Overbooked and Underpaid: Notes from a Yes-aholic

Behind The Scenes With Anne & God: Inspiring Music For Tough Times

I grew up with a pretty eclectic mix of music.

The parents were professional classical musicians who played both in the local Philharmonic and show tunes in the orchestra pit for musicals...

I was personally listening to rock and pop music (or as my father called it, "that garbage")...

In addition to his professional French Horn gig, Dad was also a jazz bassist who played with Bob James back in college. (Bob James wrote the theme to the TV Show Taxi - I just saved you a google search.)...

Meanwhile mom developed a side passion for Irish music - especially The Cheiftans...

And throw in for good measure a bunch of stuff from old time radio - Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Glen Miller, Phil Harris etc.

So I have a lot of options to throw onto my stereo when I want to clear my head or just generally lift my mood.

Yes, I said stereo.

We actually never got rid of our turntable or CD player so, in addition to all the tunes on our bluetooth playlists, this household still listens to great "old school" records and disks.

For nostalgic "rock out" sessions, I break out the Stevie Ray Vaughan or the Led Zeppelin or the Alan Parsons (even in rock my taste is pretty wide.)

And sometimes one needs a good rollicking Celtic band playing stuff like The Rocky Road To Dublin. (You've probably heard it in the Robert Downey Sherlock Holmes movie during the boxing scene.)

But for really bad days I turn to "Sing Sing Sing" by Benny Goodman.

Along with other 40's swing music by the greats like Ellington (Take The A Train, Caravan), Basie (Corner Pocket), Miller (Tuxedo Junction) and others.

And thanks to the Sirius FM 40's channel everyone can listen to this great music - even those of you who don't know what a record is.

As I wrote in the poem above, the 40's, what with the Great Depression of the 30's and WWII, were a pretty bleak time. But a lot of the music was terrifically upbeat.

There was probably a direct correlation - people needed to feel better so the entertainers took that to heart and produced uplifting content on purpose.

Music has an amazing ability to transform our mood.

I know there are a LOT of people out there right now who could use a lift so here's some stuff to get you started.

And because not everyone is into swing music I've added some Rock, Blues, and Celtic.

Playlist: "Sing, Sing, Sing" Benny Goodman, "Corner Pocket" Count Basie, "Take The A Train" Duke Ellington, "Rocky Road To Dublin" Dubliners, "The Sidewinder" Lee Morgan, "One Good Reason" Alan Parsons Project, "The Immigrant Song" ∫, "Uptown Funk" ∫ - this is the version with all the old time dancers like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - for an added "pick-me-up".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Need A Good Laugh? American Gothic And Other Art With A Twist

A while ago I ran across this painting  - I think it was floating through some social media news feed.

I like to attribute and link to artists whenever possible so I went looking for that info - I found a lot of people sharing it but it was hard to track down the origin point. I think the creator is Pat Copeland - here is a link to his shared iCloud album. You will also find other fun "quarantine" art pieces like "The Girl With The Pearl Earring", "Nighthawks" etc.

 

My google image search for "American Gothic" quarantine also turned up this similar image without the pitchfork on the lawn. Created by Jeff Roy and Drake Paul I'm linking here to an article about them and here to their gallery of other "quarantine" art like "The Last Supper", "Sunday In The Park With George", "The Scream" etc.

But then...

I found other "American Gothic" parodies that just cracked me up - nothing to do with quarantine.

 

A longtime "trekkie" I laughed out loud.

Attribution on this one has been tricky - every image I found went to a pinterest board that did not properly track the artist. If anyone knows who came up with this please send me the link and info so I can give proper credit!

 

Next we have this take on modernism and classical art. It seems to be from a series of paintings by Dito Von Tease (sounds like a pseudonym to me). You can view more of his work with other paintings here.

 

Lastly we have this.

Here is a link to an article to the backstory on how this piece came to be with the help of Rabbi Yisroel Rubin.

It turns out that there are plenty of other American Gothic parody pieces - if you need a good laugh go start googling and see what you come up with!

Back To Betty - How To Get The Most Out Of The 1950 Cookbook

As I mentioned on Monday there is a new feature on the blog: Back To Betty.

I'm revisiting the 1950 edition of the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook in hopes of generating new interest in this terrific culinary resource. You can read the first post with the background of the project by clicking here.

Now, if you own a copy of this book and you just want to jump right in, find a recipe, and make it, go right ahead.

But if you really want to get the most out of all the Betty Crocker cookbook has to offer you should probably take a moment and check out the first 28 pages.

Including the endpapers.

Yes, the endpapers.

I've been cooking out of this book for many years but until I started this project I never really looked closely at the endpapers so I missed the handy quick tips that are located there.

And to be honest I never really looked at the first 28 pages either. I was lucky enough to have a mom and grandmother who taught me things like the method for properly measuring flour (never scoop it up using the measuring cup - instead you pour the flour into the cup and then level it off with a knife - as shown on page 7).

Had I taken the time to read those pages I could have saved myself from making a lot of mistakes that actually affected the flavor, tenderness, and overall success of the food I was preparing.

There are basically seven sections at the beginning which cover:

1. An introduction to the Betty Crocker kitchens and the goals of the company and the book. There are some VERY cool pics here of the "test kitchens" - I love looking at the kitchen fashions of the 1950s and these are some great representations.
2. Measuring - all the little tips and tricks for measuring different kinds of ingredients and taking into account whether they are wet or dry or should be tightly or loosely packed etc. There's a great tip here for measuring eggs.
3. Meaning of Terms - Very important so that you understand what the recipe is asking you to do. Includes a whole section of "foreign" and special terms (often these are French). It's fascinating to look through the "dictionary" and see how many terms would need little explanation today since they have become so commonplace on cooking shows.
4. Utensils - this section is most important for the recipes requiring baking - different types of pans bake things differently. There is a pic here of the old fashioned pastry cutter I use - I swear by these old cutters - they mix the pastry without cutting your fingers as you clean them off.
5. Food Storage - A valuable resource to avoid food spoilage. Apparently there are different methods for storing hard cheeses and soft cheeses - who knew?
6. Substitutions  - Explains what ingredients can be safely substituted in a recipe without compromising the outcome. Includes a section on common food equivalents and also equivalent weights and measures. I learned here that I can substitute sweet milk for buttermilk and vice versa by adding either lemon juice or baking soda as needed.
7. Preparation - Some ingredients, like chocolate and nuts need to be handled in particular ways - this section addresses a variety of ingredients with special needs. I just learned how to properly open and deal with a coconut in this section!

The helpful hints and "how to's" don't stop with the introduction but on page 28 we actually start seeing some recipes and the step-by-step instructions and tips become more integrated into the rest of the book. I'll be addressing these other "how-to" sections and "tips and tricks" in later posts as we move through the project. There is a LOT to unpack in this book!

So, if you have a copy of the Betty Crocker Picture cookbook kicking around your house and you haven't truly looked at it in years, maybe now would be a good time to dig it out, grab a cup of coffee (or tea or wine - knock yourself out) and browse through that first section. Even if you've looked at it in the past I bet you will find something interesting and/or enlightening that you barely noticed before.

For those of you who don't own a copy of the Betty Crocker Picture cookbook I'm posting images of those first pages (see them by clicking here).

Hopefully you will be so intrigued by them you will head over to Amazon or Ebay or wherever you find old books and order a copy of the book for yourself.

Inspirations - Fresh Cut Flowers

My studio window with today's garden bounty

I did not grow up with fresh cut flowers in the home. 

• My mother did not garden
• With little disposable income, trips to the florist were for "rich" people
• You couldn't by cheap beautiful fresh flowers at the local grocery store
• In the upper midwest, growing seasons were short

But I've reached a point in my life where I feel spending a little money on flowers is important. Whether it's planting your own and harvesting them for your home or picking up a nice bouqet at the grocery store, flowers can really lighten your mood.

I am blessed to have a dear friend who works for a bulb company. Every couple of years or so, in January, when the ground is rock hard and no one wants to plant bulbs, he makes a present to me of some of his overstock. I dutifully head out into the frozen tundra and do what it takes to get those bulbs into the ground. (One year it meant using hot water in buckets to soften up the soil first.)

It is COMPLETELY worth the hard work it takes to plant them. Come April and May my yard is overflowing with tulips and daffodils.

Here are a couple of tips for bringing in cut flowers:

• Cold water is good - especially if you don't want your tulips to immediately "blow out". I often add a couple of ice cubes to the vase when I first insert the flowers
• Small decorative stones help hold flower stems in place and are much cheaper and easier to deal with than those little glass marbles. (Just be careful not to break the vase when you put them in.)
• Daffodils excrete some chemical other flowers don't like - keep them in a vase by themselves
• I arrange daffodils the way I want them in my hand first and then trim the ends to even the stalks.
• Tulips have a natural "bend" that will increase as they sit in the water. Try to use this to your advantage when deciding what type of vase to use for them.

Tulips just brought in and cut - note the use of ice cubes and stones in the vase

Tulips later in the day after they have opened...

Same tulips after 3 days - almost, but not quite, blown out

Mother's day bouquet selected, cut, and arranged by my lovely daughter!

A nice close up of my Mother's Day bouquet

 

Inspirations - Spirituality 101 from Between Friends

I have a love hate relationship with yoga. I believe yoga is good for you. And, if it was just a nice class featuring a lot of cool stretches that maintain balance and flexibility, I'd be right there.

But it's never that simple.

Every yoga class I've tried is run by a female obsessed with: 1) teaching me to breathe at a rate completely contrary to my natural body rhythm, or 2) leading me to a religious out of body experience.

And I wind up just wishing the instructor would go away and let me do my thing. But a class like the one in this comic by Sandra Bell Lundy would be something I could get behind!

Bonus: A new website just launched for Between Friends and there is a yoga theme all week. Check it out here: http://betweenfriendscomics.com/

Inspirations - My Original Music, Celtic Inspired

 

"By The Sea" Click here to listen

 

This is a track from my unfinished CD of music inspired by Celtic harmony and rhythms. I began the project in 2003 with the help of harpist and musician extraordinaire Rafaele Schilewa. 

 

Rafaele and I roomed together in college and then she returned to her native Germany, making recording sessions difficult to schedule. (Hard to get us both on the same continent at the same time).

The CD remains unfinished due to Rafaele's untimely death from breast cancer in 2007. There are many tracks that still need revision and I just haven't had the heart to work on the project since she passed.

But this track is as close to finished as it is ever going to get and I am happy with it. I offer it as a nice tune with which to start your day.

Inspirations: Video - Fred And Ginger In Swingtime

 

I have become fatigued by today's movies. Too much shooting, too much stuff blowing up, too much loud music, too many people shouting. I cannot tell you if such movies are the reflection of a violent pop culture that already exists or a force driving that culture before it. I leave such discussions for smarter folks than I.

I just know that I find refuge in old movies, especially the black and white ones and, even more especially, the old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals of the 1930's and 40's. 

Enjoy this small clip from Swing Time and start your day off with a smile!

(PS - I love the way her dress moves in this. Also that she isn't wearing a ball gown and they just feel so happy and breezy.)

A Day At The Movies: Skyfall

Today I went to the local "Cine-multi-mall-plex" and saw Skyfall and I learned a few things.

1) It's a  problem when the pre-movie commercials for coke and other sundries, combined with the coming attractions, take so long that I have consumed almost all my popcorn and half my soda before the film even starts...

2) Tactical error - buying a large soda, even when slpit with my husband - creates an urgent need to use the bathroom approximately 40 minutes into the movie. There is typically no quiet moment during a James Bond movie in which to act on this urge. So I must suffer for the next 2 hours.

3) Great as the movie was, I couldn't resist noticing that when Bond stands on the roof in the final scenes, I knew it was just to create the above shot for the posters...

Now for the film:

I have a complicated relationship with action movies. Some of them, like the Bond Franchise and the Bourne movies, I absolutely adore. Others leave me cold.

In assessing why this is so I have come to the conclusion that it is all about humor and cleverness. An action movie that has a great sense of humor and witty dialogue will often win me over while a straight, "shoot 'em up and make sure lots of stuff blows up" movie will lose me. 

I also cannot stand gratuitous violence or cruelty. The second Mission Impossible movie lost me when the villian was too psychopathic. Likewise for the Dark Knight. Loved Batman Begins, couldn't get out of the theater fast enough after Heath Ledgers's genuinely cruel performance in The Dark Knight.

Great music and an engaging lead actor are also a must.

Skyfall has everything I look for in an action movie and more.

I grew up primarily during the Roger Moore Bond era and only discovered the Sean Connery Bond movies after I hit college. So my first impression of the saga that is Bond was pretty campy. I didn't realize how campy until I married a Bond fan who had all the original Ian Fleming books. After reading those I was pretty sure Roger Mooore's James Bond did not line up too well with the character in the books.

This made me a die hard Connery fan.

Then came Timothy Dalton.

Do I even have to explain how far away from the books the two Dalton films are? In Timothy's defense it's pretty hard to act your way out of bad writing and wretched plot.

So I was ecstatic when Pierce Brosnan took over the role. The Brosnan films brought us out of the campy 70's and politically correct 80's and realigned us with Fleming's cold war vibe. No more silly villains like Drax and Max Zorin (first role I ever saw Christopher Walken in - who knew?)

After a good run with Brosnan, we arrived at Daniel Craig.

I heard all the anti-Craig hype before I went to see Casino Royale and really didn't know what to expect. 

He had me within the first 40 seconds of the film. And by the end I knew I was finally seeing the James Bond onscreen that I had read about in the books. Low tech, gritty, majorly beat up and battered, eminently flawed.

Skyfall remains completely true to all of the above. Not only does it build nicely on the groundwork laid by the first two Craig Bond films, it elegantly nods back to the Connery movies. I don't want to include any spoilers but, suffice it to say you will feel a great wave of nostalgia and satisfaction when the Astin Martin and the Bond theme music show up.

I enjoyed literally every minute of the movie.

So go see it right now!

End notes:

- I wasn't sure how I would like Judy Dench as M when she first appeared in Goldeneye - suffice it to say she has set the bar for M pretty high 7 films later.

- The new Q is brilliant - terrific touch to make him young and hip

- We get to continue to evade silly gadgets and stick to the nitty gritty of weaponry

- Javier Bardem - perfect villain. Just the right mix of sanity and insanity

- Adele singing the opening credits - another brilliant choice. I thought I was listening to Shirley Bassey for a moment. The Skyfall theme might have been too close to "Diamonds Are Forever" for some people but I liked it.

 

 

Inspirations: Stranger Than Fiction

 

I like quirky little movies. I find them refreshing, particularly when I have had all I can take of things blowing up.

(Don't get me wrong, I love action movies like The Bourne Trilogy, The Die Hard series, Iron Man and James Bond, but I can only take so much of them. And you'll notice that all the movies on that list have a sense of humor. I need humor and a good musical soundtrack. An action movie that doesn't have humor or good music just hurts my head. And my ears.)

But I am a sucker for a good romantic comedy and those seem to be in short supply thesse days. My husband and I tried to find a nice little romantic movie to go to the weekend before Valentine's Day (and the weekend after, as well) and there was not a single one showing in theaters.

So we did what we always do when that happens and we rented something instead.

We first checked out "Stranger Than Fiction" a couple of years ago on a recommendation from our son and we liked it so much that we decided to get it again for Valentine's.

Which is already high praise - we really have to like a movie to watch it more than once.

It is surprising to me that this film is not better known. (None of my friends have even heard of it). It has an all star cast - Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, and Linda Hunt - and is directed by award winner Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, Quantum of Solace, The Kite Runner)

I can't give you a description of the plot because the best way to watch the film is to simply let it unfold and take you to unexpected places. 

I will mention that I go hot and cold on Will Ferrell as a movie actor - I find him most appealing in roles like this one and Elf, where he is genuinely acting rather than just over the top screwing around. There are a number of comedians whose film performances fall into the category I like to call "The Saturday Night Live Sketch that should only have been 3 minutes long."

"Stranger Than Fiction" won Will Ferrell a Golden Globe nomination for best actor and probably should have earned him an Oscar nomination as well. (But then we know what the Oscars think of romantic comedies.)

So, if, like me, you cannot find a good movie to watch at the theater go out and rent this gem.

Movie Review: the King's Speech

 

This weekend, my hubby and I ventured out to see The King's Speech

I haven't seen a lot of movies at the theater this year. Frankly, there haven't been that many that truly looked worth the time and money. I have netflix (and love it) and so movies definitely fall into either the "renting" or "trot out to the theater" categories.

The King's Speech is most certainly worth trotting out to the theater to see and it is not surprising that, this morning, it was nominated for a boatload of Academy Awards.

The central story of the film is that of King George VI (father of Queen Elizabeth II) and his struggles to overcome the stammer that he has had since early childhood. The world has entered the era of radio and television and, in the words of King Geaorge V (in the film) "It is no longer enough for a King to merely look good in a uniform. He must be able to speak to his public".

But the film is about much more than that. The British Royal Family is one of only a handful of European monarchies that survive to the present day and it is important to note that the period of history between 1910 and 1945 saw the fall of most of the rest. In the film, we see some of the inner workings of the royal family and quite a bit about the crisis of Edward VII's infatuation with Wallis Simpson and his eventual abdication.

I have no doubt that there are some historical inaccuracies in the film - apparently Edward (known to his family as David) and Wallis were known to have ties to Hitler and be Nazi sympathizers, a fact which is largely glossed over - but that didn't bother me. The central story is that of George (known to his family as Albert or "Bertie") with the storylines of other royal characters loosely hung around it.

But the bit I really want to get at is the relationship between "Bertie" and Lionel Logue, the speech therapist. Logue is not only a commoner, he is a quite common commoner and the close relationship between this man and the eventual King of England is practically unheard of. Colin Firth does an incredible job of portraying a man who can be very down to earth but, at the same time, has been groomed for privilege his entire life. And Geoffrey Rush does an equally incredible job portraying a man who - while he understands his place in the British social hierarchy - also understands how vital it is that he not conform to those standards in the treatment of his patient.

As I watched Lionel coach Bertie through his stammer and fear of public speaking, the cajoling, the building up, the tearing down, the mechanics of speech, and getting at the psychological roots of the inability to speak in front of others, I saw my own job.

When the film ended, I turned to my husband and said "You've just seen what I do all day". My main job - despite all the blogging and comic strip stuff - is that of a music teacher and performer. The difference between a good musician and a great musician is often less about the mechanics of playing the instrument than the psychology of the performer. My first job is to ensure that my students have the mechanical dexterity to play the instrument and learn the notes. But then comes the really tricky bit - getting them to the point where they not only understand how to interpret the music for themselves, but to communicate that musical interpretation to an audience without losing their focus or completely falling apart.

It is my favorite part of the job but it is also the hardest and I often don't truly know the impact I'm having. My students go out into the world and I generally don't get to see how they turn out or wether they feel my contributions are an important part of who they come to be.

In this film, it was very nice to see, not only the level of Lionel Logue's success in curing the stammer, but the gratitude of King George for the service and the friendship.

So - I give the film 4 stars and suggest you trot out to see it as soon as possible.

Oh, and one of my favorite bits is when Lionel sits in the coronation thrown and points out that people have carved their names in it. I'm not giving anything away because it's in the above trailer.