Composer Streets

The following photographs are a sample of the signs in

Amsterdam that indicate streets named after composers

(I'm told this is not a complete listing)

Let's begin with composers from the Netherlands...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Sweelinck

Sweelinck has a "Second" street in addition to this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Obrecht

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphons_Diepenbrock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelis_Dopper

http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn1/cornelis

(Strictly speaking, Cornelis was not a composer but a conductor and pianist of note)

Now, the Italian neighborhood....





And the three "Bs"...

(An upscale shopping street)

And of course...



now a little Baroque music...

(notice the German form of spelling, as not to be confused with the Dutch word "handel" - meaning trade or business).

Music at the crossroads...

Just a few more...

(where Oma lives)

(the composer's first name is included so we are not confused with his namesake, architect Otto Wagner).

And my favorite street name in Amsterdam....

Oddly enough, there is no Mahlerstraat, but Gustav has

his own parking garage on the Strawinskylaan.

Guess which street the Strawinsky Huis is located on?

Any resemblance between the funny man in the

photo and Stravinsky is purely coincidental.

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Amsterdam!

OK, ...these are not my photographs, but by the time you read this I am probably fast a sleep and getting over jet lag in Holland. We are now in Amsterdam enjoying a little R&R with family. With any luck I will be able to post a few messages to this blog during the trip, but expect them to be rather infrequent during the next two weeks.

Ariel view. The Stopera is the large structure on the right

that houses the modern City Hall and Opera House. That's

where Jan plays cello with the Holland Symphonia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopera

http://www.hollandsymfonia.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiphol_Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canals_of_Amsterdam

There are about 700,000 bicycles in the city. Each year, about 80,000 of them are stolen and 25,000 end up in the canals.

The two oldest warehouses in the city

A Narrow house (painted red)

...an even Narrower house (narrowest in Europe). It's located at Oude Hoogstraat 22 and is about 2 meters wide (or 6 2/3 ft.)

THE Narrowest house in the world. Singel #7. 1.05 meters wide (3.4 ft)

The Rijksmuseum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rijksmuseum_Amsterdam

De Oude Kerk (inside and out). It has a great organ.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oude_Kerk_(Amsterdam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvBNuXAPgsA

Anything is possible in Amsterdam...

An example of the Amsterdam School of Architecture on the Keizersgracht
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_School

Look carefully, this bridge doubled as a prison

The new Muziekgebouw
http://www.muziekgebouw.nl/

Jan performing there with his quintet "Nepomuk"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RJi45mctKY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvIcjIMUbRk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_jPyyNC5X4&feature=related

Interesting facts:

1) Holland is the most densely populated country in Europe.

2) Two-thirds of the country is below sea-level and has been victim of flooding - most recently in 1995.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floods_in_the_Netherlands

These two facts combined with the dire prospect of raising sea-levels due to global warming have prompted the design and construction of "floating homes."

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/04/02/dutch-floating-homes-by-duravermeer/

"Waterworld" is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterworld

Some cool links:

82 pictures of bicycles taken during 73 minutes on 9/12/06 in Amsterdam by"Brian" http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/

The "WoZoCo" building...
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/amsterdam/wozoco_mvrdv.htm

The "Nemo"...
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/amsterdam/nemo.htm

The "Eastern Docklands"...
http://www.easterndocklands.com/east1.html

and Graffiti Artists too...
http://www.skezoid.nl/2008/03/amsterdam-series-4.html
http://www.amsterdam.info/graffiti/pictures/

General information...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tourist_attractions_in_Amsterdam

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Poison Ivy

It turned out that we were in the Ivy League, and didn't know it.

For years we had diligently watered the green plants in our front yard, but had unknowingly cultivating an impressive garden of three-leaved plants known as Toxicodendron radicans (commonly known as Poison Ivy).

Fortunately Laura, our visiting friend, spotted it in an instant and kindly offered to put on several layers of protective clothing and dig up the insidious plant. She likes "gardening."

I made myself useful by staying as far away from the dangerously toxic plant as I could, and documented a small piece of the operation for this blog.

If you want to sing along with Laura, Poison Ivy was recorded by The Rolling Stones. Ring tones are available on the web.

Useful sites:

http://www.poison-ivy.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_ivy

http://www.keno.org/stones_lyrics/Poisonivy.htm

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Remembering Moondog

Today's flashback concerns my memory of a fascinating person known as "Moondog."

At first glance, he appeared to be a harmless, crazy, blind, homeless person who obsessively hung out at 53rd street on 6th avenue in Manhattan. Even in the hot summer he was often seen wearing his self-made Viking suit and trademark horned helmet. I don't remember hearing him perform, but he was a regular street musician and had some strange looking home-made instruments.























Moondog had graced the streets of Manhattan since 1940.  Office workers working that highly congested area of town would have walked past him on a daily basis. Over time, he became a normal fixture, and by the time I saw him in the late 1960's he had gained some notoriety. He was referred to as "The Viking of 6th Avenue."











Later I learned that he was a poet, philosopher, and composer of some note. His music had been performed, and he had a record out on a major recording label. Moondog was known by both jazz and classical musicians, and made an impact in both areas.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondog






I've heard some of his music, and suspect that it stems from various tribal and earthy roots. Moondog most likely had freely adopted elements of Native American music - such as drumming and chanting - into his songs. He originally came from Kansas.

Around 1974 he departed his perch on 53rd street, and moved to Germany where he made a new home and died there in 1999.

While I am not a Moondog scholar, I do find his life fascinating, and I'm glad to have seen him in person and up close in NYC.

http://www.geocities.com/moondogmadness/

And there is an authorized biography (with a CD of Moondog's music) by Robert Scotto...
http://www.amazon.com/Moondog-Viking-6th-Avenue-Authorized/dp/0976082284/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217443378&sr=1-1

Reunion of the "Concerned Students Coalition"

It amazes me that brain cells can be so resilient.

Last week I had a reunion with some old friends that I have not seen for a very long time. At least in one case, it had been about 36 years since we talked. When a group of people who grew up in the same place and time reunite in the present universe, it's bound to create sparks of mental activity. That is exactly what happened Thursday night. Our reunion was boisterous, wild, and very entertaining.

Laura (seated second from the left) arrived the night before on Amtrak for a visit. She just retired as a second grade teacher from the public school system in NY state. Next to her is Kim, who's beautiful house in the suburbs were were visiting. And Corky (on the far right) shares with me (sitting on the far left) the dubious distinction of being a transplanted New Yorker who came to Red Sox Nation many decades ago.

Kim, on short notice, agreed to host us and our respective families for dinner. Everyone brought something to the feast: Corky and Cathy contributed ice cream and cookies; Laura, Jim, and Willemien brought fresh tomatoes and mozzarella from Wilson's Farm; and Kim and his lovely wife Susannah made a classic Northern Italian pasta seasoned with bread-crumbs and freshly cut basil from their amazing backyard garden (where Laura was in her element). Kim provided a constant flow of fine red Italian and Spanish wine that he selected from his stock.

There was so much to talk about: not only from the days of our youth, but everything that has intervened in the world since. But invariably the discussion would return to the days of our adolescence in the late 60's and early 70's.

Although as individuals we had forgotten many of the details from that period, as a group we could remember an amazing amount of common history and fact. The stories about what we did in those days for entertainment would fill volumes.

Just to recount a few memorable points...

Although I appeared to be the only one who actually made it to Woodstock in 1969 (more on this in a future posting), the Rahsaan Roland Kirk concert at Mercy College seemed to be a big event in the small town.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahsaan_Roland_Kirk

I found it interesting that Corky remembered something my brother Larry said that night... Larry, a jazz connoisseur who had heard Kirk perform many times before mentioned "this percussionist brings tambourine playing to a whole new level." I was there that night too, with Susan E. who was very impressed with Kirk's circular breathing technique and his ability to play multiple saxophones at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ah2nBtcn2A&feature=related

(I would see Kirk for the next and last time up close in the Boston Public Library not long before his untimely death from a stroke. He was blind, and was searching through the braille-coded phonograph records in the lower-level music section of the Boston Public Library. I was too shy to go over and strike up a conversation).

In our teenage high school years we had two favorite hangouts...

It was at Laura's house where many of us would flock at lunch hour. It was very close to the High School, and her parents were unusually tolerant of us. A favorite activity was to put on the TV in her living room and mute it. Then we'd accompany whatever daytime television show was on with music from a randomly selected album of music. We found endless amusement in the chance associations that were derived between the visual and audio dimensions while drinking herbal tea and snacking on crackers. It has hard to go back to class.

Our other refuge was the "Peace Center" in the basement of Susan and Christine's house. This place doubled as a movie theatre for 16 mm black and white films that their mom would bring home from her work at a film distribution company in NYC. It was there that I remember seeing WC Fields for the first time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._C._Fields

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM4Lak_11eQ

But, in the era of the Vietnam War, we couldn't sit idle and escape into the comfort zone of silly movies all of the time. I remember getting my draft card at the age of 18 (which I still have), and knowing that the annual lottery for the military would be just around the corner. My brother Larry had a low number, but eventually got a deferment for medical reasons. His friend Wayne (the older brother of our host Kim) was not so lucky. He got drafted and went to Nam, but was one of the lucky ones to return alive and physically unharmed. I vividly remember Wayne telling myself and J. Alexander (the bass player in my band) what it was like to be in the heat battle. It opened our eyes, and we were next in line so to speak. We were more than "concerned." Wayne went on to become very active in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

Last week at our reunion, we were having collective amnesia about the official name of our anti-war organization. Fortunately, I got an email from Susan who remembered that it was called "The Concerned Students Coalition." Susan, Eric, and Christine all played vital roles as well as others too numerous to list here (such as Dr. Joe, Robert, Floyd, Ann, George, Tom J., Tom B.). Kim apparently made a mass-mailing to the public and the organization received enough donations to pay the phone bill. I often wonder if our little group rated high enough to be placed on something similar to Nixon's "Enemies List" or to have the phone tapped by the FBI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon

If anyone from this circle is able to locate their copy of the political and sarcastic song "Spiro Agnew, we love you, we do" which was recorded on LP, it will be digitized and posted on this blog.

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