Desert Island Discs #2

When I was still living at home with my parents, probably age 20 or so, my aunt compiled a history of our family tree. Knowing her to be somewhat of a snob, I figured she would crow about the major branches and try to hide the dead wood. Actually, she didn't; good and bad seemed to be there in more or less equal measure. I took great delight in noting that I was descended from quite a few thieves, prostitutes and other less savory members of the human species, and I had to give in to a bit of snobbery myself, when I discovered my great-great-(times something, don't remember what, anyway, several hundred years back) grandfather was Sir Philip Waite, a court composer to some British monarch ( again I can't remember, I think maybe James I), and I recall being told by my parents at a very early age that the Waites were originally a clan of roving minstrels, ie. a bunch of intinerant musicians who probably busked for coins and were regularly tossed out of town. Having very little musical talent myself (my ongoing efforts at self-taught guitar are yielding slow fruit however) I felt somewhat gratified at having at least some luster in my family in this endeavor. And my ancestry having come from such an early age in Western music, it is perhaps no surprise that I have a deep fondness for early music.

And just what, you may be thinking, is "Early Music"? Well, in short, it is Western (that is, Western culture, not Western as in cowboys) music prior to the baroque period, or pre 1600. I won't go into the whys and wherefores of the genre other than to say it is usually very religious in nature, although not always, and utilizes many instruments that are uncommon if not unknown in modern usage. It seems odd that I would be into such stuff from the religious angle as I am not religious per se; I have a belief, sort of, in God but am not sure what "God" really means. At the very least I have a spiritual side and as such am able to enjoy this stuff at that level. Unusual instrumentation however, is right up my alley.

So what is the piece that has me going on like this? The very first piece of early music to hit me square in the face. I got a record from somewhere, I can't even remember, about the same time as my aunt prepared the family tree... it was Early Baroque Music of Italy (okay, technically it's baroque, but the exact boundary of early to baroque is blurred, and it sure sounds early to me) by the New York Pro Musica ensemble, recorded in 1965 or so, and released on Decca reocrds, and now out of print. I got the record used, and I put a few scratches on it, but have since digitized it and got a reasonable mp3 file out of my favorite track on the album, a short piece called Cantate Domino by Claudio Monteverdi. All I can say about this is that it is an extremely emotionally charged work; more modern interpretations that I heve heard just pale in comparison. Even if you hate any sort of classical music, just listen; it is only two minutes long, and if the lyrics in Latin confuse you, here they are with English translation.

Cantate Domino canticum novum
Cantate et benedicite nomini ejus
Quia mirabilia fecit
Cantate et exultate
Psallite in cithara et voce psalmi



Sing onto the Lord a new song !
Sing and praise His Name,
for He has done wonders !
Sing and praise,
Sing with the cithar (harp), and with voices sing !

And if you can't get behind rejoicing through song, whatever the object of your rejoicing, stop reading my blog and do something else, for you do not belong here.

I have posted this piece on YouTube. Please enjoy.

My Desert Island Discs

So there's this long-running radio program on the BBC called Desert Island Discs.  I've been aware of it for years but I recently stumbled across podcasts of it on the BBC website, and, after listening toand browsing the shows, I decided to do a list of my own...


Here is the concept.  People from all walks of life are invited on the show and are asked what 8 pieces of music would you want to have with you if you were stranded on a desert isle?  Of course this presupposes that you would have the means to play music, so, OK, you do.  Also, 8 'pieces' means single songs, so no whole albums, symphonies, or the complete recorded works of Slim Whitman.  So one night at work I scratched out a list and stuck it in my back pocket ... and I can't find it now.  Memory should serve however, and I am going to post these one by one.


I would like to point out that, even though my tastes are quite far-ranging, this list will be heavy on the classical music side.  The reason for this is very simple..  one of the programs' featured guests, I think it was Elvis Costello, said that if he were on a desert island, he would need music more for sustainment than pleasure.  I agree, and so my list leans heavily on things that have a very spiritiual connection for me.


Also, wherever possible, I will post a link to sound files so any readers may sample the works for themselves. And, as I am pulling this list out of my ass, they are in no particular order.  At the end of though, I will pick an overall favorite, painful as that will be, and then I am probably going to blog forever about all the runner ups, which WILL include whole albums, symphonies, and such.  But not the complete works of Slim Whitman.


So here goes.


#1  Beethoven, Symphony #5, Fourth Movement, Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra


When I was sixteen, I was becoming increasingly starved for music.  I had been listening mostly to top 40 radio since I was six, but I was not all that enamored by what was coming out of the airwaves by 1971.  Luckily, FM radio at the time was still good, but I needed more.  Also, the film A Clockwork Orange had just come out, and I really liked the electronic classical music in it.  So I decided to raid my parent's decaying record collection.  Among the many jazz, big band, and musicals LPs, were quite a number of classics, and having been primed for "lovely lovely Ludwig Van" by Alex from the movie, I selected a recording of Symphony #5 from the pile, thinking, well I already know some of this... da - da - da - daaaaah, da - da  - da - daaaahhhhhh.....  I didn't realize at the time just what a great selection I had made.  This particular recording was and still is considered one of the greatest made of this symphony.... The tempos are furious where they must be, and langorous where they should be, and the playing is sumptuous throughout.  I could easily close my eyes and relate the music to my daily life, my struggles with school, emotions, hormones, bullies  (don't laugh)  ... it all made sense.  The "fateful" first movement, the stately, reflective second movement, the mysterious, dark third movement ... and then, like a burst of brilliant sunlight through the clouds, the utterly triumphant fourth movement... I could envision simply rising above all  my troubles and basking in the glow of godlike mercy, salvation, redemption.... breathtaking.  This is just one of those pieces you have to stop what you're doing and listen.  And midway through, the darkness of the third movement returns just for a moment, to be swept aside by the exultation once again.  A complete cure for a bad mood.


And here it is.  Enjoy.

N4KHI Field Day 2011 - Curry Hammock State Park, Little Crawl Key near Marathon, FL...

Last month I participated in the Amateur Radio Relay League's Field Day, a ham radio contest in which hams operate "in the field", usually with emergency power sources, as a test of our capabilites to operate under adverse conditions.  Lisa and I rented an RV and went to the Keys, so I did Field Day from there.  I considered operating from inside the RV, but I wanted the authentic field day experience.  Although I was running on commercial power and slept in the air conditioned RV, I spent about 16 hours of the 24 hour period in the tent.  It was hot as hell during the afternoon, but quite comfortable at night.  As you can see from the photos I had a fan, and I was drinking a lot of water (OK, sodas and beer too) so it wasn't too bad.  I had to use a compromise antenna, the Chameleon V4 dipole, which as you can see is not very high off the ground, which means my signal was mostly going straight up; despite that , I made contacts all over the US as well as Costa Rica and Puerto Rico.  The farthest contact I made was Seattle, WA.  I only made 46 contacts, but I consider the experience to be completely successful.  I even submitted my logs to ARRL; I certainly won't win the contest but I am proud of what I was able to accomplish.

Jonny Ray's Stupid Worthless Blog

So this is my new blog.  I will post something of actual value REAL SOON NOW, but right now I gotta mow the frickin lawn.