When I woke up this morning the temperature in Madison was -5 degrees (F), the coldest so far this season. After I noticed the sunlight beautifully illuminating the frost on my bedroom window I couldn’t resist getting out my camera.
All posts by Jonathan
Concert memories
A while ago I discovered pages in the albums I keep my concert ticket stubs in were turning yellow. Yes, I am a music geek — I save my concert ticket stubs. Acid-free, archival-quality albums were the fix for the problem, so I bought a few. As I was transferring the tickets into the new albums, I was reminded of all those excellent shows I’ve been to. Below are some thoughts on the best:
Sting – July 10, 1988
I’ve seen Sting in concert several times now, but he never tops this show. Probably for a number of reasons: He was promoting his best album, …Nothing Like The Sun, he had an excellent backing band, and my friends and I had great seats (6th row in a 20,000 seat amphitheater). Favorite song from the show: “Englishman In New York.”
Indian Summer or The road to Winter
Today (where I live) the sun was shining and the temperature was in the low 60’s. I was lucky enough to have the day off and I got to thinking… this could be the last gasp of Indian Summer. I did have chores to do around the house, but they could wait. I decided to take a drive out to Governor Dodge State Park, which is about 40 miles west of my house.
Graduation of the broken wrist
At an appointment with my physical therapist yesterday, I was congratulated by her. She felt I had “graduated” and would not have to come any longer.
It’s been twelve weeks now since I broke my wrist and had the subsequent surgery. I have had regular “dates” with my therapist since the end of August. First twice a week, and for about the past month it was at once a week. As she pointed out yesterday, I’ve come a long way.
Bruce Springsteen, solo acoustic
It was almost unbelievable. There I was, in the Dane County Coliseum. Bruce Springsteen was playing one of his rock anthems, “Promised Land.” The 8,000 people in the place were sitting and so quiet you could hear a pin drop, were it not for the music emanating from the stage.
Of course the reason we were all so quiet, instead of singing along with our fists pumping in the air, was the intimate nature of last night’s concert. Billed as a solo acoustic show, Bruce alternated between playing guitar, piano, and even a pump organ on a few songs.
Disasters and intelligent design
The lead story in yesterday’s paper was the devastating earthquake in Pakistan. Authorities are now predicting as many as 30,000 deaths as a result of the quake. The U.N. is reporting 2.5 million people in the affected area are homeless. Statistics of that magnitude are difficult for me to comprehend.
In the editorial section of that same paper were two opposing viewpoints on whether intelligent design should be taught in public schools, which caused me to wonder:
Looking for Autumn
It was such a beautiful day today, I decided to head out with my camera and find some signs of Autumn.
Volleyball in the old barn
Yesterday, Dad and I went to the UW Volleyball match and watched the Badgers defeat Minnesota in an exciting contest. It was the first time I’ve seen Badger Volleyball in person. Those games are played in the UW Field House and it was great to be back in the old barn. Some of my favorite sports memories took place in the Field House — watching the men’s basketball games. When that place is packed, the band is playing, and the crowd is cheering along, you can feel the building vibrating along with the excitement.
Them bones, them bones
It’s been six weeks since I broke my wrist (a distal radius fracture to be technical) and had surgery, and I’ve been told I’m coming along nicely. My physical therapist is putting me to work though, currently with all kinds of stretching exercises. With the trauma and immobilization, tendons in your wrist and fingers can really tighten up (take my word for it). Right now my injured wrist can bend vertically about 80 degrees. Compare that to how far your own wrist can bend.
Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
Since it was released a few weeks ago, many critics have been raving about The New Pornographers latest release, Twin Cinema. With so many positive reviews, I felt an obligation to go out and buy the CD, which is exactly what I did.
When I first listened to it, I wasn’t so sure I agreed with all those reviewers. Maybe because the band’s style, which isn’t so easily categorized, has to aurally ripen for a while to be appreciated. As I played the disc more, it really began to grow on me. After owning Twin Cinema for a few weeks it’s now the CD I can’t stop listening to.