Malibu morning picture of the day - Vernal Equinox - March 20, 2015

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Again, a veil of clouds shrouds the coast--light and blue break through here and there, but staring straight ahead the horizon is murky.

Here's your 2nd look BTW; not too different

The first day of spring  really means nothing to us current-day Southern Californians. Since I got out of 6th grade, I cannot think of any way in which the culture around us brings the equality of day and night into our attention.

The "Day of Ritual" that we observe at this time is really the Sunday that we switch to Daylight Savings Time. The Sun God is back and we communally sacrifice the daily convenience of rising late to pay homage to him/her.

For those are my Facebook friends (you can be one too, I accept all friend requests) you got notice of my band's concert "Roll Out the Red Carpet".  But anybody is invited to attend. It's all award-winning movie music, so you won't be leaving thinking "What the heck was that noise all about?" Just a warning, if you are the kind of person who thinks John Williams is a hack, then you should probably stay home (Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Indiana Jones will be played among others).

These guys are holding bassoons in case you forgot
what one looks like. Read about it here.
(that's me in the middle when I had more hair ...)

But if you're just a little too highbrow for such pleasant music, let me direct you to Williams' bassoon concerto Five Sacred Trees which can be heard on YouTube here with commercials. I suspect this is something that will have to go into every bassoon student's competition repertoire along with the Mozart. Buy the CD and hear the full sonic nuance. What's here is enough just to tune in a bit and see what the old boy does when he's not writing for the masses. AND the subject matter is a perfect tie-in to the first day of spring don't you think?






Trust me, if you like listening to bassoon solo music, you are a rarefied longhair. It is such a melancholy instrument that just 30 seconds of any bassoon solo passage puts you into a state of introspection, meditation, or prayer. I think that's why I took it up myself.

Whatever you do with your weekend, I wish the best vernal blessings, Christian or pagan. Go hug a tree, but if it hugs back, run and don't look back (dryads and wood sprites are only trouble, trust me...).

Love,
Pops