Friday shuffle

1. Freddie's Apple Polka
2. Verdi: Ave Maria - Westminster Choir
3. Little Things Mean a Lot - Kitty Kallen
4. Purcell: Sonata for Trumpet
5. Celebration - Kool and the Gang
6. Gounod: St. Cecelia Mass, Benedictus - Münchner Symphoniker
7. On the Sunny Side of the Street - Shearing and Anderson
8. Easier Said Than Done - The Essex
9. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov, 1. The Courtyard of the Novodevichiy Monastery - Cleveland Orchestra
10. Incense and Peppermints - Strawberry Alarm Clock

Friday cat blogging

The grey boys hanging around - Dudie, LittleOne and Jellico. There has been a dog running around so the cats haven't been here much. I tried to get a photo of them lying in the driveway making it difficult to navigate with the car. As soon as I go out, they get up and come to me. Oh well.

Friday shuffle

1. Where or When - The Belmonts
2. Mozart: Requiem, Lux Aeterna - Bach Choir Pittsburgh
3. Orange Blossom Special - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
4. Band of Gold - Don Cherry
5. PDQ Bach: Capriccio La Pucelle de New Orleans
6. Land of 1000 Dances - Cannibal & the Headhunters
7. de Victoria: O Magnum Mysterium - Westminster Choir
8. Rutter: As the Bridegroom to his Chosen - Cambridge Singers
9. Here Comes the Sun - Richie Havens
10. You Are So Beautiful - Joe Cocker

A couple of phamily photos

Trinka the Gorgeous

Mom is an excellent person to try to decipher son's computer instructions in the book he is writing

You'll notice that nephew has inherited aunt's preference in computers

Yet another week to wait for marriage justice in California...

Judge Vaughan Walker followed up his opinion that Prop 8 is unconstitutional with the order to lift the stay on same sex marriage at 5 pm PDT on 18 August 2010. That gives the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals a week to consider any motion filed. A few of the coverages:
FireDogLake
Joe.My.God
Episcopal Cafe

An interesting article on Huffington Post - yes, I know it's a liberal thing - Why Gay Opponents Hated and Feared the Proposition 8 Trial. You are welcome to check the hate filled propaganda organizations for dissent if you care to.

I hope my nephew and his wife are prepared for the devastation the decision will cause in their straight California marriage.

Post BCF Week 4 2010

The audience was large and appreciative. The choir was pretty good. The tenor seemed to be straining. The soprano Mary Wilson is possibly the best for that sort of repertoire. Her Exsultate Jubilate was the finest I have ever heard - by far! No wonder Susan S and David Newman like her. I spoke to her after the concert and she said Susan wrote she had a friend in the chorus. Susan is a blog friend. My freshman year at Westminster Choir College David threw me over his shoulder and carried me up the street like a sack of potatoes on our first runout to New York then apologized because he didn't know how old I was. My world keeps shrinking.

I got a kick out of using my big "opera" voice. I never do and few have ever heard it. Anton Armstrong wanted our alto solo voices, our black mama voices. Hee.

I thought we were very privileged to have Ann Howard Jones in our audience and told her so. I met her years ago during the Long Island Choral Festival. A beautiful woman.

The four of us crazies who were the Berkshirettes and sang 8 bars of altered Motown music were very well received. Brevity is always best. As former Greenville Symphony conductor Ivan Romanenko always said, "It's better to leave the audience wanting more than to have them wondering when the program will end."

Photos are here.

Berkshire Choral Festival again

In case you're wondering, which I seriously doubt anyone is, I'm back at BCF for a week with Anton Armstrong. The week started well. He expects everything I'm used to. Then suddenly he decided he needed to change the order of the altos (and eventually everyone) to get the sound he wanted. I was stuck between two ladies who have two levels of singing. Forte and Fortissimo. And they don't really know the music and one especially can't count. ARGH!

At the third rehearsal I had to remove my hearing aids or I couldn't sing at all because I couldn't figure out which was the correct pitch. At the fourth rehearsal I was so stressed that I could barely sing at all. I was ready to quit. So I caught our section leader after and asked to move. The gal on my right knew I was unhappy and was more than willing to switch. I got the approval I needed with a warning that Armstrong might make me move back.

The fifth rehearsal was so much better. My voice was free and I was happy. I doubt the conductor will interfere. I'm sure he can see on my face that I'm much happier. I'm singing sort of behind rather than next to my favorite 2nd alto because of sight lines. I think she wants it that way. She had never heard and is "jealous" of my opera voice which we are being encouraged to use. I told her I have lots of money invested in that and she could probably get the same results if she took lessons from the right teacher. She's considerably younger than I. She won't.

So onward we go. If we will do what we've been taught, we will have a good concert. I'm less certain of this group than I was the first week however.

The concert is at 8 pm Saturday night (7 August 2010) in the Stewart Center (the new hockey rink with air and no bugs) on the Berkshire School campus in southwest Massachusetts. If you are in the neighborhood, come by. The box office is here or you can get tickets at the door, I believe.

Anton Armstrong, Conductor, St. Olaf College Choir
Mary Wilson, soprano
Dan Dressen, tenor

Poulenc – Gloria
Rutter – Te Deum
Bizet – Te Deum

Friday cat blogging on Saturday

This is embiggenable. On the far left is Lady who is being followed by Tim who doesn't like Lady at all and is encouraging her to go home next door. In front of the shelf under the cat door is LittleOne. Then Dudie watches the chase while Jellico was leery of me and started to leave. It was all conducted in slow motion. Finally Tim retired to the corner to watch for Lady's return. Silly cat.

Friday cat blogging

This was LittleOne's first exposure to raw chicken which I normally don't offer. PuddyTat wolfed hers down. LO just played with it and never did figure it out. Now all the chicken is cooked. No idea what he'll do with cooked chicken.

Friday shuffle

1. Car Wash - Rose Royce
2. Brahms: Symphony 3, II Andante - Von Karajan/Berlin
3. Singing the Blues - Guy Mitchell
4. Oh Girl - The Chi-Lites
5. Weinerschnitzel Waltz - Tom Lehrer
6. La Barrosa (Alegrias) - Paco De Lucia
7. Poulenc: O Magnum Mysterium - Westminster Choir
8. Don't Wake Me Up, Let Me Dream - Howard Lanin Orchestra
9. Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller Orchestra
10. The Windmills of Your Mind - Dusty Springfield

World's Cutest Grandniece and Grandnephew

Friday cat blogging on Saturday

PuddyTat, Little One and Jellico after breakfast yesterday as seen from inside.

And after lunch.

PT and LO this morning.

Friday shuffle on Saturday

1. Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is? - Chicago
2. I Fall to Pieces - Patsy Cline
3. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
4. aurinkolaulu - rajaton
5. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
6. Satie: Prélude Du Nazaréen #2 - Riri Shimada
7. Send in the Clowns - Judy Collins
8. Tell Him - The Exciters
9. Good Golly Miss Molly - Little Richard
10. Elgar: Weary Wind of the West - Finzi Singers

Much easier on the iMac tho I'm not used to using a real keyboard. There are videos of Chicago but this is the version I have.

St. Sarah's Episcopal Church, Chenango Bridge, NY

On Sunday, I visited Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in Chenango Bridge, NY for the 10 am service. If you're curious about the title to this post, read Father Mark Giroux's sermon here. This could be my parish home if I lived anywhere nearby. Friendly people. Much laughter. If you live in the Binghamton area, you should visit.

The altar was carved by a nun I was told.

The hangings on the sides were done by one of the parishioners. This is the detail of the bottom of the one on the left.

Much of the work in the church is done by the parishioners. They built the organ loft. They have also done the windows which didn't photograph well in the bright sunlight.

Friday shuffle

1. Gold Rush - Mark O'Connell
2. Whitacre: Equus - Bach Choir Pittsburgh
3. Rock Your Baby - George McCrae
4. Going Up Country - Canned Heat
5. Can't Even Get the Blues - Reba McEntire
6. Everybody Plays the Fool - The Main Ingredient
7. Stravinsky: Pater Noster - Westminster Choir
8. Under the Bridge Polka
9. Butterfly - Andy Williams
10. Who I Was Born to Be - Susan Boyle

Doing this on the iPhone isn't easy.

Friday cat blogging

LittleOne and PuddyTat seem to be comfortable in their updated digs.

Revamped cathouse

The side has to be closed off to rain which may not get done soon. At least I can now get underneath. There is new carpet too. The raccoons destroyed the boxes which will not be replaced soon. The cats do not yet need warm shelter. They really need air conditioning.

The trap is also fixed.

Prayers for Paul and his family

Paul is fighting multiple myeloma. His caringbridge page is here.

Prayers for Eileen and Michael

and their sister Maureen who is seriously ill thanks to major hospital error and may never recover brain function.

CMAA Duquesne University 2010 - recordings

The recordings made during the colloquium at Duquesne are online here, courtesy of Carl Dierschow. Scroll down the page a bit for the individual masses. If you're curious about the polyphonic choir I was in, listen to Elisabeth Zachariae on Thursday, Reminiscere miserationum tuarum on Friday and the Schubert on Sunday.

I hope you can't hear me but I was singing more or less in all the Lauds and Complines as were those of us who attended those at 7 am and 9:30 or so pm.

Thanks, Carl!

Friday cat blogging

Various photos taken today.

Then tonight a catfight. They rolled around in one furry ball for at least a minute. Funny that they were quiet about it. Dudie may look meek, battered, lazy but he was the aggressor and the winner from what I could tell. They held this position for many minutes until I broke it up and Jellico ran off.

Friday Shuffle

1. Respect - Aretha Franklin
2. Bandstand Boogie - Les Elgart
3. Kukeleczka Oberek (polka)
4. She's My Girl - Tom Lehrer
5. Foggy Mountain Chimes - Here Today
6. Wang Dang Doodle - Koko Taylor
7. My Foolish Heart - Scott Hamilton
8. Rock Me - Steppenwolf
9. Show and Tell - Al Wilson
10. The Loco-Motion - Little Eva

For Kirstin

Please add your prayers as Kirstin undergoes treatment for very aggressive cancer.

Doctors

Very puffy right hand complete with 8 or so cat bites. Immediately after letting PuddyTat loose at home I went to the doctor for an antibiotic on orders from the vet. Took several hours to see the doc. Glad I had crossword puzzles in the car. Kinda tough not being able to hold something since I can't close my hand. But at least washing dishes didn't start any of it bleeding again. Guess I'll heal.

And PuddyTat will recover from her respiratory troubles, I hope. Needless to say she comes to eat but won't get within 6 feet of me.

Cats and flowers

An unhappy and very sick PuddyTat waits to go to the vet.

Jellico is keeping watch and allowed me to take this photo this close. Usually he runs away.
Missed this lily when I dug them up and gave them to my neighbor.

One of my favorite daylilies.

CMAA Duquesne University 2010

A few photos of the Duquesne University campus where I've spent the week with Catholics who love Gregorian Chant. There are more photos available here. Some even have people in them.

These bushes have three colors of flowers. Interesting.

Palms seem a little out of place in Pittsburgh.

Unwelcome daytime visitor

I do not like seeing raccoons and skunks and opossums out and about during the daytime. I always suspect rabies. I assume that this is the same raccoon who has been eating the catfood for the last couple of days if not longer. S/he has an insatiable appetite. The critter will deprive my cats of food this week while I'm gone. I am not happy about that. I could try to trap it but I don't know if the one I trap is the one who comes during the daytime. I hate to ask my neighbor to feed the cats twice a day but I will leave a note requesting she do that when she can. The critter sure chose an inconvenient week to appear. I pray it isn't rabid, just smart.

It was on the cathouse roof and descended when I appeared at the door.

It paused to make sure I was still watching before waddling off only to return again within a couple of minutes. It will stay until it has eaten all the catfood available. The cats just lie around and watch.

Why not Rome?

The writer says there could be a bloodbath in the Church of England. For the life of me, I cannot understand why those who can't deal with female clergy and want to give the Archbishop of Canterbury pope-like power don't just cross the Tiber. Do those dissatisfied Anglican clergy have ambitions on the office which might be possible in England but not in Rome? Do they believe they can perpetuate the patriarchy for their own benefit? Have they ever studied the Gospels?

I believe the men who preach against women and LGBTs do not understand Jesus at all. They are pretenders concerned with the interpretations of the "law" which benefit themselves and their peers. I seem to have read something about that this morning as I was the EM. They corrupt the people in their parishes by preaching that the Trinity must be worshipped. But to them the Holy Spirit died on Pentecost. Scripture contains the exact words we need to follow. (No matter who wrote whatever in whichever language in a setting which we can mostly only speculate about and has little relevance today.) Well, some scripture is no longer relevant but they get to choose.

No, I would not separate from those who believe they are right and righteous, who tell me I'm going to hell because I don't accept every jot and tittle of their beliefs. I can't and won't tell anyone that my faith is one they should accept. They might study it but they probably aren't interested. They don't care if it works for me. It is unforgivable sin and/or heresy and that is that. They don't want me in "their" church. I welcome them, however, to share the eucharist with me in whatever church. It is not my table.

Jesus told us to love Godde and love each other and be servants of each other and leave judgment to Godde. What else do we need? What is so difficult about that message?