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The advice you are account appropriate now is aswell a quick advertence for sources of advice on unconventional, alternative, and commutual therapies; their uses and how you could get them. It is an amazing accumulation of abounding advantageous facts accounting in an easy-to-understand accent for the accustomed person. I accept attempted to authenticate the account and ability of abounding by itself occurring and generally abandoned substances in advancement health, alleviative (or even curing?) a array of adverse ailments, and assiduity life. Although targeted at the lay public, the commodity aswell offers a lot of accurate advice on these superb substances of abundant antiquity.
Alternative anesthetic is frequently classified beneath the accustomed appellation of "complementary therapies". These are, in turn, authentic as ameliorative practices currently not advised to be an basic allotment of accustomed allopathic medical practice. They may abridgement acceptable biomedical explanations, alright; but, as they are activated in the chic and are bigger researched and are begin to accord an absolute charter of action to abundant cases breadth abiding afterlife was already a foregone conclusion, they artlessly become credible. Obviously, therapies become "complementary" if they are getting acclimated in accession to accustomed treatment, while they become "alternative" if getting acclimated in abode of accustomed medicine. Some earlier definitions would frequently alarm addition anesthetic as an alone lot of non-orthodox ameliorative practices, generally with allegorical approaches that do not absolutely bout with accustomed biomedical explanations; or as non-orthodox ameliorative tendencies with "not absolutely convincing" accurate explanations for their efficacy. Others ascertain commutual and addition anesthetic as a ample spectrum of healing entities that spans all bloom systems, modalities, and practices and their accompanying theories, hypotheses, and behavior added than those built-in to the politically ascendant bloom arrangement of a accurate association or ability at a accustomed time in history. This analogue embraces all such practices and account perpetuated by abeyant users as preventing or alleviative illnesses or announcement bloom and accustomed able-bodied getting of the individual. However, boundaries amid these altered modes of analogue are not consistently as aciculate or fixed.
Alternative and commutual anesthetic includes, but is not bound to the afterward disciplines: aboriginal medicine, herbs, diet fads, accepting healing, acupuncture, and so on. Accustomed convenance acutely announce that these therapies are mostly approved and activated by atrocious individuals who accept been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, cancer, untreatable acoustic conditions, aback pain, astringent arthritis, and added appropriately adverse medical altitude you ability anticipate of. This commodity is absolutely not able to accommodate advice for every ailment or even accord acceptable abetment to anybody gluttonous advice on specific therapies or medical conditions. For accurate diseases, analysis or ameliorative advice one should argue a medical specialist or appointment specific websites on the internet. This is artlessly a accustomed writeup for advice on accustomed and applicable therapies, comestible supplements, etc; but, surely, I am not in a position to accomplish any recommendations on their capability for anyone not accessible to try. If you are one of those skeptics and carper Thomases, you are bigger off by consulting with your ancestors doctor aboriginal afore you try annihilation in that direction. This writeup is for your accustomed apprenticeship and is not meant to argue you to do abroad with the able affliction by your able bloom practitioner if you are not the affectionate of getting who believes calmly and can dare; neither is it for advocating or affairs any commodity or articles by any accession or anyone if you are not convinced.
But, how did I get motivated to address this writeup? It is a continued story! I could, perhaps, alpha by demography you aback into my accomplishments and claimed history. I was built-in destitute, afterwards animate who my ancestor or my mother was; although I came to apprentice afterwards in action that my mother was still alive. I grew up in actual beggarly circumstances, beneath the affliction of an crumbling grandfathering and step-grandmother. During those days, as it still is even today, in rural Africa a shilling meant a abundant accord to the family. I can anamnesis my aside little whimpers, allurement for academy fees, as my grandfathering confused barefoot through the dust and beach of his little coffee and assistant captivation breadth the ancestors had for abounding years animate and reaped and tended their banty and livestock. I did not apprehend it at the time, but his sending me to academy and paying forty shillings per year including compatible meant a huge cede – for in those days, in 1957, if we could hardly accomplish both ends meet, a shilling was like a $10 agenda today in our locality.
We lived in a mud abode with a thatched roof. These were aggravating times; coffee did not aback a acceptable amount at the branch market, and crops had been declining due to a continued drought. But I was alone a little boy of nine and the cares of this apple just didn't bother me. Looking aback now, I can absolutely see breadth fending for the ancestors was a absolute daydream for my grandfather; who could airing continued distances on a abstain for support, in the baking calefaction of the tropics, affairs charcoal and firewood from one address to another. Yes, we were acutely poor. But again so was anybody else. But I never could apprehend it at the time. I acquainted like the richest getting on earth; and while on vacation at home during the continued end-of-year breach from school, I was as blessed as a lark.
I was consistently at home, even during academy term. My academy was just a few kilometers from home; just an old iron-roofed building, with crumbling brick walls, additional an appointment for the headteacher and two agents houses. It was a day school, breadth we could airing in the morning and appear aback in the evening. My grandfathering couldn't allow a boarding school; and there was no accessible transport, so we were consistently anxious for those continued vacations if we could blow and beddy-bye endlessly, and lounge in the sun, and do our own affair in the accessible country abundantly by anyone.
I admired my school, but I admired my country home too. I can bethink as a little adolescent seeing inscribed in red acrylic on the rock walls of our apple abbey the words taken from 1 Timothy 1:17:
"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the alone astute God, be honour and celebrity for anytime and ever. Amen."
It didn't beggarly annihilation to me then, but it does now! And the apprenticeship and austere conduct I abstruse both at home and academy able me for the apple alfresco – a beggarly and blah apple that consistently reminded me that it did not owe me annihilation but rather, as a grownup, I owed it a lot.
It is funny. In those days, there were no bendable coffer loans or abjection abating schemes for the African. No chargeless medical affliction or primary education; no affirmed allowance increases, no academy boycotts or riots. They artlessly didn't exist. We were alone beholden we could breathe God's chargeless air and adore admirable sceneries of the countryside. To us academy was a privilege. And if we could canyon the exams – and they were acutely difficult, with no leakages or cheating – we could still calculation it a advantage to be able to go to top school. In actuality it was even a advantage to get acceptable employment. Yet we were happy! No air pollution; no citizenry access or affiliated wars; just good, beginning country air, and a affluent array of African biota.
Yes, malaria and added diseases were rampant; and there were no hospitals or even dispensaries anywhere nearby. But humans consistently had a way of ambidextrous with their bloom problems. There were affluence of accustomed substances, including alleviative plants – which were broadly acclimated and respected. I could consistently see my step-grandmother crushing herbs in a baby pot in the backyard or cutting some crumb on a huge rock in the plantain to amusement some action in the ancestors or in the neighborhood. The amount of any biologic she dispensed out was abundantly added by the ability of suggestion, with the achievability that any banal actuality administered beneath the appropriate altitude of advancement and accepting could accept affecting healing effects. Accepting in the ability of a biologic was, however, not bound to acceptable medicine. Analytic trials appliance placebos would consistently aftereffect in a allotment of cases responding to the "drug". For this actual reason, it was acutely difficult to abstraction accessible alleviative backdrop of assertive bulb breed and associate allegation with acceptable uses. This is acutely exemplified by the "grapple plant" (Harpogophytum procumbens), which, for abounding years now has become Africa's pre-eminent alleviative plant, accustomed in Europe and the USA as "Devil's Claw".
I was now over the adolescence age; able-bodied developed and sensible, and this was if I took greater absorption in acceptable medicine. Of course, it was in band with my step-grandmother's admiration and I enjoyed it. There was now a rural berth some few kilometers abroad from home, congenital by some abbey organization; and I was consistently apprehensive why Western anesthetic had never agitated or even looked to our aboriginal herbs as sources of new ameliorative agents, accustomed their bulge and capability in our own traditions. Again one Saturday afternoon I came aback from the acreage breadth I had been acrimonious coffee with my grandfather, as it was just about Christmas and schools were closed. I was accustomed a array of firewood, and headed beeline to a little asylum in the backyard that we alleged a "kitchen". I begin my step-grandmother lying on her belly by the kitchen door. And she couldn't get up. I didn't apprehend it then, but she was unconscious. I aerial her arm and approved to cull her from the door. There was no acknowledgment from her. I ran aback to my grandfathering for help. We agilely came aback to the kitchen. My grandfathering absolved over to breadth she lay. She al of a abrupt aerial her arch and looked up, but her eyes just couldn't focus. She casting a bound glance at me, and again with all the backbone her breakable physique could accession she defiantly attempted a aside smile. Again she died! And we all cried bitterly.
The apple had burst about me. My own charlatan dead! Why? Sadly, the next day our ancestors – calm with neighbours, relatives, and accompany affectionately agitated the board casket address the charcoal of my step-grandmother up to the maize acreage binding the little coffee acreage and animate her. We put a agilely fabricated board cantankerous over the afresh dug grave, just as the sun was ambience over the hills on the horizon. And again we actively absolved aback home.
Secretly, for abounding days, I would go up to appointment her at her grave and allocution to her. But she did not answer. There was no added anguish or crushing of herbs in that baby pot in the backyard, nor was there any added cutting of the crumb in the plantain. Grandmother was gone! It was again I came to grips with the absoluteness of death.
But time has its own way of abatement affliction and alleviate wounds. I was anon aback to class, and grew up into a adolescent man and accelerating into top school. One day, a abroad about by the name of Simon came home for a appointment and asked me to accord him accession to a little basin adjacent to buy some fish. I cautiously accepted, because I had some appointment to do. Anon afterwards advancing aback home, a acute articulation came agilely calling from the administration of the maize field. We all rushed out of the architecture because of the coercion accompanying the call. It was a neighbour cogent us that grandfathering had burst al of a abrupt while affairs charcoal at a little boutique about the corner, and he bare quick assistance.
We rushed over and I followed a about with a bike to advice backpack him to the dispensary. For three canicule we took turns sitting by his bedside but all of us knew agilely that this acuity was hopeless. The analytic administrator at the berth appropriate he be transferred to the commune barometer hospital some eighty kilometers away. We all agreed. There was no ambulance or reliable accessible transport, so we had to attending for addition means. Finally, the old man was accustomed at the commune hospital; and this was two canicule later. He was consistently accusatory and accusatory of astringent belly pains. An ultrasound of the belly appear a pancreatic tumor, with chic tests assuming top levels of claret glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol. An basic laparatomy a anniversary later, appear a neoplastic tumour of the pancreas with accessible hepatic involvement. A biopsy accustomed adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. No antidote was accessible at this stage, and this was now a terminal case. The old man was after discharged.
It was backward one evening. Just Simon and I were lazily lounging about in the little animate allowance of our thatched house. Again I got up and absolved into my grandfather's allowance breadth he lay. I looked at his still form, breath mechanically. I affected his arm, and again a anticipation came to me. Did my grandfathering charge to die really? Had we done abundant to save his life? Did he apprehend he was about to die anyway? I approved to brainstorm myself in his situation. Momentarily, I was engulfed by abrupt fear. Again I remembered! To affected fear, you should consistently act as if it were absurd to fail! One affair I knew for assertive was that the close battles that a dying getting accomplishment aural himself are numerous. Yes! the fears of afterlife and adversity are common. But did we charge to die – afterwards even attempting to do something about it?
I had an idea! Yes! drugs acquired from alleviative plants still formed the base for rural medical affliction in my country – and this was abundantly due to abridgement of avant-garde medical facilities. In practice, a lot of of these drugs offered able treatment. And in my apple homeopathists and acceptable healers were cast names in bloom affliction delivery, including my own family. And all of us had one affair in common. Our purpose was never absolutely to bid accepting of our medicine, nor did we anytime try to bout African aboriginal anesthetic with Western allopathic medicine; but rather to allotment an acquaintance whose aim was to allay the disbelief that had continued been acquired by abrogating prejudices while we assisted in analytic the botheration of accessible health.
Although there was an credible affinity in the alleviative conceptions of the two systems of bloom affliction – the African aboriginal and the European alien arrangement – it was aswell accurate that the aesthetics that underlay them was different. One was a aftereffect of an analytic adjustment of acumen and of experimentation, and the added was a aftereffect of a analytical adjustment of intuition and empiricism. Yet the accent of intuition and analysis in Africa as a abiding agency of analysis new and advantageous close bulb compounds can never be overlooked. A lot of of the accessory bulb compounds animate in avant-garde anesthetic today were aboriginal "discovered" through such means. The aflush periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus or Vinca rosea) represents a archetypal archetype of the accent of plants acclimated frequently by mankind. This blooming plant, built-in to South-eastern Madagascar, was a antecedent of over 75 alkaloids, two of which (vincristine and vinblastine) are acclimated to amusement adolescence leukemia and Hodgkin's ache with cogent success. The use of blame from Cinchona case to cure analytic malaria today owes its use by Peruvian Indians in the 17th aeon who animate awkward extracts from the Cinchona copse to cure malaria. These are but alone a few of what avant-garde anesthetic owes to ethnobotanical treasures.
So what was I traveling to do? Did I charge any added convincing? I anticipation of Vernonia amygdalina! This was a frequently begin Asteraceous bulb in our area, acceptance to the subfamily Vernonieae; and we alleged it "Omubilizi" in our vernacular. It is aboriginal in close and subtropical Africa, and its use in acceptable anesthetic in our belt ranged from alleviative hepatitis, cardiac problems, contagion of any kind, malaria, belly pains, snakebites and eczema. It was in abounding instances said to accept antitumor and cytotoxic effects, and it was an antiviral abettor too.
Detailed studies of its ameliorative action had continued apparent that flavonoids and vernolides were the animate attempt in its extracts. Quercetine flavonoids, 3-methylaquercetine and rutine inhibited platelet accession and bargain lipoxygenase and cycloxygenase activities, and had ample cardiovascular effect. Vernolide had actual able antiparasitic action, abnormally adjoin Entamoeba histolitica at the aforementioned akin as antiparasitics acclimated clinically, such as metronidazole or tinidazole. 3-methoxyquercetine and 3,3′-dimethoxyquercetine had actual important antiviral action which was apparent even at concentrations as low as 10 nanogrammes. These substances had a careful effect, aback they prevented accumulation of viral proteins afterwards interfering with the metabolism of the host cell. They were abnormally animate adjoin the polio virus, the coxcachie virus, the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), the Rhino virus, and adjoin added bacilli of African origin.
The accent of this bulb in antiviral chemotherapy was appropriately accessible -especially aback even in added developed Western medicine, there was no such alertness with such effect. The ancestors of articles abandoned from this plant, therefore, accustomed us to apprehend added chic analysis with some achievement of success in alleviative added groups of viruses, such as retroviruses. In one instance, some scientist approved inhibition of about-face transcriptase of encornavirus by some flavonols of vegetable origin.
This bulb was hardly baneful and grew spontaneously jn abounding locations of our village. Its assorted activity, actual accessible in antiviral chemotherapy; and its casual appliance by acceptable healers in our belt on patients for cytotoxic analysis of assertive tumors and cancers, prompted me to actively accede aggravating it on the old man. I had apparent my step-grandmother use it to arrest a accustomed oesophageal epithelium hyperplasia in a adolescent woman in the neighbourhood, and she was still animate today. If it didn't work; well, I had annihilation to lose – except grandfather's baby life!
I aggregate adventuresomeness and calm abundant flowers of Vernonia amygladina and broiled them in the adumbration to abstain abolition of the animate capacity by the absolute calefaction of the close sun. I again arena the broiled flowers into a accomplished powder; I able an aqueous abeyance of the crumb in a baby board motor, and added abundant baptize to accomplish about bisected a litre of a concentrated extract.
I started administering the analysis by giving the old man two tablespoonfuls three times a day for four months. Improvement was bound but significant. Again we accumulated the analysis with broiled and delicate tubers of Cyperus rotundus, beginning leaves of Moringa oleifera, additional baptize extracts of beginning cabbages and Euphorbia hirta. The after-effects were artlessly astounding! In a few added weeks he was able to get up abandoned from his bed and yield a few accomplish into the backyard. Afterwards one abounding year he was able abundant to plan in his baby coffee farm, and medical tests couldn't acknowledge annihilation abnormal. He was still animate fourteen years later, until he died of old age.
I accept anytime aback accelerating from university, got two science degrees including a doctorate, and accomplished anesthetic as a pharmacist. Above all, I accept become born-again and accustomed Jesus as my claimed saviour. Yet every moment of the day, as we accept to the radio or watch television or apprehend the newspapers, we attestant the certitude of life. Not alone do we hear, see, or apprehend about acclaimed bodies or individuals dying but the obituary programmes or columns are abounding with names of just apparent accustomed men and women who accept departed; and while they are briefly revered, they would anon be forgotten. Everyday from our bosom in today's world, whether it be spring, or summer, or winter; afterlife takes its toll, and hundreds die – from ailments that, unfortunately, could accept been calmly prevented. But how?
That is the catechism this eBook hopes to acknowledgment for you.
And it cannot accept appear at a added appropriate time. Man is boring bottomward abroad into an ailing and demanding lifestyle, breadth diseases like hypertension, diabetes and blight accept become the norm. Addition medicine, and added particularly, herbal remedies and comestible supplements may just accommodate the answer.
As a animate testimony, I acclaim this eBook to those who accept in accustomed remedies for animal ailments. It is my greatest ambition that this beat be accustomed agilely and become of abundant account appear allegorical flesh aback to accustomed and convalescent lifestyles.
Yet admitting all the accurate accessible bloom allowances that can be acquired from accustomed remedies and comestible supplements, this beat is not advised to beggarly that whatever is reflected in actuality should in any way alter the abstruse and able recommendations of a medical doctor. Patients with specific problems should consistently argue their physician first.
– livestock loans


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Lots of good stuff on Thomas Joscelyn's blog, Venona Project. Scroll down to March 29, for example, and check out his discussion of the Atocha Workshop, a forum for critics of the U.S.-led war on terror. Joscelyn's report emphasizes the desire of the global left to regulate news media, especially blogs. In the words of one participant:
Perhaps there needs to be a global inciative [sic] to improve journalism. To create standards and processes through which to include new technologies like blogging. Perhaps it begins with an academic study on the issue. The absence of variety in the media is a threat to democracy. Also, perhaps it is time to revisit the issue of whether public ownership is bad thing in the media.
It's all there: an academic study, standards and processes to regulate speech, state-run media, and the fake quest for diversity.

subset: commoncrawl


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Home News
Spirit Week
September 26th, 2016
<< Back to Main News
Enlighten the mind. Inspire the soul. Strengthen the body.
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Take a look at the former Missouri forward in action
See why it takes this man three months to transform his home into a Christmas winter wonderland.
This Philadelphian is making competitive weightlifting affordable and accessible to the children of their community.
Get three video games thrown in when you buy this PlayStation 4 - and still save money on the console itself!
These gaming chairs support your neck and back, letting you play for hours while staying comfortable
Gifts for the Gamer: This 24" monitor will change your gaming experience – and keep your eyes safe!
With "My Queue" you can quickly save videos to watch later.
To add an item to your queue just click the sign next to the video.
Once you've added a video visit "My Queue" to start watching!


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The Aldrich Alert
A Publication of the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty
by Gary Aldrich - Volume 1 Issue 7
Recently, I met with three individuals who have become deeply involved in the government's program to inoculate the entire population of 2.4 million members of the United States Armed Forces. The meeting included two former senior military officers -- one retired and one still a member of the reserve forces -- and the wife of Major Sonnie Bates, the Air Force pilot who -- at that point -- faced a court martial for his refusal to take the controversial series of anthrax shots.
This was an entirely new issue for me, as it is for the vast majority of Americans who have not been allowed to hear both sides of the story. My general impression of these three was that they were well educated, articulate and passionate in their belief that our national leadership has made a serious error which will result in great harm not only to our national defense, but also to the citizen-soldiers themselves.
Throughout our history as a nation, it has been the concept of the citizen-soldier, which has always set the American soldier apart from the soldiers of other nations. American Marines stormed the Island of Iwo Jima, not simply because they were ordered to, but because they wanted to. In their hearts, they knew that the ultimate sacrifice they might be making was worth it because what they were doing was right.
As Americans, we assume that our service members are more than robots. We trust our military leaders to act in our best interest whatever the challenge of the moment. However, this implies that the chain of command is as united in its support for the troops as it is in its loyalty to superiors. Unfortunately, the past seven years under the politically self-serving Clinton administration has produced a deterioration in authority and morale which has permeated through all levels of the military.
Eventually, every officer and NCO faces the choice of following an order he believes in his heart to be wrong -- or suffering the consequences. Often it is a very lonely decision. Such was the case with Major Bates, who, after reviewing all of the evidence available to him decided he must refuse the shot until his side of the story was heard. All he asked for was justice, but it was not to be found in the Clinton-era military.
It is not that this is the first time American citizen-soldiers have sacrificed their careers for principle. Indeed, Major Bates appears to be cut from the same bolt of red, white and blue cloth that inspired another pilot, Billy Mitchell, in the days before World War II.
Perhaps the writers of our Constitution will have the final say. It appears that the US Congress, in the form of the House Committee on Government Reform, may act to defend our citizen-soldiers by calling for the suspension of further inoculations until the complete safety of our military members can be guaranteed. However, it cannot stop there. To protect our men and women in uniform from similar mistreatment in years to come, legislation must be passed to prohibit ever using the military for medical experimentation, especially without the consent of the military member.


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Senators react to Sheehy's resignation
Nebraska's governor needs a new second in command.
Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy suddenly resigned Saturday morning after word broke of a scandal involving several women.
In southwest Lincoln, at the Tamarin Ridge Apartment and Townhome complex, Rick Sheehy's name is listed in the callbox outside. On Sunday, the ringing phone went unanswered.
According to records provided by the governor's office after Rick Sheehy resigned from his post as Lieutenant Governor, Sheehy used his state issued cellphone to make calls to several women while he was married.
Many of the calls were made to Bellevue doctor Theresa Hatcher, who provided KETV NewsWatch 7 with a photo of her with Sheehy at the Governor's Ball. Hatcher said the two spoke of getting married and that she did not know Sheehy was talking to any other women.
The records show the majority of the calls were not to Hatcher, but to the cell phone of Michele Ehresman, the current executive director of We Support Agriculture.
According to state records, Ehresman lives in the same Tamarin Ridge complex in southwest Lincoln as Sheehy. No one answered that call or responded to a message left on her cell phone.
Nebraska State Senator Bob Krist told KETV Newswatch 7's Adrian Whitsett Sunday that right now, Sheehy has a perception problem.
"I think it's a trust issue," said Krist. "I think the citizens and the taxpayers expect that the resources are going to be used correctly."
As the governor announced Sheehy's resignation Saturday, he spoke of moving forward.
"This is unexpected, it's very serious," said Gov. Dave Heineman. "We need a lieutenant governor so I'll move as quickly as I can, but I also want to make sure I find a good person."
By phone, speaker of the legislature and currently second in command, Greg Adams, told Whitsett he was surprised by the resignation but that it would be business as usual Monday. Adams said he would not accept the Lieutenant Governor position if offered.
State Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh does not believe his name is on the short list for an appointment by the Governor. Lautenbaugh told KETV that he, like Krist, feels sadness for Rick Sheehy, and that this is what people will remember instead of his the work Sheehy has done for the state.
"Rick has to reconcile what has happened in his life," said Krist. "I'm not going to judge him but again, I feel terrible for the family."


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The old man offers a cigarette to the elderly lady who sits next to him outside the red temple. She refuses. The man is unwell, his face bloated. Around his neck hangs a small device that appears to be connected to a pacemaker. On his head sits an old, olive-green Nationalist soldier's hat. Behind them, the bulldozers are at work, devouring a community and the lives of its inhabitants.
"I don't have a home anymore," the old man says.
Welcome to Huaguang (華光) community in Taipei, the latest target in a series of attacks by the wealthy class against the "have-nots." The destruction is random, with the Taipei City Government's "executioner" beginning by tearing down the shabby houses of those who have given their consent.
However, many other residents, whom the Ministry of the Interior says have for decades been illegally occupying land that belongs to the government, are refusing to move away. Many — the elderly, poor and those with failing health — cannot afford to move elsewhere. To make matters worse, the government has slapped some of the recalcitrant residents with lawsuits in the millions of NT dollars, is seizing one-third of the salary of a man whose wife makes her living selling buns for NT$25 apiece, and is suing a local restaurant owner for "illegally" profiting from the local residents over the years.
Pink court summonses have been affixed to the doors, next to other official documents informing the occupants of the date and time by which they must vacate their residence before it is demolished.
Some, hoping against hope, have hoisted Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) flags in front of their dilapidated houses, to no avail. Amid the graffiti accusing the government of lying — 馬扁, a pun on the current president's surname and the former president's nickname — or of worse things, surrounded by heaps of bricks and the accumulated accoutrements of decades of living, one cannot help but shiver.
Just outside this microcosm of injustice, seen through the hundred-year-old trees that also stand to be razed, the tall ornate gates of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall stand proudly, a symbol of government indifference to ordinary lives.
The area in question is to be razed to make room for a glitzy neighborhood inspired by the upmarket Roppongi community in Tokyo. One can already see the land developers rubbing their hands in expectation, having finally succeeded in forcing the government to resolve the issue after years of inaction (it began when the Democratic Progressive Party was in office). After all, this is prime real estate.
The issue here is not so much whether the houses should be torn down or whether cities should rejuvenate themselves. The entire community is a fire hazard and is falling apart. Many of its inhabitants are ill and it is obvious they are not receiving proper medical care (much of the unopened mail scattered outside the houses were claims from the Bureau of National Health Insurance, others were from church organizations providing social support).
The problem is that many of those who refuse to move have nowhere else to go. The city government says it will provide social housing, but many cannot afford even the low rent for those. Many of the residents of Huaguang community have spent their entire lives there. This is their home. There is little doubt that as their homes are demolished, a few among them will die. Already, the strain of the recent demolitions is taking its toll and the elderly look gaunter, sicker, and seem to be rapidly fading away.


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7 Job Search Lessons Learned From Santa Claus
It's that time of year again. The mall is mobbed, the egg nog milkshake is back at Jack-in-the-Box, and millions of children around the planet are patiently awaiting the arrival of that big man in red.
No matter what you celebrate, you know that Santa Claus is coming to town in a big way this weekend. We all know what Mr. Claus brings with him – flying reindeer, wrapped gifts, and... job advice?
That's right. Just when you thought that Santa couldn't get any more awesome, he has more goodies up his sleeve.
Check out our (albeit silly) list of 7 job search lessons learned from Santa Claus:
1. Always adapt
Since Santa started his operation just under 200 years ago, a lot of things have changed. Electricity, computers, and the Internet are just a few things that Santa has had to adapt to on the job – he even has a Facebook page!
If new job search tools and strategies are foreign to you, don't hide behind excuses- learn! Anyone can adapt and develop themselves as job seekers and workers, it just takes time.
2. Stick with what works
No matter what the movies say, Santa has stuck with what works: the North Pole, elves, and a sleigh driven by eight flying reindeer. Websites like this are flooded with information and advice that can make you second guess your current job search strategy, but stick with what works best for you.
3. Remember to research
We all know that Santa makes a list and checks it twice. If Santa does it, you should too! One of the most important steps in any job search is the research you do at the very beginning.
Figure out where you want to be and what you need to get there. What companies can help you make this happen? Who do you know can get you into a job? Keeping a list or spreadsheet isn't a bad idea, either.
4. Old-fashioned is OK
Santa is an old-fashioned guy and that's totally fine. We all still like him anyway, right?
Old-fashioned job search tools like resumes, business cards, and thank you notes are still important and valuable to just about any job seeker.
5. Don't let your age define you
Santa is approximately 191 years old (yet he doesn't look a day over 150, and is as spry as a teenager!) and he's still going strong. If you're an older job seeker, don't wallow and make excuses that this is a young person's game. The more you believe that you are as effective as a younger applicant, the more the employer will believe it.
6. Consistency is key
Say, let's celebrate Christmas in May next year. Do you think that would be okay with Santa? Not one bit. Santa is all about consistency. He wears the red suit, travels the same route, and does it all on December 24th (not the 13th or the 29th).
Consistency is important for just about any job seeker because it enhances the overall personal brand. Employers want employees who can (and will) put out the same caliber of work every day.
7. Let others sing your praises
Turn on the radio or walk into any shopping mall and you'll hear countless musicians singing all about Santa. We don't hear too much from Santa, but we know plenty, thanks to the jingles, carols, and tunes that come out this time of year.
Employers love to see what others have to say about a candidate. Make a point to request and collect recommendations online and off. Applications like LinkedIn and Cachinko make it possible for job seekers to show off their recommendations, and your job search portfolio is a great place to keep letters of recommendation you might receive.
What do you think? What other job search lessons have we learned from Santa? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Tony Morrison is the Vice President of Business Development at Cachinko, a unique professional community where social networking and job opportunities come together. His roles include sales, marketing, and business development. He is passionate about building B2B and B2C client relationships and brings this passion to Cachinko where he focuses on helping job seekers to find their ideal job and employers to find, attract, and engage their next rock star candidates. Find him on Twitter and Talent Connection. And, connect with Cachinko on Facebook or Twitter.
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Public Comment
Berkeley Central – You Can't Afford It
It's safe to say to 95% of the Bay Area goes to sleep every night with the secure knowledge that easily between 100 to 1,000 people within a five to ten mile radius are asleep nearby behind dumpsters and under bushes.
It's safe to say that by now most of them have realized that every trip to the grocery store and the BART Station will necessitate walking past between two and twenty people with outstretched hands, shadowed by at least twice that number in severe, specific, and immediate need.
This isn't the full picture. This is just their picture, the picture that colors their neighborhood, their day, their sense of community and fairness, and whether or not the world is a good place to be.
It's safe to say most of them have hit the breaking point and can no longer imagine that handing out dollars and dimes represents any kind of solution to poverty. It's safe to say that most of them recognize that a radical change in housing policy is not just a civic, but also a moral obligation.
None of them were protesting the policy of building housing specifically for the out-of-town Prada/Lexus crowd in front of the opening of Berkeley Central's new luxury apartments on Thursday, March 21, 2013. They don't believe homelessness can happen to them, or that squandering scarce square footage on pied-a-terre techies plays any role in the housing crisis.
On Berkeley Central's ribbon-cutting Thursday, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a cover page story about the 264 homeless families hoping for shelter in San Francisco. The East Bay Express and the Oakland Tribune ran stories on the nine percent increase in rents in one year as Berkeley renters engaged in bidding wars over a limited supply of housing.
The crowd at the opening was full of wry comments about the few who could manage both the cost of the penthouse, one and two-bedroom apartments and studios currently available for lease and the lack of space for the stuff which would make actually living in them feasible.
Nobody was allowed to see the studio apartments. Both the public and the media tour excluded the studios, presumably because they are even more shockingly space-resistant than the one-bedrooms. The one-bedrooms are perfect for people who have no books, no instruments, no hobbies, and fervently wish to have no friends or parties ever in their lives.
Perhaps I am being harsh. But I live in a very small place. And I don't really play the banjo, at least not very well. And I have four banjos. My CD collection alone would barrel out the door of these space-free units with their special staged-home beds, bedswhich knowledgeable eyes know would accommodate only part of a sleeping human being but help give the impression of more space in a staged home for sale. "Don't worry," said one of the women on the tour. "The people who'll be living here are on their second homes.
I'm not saying that to embarrass the hard-working, friendly, gorgeous crowd of young, mostly white women who shepherded the crowd through the tour with casual authority and aplomb. They were smart, responsive, engaging, and very patient with a crowd that grew more raucous with each of at least three alcohol stops.
There is no question that something is wrong with a hiring policy that manifests such racial and gender singularity, but those whom I met were talented, dedicated, and sincerely capable of both fielding critical questions and guiding drunks out of the shrubbery.
The officials, planners, and developers who pushed for the project are only partially at fault for plucking the ripe cherry that is – surprise – another luxury housing development in Berkeley, the city with the largest gap between rich and poor in the entire Bay Area.
Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, representative for downtown Berkeley's district four, was there beaming along with Downtown Berkeley Association members, Chamber of Commerce representatives, and of course the Mayor Tom Bates for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
I'm noting the second home theory to honor the theme represented by nearly every speaker at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and most of the literature as well. The 143 units at Berkeley Central were specifically designed to attract people from out of town.
I would have no problem with this if we weren't in a housing crisis. Build for the rich, I would say. Build crazy stuff with gold-plated toilets and let them buy it.
But we are in a housing crisis. The Downtown Berkeley Association tried to outlaw sitting down on the sidewalk, for Christ's sake. The money spent on that campaign would have funded a drop-in homeless center for at least three years.
It's safe to say that using Berkeley's precious square footage to accommodate the needs of the uber-class: the high-end tech workers priced out of San Francisco who can afford as many storage units as it takes to make sure they don't have to live with their boxes of Christmas decorations or their old Occupy banners next to their beds is – dare I say it --- unfair.
They may be making up apps by the thousands over in Silicon Valley, but ain't nobody making any new land. We either build with an eye toward addressing the obvious need for low-income housing, or we sidestep acknowledging a housing crisis so obvious that perfectly sane, arguably intelligent people sit around board room tables discussing which of the array of attributes describing homeless or nomadic people would be best to criminalize next.
We, the taxpayers of Berkeley, pay for the City Council's and the planners' salaries. Why aren't they building housing to accommodate our existing housing needs? Rich people, lovely though they may be, are just not at a loss for housing options. You should have seen the high-end bicycle in the bike rack in one of the staged rooms at Berkeley Central. This is not your father's IT worker.
But oh, how well this policy works for politicians whose larger agenda is to simply eliminate poverty by eliminating poor people from the community entirely. Polly Armstrong of the Chamber of Commerce said it, Mayor Tom Bates said it, Councilmember Jesse Arreguin said it, and even the official literature echoes the obvious policy of addressing Berkeley's income gap by tilting housing in the direction of rich techie youngsters who hopefully will never know that homes used to, as a practical matter of course, have pantries, linen closets, attics, basements, parlors, porches, etc.
Developers win when mini apartments get fondled and crowed over as "green" for having no place to put the basketball. But then, developers always win.
You'll want to know, so I'll tell you; $2,575 to $3,000 for a one bedroom, 3,775 to 3,900 for a two-bedroom, $5,350 to $6,300 for the penthouses. Door to door trash service (a mandatory $30 fee) and proximity to the BART Station. Entirely smokefree, except that somebody was smoking on the penthouse floor.
But those two and twenty people with outstretched hands are right outside wondering how long they have to wait until we can have a ribbon cutting ceremony for the majority, the poor, who have somehow become wallpaper to the people who wandered through Berkeley Central's luxury apartments sipping wine.


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I don't know what everyone's all excited about. This is why the Eagles schedule five preseason games in the first place.
Michael Vick didn't have his greatest game. In fact, he was downright bad, with four interceptions and a few more close calls. But, as Andy Reid said after the game, Vick was just "rusty." After he injured himself the last two times he took the field, it was good to see Vick back out there today, and his ability to "just keep shooting" will help him once the real games start.
What's that? Yes, you're right. Vick was supposed to show improvement this year, considering he had his "first real off-season as a starter" with quarterback gurus Reid and Marty Mornhinweg. But I'm sure that "new Vick" is coming soon. The fact that he looked worse than ever, making poor decisions and forgetting that linebackers existed in coverage, is a small thing. Vick needed to get out some of the bugs, and what else is a dress rehearsal for?
That must have been the reason Reid and Mornhinweg didn't use LeSean McCoy. Vick had 65 pass drop backs in the game, while the Eagles All-Pro running back—who the Browns demonstrated an inability to stop—was a sideshow for most of the afternoon. Better to keep McCoy fresh for the games that count, I suppose, and let Vick get more practice throwing interceptions.
That goes double for Jeremy Maclin, who racked up yardage and a touchdown, but wisely avoided blocking down the field and dropped a few balls just for practice. We wouldn't want the biggest of the Eagles' healthy wide receivers to actually demonstrate toughness yet.
We can probably also discount the inebriated performance of the offensive line. Howard Mudd was just using this game to test the replacement referees' definition of holding and roughing the passer. When Danny Watkins let his man stream by him off the snap, I'm sure it was in service of one of those goals. Same with the time that McCoy tried to run behind his left tackle, and the King in the North just stood there, idly watching.
Besides, the defense looked great, didn't it? Let's not discount their improvement. Yes, it was against an offense that probably had trouble tying its shoes in the morning, but that's no matter. Brandon Weeden and his 5.1 passer rating is surely up to the quality of the rest of the quarterbacks the Eagles will face. And the Browns' other offensive weapons were at least average, right?
Save your outrage. Embrace "rusty." And wake me up next week in time for the season opener against the Ravens. There's a game I'm looking forward to.


text: Los Angeles-based Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. appointed Aditya Chatterjee chief technology officer and senior vice president of engineering, based out of the Lombard office. Chatterjee will head Global Eagle's engineering team, focusing on the organization's technology roadmap, research and development initiatives, and engineering operations. Chatterjee had been chief technology officer and vice president of engineering for Spacenet, a provider of VSAT satellite-based managed network services.


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Download Ethan Frome Study Guide
Characters Discussed
(Great Characters in Literature)
Ethan Frome
Ethan Frome, a farmer frustrated in his ambition to become an engineer or a chemist and in his marriage to a nagging, sour, sickly wife. He falls in love with his wife's good and lovely cousin, Mattie Silver, who comes to live with them. When his wife finally drives the girl away, Ethan insists on taking her to the station. Ethan and Mattie decide to take a sleigh ride they have promised themselves and, in mutual despair over the impending separation, they resolve to kill themselves by running the sled against a tree. They are not killed, only permanently injured, and Ethan's wife is to look after them for the rest of their lives.
Zenobia Pierce Frome (Zeena)
Zenobia Pierce Frome (Zeena), Ethan's wife, a distant cousin who nursed his mother during a long illness. The marriage is loveless, and Zeena is sickly and nagging.
Mattie Silver
Mattie Silver, Zeena's cousin, who comes to live with the Fromes. She returns Ethan's love, and once when Zeena spends a night away from home, she and Ethan spend a happy evening together, not making love but sitting quietly before the fire, as Ethan imagines happily married couples do. Mattie feels that she would rather die than leave Ethan, but in the crash she suffers not death, but a permanent spine injury and must submit thereafter to being nursed by Zeena.
Ruth Varnum and Ned Hale
Ruth Varnum and Ned Hale, a young engaged couple whom Ethan observes stealing a kiss. On his night alone with Mattie, he tells her wistfully about it; it is as close as he comes to making advances.
(Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction)
The characterizations in Ethan Frome are...
(The entire section is 535 words.)


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- (adj) poor; needy; "the first state pensions were given to indigent people over seventy"
- (noun) a needy person.
indigent (इन्डिजन्ट / इन्डिजेन्ट) meaning in Hindi (English to Hindi Dictionary)
- गरीब, दरिद्र, दीन, निर्धन, बेचारा, मुहताज
indigent Origin
- late Middle English: via Old French from late Latin indigent- 'lacking', from the verb indigere, from indi- (strengthened form of in- 'into') + egere 'to need'.
indigent in a sentence (word usage in recent newspaper)
- Bill moots protection for indigent widows.
- Socare, an organisation that looks after indigent children of convicts, roped the team for a camp.
- St Elizabeth hospital and Lotus Eye Hospital – failing to reserve 20% of beds for the indigent and economically weaker sections of society.
- Indigent sections of society would not find themselves welcome in its halls anymore.
- The urge to help friends and neighbours in their distress, to have pity for the poor and the indigent, is just not there.
Mnemonic trick to remember the meaning of indigent
- indigent = indian + gent, most of them are poor and needy 🙂
indigent Pronunciation
Dulaara Comedy 03 – Bhikari ki Aulaad – Govinda


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WORCESTER � Something fierce ripped through the Vernon Hill and Grafton Hill sections of the city Sunday night just as tornado warnings rang out through the area.
"My window fan went flying to the other end of the room," said Lee Thibeault of 8 Bedford Ave., as he gathered with other neighbors to look at the downed trees across nearby Pilgrim Avenue.
Donna Shannon, who was with Mr. Thibeault, said it seemed like from the time the tornado warning came out, there wasn't enough time to seek shelter. It happened almost immediately, she said.
Trees ripped electrical connections from houses all along the densely populated neighborhood. Forestry workers were already firing up wood chippers by 9:30 p.m. to try to make roads passable again.
A city news release called the storm a "severe weather incident in the Grafton Hill neighborhood, with several large trees downed and a power outage currently affecting about 150 homes." Worcester Fire and the DPW were on the scene assisting residents, and no injuries were reported.
At the Worcester Academy Fields on the grounds of the former St. Vincent Hospital, a soccer goal was wedged in a tree. Trees next to the nearby apartment building all had their top limbs clipped off.
In the backyard of a house across Heywood Street, a slate shingle was stuck into the ground like a dagger.
Mark Skebos of 177 Pilgrim Ave., said he heard the heavy thunder and lightning, and thought there might be some hail. He said the wind started to howl � he guessed it was going 75 miles per hour. Then the power went out.
The power outages to were confined to the areas where there was damage. National Grid's outage central website reported about 240 customers without power.
It was the same story across Vernon Hill and into Grafton Hill.
Initially, there didn't appear to be reports of any injuries. Residents of the apartment building at 21 Heywood Street, next to the Worcester Academy fields, said they felt the building shake. People were trying to hold the front doors closed, said Sandra Bazitya.
"One of those trees fell off and then the rain got real bad," she said.
At 10 Heywood, Charlene Zimkiewicz was visiting her elderly mother when the storm blew through. She pointed to a patio table on its side, in the driveway.
"The table was on the other side of the fence, (the storm) picked it up, and put it down right there, it's not even broken," Ms. Zimkiewicz said.
Firefighters fanned out into the neighborhood, checking for electrical fires. A firefighter walked back with Ms. Zimkiewicz into the yard, where a large tree was uprooted. It appeared to have ripped the electrical service from the house.
Many in the affected neighborhoods suspected a tornado had come through the area, or at least some sort of microburst.
The National Weather Service in Taunton late Sunday night announced on social media that it was surveying in the Worcester area to determine weather the thunderstorm produced a tornado.
Leaves and small limbs lined many streets. The weather service had issued a tornado warning around 8:15 p.m.; the damaging storm ripped through around the same time.
"It sounded like a train," said Carlene Murphy of 230 Fairmont Ave., as she pored over damage to a pickup truck from the huge tree that had fallen and was blocking the road.
Her neighbor across the street, Donna Potenti, said she had just got home about a half an hour beforehand. It happened fast.
"I could hear the rain and thought that's going to be coming in," Ms. Potenti said. "Then the snapping, and I jumped up and ran and stood in a doorway."
Matt Taylor stood with neighbors on Bedford Street. He said the wind was impressive.
"It was so loud," he said. "I've never heard anything like that."
Contact Steven H. Foskett Jr. at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveFoskettTG


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ASHEVILLE NC – These classes will explain how Medicare works, the enrollment process, how to avoid penalties and ways that beneficiaries might save money.
The classes are free and open to the public. People new to Medicare, caregivers and others who help senior citizens with their Medicare insurance should consider attending this informative class.
The information presented is unbiased and accurate. No products are sold, recommended or endorsed. The class will also cover additional coverage options that are available, ways to save money and answer general questions regarding the program.
Class Schedule:
- May 21: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Weaverville Branch Library
- June 7: 2-4 p.m. UNCA/Reuter Center
Space is limited, so call The Council on Aging at 277-8288 today for further information and to reserve your place.
Sponsored by The Council on Aging in conjunction with Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP).


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Really enjoyed the first round of the playoffs. Too much actually. Despite not having a dog in the hunt I've been watching game after game, staying up past my bedtime, accompanying my viewing with a few drinks here and there so that after two weeks I look like Doug Gilmour in those famous pictures from back in 93 except I have my teeth, plus I'm getting fat and I'm a borderline alcoholic. Other than that we look EXACTLY the same, all pasty and exhausted like.
Giving the kids shit the other day for getting up with the birds my wife made the mistake of telling them that their rising early was making us tired (a bald faced lie anyhow - we stay in bed when the two oldest ones get up, they're pretty well ready to go out into the world now, plus the inlaws are here to do the heavy early morning lifting, we even had morning sex the other day, God how I love and miss morning sex) and our eldest chirped that maybe Daddy shouldn't stay up half the night watching hockey if he was so tired.
Smartass. Oh well, apple, tree and all that.
Part of the enjoyment of this spring is that the kids have been watching games with me and the boy especially has been getting into it. He asks a thousand questions which makes me a little mental until about my fourth drink when everything starts getting soft around the edges and he's still figuring it out but I can use the PVR to slow it down for him and he digs it. Seeing as one of the strongest memories I have from being a kid is watching HNIC with my Dad, staying up as long as possible until sleep took me away and he lifted me into his arms and carried me to bed, its something that I enjoy a lot, even as he asks me for the umpteenth time when the team with the foxes on their shirts are going to play Team Canada.
And part of the enjoyment stems from the fact that the hockey has just been wonderful. After watching terrible horseshit for 82 games (with the Olympics breaking the monotony long enough to remind us what really good hockey looks like), watching this opening round has been like some sort of sexual reference that I can't just come up with. It feels good though. Use your imagination. There. Isn't that nice. Or really dirty, depending on what you are into. Pervert.
No lead has been safe. Excellent goaltending. Bravura performances by Crosby and Halak, Chara and Henrik Sedin, Datsyuk and Zetterberg, Craig Anderson and Joe Pavelski. Scares thrown into San Jose and Chicago and Vancouver. The upsets in the East and the game seven tonight where the Habs try and finish the Caps, which will absolutely finish my hockey pool.
Great stuff.
Five and two after the first round with the Flyers, who I thought about going with on a hunch, and the Bruins prevailing over my picks.
So here's round two picks for the West along with a few thoughts on the series just completed.
San Jose v DetroitSan Jose had their way with Colorado everywhere but on the scoreboard, thanks to Craig Anderson, some bad luck and, dare I say it, for I know I invite derision, the fact that some San Jose players just don't get their shit together in the playoffs.
I know I know, territorial advantage favoured Thornton and its a small sample size and so on and so on but here's what I think. Luck plays a factor, sure, I get that but at some point that luck should even out, should it not? At what point after repeated annual poor performances do we say that there is something there. This was the Colorado Avalanche who were basically the Edmonton Oilers with goaltending. A couple of very good young players surrounded by young players who are either not ready for primetime yet or who are just shitty plus a handful of vets who were ready for the glue factory years ago.
And Thornton, Heatley and Marleau scored a total of one goal. Huh?
Now maybe they'll tear the cover off of the ball against the Wings but I'm thinking if they couldn't score against the Avs they're going to get their asses handed to them by Datsyuk and Zetterberg. One of those guys will get Pavelski and one will get Thornton and the Pavelski matchup will be a good one to watch and Thornton is going to get his ass handed to him.
The Wings had a tough tough first round matchup against a solid Yotes team and I think they've got more than enough to take out the Sharks who have a lot of talent but by my eye don't have the defence or goaltending that Phoenix did. Of course they have the edge over the Coyotes up front but I'm thinking they are going to spend most of the time defending. And Thornton was a minus four against the Avs. He's going to get eaten alive and a lot of Sharks are going to lose their jobs with this club this summer.
Wings in six.
Chicago v. Vancouver
This is a sweet sweet matchup. Both had good but not great first rounds. The Canucks looked pretty good taking out the Kings. Their depth up front showed through and the Sedins and Samuelsson were excellent. Luongo got better as the series went on. They could really use Willie Mitchell on the backend though and I'm not sure if they can rely on Niemi to be as bad as Quick turned out to be.
Chicago got a bit of a scare from a tough Nashville team who seem to be channelling the Oilers clubs that used to lose to Dallas every year. Tough, fast, hard skating but they always fall short. What a terrific young defence though. And Rinne played very well. They blew it though. A goal lead and Hossa in the box and they not only lost the lead but did nothing on the PP. Epic failure.
Chicago didn't look great to me. Niemi was solid enough and while I think they'd be in better shape if Jonsson returned, the addition of Campbell will help. The Hawks really didn't look in sync for most of the first round, not sure if it was nerves, but they looked slow and uncertain at times. Key mistakes by guys like Kane and Brouwer led to goals and a few of the kids looked a little overwhelmed.
Having said that I'm picking them over the Canucks in what will be the best series of the second round. I think it goes seven and while I would not be surprised to see the Canucks take it I think the Hawks just have superior depth up front and on the back end. They can throw out three lines that can attack and defend very well and this is with Brouwer struggling and Byfuglien playing on the blue. I think the Canucks are a little bit weaker up front and a little weaker on the blue line and that will make the difference. If Luongo is on the top of his game which is entirely possible then the Canucks will do it but I'm going to go with the Hawks in seven.


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|Relaxing during a hike through the
Tel Dan Nature Preserve.
By Matt SmolskyIf you're thinking about visiting the eastern Mediterranean, consider a stop in northern Israel. The upper Galilee has become known as Israel's "Little Tuscany," because of its wineries, beautiful green landscape and laid-back attitude. It's the type of place that once you visit, you'll wonder why you don't live there. It's the type of place perfect for a stay in an vacation rental.
The Hula Valley offers an abundance of nature, and is one of the absolute best bird watching spots on the planet. In fact, you don't even need to be an expert bird watcher to fully enjoy the experience. The Valley is part of the migratory route for a wide variety of species flying from Europe to Africa and Asia. You can also take a seemingly endless variety of hikes and bike trails to fully explore one of the most gorgeous places you'll ever see. The Hula Valley is actually part of the Great Rift Valley, which runs as far south as Mozambique. While it's in the Middle East, it's hardly a desert. The Valley is teeming with water--from reclaimed marshes to natural springs such as Ein Tina and the Jakhula, to the Dan, Snir, Hermon and Jordan rivers. You'll even find a waterfall in the Banias Nature Preserve. All the water means you'll have plenty of chances for kayaking and other water activities.
|Migratory birds in Upper Galilee.
After getting your fill of the outdoors, take in the city of Safed, located in a dense pine forest overlooking the modern city of Tiberias. Safed offers lots of history and modern resort facilities. Said to be founded by one of Noah's sons after the Biblical Great Flood, the city has changed hands numerous times over the centuries. Jewish culture has been present in Safed for centuries as well, having been settled by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Today, Safed has strong Kabbalistic influences (a mystical segment of the Jewish faith) and is home to a vibrant arts community.
|Banias Nature Reserve
Another advantage the upper Galilee region has is its year-round beauty. Spring offers an abundance of colors, summer a host of activities for children, fall means tours of wineries and harvest festivals, and an increase in precipitation in the winter means rushing streams. You'll find skiing on Mount Herman, Israel's tallest peak, on the border of the Golan Heights and Upper Galilee. It's Israel's only ski resort and attracts thousands of visitors every year. Like any mountain, Mt. Herman also offers beautiful warm weather activities.


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The offense didn't explode, have one of those brilliant cathartic nights when everything goes right, but it managed to score more than enough with the good version of the inconsistent Jon Lester pitching.
BOSTON — These are dreadful, humiliating, scary days for the Red Sox.
The lineup managed to produce a pathetic total of one run in three games in Baltimore — the fewest the team has scored in a series since being shut out three straight times 33 years ago — before returning home to host the Indians on Thursday night.
The offense didn't explode, have one of those cathartic nights when everything goes right, but it managed to score more than enough with the good version of the inconsistent Jon Lester pitching.
The Red Sox got their third win in the last 10 games and 10th in the last 27, beating the Indians 5-2.
"It's nice just to win a clean game and not look back on many mistakes," David Ross said. "We played some pretty clean baseball, good at-bats."
The struggling lineup continued to do just that early, loading the bases with no outs in the second inning after getting an unearned run but failing to add any more. And then, finally in the fifth, there was a glimpse of real offense.
Jackie Bradley Jr. led off the inning with a solid single to right field. He took second on an errant pickoff throw, and reached third on a groundout. When Dustin Pedroia followed with another groundout, the opportunity seemed destined for failure. Instead, David Ortiz crushed a home run into the bleachers in straightaway center field for a 3-0 lead.
The Red Sox put together an actual rally the next inning, all with two outs.
Jonathan Herrera tripled into the right-field corner, Bradley walked and stole second, and Brock Holt drove them in with a double to deep left field for a 5-2 cushion.
"Early on it was much of the same," said manager John Farrell. "We get into a bases-loaded, nobody out situation and hit into some tough luck. ... David breaks through for us, as we've witnessed many times. I think the big thing for us is when we answered back with the two runs after they scored two runs to make it 3-2."
Lester (7-7) seemed to sense that he had to be almost perfect for the Red Sox to win, at least at the outset.
He set down the first seven batters he faced, and though the eighth reached on a single Lester got the ninth to hit into a double play to end the third. He struck out four the first time through the Indians' lineup, needing only 28 pitches.
The Red Sox gave Lester that 3-0 lead in the fifth inning, and perhaps he relaxed a little and was touched for two runs in the sixth. But then he had an efficient seventh, aided by a spectacular catch-and-throw by Bradley in center field for a double play, before being pulled with a man on and two outs in the eighth.
He gave up one earned run on eight hits, struck out four and walked one.
"You want your starting pitching to go out and throw well for you and give you a chance to win," Holt said. "Good pitching is going to win games for you, and Lester went out and did that for us tonight."
The version of Lester the Red Sox got is what they needed in a game that was close into the middle innings.
He was awesome at the start of the season, with a 2.17 earned run average through his first four outings, all of them quality starts. But in the nine starts that ensued his ERA was 4.23, and just four qualified as quality (at least six innings and no more than three earned runs).
Thursday night's performance resembled that stretch at the beginning of the season, though there was inconsistency within it.
After five scoreless innings, and just 66 pitches, Lester dropped a throw from first baseman Mike Napoli to allow Michael Bourn to reach leading off the sixth. Two batters later, Michael Brantley doubled to left, and when Jason Kipnis singled under the glove of a diving Pedroia both baserunners scored to cut the Red Sox' lead to 3-2.
After Lester left in the eighth, Junichi Tazawa got the final out and Koji Uehara pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save.
"It was good," Lester said when asked about his performance. "A win's a win. It was a little bit of a grind, but they're a good-hitting team. Luckily, some of the mistakes I did make were just singles. It was good."
Although they won, the five runs the Red Sox scored serve as a reminder of just how poor the lineup has been. Last year, when the Red Sox led all of baseball in runs, five represented a below average night. Now, however, it was just the third time they've managed that many all month.
They've scored just 90 runs in their last 27 games, an average of only 3.33.
Lester didn't need to be perfect Thursday, as it turned out. But unless the Red Sox start scoring five runs on a consistent basis the team's pitchers will have a very thin margin for error, which is a scary way to have to play.
Eric Avidon can be reached at 508-626-3809 or email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericavidon.


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Now that it's getting warm all I want to do is throw a party, like this Sunday afternoon party I attended last summer in the Hamptons (see pic above). My first spring fete will have a Frenchy bohemian vibe (shocker) and lots of rosé and some springy, easy food. Here's my plan:
Get a couple of these:
Fill it with this, which is a nice dry $10 rose from September Wines:
Throw down these (because money is no object in my dreams), carpets and pillows from Calypso:
Go to Blue Ribbon Market and buy a little of this and a little of that:
Then to Murray's Cheese for more of this and some of that:
And for a treat, I would attempt to make this slow cooked asparagus which is cooked in parchment and is oh-so-pretty and seasonal, from the NY Times (thanks, Em):
And as day turns into night, I would light these, and maybe, oh maybe, we would switch to red wine and order pizza:


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Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Staatskapelle Berlin/Barenboim - Mozart and Bruckner, 16 April 2012
Mozart – Piano Concerto no.24 in C minor, KV 491
Bruckner – Symphony no.7 in E major
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor)
It was only a week ago that I heard Daniel Barenboim conduct the Staatskapelle Berlin in Lulu, or rather excerpts therefrom, at the Schillertheater, the Berlin State Opera's temporary home. Now orchestra and conductor (pianist, too) embark upon a three-concert series in London, comprising two Mozart concertos and the three last Bruckner symphonies. I wish that the wearisomely modish, frankly meaningless, 'project' – this is 'The Bruckner Project' and we had a 'Pollini Project' last year – might forever be banished; for the moment, let us simply put it to one side.
To my ears, Mozart's C minor piano concerto took a little time to settle. I say, 'to my ears', since I think it was as much a matter of the Royal Festival Hall acoustic from the back of the rear stalls as the performance itself, indeed maybe more so, the overhanging balcony being something of a menace in that respect. The size of the hall, too, means that forces such as Barenboim elected to employ can sound a little on the small side, especially before one's ears adjust; a chamber orchestra of ten first violins and other strings proportionately is certainly not what Barenboim's hero, Furtwängler, would have employed. Be that as it may, and I think that there was a degree of the Staatskapelle Berlin as well as my ears adjusting to the hall, Barenboim's performance, if falling a little short of what we know of his Mozart from recordings, remained for the most part distinguished, above all by a command of line of which Furtwängler would surely have approved. The first movement benefited from some beautifully hushed piano playing, which had even serial coughers abate their personal contributions, although there were a few smudged passages, unfortunately including the opening piano statement. If the slow movement did not dawdle, nor did it sound at all rushed, as do so many contemporary readings; instead, it unfolded in apparent, if deceptive simplicity. The Staatskapelle's woodwind, not least its principal flute, provided balm to the aural soul, as Mozart's woodwind must, though there was some oddly marcato playing from the oboist; it seemed to be an interpretative decision, but I was not convinced, especially when phrases emerged with less than the requisite degree of moulding. In the finale, Barenboim, again despite odd slips, was very much in his element. He brought his small orchestra to near-Beethovenian – though the distinction between Mozart and Beethoven remained – strength of purpose, and clearly relished the chromaticism that points not only to Wagner but even to Schoenberg. (The same, of course, could be said of the first movement.) Fresh from what remained of Lulu after Andrea Breth's butchering, Mozart's own Berg-like labyrinth could hardly fail to appeal. Both cadenzas were, I think, recalling from recordings, Barenboim's own, and worked extremely well in performance. A mobile telephone contribution did little, however, to enhance appreciation.
Bruckner continues, as the cliché has it, to divide opinion. For some, his symphonies represent a supreme spiritual statement; for others, the formal problems and long-windedness present an insuperable barrier. I have never really had a problem with the final three symphonies, though I cannot say that I find the Seventh's structure entirely convincing; with the earlier works, more often than not, I find dead ends and redundant repetition. 'Deformations' of sonata form do not necessarily always mean to me here what the analysts take them to be. The odd thing about this performance from Barenboim was that I became more dissatisfied with the form of the Seventh than I previously recall. Was he laying bare its structure, problems and all? That would be one explanation, but, despite many very positive aspects to the performance, I think it was at least sometimes more a matter of failing, if only slightly, to pursue a convincing, certain path, of the line present in the Mozart concerto fading away a little. Not that this was Bruckner pulled around, but the first movement, whatever the truths of the clock, often sounded a little rushed, drama a touch applied rather than inherent. I was charmed, though, by the graceful Schubertian quality with which Barenboim at his best swept the music along. Yet, if this account stood worlds away from the majesty, the almost glacial implacability of Karajan's late Vienna Philharmonic recording, the guiding thread and Wagnerian musico-dramatic purpose of Furtwängler also ultimately proved elusive. Moreover, despite a rich string tone that was for the most part ideally involving, there were times when the violins sounded tired. The slow movement, by contrast, was well paced throughout. I was surprised, however, by some surprisingly thin-sounding brass, though if mentioning that failing, I must note a truly blessed contribution from the Wagner tubas, fresh from Neidhöhle. The scherzo was light enough on its feet, though never did I hear the awe-struck apocalyptic quality both Furtwängler and Karajan in their different ways, not to mention a few other conductors, would impart to its progress. As for the finale, its material, and Bruckner's way with it, seem as inappropriate to the rest of the symphony as they always have done to me. A great performance can come close to convincing me otherwise; a very good performance, alas, does not.
14 comments:
- Evan Tucker said...
I certainly understand the arguments against Bruckner's treatment of form. And yes, as ever, there are performances that do not do Bruckner justice. But at his best, Bruckner's forms are truly inspiring. To me, the slow movement of the seventh symphony is the single greatest slow movement ever written - almost like a Platonic ideal of what a slow movement should be. Unfortunately Bruckner has contended with generations of octogenarian conductors who treat his music as geriatric pasture. But occasionally one finds a conductor (Barenboim is certainly better than most) who does not allow for static - Furtwangler of course, but also Jochum and Abendroth fit into this category quite well as well as others to a lesser extent. Surprisingly, the best of the contemporary Bruckner conductors might be Franz Welser-Most.
- 17 April, 2012 12:19
- Zwölftöner said...
I can't say I really understand the references to 'formal problems' (yes, it does need scare quotes) and sonata deformation theory. There are, I suppose, the theories of Darcy and Jackson, which didn't much effort for Julian Horton to debunk, and Edward Laufer's squeezing of the Ninth's Adagio into a Schenkerian straightjacket, which Derek Puffett quite rightly picked apart. But your position and Laufer's are actually the same in that the obsession with making Bruckner conform with paradigms stems from the misapprehension that his structural organization is deficient. It's the 'we don't have the tools to penetrate it therefore it must be wrong' mode of analytical thinking which has its stubborn corollary in criticism and listening habits going back to Hanslick's day, and tells us more about our epistemological assumptions than it does about Brucknerian symphonic discourse.
Over in the more accommodating camp, Ben Korstvedt recently published an article in the MQ which makes a close reading of the transitional Steigerung that precedes the third theme in the first movement of the Seventh. With some justification, he sees it as no discontinuity, and uses his carefully selected example to cluck and tut about the ignorance of Bruckner's contemporary critics and bemoan that many today still accept their judgement uncritically. I guess I'm more in agreement with Julian Horton, that in defending Bruckner's mastery of form we are batting at a disadvantage unless we start interrogating our analytical models. I'm for multiplicity and drastic remodeling, though NRT as it stands is useful up to a point.
As for 'formal problems', I'd be happy to talk Mahler 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 with you any day...
- 17 April, 2012 14:59
- Mark Berry said...
I'm willing to be convinced! Here I was more trying to give an account of what I heard than the score as such, though of course there was some degree of conflation. For what it is worth, I certainly have no ideological reason to make Bruckner or indeed any other music conform to some kind of ideal type. I don't find Schubert lacking because he isn't Beethoven, quite the contrary. (Schubert I mention because many point to apparent similarities with Bruckner, although those seem to me not very helpful, insofar as they exist at all.) But for me, at least some of the time, what we have in some Bruckner does not quite add up. No one would be more pleased than I, were I to have a 'Eureka' moment and everything were to fall into place, whatever place that might be. Furtwängler, perhaps unsurprisingly, comes as close as, perhaps closer than, anyone to convincing me in this work, which I freely admit has elements of greatness to it. (I agree with Evan about the greatness of the slow movement, even if I don't go so far along the Platonic road...)The finale, though, in crude terms seems to me a somewhat lumbering attempt to marry Bruckner's treatment of form with a would-be Haydnesque spirit, a spirit that simply does not tally with the weight of earlier material. To my ears, that is... However, as I said, I am ready and willing to be convinced. I agree wholeheartedly about the necessity to interrogate any and all analytical models.
Re Mahler, I think that is definitely a discussion we should have. Maybe when, all being well, I am in Vienna during the autumn...
- 17 April, 2012 17:55
- Zwölftöner said...
Regarding conflation, doesn't one's understanding of the score inform what one hears? It's a pronounced tendency in Bruckner reception, I find. Korstvedt's article is very interesting in this respect as he takes the first point of Brucknerian departure that would have rankled Hanslick and subjects it to a fairly straightforward analysis which shows, yes, that it has its place in the formal design, and doesn't need a Furtwängler (or Wand, Tintner, Celi, or any number of conductors who get Bruckner) to be perceived as such. And yet for the Bruckner sceptics today it still registers as a the first whopping non sequitur in the symphony. Why is that? I don't go along with Ben when he writes modern audiences are conditioned by some Hanslickian rut to hear 'non-normative = wrong' – for one thing, is he really suggesting that listeners like you let Hanslick do your thinking for you? – but that said, is 'dead end' and 'redundant repetition' really non-ideological? Doesn't this language suggest that Brucknerian practice isn't sufficiently teleological? (I don't mean to finger point, am just putting a question out there).
As we know from the Ninth, heavy was the head that bore the weight of crowning these immense works... I did once sense a similar problem of tone in the Seventh, of unfinished business too summarily dismissed, but have since concluded that the F major sections of the Scherzo do a convincing job of preparing us for the Finale. Lumbering perhaps, though no more than the third movement of Brahms 4, and formally there's certainly nothing 'wrong' with it, which is to say that it neatly fits a Hepo-graph, though perhaps that is a problem...
You wouldn't be giving a paper at the Schoenberg Center's autumn symposium by any chance?
- 17 April, 2012 20:11
- Mark Berry said...
I must look at the Korstvedt article: I'm afraid it is one of those many pieces on my 'to read' list, which I haven't yet read. However, in my case at least, I really cannot imagine that any problems I experience have anything to do with Hanslick. My sympathy with the latter tends to sub-zero... That said, I admit to responding far more readily to Brahms's symphonies; indeed, it is the lack of development, at least as I understand development, that lies at the heart of many of my difficulties with Bruckner. Schoenberg isn't that easy to shake off, of course, though I really do not mind the lack of such development in Messiaen, whose aesthetic seems more obviously to fit with it. (If something can fit with a lack...!)
Afraid not re the symposium, though I am hoping to be doing some work at the ASC towards the end of the year.
- 17 April, 2012 23:24
- Evan Tucker said...
Well, perhaps the Platonic ideal was a bit of overstatement, but only a bit... For orchestral music, I do believe it is the greatest of all slow movements, and generally that Bruckner wrote a plurality of the greatest slow movements in all orchestral literature - defining the slow movement for all time as much as Haydn did the opening, Beethoven the finale and Mahler the Scherzo.
Also, I'm generally negative on Boulez and see him as having an almost calamitous effect on music in our time. But that recording of the 8th Symphony you mention is truly magnificent. Part of why Boulez seems to me such a negative figure in music history because he is so talented, and his high points can be as high as any musician could ever be.
- 18 April, 2012 20:14
- Mark Berry said...
The Boulez recording truly is a thing of wonder, isn't it? Glad you agree. As I said, it really unlocked the door for me. And how the VPO plays for him!
Evan, I'm not saying this because I am spoiling for a fight - though you might get one! - but I wonder if you might expand on why you see him as a negative, even calamitous, figure. As a composer, a conductor, an educator, none of the above, all three? I suppose that, for me, his true greatness lies not only in his staggering ability, genius, call it what you will, but in the role he has played for so many decades now, almost as the conscience of what I am still just about old-fashioned enough to call new music. That doesn't mean, I hope, that I am uncritical, nor that I slavishly follow; there is a great deal of music he would disdain, which I admire enormously. But I should be disingenuous were I not to admit a certain degree of overlap...
- 18 April, 2012 20:38
- Evan Tucker said...
I can't imagine this isn't one of these issues on which both of us could write book-length treatises. disagreement with Boulez. I'll try to succinctly address all three points and a fourth.
As a composer, I believe Boulez is a talent, not a genius (which Messiaen, Ligeti and Berio all were). At his best, he is a very skilled miniaturist and colorist who has managed to fool the public by overlaying his music with an enormous amount of theoretical jargon that means absolutely nothing. My favorite pieces of his are probably the Anthemes and Messangesquisse, they are good miniatures on their own which need no explanation. On the other hand, more 'major' works of his like Sur Incises, Repons, Le Marteau Sans Maitre, Rituel, and Pli Salon Pli would be utterly without interest to people if there were not some sort of theoretical jargon to explain them that has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the music.
As a conductor Boulez is a great but narrow talent, who generally eschews personalized expression who of course has a wonderful ear for sound and detail. Yet sometimes he can surprise by letting his (obviously) volcanic natural temperament through. Many of his recordings are terrible, yet some of them are absolutely stunning, and generally in music one would not expect. I don't think much of him in Mahler or Messiaen, but he is of course wonderful in Debussy (I'd take the Cleveland Nocturnes with me to a desert island) and Ravel, but I find his Wagner equally wonderful - utterly without extra helpings of the ponderousness that generally makes Wagner a composer whom I view with ambivalence (ducks for cover...).
As an educator he is selectively generous, but I think this one can be tied in to the last point.
(continued in a second part...)
- 19 April, 2012 05:23
- Evan Tucker said...
What you call 'conscience' I must reluctantly call 'unconscionable.' Far and away, Boulez's most important contribution to music history is as a polemicist - it is the one field in which I'd unhesitantly proclaim his genius. What is most extraordinary about Boulez is the fact that a 25 year old French music student could cow the entire world of new music into adopting his view of what music should be almost wholesale. I do not dislike dodecaphonic music as a technique, I merely begrudge Boulez's Hegelian insistence that the dodecaphonic language is the ultimate end to which all music has been striving, and that all composers throughout history can only be judged by the standards of how they measure by his metrics. Thanks to Boulez's intimidation, Stravinsky, Messiaen, and Copland all adopted a system for which they had no real sympathy (Messiaen perhaps). Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of composers who might have been great had they pursued their personal vision were either coerced or indoctrinated into adopting the serial language. I know less about the situation in Europe, but in America, a composer who did not adopt some sort of serialist, atonal or Cagean experimental worldview was an academic pariah with an almost guaranteed tenure repellent. Who knows how many gifted composition students came through music schools and simply gave up because they weren't allowed to write the music they wanted to write?
Perhaps Boulez is merely a symptom of the general unhealthiness of classical music in our time, not the cause. But there is something deeply authoritarian in his mindset, and music is far poorer for the effect he's had. Classical composition was once the most venerated of all professions in the musical world (and arguably the entire artistic world). But today, even the best or most famous classical composers dwell in cultural backwaters. I certainly do not believe Boulez to be the sole cause of it, but I can't pretend I don't think he's played a significant role in that unfortunate relegation.
I'm well aware from your writing that you have a number of points of disagreement with Boulez, and I respect your individuality in that regard. But unlike you, Boulez would like us not to live in a world where music lovers have a right to disagree with one another.
Well, that was far longer than I had hoped to be...apologies...but for better or worse, Boulez inspires much discussion.
- 19 April, 2012 05:23
- Mark Berry said...
I shall leave aside Boulez's own music for the moment, save to say that I couldn't agree more and that the most recent performance I heard of Pli selon pli (last autumn, the composer conducting) was truly a sensuous revelation. And unlike, say, Le Marteau, I have never studied the score; my appreciation is certainly not a matter of theoretical explanation.
I shall skip over Boulez as conductor for now too, to move on to what seems to the nub of the issue. Was the situation concerning American academic tenure really anything to do with him at all? Even in France, let alone the rest of Continental Europe, Boulez's views were vigorously contested, both within the broadly serialist camp - look, for instance, at Die Reihe - and without. Indeed, the French musical establishment was so hostile that he famously declared that there was no point continuing to make music in France at all. Mediocrities - well, worse than that, given their pernicious influence - such as André Malraux and Marcel Landowski won out, and Boulez declared the 'Latin countries' good only for vacations. At any rate, surely the situation with respect to American music is entirely different now, and has been for a long time. At least from a European perspective, it is the minimalists and fellow travellers, 'neo-Romantic' and all, who seem to hold sway. Carter is an exception of course, but a truly singular exception, and one who often seems more valued over here than at home. Doubtless there is more to it than crowd-pleasing, just as there is more to serialism than the opposite, but the hostility Boulez faced in New York seems indicative of something significantly less than victory.
But perhaps more to the point, it seems to me that even in the heyday of Darmstadt, there was nothing remotely monolithic or dictatorial. (Someone such as Henze would disagree, of course, but he has his own reasons.) One of Boulez's many achievements was to present the works of the Second Viennese School in performances at a level where the works could genuinely be appreciated. He was not of course the only person to do so, but he was of immense importance in that respect. (I remember reading with astonishement that he gave the Boston premiere of Berg's Op.6 Orchestral Pieces in the late 1960s!) In that sort of environment, music that had been suppressed, both by political and conservative audience tyranny, could flower and provoke discussion. A few years ago, I heard Nuria Schoenberg-Nono - parti pris, perhaps, but also in a good position to know - speak of Darmstadt not as some quasi-totalitarian Ministry of Serialist Truth but as a place of openness, experimentation, and, perhaps most interestingly, as a meeting-place for those who had survived the horrors of fascism - that is, in many cases, the older generation - with the post-war avant garde. Moreover, the variety of responses, both between composers and within composers' oeuvres themselves is often wildly underestimated. After all, even Le Marteau marks either a retreat from or an advance upon a work of total serialism such as the first book of Structures. The moment at which Boulez, Stockhausen, and Berio were truly writing total serialist music was brief indeed: heady, no doubt, but almost over in the twinkling of an eye.
For what it is worth, I think the late works of Stravinsky are true jewels. He took to the method like a duck to water, in an utterly individual way, responding to quite different situations from either Schoenberg or Boulez. I should hate to be in a world without the Requiem Canticles, Threni, etc.
- 19 April, 2012 10:54
- Zwölftöner said...
If one isn't prepared to take Nuria's word for it, then there are the soberly written reports of Konrad Boehmer.
Deliberately ignoring Boulez, it would surely take very little study of Threni, Kreuzspiel and the relevant bits of Il canto sospeso to acknowledge the heterogeneity of outcome integral serialism produced.
- 19 April, 2012 17:28
- Evan Tucker said...
Well I certainly respect your opinions, but for me, Pli Salon Pli frankly has all the sensuality of dried fruit. Likewise I've never analyzed it, but if a does not speak to me, as many Boulez scores do not, then life is simply too short to waste on devoting energy and resources to music that one does not already enjoy.
Many people allege that Boulez is unfairly blamed for things that are not his fault. Perhaps they're right. The point however remains that Boulez created a climate of such intellectual fear that even the musical colossi of earlier generations felt the need to abandon their personal musical languages. Whether or not Boulez is personally responsible for the undue pressure to adopt atonal music that can still be felt in some academic circles (at least in America and Israel where I've lived longterm), he clearly is the progenitor of that climate, and certainly did nothing to discourage it.
Boulez was obviously contested by Malraux (whom I've never read) and Landowski (who is rather mediocre), but he made such success in Germany that even a composer as advanced as Hans Werner Henze felt no need to return to Germany. You admit Henze as a point to the contrary, but it's not only Henze who ultimately felt that way. Ligeti did too and said so in interviews (though there's not enough time at the moment to look for them).
As for American music and their various neo-romantic and minimalist styles, there are more and less interesting composers in each style, and more and less interesting works among each composer. Just as it would be unfair to write off the entirety of serialism and atonality because one might disagree with the aesthetic principles, it would be unfair to write all of them off without investigating (at least cursorily) what major and young composers are capable of doing with it. In many articles you've stated that current climate is overdone in catering to popular, or perhaps simplistic trends, and as it happens I agree with you to some degree. But I think it's an understandable overreaction to what was in itself an overreaction in American Classical Music to the rise of popular music. And regardless of how one feels about certain contemporary composers, every compositional 'school' should be agreeing upon one point: which is that we should all be working to reestablish composers at the center of contemporary musical life. Composers used to be the most important artists of their time. There are hundreds of millions of people in our own countries who will die having never heard Beethoven performed live (let alone Henze). And to simply dismiss all composers of a certain aesthetic would be utterly destructive to that goal. I do not think badly of Boulez because of his principles, I think badly of him because he thinks his principles should be mine.
In any event, as a conductor he played an enormous role in training orchestras for contemporary music. I think his performances of the Second Viennese School are extremely important and I value them, even if I ultimately might prefer a freer hand like Rattle or Barenboim (albeit your account of Lulu in Berlin does not inspire much confidence...). As for late Stravinsky, I find my attention wandering rather quickly after a moment or two's absorbtion. My favorite of the late works (admittedly not a high bar to clear) is The Flood, but I suppose it's worth remembering that even Boulez himself is not enamored of late Stravinsky.
- 19 April, 2012 21:57
- Evan Tucker said...
...And I suppose I should probably add that my dislike of late Stravinsky is coincidentally grounded in precisely the two works you mention. I actually am quite fond of Agon and In memoriam Dylan Thomas (though I suppose they qualify as 'Not quite as Late Stravinsky.')
- 19 April, 2012 22:14
- Mark Berry said...
Agon I adore; it is one of my very favourite Stravinsky works. Who else but Stravinsky would have had the idea and indeed the nerve to bring together Rameau and Webern, let alone to end up sounding only like himself?
I think one probably also ought to remember the climate in which Boulez came of age. French musical life had, for better or worse, been more or less taken over by neo-classicism. (That, incidentally, is where my attention often though by no means always begins to wander in Stravinsky. If I never hear Apollo or Orpheus again, it will not be a disappointment...) Much German music had been entirely out of bounds, so much so that he had barely heard any Mahler, let alone Schoenberg or Webern. Messiaen's class was clearly a liberation for many, not just for Boulez. And of course, most 'modern' music had been for quite some time prohibited in Germany too, hence the extraordinary opportunity afforded at Darmstadt and Donaueschingen. Initial catching up was as much to do with Stravinsky, Hindemth, Bartók, et al., as the Second Viennese School. The myth of a 'Stunde Null' was just that, of course, a myth, but one can understand why it was so attractive, especially in political terms.
- 20 April, 2012 14:18