Jakob Lindberg - Weiss Lute Music

I like all kinds of music. Everything from rap to classical, bluegrass to IDM, lounge to black metal. However, when I play piano, I only choose classical music. This preference led me to slowly explore classical music. While I could definitely use a music appreciation course to better understand periods and composers, I find myself drawn to music with interesting instrumentation as opposed to standard major composers. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the classical music I've been listening to.

Jakob Lindberg is a lutenist and, on this recording, he performs lute sonatas written by Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750). I became interested in the sound of lute music after hearing one played several years ago. The difference between the sound of a lute and of a guitar (for me) is akin to the difference between a harpsichord and piano. There's a mellower sound that evokes in my mind images of the Renaissance, knights on horseback, and courtly life. I also like the sense of solo musicianship the lute conjures up. It's akin to how I feel when I play piano; it's something that's all mine and I can play and express the music as I wish. There is pleasure in playing and listening at the same time.

What's interesting about this recording is that Lindberg plays these early 18th Century sonatas on a lute that was likely made no later than 1560! This fascinated me. Music hundreds of years old being played by a master on an antique lute! Who doesn't want to own that? This CD is beautiful to listen to, either just lying back and letting it wash over me or during a warm evening with the windows open, a light breeze coming in, a glass of wine, kitty in my lap, and a good hardcover book.

Hawks...and Up to 84 Miles

Photo: jimbophoto

Jim and I went biking this weekend and logged another 24 miles. We're going to push the distance each time out now so we can be sure to get up to around 30 miles a ride.  This ride brings us to 84 miles this season...way, way, way short of what a good season total would be. But then things have just gotten started, and this is actually not bad given the crazy unpredictable weather we've had.

This ride took us from downtown Wheaton up towards Elgin (we actually stopped to turn back at Rte 25 - Stearns Road). The lack of rain has left a lot of the marsh areas really low on water. However, we did see a hawk glide down and roost on a branch. This picture here is a cooper's hawk, but the one we saw could as easily have been a red-tailed hawk.

Now, by themselves, hawk's aren't such an amazing sight (not trying to be jaded, they're just not that uncommon). What made this sighting interesting was that the hawk seemed to be trying to get away from another - larger - bird. The hawk had landed and then made its scree-scree sound. As we passed, I happened to look back and saw a much bigger bird (I'm guessing another hawk) slowly gliding by above the branches just over where the hawk was.

I don't think hawks prey on each other, so perhaps it was a territorial thing. Or maybe the second bird was an egret or a crane or something and was chasing the hawk off.

Kayaking at Rainbow Springs, Florida

As a follow-up to my disastrous first experience kayaking, I felt it would be best to try again in a kayak by myself as the ability to coordinate rowing with others was obviously beyond me.  I was down in Florida to see my parents, and my mom and I went kayaking at Rainbow Springs. Each in our own kayak.

The spring water that feeds the river was crystal clear and the light current left most of the river smooth as glass. As a result, I could see down to the bottom. Plus we were early enough so that the sun wasn't too hot and there weren't a whole ton of people on the river. We saw plenty of fish, foul, loads of sea turtles right at the surface near the kayaks, and even a few otters trolling along the banks of the river.

This time, I did much better. I'm certainly no expert kayaker, but I was able to control my craft and get a good head of speed going when I wanted to.  I definitely had some nice achiness in my shoulders later that evening, so it was a good workout as well. 

With a bit more practice, this is something I could really get into!

Monarch Butterfly Birth

In Florida visiting my parents right now. The house and the plants outside the house are dotted with monarch butterfly chrysalises. They're a lot smaller than I imagined they would be...almost too small to hold these butterflies.

We came home one day and found this butterfly drying its wings just outside its chrysalis, so I snapped a pic.

Mumonkan, Koan 21: Ummon's "Kanshiketsu"

A monk asked Ummon, "What is Buddha?" Ummon replied, "Kanshiketsu!*"
* shit stick - what people back then used as toilet paper

Ummon also appears in Koan 15 ('Tozan's Sixty Blows') and 16 ('When the Bell Sounds'). He seems to be a rather colorful and feisty guy, which may explain why he had such an incredible reputation as a teacher and how he was able to found one of the five schools of Zen.

Anyway, this koan is very much like Koan 18 (Tozan's 'Masagin'). In my entry about that koan, I had mentioned that I'd thought I'd heard a nastier version of 'Masagin'. This koan must be the one I was thinking about!

Koan 18 and 21 are exactly the same, other than the name of the monk who is asked about Buddha and the answer he offers, so the basic interpretations I have are the same. Beyond that, the focus in 'Masagin' may have also been on the possibility of it being easier to have direct perception with something like masagin - or some other mundane object. In 'Kanshiketsu' Ummon's...er...earthier answer suggests something a bit different to me on top of the basic interpretation.

In a good deal of modern Zen writings of the new age flavor, there's stress placed on 'inner peace' and 'oneness' and 'world peace'. There's also tons of accoutrements you can buy at stores that get into that line of thinking: Zen gardens, clothing, pillows, music, gongs, crystals, incense, statues, self-help books, vegan recipes, etc. By saying Buddha is something you wipe your ass with, Ummon reminds us of the raw simplicity of Zen. This is what has led me to avoid - as much as I can manage to do so - the purchase of 'Zen stuff' or adopting 'a Zen lifestyle or diet'. I feel like it's the absolutely wrong way of going about it, innocent as the purchases and intentions may be. It also makes me not avoid necessarily but shy away from talking about Zen too much with people.

Maybe if I think 'shit stick' every time I'm tempted in the wrong direction, then I can completely avoid it altogether!