Sunday Serendipity

Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland

Performed by Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Leonard Slatkin

In 1942, Martha Graham and Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge commissioned Copland to write a ballet with “an American theme”. Copland did the bulk of the work in 1943/44, and the work was premiered at the Library of Congress on Oct. 30, 1944, with Graham dancing the lead role. In 1945, Copland was commissioned by conductor Artur Rodzinski to rearrange the ballet as an orchestral suite,

Enjoy, Jack

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31 thoughts on “Sunday Serendipity”

  2. ms emily’s spring
     

    by Emily Dickinson

     A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown --
Who ponders this tremendous scene --
This whole Experiment of Green --
As if it were his own!

    Emily Dickinson, ‘A Light Exists in Spring‘.

    A Light exists in Spring
    Not present on the Year
    At any other period –
    When March is scarcely here

    A Color stands abroad
    On Solitary Fields
    That Science cannot overtake
    But Human Nature feels…

  6. When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.  The only thing which could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits.  People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few who were as good as spring itself.
    –Hemingway

  9. BiD

    Would love to watch Dickinson, but you need an Apple product to watch it.  It’s not available on anything other than Apple TV

     

  10. Great selection Jack,  

    Spring seems to be sending blossoms in the breeze or we seem to have caught some sense of hopefulness in the air.

     

  11. Apple was nice enough to make everything free last spring when folks were stuck at home (hoping to get them hooked).  I had to watch it on my phone.
     
    Just flipped the first June bug of the year onto its tummy.

  12. This morning, I drove by one of the many Korean churches in the area.  I can’t imagine what they’re going through right now.  
    After 9/11, I attended a service at my Methodist church and there was a guest pastor, Rev. Lee, who spoke about  his family’s experience in a Japanese internment camp.  He wanted to remind folks not to vilify Muslims.  Later,   I attended a vigil at a non-denominational church across the street from where I lived; it was a very different experience full of fear-mongering.

  14. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/21/politics/alejandro-mayorkas-border-closed-immigration-facilities-cnntv/index.html

    “The comments from Mayorkas, who insisted the southern border is currently closed to migrants, come as the situation there worsens amid a surge in unaccompanied children in US custody.”

    The border is closed (sort of).   Is there any kind of international relief, any diplomatic effort, that can help those suffering in Central America and Mexico?

  18. This is from the Atlantic, I found it to be amusing, but then again, maybe you just have to have been there.
    Ode To Tortillas
     

    there’s two ways to be a Mexican writerthat we’ve discovered so far.
    you can be the Mexican writer who writes about tortillasor you can be the Mexican writer who writes about croissantsinstead of the tortillas on their plate.
    (can you be a Mexican writer if you’re allergic to corn?)
    there’s two ways to be a Mexican writer that are true& tested. you can write about migrationor you can write about migration.(can you be a Mexican writer if you never migrated?if your family never migrated?)
    there’s two ways to be a Mexican writer. you can translatefrom Spanish. or you can translate to Spanish.or you can refuse to translate altogether.
    there’s only one wound in the Mexican writer’s imagination& it’s the wound of the chancla. it’s the wound of birriabeing sold out at the taco truck. it’s the woundof too many dolores and not enough dollars. it can be arguedthat these are all chanclazos. even death is a chanclazo.
    there’s only one miracle gifted to Mexicans& it is the miracle of never running out of cheap beer.it’s the miracle of never running out of bad jokes.
    there’s infinite ways to eat a tortilla:made in the ancient ways by hand& warmed on a comal. made with cornor with Taco Bell plastic. (what about flour tortillas?)flour tortillas count if you ask San Antonio.my people i am poly with the tortillas.you can eat tortillas with your hands or roll them up& dip them in caldo like my mom does.you can eat them with a fork and knifelike my bougie cousins do. (what bougie cousins?)(i made them up for the purpose of this poem.)you can eat tortillas in tacos or warmed upby microwave and drizzled with butter. tortillascon arroz. tortillas con frijoles. tortillas flipped by handor tortillas flipped with a spatula. tortillas with eggs for breakfast.tortillas fried and sprinkled with sugar for dessert. hard-shelltortillas. gluten-free tortillas for our mixed family. we are stilldiscovering new ways to fold a tortilla. to cut a tortilla up.to transform a tortilla into new worlds. to feed each otherwith tortillas. my people: if i have children, i will teach themabout tortillas, but i’m sure they’ll want McDonald’s.

    JOSÉ OLIVAREZ is a writer from Chicago, Illinois.

  19. For some reason that did not cut and paste with the same line spacing so I ended up with one long run on sentence, it was much more poetic in the original. But if you are talented you can recreate the original, I’m too lazy to try.
    Jack

  21. Baylor is playing Wisconsin, Xrep just for you, where ever you are I’m cheering on Wisconsin. It is tournament time. right now it is tied 7 to 7, for some reason they took a time out.
    Jack

  25. Mean while Wisconsin is getting it’s butt kicked. I’m sure they would do much better with a f*ckin’ crowd even if most of them would be cheering for Baylor.
    Come on exRep, your hometown needs you
    Jack

  26. I’m going to close on a house down in Springfield Mo, next week. If you are a Bass Pro addict, World headquarters store is 2 blocks away. Will rent by the day cheap. Down on that corner are 3 BBQ joints, a chik-fila’ and possibly every other kind of chicken you could want.
    Probably next year I will be moving closer to family, unless I change my mind and rent the house out as an Airbnb for rednecks
    Jack

  27. Biden Approval Ratings Diverge by Gender, Education, Race (gallup.com)

    […]
    Other notable gaps are seen in Biden’s job approval by gender, age and education. These differences primarily, though not entirely, reflect the party leanings of those groups:

    62% of women and 49% of men approve of the job Biden is doing.

    Biden’s approval rating is 64% among college graduates and 51% among those without a four-year degree.

    Sixty-six percent of adults under age 30 believe Biden is doing a good job, compared with 51% of adults ages 50 and older. Meanwhile, 57% of those between the ages of 30 and 49 give Biden a favorable review.

    The effects of gender and age interact so that Biden’s job approval rating is 68% among younger women (under age 50), 58% among older women, 53% among younger men, and 43% among older men.
    [continues]

  28. Those are good numbers across the board. I will give him a 100% approval rating if I can get vaccinated. 

  29. Enjoying March madness. Too bad about Illinois, but good Loyola making the Illini the 1st No. 1 seed to fall. Thought Wisconsin had a shot early but that ended quickly. 

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