Bach

Sesquicentennial!

A sesquicentennial celebration! Jane’s Cool School’s 150th post!

To mark the occasion, I scoured the previous 149 posts and came up with a general knowledge quiz for my son, consisting of 150 questions. He did quite well, earning an A+.

Here is a sampling of the questions (answers at bottom of quiz). Fret ye not, I have selected only 15 of the 150 questions:

General Knowledge Quiz – Express Lane Style

1) A blue moon is:

a- a second full moon in a month
b- a moon with a blue tinge due to gravitational pull from Venus
c- a full moon in Winter
d- a sad moon

2) The first wheels:

a- chariot wheels
b- grain grinding wheels
c- wheels of cheese
d- potters’ wheels

3) Which of the following is NOT depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling:

a- Creation
b- The Last Supper
c- Adam and Eve
d- Noah and the Flood

4) “Alpha”, “Bravo”, “Charlie” are ways of communicating letters in:

a- NATO phonetic alphabet
b- children’s books
c- Navajo Code
d- Morse Code

5) The USA enjoys many unspoiled national parks due to the influence of:

a- the Pope
b- John Muir
c- Frederic Remington
d- Buffalo Bill Cody

6) What makes the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra different?

a- no conductor
b- 15 violinists
c- they play from memory, no sheet music allowed
d- members are all women

7) Who does the waggle dance?

a- people in Australia
b- snakes
c- bees
d- teenagers

8) Windless weather on the high seas is referred to by sailors as:

a- flat water
b- the Sargasso Sea
c- middle sea
d- the doldrums

9) The engineer of the interior structure of the Statue of Liberty:

a- Gustav Eiffel
b- Frank Lloyd Wright
c- Thomas Edison
d- the Marquis de Lafayette

10) The Astroid Belt is found:

a- between Mercury and Venus
b- between Mars and Jupiter
c- beyond Neptune
d- in any fine mens clothing store

11) A country build on coral:

a- Catalina Island
b- Australia
c- Greenland
d- Republic of Maldives

12) America’s first great public works project:

a- Hoover Dam
b- Golden Gate Bridge
c- Erie Canal
d- Highway 66

13) A Jannisary Band:

a- a large rubber band used to bind logs together
b- a military band of the Ottoman Turks
c- a decorative headband
d- a orchestral group that plays once a year, in January

14) The only Finnish word in the American language:

a- sauna
b- loofa
c- antler
d- smorgasbord

15) The one place on Earth that can only be used for peace and science:

a- the Vatican
b- the Bikini Atoll
c- Antarctica
d- The North Pole

Answers:

a- second full moon in a month
d- potters’ wheels
b- The Last Supper
a- NATO phonetic alphabet
b- John Muir
a- no conductor
c- bees
d- the doldrums
a- Gustav Eiffel
b- between Mars and Jupiter
d- Republic of Maldives
c- Erie Canal
b- military band of the Ottoman Turks
a- sauna
c- Antarctica

Meanwhile, our Stories and Studies sessions continue. Hoo boy – our current books have provided discussion* topics that I never thought I would be having with my son:

oil spills in the ocean (from “The Penguin Lessons” by Tom Michell)
inflation in Argentina in the mid 1970’s (from “The Penguin Lessons” by Tom Michel)
the currency of Ecuador (from “Let’s Look at Ecuador” by Mary Boone, and verified by Wikipedia because THIS IS JUST TOO WACKY) – the US Dollar has been the currency of Ecuador since 1990. I will never understand how this works, so it is a good thing I am not in charge.
homelessness insights (from “Almost Home” by Joan Bauer)
the gambling addiction (from “Almost Home” by Joan Bauer)

* how do I have a discussion with my nonverbal son? Usually, I make up a lot of questions and have my son write “yes” or “no” to each inquiry. He likes being asked.

Classical Music Time – we considered the concept of orchestral adaptation:

My son and I are enchanted with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – we have listened to their recording of Luigi Boccherini’s seductive Fandango from his Guitar Quintet (1798) probably 250 times –

Topic of the evening: could orchestral music be successfully adapted for guitar? Could the LA Guitar Quartet deliver on pieces the were not written specifically for guitar? Not only could they deliver, we prefer the adaptations. We LOVE these adaptations. YAY Los Angeles Guitar Quartet!

First, we compared John Phillip Sousa’s Black Horse Troop (a decidedly happy march, composed in 1924 for Troop A of the Cleveland National Guard, known for using only black horses) –

Next, we compared JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, movement 3 (early 1720’s). Both performances here are excellent, but the LA Guitar Quartet has a way of making this movement into pure comfort listening –

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH

C’mon in!

Here is where we study every night (my son’s bedroom). Lots to look at. All wall posters were selected by my son after studying about each scientist, statesman, inventor, artist, or topic –

Here is what we have been studying –

“Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera – Their Lives and Ideas” by Carol Sabbeth. We recently learned that a member of our extended family studied under Diego Rivera! Say no more! We immediately found “Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera”, an A+, very readable, well researched book about this independent thinking, irrepressible, never-a-dull-moment love (most of the time) match. Takeaways:

Rivera was inspired by Jose Guadalupe Posada, who printed his etchings on inexpensive paper so he could sell them for pennies, making his art affordable for all. This prompted Rivera to paint murals – his way of making art accessible for everyone.
Full of contradictions: Rivera LOVED Mexico, was a committed Communist (he assisted in hiding Leon Trotsky when he fled Russia to Mexico), but he also LOVED the big cities of the USA (spending months and months in San Francisco, Detroit, NYC).
Got into big trouble for painting Vladimir Lenin into his mural in Rockefeller Center. Got into big trouble for painting “God does not exist” into his mural for the Hotel del Prado in Mexico City.
Even though Kahlo and Rivera were extremely popular artists and had a devoted following, they alas, were not skilled money managers, so they had to paint, paint, paint to make ends meet.
Does my son like the subject matter, the strength, the rounded warmth, the empathy of Rivera’s art? YES! Outlook good for a Diego Rivera poster to be added to my son’s gallery.

And also –

“Earth-Friendly Buildings, Bridges and More”, by Etta Kaner. Discussion provoking.

“In the Bag – Margaret Knight Wraps it Up”, by Monica Kulling, about the super smarty who, among her 90 inventions and 20 patents, developed a machine in 1870 to make a flat bottomed paper bag (the kind used by grocery stores, and 150 years later, still used by grocery stores).

Here is what we have been reading fiction-wise –

“Hope was Here”, by Joan Bauer – A captivating read that weaves waitressing, small town politics, a cancer diagnosis, self-reliance, and kindness into a book that we think is worth reading more than once. We loved this book every single night.

“All-of-a-Kind Family”, by Sydney Taylor – We are enjoying 1) the author’s masterful character sketches of the 5 children and 2) comparing the differences between family life today and family life in the early 1900’s.

Farmer Brown Story Problem – C’mon in, have a cookie! Last December, Farmer Brown sold 1,000 gingerbread man cookies at his roadside stand. 1,000! Everyone in town just loves them! He wants to sell even more this December. His secret recipe requires 2 eggs to make 4 dozen gingerbread men. How many eggs will Farmer Brown need to make at least 1,001 cookies?

A). 12 eggs B). 42 eggs C). 144 eggs D). 500 eggs

Is this more, less, or the same amount of eggs needed for 1,000 gingerbread men? (answers at bottom of post)

Sunday night studies? C’mon in! On Sunday nights we conclude our learning time with music that is spiritual in nature. The top 10 pieces we have listened to dozens and dozens and dozens of times:

Ave Maria, Jacques Arcadelt, mid 1500’s
Gloria in D major, Vivaldi, early 1700’s
Go Down Moses, African American spiritual, mid 1800’s
How Great Thou Art, Carl Boberg, 1885
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, African American spiritual, early 1800’s
Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler, Nathaniel Dett, 1926
Sheep May Safely Graze, Bach, 1713
Tender Shepherd (Peter Pan musical), Moose Charlop (my new favorite name), 1954
The Dove, Respighi, 1928
Turn! Turn! Turn!, Pete Seeger, 1959, popularized in 1965 by The Byrds

And my son’s definite favorite three?

Turn! Turn! Turn! – the lyrics come straight from chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes (except for the words, “turn, turn, turn”.). This song was a favorite staple of the hippie era –

How Great Thou Art – set to the music of a Swedish traditional tune. My son loves this Alan Jackson version –

Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho – what a brilliantly conceived arrangement (from the Nathaniel Dett Chorale)! Thank heavens the song only mentions the walls tumbling down, because after the walls came-a-tumbling down, Jericho found itself in a world of hurt: lots of mayhem and bloodshed, LOTS.

BTW, you do NOT want to miss the next blog post (#150!!!!!). Prepare now for THE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ!

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers: B). 42 eggs. Farmer Brown will need the same amount of eggs to make 1,001 gingerbread men as he will to make 1,000.)

Let’s Get This Party Started!

This is post #148, ever so close to our 150th post; definitely cause for a party, so my son and I started the festivities by laughing through two favorite story problems from the vault –

From the Oct 2, 2018 post (“Did absence make the heart grow fonder?”): A Farmer Brown Story Problem –

Poor Farmer Brown, literally, poor Farmer Brown. He is spending so much money replacing items that his cats, Olive and Owl (the hissing sisters), have destroyed. Over the past twelve months, Farmer Brown spent:

– $300: area rug in kitchen (shredded)
– $150: winter coat (clawed to death)
– $100 each: 3 farmhand bed quilts (each mistaken for litter box)
– $200: office blinds (permanently bent from bird watching)
– $100: large ceramic planter (tipped over so many times that it finally cracked)
– $ 78: small ficus tree (casualty of repeatedly tipped over planter)
– $300: neighbor’s yarn stash (don’t ask)

Judging the past year to be typical, how much should Farmer Brown budget per month to replace things Olive and Owl will most likely have their way with in the coming year?

A). $59 B). $79 C). $99 D). $119 (answer at bottom of post)

From the September 19, 2015 post (“Lights! Camera! Edison!”): A Local Diner Story Problem –

Art at the Local Diner – The diner is gussying up the place with selected pieces of what some might call art. Of course, they are installing the classic “A Friend in Need” (the rest of us know it as “Dogs Playing Poker”) by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, purchased for $45. A portrait of Elvis on black velvet has also been purchased for $90. Posters of Batman, Superman, and Marilyn Monroe round out the collection, the lot acquired at a garage sale for $10.

How much has the diner spent on “artwork”? (Heh, heh, the answer is not “zero”.)

A). $10 B). $145 C). $175 D). $900

Money to purchase the exciting wall decor came from the diner’s tabletop jukeboxes. At 25 cents per song, how many songs had to be played before the art could be purchased?

A). 45 B). 580 C). 850 D). 1,000 (answers at bottom of post)

We take a break from story problem frivolity to present a few notes from the current academic focus: our “Shining Stars of the 1860’s” unit –

– Ely S. Parker – “One Real American – The Life of Ely S. Parker”, by Joseph Bruchac. A larger-than-life man: Seneca sachem (which we learned is pronounced “say-chem”, meaning chief), Mason, Civil War General (close aide to General Ulysses S. Grant), competent engineer, skilled writer, diplomat, bi-lingual, you name it. We love this man and we loved this book.

– Abraham Lincoln – “Abraham Lincoln – A Life from Beginning to End”, an Hourly History book by Henry Freeman. Of course, there are so many books written about Lincoln, but this one speaks to my son’s level of comprehension. Here is something that caught our attention: before marrying Lincoln, one of Mary Todd’s previous suitors was NONE OTHER THAN Stephan A. Douglas, YES that Stephan A. Douglas of the Lincoln-Douglas debates!!!!

– Matthew Brady – “Matthew Brady, Historian with a Camera”, by James D. Horan. This book includes 450 of Matthew Brady branded photographs (many were taken by his trained assistants). Totally interesting to us: a Matthew Brady photograph of Lincoln is used for both the $5 bill and the copper penny.

– Harriet Tubman – “Harriet Tubman – A Life from Beginning to End”, another Hourly History book. Excellent resource. This caught our attention: as Harriet Tubman would guide fugitives along the underground railroad, she would change the tempo of the spiritual “Go Down Moses” to indicate whether it was safe to move forward. Of course, we had to listen to “Go Down Moses” and consider the parallels between the tasks of Moses and Harriet Tubman:

Back to the party! What is a festive gathering without a prize drawing?

I have set up a container for my son to draw three surprise classical music suggestions for Saturday night listening. I did not know this was going to involve a learning curve – my son does not have the grasp of selecting only three items from the container, but we will get there. Here are last Saturday’s winners –

– “The Hen Symphony” – from Haydn’s Symphony No. 83 in G minor, “The Hen”, movement 4, (1785). We LOVE this super merry movement and have probably listened to it 15 times so far. We sort of think we can hear a few measures from “Three Blind Mice” stuck right in the middle:

– “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” – from Handel’s Old Testament-based (Book of Kings and Book of Chronicles) oratorio, “Solomon” (1748). The 18th century “Englishness” of this piece almost makes us smirk, but then we hear those oboe harmonies and all is forgiven:

– “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3” in G major, movement 3 – from Bach’s 1721 assemblage of the 6 concertos. Hurries along at a fast clip. Who can’t like this?

As if two story problems and a surprise drawing for music listening were not enough, there is EVEN MORE partying to come in the next two blog posts!

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers: D. $119, B. $145, B. 580 songs)

Dear Librarians

newbery award caldecott award

Pick us! Pick us! We are ready to serve! We’ve just been reading about the Association for Library Service to Children, which annually recognizes book and video excellence with ten different medals and awards. Would my son and I love find ourselves on any of the award selection committees? YES! Pick us! Pick us! Once we settled down from our committee responsibilities fantasy, we narrowed our focus to learn everything about two of the ten awards: the Newbery Medal (literature) and the Caldecott Medal (book illustration):

– The Newbery Medal – we read “Balderdash” (Michelle Markel/Nancy Carpenter). A snappy, brief look at the life of publisher John Newbery. Inspired by philosopher John Locke’s quote, “Reading should be a treat for children”, Newbery enjoyed enormous success by printing books that children WANTED to read (prior to this, most reading material for children was designed to put the fear of the afterlife into the reader’s behavior). The first Newbery Medal was awarded in 1922. We read through the list of Newbery Medal and Honor Book award winners and notated those books we had read:

2016 – The War that Saved My Life – Important
2013 – The One and Only Ivan – Liked
2011 – Turtle in Paradise – Really liked
2008 – The Wednesday Wars – Really liked
2007 – Penny from Heaven – Really liked
2003 – Hoot – Satisfying
2003 – Surviving the Applewhites – Oh how we LOVE this book, have read 4 times
2002 – Everything on a Waffle – Liked
2001 – A Year Down Yonder – Really liked
2001 – Because of Winn Dixie – Liked
2001 – Hope was Here – Really liked
1999 – A Long Way from Chicago – Really liked
1999 – Holes – Important
1991 – Maniac Magee – Liked
1988 – Hatchet – we’ve read this 3 times
1984 – The Sign of the Beaver – we are currently reading this, like it a LOT
1978 – Ramona and Her Father – Liked
1973 – Frog and Toad Together – Really?
1963 – A Wrinkle in Time – Really liked
1961 – The Cricket in Times Square – Liked
1953 – Charlotte’s Web – The best
1952 – Ginger Pye – Liked
1939 – Mr. Popper’s Penguins – Liked
1923 – The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle – we are currently reading this, LOVE this book

24 down, 74 to go – Question for my son: shall we read every Newbery Medalist? YES! Why not, what else are we doing? The challenge begins.

– The Caldecott Medal – we read “Randolph Caldecott – The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing” (Leonard S. Marcus) – a most comprehensive biography, filled with Caldecott’s charming, skillful, intuitive drawings. This book provoked us to order “Old Christmas: Sketch Book of Washington Irving” (1876) with illustrations by Randolph Caldecott (we are saving this for December reading). The Association for Library Services to Children began awarding the Caldecott Medal in 1937.

french fries milkshakes

Story problem from the local diner – Miss Jeanette (the new diner manager) has an idea to spark positive PR (vocab) for the diner! She is proposing that for the upcoming summer months, the diner award “Shake and Fries” vouchers (vocab) to high school students who volunteer during story-time at the local library. Miss Jeanette is projecting that 50 coupons will be awarded over the summer. If a “Shake and Fries” voucher costs the diner $3, how much how much will the diner potentially spend supporting the story-time literacy event?
A.) $35 B.) $53 C.) $150 D.) $350

Lactose intolerant students earning vouchers can substitute lemonade for the milkshake, and (happy day) the cost for the diner will be reduced by 20%. If 10% of the students opt for the lemonade, what is the total projected cost of the diners’ voucher program?
A.) $20 B.) $45 C.) $147 D.) $235 (answers at bottom of post)

A Serendipitous Pairing – Two A+ books that we just happened to be reading at the same time, that SHOULD be read at the same time:

“My Life with the Chimpanzees”, an autobiography (vocab) by Jane Goodall
and
“The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle”, by Hugh Lofting

My son and I were about three chapters into the Dr. Doolittle book (and just loving it) (meaning that my son has a difficult time letting me shut the book at the end of each night’s reading) when we started the Jane Goodall book. And then, WHAT A SURPRISE! Jane Goodall mentions several times in her autobiography the impact the Dr. Doolittle books had in shaping her future. My son and I love thinking that maybe Hugh Lofting (1886 – 1947) might know how much good work his books inspired.

Dr. Doolittle inspires our classical music selections – Right there, in chapter 6, Dr. Doolittle entertains the Stubbins family with his flute playing! What doesn’t that man know how to do? The book states that the visit took place in 1839, so my son and I put together a little flute recital program, selecting flute pieces that were composed prior to 1839 – pieces that Dr. Doolittle actually could have played –

Francois-Joseph Gossec’s “Tambourin for flute and orchestra”, composed in the early 1790’s. This is just so darn sweet. Play, Dr. Doolittle, play!

“Badinerie” from Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2, 1739. We learned that a badinerie is a brief and lively dance. We are not sure that anybody could play this piece with greater accuracy and speed than Sir James Galway (except, of course, Dr. Doolittle) –

Beethoven’s spritely “Trio for 3 Flutes in G major”, movement III. The story goes that this piece was composed in 1786 when Beethoven was fifteen. Whoa. Vivacious and brisk – the perfect conclusion for our Dr. Doolittle mini concert –

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(Story problem answers: C.) $150 and C.) $147)

For the record…

science women

We love this book – We continue to be so impressed with the 50 brilliant, determined women showcased in Rachel Ignotofsky’s “Women in Science”. My son and I were happy to read an entry on Lillian Gilbreth – a women we were already acquainted with – psychologist, industrial engineer, mom of 12 (!) AND matriarch of the “Cheaper by the Dozen” clan (a book we have read 4 times). But maybe our very favorite scientist is Marjory Stoneman Douglas – writer, conservationist, AND civil rights advocate, AND suffragist – whose work led JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME to the creation of the Everglades National Park in Florida. A quote from Ms. Douglas has stayed with us: “I’d like to hear less talk about men and women and more talk about citizens.”

marjory 3

And we love this book – “Front Desk” by Kelly Yang. Because of its underlying theme of SELF RELIANCE, this is the type of fiction I am always excited to share with my son. Every chapter has our protagonist, Mia, dealing with the latest disaster at the motel her family is managing. Every chapter bursts with sidebar discussion topics – we’ve considered the bravery needed to move from one country to another (Mia’s family is new to the USA from China), loan sharks, Monopoly, how to make a key, employment contracts, nice neighbors and crooked landlords.

front desk

To complement “Front Desk”, we are reading through Lonely Planet’s “China – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know”. We are just barely into this book, but so far we have read about dragons, the gargantuan Chinese population, board games, dynasties, tea and paper (HEY! We did not know that the Chinese invented TOILET PAPER).

smoke detector

The Farmer Brown SAFETY FIRST story problem – Farmer Brown will be installing new smoke detectors throughout his barns. Twenty devices (vocab) need to be ordered.

He can either purchase 10-year lithium battery detectors for $13 each or he can purchase detectors for $12 each, that use a 9-volt battery (at $1 each), and replace batteries annually.

Over the course of 10 years what would be the difference in cost between lithium battery detectors and 9-volt battery detectors?

A. $20 B. $26 C. $150 D. $180 (answer at bottom of post)

golden record

From the HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL department: MUSIC IN SPACE – with a degree of astonishment and skepticism, my son and I have been reading about the golden records that were placed aboard NASA’s 1977 Voyager I and Voyager II space missions. FYI, at present, both spacecraft are waaaaaaaay far away, with Voyager I scheduled to pass near the star Gliese in 40,000 years. 40,000 YEARS. (We discussed.)

The 31 music tracks – to be played by an advanced extraterrestrial civilization that has record players (WHOA. We discussed. Is it just us or do others see this endeavor as curiously preposterous?) – were selected by a committee headed by eminent American astronomer, Carl Sagan, of Cornell University. Of the selections, seven are classical pieces – two from Beethoven and three from Bach (if they had only known!) (we discussed). Last night we sampled the wide variety of the music chosen:

Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 2”, movement 1, composed in 1721 (showcasing one of the most difficult-to-play trumpet parts in the classical music repertoire):

“Melancholy Blues” by Louis Armstrong, written in 1927. This is the sole jazz selection on the golden record:

“Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry, written in 1958, said to be one of the most recognizable songs in the history of popular music:

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer: D. $180)

Whale Fall and other Water Wonders

whale

Whale Fall* is one of the concepts we are learning about from Stephen and Anthony Palumbi’s book, “The Extreme Life of the Sea” (professor of marine science at Stanford University, Stephen Palumbi is an undisputed expert). So far, we have also learned about William Beebe (the first man to descend a half mile into the sea in a ridiculously tiny air-tight sphere), bioluminescence (vocab, AND maybe our most beautiful word of 2017), the challenges of tidal pool living, mangrove forest ecosystems – every topic draws us in. It is a privilege to study from this book.

*Whale Fall – because you want to know – describes the creation of a deep sea ecosystem, put into place when a whale dies and sinks to the bottom of the sea. Once my son and I got beyond the grimness, we marveled at the genius of this circle-of-life system. BTW, whale fall has been going on for about 33 million years (and yet, surprise surprise, this is the first I have heard about it. Once again, when I study with my son, we both win.).

nessy photo

On the lighter side – we are reading “The Loch Ness Monster (Behind the Legend)”, by Erin Peabody. This well-organized book presents and intelligently refutes the many Nessie legends and hoaxes (HOAXES: we remembered when we read about the crop circle hoaxes) (who ARE these people who have time to perpetuate hoaxes?). But back to the book: yes, we look forward to reading from this every evening.

cursive

The Cursive Suggestion – I enjoyed a thought provoking conversation with a friend who is finishing up certification requirements for dyslexia therapy. She said current studies indicate that for some, cursive handwriting is FAR easier than plain printing (loads of documented reasons). Well, this caught my attention – when I am helping my son write, it is difficult to tell when he has finished one letter and is ready to start another. Cursive writing might be a solution. Say no more, we are on it.

hot thermometer

Cooling down at Le Fictitious Local Diner – What with the weather being so hot, the diner’s August marketing strategy is to give every lunch patron a paper fan (with diner take-out menu imprinted) as they leave. The diner can purchase 250 wood handled fans for $120. The diner averages 1,000 lunch customers a month. How many sets of fans should be ordered? How much will the diner spend on 1000 fans?

Last year, the August promotion (sun visors with diner logo) generated an extra $1,500 in take-out orders. If this year’s promotion brings in a like amount of business, will the fans be a good use of advertising dollars? (story problem answers at bottom of post)

Looking for a Classical Music Controversy? Might we suggest trying to differentiate between Rounds, Canons, and Fugues? Apparently, this is a touchy subject among musicologists. My son and I know what a round is, so we dug deeper – is a canon a round? “Yes” by some authorities, “Yes, but…” by others. But OH MY GOSH, when it came to trying to understand the difference between a canon and a fugue – we had no idea that a discussion of these music forms was chock full of confusion and heated controversy. People, is this necessary???? The comment we are going with: “Compare a Bach fugue to the Pachelbel Canon and you will instantly recognize the gulf between these two forms.” OK (I think).

– We listened to Johann Pachelbel’s Pachelbel Canon in D. Composed around 1700, but sort of overlooked until Jean-Francois Pilliard recorded the piece in 1968. Then, WHOA, how do you spell ubiquitous (vocab)? Poor Pachelbel! If only he could have lived to collect the royalties:

– Then we listened to J.S. Bach’s fab Fugue in G Minor, (referred to as “The Little Fugue”) composed around 1705 – so almost about the same time as Pachelbel’s Canon, but SO much more complex. Originally written for organ, we listened to a performance by the Canadian Brass. I think listening to each brass instrument makes it easier to hear each melody line of the fugue. This is a short piece (yay) and the Canadian Brass are always engaging:

– Finally, for fun, we listed to Fugue for Tinhorns, the opening number of the 1950’s musical, “Guys and Dolls” (music/lyrics by Frank Loesser). Ever so many musicologists are quick to point out that this IS NOT a fugue, it is either a round or a canon. OK, people take your fight outside. This piece is adorable!

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers: 4 sets, $480, yes!)
PS There might be a giant time gap until my next post: family member getting married in 4 weeks!

Dial “M” for –

Dial “M” for the Mounties – My son and I have been augmenting our study of Canada by learning about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We are going back and forth between Richard L. Neuberger’s book of 1953, “Royal Canadian Mounted Police” and the current RCMP website. There have been so many HR-type changes since 1953 (personnel numbers, duties, salaries, women in service, etc.) but the Mounties still stand for “Upholding the Right”. We are fans.
– We cannot ignore the obvious: my son and I love the spiffy scarlet jacketed outfits of the RCMP. These certainly set the standard for completely awesome uniforms, claiming second only to the dashing apparel worn by Vatican Swiss Guards.

– Author Neuberger was an American who encountered, and was tremendously impressed by, the RCMP while working on the Alaska Highway with the US Army Engineers in the 1940s. Speaking of the Alaska Highway – what a monumental feat! We had to break away from reading about the Mounties to read about the construction and trace the route of this 1,700 mile highway.

Two Entries from the Coincidences Files –

maphead books

1) We purchased “Olivia Bean – Trivia Queen”, a teen novel by Donna Gephart, because we are always looking for fiction that emphasizes brain power vs. “coming of age” themes. We purchased “Maphead”, a geography biography by Ken Jennings, to further our knowledge of longitude and latitude. We were surprised to discover a common bond: JEOPARDY! While Olivia dreams of being part of Kids Week on Jeopardy (and even mentions her hero: Ken Jennings!), “Maphead” author Ken Jennings has the distinction of being the Jeopardy contestant with the longest winning streak! (74 games, total earnings over $3,000,000!)
BTW, we are enjoying both books, but how in the world did we end up reading “Olivia Bean” and “Maphead” at the same time? Serendipity (vocab)! We toasted the coincidence (vocab) by listening to the Jeopardy theme song:

2) What could the great big Northwest Territories (519,000 square miles) in Canada have in common with the teeny city of Idaho Falls, Idaho (22 square miles) (where our family lived from 1995 through 1999)? Both have the same population (around 41,000 people)! Gee, we thought Idaho Falls was pretty spacious; we really cannot imagine the elbow room (vocab) of 519,000 square miles. After we considered this coincidence we calculated the percentage of area that Idaho Falls would take up in the Northwest Territories. Guess?
A. .004% B. 1% C. 10% D. 40% (answer at bottom of post)

bad music

Dial “M” for Music at Le Fictitious Local Diner – Friday nights at the diner are now live music nights! Four local bands have signed up to perform: Farmer Brown’s “Amazing Fiddle Assembly”, “The Loco Ladies’ Flute and Lute Society”, the junior high’s “Fusion of Confusion”, and the local doctors’ jazz band, “Musical Emergency”.
– The diner is pleading with other talented musicians to sign up, but if no other groups join in, and these four take turns performing, how many times will each band get to perform over the course of a year?
A. 4 times B. 12 times C. 13 times D. 52 times
– Each band is to receive $50 per night for playing; how much will the diner spend during the course of a year on live music?
A. $50 B. $1,000 C. $1,300 D. $2,600
– If the diner realizes that live music is driving customers away, and they stop the program after six weeks, how much will they have spent for music?
A. $150 B. $300 C. $450 D. $600 (answers at bottom of post)

Dial “M” for Minuet –

len dancing

Oh my gosh! Isn’t this Len from “Dancing with the Stars”, in full minuet regalia???

What a happy coincidence that Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Paderewski each composed a short melody entitled, “Minuet in G”! We reviewed the concept of a minuet: a slow, stately dance in waltz rhythm; the rage of 17th and 18th century France. We hadn’t listened to these for years, and we like them all:

Mozart, “Minuet in G”, mid 1700’s – one of Mozart’s first published works, written when he was about six years old! Whoa:

Bach, “Minuet in G”, 1725 – Well, wouldn’t you just know it. Even though we would like to think that Bach composed this piece, scholars give credit to one Christian Petzold. Christian!!!! Where ever you are, you done good – this is a piece my son and I have listened to several times – we love it! Note about the video: kudos to the very patient conductor who was charged with leading what looks like thousands of sullen teenagers:

Beethoven, “Minuet in G”, 1796 – Originally written for orchestra, the score was lost, but the piano version remains. This is the piece that was used by Professor Harold Hill (of “The Music Man”) for his “think system”:

Paderewski, “Minuet in G”, 1887 – My, my, Paderewski had his finger in many pies – in addition to being an accomplished musician, he was active in Polish politics, even serving as the second prime minster to the Republic of Poland (his term seems a bit short – he served from January 1919 to November 1919). We are loving this film clip: Paderewski playing himself, playing his Minuet in G, in the (not classic) movie, “Moonlight Sonata” (1937):

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
Math problem answers:
(Idaho Falls: A. .004% the size of Canada’s Northwest Territories)
(Diner math: opportunities – C. 13; live music cost – D. $2,600; music for 6 weeks – B. $300)

2016 – Gone, but not forgotten

2016: the year we learned more about – the California Gold Rush, the insanely brilliant architecture of Gaudi, the work of bees, Eugene Bullard, homonyms, Hannibal, dwarf planets, George Washington Carver, patents, rodents, Rube Goldberg, computation involving triangles, etc, etc, etc. Last night, my son took matching quiz that reviewed our academic studies from the past year, and earned an A+. Good year.

New book! For Christmas, a special aunt and uncle sent my son David Macaulay’s classic, “The Way Things Work”. This is obviously a mechanical engineering book lurking behind precise illustrations and hilarious examples. This past week, we became experts on “the inclined plane” and “the lever”. (In 2016, we learned a lot from Macauley’s books on “The Toilet” and “The Mill”, so we should emerge MENSA-worthy if we can absorb everything this comprehensive book offers.)

Story Problem from Le Fictitious Local Diner – The diner spent a lot of money on electricity in 2016; management is reviewing usage to see if they can cut back (perhaps a weekly “dining by candle-light” event might make a teeny dent in the diner’s electrical consumption). To make decisions, management needs some facts: if the diner was open 6 days a week, how many days in 2016 were they using electricity? If the cooks were at the diner from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., how many hours last year was the diner using electricity? (story problem answers at bottom of post)

Music Listening in 2016 – My son and I welcomed an additional 85 classical (in the broadest sense) pieces into our iPod library this past year. Last night, I presented a list of our fave 10 of these compositions and then my son picked his top three for listening.

10 pieces we first listened to in 2016 –

Ave Maria – Arcadelt
Banjoland Buffoonery – Kirkhope
Brandenberg Concerto No. 3 – Bach
Harp Concerto in A major – Dittersdorf
Organ Symphony, finale – Saint-Saens
Persian March – Strauss
Sailing By – Binge
String Quartet No. 2, scherzo – Borodin
The Anvil Chorus (Il Trovatore) – Verdi
Toccata in A major – Paradisi

My son’s selections for last night’s listening –

– “Banjoland Buffoonery”, composed in 1998 by Grant Kirkhope for the Nintendo 64 video game, “Banjo-Kazooie”. A short piece, packed with rollicking fun, AND an excellent (and accessible for the likes of my son and myself) example of theme and variation:

– “Persian March”, composed by Johann Strauss II, in 1864. My son cannot stop his toes from tapping to this marvelously exotic march (expertly played by a Polish youth orchestra) (SO heartening to witness excellence in youth):

– “Sailing By”, written by Ronald Binge in 1963 and used by BBC Radio to introduce the late shipping forcast. This sweet, slumberous waltz gets our vote for most soothing lullaby. When we just cannot deal with one more thing, THIS is our music:

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers: 1) 312 days 2) 5,304 hours)

Flying into 2016

Look homeward – hey! This captured our attention a few nights ago: scientists think that the bit of iron present in the beaks of homing pigeons might serve as a compass, allowing these totally cool birds to fly straight home from recorded distances of up to 1,100 miles. Well! How interesting is this? We checked this morsel of information (from “Animal Kingdom” – a neat infographic book by Blechman and Rogers) with the Homing Pigeons entry in Wikipedia, where we learned that pigeons might also be guided by odors and low frequency sounds. We are such fans of homing pigeons (seriously, everything about these sweet birds is so A+ on our interest scale) – we first learned about them last March (mentioned in the blog entry, “Flying, Farming, and Felix”).

A new poetry unit – we are learning about poet, e.e. cummings (1894-1962). We have read so many biographies about people with harrowing childhoods, it comes as a relief to read about somebody from a thoroughly delightful and supportive family. For heaven’s sakes, the family vacation home was named “Joy Farm” (happy all the way with this family)! First-rate book: “enormous SMALLNESS”, by Matthew Burgess, charmingly illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo.

Story problem from Le Fictitious Local Diner – the diner is ringing in 2016 by gifting all dog-owning customers with organic dog biscuits! The diner is baking up 20 dozen dog biscuits every Monday for the month of January. Leftover biscuits from each week will be given to the town’s pet shelter. If 15% of the batch is left over each week, how many biscuits will be delivered to the shelter by the end of the month?

(ooooh! UCLA colors!)

Music – we bid farewell to 2015 by viewing our favorite videos from the many we had watched this past year:

Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E minor”, movement 3, showcasing the beyond great Itzhak Perlman. We call this the “cat and mouse” movement (we hear “advance/retreat, advance/retreat” and imagine a cat crouching outside a small opening in the wall, toying with a mouse on the other side of the wall who is anxious to make his escape and hunt for cheese). This is an old recording, but the violin performance CANNOT get better than this.

Bach’s “Invention No. 8”, 44 seconds of pure pleasure, played by the astounding Simone Dinnerstein. Watching Ms. Dinnerstein’s fingers fly over the keys is mesmerizing; we have watched this over and over.

Camille Saint-Saens’ fabulously fun “Danse Macabre”, played by a Polish youth orchestra. I am sorry that we cannot decipher exactly which Polish youth orchestra, but this performance is jaw-dropping perfection. In fact, it is so outstanding that I forced my mother (“The Peach”)(a most reluctant classical enthusiast) to watch.

Welcome to the best part of my day!

– Jane BH

The Rattlesnake Sermon

Our Sunday Services – My son and I celebrate Sundays by concluding STORIES AND STUDIES time with music of an ecclesiastical bent. But last night, we were so moved after reading from “John Muir – My Life with Nature” by Joseph Cornell, that we decided “Fellow Mortals” (a chapter from the book) also belongs in our Sunday evening line-up. In this chapter, John Muir champions God’s plants and creatures, and gets specific about encounters with, of all things, rattlesnakes. He writes that he had killed two rattlesnakes, for what he felt were responsible reasons, but upon reflecting, “… I felt degraded by the killing business, and farther from heaven.” The entire chapter is powerful and deeply touching. Welcome to our Sunday night, John Muir.

On other fronts–

Pastels (secretly, hand-eye coordination work) – we focused upon warm and cool colors.

Exponents – we are memorizing numbers 2 – 9 to the power of 0, 1, 2, and 3.

Book plots – last night, we talked about two well-used storyline strategies: the “situation” and the “villain”. I do NOT like stories with persistent villains. At the moment we are reading “Othello”, and I cannot get through it fast enough. I HATE HATE HATE that villainous Iago so much that I dread picking up the book every night. You don’t suppose my revulsion shows? Well, I hope so. I want my son to understand that any example of “man’s inhumanity to man” SHOULD be painful to read about.

Our Farmer Brown story problem: ratios and bell peppers – Farmer Brown grows acres and acres of bell peppers. On an average, for every 10 green peppers he sells, he sells 8 red peppers and 5 yellow peppers. What is the ratio of green peppers to red peppers? What is the ratio of green peppers to yellow peppers? If Farmer Brown puts together a box of mixed peppers, using the ratios as his guide, and the box contains 40 green peppers, how many red and yellow peppers are in the box? If a single pepper sells for 40 cents, how much money will be earned if every pepper in the box is sold?

Our Sunday Night Music – our theme was “The Good Shepherd”:

Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze”, a cantata (No. 208) composed in 1713 for a duke’s birthday. Written as a choral work, how could my son and I not be fascinated by this skillful instrumental rendition, played on the Hinsz pipe organ (a baroque era masterpiece, and possibly the most important antique organ in the Netherlands).

Handel’s “He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd”, from his oratorio “Messiah”. Composed in 1741, using texts from the King James Bible and The Book of Common Prayer. I am a UCLA alum, so I was delighted to find this video clip. Bruins rule.

“Tender Shepherd”, from the 1954 Broadway musical, “Peter Pan”. Music composed by (WE HAVE A WINNER HERE!!!!!) Moose Charlap (we so want to know a person named “Moose”), with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh.

Welcome to the best part of my day!

– Jane BH

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