Krongblog

Mari on the Silks

2013-03-24T20:30:00.002-05:00

At the end of her latest session, Mari shows off what she learned on the silks.

Spy Birthday Party for a ten year old

2013-02-11T12:16:00.003-05:00

For Austin's 10th birthday this year, we had a spy themed party. It was sort of elaborate and we didn't take a whole ton of photos on all aspects, so I thought I'd try to document it here, in part for our memories and in part because we got some good ideas from other blogs and I thought it would be good to "give back" to the espionage birthday party reference that is the internet.

So, first off, my wife and I dressed up in evening wear (tux and evening gown) and introduced ourselves to the guests with our aliases, Natasha and Agent X. Natasha explained that they were not here for a birthday party, but instead they were here to train to be spies, and if successful, they would be sent on a mission.

We've found it's good to start with an open-ended craft as guests arrive at staggered times, so our first task was to have each boy make himself a passport with an invented alias. I made a template that asked for (false) given and family names, nationality, date of birth, a photo and had a space for a thumbprint.

(Here's a link to my fake passport.pdf you can print. Add another folded blank sheet, cover with dark blue construction paper and then staple together into booklets.)

I had already printed correctly sized pictures of the boys from class photos from the last few years. The photos were on regular paper, not photographic, which made the portraits a little fuzzy and allowed them to draw whatever glasses, moustaches, or any other "disguise" on their picture that they wanted. We also left out a book of flags of the world and told them to draw flags on their passport pages to illustrate where they've travelled.

Making passports

The boys were pretty creative with this, as we had aliases from Germany, Afghanistan, Britain, Australia and the Netherlands. They had also traveled all over, including South Korea, Ireland, France, and Sudan.

Also on the table for kids who finished early were some books about spying that I had gotten from the library. I think my favorite was Spyology, and it has a section on the Caesar code which would come into play later.

Natasha recorded all the names on a piece of paper for reference (and for future Thank You notes) and I pocketed the passports.

Their next task was also a creative one: invent spy devices from an ordinary object. Natasha passed around a bowl with pens, flashlights, a pin and other common objects and we gave them paper to spend time listing all the things their invention would be able to do. They had a lot of fun sharing their ideas with each other.

Then came marksmanship training. Natasha had set up targets (balloons) as well as taped off lines for a "shooting range." They took turns with Nerf guns hitting their targets.

Practicing firing Nerf guns

Meanwhile, I was making a pasta dinner (our original plan of ordering pizza was foiled by the blizzard -- no pizzerias were open).

After shooting training, we had etiquette class. Although spies needed to get down and dirty, they also have to be able to associate with billionaires and royalty, so these trainees needed to know their table settings. I showed them a few glasses and had them identify them. They learned to identify white and red wine glasses, as well as a champagne flute and a martini glass.

"Martinis are always shaken, never stirred."

I showed them what a place setting should properly look like (two forks, knife and a spoon) and then instructed them to set proper places for themselves. They were each given a martini glass and Natasha poured them a kid-friendly cocktail from a shaker -- Yoda Soda from the Star Wars Cookbook.

During and after the meal, we played a game of Mafia, slightly altering the context (rules here). We explained that this was a training exercise to determine if they could lie and see through others' lies. Instead of Mafia agents in a village, they were told that there were enemy agents among our spy agency. We had 9 kids with 2 enemy agents among them, which gave an advantage to the "good guys," and in fact, the closest the enemies came to winning was having an agent survive to the final 3. The first game, as is usual with Mafia, was a bit random and confused, but once they got the hang of it, they had a lot of fun and we played two more rounds.

"Morning and another agent lays dead. Who do you think is a mole?"

After dinner, we decided that they were ready for a mission. They needed to find a missing computer chip with nuclear arming codes before it fell into the wrong hands. But first: Passport control. I took out their passports and quizzed them on their names, nationality, dates of birth and their previous travels.

"How was China, Mr. Maines?" "I've never been -- that's the flag of Japan!"

"How old are you, Mr. Hunt?" "21." "What year were you born?" "1992."

Because a lot of their answers were so silly, this was a lot of fun for all of them.

"Mr. Buttock, you say you were born in 10 BC -- how old does that make you?"

The kids lined up at the entrance to our basement. Natasha explained that they would need to get through a laser field (which she had constructed using bells strung on yarn, criss-crossed on chairs) and then shoot a guard (a big stuffed teddy bear). The birthday boy chose a laser team and a shooting team (although they all eventually tried both).

Getting through the laser field

After taking out the guard, they found a classified file that led to the first clue in a short treasure hunt.

Taking out the guard, "Big Ted" aka "One-Sock."

The treasure hunt included a little bit of geography, knowing the name of the spider plant, a Caesar code and eventually popping a balloon that held an SD card.

Classified file from the trunk One-Sock was protecting

"The Spider, not the Snake!" (Snake plant not pictured)

Decoding the message.

The missing computer chip!

Mission completed, they headed back upstairs for cake. I encouraged the boys to look to see what was on the SD card and they found a file suggesting that one of their spymasters, Natasha or Agent X, was actually a double agent.

Never trust anyone over 30.

How would they know which of us was a real spy?

The cake was going to be the giveaway.

Well, I ate my piece of cake with my hands which showed I didn't have proper spy etiquette. Clearly, I was the double agent!

They passed their final test! For that, we handed out some goodie bag prizes, including invisible ink black light pens.

After cake, we watched a James Bond movie, For Your Eyes Only. (Originally, this was going to be a movie party, then we decided on For Your Eyes Only because Austin has been skiing and there's a great ski chase, and then it became a spy birthday party. The evolution of party planning.)

All in all, it was a successful party, and we all had a lot of fun. The boys set and cleared their own dinner settings, learned a few flags of the world, got to be creative and cooperative, and made their own take-home gift (the passports). Who could ask for more?

Toasting the birthday boy

Sudan blog

2013-01-07T16:18:00.000-05:00

So, I mentioned that I'm going to Sudan in two weeks or so. Here's a blog written by the project director Geoff Emberling. See if the blog has better photos and more exciting anecdotes in later January while I'm there. Or perhaps, he will write about unnamed miscreants who are hindering his productivity. Could go either way.

2012 Year in Review

2012-12-10T10:57:00.000-05:00

2012 was a big year for us -- it seems like every year is packed with activity now, but I'm surprised at how much happened over the past 12 months.

We visited Mary and Joe in Florida in January and, between swimming and visiting, discovered sea beans. Sea beans are seeds that have been transported over the ocean and could still germinate. They come in many shapes and sizes and colors and are available for those with eagle eyes.

Jellyfish on the beach!

In February, we spent a little over a week in Nicaragua. A pediatrician at Julie's clinic, Dorchester House, has been working with an NGO called Superemos in Esteli in the northwestern hills of Nicaragua for many years and Julie was invited to join him. The medical team gave advice and assistance to local public health workers and saw hundreds of patients in this rural area. Meanwhile, the kids and I spent time helping paint a mural, worked with clay, learned some Spanish, visited a local school, looked at all the fruits and spices available in the market, met a local artist, and went on hikes. A highlight for the kids: riding in the back of a pickup truck! For me: seeing all of our tropical houseplants growing in a native environment!

Mari and friends dancing

A highlight for all of us was meeting our new friends Alba Ena and Rico and spending our last weekend in beautiful Grenada, the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the Americas.

Jumping into a Nicaraguan lake with freshwater sharks

Back at home, we had our basement redone and now it's a great place playroom and guest room for visitors. Just ask Vera and Stephen, Val and Emma, Amy and Aaron, or Steve and Heidi (or come visit yourselves!). (Using scrap materials, Austin and Mari helped me make a little clubhouse in the backyard but you have to ask them for an invitation to that.)

We coordinated a visit to Toronto with my sister's family and had a lot of fun with the cousins at the Science Center, ROM, Centre Island and lots of delicious Chinese restaurants. On the drive back to Boston we all stopped in LeRoy, NY to visit the Jello Museum! An educational experience for sure.

An electroencephalogram of Jello is the same as a brain!

Still a mystery: why anyone would take an EEG of Jello

This summer we went west to visit Edie, Bill, Maia and Lucy, and Wendy, Pete and Parker, and to attend Rich and Amy's wedding in Colorado! It was so picturesque, much of it made it onto our Christmas card:

A&M outside Rocky Mtn Nat Park, J & A on Mt Washington,
A pointing out a dinosaur bone on Dinosaur Ridge,
M & me at the wedding, M at circus camp

Highlights included a horseback trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, adding Mentos to Coke, touring the Argo Mine, swinging on Walk-e-Woo leashes (so strong we trust our kids on them!), and of course, the wedding, the wedding, the wedding. Austin was an usher and Mari and cousin Lucia were flower girls. It was in Washington Park on a gorgeous day and it was great to spend time with family and friends (new and old!).

Julie went on a few trips this year, including visiting her niece Lucia in Pittsburgh. She took Mari to New York City one weekend and they saw The Lion King on Broadway! Another weekend was spent with Austin in New Hampshire climbing Mount Washington, highest peak in the northeast! (Meanwhile, back at home, I took Austin to Fenway Park for his first time, and went with Mari to Circus Smirkus.)

Fenway!

Julie continues to work at Dorchester House; she won a grant to initiate a program to oversee nurse practitioner training, and she still teaches communication skills to medical students at BMC and is active in communication in health care. She completed her third Hale triathlon this year and is co-coaching Austin's Destination Imagination team.

Austin is now in the fourth grade. He played Little League in the spring and summer, and soccer in the fall. He's also a great tennis player and skier and he loves hiking and making up jokes. He really liked the Avengers movie, and has been enjoying watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with me.

Mari tried softball and soccer this year but preferred going to Moody Street Circus' summer camp and will be taking classes there this winter. She's in the 2nd grade and loves making art, writing poems and knitting with her friend Ann.

I've recently been directing the Clemente Course, the humanities program I've been teaching in for over a decade (!). This year, I have also been working on illustrations for a final report on a dig in Syria and I'm preparing to visit Sudan in January on another archaeological project. I coached Austin's soccer team in the fall (having volunteered to be an assistant) and went from apprehensive to panicked to actually really enjoying the experience -- the boys and their families were easy to work with and I had a lot of advice from friends.

Clemente faculty and graduates

The whole family is still active in the Newton Family Singers. I continue to play in the band (and blog), and Mari, Julie and Austin had solos in our December concert. Our raspberry patch was bountiful this year and we had a great time trying to keep up with the fruit. Julie and I taught the kids to play Settlers of Catan and we've since spent many an enjoyable evening around the game. One of our favorite books to read together this year was Wonder because it was funny and touching and dealt with fitting in and had a really nice message that boiled down to: Choose Kind.

Financial Advisor

2012-10-12T13:11:00.000-05:00

I'm looking into talking with a financial advisor, just to get an objective opinion on where our assets are, how we're investing, how much we need to save for college, etc.

We're looking for a fee-only advisor (paid hourly, not on sales commissions) but haven't gotten many personal referrals. If you know of anyone in the Greater Boston area, comments with contact info would be appreciated.

Meanwhile, as a placeholder, I wanted to make sure I remembered these two sites:

National Association of Personal Financial Advisors

and

Garrett Planning Network.

I found them through links on the NYTimes Bucks blog.

Photobooth 2012

2012-07-29T21:23:00.000-05:00

This summer's photobooth entry. We misjudged the last two (meant to be kids only, and then with me and Julie).

Other photobooth photos from this blog can be found here.

Every Day is Father's Day

2012-07-25T07:28:00.002-05:00

Every day is like Father's Day with Mari around. Here are some sample random notes that she leaves me:

Thanks for being the best! Here is a co[u]pon for a free hug! Just hand it in and I'll check the back.

Dad, you know how you said I'm creative? Well, I think you're creative, too! So from now on, I'll be Creative 1 and you can be Creative 2. Love, Creative 1

And even, when I was having a very bad day and was very grumpy:

For Dad
Sorry
My heart [accompanied by a drawing of a heart]
You don't
know how how
bad I feel.
You burnt nuts [I was making candied pecans].
I bet I'll still like them.
You hit your head.
I hope it feels better.
Our lunch was unhealthy,
I [k]now I'll have a better dinner.
So that's all I wanted to write.
P.S. I'm
really, really, really,
really, really, really
really, really, really,
really sorry about
your day.
your favorite dau[gh]ter, lov[e]ly toasted,
and friendly girl,
Mari

That one made me feel better.

Music ... sharing

2012-07-12T20:43:00.004-05:00

Looking at Jonathan Coulton's site, I stumbled upon the internet sensation that is Emily White's (NPR intern) commentary on (not) buying music, followed by David Lowery (yes, the guy from Camper van B and Cracker!)'s response.

The best part, though, is the editor's note about deleting comments on Lowery's page. To wit:

Lately though we’ve adopted some totally random rules to cut down on the sheer volume. If your IP address has “23″ in it we immediately delete w/o reading. If your wordpress handle has “girl” or “free” or “media” or “Tech” we delete immediately. If you start with foul language or are extra angry we delete. Unless of course we want you to look stupid then we publish your comments. Today we searched for all comments that contained the words “market” “zero” or ”marginal” and bulk deleted. This was specifically cause we don’t really want to explain that fixed costs really do matter and no matter what you heard from some idiot on the internet. If you play bass we delete. Also “”McPherson”: bulk delete. The use of the words “consumer” , “ointment” , “dude”, “gatekeepers” and “dubstep” also resulted in a fair number of deletions. We are only joking about some of this. If you feel that this somehow infringes your freedom you have the whole free internet out there to express we’ve infringed your freedom.

Sorry Sir Paul, we delete bassists.

Batman thoughts

2012-07-12T09:45:00.002-05:00

I'm somewhat excited about the upcoming Batman film -- not as much anticipation as I had for Avengers, but still want to see it -- but I'm kind of getting tired of the megablockbuster aspect of comic book movies.

You know what would be really cool? Take $30 million of Warner Bros money and offer it to half a dozen or more filmmakers to make 10-20 minute short films about Batman (or Gotham City). It would be the equivalent of the Batman: Black and White comics anthology but on film. (Those are 1-5 page stories by leading comic book writers and artists, many of whom would never otherwise be hired to write or draw a "regular" Batman comic.) Share the same actors for the same characters -- or don't.

Instead of taking a comic book and painting it on screen with CGI, use filmmaking ingenuity to make cool shorts. You could even tick off the genres: horror movie, detective movie, heist movie (starring Catwoman?), street level human interest movie, a film strictly from Alfred's POV, a story from Batman's retirement.

All the films would be different styles. Imagine a Tarantino, or John Woo Batman. Or a Michael Mann Batman. A Lena Dunham Gotham city girl obsessed with Batman? A Wes Anderson Alfred cleans up the Batcave ( through stop-motion animation?)!

Do it with a relatively low budget, shoot them down and dirty, and release the best 90 minutes in theaters, include the rest on DVD. Will it make a billion dollars? No, but a profit would be guaranteed.

Couldn't do worse than Green Lantern.

Photobooth 2011

2012-01-10T15:42:00.000-05:00

Forgot to post this over the summer.

New Year's in Vermont

2012-01-05T09:15:00.002-05:00

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-10T14:19:00.000-05:00

Hello there!

Time to write about our family's accomplishments this year, making special care not to mention any disappointments or setbacks, yes, it's the Christmas letter, 2011 edition!

Honestly, this was a pretty good year for us. We went on some nice trips, we tried new activities and skills, and some of the new things we learned last year became annual activities by dint of doing them again.

The big trip we went on was to the Canadian Rockies and the national parks of Banff and Jasper. The parks were spectacular, the company (Julie's mom and stepdad and her sister's family) was excellent, and we were luckier than most when it came to spotting wild animals. We saw a grizzly bear, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep. We also got to walk on a glacier and took a white water rafting ride through a glacial river (yes, it was cold -- ask Austin, who jumped in for a dip).

We visited eastern Canada, too, on our annual pilgrimage to Toronto. My parents took the kids to African Lion Safari, Julie and I took in the AGO and went shopping. We also hit Ontario Place, the ROM and ate lots of delicious Chinese food.

We also visited Florida and went down to NYC for a beautiful second wedding (renewal of vows). Closer to home, we went to a lovely wedding at Harvard Square. Soon it will be unremarkable, but this was the first gay wedding we attended, and it was so lovely that our only conclusion is that it must have strengthened our own bonds of marriage.

Mari is getting big and starting to occasionally get into that zombie reading state that has afflicted Austin for a couple of years. It is possible to pry the book from her fingers long enough for her to eat, but only just (she loves the Mercy Watson books -- thanks for the recommendation, local independent bookstore!). Mari had a spring dance recital, played soccer in the fall, felt confident enough on her bike to ride the Minuteman Trail and can do a pretty good cartwheel. More gymnastics are in her future! Mari also learned to knit this year and is working on a scarf. Pretty neat!

Austin is getting big, too. In the spring and summer, he played Little League and had a lot of fun. He went to a tennis camp this summer and played soccer in the fall. One highlight was that he passed the deep end test at Hale Membership Beach, meaning he spent the next few weeks clambering up (and splashing down from) the Aquajump, a floating trampoline. He climbed Mt Monadnock with Julie this summer! Among the books he enjoyed this year were Tom Sawyer and Hatchet (the latter inspired some experiments in fire making using flint -- turns out the key is to have a lot of dry, fluffy tinder).

Julie swam/rode/ran the Hale Triathlon again this year. This time she placed 2nd in her age group! She's continues to teach the communications seminar at BU Med School and has taken on running M&Ms and all sorts of academic responsibilities. She still practices medicine at Dorchester House. We're still part of the Newton Family Singers and Julie has really stepped up; she organized and conducted our carols in front of the Waban Tree Lighting, and is a featured singer on a number of songs in our winter concert. She's still too shy to play the accordion on stage, but it's just a matter of time.

[transition into third person mode:]

Jack is now teaching at Dorchester House! The Clemente Course is being held in the new wing of that building and Jack is back to directing the course, too. He continues to do some freelance writing, and this fall worked as an intern at the public radio program Here and Now at WBUR. Fun! Being such a BUR uber-fan, it was a treat to learn that the people who work there are as nice and sharp as he hoped -- maybe more so. He's still playing guitar (and mandolin) with the NFS, and played bass at the Lowell Fiddle and Banjo festival, accompanying his friend Andy on banjo (trying to channel Victor Wooten). (if you're wondering what the festival is like, here's a video page)

We had lots of houseguests this year, including Pauline, Emma and Val, Amy and Aaron, Edie and Bill, Amy, John and Lucia, Hadas, and my parents. You're welcome, too!

Stay in touch, be healthy, and have a great 2012!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T10:32:00.000-05:00

The "Ghost of Maureen"

Portland, ME

2011-10-31T10:02:00.000-05:00

We went up to Portland 10 days ago to celebrate our 10th anniversary. My in-laws were nice enough to take the kids to Pittsburgh and an adventure with their cousin and aunt and uncle.

But enough about them.

We had a great time in Portland. We stayed at the Eastland Park Hotel, a great location and with a terrific view from the hotel bar at the top floor. Our first night we had dinner at 555 at 555 Congress Street. Julie had the tasting menu: onion soup, beet salad, lobster mac and cheese, cheese plate and a pumpkin dessert. I had a market salad and divers scallops and housechurned ice cream (chocolate-coconut and coriander-pistachio and another that I'm blanking on but was unexpected and delicious).

The next day, a Saturday, we took our bikes and rode down to Two Lights, a state park with view of two lighthouses. Biking around Portland is terrific -- not too hilly, not that many cars and we got great advice from the Gorham Bike and Ski shop. Anyway, Two Lights was beautiful, with large hexagonal rocks in the crashing surf. It was the last weekend of the season for the Lobster Shack and we enjoyed a modest lunch there.

We rode back to Portland with a detour around to see another lighthouse, at Portland Headlight. We rode down Commercial Street and found the Harvest on the Harbor Festival. A tent was set up with lots of vendors handing out samples of food and wine and beer, so we rushed back to the hotel to change, hopped into a taxi and got into that tent! It was a great way to sample food from lots of restaurants in the area and we even got to hang out with cookbook author Kathy Gunst before and after her cooking demonstration. We liked her cookbook and bought a copy for a friend.

On Sunday, we were a little more mellow, riding around town to the West Promenade to see some beautiful old houses, including one with a squash court on the third floor (the owner was outside gardening and told us about it) and the house Julie stayed in when she did a rotation at Maine Medical Center. We then took the bike path around to the east side, by the water treatment plant (!) and the remains of the USS Portland. We ended up near Duckfat, a small bistro that makes incredible french fries (may be the frying the medium that helps). Soooo good.

We did some shopping in the Old Portland district where we enjoyed the Maine Pottery Co-op and Julie tried on some clothes in a designer's little studio. We wanted to have a little sustenance before we hit the road so Julie had a salad and I had a delicious BLT at the Local Sprouts Cafe (a food co-op that the hostess at 555 recommended to us).

In all, a great urban adventure, terrific biking, and delicious eating. We had a wonderful time and look forward to bringing the kids with us next time to see the Victorian Mansion, Cryptozoology Museum and the ropes courses.

Reading

2011-10-03T13:49:00.001-05:00

I did it!

Sometime late last year I read that New Bedford was sponsoring a contest to see if people could read 50 books in a year. I didn't sign up but I've been tracking my reading on Goodreads and I just hit 55, with 3 of the books being solely picture books for children. (That does include, however, books like Scenes from an Impending Marriage which is a very short book of cartoons about wedding planning; on the other hand, it also includes at least one book that was more than 1000 pages long.)

From here on, I'm just coasting... until I finally pick up Moby Dick. (Meanwhile, next to my bed is "Why You Should Read Moby Dick" by Nathaniel Philbrick.)

New band

2011-08-31T21:40:00.001-05:00

The kids were banging around on their instruments and have a new band. Their name? Introducing...

The Diarrhea Bunnies!

Toronto 2011

2011-08-30T08:59:00.002-05:00

A late report of our July visit to Toronto. It's been a while, so nothing will be in order and I'll probably only remember the highlights but...

First highlight! My parents took the kids to African Lion Safari. Apparently, it's much nicer than it was three decades ago when my parents were last there, and the kids had a great time, not only riding around the park in a car, but also getting to touch and ride on animals in a zoo area.

And the reason that was a highlight: Julie and I got to spend the day downtown. We had fun shopping in the Umbra store, a Canadian company that designs housewares, and then we visited the Art Gallery of Ontario. The main reason to visit the AGO was to see Abstract Expressionism at MOMA, which was a nice show -- I especially liked the short videos that showed conservators re-enacting technique, like Rothkos very thinned out washes -- but we were most impressed with Giuseppe Penone's tree sculptures. Displayed in the gallery at the front, north end of the building under the new facade designed by Frank Gehry, the gallery was wonderfully lit with lots of natural light. Penone took trees and carved chunks of outer rings from them until he exposed an earlier, younger version of the tree. Really striking.

The rest of our day was spent around Queen Street West, including shopping at Outer Layer which was chock full of fun stuff and nice people. That's where I spotted a purse hanger; Julie thought it was sort of ridiculous. A visit to Kensington Market was fun, with all the import shops and some neat artist's shops (a great print-making shop whose name I've forgotten).

In the evening, we picked up Pauline from the airport! We got to spend the rest of the week with her.

On Canada Day, we went down to Harbourfront. It was pretty crowded but it was fun to see a crack jump-rope team in action and we saw a nice documentary called "Finding Farley" about a young family (the son was about 2 or 3, and they had a dog) tracing Farley Mowat's journeys around the country. Some beautiful photography and scary amounts of black flies.

During the week we visited the ROM, and saw a cool exhibit on water (I was amazed at the early use of dams and the latest water devices: playground equipment that pumped water into tanks in Africa -- kids play and they provide water to their community!).

We saw The Glass Menagerie at Soulpepper; we'd previously only seen comedies at this repertory theater. The show was good and I was particularly impressed with Jeff Lillico, the actor who portrayed the Gentleman Caller.

Soulpepper is in the Distillery District and because it was Jazz Fest in Toronto (as well as Pride Week), there were a number of combos set up around the plazas. We also found a store that sold purse hangers and with the encouragement of Pauline, Julie found them delightful. We later had a search for them in the Pacific Mall.

Once again, we made it to Ontario Place and with the kids being much better swimmers, they had a lot of fun in the water park. We also saw some circus acts around the park and Austin and Julie saw a "4-D" movie about dinosaurs.

One new place we went this time was Scarborough Bluffs. It's changed since I was a boy, from erosion and also with what I think is a new system of water filtration. The trails were not particularly long, but it was a pretty walk.

Tooth

2011-03-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

Mari lost her first tooth last night! And another one is loose...

Seven Bridges Road

2011-03-12T23:55:00.001-05:00

A recent obsession with the song Seven Bridges Road led to lots of time on YouTube and Wikipedia, and even an actual book. I figure after making a little effort, it's worth putting together some of the information for others.

So, Seven Bridges Road was written by Steve Young and recorded for his album Rock Salt and Nails (1969). Here's a YouTube of a version by Young from his second album, named after the song:

There are more recent live recordings online and he plays and sings the song in a similar style, as a singer-songwriter.

In 1973, Iain Matthews, of Fairport Convention (and other rock/folk/pop bands) recorded the song with the harmonies that have come to define Seven Bridges. It appears on his album Valley Hi.

Who arranged the harmonies? Well, if it wasn't Matthews, perhaps it was the producer of Valley Hi, the former Monkee Mike Nesmith!

According to the photographic history book The Eagles: An American Band (p. 166), Don Henley and company would sing Seven Bridges Road in their dressing room as a vocal warm up before shows on their Hotel California tour (that album was released in late 1976). The band later performed the song on stage and a version of it was recorded for Eagles Live. The liner notes to Eagles : The Very Best Of (2CD) state that they learned the song from Steve Young, but they clearly borrowed harmonic ideas from Matthews. Here they are from Seattle 1977:

The Eagles version has become the most iconic, although Dolly Parton's all-star bluegrass band does a pretty fine job by it, too. Here's Dolly:

More recently, Keith Urban (Mr. Nicole Kidman) has been bringing up opening acts to sing the song with him. In 2009, Sugarland add two voices to Urban (as well as a mandolin). I have to say, one thing I love about Sugarland is how happy they seem to be to be making music. It's not perfect, but they're having fun and projecting that; a charming stage presence.

In 2010, Urban was on tour with Grammy winners Lady Antebellum. The female vocalist, Hillary Scott, doesn't seem to know the song as well as the guys, but she wings it and finds her harmony lines.

Finally, a couple of non-professional acts. The first is an earnest attempt, but the recording makes clear the problem of pushing the bass part too hard. Let it resonate, but don't sing it out, man. (Also, something's a little off with the guitar. That's the time to just pause out of this one...)

The second, by the Hartley Brothers sounds great (and has a terrific toy poodle pontificating).
-

A great song by Young, terrific arrangement by Matthews and Nesmith, and kudos to the Eagles for bringing it to the attention of a whole lot of people.

Another joke from Mari

2011-03-11T07:40:00.001-05:00

What did one ocean say to the other?

Nothing, they just waved.

Kid poetry

2011-03-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

By Mari:

There's a bug in your nose
and it bited your toes.

By Austin:

I Am a Leprechaun

I am a Leprechaun
all happy and Healthy
I am a Leprechaun
I love green and I'm wealthy,
I am a Leprechaun
I hate those vampires
When Leprechauns get their powers
I'll set all vampires on bunches of fires.

Tiger Mothering

2011-02-27T22:07:00.001-05:00

I just finished Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
by Amy Chua and now I feel like I can actually comment on it legitimately.

So: it's funny (humorous, not strange. well, a little strange). Chua is a funny writer and has a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor. She mocks herself as much as she promotes herself.

The book is told in short, very readable chapters that are occasionally repetitive, but every chapter is provocative and amusing.

That said, I did not come away with a favorable impression of Chua. Not because of her parenting (or rather, not simply because of her parenting) but because she is an insufferable snob. She is status obsessed and presents herself as deriving no pleasure from her life except achieving milestones. When her mother-in-law dies, Chua's daughters eulogize their grandmother as life-affirming and someone who was full of joy. Chua's chapters about the woman, in contrast, present her as having impeccable taste: she wore great clothes, collected great art, ate great food and Chua strives for her compliments.

Another example: she has three sisters and Amy claims to be closest with her sister Katrin. I have no reason to dispute this claim, but her way of explaining how similar they are is to mention that both she and Katrin went to Harvard as undergraduates and also went to Harvard professional schools (Law for Amy, an MD/PhD for Katrin). Sure, except she's a lawyer and another sister went to Yale and then Yale Law School, so superficially, it seems to me that being a lawyer is a lot more similar to another lawyer than to a scientist unless you overhype the Harvard brand.

Similarly, the pushing of her daughters is all toward Juilliard or Carnegie Hall (and then the main hall at Carnegie Hall) -- she admits she doesn't expect or want her children to become professional musicians, she just wants them to have amazing college applications.

She complains about over-the-top bat mitzvahs but the amount she spends to celebrate the Carnegie Hall performance -- they amount she spends just to audition for new teachers -- is insane. I think she recognizes the hypocrisy and means it to contribute to the humor, but it's still crazy and hypocritical.

And don't let the Chinese/Westerner comments fool you: she's a Western snob. She obsesses over European classical music and insults Indonesian gamelan music and discounts Chinese music. She imposes Chinese discipline in order to instill Western culture in her girls. Ironic? She doesn't really do irony.

Ultimately, Chua's value system seems very superficial.

What she does do well, however, is to present ambition with a lack of shame. I think it's good to have high expectations for your kids, and Chua is not lacking in expectations.

Oh, do you want to know how it ends? Her younger daughter Lulu rebels and refuses to continue on the mommy track of violin playing (she continues to play, but for herself -- no more mother hovering marathons of practicing). Instead, Lulu pursues tennis. Not a bad choice, but Chua is only satisfied with this decision when Lulu starts winning competitions. If it's not measurable, Chua has no interest.

So, is it worth reading? Sure, it's a quick read and there's plenty to muse on so it's a high return on your time investment but that's pretty faint praise, I have to admit. Have we already all moved on? Perhaps, but this book will certainly mark a moment in parenting literature.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Chinese New Year Letter

2011-02-08T09:24:00.000-05:00

Our semi-annual (as in, when we remember to do it) Chinese New Year letter is now online, with news of our activities in 2010. Happy New Year!

Mari's Joke

2011-02-07T09:24:00.000-05:00

The latest in a series of original jokes:

Q. Why DIDN'T the cat cross the road?

A. It was a scaredy cat.

Austin's latest jokes

2011-01-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

So, among his daily misfires, Austin came up with a couple jokes that I thought worth passing along.

Q. What's a Chinese pirate's favorite number?

A. 2 (pronounced "Aarh!")

Q. What happened to the robber who needed a nap?

A. He got ar-rest-ed.