Here you will find photos, poetry, and possibly somelight-heartedfoolishness. For the Heavier Side of JzB see my other blog, Retirement Blues. (There be dragons!)
I claim copyright and reserve all rights for my original material of every type and genre.
Every day visits* From Moose, Goose, and Orb Weaver All seized by Haiku
"Why moose and goose?" you may ask. Back on 2/04/13 Pirate wrote a haiku with an elk in it, and I responded with one with a moose and then included him every day. A few days later in comments Mystic asked "Where's the goose?" So I started including her with this post on 2/07. A week later on the 14th, Mark Readfern asked for and received a spider. The rest is history.
*Well, most days, anyway. Grant me a bit of poetic license.
Theme: A Sporting Chance. In the language phrases are repurposed to indicate an action involving professional sport team players. In each case, the first word of the phrase is transformed from a modifier to a verb; a clever and unusual kind of word play. The major U.S. sports, hockey, football, baseball and basketball are all represented.
17 A. Lend San Jose NHL players?: LOANSHARKS. A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. The San Jose Sharks are currently in 8th place in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League. Would your team like to borrow one?
23 A. Ring up Los Angeles NFL players?: PHONECHARGERS. A phone charger is the accessory you plug into your phone when the battery power is low. The L.A. Chargers are in 2nd place in the AFC West, behind the Kansas City Chiefs. Give them a call.
47 A. Improve Los Angeles MLB players?: PERFECT ANGELS. A perfect angel is an adorable and well behaved child. I cold not find a suitable definition on line, so I made this one up. The L.A. Angels finished the 1922 season in 3rd place in the Al West division, 33 games behind the 1st place Astros. There are certainly some opportunities for perfecting their play.
57 A. Videotape Miami NBA players?: RECORDHEAT. Record heat is the highest temperature reached on a given calendar day at a specific location. One could record the Miami basketball team with a camera or cell phone - if it's charged. They are currently in 3rd place in the Eastern conference of the National Basketball Association.
Hi, Gang - JazzBumpa on hand to announce today's game. I'm quite taken with today's theme. Sadly, though my local Detroit teams are all mired in mediocrity, but the Lions are showing signs of life, and have a slim chance of making the play-offs. On the other hand, I think we all have a sporting chance to get a good solve today. Let's check it out
Across:
1. Peony part: PETAL. Each of the segments of the corolla of a flower, which are modified leaves and are typically colored.
6. Tools that can be musical instruments: SAWS. Here is one.
10. Huge tubs: VATS. Large tanks or tubs used to hold liquid, especially in industry.
14. Venue for big concerts: ARENA. A level area surrounded by seats for spectators, in which sports, entertainments, and other public events are held.
15. Discontinued Apple gadget: I-POD. A portable electronic device for playing and storing digital audio and video files.
16. Cut covered by a SpongeBob bandage, e.g.: OWIE. Kid's name for a small injury, aka booboo.
19. Bridge pose discipline: YOGA. A Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation.
20. Twisty curve: ESS. Shaped similar to the letter.
21. Late tourney game: SEMI. Short for semi-final. The winner advances to the final game.
22. Gingerbread person?: BAKER. Also the cookie person and the cake person, unless I'm misunderstanding.
27. Soothing succulents: ALOES. Any of several succulent plants, typically having a rosette of toothed fleshy leaves and bell-shaped or tubular flowers on long stems. Native to the Old World tropics, several species are cultivated commercially or as ornamentals.
29. Foray: SORTIE. An attack made by troops coming out from a position of defense.
30. Like much fall weather: COOL. At a fairly low temperature.
31. Admits as much: LETS ON. Reveal or divulges information to someone.
32. Stick (out): JUT. Extend out, over, or beyond the main body or line of something.
35. Workweek starter, for some: MONDAY. The day between Sunday and Tuesday.
37. Minnesota mining range: MESABI. A mining district in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota.
39. First responder's group, for short: EMS. Emergency Medical Services.
40. Write-ups that still need some work: DRAFTS. Preliminary versions of pieces of writing.
44. "You can say that again!": AMEN. An Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim practices as a concluding word, or as a response to a prayer.
45. Safe to put away?: EDIBLE. Suitable to be eaten.
46. Elaborate cake layers: TIERS. A tiered cake is multiple, differently sized cakes, stacked atop one another to create height and drama that lends itself to becoming a focal point of the party.
51. Steer clear of: AVOID. Keep away from or stop oneself from doing something.
52. Chance to roll the dice, say: TURN. An opportunity or responsibility to do or use something before or after other people
53. __ Moines, Iowa: DES. The capitol city of Iowa.
56. Ancient France: GAUL. Gaul was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy, and Germany west of the Rhine.
60. Slight advantage: EDGE.
61. Jacob's twin in the Book of Genesis: ESAU. Esau is the elder son of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible. He was the progenitor of the Edomites and the elder brother of Jacob, the patriarch of the Israelites. Jacob and Esau were the sons of Isaac and Rebecca, and the grandsons of Abraham and Sarah. Of the twins, Esau was the first to be born with Jacob following, holding his heel. Isaac was sixty years old when the boys were born.
62. Give body to, as hair: TEASE. Teasing, also known as backcombing or ratting, is a combing technique used to create volume at the root of your hair. The technique involves using a fine tooth comb to gently comb the hair downward toward your scalp, causing the hair to slightly tangle and create a voluminous final look.
63. Closing document: DEED. A legal document by which one person transfers land or buildings to another.
64. Gen-__: post-boomers: X-ERS. Generation X is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s as ending birth years, with the generation being generally defined as people born from 1965 to 1980.
65. 63-Across holder: OWNER. A person who has legal possession of something.
Down:
1. Lacking color: PALE. Light in color or having little color.
2. Amorous archer: EROS. The ancient Greek god of love, identified by the Romans with Cupid.
3. Recipe measures: TEASPOONS. The teaspoon a unit of measure especially in cookery equal to ¹/₆ fluid ounce or ¹/₃ tablespoon (5 milliliters)
4. "The Dutch House" novelist Patchett: ANN. Ann Patchett [b. 1963] is an American author. She received the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year, for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician's Assistant, Run, State of Wonder, Commonwealth, and The Dutch House.
5. Rodeo ropes: LASSOS. A lasso, also called lariat, riata, or reata (all from Castilian, la reata 're-tied rope'), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish and Mexican cowboy, then adopted by the cowboys of the United States.
6. Blue-eyed cat: SIAMESE. One of the first distinctly recognized breeds of Asian cat. Derived from the Wichianmat landrace, one of several varieties of cat native to Thailand, the original Siamese became one of the most popular breeds in Europe and North America in the 19th century.
7. Yellow-orange fruit: APRICOT. A fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus Prunus. Usually, an apricot is from the species P. armeniaca, but the fruits of the other species in Prunus sect. Armeniaca are also called apricots.
8. Stir-fry pan: WOK. A large, bowl-shaped Chinese pan used for frying food quickly in hot oil:
9. '60s "New Left" gp.: SDS. Students for a Democratic Society
10. Long journey: VOYAGE. As defined.
11. Stopped snoozing: AWOKE. Roused from sleeping.
12. Detroit ballplayer: TIGER. The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, established in 1901, they are also the oldest continuous one name, one city franchise in the AL
13. Mail-order pioneer: SEARS. Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as a mail ordering catalog company migrating to opening retail locations in 1925, the first in Chicago.
18. Barnyard layer: HEN. An egg-laying chicken.
22. Corned beef solution: BRINE. Water with a high concentration of table salt.
24. Gripped: HELD.
25. Timecard abbr.: HRS. Hours
26. Molecule makeup: ATOMS. An atom is the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element, consisting of a nucleus containing combinations of neutrons and protons and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus by electrical attraction; the number of protons determines the identity of the element.
27. Tippy top: ACME. Apex, peak, summit
28. Weaver's machine: LOOM. A machine for interlacing at right angles two or more sets of threads or yarns to form a cloth.
31. Line of a song: LYRIC. The words
32. "Rebel Without a Cause" star: JAMES DEAN. James Byron Dean [1931 – 1955] was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956).
After his death in a car crash on September 30, 1955, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in East of Eden.
33. App-based car service: UBER. A platform where those who drive and deliver can connect with riders, eaters, and restaurants. In cities where Uber is available, you can use the Uber app to request a ride. When a nearby driver accepts your request, the app displays an estimated time of arrival for the driver heading to your pickup location.
34. Altoids containers: TINS. Rectangular hinged metal boxes.
36. Chimed in with: ADDED. Contributed to the discussion.
38. Move effortlessly (through): SAIL. Glide.
41. Misty Copeland's dance troupe: Abbr.: ABT. American Ballet Theater, a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spring and a shorter season at the David H. Koch Theater in the fall; the company tours around the world the rest of the year.
42. Open freight train unit: FLATCAR. A flatcar is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks or bogies, one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted on a pair of bogies under each end.
43. Flimsy: TENUOUS. Very weak or slight.
45. Submitted tax returns online: E-FILED.
46. Take care of: TEND TO. Pay attention, apply oneself.
47. Flipped (through): PAGED. Turned the pages of (a book, magazine, etc.) especially in a quick, steady manner.
48. Steer clear of: EVADE. Escape or avoid, especially by cleverness or trickery.
49. Color for cheeks: ROUGE. A red powder or cream used as a cosmetic for coloring the cheeks or lips.
50. Watchdog's warning: GRR. Growling sound.
54. Simplicity: EASE. The quality or condition of being easy to understand or do.
55. Hip or tip ender: -STER. A suffix denoting a person engaged in or associated with a particular activity or thing.
57. Dinosaur voiced by Wallace Shawn in the "Toy Story" films: REX.
58. Opposite of WNW: ESE. West-north-west and East-south-east. The latter is the direction or compass point midway between east and southeast.
59. Chop down: HEW. Chop or cut something, especially wood or coal, with an axe, pick, or other tool.
That wraps up our sports outing. Hope you enjoyed the game, and that your team wins - unless they are playing mine, of course.
Below the puzzle are some bonus tracks from our Winter Wonders Concert on Monday.
Cool regards!
JzB
Jingle Bells, ala Count Basie
Sleigh Ride, a la Glenn Miller
Christmas Time Is Here
The Jody Grind
That's me with the stop time trombone solo at 3:15
What I do not see in either of these - nor in many other fine haiku - is a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown in water. Surely one cannot chew dried salmon in that quick manner. So - what you may have is an extended moment, but one that is imbued with some special characteristics that might even suggest a deeper meaning.
In the second example we have the antithesis of a brief moment - something that is in fact timeless. I think that is wonderful.
And that it, too, hints at wabi-sabi.
in these old pictures
you and i were so young
and now this moment
~~:~~
It also reminds me of this sculpture by Rodin. It was mentioned in passing in a Robert Heinline novel I read decades ago, and was delighted to find the relevant passage - and a picture of the subject sculpture here. For some reason this passage stayed with me over the long years. I'm not sure Jubel Harshaw's exposition on the sculpture quite gets at wabi-sabi, but it at least hits the right corner of the universe.
~~:~~
Getting rid of ego is something I struggle with. Playing the trombone is humbling - but still. For the past year or so I've been doing something I haven't done since high school - practicing semi-diligently, specifically with the goal of developing a more extensive, secure and reliable high register. I may be giving in to ego, but I want to share with you a moment from last month where I performed one of the iconic trombone songs from the swing era. An old man, old horn, and old song coming together - a bit of sabi, perhaps. It's not perfect, but a year ago, I wouldn't have thought this possible.
The Siciliana by Respighi that Kristjaan posted is from his Suite #3 of Ancient Airs and Dances, and is based on a much older anonymous piece of lute music. It has a definite 16th century sound.
That same source also inspired Spanish composer JoaquÃn Rodrigo for this selection.
Fantasia para un gentilhombre
Classical guitar totally defeated me, but I once tried to play a very
simple piece of music from the Book The Renaissance Guitar compiled by
Frederick Noad, which is the original source music I was speaking of above. In the book, this piece is called Spagnoletta, "Little Spanish Tune." It is taken from an Italian manuscript sourced by the 19th century musicologist Oscar Chilesotti.
UPDATE 2/11/15 for The Imaginary Garden Tuesday Platform [a day late]
Since it's all about the stage and the applause, I'll take this opportunity to blow my own horn - literally.
~~::~~
Carpe Diem theme originally from Nov 7, 2012.
My grandson Nate is a smart, healthy boy. He'll be 12 1/2 on Valentine's day.
But he got off to a rough start. He was born with transposition of the great arteries - his pulmonary artery and aorta were hooked up in reverse. So instead of a complete circulatory system, he had two closed loops. Fortunately, this condition was observed in an ultrasound. So he was born at Mott's Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where fixing these things is a matter of routine.
When he was born, he turned blue immediately. But the neo-natal cardiac team was on high alert and quickly performed a radical procedure that stabilized him until the open-heart surgery could be performed a week later.
It was a success, and everything turned out well. Which is pretty remarkable since they opened him up like a clam, and the great arteries in a newborn have about the same diameter as a pencil lead.
So I wrote this song for him. A blues of course. A minor blues for a little guy. The barely audible bass riff at the beginning and end is supposed to represent a heart beat. There is other symbolism in the song's construction, some of which was unconscious. Trombone solo by me.
In August 2002, my daugher Karen had her first baby, My grandson Nathaniel. We call him Nate. While Karen was pregnant, an ultrasound revealed that Nate had transposition of the great arteries - his pulmonary artery and aorta were hooked up in reverse. So instead of having a complete circulatory system, he had two closed loops. Life expectancy with this condition is only a few hours. But it is correctable, so Nate was born at Mott's Children's Hospital at the university of Michigan. The neo-natal cardiac staff was on high alert, and as soon as he was born performed a radical procedure - opening a hole in the wall between the ventricles to allow mixing of the two blood streams - that stabilized him temporarily.
When he was a week old, he had open heart surgery to reverse the misplaced piping. Everything went well. He is now a smart, healthy 12-year old.
When he was very little, I wrote this song for him, and arranged it for big band. Since he was tiny and turned blue, it's a minor blues. The melody has two motifs. Each is played, then repeated upside down - the reversal. In the middle, the melody is taken apart and passed around the band - that is the surgery. Then the recovery, and we take it on home. The bass riff at the beginning and ending represent a heart beat.
That's me on the trombone solo.
This is too emotionally intense for me to write a good renga, but here it is anyway.
The warp and woof of my life has been a product of random events - some of them highly improbable.
Here's one example. Many years ago, things took a very bad turn at my job. A new management team had come in and for some reason they needed a scapegoat. My head was on the chopping block. I was in despair. After many years of working in the glass industry, I had developed a narrow skill set, centered around automotive glass applications. Where could I find another job?
That very Sunday in the paper was a job add from one of the major car companies, and the qualifications read like my resume. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Well - after some further adventure - I got the job and went on to a career that was far more successful and rewarding than I would have ever had at the glass company. No planning - it was just exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.
a snag in the plan when tapestry unravels find a new thread
I see now that with my preamble I have written another haibun.
That wasn't planned either.
And I'm struck that a random accident lead to this prompt.
Theme: OUT OF THIS WORLD. The unifier says it all. 55 A. What 20-, 33- and 40-Across begin with : NASA PROGRAMS. Since 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been responsible for the civilian space program, as well as for aeronautics and aerospace research.
20. Car that replaced the Marquis : MERCURY SABLE. The Mercury Marquis was produced from 1967 to 1986. The SABLE ran from 1986 to 2005, then reappeared in the '08 and '09 model years as the rebranded Montego. NASA's MERCURYprogram ran from 1959 - 63, playing catch up after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 in 1957, and went on to put Yuri Gagarin in orbit in April, 1961, 9 months ahead of John Glenn, thus beating NASA in this leg of the space race.
33. 1981 Moody Blues hit : GEMINI DREAM.
Project GEMINI included 10 manned flights in 1965 and '66, with the goal of developing space travel techniques to be used in the APOLLO program.
40. Rocky Balboa foe who became his friend : APOLLO CREED. This character is loosely based on Muhammad Ali, fought Rockey in the first two movies, and didn't become his friend until the third.
The APOLLO project ran from 1961 through '72, and included 6 moon landings. The first of these was APOLLO 11. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquility and walked on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins remained in orbit. They returned with 47.7 pounds of samples.
This theme demands a theme song -- so, obviously:
Hi gang. JzB here, flying rather high at the moment. Let's launch into today's puzzle and see if we can soar.
It sounds like a cliche, but it was a privilege, an honor, and a real delight to spend some time with grammy winning musician and recording artist Kirk Whalum yesterday. Kirk and his accompanist John Stoddard were in town to perform with the Schoolcraft College Jazz program on Monday evening, and they gave a clinic on Monday afternoon.
There were only about 20 people in the audience, which is shame because this was a great opportunity. But with such a small crowd, it became an intimate and personal experience - almost like just hangin' out with some friends.
Kirk and John spoke about music as communication than can operate on a different level from human language, and that being able to express yourself in that way is a sacred trust. This operates horizontally when we transmit or absorb ideas from, or impress or are impressed by other people. Besides just the notes, consonance, dissonance, the musical context and attitude of the player all come into play.
The language of music can communicate, entertain, and uplift with emotions and feelings that are outside of spoken language or even comprehension.
The horizontal aspect comes to and from each other, from experiences and cultural richness. In the process we can impress each other, but impressions wear off. However, it is possible to go beyond that and make an impact that moves someone in a permanent way.
The vertical aspect is more elusive, and has a spiritual component. Kirk is also an ordained minister, and in his view the kind of inspiration that produces great improvisation comes directly from God. But to get there, you have to be prepared. His analogy was that when you put God in the driver's seat, you don't want to provide a broken down 1983 Chevvy. You want to have a shiny, new Chrysler 300.
The strategy for better inspiration comes from a grounding in fundamentals, preparation and practice. The fundamentals are your musical vocabulary. Preparation and practice develop first what Kirk called "head room" - what an engineer would call a margin of safety: a grounding in fundamentals such that when the moment for vertical inspiration arrives, you don't run out of tools and horse power; and second "working it out."
He emphasized the importance of practicing slow - walk before you run. The other element is repetition. This can be the drudgery part of practice, but use your creativity to find a way to make it fun.
In the Q and A, I asked Kirk how an improvisor should approach taking on a new song with a difficult set of chord changes. He said, first get to know the song - really KNOW that song. Memorize the melody, feel the chord moments, sing the words. Then play the roots, in time with a metronome. A hundred times. Then play the thirds another hundred. Then fit in the scales associated with the chords. Ill throw in that it's also worth while to know the arpeggios. There is a certain nerdiness to approaching music this way.
Kirk's advice: Embrace the nerdiness.
Afterward, I shook his hand and told him that I had never heard him before, but within two minutes of when he started talking, I felt like I'd known him forever. He is a very genuine, well grounded guy, and seemed to be touched by that.
I can't say I love Adrian von Ziegler's music. But it is pleasant and worth a listen. Today's selection, Dreamtide is rhythmically interesting. The Keltic sounding melody is definitely in 5. When it goes to just percussion, a have a very difficult time deciphering the basic pulse. Seems like it goes into 6, but the initial beat is elusive. All of this contributes to the dreamy feeling of the piece. I'm also struck by the elven appearance of the character in the vid picture.
~ 1 ~
float with the elf-maid
on the ethereal tide
of dreamscape rhythms
~ 2 ~ [inspired by bjorn] oh those mocking clouds fabulous frothing fruit frappe make the sky feel blue ~~~
Our protocol through December will be to write haiku or senryu inspired by the music of Swiss musician Adrian von Ziegler. Today's entry is Kanpai, inspired by Japanese festivals.
