From the Mists of Alaska

Rainy Day in Juneau

yes, chers readers, we are back.
Sea legs and all.
What an exhilarating experience... well for us it sure was.
We did not suffer from Mal de Mer, as many did on two days of  rough going on the Pacific!
Hurricane force winds, 30 meter high waves... and stabilisers or not - the vessel rocked!
Rock-a -by Baby... sleeping was easy... for us!
Barf bags blossomed out everywhere,
everything loose tied down.
And let me tell you walking from stern (our cabin) to bow (restaurants, bars, indoor hydro pool, spa, gym, and the outdoors covered pool, etc) took 3x as long during those rockin' and rollin' days...
Lurch to the right, grab onto the bar,
lurch to the left as far as your arm let you,
repeat.
If you are lucky you were able to hop one step forward in between the cradle rocking....
fun!
What a view that outdoor pool..
slosh - a wave up and over the rim, bottom of one side of pool visible,
slosh - a wave back to other side...decks awash.
Tried to take a photo.. but... it was too rocky and jerky!
Kids loved the 'surf action' albeit in smallest space.
Anyway, wherever we cruised... drippy rocks shrouded in mists, raindrops falling gently but insistently. Water everywhere, ice floes drifting down Tracy Arm...too rough to head into glacier bays for viewing!
Arrived in Juneau, tenders ready to transfer hardy souls into drippy, cold Juneau and excursions
(why take tram up the cloud shrouded mountain-in hopes of some sunshine above the clouds, perhaps?)
 Well here are some photos to set the mood for you:


Approaching Juneau




rough seas from cabin





 


St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church




Interior




Tracy Arm Vista early morning

 

Floes down Tracy Arm

 







Waterfalls

Transfer to Juneau in ship's tenders

Dusk in Inside Passage



And so it went... another day on a slightly rocking, later much calmer ship, after the Captain went hell bent for leather away from the Pacific into the passage toward Ketchikan, missing Sitka at all. Too rough, he said, while also telling us about a fellow cruise ship stuck in Seward due to the abnormal high seas on those last days of September.
Did that earthquake we heard about in Guatemala have some influence on the seas? Television was intermittent-satellite transmissions kept blanking away!

Ketchikan Sourdough Taxi much in demand!

Lichen flourishes

Tribal House

Ketchikan- the Nordic Rain forest site...

we docked early..went ashore to piercingly cold biting wind and rain, only to find a few minutes later balmy and sunny climes, that soon went to piercingly cold rain again! And Repeat.

Wellies were in order to stroll among the totem poles, etc.... but who had them?

Soaking wet sneakers and jackets on those adventurous souls that did not carry along rainproof gear.. forget about umbrellas, that wind turned them about tearing them out of clammy hands!



Rain forest of the Artic?



Westerdam at pier

Cedar stumps nourish lichen and moss.

That day on terra firma was rather pleasant, especially during the intermittent sunshine calm. And on to Victoria, B.C.. Due to the weather changed route, we have a full day there. Reporting will follow.

And my posts will end with some thoughts on Seattle (Day FIRST and Last of this trip) with  a glimpse into the hockey world of 16-20 years old-the Opener game of Everett Silvertips vs Kelowna Rockets....plus the utterly delightful and knowledgeable company of Sue Ring. Yes, that one, who inspired Mitch Love to blog on his life, trials and tribulations as an AEROS.. way back then....fans just may recall his antics ....surely!

The Spanish Bow

Just finished The Spanish Bow,
by Andromeda Romano-Lax.

All of the over 550 pages in one sitting.
It was impossible to put down, so sleep had to take a back seat.

If you enjoy reading about music and musicians as a novel, this book is for you. Highly recommended!

According to the author (journalist, travel writer and amateur cellist) Feliu is loosely based on the life of Spanish Catalan Cellist Pablo Casals. Al Cerraz on Isaac Albeniz, composer pianist with several real life  a pleasure to read with continuous fascination.

Spanning a world from the late 1800's through Spanish Civil War to World War Two and forward, it is a sweeping novel, tinged with real passion.
Real historic personages appear as well:  Spanish queens, kings, European dictators, and more.
Painters like Monet, and Picasso with his famous Guernica  
Composers like Manuel De Falla.
Places in Spain, the birthplace of Delargo.
France, England, Germany, even the USA

All seen through the eyes of the protagonist, serious cellist Feliu Delargo, in sometimes company of pianist and viveur/ flaneur Al Cerraz. Love interest is provided by the Italian Jewish Violinist Aviva, on a quest to find her son, given up for adoption. Which leads her into Germany, and finally to her death during the Nazi Occupation of France.
CelloCello Bow

Throughout the novel and life of Feliu J. S. BACH plays a big role and so here is Pablo (Pau) Casals

Desert Hockey, Remembering...

A friend, currently on assignment in Dubai, trying to spread a bit of cheer, emails me that there is hockey in the desert :-)!  And  here is more if you want to learn about the Mighty Camels of the Emirate Hockey League!
Dubai Ice rink

And the Ladies play too in Dubai-
But does that surprise us?

Not when we already have read about Dubai's Winter Wonderland.

An Abu Dhabi Hockey goalie

And of course, there are Ice hockey teams in other lands :

Hockey in Japan quickly gained momentum. Hockey is intensively developing in northern Italy. Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia also have hockey clubs.Hockey is played in UAE - the United Arab Emirates: The Abu Dhabi Scorpios and the Dubai Mighty Camels and South Africa: "Bafana-Bafana or The Boys"

Other teams' fancy monikers :-):

The Indomitable Lions (Cameroun),
The Super Eagles (Nigeria),
The Squirrels (Benin),
The Desert Foxes (Algeria),
The Wasps (Rwanda),
The Burkina Stallions (Burkina Faso),
The Pharaohs (Egypt),  No, this is not their goalies' mask LOL!
The Warriors (Zimbabwe),

Regional hockey leagues model themselves on European and American examples.

Australia

Hockey leagues in Australia and Asia as well make it easier for hockey teams of non-hockey countries to exchange experiences. And surprisingly, there are others in Indonesia, Turkey, Luxembourg, Mexico, Greece, Israel, China....                             a clip of a game between Israel and China below:

 KHL hockey Players mourned in Russia, Czech Republic and around the Hockey world. Teams in the KHL stand ready to revive Jaroslavl Lokomotiv, promised League Pres. Alexander Medvedev. He added that all Russian hockey clubs have confirmed their readiness to provide financial support to the families of the dead hockey players.

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September 11-ten years later?

 Will we forget - NO.

 

September 11-ten years later?

Will we forgive- Maybe!

Memorials of 9/11

at the Pentagon 

Shanksville, PA

In New York

And for the fallen First responders:

Manhattan Beach Memorial Staten Island

And even in Christchurch, NZ memorial to Firefighters



And in Bayonne. NJ...donated by Russia:

Requiescat en Pace

I  remember that morning!

I  was on call at the Austrian Consulate, when a friend phoned yelling:

"Turn on the TV"! Turn on the TV"!

I did.

And witnessed in utter disbelief and horror the second plane striking.

For the rest of that day, and the ones following, I had no head to do much else but watch, read and sorrow.

I tried frantically,  for many hours, to reach friends living and working in NY.

Specifically one who had been at the trade center during the earlier attack and was then, thankfully, unscathed.

I don't really remember too clearly for how many times I dialed.

One could not get through.

Finally I did, and she was OK.

Later I learned of another 'almost' victim.

The daughter of an old friend from way back, was slated to leave from Boston for LA.

She - thankfully - missed her - THAT -  flight.

She finally found someone driving all the way across who was willing to add her to the crowd in the car, dropping some on the way across to LA.

She arrived, tired, dirty BUT alive at home several days later!

This tragedy touched everyone one way or another, directly or tangentially.

I cannot forget.

That image is etched into my mind, forever!

 Remembering, Honoring, Reflecting, Giving Thanks.

                                          May all the Fallen Rest in Peace, this year and then:

Music Consoles in Time of Sadness....no words needed..

Verdi

Mozart

Faure

Dixieland Jazz Funeral March

AND

In memoriam KHL Lokomotive Players

Remembering 9/11 with HGO

http://www.houstongrandopera.org/piecesof911

where:

In a lighter vein...

Talent is everywhere.. one just has to find it.

So here are The Breaking Winds, a bassoon quartett with one of their fun-to-listen to pieces

followed by a their interpretation of Bach's Toccata and Fugue

I know it's not a awfully popular instrument because it is a bit difficult to play and often ignored,  but these gals do it so well.. so enjoy and look out for more of their pieces ..

And for good measure another clip of Tenore Salvatore Licitra with Celeste Aida (Verdi)

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Bad news continue..

Fires burning all over Texas
Hundreds homes destroyed.
People desparate.

Fires near Cedar Park and Pflugerville, TX 9/5/11

Japan hit by Typhoon while still trying to recover from Tsunami.

New York, Atlanta experience tornadoes.

 And more rain on the way to East Coast still reeling from Irene.

And so forth...

Tenor Licitra dies after accident. At 42.

R.I.P. Salvatore Licitra Licitra sings Canio

In Memoriam as  Ital. award was presented to Licitra in absencia!

Double Trouble?

Doppelgaenger. Most of us have one.

Somewhere out there is a human that looks just like me!

Do you have one, too?

Throughout history fascinating stories are told of people who claim to have met apparitions of themselves -

their doppelgangers. "Doppelgaenger" is German for "double walker" .

It is assumed to be a shadowy self that follows everyone of us.

Traditionally it is said only the owner of the doppelganger can actually see this shadowy self which often is an omen of death. 

Another Doppelgaenger explanation is that a person can project his or her double, known as a "wraith," to a distant site.

Not this 'wraith' though :-)

One of the best known series on the subject of Doppelgaenger is probably, Serling's "The Twilight Zone" wherein the woman Millicent Barnes is waiting at a local bus stop. She asks the man at the ticket window when the late bus will arrive; who answers that she already has been and asked that. She has not been there before, however! As she heads into women's lavatory, she looks into the mirror, and sees two of herself. Later she meets a man, who believes her to be crazy and calls the police - then he discovers he has a twin too.

Perhaps it is the duality in one's self

The Two Fridas 1939

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) painted a series in which the rift within herself caused by emotional upheaval and self doubt becomes more and more pronounced. The height of that series is The Two Fridas.
Just supposing - Frida's expressing the Yin and Yang of her life?

Right is the Mexican Frida in traditional tehuana dress while left is European Frida in a colonial white dress.

The two Fridas sit on a green bench, holding hands.
Their exposed hearts, perhaps, represent the pain she suffered by the many betrayals of Diego Rivera, whom she finally divorced. Again just supposing!

Today we call Look-alikes Doppelgaenger but that's not quite correct.
Look-alikes are not Doppelgaengers in the literal sense. 

Want to find yours check it out here.

And then there are Body Doubles in movies and
Stand Ins for political leaders...
Napoleon had one, so did Sir Bernard Montgomery ,
Hitler, Stalin, Churchill (voice stand in only) to name a few.

Impersonators are made up to look like and may adopt mannerisms and facial expressions, plus vocal quality of certain others - think ELVIS! Ryan Pelton as the foremost FAUX Elvis.

Or these guys of the Lincon Presenters Association at their 12th Meeting

Even Mushrooms have their Doppelgaengers- here some of the edible ones of one family:

Boletus scaber

 Boletus edulis

Boletos rufus

not to be confused with some of the poisonous ones of another family:

Amanita muscaria

Amanita phalloides

Amanita ocreata

Here is Franz Schubert's compostion sung by Baritone Dietrich Fischer Dieskau with expressive emotion:







Summer of Sadness

This is a summer of sadness, terrible political news worldwide, terrible catastrophies, as well.

And for hockey fans the deaths of several players related to injuries sustained,
or PCTSD (Post CareerTraumatic Stress Syndrom) as it could be called,  
has wakened concern everywhere.

Some old timey fans claim advances in  'protective' gear - forcing 'goons' into ever more tough fighting, is at fault. I let you be the judge

Others feel that players, used to hyper accolades and fanatical admiration,
facing retirement at a much earlier age compared to 'normal workerbees',
seem to be unable to cope with becoming forgotten.

Now that forgotten part does resonate with me!
Once a woman is over 50 (or even earlier in this age of 'young at all costs'),
she gradually becomes invisible :-)!
The invisibility of old age!

In your case, is it the invisibility of  'once a great star'?
So, guys get on with your life-after-hockey,
you have a pretty wife and kids loving you, the person, not just the star and money maker,
one hopes!

Maybe you need to listen to Mark Twain:
 "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." 

Or better yet Eleanor Roosevelt:
"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art". 
(Ahem, nowadays that no longer seems to apply... cosmetic surgery saw to that :-)!)

And finally, a real gem by Lee Siber:
"It’s okay to lust for the future and treasure the past but remember, being in the moment is a gift, that’s why they call it the present." 
Yes, I like this one a lot! 
Really,  best advice I heard in ages :-)!

New Real Estate Wars?

You are tired of the ups and, especially, the downs of conventional real estate.

You ought  to try something "new"! If you live in a high density (condos, apartments) inner city in the USA, or for that matter everywhere in the world, consider buying parking spaces instead!

Parking space is just as physical a property as a plot for any building that can be bought, rented or sold. Some spaces sell for $100,000 to $250,000+ per spot in densely populated cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, dealing in parking spaces seems to be booming!

The old cities of Europe, core size proscribed by city walls torn down in the 1800's as they no longer provided adequate protection, had the problem to find adequate space for anything for quite some time - one built UP not OUT.

Especially BC (before cars) the closeness of thoroughfares with trams, horse drawn, later electric, was a most decisive factor where to rent/buy/live for easy access to work. Of course, old and older tunnels and settlements lie beneath  today's cities and are constantly being unearthed as we dig deeper into the ground to make room for parking garages,
foundation of a museum in Frankfurt, underground railroads, highway tunnels, etc.

And in the case of cemetery plots, some are rented out for 10 years. Did one default on the rent,  it went to the next renter until the lot was filled with the specified number of caskets and urns permitted! And the 'dearly departed' ended up in ossuaries, some beautifully decorated.
So you see, chers readers, the battle for space for the living and the dead has been going on for quite some time.

Old Marx cemetery ( in use 1784-1874) 3rd District of Vienna contains initial grave of Mozart whose actual spot is no longer known.

Leaving you with this to muse on for the day: