From the monthly archives:

June 2006

Mandalabrot land

June 21, 2006

If you are a patterns-in-nature enthusiast, or a fractal fan, or a weekend computerized-Jackson Pollock, visit Ian Timourian’s website. He calls it “Mandalabrot.net.” He pursues his own passion for the above via computer and the results are stimulating. He also features his influences floating along a time-line below.

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Smoketree in blossom

June 20, 2006

102º at 8 pm, Palm Springs. Cicadas screaming. Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka” on the radio, Larry sanding. Bike ride at dusk finds a smoketree in bloom.

Photo by Larry Luchtel.

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[This is a letter to my overseers for this commission, Tappan Wilder and J. D. McClatchy. I finished the opera today; it's a CHAMBER opera that is only 15 minutes. There will be a total of three operas, all based on short plays by Thornton Wilder. If you'd like to hear a mockup instrumental version [...]

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Rufus takes the day off

June 20, 2006

Dear Prof Berlioz,
Thank you for the roses and the thoughtful if not naughty card. I have not completed your assignment because of the concerts last week, and well, y’know, I’ve just been caught up in it all. So, may we meet once before I go to Europe? I promise I’ll have a great piece of [...]

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This is where many of us heard Tiny Tim for the first time. Be sitting down for this.

Tiny Tim sings “Tiptoe through the tulips”

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Larry Luchtel

June 19, 2006

I’m making great progress on the opera, and I’m taking a break to introduce you to my host here in Palm Springs, Larry Luchtel. Larry has a new home here and is working hard to make it look even more fabulous than it already is. So I sit here and compose, and he works in [...]

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The hippy wedding (2)

June 19, 2006

C’s tattoo; photo by Roger Bourland.

The wedding was one of the best I’ve been to. We met so many very interesting people from New York Pennsylvania, and DC, but it seems unlikely we’ll ever see them again.
It was a golden afternoon when we arrived at the location for the wedding. It was hosted by the [...]

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In the desert

June 18, 2006

I’m in Palm Springs today. It’s 110 degrees fahrenheit. Good thing it’s air conditioned. The pool is 90 degrees. I hope to finish my first chamber opera on Thornton Wilder’s “Flight into Egypt.” Burn a candle. Think hot.
I’m taking the rest of the day off. So for the time being, while it cools down to [...]

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Jon Swihart

June 18, 2006

Dogs by Jon Swihart.

I have had the privilege of meeting and getting to know the work of painter Jon Swihart. Daniel commissioned Jon to paint our Italian Greyhounds, Giacometti and Cody, and yesterday we had a little stop-in party for friends to meet Jon, and see the painting and the dogs in person. (Jon told [...]

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The hippy wedding (1)

June 18, 2006

The Hootenanay: photo by Daniel Shiplacoff.

This summer, Daniel and I get to go to some four weddings, people who are D’s age who have made the decision to settle down. Neither of us know Philadelphia, so when we heard the wedding was in Btown, we figured it was a suburb of Philly. We decided to [...]

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