the folk revival itself, have been without this classic? As the subtitle puts it aptly, "The Story of the Englishman and His Beer," told through recitations from Shakespeare and Stubbs and through songs that have been sung at innumerable gatherings like that related in our May 12 entry. Fine performers, too, such as Barry Dransfield, the late, lamented Peter Bellamy, and Roy Harris, who was born to sing "Nottingham Ale" and "The Man That Waters the Workers' Beer."
==Leo Kottke, "6 and 12-string Guitar"--Popularly known as "the armadillo record" (because of the album logo), this is another classic albeit from a whole other revival. More importantly, it's just a damn fun album to listen to, as well as a groundbreaking one -- both in terms of its close-miking technique and Kottke's ability to mix respect with irreverence for the old-time/country/blues idioms. Then there are the titles: "Coolidge Rising"? "The Driving of the Year Nail"? And, of course, "Vaseline Machine Gun," which is still a great piece after all these years.
*Viewing: "Hearts in Atlantis" -- Sweet-souled reminiscence of a less-than-idyllic childhood in 1960 Connecticut, as fatherless 11-year-old Bobby tries to overcome the disappointment his mother inevitably causes him (while she compulsively becomes involved an affair with her boss) through romps with his two close friends and then, the arrival of Ted, a mysterious, haunted older man. It's somewhat similar to "Whistle Down the Wind": neglected child ascribing otherworldly status to a stranger who has, at best, a shady past. Wisely, Stephen King and screenplay writer William Goldman tell this story almost completely through Bobby's eyes, so much so that by the end Ted (portrayed with aching sadness and care by Anthony Hopkins) comes to seem a very fallen angel.
May 12
Lilac Sunday promised to be quite the test for OD's and my energy reserves: In the morning, I would dance with Red Herring, she with Team X; then, we would anxiously await the arrival of any erstwhile Banbury Cross members, go through the planned program, and head out on the afternoon tour.Sure enough, the morning is cloudy but comfortable (and made further pleasant by visit by Mum and family friend), and after a heady processional and come-all-ye-who-will rendition of "Step Back" we Herrings hie ourselves to the Arnold Arboretum front gate for a fairly leisurely program, including "Froggy's First Jump,", which afford me the opportunity to play the ole constantscreamer. Back at the pond, the rain started, but along with Team X we were able to get in our show dance.
The deluge continues, alas, but Banbury enthusiastically lobbies to get at least one dance out of this whole mess, and offers a crisp "Webley Jig."
Displaying at least some sense to get out of the rain, the assembled dancers and hangers-on make for Doyle's, where we settle in for an afternoon of conversation and consuming and, inevitably, loud choruses. The younger dancers, meanwhile, mercifully found their own corner from which to view, with no small amusement, the proceedings.
That's about it, really: Home to watch the Celtics continue their delightfully unexpected postseason march, followed by our usual Sunday eve Fox comedies, and to bed (well, for me, anyway).
[Complete series here.]
May 11
Red Herring's annual Day of Dance takes on a transatlantic flavor, with the participation of Headcorn Morris from still reasonably bucolic Kent. A sizeable group, with separate men's and women's sides, they are definitely older overall than most teams we're used to, but spry, vigorous and fun-loving -- definitely something to aspire to, I'd say. Their philosophy of performance, per se, seems pretty ambitious: weekly dance-outs and a ceilidh at an assortment of pubs as well as special events and appearances from May through August. In any case, they clearly love what they do and are damn good at it.So, daughters and I car-pool with neighbor and fellow Herring George for the jaunt up the North Shore, and are rewarded with fabulously pleasant dancing weather. RH debuts a nifty new dance, "Car Park and Garden" -- one of those break-the-mold type of dances found in some morris traditions -- and in general gives a good account of itself.
Our equally traditional and highly anticipated lunch stop yields no singing, but plenty of dances in tight spots -- including an attempt at rapper sword utilizing table knives.
The apres-dancing dinner party is also most pleasant, with some enjoyable jamming (fiddle, squeezeboxes and even an Uillean pipe) and tasty, filling food. Long may this run.
Oh, yes, a pictorial travelogue of sorts is available here.
May 10
*Trying week, replete with scheduling changes and/or potential snafus relating to both work and play. Then, during the wee hours of Thursday morning, our increasingly erratic car alarm decides to express itself for no discernible reason (other than, perhaps, a failing battery). So I'm up for most all the rest of the night, and suddenly remembering what it used to be like ages ago when answering someone else's nocturnal cries.*Book completed: "Equal Rites," by Terry Pratchett -- rather more of a "family" story for Pratchett (albeit decidedly not a "G"-rated one), following the exploits of young Eskarina, who, owing to an accident of fate, has been given the powers of a wizard but no understanding of how to use them. The recurring Pratchett character Granny Weatherwax -- an elderly witch who takes an earthy pride in her craft -- reluctantly takes her in hand, and the result is a very pleasant adventure that, if it wanted to, could rival a J.K. Rowling. Not as much of Pratchett's drollery, but enough to make it worthwhile.
May 4-5
*Somewhere around 50 kids, as well as assorted family members and friends, converge on Quincy Market for the annual Ginger Ale, a celebration of kids' morris and sword dancing. And, yes, that was Banbury Cross in there, too, with yours truly sporting the general organizational badge of honor. After sweating out weather, transportation details, and numbers of dancers Banbury would have available, it was a relief -- and hardly an unexpected one -- to see how well everyone knew what to do. So, we gave two grand performances (despite some annoying near-snafus with the venue representatives) in a warm afternoon sun, and the cream of morris youth was definitely on display:http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/seansmith.geo/lst?.dir=/Ginger+Ale+2002&
A veritable kaleidoscope of the afternoon: the ultra-young Beyond the Fringe doing a border-morris version of "This Is the Song That Never Ends"; one lovely Mulberry Morris lass, with springs in her legs and boundless energy and pure joy to drive them; Team X's gorgeous sing-around of "The Parting Glass" to begin a dance concocted by squire and fore Tom Kruskal, for whom my respect and admiration grows each year; spirited rapper dances; and undoubtedly one of the largest renditions of "Bonny Green Garters" ever attempted.
...and Banbury, lest I forget, happily caught up in the festivities, yet always expressing their closeness and solidarity as friends, not just team members. Terrific dancing, too.
The dinner party afterwards was seemingly over before it really started, but I got to play some rhythm guitar for the brief contra dance session. OD is dropped off at a sleepover with friend, and I'm awa'hame.
Sufficiently recovered by the next evening, I make my now semi-regular trip to O'Hanlon's . A great capper.
May 3
Photos from May Day Eve and Morn.
May 2
Hartford has met the enemy, and he is Mister Softee. Some residents feel that the music blaring from the local Mister Softee truck is objectionable enough to warrant a call to the police. And so, after being issued several citations for noise ordinance violation, the owner was expected to go to court this week to insist those tinny, never-ending renditions of "Turkey in the Straw" and "The Entertainer" are as entitled to constitutional protection as, say, "Tropic of Cancer" or "Baby Doll." Me, I just look at it as a nostalgic harbinger of summer nights.These enterprising Hartford Courant writers, meanwhile, took another view.
April 30-May 1
*Somewhat on the fly, Banbury Cross convenes its third annual May Day Eve team gathering and sleep-over. This edition is, on the one hand, diminished in terms of attendance but hardly in terms of spirit and joie de vivre (nor in enthusiastic endorsements of "Gilmore Girls" and "Charmed"). Anyway, the kids work on a potential new original dance, cobble together a May Day Maid, bake "hedgehog" biscuits and manage to get to bed more or less by 10 p.m.May Day is clear and crisp, and we are able to get out to the Charles by sunrise to meet up with various compatriots as we sing the songs and dance the dances. Banbury gets two performances, Red Herring one, but that's fine: By the time OD and I depart (8:30 or so), I feel like I've had a pretty full morning already.
*More photos of Red Herring at NEFFA.
April 29
Have posted some photos from NEFFA. [see April 20-21].
April 27-28
*Saturday is a delightedly welcome peaceful day, which I was quite happy to while away in blissful domesticity. Among other things, we take in a viewing of "36 Fillette," a portrait of 14-year-old Lili, literally and metaphorically bursting out into young womanhood with little clue or judgment. Delphine Zentout does very well in portraying early-teen mercurial awfulness -- Lili's attempt at a come-hither look easily morphs into a scornful glare -- and the palpable unpleasantness of her initiation into sex makes a far better case for abstention than a fundamentalist tract.That evening is a family viewing of "The Book of Stars," for which the term "well-intentioned" could have been invented. The premise certainly leaves nothing to chance: Jena Malone is the doomed but upbeat teenage Mary, living alone with her disillusioned druggie-prostitute older sister Penny (Mary Stuart Masterson); the two orphans are surrounded by a cast of surrogate family members and potential (or former) love interests, from an older black recluse to a lonely, wounded young refugee from the Balkan conflict. Malone tugs on the heartstrings in an honest way, but the story -- which includes Mary's intense interest in the ordeal of an astronaut on a space mission gone wrong, and Penny's halting correspondence with a prison inmate -- is just too contrived to work. Plaudits, though, for the appearance of La Mystere Voix des Bulgares on the soundtrack.
*On Sunday, OD and I go off to perform with our respective morris teams at a May Day festival in Wakefield, which unfortunately has to be moved into a somewhat cramped church basement because of unremittingly bad non-April weather. Winds up being more of an event for morris dancers and their family members and friends, but still a good time.
*Is there a Douglas Adams fan working the ESPN.com site? On Sunday, Philadelphia 76er star Allen Iverson, whose nom-de-sport is "The Answer," summoned up a gritty, heroic performance by scoring 42 points and helping his team stay alive in their playoff series. The lead headline on ESPN.com later that day?
"The Answer: 42"
April 26
*Current favorite press screw-up involving a former First Lady: Wichita Eagle reports that Barbara Bush, speaking at a local community college, had joked about having "three breast sizes" during her life. Do we hear what we want to hear sometimes? Or is it really that hard to distinguish "dress" from "breast" in a community college auditorium?*Non-eventful performance at the annual BC Arts Festival for very small but generally appreciative audience. Offered up medleys on concertina and bouzouki, and a couple of songs I should probably add to my repertoire list sometime soon. Probably not the best use of my time, to be honest, but there's something to be said for just playing for the helluva it.
April 22
*Leftover conversation from NEFFA, with firefighter spouse of an old college friend of mine. Had to ask what kind of post-9/11 phenomena he'd experienced, and he said that in the first several weeks people were dropping off baked goods galore by the firehouse. Then a long-time high-ranking fire official retired, a fella who, it turns out, had apparently done some small but significant kindness for the community on his own dime for all the years he'd worked. Predictably, the community expected somehow that the department would pick up where he'd left off -- but when this didn't happen, well, adieu to the goodwill, and the baked goods.*Book completed: "The World Below," by Sue Miller -- The way into this story seems very familiar: middle-aged, educated, professional, contemporary woman, dealing with family-related change (pick one or more: death, divorce, adult child's crisis), in a New England setting. But Miller offers a refreshing parallel story, albeit through a somewhat clumsy literary device, i.e., the journal of the lead character's recently deceased grandmother, chronicling a long-kept secret from her youth. Miller's dissection of interpersonal relationships and communications, a trademark of the late-20th century, works perhaps better than expected in an earlier setting, and thus makes the elegiac ending as moving as it is.
April 20-21
*No question I do better at NEFFA when about all I have to be concerned with is dancing, or taking pictures of others dancing. But having top administrative positions in two morris dance teams, one of them an all-kids' side, invariably means you have more than a little on your mind when a performance comes around. A good thing, then, that Red Herringand Banbury Cross were scheduled for separate days.Saturday was RH's set, which went very well -- our stick-tossing stick "Fireworks" came off with nary a hitch, nor a drop. I also attended a bodhran workshop given by old acquaintance and sometime session-mate Mance Grady, which didn't yield a lot of obvious or immediate wisdom, but will, I trust, be of benefit nonetheless. Heck, watching Mance give a five-minute-plus solo would've been worth the price of admission, if I'd had to pay. Also, yes, got in a bit of playing in the hallways, so each instrument I brought along was able to get a work-out.
Banbury was up on Sunday, a little chaotic at first with the arrival of a couple of people I didn't necessarily expect to be there. But when they got going, the kids did just fine -- good spirit and energy, and most importantly, the expression of "team." OD did double duty, having her debut with Team X, the prolific high school-age ensemble. At one point, Team X came out with three sets of dancers at once, 18 in all, which not only was impressive visually but made the hearts of us older morrisers gladden -- knowing that future replacements are in great store.
As full and enjoyable as the weekend was, I still came away feeling as if I hadn't really done enough. I tend to spend a lot of time in the morris and sword performance area, catching up with friends and acquaintances I seldom see for months at a time and watching what kind of new stuff teams have concocted. Maybe next year, when I expect to be free of my administrative morris duties, I'll branch out a little more.
April 12-15
*OD goes off to western NY for a very small-scale camp reunion, leaving the remaining three of us to feast on shrimp and watch "Artificial Intelligence (AI)" -- the familiar Spielberg themes (abandonment, quest for redemptive humanity) move to a grim future, where a couple seek to fill the void left by their all-but-dead comatose pre-teen son through a cyborg -- created, as it turns out, in the image of its maker's own dear-departed son. Haley Joel Osmont, as the mechanoid "David," is compelling to watch as he observes and experiences the often painful intricacies of human relationships -- including betrayal. But once David's quest begins in the most literal sense, the movie comes off its moorings and the images of post-apocalyptic American society (well-done as they are) tend to overwhelm. The final portion of the movie -- purporting to show David's apotheosis -- was an unfortunate miscalculation. Oh, and about the teddy bear...any time he said "David," all I could think was "Goliath."*Gorgeous weather abounds, as we (well, LW, mostly) try to come to grips with taxes and house finances. With almost as much passion, the Red Sox take three of four from the Yankees at Fenway, throwing the local fandom into the requisite paradoxical mix of paranoiac caution and unadulterated joy. Walks around the block, some tidying up, and I'm away to my current favorite musical haunt, O'Hanlon's , where in between a fair amount of bodhran-playing I'm able to formally commemorate the addition of "Poverty Knock" to my
April 8
*Book completed: "Eating Fire and Drinking Water," by Arlene J. Chai -- Unfulfilling novel of anonymous South Sea island nation sliding into turmoil, told for the most part by young female journalist who finds herself inextricably linked to the events she covers. But the continuing shift in narrative voice is awkward and annoying, and too many of the characters seem stock or one-dimensional (Corrupt President, Venal First Lady, Mysterious Tycoon Who Had Illicit Affair with Girl On Wrong Side of Tracks). Finally, too much stilted, cliche-ridden prose offsets the occasional more colorful and evocative writing.
*Viewing: "Felicia's Journey" -- Tightly-wound Bob Hoskins as a seemingly mild-mannered recluse who fritters away his culinary talents in a catering firm, and spends his spare time preying on vulnerable, isolated young women; he seems to be channeling equal parts Norman Bates, Chance the Gardner and Christopher ("No Way to Treat a Lady") Gill. Into his life comes pregnant but still wide-eyed innocent Felicia (very believable portrayal by Elaine Cassidy), searching for her runaway boyfriend. Hoskins' psychotically smooth efforts to assume control over her, and her destiny, are suspenseful, but the climax somehow seems too restrained for its own good. Classic '50s pop soundtrack featuring Malcolm Vaughan, with a spot-on cameo by Kate Bush's "The Sensual World."
April 5-7
*Ahhh (*)sigh of contentment(*). First Friday night Red Sox TV game of the year, which turns out to be a near-no-hitter for Derek Lowe. And I'll reiterate my belief that Orioles manager Mike Hargrove bears an uncanny resemblance to Dean Wormer of "Animal House."*Grumble (*)mutter of discontent(*). Car's starter chooses to poop out, briefly, scuttling plan to go play music Sunday night.
*Ahhh (*)sigh of contentment(*). Daylight Savings Time kicks off early in April this year, much to our pleasant surprise.
April 4
*Yay. Scientists say it's OK for cousins to marry and have kids! All right, all right, I'm irresponsibly fanning the flames of sensationalism. Sorry.*Local high school baseball league, which thankfully encompasses my place of residence, is bringing back wooden bats and junking the aluminum ones -- although the decision has less to do with aesthetics and more with safety concerns. But how much better to hear a hearty THWACK than a metallic BING.
*Speaking of sensationalism, and baseball, Cleveland Indians pitcher Chuck Finley had to miss a start when his wife, alleged actress Tawny Kitaen, offered up a Midwestern version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. As reported in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, "...Kitaen kicked Finley with her high-heeled shoes while he was driving.
"'She kicked him in the thigh, in the leg, in the arm, she grabbed his ear and twisted it,' said a police spokesman. 'At one point, her high-heel shoe was on top of his foot pressing the accelerator to the ground.'"
*Viewing: "The Invisible Circus" -- Young woman sets off on odyssey through 1976 Europe, retracing the journey (or so she hopes) of her free-spirited older sister, who several years before had committed suicide at a Portuguese cliff-side. It's all clearly well-intentioned, Jordana Brewster is very appealing as the lost but determined all-grown-up Phoebe, and the scenes affirming Phoebe's ties with her sister, the curiously but somehow appropriately named Faith (Cameron Diaz, whose bug-eyed bohemianism is thankfully reined in), are poignant. But by recounting Faith's impulsive, disastrous association with Euroterrorists via flashbacks (as told by Faith's guilt-wracked former boyfriend, who has his own loose ends to tie up), the film hamstrings its own pacing. There's no real menace for Phoebe here, just a jaunt through picturesque cityscapes and rural idylls, listening to stories told by a hunky older guy.
See previous "Daze&Quirks" installment