In any case, there's this really creepy daguerreotype of Old Hickory on one of the photo pages of this thing. Whenever I read books with a-dozen-or-so pages of pictures I always end up turning to one in particular every time I sit down to read and it becomes something of a companion on the journey towards the end of the book and, for some reason, this is the one my brain has chosen (I think it helps that all the others are drawings).
It just seems so strange that it should even exist in the first place. His face on the $20 bill is so ubiquitous that it just becomes inconsequential but, lo and behold, there's an actual photograph of AJ right there in my book...and he's wearing glasses.
The thing I keep staring at whenever I look at this thing is that his hair is almost exactly the same as it is on the 20 in my pocket. That is so cool. He was 78 when he died and that's completely incredible.
This sent me on a Google search for other weird photographs from the era. Here's that famous, near-death one of Poe. The guy loved his neckerchiefery.
The image search also spit out this one of famous interior decorator Dorothy Draper (I think). This one creeps me out and, if it were hanging on my wall, I would be afraid she was going to leap out and eat my soul.
Then there's Mr. Uniform Elbow Stand Leather Gloves Leaning Sword Man. You gotta love Google for kicking this guy out from the ether.
This could be the espresso talking but why on earth would someone choose to be photographed in this pose? I know that daguerrotypes took forever and all...but this is still just weird. Were there just elbow stands lying around everywhere in these days? Elbow stands! He looks like a semi-pissed-off, mustachioed department store mannequin.
So all these depressed-looking people from the late 1800s make me want to look at something a little more pleasing to the eye. For this I'll mention that I saw the Ahn Trio perform with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra last Sunday. They are both amazing musicians and--at the same time--markedly easier on the eyes. (Their website is way trippy what with the Tim Burton-esque renderings of the sisters flopping around marionette-style on their instruments.)
They performed Kenji Bunch's Hardware Concerto and, although I've seen them twice before, it just wasn't as good because they were amplified (it was a 3,000+ seat outdoor auditorium so who can blame them). I still remember hearing them go through Eric Ewazen's The Diamond World a few years back. They are so good...and also gorgeous.
I ate a couple of great meals in Traverse City this week. Sushi at Red Ginger. Awesome nigori, terrible decor. (They decided to make Buddha the prevailing thing in their entrance...it's doubtful that it was in the interest of actual Buddhism and is probably, in fact, just something unintentionally-but-really kitschy that they put up to make the place more "Asian".)
This afternoon I had a great meal at Hanna Bistro: grilled cheese on foccacia. The pasta had the perfect amount of olive oil on it and I liked how they put the onions on the side for you.
I'm going to see a Ra Ra Riot concert in town tonight. Mason Proper is opening up for them and, having listened to their latest album for the last hour or so, I think it's going to be an awesome show.
So all these depressed-looking people from the late 1800s make me want to look at something a little more pleasing to the eye. For this I'll mention that I saw the Ahn Trio perform with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra last Sunday. They are both amazing musicians and--at the same time--markedly easier on the eyes. (Their website is way trippy what with the Tim Burton-esque renderings of the sisters flopping around marionette-style on their instruments.)
They performed Kenji Bunch's Hardware Concerto and, although I've seen them twice before, it just wasn't as good because they were amplified (it was a 3,000+ seat outdoor auditorium so who can blame them). I still remember hearing them go through Eric Ewazen's The Diamond World a few years back. They are so good...and also gorgeous.
I ate a couple of great meals in Traverse City this week. Sushi at Red Ginger. Awesome nigori, terrible decor. (They decided to make Buddha the prevailing thing in their entrance...it's doubtful that it was in the interest of actual Buddhism and is probably, in fact, just something unintentionally-but-really kitschy that they put up to make the place more "Asian".)
This afternoon I had a great meal at Hanna Bistro: grilled cheese on foccacia. The pasta had the perfect amount of olive oil on it and I liked how they put the onions on the side for you.
I'm going to see a Ra Ra Riot concert in town tonight. Mason Proper is opening up for them and, having listened to their latest album for the last hour or so, I think it's going to be an awesome show.
The concert is sponsored by Interlochen so there are posters hanging all around the campus. It features a really cool picture of RRR that, for some reason, I can't stop looking at.
I've been listening to their debut album, The Rhumb Line, since I saw them open for Death Cab back in April (you can read my quasi-review of the album here) so I'm excited to see them headline a show of their own.
Despite the fact that this post has been full of what is essentially nonsense, I have been getting some steady work on the opera done since it warmed up a few days ago. I'm nearly finished with the opening aria's piano part. In fact, I just wrote the first quintuplet of my entire life.
I've been listening to their debut album, The Rhumb Line, since I saw them open for Death Cab back in April (you can read my quasi-review of the album here) so I'm excited to see them headline a show of their own.
Despite the fact that this post has been full of what is essentially nonsense, I have been getting some steady work on the opera done since it warmed up a few days ago. I'm nearly finished with the opening aria's piano part. In fact, I just wrote the first quintuplet of my entire life.
1 comment:
Awesome.
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