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On another Monday morning after a near sleepless night with sick kids, I listened to a song from Greg Brown and his show that Rachel and I saw on Friday. Parenting is hard. It’s even harder when you’re running on the fumes of sleep deprivation. But then there are the moments when you have a chance to slow down and look at the innocence and purity of your kids and it fuels you to get up and do everything you can for them again and again. I’m grateful for our kids, my wife and our very supportive family this morning. And for Greg Brown of course.
Take it away Mr. Brown…
We dug out of two feet of snow last night to see Lucinda Williams perform at the State Theater in downtown Ithaca. She didn’t disappoint. Similar to the John Prine show last year, she had the audience waiting on every word during the slow stuff, and out of their seats when she picked it up. There was a buzz in the theater like during Prine’s visit as well. Maybe it was an air of respect and awe for someone who has been writing, singing and touring the country since 1978.
Here’s one clip from the show. I shot this with my latest photography toy (the Nikon D7000). The new camera basically allows for much higher resolution shooting in low light and recording of high definition video. It’s incredible. But more on that later. For now, Lucinda…
View it at 1080p to get a real sense of the picture quality.
I was back in New Orleans last week for the second time in a month. But this time Rachel traveled with me and we stayed an extra day as the trip coincided with The New Orleans Jazz Fest. This was our 3rd Jazz Fest and it holds a special place as it was our first vacation when we started dating.
Two highlights from the visit:
1. Dinner with my work colleagues at Arnauds with Ed Helms sitting next to us. Just sitting next to Ed Helms (who plays our favorite Cornell alumni character as Andy Bernard in The Office) wasn’t the highlight. The highlight was watching my wife go giddy star-stuck when he visited our table (she has a bit of a crush on ‘Andy Bernard’). But when one of my co-workers offered to take their picture she got shy and said no. After he left the restaurant and she was kicking herself for missing the photo-op, we discovered that he left his hat at the table. So we didn’t get a picture of Rachel with Ed Helms, but we did get about 6 pictures of Rachel in Ed Helms’ hat.
2. The performance from Elvis Perkins in Dearland at Jazz Fest. We saw Perkins perform when we lived in Brooklyn, but there was something about the atmosphere of Jazz Fest and their energy on stage that made this an incredible show. Here’s a video from their set, and that’s Maggie Gyllenhaal in the floppy hat standing in front of us. (Yes, Rachel went speechless around her too).
Video is from iPhone, so turn your speakers down because the sound quality is a little rough:
I was down in New Orleans for a work conference this week. This was my third visit to the city in the last 7 years, and my second since Hurricane Katrina. A few thoughts from the visit.
1. There is something I love about New Orleans. It was the first vacation I took with my then girlfriend and now wife. The architecture, the music, and the smells coming out of the French Quarter, transport you to another time and place. Then there’s my favorite street and area of the city: Frenchman Street & The Marigny. An area with great food and live music…and a little sheltered from Bourbon Street. My favorite music spot from this trip was The Spotted Cat. Here’s a video I shot (on my new iPhone!) at the jazz club.
2. The city feels more like it did on my first visit than my second. The second visit was still relatively soon after Katrina, and while the French Quarter and Jazz Festival seemed ‘normal’, they seemed like props in an otherwise wrecked city. This time, most people I spoke to sounded like they were moving on. While some felt they should rebuild in the 9th ward, most felt like it was best to just let it return to nature. Oh, and they love their Saints.
3. While these medical conferences can be pretty stilted and textbook by nature, this was the most interesting meeting I’ve attended. It was a conference for the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons. 40,000 doctors and industry professionals descended on New Orleans for 3 days. It felt like they took over the city and the city seemed to appreciate the business. But the interesting thing about this meeting was an exhibit open to the public at the conference center. The exhibit was about the earthquake in Haiti and the response from volunteer surgeons. The exhibit featured a series of pictures, quotes and thoughts from surgeons that volunteered their time to help the people in Haiti. The pictures were pretty wrenching; raw images of the mass amputations, and the crude equipment used to perform them. Many of the surgeons commented on the horror of the experience, and the comparison to working in a war. They wrote about the destruction, the lack of resources, the anger, and the amputations. But then they spoke of the one thing that kept them going.
This was a quote from one of the surgeons while in Haiti: ”…and I saw it many times, a sight more emotionally charged than the destruction spreading for miles in every direction. A child’s smile. Sound a bit sentimental? Maybe. But the sight of such simplicity, the essential human ability to feel happiness in dire circumstances, and the unbelievable sound of laughter – here on the backdrop of all this misery, well it changed me. ” -Daniel Ivankovich, MD
4. With that quote and those images in the back of my mind, it sure felt good to come home and walk through the door to this…
I bought tickets to this concert last year when it was announced. The 1,500 seats in our local theater sold out within 3 days. I had heard a few John Prine songs, but didn’t own an album until I bought the tickets. I now own five and can’t get enough of his music. His songwriting is some of the best I’ve ever heard. It’s easy to compare his sound to Bob Dylan on a first listen, but after a few songs, a close listen to lyrics, and then watching him on stage, it’s clear he’s in his own league. Each song is a story and a poem. When I saw him on stage, he took on the image of a great storyteller sharing wisdom around a campfire. He would probably hate that comparison, but there was something about the warmth of his performance, and the way the audience waited on every word, that it seems appropriate.
The highlights of the night for me were his performances of “Please Don’t Burry Me,” “That’s The Way the World Goes Round ” and “Hello in There.” When he sang “Hello in There”, I looked over at my dad and felt a deep appreciation for the man on the stage and the man in the seat next to me. Thanks for that Mr. Prine.
We took a trip up to Grassroots Festival this weekend to meet a few friends and listen to some cajun, country and bluegrass music in Trumansburg, NY. It was my 7th Grassroots and Rachel’s first. If you enjoy this music, I’ve been told its one of the more organized and well run festivals of it’s kind. The food is great, the size is manageable and people-watching alone is worth your weekend ticket.
My Weekend Winners
Best Food: Pulled Pork from Stonecat Cafe (also a great restaurant on Seneca Lake)
Best Singer (and outfit): Jim Lauderdale (pink cowboy shirt and matching pants with diamond sequins)
Best Performer: Sharon Jones (Not a huge fan of the music, but she knows how to work a crowd. Her “I Want You Back” tribute to Michael Jackson was great)
Most Unbelievable 65 Year Old: ”Toots” from Toots and the Maytals (the guy can still pull off a black leather sleeveless jumpsuit)
Best Band for Dancing (or band I wish I had at my wedding if I were having Irish wedding): Scythian
Best Song & Solo Performance: Courtney Granger from Pine Leaf Boys singing “She Thinks I Still Care” by George Jones. (Also a great band)
Most Cliche Homage to the 60′s: Carving a peace symbol into a painted bus with your pink daisy
Turned 30 on Monday. I probably should have some profound thoughts on that milestone, but I didn’t have any revelations. Instead, I stuffed my face with an amazing homemade Chicken Parmesan from Cook’s Illustrated (thanks Rach), and topped that off with Bittersweet Ice Cream cake from Purity. I then dragged my 30 year old belly over to The State Theater for a concert. The show was Neko Case with an opening act of Eric Bachman / Crooked Fingers. Bachman looks like a gentle giant holding a little guitar up on stage and Neko Case could probably kick my ass if she wanted. They were both outstanding…and I can’t believe the quality of music that’s being brought to Ithaca. Many thanks to Dan Smalls of Dan Smalls Presents for that.
Tonight Rachel and I are off to Nasvhille for the Country Music Marathon. I’m still feeling the IT band, but I’ve been getting physical therapy and rubbing Tiger Balm every day. So we’ll see how it goes. If you want to track the race progress, they will have live results at the 5k, 10k, 10 mile and two other spots during the race on their website. The race has a staggered start at 7am. I’ll report back next week on the race outcome and Nashville life.
Thanks to everyone that donated to this race and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If you still want to make a donation, they can be made here.
Winter Training in Ithaca.
Another music venue in Ithaca is The Haunt , a small club off the Cayuga Lake inlet. I bought tickets a few weeks back for Gomez and Josh Ritter, suprised to see both bands playing together in Ithaca. While Gomez was the headliner, it was Ritter that really impressed. Ritter has a stage presence and a look that makes you feel like you’re watching a high school kid getting his first break playing a live show. And I mean that in the best way possible. He had a smile from ear to ear during the entire performance, danced around stage, continually professed his appreciation to the crowd, his band and Ithaca. And it all appeared truly genuine. Gomez, on the other hand, came across a bit disinterested. Perhaps they were responding to the crowd, which appeared to thin a bit after Ritter. Or perhaps it was the TV playing basketball in the back of the club, which the band complained about halfway through their set. Regardless, seeing these two bands on a Wednesday night in a small club in upstate NY was pretty cool.
A few years ago, a local non profit organization saved Ithaca’s 80 year old State Theater from being demolished. Since then, the theater has gone through rounds of renovations and brought in a new Executive Director, Dan Smalls for their event promotion. Smalls brought years of concert promotion and booking experience to Ithaca, where he has pulled big names to this small upstate NY city. Just a few of the shows from the past two years have included: Andrew Bird, Government Mule, Emmylou Harris, Billy Bragg, Neko Case, Joan Baez, Crosby Nash, Gomez, Josh Ritter, Steve Earle and Lyle Lovett.
This weekend, Rachel and I went to two concerts at the State. Friday night was the African Children’s Choir, and last night we saw Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Blind Boys of Alabama. Both shows were great, but seeing a group of blind men in their 70s dancing, and singing with the famous Dixieland Jazz band from New Orleans was awesome.
Country Music Marathon Course Map
In 2005, I ran in the NYC Marathon. I trained with Fred’s Team, an organization that’s affiliated with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The experience was amazing, but I considered it a check mark, off the “things you do before you die” list. No need to go through that again. But a few events have combined to motivate me for another run.
1) Time- Moving to Ithaca, and removing two hours of commuting time from my daily schedule
2) A good friend- Brendan is attempting to run 50 marathons in 50 states, and his mission is coming to Nashville in April. He’ll be traveling with his new baby, Karina (and our god-daughter!) and wife, Kazumi. So it’s a marathon and a reunion all-in-one.
3) Food- I spoke to someone from Nashville while eating BBQ at Fette Sau in Brooklyn. His boasting of Nashville BBQ solidified my interest in visiting Nashville. For the record, those restaurants were: Sweats Soul Food, Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, Whitts BBQ, and Monell’s. According to a friend of ours who filmed Hamburger America I also have to taste the burgers at Brown’s Diner and Rotier’s. My favorite thing about the first marathon was filling the raging appetite that came with all the running. What better place to celebrate after 26 miles than a town famous for its burgers, spicy chicken and BBQ.
4) Country Music- The only music I wouldn’t listen to growing up, is now a favorite. I still haven’t acquired a taste for Big and Rich style country, but Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Johnny Paycheck have all become favorites. Thanks to Cousin Tim for introducing me to classic country. If you live in the Boston area, look up Tim Obetz on the steel guitar with one of his many bands, including Dave Aaronoff and the Protagonist.
5) Team in Training- Similar to the NYC marathon, I’ll be running the Country Music Marathon for a cause. For this race, I’ll be running with Team in Training, part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. An estimated 150,000 people will be diagnosed with Leukemia or Lymphoma this year and it’s the cancer that causes the greatest death to children (under the age of 20). The Leukemia & Lymphoma society spends $61 Million per year on research, financial assistance for patients and education about the disease. Please visit my personal fundraising page if you would like to make a donation. Ethan’s Team in Training Fundraising Page
I will post on this blog about my training from now until race day. So check back for updates on what it feels like to run a 20 mile training run in an upstate NY winter. Or to run a half marathon on a treadmill when it’s sub-zero outside. Or come meet us in Nashville for some hot chicken, cold beer and Johnny Paycheck.
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