Peter Yarrow RIP - Kitchen Listening

Peter, Paul & Mary were an important group during my youth and were always part of my music experience. I was 10 when I first heard them singing If I Had A Hammer on the radio and 11 when there song Puff The Magic Dragon was everywhere. I remember us kids singing that song at school and playing around with it at choir practice. 

I always loved the way they covered Bob Dylan songs especially Blowing in the Wind and their version was probably the first time I heard of that song. I think my favorite song they did was their cover of Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's Alright. It's an amazing performance and I especially love the way the three vocalist come to the song one at a time.

I saw them in concert several years later when I was a teenager.

Sadly we heard today that Peter Yarrow from the group Peter, Paul & Mary died today at the age of 86. Mary Travers had died from leukemia nearly 20 years ago.

Now I need to have some kitchen listening time with Peter, Paul & Mary. I have a few of their albums in my collection.

Peter, Paul & Mary albums in my collection:

• Peter, Paul & Mary, 1962
• (Moving), 1963
• In The Wind, 1963
• A Song Will Rise, 1965
• See What Tomorrow Brings, 1965
• The Peter, Paul & Mary Album, 1966
• Album 1700, 1967
• Late Again, 1968
• Peter, Paul and Mommy, 1969
• The Best of Peter, Paul & Mary: Ten Years Together, 1970
• The Very Best of Peter, Paul & Mary, 2005
• Live in Japan 1967, 2012
• Discovered Live in Concert, 2014

I Believe In Love - Evening Mist FV

This mix is another in my Evening Mist Final Version series. This one focuses a little more on the New Age and film soundtrack pieces in my album collection along with some traditional classical music.

I Believe In Love - Evening Mist FV

1. I Believe In Love – Suzanne Ciani
2. Keep Walking – Kelly Lee Owens
3. Libertango – Maggie O’Connor
4. To Love – Eighth Blackbird
5. Sea of Tranquillity – Colleen
6. The Esctasy of Gold – Ennio Morricone
7. Amarcord – Nino Rota
8. Helter Skelter – Matt Haimovitz
9. Palestrina: Super Flumina Babylonis – ORA
10. Haydn: Piano Sonata #33 in C Minor 1. Moderato – Emmaual x
11. Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord, 2 Andante – James Weaver
12. Reminiscence – Olafur Arnalds
13. Bach: Aria (Soprano) – St. John Passion – J. S. Bach Society Orch. & Choir
14. We Keep This Flame – Christopher Tignor
15. The Academy in Peril – John Cale
16. Crystal Silence – Chick Corea & Gary Burton
17. Quiet City – Wynton Marsalis and Eastman Wind Ensemble
18. Healah Dancing – Keaton Henson

Readings 2024 - Nonfiction

Nonfiction books for 2024. I read 13 of them and of course about half were books about the current trumpian dystopia running though our nation and the fight to save our democracy.

As usual I also read a few biographies that were mostly from musicians although I did read a rather fascinating bio of Ronald Reagan from someone who was not a fan. Very interesting.

Overall another good collection this year. I did also read 41 novels this year for a grand total of 54 books.

• Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality and the Republicans War on the Recent Past - Steve Benen
• The Imposters: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics - Steve Benen
• Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism - Rachel Maddow
• Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past - Kevin Kruse
• Lady Justice: Women, the Law and the Battle to Save America - Dahlia Lithwick
• Reagan: His Life and Legend - Max Boot
• The Secret History of the World: Sweeping, Speculative Tour of Occult Traditions Claiming a Hidden Narrative Beneath Recorded History - Mark Booth
• Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to Expose It's Harmful Secrets - Jeff Horwitz
• World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music - Jeff Tweedy
• Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell - David Yaffe
• What Happened Miss Simone?: A Biography - Alan Light
• Memphis 68: The Tragedy of Southern Soul - Stuart Cosgrove
• Julien: Rome's Last Pagan Emperor - Philip Freeman

Sinfonia - Evening Mist FV

Here is another mix in the Evening Mist Final Version series. This one is a set of classical music running an hour and a half as usual and makes for a very satisfying listen.

Sinfonia - Evening Mist FV

1. Rossi: Sinfonia settimadecima & Galliarda detta la Zambalina – Apollo’s Fire
2. Chopin: Waltz #3 in A Minor – Vladimir Horowitz
3. Rachmaninov: Vespers Op. 37 – Irina Arkhipova & USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir
4. Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, II. Adagio – Joyce DiDonato
5. Handel: Partenope, Act II: Qual Farfalletta – Amanda Forsythe
6. Bach: Suite III in C Major, BWV 1009 – Matt Haimovitz
7. Scarlatti: Non so qual piu m’ingombra: Aria – Elizabeth Watts and The English Concert
8. Dvorak: Symphony No. 8 in G. Op. 88 2. Adagio – Wiener Philharmonika
9. Chopin: 19 Nocturnes: No. 17 in B Major Op. 62 No. 1 – Artur Rubinstein
10. Haydn: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E-flat Major – Raymond Leppard
11. Handel: Fireworks Music Suite in D Major: IV La Rejouissance – Bohdan Warchal
12. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in C Sharp Minor – Walter Gieseking
13. Monteverdi: Vespers of the Blessed Virgin – Canadian Brass
14. Mozart: Clarinet and String Quartet in A Major, 1. Allegro – Emerson String Quartet
15. Bach: St. John Passion, Chorus – J.S. Bach Society Orchestra & Choir

Dinner @ Shango

Tonight we went out for our first dinner of the New Year after a brief discussion as to where to go. We went to one of our favorite nearby restaurants... Shango New Orleans Bistro and we had some of our favorite menu items. Becky had a Shrimp Po' Boy and I had a Blackened Catfish Po' Boy. They both included some wonderful honey covered sweet potato fries and their fabulous cole slaw. I also had a cup of gumbo. I washed it down with a pint of Flower Power IPA from Ithaca Brewery. 

We had no leftover boxes tonight. Ate it all.

The restaurant was busy and there were plenty of people. The other two restaurants next door were very busy too with lots of students from across the street.

Flowers of Romance - Evening Mist FV

The second mix in the Evening Mist series. A selection of new age and classical music from my album collection. This makes for a very interesting listen.

This mix is part of my Final Version series of mixes and runs about an hour and a half.

Flowers of Romance - Evening Mist FV

1. Flowers of Romance – Ottmar Liebert
2. Artifacts of Longing, Pt. 1 – Christopher Tignor
3. Promise of the Morning – Jon Mark
4. An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death – Eluvium
5. Upheld By Stillness – ORA
6. Meeting Mozart – Suzanne Ciani
7. Mozart: Violin Sonata #30 in C, Allegro Moderato – Jean-Pierre Rampal
8. Scarlatti: Endimione e Cintia: Aria “Se geloso e il mio core” – Elizabeth Watts & The English Concert
9. Schoenberg: Drei Volksliedsatzwe - Schein Uns, du Liebe Sonne – Laurence Equilbey
10. Handel: Serse – Ombra Mai Fu (Largo) – Reginald Kilbey & His Strings
11. Vivaldi: Oboe Concerto in A Minor – 2. Largo – Douglas Boyd
12. Vivaldi: Concerto in G Minor for Two Cellos – 1. Allegro – Apollo’s Fire
13. Dvorak: “Eia mater, fons amoris” – Jiri Belohlavek
14. Bach: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor – ii. Andante – Anne Akidi Meyers
15. Field: Nocturne No. 2 in C Minor  - Elizabeth Joy Roe
16. Du Fay: Missa “Ecce ancilla Domini / Beata es Maria”: Sanctus – Cut Circle
17. Philip Glass: Music in Similar Motion – Eighth Blackbird
18. Thought Not - Kneebody & Daedelus

Readings 2024 - Fiction

I read a total of 55 books this year and 42 of them were novels. I read my usual high number of murder mysteries and thrillers from Cara Black, Douglas Preston, Victoria Thompson, Tana French, Sara Paretsky and a few others. I also read some wonderful science fiction. One in particular was a dystopian science fiction novel from 1993 that has been on my to read list for many years...Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. Lots of good science fiction this year. There were also a couple of other books I finally got to... Paper Moon, Joe David Brown's novel from 1971 and Charles Webb's The Graduate from 1963.

Another novel I read was very special and was written by someone I'd known most of my life. Secrets of the Cobblestones: A 1938 Germantown Mystery published by Florence Niewood in late 2023. She was a friend of my sister and the sister of one of my close friends. To us she was always Barney Reiley. Florence was her given name and Niewood was her married name. Barney was her life-long nick name. I keep say was because unfortunately Barney passed away shortly after publishing this book. It broke my heart and she was gone by the time I read it. I would have loved to have read more of her books. An entire series of murder mysteries set in our old Germantown neighborhood.

 

• Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler
• The Children of Men - P. D. James
• The Restless Wave: A Novel of the United States Navy - James Stavridis
• Deadlock - Sara Paretsky
• Hum - Helen Philips
• Indemnity Only - Sara Paretsky
• The Ferryman - Justin Cronin
• Angel of Vengeance - Douglas Preston
• Murder on Gramercy Park - Victoria Thompson
• Murder at the Lanterne Rouge - Cara Black
• Diablo Mesa - Douglas Preston
• Murder at St. Mark's Place - Victoria Thompson
• The Scorpion's Tail - Douglas Preston
• The Cabinet of Dr. Leng - Douglas Preston
• Old Bones - Douglas Preston
• Bloodless - Douglas Preston
• Thunderhead - Douglas Preston
• Secrets of the Cobblestones: A 1938 Germantown Mystery - Florence Niewood
• The Absent One - Jussi Adler-Olsen
• Murder on Astor Place - Victoria Thompson
• The Road to Murder - Carmilla Trinchieri
• The Keeper of Lost Causes - Jussi Adler-Olsen
• Across the Sand - Hugh Howey
• Murder in Passy - Cara Black
• The Hunter - Tana French
• All Souls Rising - Madison Smartt Bell
• Paper Moon - Joe David Brown
• Haiti Noir - Edwidge Danticat
• Beacon #23 - Hugh Howey
• The Dark Forrest - Cixin Lui
• System Collapse - Martha Wells
• Killing Floor - Lee Child
• The Graduate - Charles Webb
• Murder in the Latin Quarter - Cara Black
• Murder on the Vine - Carmilla Trinchieri
• Kingdoms of Sorrows - J.K. Franks
• Barcelona Dreaming - Rupert Thomson
• Murder in the Rue de Paradis - Cara Black
• Pieces of Her - Karin Slaughter
• The Resistance Man - Martin Walker
• Downward Cycle - J.K. Franks

Adagio - Evening Mist FV

This is the first of my Evening Mist Final Version series of reworked classical/new age Evening mixes that I put together several years ago as 8 hour mega mixes. Now they are recreated as hour and a half collections of music with a certain feel that includes strings, horns, choral and a new age vibe with a hint of jazz. I throw in a few film soundtrack pieces too. However, this one to start with consist mostly of classic sounding classical music.

So this first one starts off with a well known and one of my favorite pieces from from the Italian Baroque composer Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni. His Adagio in G Minor from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. This is also the title track for the mix. It keeps going from there with many of my favorite classical pieces from Bach, Mozart, Handel, Vivaldi, etc.

Adagio - Evening Mist FV

• Albinoni: Adagio in G Minor – Charles Groves: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
• Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #2 in F, BWV 1047 – 2. Andante – Herbert Von Karajan: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, KV 622 – I. Allegro – Sinfonia Concertante
• Vivaldi: Concerto in D Minor for Two Violas de Gamba – “Tango” – I. Allegro ostinato – Apollo’s Fire
• Mozart: Concerto in D for Horn and Orchestra – Allegro – Michael Thompson & Richard Watkins
• Handel: Messiah, Part One – Andrew Davis
• Vivaldi: Four Seasons op. 8 Spring: Allegro – Itzhak Perlman
• Chopin Waltz #7 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 64/2 – Vladimir Horowitz
• Orbit – Matt Haimovitz
• Mozart: 3. Andante catabile – String Quartet K.387 – Emerson String Quartet
• Bach: Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – Anne Akiko Meyers
• Gabrieli: Canzon in Double Echo – Canadian Brass
• Bach: Chorale – St John Passion – J. S. Bach Society Orch. & Choir
• Puccini: Tosca – E Lucevan Le Stelle – Luciano Pavarotti
• Bach: Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BMV 1046, IV Menueto – Oliver Dohnany
• Vivaldi: 1. Allegro – Oboe Concerto in D, R.453 – 1. Allegro – Douglas Boyd

First Chili of the New Year

Today was a cold and snowy day so Becky made her first chili of the new year and it was delicious and wonderful as usual. Very tasty. We had some nice Co-Op bread to go with it too.

New Year Carnage

I was planning to write something nice and positive for my first post of the new year but when I came downstairs and turned on the TV I was inundated with the breaking story of a 3 AM mass murder incident on Bourbon Street in New Orleans where someone killed ten people and injured thirty or more running through a crowded street with a pick-up truck. Then he started shooting at responding police officers. The news is also saying he had explosive devices.

As the day went on there were more people reported dead and injured and the media and the authorities announced that this was an act of terrorism and there may be other people involved. There was also an ISIS flag in the truck used in the attack. 

Trump immediately started ranting that this was done by an immigrant recently crossing the border to kill Americans. He had no information and was just making shit up again.

Later it would turn out that the killer was a Black Muslim American citizen from Texas, born in the USA and an Army veteran who may have been recently radicalized by online ISIS propaganda.

Then later in the day a car bomb went off in a Musk Tesla car outside the front door of a Trump Hotel in Las Vegas injuring several people and killing one.

I guess 2025 is going to be a same old same old year of America tearing itself apart.