Hilary Booth... of course!

So I spent another Thanksgiving in the hinterlands of Fauquier County along with most of my mother's immediate family. Everyone was delighted about the new job and wanted to hear all about it. For once, I didn't feel completely put upon. I always felt a little "When are you going to get a real job?" with them. Then we visited the grandparents' new place out there. I honestly was surprised they picked such a large house for an elderly couple. I suspect the location being not far from my uncle and his wife was a major selling point. I'm a little torn. After my parents' place, my grandparents' house was so familiar. They've always lived there. I suspect it'll be an adjustment for everyone involved.

One useful thing: my uncle finally ripped a copy of Terry Oldfield's "In Search of the Trojan War and other tv themes" LP I bought off Ebay.uk for me. The quality isn't the greatest and several tracks wound up stuck together, but maybe I can edit them with Audacity or something. I did have to add all the track information though. You learn to appreciate CDs and the title lookup -- I'd hate to do that for multiple LPs.

Also: Way too early for Christmas music for my tastes. I'm more ready for *snow* than I am for Christmas. I don't know what that says about me.

Hello everyone. Yes, I'm still alive. I'm still working for another month or so. The indexing has been a little crazy lately, especially with all the foreign languages involved.

I joined the throngs down on the mall for the opening weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival this afternoon. I picked a lovely if extremely windy day to see the blooming things. The blossoms were out in all their glory. I did not make the full circuit of the Tidal Basin this time, stopping at the bridge before heading back. I anticipated a lot more walking today since I wanted to check out the Sakura Matsuri, the Japanese street festival, on the other side of the mall. They'd taken over the stretch of 12th st near the Old Post Office and Ronald Reagan building. They had a whole ton of vendors serving various food. The lines were insane though.

The other T included the more Japanese portion of our story with vendors offering their wares. Kinokuniya sadly looked rather picked over and depressing. Local groups also demonstrated different aspects of Japanese culture. I came upon the Go demonstration where local players would play against anyone, even a complete and utter beginner like me. I gamely lost like a football fan I am -- 23-7. Where some players would patiently show you the rules, my pro seemed to prefer to dump you into the deep end and then partway through start peppering you with questions or suggestions. Alas Akira or Hikaru (or dear goofy Sai) I will not be.

After a false start, I found my way to the J-pop corner. People were playing an array of DDR, Karaoke, and Guitar Hero/Rock Band video games. I couldn't DDR very well on a good day. I couldn't imagine it after a long day of walking around. Katsucon was trying to win people over, as were other artists and dealers. I was afraid I was late for the main star, Ai Kawashima, but she'd just taken the stage by the time I arrived. I'm honestly not too familiar with a lot of j-pop stars, but she performs one of the "One Piece" themes. She used a keyboard to accompany her. I liked her second song "Tabidachi no hi ni...". Unfortunately it's also the name of another song, a graduation song, so finding more info on it has been trying, aside from the video. I stayed through a couple of songs, before I decided to head home. I was exhausted.

Metro was insane, made only worse by a rather belligerent rider on our train cussing out someone. That he was holding onto a stroller only made me fear more for his children. I was grateful to finally get to my stop and escape the madness.

I've uploaded my photos onto Flickr, including some of the local blooming things at the library.

The tooth hurts a bit less today. That side is still sore, but it isn't the immediate pain of yesterday.

Canada Post finally deigned to show up at my door (or mailbox) with my Loreena McKennitt cd/dvd. It shipped on Halloween and arrived yesterday -- only two weeks! Fortunately Quinlan Road offers the nifty option of a free download while you're waiting for the physical cd to arrive. That's a nice compromise if you're stuck choosing one or the other.

The new job is a job. My mother used to words "unchallenging". Not a good sign when my smart mouth wants to quote Missy in "Bring it On" -- "What about doing something that actually requires neurons?" I don't think that would be terribly popular. A lot of library tech work is just that, very basic day-to-day stuff, especially when you're moving/expanding/shifting a collection, existing or otherwise. If I had any good advice for people who want to work in libraries: infinite patience (in infinite possibilities), strong back, and good shoes. I'm grateful for the job, but lord is it going to be a long stretch until Columbus Day.

Security is a little tight, so sadly I haven't really enjoyed the nearby Ronald Reagan Building. I was however treated to a free concert at Woodrow Wilson Plaza. That was a weird twist on "name that tune" or as my mother and I used to call the game "But can you skate to that?" The performer was Chuck Brown, the so-called Godfather of Go-Go music, lots of loud heavy beats and rhythms combined with guitar and clarinet and maybe another instrument. They maxed out their decibels. They were performing a fairly bumping piece that had quite a few people swaying their hips. The melody was strangely familiar. I couldn't place it though. For a minute, I thought it was a classical music piece like "Bolero" or something like "Kismet". Then I closed my eyes and I could see Philippe Candeloro landing a jump at the end of a phrase. Yes, it was the "Love Theme" from the "Godfather". That I recognized it through skating and not from seeing the movie says something about me. Not sure what.

The laptop is still hosed. I tried replacing the a/c adapter and the connection is just too loose to hold. It's really frustrating. So I get to talk to tech support. This can only end in tears.

So I finished listening to "American Anthem", Gunn's debut recital album. Maybe it's those darned pop sensibilities but I much preferred the music of "Just Before Sunrise". This one was backed by a simple piano arrangement and focuses on American music of various stripes. The disk starts strong with traditional songs like "Shenandoah" and the Depression-era classic "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" and then wavers a little. Gene Scheer contribues four more songs, including the upbeat (and a little silly) "At Howard Hawks' House" and the blatantly patriotic "American Anthem". The second half of the cd switches to the more spiritual influence of American music. Like "Just Before Sunrise", I liked parts of the cd, but not the whole one. I don't think it showed Gunn's voice to full effect, although it sounded deeper in this cd. His voice sounded warmer in "Just Before Sunrise". The albums were recorded about eight years apart, which may account for some of it.

As Hildy in "On the Town" would say, at least I'm getting my culture...

So I came across Nathan Gunn's cd "Just Before Sunrise" yesterday. He also has an album of Americana songs as well. This one reminds me a little of Audra McDonald's approach to her cds, picking mostly lesser known songs and songwriters. The two songs I knew were Billy Joel's "And So It Goes" and the standard "Polkadots & Moonbeams". He has a cute little duet with Kristin Chenoweth in "Feels Like Home". I think my favorite track is the painful but beautiful "Say Anything". Gene Scheer also wrote the title track and one other song. His work has also appeared on a pair of Denyce Graves albums. Much as I love Gunn's voice (and god, he has one of those "phone books" type voices), I do wish I could hear him sing in his real element in opera. Of course if he wants to record "If Ever I would leave you", I wouldn't object.

Just a programming note: "Nashville Star" returns for its sixth season on NBC tonight at 9. Yes, it's the country music's version of "American Idol" and only fairly successful. The best known alumni are Buddy Jewell, Miranda Lambert and if you're a Canadian George Canyon. (see icon *grins*) I've been watching since year one and blogging it since the second year over at unionstation. The contestants are usually pretty good. Some have established careers and others are "new" on the scene. Some are better instrumentalists than singers and there's always a "original song" night. Feel free to friend if you're interested.

So remember when I went out to Georgetown for a Quartetto Gelato concert? They're baaack! And performing this weekend for free at the National Academies downtown. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon, taking the slow train to Istanbul. They've changed their lineup again with a new clarinetist and new cellist. *sighs*

Good thing I checked their website, mostly to remember where they performed before. Mediaeval Baebes was actually asking their US/Canadian fans for venue suggestions, so I thought of that church, since as lovely as it is, I don't know how practical the National Cathedral would be.

For those who didn't get to her concert or missed the PBS airings, Loreena McKennitt's "Nights of the Alhambra" concert is being released to the general public on August 28th as a dvd/cd set. The artwork & packaging is different for the commercial release, but the material is otherwise the same.

Last night was the Loreena McKennitt concert at DAR Constitution Hall. Like I mentioned before, I tend to dress quite casually at work these days, especially shoe wise, because it's more comfortable. My coworkers were surprised but complimentary to see me in a black pant suit and dress shoes. I really regretted the latter choice with the amount of walking I wound up doing. DAR is a solid five or six blocks from the nearest Metro.

The only real annoyance was the lack of restaurants nearby. Back near the Metro, there were tons of places, but I was strapped for time, so I wound up availing myself of the noble DC hot dog stand. One of the larger ones, so it was slightly more upscale, but probably not what people picture when you say pre-concert dinner. But I shouldn't complain too much. Because if I had stayed around the venue, I wouldn't have had my little moment of irony.

( Loreena McKennitt at DAR Constitution Hall )