Rant on Viva La Vida

I just read yet another nasty review of Cold Play’s latest album in last week’s New Yorker. The reviewer whined about their free concert in New York, complained that the audience seemed less than enthusiastic and disparaged their incredibly bad taste in mentioning to the audience that it was free. He also compared the group unfavorably to U2 and, of course, Radiohead, and implied that Gwyneth was there only to give them some free publicity. That should teach Chris Martin not to waste his time on jaded ill-mannered New Yorkers.

Ashley sent me video clips that she took at the free London concert at Brixton and this definitely wasn’t the case with the British fans. I find it hard to believe that all these reviewers are listening to the same music as I am, but my own brother shares their opinion. Actually I think he might have been talking to the same New Yorker reviewer because three weeks ago he made exactly the same complaint that their music puts him to sleep. Perhaps he listened to too much hard rock in the 60’s and 70’s and is suffering from hearing loss. When I come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing many (actually, not even one) of my generation at the concert, so maybe I am Cold Play’s only 60 year old fan.

I googled the reviewer to see how old he is and found that he was born in 1967. Hmmm, that makes him an early Gen Xer – hardly the same group that my daughter belongs to – the Millennials. The Millennials are supposed to be much more idealistic, open-minded and socially conscious than the materialistic, career- focused Gen Xer. To quote Wikipedia “Gen-Xers complain the Millennials are another indulged generation like the Boomers—that they’re self-absorbed and Pollyanna-ish. Millennials charge that Gen-Xers are cynical and aloof—that they throw a wet blanket on fresh ideas and idealism” Maybe that explains it and maybe the reason I enjoy the music is that I have spent too much time with a Millennial . I am sure that M Ward and Jens Leckman would put them to sleep also. Maybe that’s what I relate to - and I am lucky enough not to have lost too much of my hearing at Woodstock.

Birthday Lunch With Mom

Today I had my birthday lunch with Mom. As we usually do, we went to Helen Kuo's Peking Restaurant - Helen is an old friend of my parents . Mom gave me her lovely Moonstone and Sapphire ring that I have been admiring since I was seven. She got it at Wanamakers in Philadelphia when she was working at the Philadelphia Navy Yard during WW2. I remember her wearing the ring with her navy blue lace dress with the square neck fitted bodice sprinkled with little rinestones and mid-calf flared skirt when she dressed up for evenings out. It was the only evening dress she had for years, so I saw it often. She always wore Chanel #5 and I can remember sitting on the stairs in my pajamas thinking she looked like the prettiest mother anyone could have. The dress is a true 50's classic. She still has it and I can fit into it. Couldn't have wished for a better day.

Sunday Mornings

This is where I like to have breakfast on Sunday mornings.

Cookies

Yesterday Ashley wrote about making Christmas Cookies on her blog. I started the tradition when I was a teenager and Ashley's brother Adam and his gang of friends became my enthusiastic partners when they were seven. Ashley joined in the annual cookie making when she was two. This is a picture of her making Swedish gingerbread pigs in our house on Little Washington-Lyndell Road.

While I started with the receipes in my Women's Encyclopedia of Cooking and my grandmother's fried rosettes, Ashley and I ventured into more challenging receipes, some of which I will never have the energy to repeat. One was an enormous batch of incredibly delicate Swedish cardomom flavored snowflake cookies decorated with blue piping, silver dragees and irridescent edible glitter that we spent a whole day decorating when she was a teenager. I also remember the two of us in the little kitchen at Windy Hill trying out our new pizelle maker which required tight coordination to get them out of the griddle before they burned.

And they took the top off of the mountain

Every Monday morning I get up at 5 AM and start the drive up Route 10 to Central Pennsylvania. Route 10 takes me through the rolling hills of southern Chester County farms and Amish country to Morgantown, where I pick up Interstate 196 to Reading , then turn northwards on Route 61. Route 61 follows the Schuylkill River out of the farmlands and into the heavily forested mountains. It is a beautiful drive which makes me understand the reason that this state was called Penn’s Wood. That is -until I get to Schuylkill Haven (home of the Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes, winners of the1991 Pennsylvania High School football championship, as the shabby billboard on the mountain proudly proclaims) where coal country begins.

Then the towering thickly wooded mountains give way to a succession of dreary little towns that seem suspended in time except for the never-ending succession of MacDonald’s, Pizza Huts, Burger Kings, Dunkin Donuts, local diners and second-hand furniture stores. As I drive north the mountainsides are increasingly scarred by barren swathes of black, littered with coal, where only small sickly scrubby trees survive - the victims of strip mining. When there is a major storm, these shallow-rooted trees topple over. For me it all culminates north of the mining town of St Claire at the Coal Creek Mall where a Wal Mart superstore sits in side of a scarred mountain that is has been mined down so far that the top is gone.

That’s the first 90 miles of my trip north.

The Electric City

I have spent more time in Scranton than I really wanted to because one of my company’s divisions is located there. Scranton has recently been made famous by “The Office” and Hilary’s recent rediscovery of her NEPA roots. My company is located in the building made famous by The Office and has a name that is suspiciously similar. Local rumor has it that there are employees leaking tidbits of information that turn up in story lines, and indeed the few times I tuned in, I recognized a few.
I wish the real building were as nice as the one depicted on TV. The reality is that the building environment is a challenge to its occupants, ranging from persistent roof leaks and flooding (one morning I walked into Creative to see that they had sensibly positioned umbrellas over their PC’s to ward off the steady drip of water) to an almost complete lack of climate control. I am on the divisional distribution list and, as I sit comfortably in one of our other divisions, regularly see the broadcast emails that proclaim that the air- conditioning should be repaired shortly (after a week in the high 80’s) and in the mean time, HR has purchased portable air conditioners and positioned them strategically around the building. Unfortunately they forgot that these have to be vented , so someone’s office had to be selected as the recipient of the hot air. A couple of years ago after the heat had still not appeared by late November, the company discovered that when the city of Scranton discontinued the hot steam heating that it provided to the city, the landlord had neglected to provide an alternative. Northeastern PA is located in the Pocono mountains and is not exactly balmy in the winter. The first winter I worked for the company I was stuck there for 2 weeks in January and the outside temperature didn’t break 12 degrees.
So now you have the inside scoop.