Aaron Copland and Appalachian Spring

American composer Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1900, in Brooklyn, New York. The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, at age 15 Copland decided to become a composer.

In 1942, Copland began working with Martha Graham on Appalachian Spring, a ballet that eventually won the 1944 Pulitzer Prize in music. The Library of Congress’s Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation commissioned the work from Graham and Copland. Between July 1942 and July 1943, Graham sent three scripts to Copland. On receiving the third script, Copland wrote the music we know as Appalachian Spring.

Hearing the music, Graham revised the action yet again:

I have been working on your music. It is so beautiful and so wonderfully made. I have become obsessed by it. But I have also been doing a little cursing, too, as you probably did earlier over that not-so-good script. But what you did from that has made me change in many places. Naturally that will not do anything to the music, it is simply that the music made me change. It is so knit and of a completeness that it takes you into very strong hands and leads you into its own world. And there I am.

In the end, no script accompanied what Copland called “Ballet for Martha” and Graham retitled, Appalachian Spring. A splendid collaboration between American masters of music and dance, the ballet premiered at the Library of Congress’s Coolidge Auditorium in 1944.

Library of Congress

Pippi’s mom

It’s the birthday of the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren … born Astrid Ericsson on a farm near Vimmerby, Sweden (1907). She’s the creator of Pippi Longstocking, a nine-year-old girl with no parents who lives in a red house at the edge of a Swedish village with her horse and her pet monkey, Mr. Nilsson. She has red pigtails, and she wears one black stocking and one brown, with black shoes twice as long as her feet. She eats whole chocolate cakes and sleeps with her feet on the pillow, and she’s the strongest girl in the world.

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

The first Dodge

… was completed on this date in 1914. When asked why the Dodge Brothers wanted to build their own car, John Dodge replied, “Just think of all the Ford owners who will someday want an automobile.”

Some background from This Day in History from the History Channel:

On this day, John and Horace Dodge completed their first Dodge vehicle, a car informally known as “Old Betsy.” The same day, the Dodge brothers gave “Old Betsy” a quick test drive through the streets of Detroit, Michigan, and the vehicle was shipped to a buyer in Tennessee. John and Horace, who began their business career as bicycle manufacturers in 1897, first entered the automotive industry as auto parts manufacturers in 1901. They built engines for Ransom Olds and Henry Ford among others, and in 1910 the Dodge Brothers Company was the largest parts-manufacturing firm in the United States. In 1914, the intrepid brothers founded the new Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company, and began work on their first complete automobile at their Hamtramck factory. Dodge vehicles became known for their quality and sturdiness, and by 1919, the Dodge brothers were among the richest men in America. In early 1920, just as he was completing work on his 110-room mansion on the Grosse Point waterfront in Michigan, John fell ill from respiratory problems and died. Horace, who also suffered from chronic lung problems, died from pneumonia in December of the same year. The company was later sold to a New York bank, and in 1928, the Chrysler Corporation bought the Dodge name, its factories, and the large network of Dodge car dealers.

NewMexiKen applied for a job at Dodge Main in Hamtramck in 1965 or 1966, but ended up in an electrical equipment factory nearby. Dodge Main was the original Dodge factory, ultimately demolished in 1980. Though I heard that work at Dodge Main was particularly tough and dirty I always thought it would have been cool to build cars, even if only for a summer. Or, more likely, especially if only for a summer.

Terrorists

Something fewer than 4,000 people have been killed by terrorists in the U.S.; most on September 11, 2006, but others in Oklahoma City, or by individual actions such as victims of the Unabomber. Each of those premature deaths is, of course, a tragedy.

However, something like 17,000 people are killed in alcohol-related traffic fatalities — each year.

17,000. Each year.

Friday night in downtown Denver, a drunk driver ran into a family as the parents — in a crosswalk with the green light — pushed a stroller carrying their two children across the intersection of 15th and Arapahoe streets. The mother, and two children ages 2 and 4 were killed. The father is recovering; as The Denver Post reported it: “Physically, he is doing well,” said Benny Samuels, spokeswoman for Denver Health. “Emotionally, he’s having a rough time.”

Well, I guess.

Saturday night on I-25 north of Santa Fe, a drunk driver going south in the northbound lanes hit a family returning from a soccer tournament in Bernalillo, New Mexico. The impact nearly separated the family’s van in two. The father, mother, two daughters and a stepdaughter were killed. The daughters were 11 and 10 and the stepdaughter 17. Another stepdaughter, age 15, survived. As reported by The Albuquerque Journal: “Arissa was recovering Sunday at St. Vincent Regional Medical Center from a broken left arm, fractured hip, and bruises to her head and chest— and from the loss of her three siblings, mother and stepfather.”

Well, I guess.

The New Mexico driver also died in the crash. The Denver driver, who fled the scene, is under arrest. Both were intoxicated. The New Mexico killer had five previous DWI arrests and a blood-alcohol content of 0.32.

17,000. Each and every year. Why does this madness continue? What is wrong with us?

Which type of terrorist are you more frightened of?

November 12th is the birthday

… of Wallace Shawn. The actor-playwright is 63. Inconceivable!

… of Brian Hyland. The Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini singer is 63.

… of Booker T. Jones. The organist is 62. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Between 1963 and 1968, Booker T. and the MGs appeared on more than 600 Stax/Volt recordings, including classics by such artists as Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and William Bell. As a result of Stax’s affiliation with Atlantic Records, the group also worked with Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, and Albert King. Moreover, Booker T. and the MGs were a successful recording group in their own right, cutting ten albums and fourteen instrumental hits, including “Green Onions,” “Hang ‘Em High,” “Time Is Tight” and “Soul-Limbo.”

… of Neil Young. He’s 61. Again, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Neil Young is one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers. In a career that extends back to his mid-Sixties roots as a coffeehouse folkie in his native Canada, this principled and unpredictable maverick has pursued an often winding course across the rock and roll landscape. He’s been a cult hero, a chart-topping rock star, and all things in-between, remaining true to his restless muse all the while. At various times, Young has delved into folk, country, garage-rock and grunge. His biggest album, Harvest (1972) , apotheosized the laid-back singer/songwriter genre he helped invent. By contrast, Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Young’s second-best seller, was a loud, brawling masterpiece whose title track, an homage to Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, contained the oft-quoted line “Better to burn out than it is to rust.”

… of Megan Mullally. She’s 48.

… of Nadia Comaneci. The perfect 10 is 45.

… of Anne Hathaway, all of 24.

Pike Speak

Over the past few years NewMexiKen has driven from Albuquerque to Denver or back several times. Driving along, passing time in idle thought, I occasionally think of Zebulon Pike, the first American to explore the area — 200 years ago this month in fact.

Today as I passed through Colorado Springs for the umpteenth time I thought what Pike might say if he were to return after two centuries.

First he’d say, “What a beautiful and magnificent mountain that is, and it’s named after me.”

Second he’d say, “My god, are they still working on I-25!”

November 10th is the birthday

… of Ellen Pompeo. Dr. Grey’s anatomy is 37 today.

… of Mackenzie Phillips. The Mama and Papa’s little girl is 47. Famous, of course, as the older Cooper sister in “One Day At a Time,” the young Phillips, I thought, was best as Carol in “American Graffiti.”

… of Roy Scheider. Police Chief Martin Brody is 74 today. Scheider was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for “The French Connection,” and the best actor Oscar for “All That Jazz.”

Richard Burton was born on this date in 1925. Burton was nominated for the best actor Oscar six times and best supporting actor Oscar once. He never won. Burton died at age 58.

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site (Virginia)

… was authorized on this date in 1978.

Maggie L. Walker NHS

Richmond, VA. is home to many famous Americans including one of the nation’s great entrepreneurial spirits, Maggie Lena Walker. Come visit her home in the Jackson Ward community. Through exhibits and guided tours you will experience the life of this great African American woman, who was born during slavery and achieved success despite segregation and the limited opportunities offered to her race.

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site

Semper Fi

Today is the 231th anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps.

A colleague — a Marine — at the U.S. Department of State brought in a large birthday cake every November 10th. Before we could have cake we all had to sing “The Marine Hymn.” A lot of us would have honored the marines even without the cake.

By the neck until dead

It was on this date in 1865 that Andersonville prison commander Henry Wirz was hanged. The Library of Congress tells us:

Henry Wirz, former commander of the infamous Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia, was hanged on November 10, 1865 in Washington, D.C. Swiss-born Wirz was assigned to the command at Andersonville on March 27, 1864. When arrested on May 7, 1865, he was the only remaining member of the Confederate staff at the prison. Brigadier General John Winder, commander of Confederate prisons east of the Mississippi and Wirz’s superior at Andersonville, died of a heart attack the previous February.

A military tribunal tried Wirz on charges of conspiring with Jefferson Davis to “injure the health and destroy the lives of soldiers in the military service of the United States.” Several individual acts of cruelty to Union prisoners were also alleged. Caught in the unfortunate position of answering for all of the misery that was Andersonville, he stood little chance of a fair trial. After two months of testimony rife with inconsistencies, Wirz was convicted on all counts and sentenced to death.

View a photograph taken just before the hanging and another just after the trap was sprung.

The Edmund Fitzgerald

… went down off Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, on this date 31 years ago.

The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald
©1976 by Gordon Lightfoot and Moose Music, Ltd.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called “Gitche Gumee.”
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the “Gales of November” came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship’s bell rang,
could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev’ry man knew, as the captain did too
’twas the witch of November come stealin’.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin’.
When afternoon came it was freezin’ rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin’.
“Fellas, it’s too rough t’feed ya.”
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
“Fellas, it’s bin good t’know ya!”
The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when ‘is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
if they’d put fifteen more miles behind ‘er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the “Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral.”
The church bell chimed ’til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call “Gitche Gumee.”
“Superior,” they said, “never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!”

The ship was thirty-nine feet tall, seventy-five feet wide, and 729 feet long.

Lightfoot’s lyrics had one error — the load was bound for Detroit, not Cleveland.

There were waves as high as 30 feet that night; so high they were picked up on radar.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was only 17 miles from safe haven (Whitefish Point).

The captain and a crew of 28 were lost.

Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

Much of the negative mail directed to NewMexiKen during the late campaign used Nancy Pelosi as a punching bag. Digby has a real interesting take on the Speaker-to-be, who has risen to the highest level ever for a woman in American politics. (Scroll about half way down for the section on Pelosi.)

Here’s much of the conclusion:

They are going to continue to demonize her as some sort of deranged succubus, but they’d better be careful. Lot’s of women are watching and they aren’t going to like her character being assassinated with thinly veiled attacks on female inadequacy or gay insinuations or any of the other usual rightwing tricks. Criticism is fine but this woman has achieved something substantial and I doubt women are going to be happy to see her demeaned by some lowlife fratboy punk with nasty, cheap shots.

Don’t play the sexism card, fellas (and Ann Coulter.) At least half of the electorate sees these tired put-downs as an unpleasant reminder of the ex-boyfriend, boss or husband they’d still like to slap upside the head and there are plenty of men who cringe with embarrassment when they hear them.

Except for All Those Other Guys

Jill, official oldest daughter of NewMexiKen, called amused that in his concession speech defeated U.S. Senator George Allen thanked Senator John Warner and referred to him as “Virginia’s greatest ever.”

Well, except for George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, James Madison, Meriwether Lewis, John Marshall, James Monroe, Woodrow Wilson, and Tiki and Ronde Barber.

Republicans Blame Election Losses On Democrats

WASHINGTON, DC—Republican officials are blaming tonight’s GOP losses on Democrats, who they claim have engaged in a wide variety of “aggressive, premeditated, anti-Republican campaigns” over the past six-to-18 months. “We have evidence of a well-organized, well-funded series of operations designed specifically to undermine our message, depict our past performance in a negative light, and drive Republicans out of office,” said Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman, who accused an organization called the Democratic National Committee of spearheading the nationwide effort. “There are reports of television spots, print ads, even volunteers going door-to-door encouraging citizens to vote against us.” Acknowledging that the “damage has already been done,” Mehlman is seeking a promise from Democrats to never again engage in similar practices.

The Onion – America’s Finest News Source.

Link via Eschaton who notes this is barely satire — not far from the truth in other words.

Best line of the day, so far

“Last night, while I was scanning through my radio dial looking for a repeat broadcast of the Rush Limbaugh Show …”

— Jesus’ General, whose throwaway lines are often treats. Here’s the crux of his letter:

Instead, it was you talking about Referred Measure 6, the South Dakota initiative that would have enacted the Only Good Christian Virgins Who Have Been Brutally Raped Can Get Abortions Law your legislature passed last Spring.

It was a good interview. You handled yourself very well, especially when you explained the measure’s failure by noting that its supporters were too stupid to understand that they should vote “yes” rather than no. I thought that was a very astute observation. Far too often, we forget to tell supporters that our compelled childbirth measures won’t pass if they vote against them.

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $5 Million

The Numbers Guy, Carl Bialik, warns us not to count on winning the McDonalds $5 million Monopoly game:

Patrons get game pieces with the purchase of certain menu items or by sending in a self-addressed, stamped envelope. To collect the grand prize this year, a customer must gather four game pieces corresponding to the four railroads on the Monopoly game board. The agate-like official rules say the odds of this happening are “approximately 1 in 41,497,391,309.”

“In other words, you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning while on your way home from purchasing a winning Lotto ticket with your wife, Jessica Alba, the first lady of the United States,” Richard Roeper wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times. The odds are also far worse than some estimates of the probability of picking a perfect NCAA bracket, as cited in a Numbers Guy column in March.

I’m Having a Great Day

I hope you are, too.

It’s the kind of day where you take your 5½-year-old car in for maintenance and the team-leader calls after a couple of hours and says he’ll need my car another day because the oil seals are bad and that’s a $2300 job.

And it’s covered by the warranty!

Here’s Jay from last night:

  • I’m not sure about some of these ballot initiatives. For example, here we had 127 which was about notifying the parents of a middle school student if their teacher became pregnant after having sex. I’m not sure what that is all about.
  • Some of the initiatives are just frivolous. Like 102 – is it ok for someone to eat just the top half of a muffin.
  • The GOP is concerned about Republican voter turnout. Right now instead they have a congressman and a preacher that are coming out instead of turning out.
  • Dick Cheney went hunting today. I didn’t realize it was lawyer season already.
  • On this day in 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected in a three way race. President Bush today said that he admired Lincoln. Because of inventing the penny. The Lincoln Town Car. And of course because of Lincoln Logs.