Little Delving

Beyond Here There Be Dragons

2007

News & Stuff | 2008 | 2006

A True Story

May 14, 2007 12:04 AM Filed in: Now Playing

Here's a small gem that has aged quite well in the 30-some odd years since Cat Stevens gave it to the world.

He Will Be Missed

Apr 27, 2007 08:44 PM Filed in: Day To Day

Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich Dies At 80
By Martin Steinburg and Maria Danillova

MOSCOW - Mstislav Rostropovich played the cello with grace and verve — and lived his life offstage the same way. His death at age 80 takes away one of modern Russia's most compelling figures, admired both for his musical mastery and his defiance of Soviet repression. Read More...

Keep It Simple

Apr 20, 2007 08:00 PM Filed in: Fun & Interesting

In the interest of saving all of us a little time, here's something from Bruce Feirstein of Vanity Fair, the All-Purpose Public MEA CULPA. I don't know about you, but I think it looks pretty darn useful. Now I don't have to lose anymore sleep being concerned about all those badly behaved celebrities out there. Good night!

Read More...

One Potato, Two Potato

Apr 18, 2007 06:20 PM Filed in: Day To Day

Hello, tater.

It’s been a funny week here, and so I thought I’d sit down and have a bit of a chat with you. I’ll just pretend that your smiling face is there across the table from me and that all is well in the world. I like your smile, tater. It can do that for me. So I guess the obvious place to start is Virginia Tech, isn’t it? It’s not everyday here in the U.S. that we get a monster on a rampage who manages to kill some 30 people and then himself. It’s all anybody can seem to talk about, and it certainly is all any of the media outlets seem to know is going on in the world this week. It’s a tragedy for sure. There is no denying that. My heart goes out to the families and the friends of all those lost in the senseless killings. Life is a beautiful thing, but it can also be brutal and unpredictable. It can be short. Best not ever take it for granted. But there is something about all of this that is disturbing me greatly, something besides the tragedy itself.

Read More...

A Good Cup Of Coffee In Mt. Shasta

Apr 06, 2007 06:36 PM Filed in: Stories For A Friend

The coffee is good. It's strong, and it's hot, and the aroma of it fills the air at the small table by the window. Warmth. Comfort. Shelter from the storm. All very good things in Life. Things to embrace and enjoy whenever you are lucky enough to come across them. Living can be tough enough on a day to day basis. No need to make it any harder than it needs to be.

Outside the big window the wind blows the rain sideways. The town's streets are empty except for the occasional truck stopping at the light, windshield wipers going, waiting for the light to change green to go. It's cold and raw for a late summer day. Read More...

Hello, It's Me

Apr 01, 2007 06:36 PM Filed in: Stories For A Friend

It’s been some time since I’ve actually sat down to write something other than a short comment or pithy summary of some play, movie, or some such thing. I used to write all the time. I'd write letters and keep a journal. I'd write sometimes just to sort through my own thoughts and see where they would lead me. That was a good thing. Read More...

Southern Comfort

Feb 28, 2007 04:45 PM Filed in: On The Road

Another place I would love to visit someday in the not too distant future is Savannah, Georgia. I can't remember when it was I first became curious about the city, but I do remember reading a long time ago that Savannah was one of the few large cities of the Deep South to escape major damage during the Civil War. Because of this good fortune much of the original ante-bellum architecture still stands in the city along with many of its original parks and public squares and of course many ancient and majestic Live Oak trees covered with spanish moss. It seems the perfect place to take a small step back in time and experience a little southern charm.
Read More...

My Mountain & Me

Feb 24, 2007 02:12 PM Filed in: Day To Day

My sister absolutely LOVES taking personality tests. She gets a real kick out of it, and enjoys seeing how her results change over time. When she finds one that is especially fun to do she always send me the link so I can play too. Here's her latest find, a drawing test I'm gonna call My Mountain. It's a very easy to use click and draw site where they ask you to draw your image (a simple one!) of a mountain. Once you're done they ask you a handful of questions (multiple choice) about your mountain, and then based on your answers they give you a quick and breezy snapshot of your personality. Fun! And they actually came pretty close on me. Not a perfect snapshot, but not too far off the mark either.
Anyways, just thought I'd share the fun so you can play too!

Cheers,
JB

The results of your analysis say:

You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously.
When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much.
You are a thoughtful and cautious person.
You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way.
You like following the rules and being objective.
You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them.
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

Songs Of The Sea

Feb 18, 2007 01:24 PM Filed in: Now Playing

Gordon Bok has been singing songs about the Maine Coast for many, many years now. It's a traditional way of life along the coast, working the sea and always respecting the ultimate power and inevitability of the forces of Nature. Many of his songs tell stories that have come from generations of families living that seafaring life. As one reviewer put it, "The music of Maine folk singer Bok is like a universe unto itself, a roughhewn land filled with hardscrabble people, rascals in high places, and a natural world that is both cruel and kind, deadly and nurturing. Gordon Bok sings of drunken fisherman, the last dreams of drowning men, and the gentle sound of neighbors helping neighbors. Some of the songs are happy and even sweet, and some of them are not, much as Life itself."

Here is a very small sample of the vast collection of music that Gordon and his many musical friends have kept alive and flourishing for us over the years. Just point your nose into the wind, give these tunes a listen, and see if you can't taste the salt in the air.

Saben The Woodfitter
Banks Of Newfoundland
I'se The By
Living On The River
The Sea Wife
How Can I Keep From Singing
Peter Kagan And The Wind
Little Fishy

The Round Mound Of Rebound, Sir Charles Barkley. Oh My!

Feb 18, 2007 12:24 PM Filed in: Fun & Interesting

Even people who don't care for sports seem to get a kick out of Charles Barkley. The former NBA superstar was recently voted into the NBA Hall of Fame, and he was also voted one of the 50 best players to ever play the game. These days Charles hosts a sports broadcast on the TNT network that is as much about sit-down comedy as it is sports, and the biggest laughs this week have centered around a challenge foot race that Sir Charles is going to run against a 67 year-old NBA referee named Dick Bavetta. Dick took umbridge at an on-air comment Charles made about his age, and even though Charles said "I have nothing against old people. I hope to be one someday," the two men have agreed to settle matters on the basketball court by running a race. The winner gets $50K donated to the charity of his choice. It's all in good fun, and thanks to YouTube here are some fun clips for everyone to enjoy and join in on the laughter.

The Hype
The Interview Part 1
The Interview Part 2
And, finally, The Race!

Watch 'em while they last. Have fun, everyone.

Do You Know The Way To Santa Fe?

Feb 17, 2007 11:06 AM Filed in: On The Road

There are a lot of places I haven't been, but that I'd like to visit sometime just to check out; San Francisco, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Savannah, Georgia, Iceland, The Canadian Rockies, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tortuga and the Caribbean in general, and a big chunk of New Mexico as well (Albuquerque, Taos, and Santa Fe) to name just a few. So when I see interesting articles about some of these places I sometimes stash them away somewhere just to remind myself of possible future adventures to look forward to. When I first started working on Little Delving I meant to share these bits and pieces with you, Read More...

Now That's A Lot Of Snow

Feb 11, 2007 12:52 PM Filed in: Fun & Interesting

Over the past 10 or so days a few towns in upstate New York have been getting a LOT of snow, around 100 inches. And according to the National Weather Service they may be in for an additional 6 feet over the next few days. Yikes!

The National Weather Service said Parish — about 25 miles northeast of Syracuse — reached a milestone early Saturday with 100 inches of snow during the past seven days. That was pushed to 110 inches by early Sunday with fresh snowfall.

Unofficial reports put snowfall totals at 123 inches in Orwell and 131 in Redfield, but the weather service said those numbers included snow from a storm a couple of days before the latest run. All three towns are in Oswego County.

The region is located along the Tug Hill Plateau, the snowiest region this side of the Rocky Mountains. It's a 50-mile wedge of land that rises 2,100 feet from the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. It usually gets about 300 inches — roughly 25 feet — of snow a year.

The hamlet of Hooker, near the boundaries of Jefferson, Lewis, and Oswego counties, holds the state's one-year record with 466.9 inches, about 39 feet, in the winter of 1976-77.
No complaints about Chicago winters from me!

Girding For Battle

Feb 02, 2007 07:39 PM Filed in: Day To Day

Helmet Size 37: But What Happened To Those '85 Helmets?

Even bronzed, lions prove difficult to measure.

Erin Edmister learned this atop a ladder Monday, when he struggled to wrap a measuring tape around the manes of the two statues that guard the steps of the Art Institute of Chicago.

"His ears kind of stick out 3 to 4 inches, depending on where you start," Edmister barked below to a co-worker who scribbled down the measurements.

"Nine feet, exactly, across the belly," he declared, while measuring the South Lion, formally titled "Stands in an Attitude of Defiance."

The North Lion, "On the Prowl," patiently awaited his fitting. Read More...

Far Flung Friends

Jan 22, 2007 07:19 PM Filed in: Day To Day

You know, as the years go by I seem to end up farther and farther away from my closest friends. Now usually it has more to do with me and my gypsy ways than anything else (I do have a habit of loading up the wagon and rolling on to greener pastures every 6 or 7 years or so,) but it's not always me moving away, sometimes they're the ones picking up and moving on. I've also been lucky enough to meet some wonderful people when I was wandering far from home, and with these friends we just start off at a distance. And then sometimes it's a combination of the two that takes somebody far away. Case in point, Laura! Read More...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Jan 14, 2007 12:20 PM Filed in: Day To Day

For my see-stirrr,

Happy Birthday!!!
Enjoy the par-tay!

Jump In The Line
No Woman No Cry
Yellow Bird
Brown Eyed Girl

I'm sorry, hon, I could not find clips of Copacabana or Plaza Sesamo on such short notice. Maybe next year, Jah?

Beowulf: The Epic in Performance

Jan 07, 2007 11:49 AM Filed in: Things Medieval

"Hwæt! Listen!" Imagine if you can the distant past, a time some twelve centuries ago. A cold and dark mid-winter's night. Outside the wind blows sharp and biting. Inside the bonfires are built high, smoke spiraling upwards, flames reaching into the air, fighting to keep the cold winter at bay and aid the sun's feeble dawning to come. The mead flows freely, and inside these walls the warmth of many bodies holds each of us close together like family, like tribe.
Read More...

New Year's Revelers Come to Chicago From Far and Wide

Jan 01, 2007 11:23 AM Filed in: Fun & Interesting

In The Sky! A Bird? A Plane? A ... UFO?

United Airlines denies its workers filed reports about saucerlike object hovering at O'Hare

It sounds like a tired joke--but a group of airline employees insist they are in earnest, and they are upset that neither their bosses nor the government will take them seriously.

A flying saucerlike object hovered low over O'Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies, said some United Airlines employees who observed the phenomenon. Read More...