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Adventure 50's Style

Hello From the Flight Deck

Good afternoon folks, I’d like to welcome you all aboard our flight today.  First let me apologize for the rough takeoff out of Seattle.  Seems that steering a 737 with the feet going 185 knots down the runway is harder than expected. And those big dips we took shortly after takeoff, well a 737 climbing under power takes a lot of muscle to maneuver up and down. A few inches with the steering yoke too far and the plane goes the other direction.  And those unexpected turns we made a few minutes ago accompanied by the rocking motion was just a test.  Pay no attention to the alarm signal you hear in the background, its just a little reminder to fly the plane at the proper attitude.  We appreciate your business and hope that you will fly with us again soon, enjoy your stay in Seattle or wherever your travels take you. 

On our trip over Christmas break to Tempe, AZ to watch Michael play in a B-Ball tournament I visited with a church friend, Ed (he is actually my godson) who works for America West as a pilot and administrator in their flight simulator program.  Ed gave me a tour of the facilities and we spent about a hour or so in a Boeing 737 simulator, what a blast.  It feels so real, the landing and takeoff from the cockpit is incredible.  My attempt at flying the plane was a disaster as noted above.  It is very difficult as you can imagine, thankfully Ed took the controls and got us back on the ground.  Steering on the ground is done with the feet but more precise steering required to get up to the gate is done with a small wheel located on the pilot’s left which controls the nose wheels.  The trouble is it only requires small movements to make the plane turn with the nose wheel.  I was all over the place causing me to start feeling sick from the jerky movements.  Now I know why they tell you to stay seated until the pilot turns off the seatbelt sign.  Ed reports that many pilots get sick learning to steer the plane on the ground.  I guess I’m in good company. 

Oh…Fruitcake..Gee Thanks!

Let’s face it fruitcake has a bad rap. Like many others I looked askance at this holiday heavyweight for years.  About fours years ago I got the idea to start making them.  Don’t ask me why, since I’d never been much interested in the stuff.  Perhaps its like my sudden interest in opera at age 48, it is just something that you grow into.  I wonder what will be next:  NASCAR, gambling, QVC?.  Perhaps it is the byproduct of advancing age, the rigid mental barriers breakdown and one can’t recall longtime biases and habits; “Humm..  haven’t I always loved fruitcake?  You know I really should start making it”.

A local cafe makes an “all natural” loaf, that is with real dried fruit, that I had many years ago and found to my liking.  That kind of cake fits more with my approach to food than the candied varieties that we are all familiar with.  I began to look for recipes.  I eventually found one that looked promising in the “Joy Of Cooking” pg 977.  I modified the recipe slightly and of course use dried fruit rather than candied, its fabulous.  The combination of intense spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, mace, cloves), dried fruit, molasses and brandy produce a marvelously complex taste sensation.  As the cake ages it gets even better as things start to mingle and interact.  I’ve never been able to keep mine for more than a few months (I’m very undisciplined) but I have eaten one year old cake made by a friend and can report that they definitely improve with time.  They are reputed to last for years with enough alcohol in them and under proper storage.

Over the years I’ve given them away as Christmas gifts to family and friends.  Last year I overcooked almost the entire batch (dark pans, avoid them if possible) and didn’t give many away, consuming them at home (they are too expensive to just throw away).  I took a couple of loaves to Mt Athos and they came in handy on a number of occasions. 

It is very rewarding to make something and give it as a gift at holiday time yet, at the same time there is a certain pleasure in watching people squirm when I hand one over.  Sometimes it is a look of panic or dread, as if I just asked them to hold a bag of dog poop.  “Oh my God, what am I going to do with this thing?” they must be thinking.  “I hope he is not going to ask me to cut it up and eat it now!”

When I bring a cake to Christmas parties there is a similar reaction, people eat around them at the cookie table.  Since mine don’t quite look like the typical fruitcake there is also the basic instinct to avoid the unknown.  Sugar cookies with silver beads and green and red sprinkles, now those are safe to eat.  I go on the offensive and immediately starting eating some encouraging others around me to do so.  The few brave ones are pleasantly surprised to discover that the lowly fruitcake is perhaps the only item at the desert table of any substance and tastes great.  There are even a few folks now who look forward to them. 

Watch out the fruitcakes are in the mail!

Great Endings

There is something about a great ending that regardless of what has gone on before brings a feeling of elation and fulfillment that leaves one wanting more, to do it all over again. By “great ending” I mean an ending that somehow adds to one’s understanding and appreciation of an event or performance.  A “great ending” need not make one feel “good” or tie-up all the loose ends, that’s the easy way out.  A “great ending” provokes, it stirs, it moves us to a new level of awareness, perhaps allowing us to see things in a new light.

This notion was brought home so clearly this past week by two very different theatrical events. The first is Wagner’s monumental work the “Ring des Nibelungen”, four operas: Das Rheingold , Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung staged over a one week period. I had the great pleasure of seeing the Seattle Opera’s production last week. For seventeen hours over four nights I was drawn into Wagner’s mythic world that explores as no other opera work before it, the depths of the human psyche via words and music. It is an outlandishly twisted tale that draws from both Germanic/Norse mythology, the politics of the mid-19th century, and the influential philosophies of the time.  With three of the four operas at five or more hours at times it is an endurance contest, with moments of frustration and impatience when one thinks .."why can’t he (Wagner) just got on with it!” after taking 30 minutes to have two characters express their love for each other and embrace. Yet, the very next minute Wagner will hook you and draw you back in with a expressive melodic line or leitmotif (see and a hear), it is pure genius.  People literally come from all over the world to see these productions, many avid Wagner lovers who have seen the Ring Cycle many times over (if you think a normal opera crowd is old, you should see a Ring crowd!).  Just being in that kind of committed crowd is enjoyable in itself.  Of course there a a few who take things a bit far and strut around during intermissions wearing a viking helmet but generally speaking it is a very serious enthusiastic crowd.

Back to the idea of a “great ending”.. in the last of the four operas, Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), the final scene in Stephen Wadworth’s Seattle production was breathtaking. The “ring” (the object of everyone’s obscession) has been returned to the Rhinemaidens and order has been restored but the rein of the"gods" has come to an end and Valhalla goes up in flames.  The scene was simply stunning, it left me thinking (in spite of the fact that we sprinted out the door to catch of ferry) “wow, the time and expense ($110/seat/night!) were all worthwhile, this was something really special to be a part of”. 

As I usually do before any opera, I try to listen to the music ahead of time. I’ve been working on the Ring for months. One doesn’t go through 17 hours of music easily.  Wagnerian opera does not make good background music around the house in ways that operas of Mozart, Puccini or Verdi do.  I had a hard time connecting with it quite honestly, as I do with most of Wagner’s operas before I see them.  I listened to Scenes 2 and 3 from Das Rheingold the other day and heard it in a whole new light...it was marvelous.  There is so much going on in these operas that a small foothold helps bring things into focus.  If you asked me after the third opera, Seigfried, if I’d go again the answer would have been NO, now, I’d pony up the big bucks without question.... “great endings” have the power to do that.

Now to the second “great ending”. I have been a longtime fan of the HBO show ”Six Feet Under”. Created by Alan Ball, the Academy Award winning writer of ”American Beauty”, the show takes a “darkly comic look at life and death from the perspective of a dysfunctional family that owns and operates an independent funeral home in California”. From the fabulous opening theme music and credits ,created by a Seattle company Digital Kitchen, to the dark and off-beat story lines it is great television in my view.  I highly recommend renting the first season, it comes on four episode DVDs. As with many programs, I think the first season was the best and most inventive.

At any rate.. I just happened to catch the show’s last episode the other night and the last 15 minutes was one of those “great endings”. In the imagination/daydream of one of the characters, Claire, as she drives off “into the sunset” are death scenes of each of the show’s characters.  Now if you aren’t familiar with the program you are probably thinking “what? how morbid!”, but every episode of the series starts with a death in a short one minute or so vignette.  Remember, the program is centered around the funeral business. The eventual funeral of that person becomes a minor background theme for the episode, it is very clever.  Getting back to what I said at the top, I was left with a feeling of satisfaction, that what I had enjoyed about this inventive program was confirmed by the well done finale.

As they say at the opera… “Bravo!”

The Ring family tree
Great Ring des Nibelungen resource
Six Feet Under at HBO

Dreaming of Athos

Almost from the moment I returned from MtAthos I have been trying to figure out a way to get back. Spending an extended period of time on the Holy Mountain measured in months rather than days is my dream. Make no mistake, I’m not interested in the monastic life, I’m not cut out for that, besides I’m happily married to a wonderful woman and have three terrific kids but, I long to immerse myself in the rhythm of the monastic life for a period. The taste I got on my trip left me wanting more. While I’m sure this is somewhat of a romantic fantasy I do have a fairly good idea of the demands it entails. Many impediments lie in the way to say nothing of getting the permission to stay that long on the Holy Mountain. Of course, one could argue that the spiritual life is not subject to the notions of time and place. One need not journey all the way toAthos in a quest for spiritual growth, all that work can and should be done right here at home, the Church provides everything that is required. Yet, there is something powerful and unique in those surroundings that nurtures the spirit, that focuses one’s energies on the mission at hand… I long for that focus, if just for awhile.

Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly, the angel who guards you willhonour your patience.

St. John of the Ladder

Danger: Slow Moving Seniors

An opera audience is a unique group.  At 51 I feel like the kid in the crowd with much of the audience made up of seniors. Moving around the opera house can be a real challenge, it’s a senior minefield!  Dodging slow moving seniors is a little known skill required of the “young” opera goer that you won’t read about in the promotional literature or opera magazines. Getting to your seat, heading to the bathroom at intermission, leaving the building to catch a late night ferry home is frought with danger.  Being tall and usually quick to move from place to place, I’m not one to be looking down at what lies ahead… I just go.  At the opera such behavior can result in disaster. Slow and steady, scanning the carpeted terrain below is a must.  How horrible the thought of trampling someone’s grandmother or grandfather! 

All joking aside, how nice it is to see older couples all dressed up for the evening,
Original production 1881
L’Opéra-Comique many I’m sure having spent many an evening over the years at the opera.  For me a rookie after two full seasons, every opera is a new experience.  For these veterans a lifetime of opera must bring a different focus to the evening.  I can only use my opera mentor, Gregory as a model.  After 30 or so years of serious opera going he has seen many operas multiple times.  His understanding and grasp of opera is astounding making our intermission debriefings and discussions very meaningful.  This past week’s performance of “Tales of Hoffman” (Les contes d’Hoffmann) by Offenbach is a case in point, I believe he has seen it three times.  A little background I learned: Offenbach died before the opera was finished in 1880.  Consequently it has been the subject of many variations over the years. Apparently no two stagings are ever alike; music is added, acts omitted or rearranged, dialog added and so on. There are four women (subject to variation as well) in the opera who are the object of Hoffman’s obsession.  Historically some productions have one woman singing all four roles, a major undertaking since they are all very different in range and style.  The great Joan Sutherland was one of the few in recent history capable of handling such a daunting task and performed the opera in Seattle in 1970 (read a review of her Met performance 1973). Beverly Sills was another known for brilliantly handling these parts.

One of the marvelous things about opera is its rich history and the role that every new production and performance has in shaping that history.  As our experience grows as opera lovers ( I guess I can say that about myself now) we too shape the history of this unique art form.  If not for the patronage (and generous financial support I might add) of the many loyal and aged fans of opera there would be no opera for us youngsters to attend!  I just hope the next generation of young opera goers (ya know the 40 years olds) will keep any eye out for me when I’m shuffling around the opera house!