Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Chalk Ladder

Fred and I were having lunch one Sunday when we noticed some kids lying on the pavement just up the street.  It's the street that runs directly out from the front of our house to the hills, one mile away.  A car drove by.  The kids scattered but then returned, crouching down in the middle of the street.  What do you think they're doing?  I asked Fred.  They're drawing a ladder, he said, and it starts waaay up there.

So after lunch we headed out to see just how long this chalk ladder was.  We talked to the kids.  Turns out the girls had started it and the boys had followed suit with a competing, parallel ladder.  Manhole covers, cars, and cobblestones were the main obstacles.  Occasionally they were forced to draw on the sidewalk.  Sore knees was the only complaint.  They'd been at it since 12:30.  (They were out there till 7.  At 8 it rained)

But the most important thing?  Each square, regardless of its size, had to have a number.  When we got there, they were at 1202.  Did you start at 1? I asked. You'll hear me say this at the end of the video.  And then her answer:  Ja....Nein. Bei null.  With zero.

ps the movie takes a moment to load...practice patience and reap the benefits....

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Dr. Seuss, Jon Bon Jovi, three popes and


Julia, all born on the second of March.  All are well.  Especially Karen.


Monday, March 7, 2011

Images from the former...

...East Germany as it looked today in the sun before catching the train back West.   I like you, says the sign below.  I like you too, you can tear off and pocket.










Tuesday, March 1, 2011

They don't want to be amazing

 

I once overheard a dancer say that while creating new solo material.    I don't want to be amazing, he said.  I want do something different.  

Of course, he was (and still is) an extraordinary dancer.  They all are.  Amazing not only for their physical talent but also for that search for different ways to move.  Check it out for yourselves in these two clips from recent rehearsals for Scheherazade.  These run-throughs are like first drafts - the material is new, not yet refined and without a structure - and it's still pretty freaking amazing, right?