So Much As it has Pleased Thee

Samuel Johnson, Timothy Cutler, and Thomas Bradbury Chandler
Early Priests of the American Church

 BARBADOS

Dawn off Barbados

This morning, we arrived at our first port of call, Barbados, having been at sea all day yesterday.  Invigorated by being aboard ship again, or perhaps just not used to a new bed, I woke up before dawn, grabbed my camera and meandered through the empty corridors looking for coffee and a spot to watch the sunrise.  I love the chance to explore the ship when very few of my fellow passengers are afoot, as it also give me the chance to photograph the public spaces without intruding on other peoples' vacations.   

This ship is fairly typical of those being built in the early 2000's.  She carries about 2,400 passengers, and most of her public spaces are located either fairly low in the ship or on the very top two decks, with four levels in between devoted almost exclusively to cabins so that the vast majority of them can sport private balconies.  We have one of these for the first time: earlier voyages were either on a tighter budget or (in the case of our transatlantic voyage in April of 2004) in a season and place when the weather conditions would not warrant the expense.  I chose our room specifically: located on the edge of a semicircular "bump" that extrudes from the side of the superstructure, it afforded us a slightly larger balcony than normal, just enough to let both of us stretch our legs out a bit.  Unfortunately the extra space did not come with extra furniture: we have two upright chairs and a miniscule table, so it is not quite as conducive to lounging as I had hoped. 

As luck would have it, we will be the only ship at each of our five ports of call.  This makes me happy in the sense that we will not be competing heavily for taxis, tours and shops, but I also do like seeing other ships and photographing them. 

I have been asked repeatedly why we did not choose one of the newest or largest vessels coming down the ways: this line's newest ship, the Oasis of the Seas is so big that it boasts various different "neighborhoods" (I can't help but wondering if any of them are "rough") as well as a zipline and a full-sized carousel.  Frankly, the idea of 5,400 people invading a small Caribbean island all at once is not particularly appealing, especially as the ship is too large to dock everywhere and requires the use of tenders to shuttle passengers ashore.  In addition, the ship is on the most mundane itinerary the Caribbean has to offer, and -- since the majority of us have been here before -- we wanted something a little more exotic.    

Catamaran Crew

I had done some homework in the months leading up to our voyage.  I am a big fan of cruisecritic.com, because it enables you to connect in advance with other people who will be on your particular sailing and ask questions about the ship and itinerary from more seasoned cruisers.  In our case, there are over 50 people, either users of the website or their traveling companions, so we did quite a bit of bonding before even setting sail. 

Yesterday, I met a number of them at a planned event in one of the lounges.  Today, three parties from that group as well as two other members of my entourage went on a catamaran tour that one of the "critics" had researched in advance.  We had a fantastic time, skimming along the smooth waters off the coast to an inlet where giant turtles lurk.  We got to snorkel with them, and they are apparently pretty used to people because they did not seem bothered in the least.  Two young brothers in our group had a waterproof camera and were deep-diving to get better shots, which they shared with me later

Giant turtle off Barbados.  Courtesy of Grandmaison family

Unfortunately the day was not without a casualty: one of the husbands in our group lost his wedding ring while in the water, and -- despite the efforts of the boat's captain and the brothers -- it was not found. 

Later this evening, we had some more serious business to deal with; in fact, the impetus for our trip.  After we set sail again from Barbados, we met with two officers of the ship at an appointed time and were escorted below to the aft mooring deck, a spot normally not accessible to passengers.  There, after a Certain Party led us in a brief prayer service while a handful of the ship's crew looked on, we were permitted to scatter a portion of Henry's ashes overboard into the ship's wake, followed by handfuls of rose petals thoughtfully provided by the Company.  It was one year to the day since his death. 

For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his ashes to the deep in sure and certain hopes of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

This simple and yet powerful ritual marked the end of a year of "firsts": holidays, birthdays and other events where we were keenly reminded of his own contributions or strong opinions about such things were supposed to be done, and the hole left by his absence.  As we moved through the seasons, each of us mentally "bookmarked" these occasions, particularly when we got into the summer, when each milestone was already clouded by his illness.  

But the ship keeps moving.  We had originally been told that they might either slow down or stop, but as it turned out, that was not the case, and -- in a way -- I'm glad.  It symbolizes the fact that time stops for no one, and -- while we will obviously never stop missing him -- this was the "last first" when it comes to Henry.  He was not one to wallow in the past, and wouldn't condone us doing so either.  His life -- and his death -- changed us, and we carry those marks with us, but we also have to be ready to keep living fully into whatever is meant to happen next.  The ship keeps moving, and we move with it.

It's Just Me and You Tonight

Florence Nightingale - Nurse and Renewer of Society (1910)

I've grown more musically in the past two years than in the previous ten (at least) for a number of reasons.

Part of it was due to Henry's influence: upon joining the band I was exposed to and expected to learn a lot of classic rock that I had been peripherally aware of, but never really studied or tried to play.  Also, Henry didn't read music, so we learned by listening and doing, which is a very different process than starting with sheet music and reading notes and rests as if they are a fractions equation.  A lot of songs were an ongoing experiment: When we play live, I still my binder full of printouts from chordie.com with crossed-out chords and handwritten notes, many in his distinctive scrawl.  Even when I know the song by heart, I play better having it there.

The other factor in my ongoing education has been some of the new web-based tools that are designed to help expand your musical horizons.  The first of these was pandora.com, whose motto is the "the music genome project".  On this site, if you put in the name of a band or song, it won't play that band or song, but others that are like it based on a number of characteristics.  You can "thumb up" or "thumb down" the choices, and -- over time -- it will hone a "radio station" based on your choices.  You can save these channels so that this doesn't have to occur all in one session.  If you ignore it, Pandora will just continue to provide background  to whatever else you're doing.  The biggest limitation is that -- due to their licensing -- you can't just think of a song and play that song.  Your "station" may eventually play it, but not necessarily.  Also, it seems that it plays the songs you have not nixed, in the same order, each time you rejoin a channel.

The second site, which my friend Mark turned me onto, is called last.fm.  When I first joined, you could play any song in their catalog three times for free, but also features "radio stations" based on a particular artist, with the ability to say yea or nay to each track.  More of a social networking site than Pandora, last.fm allows you to "friend" people and view your musical compatibility with them, and share songs, artists and playlists.

For the statistics minded, last.fm also has a "scrobbling" feature that keeps track of how many times you listen to each song or artist, and allows you to see the same data for your friends and listen to .  If you want it to, it will calculate this data not only for songs you play on last.fm but also Windows Media, iTunes, Winamp and your MP3 player.  Why anybody needs to know this, I can't say for certain, but it's kind of interesting to watch the trends.  It can also be alarming: when one friend's feed repeated the same Slipknot song for two full hours, I got concerned and reached out to make sure he was not in some kind of crisis.  He just laughed at me.

The free-preview feature on last.fm went away this spring, and they suggested a new site called mog.com.  For a flat fee of just $5.99 a month, you can listen to whatever you want, whenever you want, which I consider a phenomenal deal.  Recently they added the ability to do so on a smartphone, which increases the fee to $9.99, still less than the cost of one CD.  Theoretically, if you have an unlimited data plan on your phone, you could do away with satellite radio (if you have it) and never buy a CD again.  Or almost never; while their catalog is huge, they don't have everything, and I still buy CDs from the unsigned and indie bands I like because I know they get paid more that way.

The net of all this is that I have become far more adventurous with what I listen to.  It is easy to get into a rut with the same artists you grew up with or what-have-you, but something about these sites saying with some authority "based on this, you might like this" has gotten me exploring more options, and I've had a great time with it.

Probably the best example of this is Honor by August, a DC-based band which both last.fm and mog.com gave a ringing endorsement.  That reminds me: another feature of last.fm is an alert when an artist you like is in your area.  As I gave them a preliminary spin, the site advised me this band would be in my area for two shows that same week!  Something told me to go check them out.  

The first attempt was a bust: I arrived at the Saint in Asbury Park way too early (although the guys were actually milling around their bus outside) and was told by the doorman to come back at 10pm.  I had dinner with friends and got back just in time to hear them end their set!  Apparently the door assumed I was there to see the headliner, Red Wanting Blue.

Next night at New York's Mercury Lounge, was more successful.   Ten minutes in, I was hooked!  I don't know how to explain their sound:  to me describing music is like describing wine... it's really easy to sound ridiculous.  But it is straight-up honest rock, a lot of power without being overwhelming or sloppy, and you just want to hear more.  Subject matter runs the gamut from the requisite lost love ("Johnny") to war ("Say It's Over") but even the "heavy" topics are delivered with an enthusiasm that's hard to resist.

Clearly someone has been paying attention: by winning contests, they have opened for Hanson and Bon Jovi at arena shows, and are regulars at a number of New York and DC's  better-known club venues.

Meeting the guys on the sidewalk afterwards, I hope I did not sound like too much of the breathless fangirl; but their live show just floods you with positive energy.  Had I been with my sister or the right friends instead of running solo, I would have been dancing for sure.

A few weeks ago, word came out via their Facebook page that the band was throwing themselves a benefit: the aforementioned bus needs some attention, and they're working on a new video.  The venue seemed unlikely to me: a well known Jersey "wedding factory" known as the Brownstone House (recently introduced to the wider world courtesy of the Real Housewives).  I knew two of the guys are originally garden-staters, but I wondered if three weeks was enough time to get enough people to fork over $50 (admission also included a beefsteak and all-you-can beer and wine) to make this a cash-positive venture.

Well once again, I need not have been concerned.  I showed up a bit late and walked into a full ballroom being entertained by Jersey's own Sunda Croonquist, and ducked into a seat next the merch guy I met in New York before she could tease me for interrupting her show.  I was quickly made to feel at home among fans from NY and DC.

The band took the stage shortly thereafter and once again ruled the night.  Here, lead guitarist Evan Field showed off his wireless skilz by touring the room as he cranked out his intricate solo to "Good Enough":


Honor by August perform "Good Enough" at the Brownstone in Paterson NJ  8/12/2010 - Thanks to The Riz Experience

As you can hear, the fans keep up with charismatic frontman Michael Pearsall because they know every word.  Bassist Chris Rafetto is kinda the low-key one, but there are no slouches in this band. Even drummer Brian Shanley gave a long and elaborate solo early in the night.

(From left) Brian Shanley, Michael Pearsall, (Michael's aunt),
(Sunda Croonquist's daughter), Chris Rafetto, Evan Field

Talking to the guys, it's quickly apparent why people were willing to drive five hours each way on a weeknight and stick around to help until the last guitar was back on the bus before starting their long trek home.  You really do feel like that not only do they love what they do, but they very much appreciate the people who come to see them.  For starters, I met them once on the street for two minutes but Pearsall immediately came over and greeted me by name when he saw me.  Field smilingly endured one of my long-winded stories, and everyone is insisting I haul my cookies down to DC the weekend of Sept. 11th for a special show at one of their favorite venues.

I think I'm gonna do just that!  And if the guys are taking the stuff out of the bus when I get there, Instead of heading for the bar I'll grab an amp or a crate and muscle it inside for 'em.  But that says more about who they are than who I am.

My pictures from the show on flickr.  Check out more Honor by August at honorbyaugust.com, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Last.fm

God's Been Good to Me

Mary, Martha & Lazarus of Bethany

I begin writing here from a very "good place". Anyone who knows me well is aware that last summer was, for lack of a better expression, a shit show, bookended by the diagnosis and subsequent death of my friend and bandmate Henry from Leukemia, and punctuated in the middle by eye surgery which left me unable to drive, lift weights or read for the better part of a month. Thanks to the generosity of some close friends I was able to get out here and there but for the most part it was an isolating, unhappy time.

Thus there was nowhere to go but up, and -- being a summer person by nature -- I vowed that this year I would make up for it. Unlike George Costanza, I have thus far not been disappointed. In fact, looking back at what's happened so far, I feel as if someone up there has been stacking my deck in my favor.

Case in point, I found out a few months ago that a band I have loved for years, Chamberlain, had signed on to tour with The Gaslight Anthem this summer. Since they live in Indiana, aren't on a major label and broke up in 1998, I had pretty much assumed I would never see them live. Yesterday, I did, and it couldn't have been better. We got great seats, the weather cooperated, and they started out with one of my two favorite songs of theirs, "Try for Thunder" that had helped keep my spirits up when all the aforementioned stuff was going down last year. Also, I found out while writing this that they released a single "Raise it High" which hopefully means they're planning on doing more work together.

None of this should eclipse the fact that they were opening for Gaslight, the main reason most of the audience was there. I have to say that the audience, which was pretty young, was extremely receptive to both Chamberlain and the opening-opener, Tim Barry. Hailing from Richmond, VA and also the once-and-future(?) frontman of a punk band Avail, Barry is unapologetically rough-hewn and commented that he rarely performs anywhere "as nice as this". At one point he got off the stage with his acoustic and climbed partway up the amphitheater where he performed a song unamplified. Just about everybody quieted down so he could be heard, interrupting him only by clapping along at the chorus. He sheepishly thanked everyone for indulging him, calling his stunt "selfish" when in fact the audience seemed to love it.

I won't go on about Gaslight Anthem, both because I'm sure there will be tons of reviews of their show and I don't know their music that well, but they were pretty energetic and connected well with the crowd, who knew every word of every song. If only their teachers could get them to study so hard! Now I want to go see them again at the Stone Pony next week, especially since (Gaslight lead singer) Brian Fallon is a huge Springsteen fan. The Boss appeared at the Pony last Friday night to play a few songs with buddy Alejandro Escovedo, on whose album he appears, so you never know.

Anyway, I'm going to bed feeling very blessed.

"Try for Thunder"
By Chamberlain (written by David Moore & Alex Rubenstein) from the CDs The Moon, My Saddle and Five Year Diary

I haven't smiled in a long time but I've learned how to look impressed,
learned to lose the dreams I had when I was at my best.
When I was a boy on the back lawn, faith, like a gun,
I'd find and be it loaded or not I'd keep it at my side.

This voice inside keeps saying: "congratulations on what you've done,
on all you are and all that you won't become."
But even when it's hard I guess I'm never where I don't belong
and I'll get there by knowning I'd get there all along.

This life to me it's like a try for thunder.
This sky that I'm under it's the best sky for me.

I've learned less from daylight than from night threatening to leave.
All along my voice goes after what my hands cannot reach.
I ran through the fog without you, through the low hard language of rain,
afraid that if I caught what I came for I'd never want it again.

This life to me it's like a try for thunder.
This sky that I'm under it says God's been good to me.

One night in the rain you set me straight.
You said I have everything I need, and for every slow day in the sun there's two storms in between.
Where I am is where you'll find me at the edge of many things,
hands outstretched, doing circles in the rain, grinning like a thief.

This life to me it's like a try for thunder
this sky that I'm under it says God's been good to me.