The Women of Lockerbie, a play

Today Don and I walked part of the distance to Fourth Presbyterian Church at Chestnut and Michigan Ave to attend the “men’s group” script reading presentation of Women of Lockerbie, a play by DeborahBrevoort about the crash of Pan Am 103 in 1988 or so. It blew up over the small town of Lockerbie, Scotland, the victim of Lebanon terrorists.

The play concerns itself with a New Jersey mother who roams the hills of Lockerbie Scotland, looking for her son’s remains lost in the crash of Pan Am 103. She meets the Women of Lockerbie, who are fighting the US Government to obtain the clothing of the victims found in the plane’s wreckage. The women, determined to convert an act of hatred into an act of love, want to wash the clothes of the dead and return them to the victim’s families. The Women of Lockerbie is loosely inspired by a true story, although the characters and situations in the play are purely fictional. Written in the structure of a Greek tragedy, it is a poetic drama about the triumph of love over hate.

The cast is small, consisting of only five women and two men:

MADELINE LIVINGSTON: A suburban housewife from New Jersey. Her 20-year old son Adam was killed 7 years ago in the Pan Am 103 crash over Lockerbie, Scotland.

BILL LIVINGSTON: Her husband, father of Adam.

OLIVE ALLISON: An older woman, from Lockerbie and leader of the laundry project.

Two middle-aged women from Lockerbie.

HATTIE: A cleaning woman from Lockerbie.

GEORGE JONES: The American government representative in charge of the warehouse storing the remains from the Pan Am 103 crash.

I know it sounds like a cliche, but all of us were rivited to the delivery of the words as each actor delivered them. Everyone who discussed it with the actors afterwards, in an open discussion, prefaced their comments with quotes of either a sentence or a paragraph.

The playwrite had Bill nailed down perfect. Only a woman could have. The quote or situation that hit me like a brick was description of having to return a Christmas gift to a 16 year old clerk. And then do it over and over again the same day for the rest of the gifts. It brought it alive. I played it like a video in my mind. I have a daughter who has worked retail since she was 14.

I could go on, but it would ramble. Her words will stay with Don and me for a long time.

joggers along LSD underpass

joggers along LSD underpass
Originally uploaded by finefoto.

Although Don is visiting his son Matt and the new baby, John,
for Johnny’sfirst birthday, I nevertheless decided to take a
walk along thepark.

 It had been warm the previous day and overnight the melted

snow that drained over the jogging paths and sidewalks and

rocks had become a very deceiving thin glaze. On top of the

glaze was a erratic thin drizzle of moisture from fog water

from the melting snow along the side of the path.  Unless the

light was in front of you and glaring off the ice or water, you

did not see it. If jogging, the forward movement would send you

off into space until you landed on your rear end and a sprained

wrist. Luckily I became aware of this and did not experience

this. I recall it happening to me over 15 years ago around this

time during one of our walks just south of Diversey along the

rocks. I landed on my back. It knocked the air out of me and I

couldn’t utter a sound for at least a minute, or longer. 

I had thought of bicycling, but for some reason thought better

of it. I was quite releaved that I did, because of the ice.

It was like bicycling on oil. Some intrepid folks were all

dressed in their colorful spanex and bicycling, but at only 

5 to 10 miles an hour! Not one was speeding like usual. 

I discovered a jogging path now is along the Diversey “rocks”

that now is a rock wall from the south entrance of Belmont 

Harbor to Diversey Harbor entrance. 

Sceary "just do it" stencil graffiti from Portugal

just_do_it
Originally uploaded by cudmore.

I've been flaneuring graffiti and documenting it for over 40 years. A long time in the past I had the cover and 3 pages in the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine about the paintings on the northside lakefront rocks.

So I was delighted to discover the flickr.com site and do a search for graffiti. There are over a thousand photos there of graffite. I have only probably looked at 50 to 70 images yet.

I opened an account there but have only posted a few images. I want to only post low res images so no one can really use them for anything but display on their computer screen.

I found this searching for graffiti again on flickr.com. Photographer: "Graffitti is way cool. This is from Lisboa Portugal, somewhere near the hill leading to the castle. This one is pretty balzy and comes at you from different levels."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cudmore/

"you lie" graffiti rat

you lie
Originally uploaded by niznoz.

I found this graffiti image during search on flickr.com. I saved a 4MB high res version on my HD.

I wrote the photographer and he responded:

"I took it on New Bond Street in Mayfair, a street with a huge number of very expensive stores and I don't imagine graffiti lasts very long there.  Except that these stencils of a small animal look like they belong -- they look as if they are an organic part of the urban

scene, like pigeons -- and so may be ignored by those who scrub graffiti."

Time

http://www.clocklink.com/Clocks/0001-Blue.swf?TimeZone=PST" width="200" height="200" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash

I make L'Opera [Cake]

Well, I actually made the classic French Opera cake!

The process is one hell of a production and took all day, not including the shopping for the ingredients!

Ever since I read about L'Opera mentioned in my research on the web about Paris patiseries, I have been curious about it. It consists of three thin layers of almond cake, each soaked in a potent coffee syrup; a layer of espresso-flavored buttercream; a layer of bittersweet chocolate ganache; and a topped off with a very thin shiny chocolate glaze. I have never had the pleasure of tasting it, so the cururiousity has been even stronger.

Two weeks earlier S and I were at "Bittersweet" on Belmont in our neighborhood and I inquirered if they were familiar with it. They said yes, and they would make me one with two days notice for $25.

Never having tasted it, I was a bit leery of taking the gamble, since they don't sell it by the slice so I could do a taste test.

Since R's B-day was coming up, I decided I would do some research on the web and see what A9.com, my current fav search engine would dig up.

Well it hit pay dirt with the very first item listed: the actual recipe used at Dalloyau patiserie in Paris. It was the one that Dorie Greenspan had gotten directly from the chef there for her book, Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops. S and I had heard her speak last year at the Chicago Historical Society.

First I had to shop for all the ingredients. That alone took a bit of time.

Then I assembled the ingredients in groups for the 6 or 7 layers. Then I dug up all the bowls, spoons, wisks, etc. to make the cake. I had to go out and purchase special longer baking sheets for the thin cakes.

Using my digital therometer, I preheated to the exact correct temperature. I had been warned by culinary student's blog that if the temperature was too hot or I baked the cake too long that I would end up with a hard cracker! Mine were perfect!

I'm going to take a break now, will write more later.

Warm Winter Days and font & color test

Today is as dreary as a London day, gray, foggy and snowing a heavy wet snow on the verge of rain.

It has been extraordinarly warm the last two days with rain. The rain has washed away the 6 to 10 inch snow, but all that moisture has led to soil that cannot obsorb anymore and now heavy fog.

Today RCN was to arrive and plug me into the new wonders of digital cable. Of course "cable guy," who was to arrive between 2 and 5 pm never appeared. Called RCN that issued a investigation tag and was to call me. Never did. Maybe, just maybe it IS time to jump ship with the bankrumpt carrier.

Today Susan had her apointment with the pain clinic and we discussed the possibility of Cryroneo therapy to freeze her nerve endings to relieve her pain. I had done a lot web research and submitted copies of that as well as questions to the doc. He will peruse them and answer the questions and we will discuss it all next month and make a decision.

The following test of fonts and sizes: (the first name is "normal size")

Ariel larger
Courier larger
Georgia larger
Lucida Grande larger
Times larger
Trebuchet larger
Verdana larger
Webdings

Horay! The tree and all the docorations are down & packed!

The task is completed. We managed to get all the ornaments, lights, stockings and heavy picture frame sock hangers as well as all the other decorations, etc. packed away into two large plastic storage containers. By judicious culling we got rid of two corragated cardboard boxes. This is a giant step forward in saving space.

This does not take into accord the medium sized tree Susan places on the buffett that is in the dinning room. Nor does it include the two plastic shirt boxes that contain her sizable collection of minature tea cups, saucers and tea pots that she decorates the tree nor her foot and a half desk top Christmas tree.

We attended David and Gay Anderson's open house in Oak Park this afternoon.

Justin and his wife with their 6 month old child were there. I hadn't seen him in years. I don't think I had ever met her. He is still working at a map company and lives in Geneva, IL.

I custom created a slide show of lo-res images of our trip to the Cotswold villages in the south western area of Great Britain. I did this task to include with with some of my research documents and list of URL's for the area that I sent to Mary Greenough who had ask for any info I had, knowing Susan and I had visited the area in the fall of 2002.

Finally taking down the Christmas tree

Well, we are finally taking all our unique ornaments off our Christmas tree! We have quite a collection, since we've been aquiring additions for over 30 years. Every year we swear we will not purchase any new ones, but always seem to aquire a half a dozen over the year of travel, etc.

This year, as we unpacked them, we discard many. Some we threw out in the garbage. Others our daughter took, and some we hope to sell at a garage sale in the spring.

We hope to cut down on storage space by going through this process. I'll let you know how well I did when I finally start to efficently repack all the ornaments and other decorations in the special boxes we have.

Taking down Christmas decorations: January 7, 2005

Finally taking down the Christmas tree!
Well, we are finally taking all the unique ornaments off our Christmas tree! We have quite a collection since we've been at it for over 30 years. Every year we swear we will not purchase any new ones, but always seem to break down and acquire a half a dozen over a year of travel, etc.

This year, as we unpacked them, we discarded many of them. Some we threw out in the garbage. Some our daughter took, and some we hope to sell at a garage sale in the spring.

We hope to cut down on storage space by going through this process. I'll let you know how well I did when I finally get down efficiently repacking all the ornaments and other decorations away in the special boxes we have.

The Flaneur

::: 90.9 FM WDCB Public Radio ::: Jazz, Blues, Folk, Reggae, Classical Music

::: 90.9 FM WDCB Public Radio ::: Jazz, Blues, Folk, Reggae, Classical Music Listen to some of the best jazz on FM radio and live on the web. All day till evening and then all through the night. Good folk music as well!

Comment

If I ever can figure out how to add photos to these postings, I will. I downloaded "Hello," which is supposed to make it easy, but never seem to be able to find the "sent" images! I think I finally did, so be looking for some image.

CEOExpress: Business portal for executives created by a busy executive

CEOExpress: Business portal for executives created by a busy executive Is a great start page containing great URLs to much you would find of interest.

A few Paris Photos

Some of my Paris Photos that reside at flickr.com. the nude is by David Baily, I seem to recall, not me, but was taken on the street of the apartment both he and we stayed at.

Paris: A glorious sunrise

I awoke to this glorious twilight mid-fall morning view from our Paris garrett. We climb 96 stairs up to what they call the 4th floor, but since they start with a "ground" floor, and don't start with numbers till our second floor, it actually is the 5th floor. Since these old medieval buildings have high ceilings, and, based on 13.6 stairs per floor of our 3rd foor walk up it back in Chi-town, it actually was 7 floors for us! Still we loved it. As I observed this light show I was making strong coffee, cutting bananna, orange and strawberry slices and artistcally arranging them on two yellow plates. I then ran down to the corner and purchased a few fresh crosaint to top off with fromage purchased yesterday from our local fromageri. Could it have gotten much more "romantic" than that?

Paris: Day 2 [Exploring The Marais]

stencil art by Miss Ticf rue Jean d'Arc Marais, 4th arr.

We are staying in the Marais district in the 4th arrondissement (district.)

Until the early 1600s, the Marais was no more than a marsh outside the city walls. But then the apartments that would come to be known as the Place des la Vosges were built -- quite the fashionable address for aristocrats until the court moved to Versailles. This large open square of apartments on the Right Bank has survived scandal, abandonment, revolution and neglect. It is one of the most beautiful and historic squares in all of Paris and is surrounded by 36 symmetrical houses with large dormer windows around its square perimeter. There are arcades on the ground floor occupied by expensive galleries and shops, and cafés filled with people drinking cups of coffee. "Impoverished” street musicians* gather under its arcades. It blocks out the noise of the city while guarding an elegant grassy park of trees, fountains and a children’s playground.

We visited the house at No 6 that Victor Hugo lived at from 1832 to 1848 and now is a municipal museum.

*Like the gypsies and “Original Paris Swing,” a D’jango group Susan & I heard and from whom I purchased our CD from.

The Marais of the 17th-century was a very spacious suburb. The Marais (arr 3 & 4) is a quarter of narrow streets untouched by Baron Haussman's reconstruction of Paris under Napoleon 3rd in 1869, which is the Paris we know today. It seems like a village with its little paved streets and secret passages filled with architectural treasures.

Our hotel, the Hotel de Jean d’Arc, on the one way, one block long rue de Jarente, and our apartment, on the one way, one block long cobble stone rue Aubriot, were a mere two blocks off the hubbub of fashionable Rues de Rivoli with its chic boutiques where Susan purchased a fabulous pair of shoes from a exuberant Italian. The Marais is rue St-Antoine, the boutique shops of Rue Des Francs Bourgeois, the bagel and deli vendors of Rue des Rosiers, the antique dealers of Rue St-Paul, the Musee National Picasso, Place de la Bastille, Brasserie Bofinger and a shop for gift-food, Flo Prestige. It is more like a maze than a real quarter. It was fun to wander about stumbling upon small shops, art galleries, craftsmen, fashion boutiques, chic beauty shops, etc... The photo of walking in the rain was made only a few doors west of our hotel.

Some have been critical of the area since it was gentrified-in-the-1960s when young Parisians rediscovered and moved into the houses with old fashioned fireplaces and timber beamed ceilings, causing prices to rise. The residents of le Marais are referred to as Bobo's, (bohemian bourgeois) multicultural with savoir-vivre. It has a large historic Jewish community around rue des Rosiers and has one of the biggest Gay communities in Europe around rue Sainte Croix de Bretonnerie, and more artists and creative people than in any other district of Paris.

As we stepped out the door of the Jean d’Arc, to the left (west) was the market Sainte-Catherine Certes. The buildings date from the 18th century, but the organization of this charming little square is typical of the Middle Ages. There are only two entrances. It used to be an old market, now there are relaxing chic restaurants with couples sitting outside even in the chill. We sat on a bench and I snapped a mini drama of a couple, enraptured with themselves, as she sat astride his lap caressing with his hair, oblivious to the rest of the world. Not a day went by that we didn’t see lovers openly affectionate with one another...of all ages, of all persuasions. Observing the other diners was fun also as they were absorbed in their conversations. The “market” would be difficult to locate unless we were staying at this hotel.

We found a great stencil graffiti by Miss Tic of a street walker in sexy pose, hip askew, wearing twenties style hose with the seam up the back and a very short skirt graced a wall. The image at the top of the posting is one of her's. I'll try to get around to finding the picture of the street walker and post it sometime.

S and I walked two blocks to the Place Vosages and had lunch. We sat next to an American mother and her early 20’s daughter who were spending a week in Paris. The dynamics of the relationship and how they functioned on this vacation were of great interest, to us.

Paris: Day 1 [Arrival and a Basque dinner]

When we checked in, since we were flying international, we had to check in inside the airport at the regular counter. When we arrived, I checked our larger bag that had whatever metal objects like my SwissTool etc. But then the clerk asked to weigh our roll on bag. Because of weight (over 50 pounds) of our kit bag and other stuff (our diaries, extra eyeglasses, originals of all the burned CD’s of all my digital images of the trip*, etc.) it had to be checked through as regular luggage. We forgot that our daily medicines were in that bag. That created a problem upon our arrival in Paris because the bags got on a later flight than the one we were on. The bags were sent to the wrong hotel as well. We didn’t get the bags for two days. Fortunately, I carry a complete back up medicine and health item kit in his Eagle River back pack and S had enough of their medicine, so it did not present the emergency that it could have.

After a long time of waiting and not seeing our luggage appear on the carousel, it was determined that our luggage didn’t make the connection at LHR. Since we didn’t have luggage, we took the tram into the city and then three subway trains to the area of our hotel, getting off at the Hotel De Ville (city hall) stop. When we emerged in front of it, our reaction was WOW! [This is same exact spot that the celebrated Kiss at the Hôtel de Ville by Robert Doisneau, was shot in 1950. (left)] It is on the fashionable busy Rivoli, named after Napoleon’s 1797 victory at Rivoli. It was designed to be elegant and is similar to Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The Hotel De Ville has a huge block plaza directly in front of it and across from the subway entrance. There was a choir concert in progress. Since we didn’t know exactly where the hotel was from the stop, even though we knew it was only two or three blocks, I tried to use the pay phone only to discover one needed a prepaid card. I waited till a fellow exited a booth and he told use about the phone system and also how to get to our hotel. He was German, so I could communicate with him a bit. Luckily, he also spoke a bit of English.

We made our way to the tiny Hotel Jeanne de Arc, at 3 rue de Jarente, a charming one block, one way street that, to us, seemed narrow enough to be an alley. It is located in the heart of the Marais. It is between rue de Sevigne on the west and rue de Turenne on the east, only one block from the Place des Vosges!
Most taxi drivers didn’t where it was! I had to show them on my marked map. The hotel was built in 1786, three years before the French Revolution. It has been a hotel for over 100 years. The façade is adorned with lanterns. It has wide vertical windows that open easily to let in fresh air and light. Our room over looked the street, but other rooms offer a view on paved courtyards filled with flowers and greenery. The style of decoration is a somewhat eccentric, the mirror in reception is truly bizarre, but the rooms are comfortable and good-sized. Ancient iron banisters lead the way up ancient stairs but a plus was the elevator with a sign advising it was good only for two guests or one guest and their luggage!

Around the corner, just off the Place du Marché Saint-Catherine, is one of the loveliest squares in Paris, a large open area surrounded by a few cafes and shops that used to be the general market. Across the street from the hotel, is a U shaped open area that was the fish market. The fountain that was used to use to wash down the area is still present.

Everyone is bundled up in scarves, but they are still sitting outside of those great coffee shops and restaurants all over the place, complete with propane radiate heaters that look like pedestal lamps!

For dinner we walked a few door west of the hotel to the Auberge de Jarente at 7 Rue de Jarente.

We ate salad and a Basque cassoulet of leg of lamb and pork sausage in white beans and a fully flavored sauce. It was excellent! Reminded me of the hearty meals he shared family style at Basque restaurants in San Francisco in the mid ’70 that no longer exist. We shared a very light and flakey slice of Basque Gateau pie with a thin filling. Since we hardly speak a word of French, the waiter had a bit of fun at our expense.

The photo was taken at the corner of our hotel is a stencil by the celebrated Miss Tic.