Father of Six

Yesterday was Eric’s 23rd birthday. He opened a few cards, got a hug from Boomer, and showed off his Wayne Rooney jersey. Me, Tami, Danielle, Nana, and Brittany were here to help celebrate.

Boomer has a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. Like all kids, wearing the boots with anything and at anytime is the norm. But Boomer just can’t seem to wear his hat oriented in the proper direction. He insists that it be turned sideways and pulled down tight - Pull the cowboy hat down tight.

And here is what the finished product looks like - Giddy up!

During last Sunday’s 12 mile RLR, I developed a massive blister underneath an already massive callus under my right little toe. It was very painful, so in addition to taking my normal Monday off day, I took Tuesday off too and did 3.5 miles on the elliptical trainer.

Wednesday I did a 3 mile tempo run on the treadmill in 29:32, 9:51 per mile pace, 144 bpm average HR.

Thursday I did a 5 mile LSD run outside w/hills in 57:38, 11:32 per mile pace, 143 bpm average HR.

Friday I did a 3 mile recovery jog on the treadmill in 31:06, 10:22 per mile pace, 146 bpm average HR.

Saturday I did a 5 mile race pace run on the treadmill in 47:45, 9:33 per mile pace, 149 bpm average HR. My fastest ever 5 mile treadmill run.

Sunday (today) I did a 8.5 mile RLR outside w/hills in 1:37:42, 11:30 per mile pace, 143 bpm average HR.

I ran 24.5 miles this week, and 271 miles for the year.

Amanda got her “official” driver’s license in the mail.

I helped Eric move a few pieces of furniture into his new apartment. He is moving into a two-bedroom place on Windermere with John Lampman. These photos are probably unfair, but I’ll edit or post a new entry when he gets settled.

No #2 pencils required.

Can anyone identify this piece of art, and name the artist?

Ok, How about this one?

And finally, (this one is just for Suze) who is the guy in this photograph, and what makes him so special? How about it?

It’s a Surprise!

If you have ever been interested in seeing my office space and the scenery that I exist in each day, have a look at these. A lot of interesting things going on here, don’t you think?

My Mom and Tami went to my brother Greg’s house the other night for a bridal/tupperware party for Maxine’s (Greg’s wife) daughter Jamie. Vern was their (Mom and Tami’s) photographer.

Danielle came over the other day to borrow my “best of” Procol Harum and “best of” J. S. Bach CDs. Well, actually she just wanted the PH CD so she could get A Whiter Shade of Pale (AWSoP) into her iTunes library, but what kind of a father would I be without providing her with the J. S. Bach source compositions?

I cannot possibly deliver a full criticism of the piece here, but will offer a few salient opinions.

The two Bach songs which greatly influence AWSoP are “Sleepers Awake,” and “Air on a G String.” AWSoP isn’t precisely one, nor is it a direct copy of the other, but an ingenious melding of the two Bach pieces to create a rather splendid, magnificent and wonderful tune, whilst underneath it is somber and even grave. Interestingly enough, Matthew Fisher, the PH organist who, after a long legal struggle, is recognized as co-author and the creative genius for the song, claimed that Bach’s B Minor Mass is the primary influence for the intro. I’ve tried to tie the B Minor Mass to the tune, but can’t make the auditory connection.

AWSoP is also very symmetrical and circular, there is no place for a break, bridge, or coda, and so the recording softly fades away, leaving the pattern still echoing in the listeners mind. I believe that it simply cannot be improved upon.

Lyrically, the song is somewhat of an enigma. There is something going on in this song and it might be compelling, or perhaps not. Originally released in 1967, some critics have said that AWSoP is when rock lyrics began to be seen as poetry. Maybe, but publication of the song represents a distinct demarcation; it’s when rock grew up. I ’m not sure I’d call it poetry. There are some literary references there which spice things up a bit, but more than anything else, I think it’s an attempt at stream of consciousness whilst telling the story of a failed attempt at a sexual encounter.

On the title, singer and lyricist Keith Reid has this to say in the Melody Maker edition of 3 June 1967:

“. . . at a ‘gathering’ ‘Some guy looked at a chick and said to her, ‘You’ve gone a whiter shade of pale.’ That phrase stuck in my mind. It was a beautiful thing for someone to say. I wish I’d said it.’”

So what is AWSoP about? This is how I choose to interpret the lyrics –

To wit:

AWSoP Interpretation (Sorry about the link to a separate file, but I couldn’t seem to figure out how to format it properly here.)

Put the two aspects together – the musical and the lyrical - and what you have is kind of a juxtaposition of classical baroque fugue underneath a stream of consciousness or surrealist poem about a dude at a party, getting into altered mental states, trying to have sex with a chick, and realizing it is never going to happen.

One of the original sources - 250 seconds - of pure rock psychedelia.

By the way, I’m especially fond of the tune. I had Tami convinced that it needed to be a part of our wedding. Unfortunately I haven’t always been as smart as I am now, and in 1995 all I could tell the church organist was that we wanted AWSoP. He told us he couldn’t find the sheet music (liar) and didn’t know how to play by ear (not much of an artist, eh?), so he chose some other random organ fugue, which probably turned out to be Bach anyway.

Ran 12 miles for my RLR this morning. 2 hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds - 12:28 per mile pace. Not bad for the incessant hills of Highlands Ranch and a strong southerly wind. In-zone 3 (134-153) for 2:25:19, averaged 143 bpm, peak of 156, minimum of 103, and 2553 calories. I like the low average HR, which means I didn’t push myself too hard. The podcasts of Groovelectric and Podrunner were again my soundtrack, plus three tracks from Rodrigo y Gabriella. I was surprised by a portion of the Grooveletric mix - “Man of Constant Sorrow,” by the Soggy Bottom Boys from the ‘O! Brother Where Art Thou’ soundtrack. Pretty cool.

I had a little helper during yesterday’s effort on the bathroom project. I was working mostly on the walls and floor, so I had to go back and forth from the back yard to the bathroom. Boomer was my apprentice and he seemed to enjoy himself.
Are you sure you measured that correctly?
Hey dad, do you know what this spells?
I gonna dunk on you!
Glad I could help.

My Dad and Susan were Grand Marshalls of yesterday’s Lexington, Missouri St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Here they are.