Prologue to April

The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
(the opening four lines to the General Prologue)

Middle English
Middle English pronunciation
Modern English

Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote
Wan thot A'prill with his sure-es so-tuh
When in April the sweet showers fall

The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote,
The drewgt of March hath pear-said to the row-tuh
That pierce March's drought to the root and all,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour
And ba-thed every vane in sweech lee-coor
And bathed every vein in liquor that has power

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Of wheech ver-too en-jen-dred is the flu-er
To generate therein and sire the flower;

Precious the Tear as That Rain from the Sky

This MP3 Selection Expired on 03-31-2006:
The Toys (1965) - A Lover's Concerto

Don't Fence Me In

Ferde Grofé 27 March, 1892 - 3 April, 1972

This MP3 Selection Expired on 03-28-2006:
Itzhak Perlman,violin & Oscar Peterson, piano -
'On the Trail' from Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite.

In His Hands

In His Hand are the the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belog to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry Land.

For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His Care. For His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

The Epic David Lean

A Scene from Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

David Lean 25 March, 1908 - 16 April, 1991

This MP3 Selection Expired on 03-26-2006:
Steve Allen Jazz Playing - The Theme from Lawrence of Arabia

Tonight, AMC is showing Brief Encounter (1945). A must see flick for the Lean fans. Incidently, the theme music for the film, appropriately chosen, was Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Lale Andersen's Birthday

The Lale Andersen Statue on Lagioog Island, North Sea
Lale "Lili Marlene" Andersen
23 March 1905 - 29 August, 1972.

This MP3 Selection Expired on 03-25-2006:

Lili Marlene <-- Click on Title to Listen
Lale Andersen (1939 Recording)

Vor der Kaserne
Vor dem großen Tor
Stand eine Laterne
Und steht sie noch davor
So wollen wir uns da wiedersehen
Bei der Laterne wollen wir stehen
Wie einst Lili Marleen
Wie einst Lili Marleen

(At the barracks compound,
By the entry way
There a lantern I found
And if it stands today
Then we'll see each other again
Near that old lantern we'll remain
Just as before, Lili Marleen
Just as before, Lili Marleen)

Unsere beide Schatten
Sahen wie einer aus
Daß wir so lieb uns hatten
Das sah man gleich daraus
Und alle Leute sollen es sehen
Wenn wir bei der Laterne stehen
Wie einst Lili Marleen
Wie einst Lili Marleen

(Both our shadows meeting
Melding into one
Our love was not fleeting
And plain to everyone
Then all the people shall behold
When we stand by that lantern old
Just as before, Lili Marleen
Just as before, Lili Marleen)

Schon rief der Posten
Sie blasen Zapfenstreich
Das kann drei Tage kosten
Kam'rad ich komm sogleich
Da sagten wir auf wiedersehen
Wie gerne wollt ich mit dir gehen
Mit dir Lili Marleen
Mit dir Lili Marleen

(Then the guard to me says
There's tap call, let's retreat
This could cost you three days
I'll be there in a heart beat
So that was when we said farewell
Though with you I would rather dwell
With you, Lili Marleen
With you, Lili Marleen)

Deine Schritte kennt sie
Deinen zieren Gang
Alle Abend brennt sie
Doch mich vergaß sie lang
Und sollte mir ein Leids geschehen
Wer wird bei der Laterne stehen
Mit dir Lili Marleen
Mit dir Lili Marleen

(Well she knows your foot steps
By your own insoucian gait
Every evening waiting for
Me? Memories of late
Should something ever happen to me
Who will under the lantern be
With you, Lili Marleen
With you, Lili Marleen)

Aus dem stillen Raume
Aus der Erde Grund
Hebt mich wie im Traume
Dein verliebter Mund
Wenn sich die späten Nebel drehn
Werd' ich bei der Laterne stehn
Wie einst Lili Marleen
Wie einst Lili Marleen

(From my quiet existence
And from this earthly pale
Like a dream you set free me
With your fragrant lips I inhale
When the night mists swirl and churn
Then to that lantern I'll return
Just as before, Lili Marleen
Just as before, Lili Marleen)

Spring, Sprang, Sprung!

Spring 2006 has arrived!

"I am amazed at this spring, this conflagration
Of green fires lit on the soil of the earth, this blaze
Of growing, and sparks that puff in wild gyration"
--D.H. Lawrence

This MP3 Selection Expired on 03-23-2006:
The Country Gentlemen (bluegrass) - Irish Spring

The Tsar's Bride

Birthday: 18 March, 1844, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.


This MP3 Selection Expired on 03-20-2006:

The Russian National Orchestra - The Tsar's Bride Overture (Rimsky-Korsakov)

Note: This rousing overture is over six minutues long.

Saturday Morning

This post was sent from the mobile iPAQ hx2755.

Italian Cypresses sway
Distant sirens
Dogs howl
Wilting daffodils
New blooms
My shadow and I
Garden path
Warm sun
Wind chimes sing

Some Gaelic Verses On This Day

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

-- Excerpt from the Gaelic Poem “St. Patrick’s Lorica”

St. Patrick's Day (17 March, 2006)

Le grá , Sona Fe'ile Pa'draig ort, Irish.

This MP3 Selection Expired on 03-18-2006:
Mitch Miller and the Gang (1959) - I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover

I'm looking over a four-leaf clover
That I overlooked before
One leaf is sunshine, the second is rain
Third is the roses that grow in the lane

No need explaining, the one remaining
Is somebody I adore
I'm looking over a four-leaf clover
That I overlooked before

Still Breathing

So far so good. Nobody wanted to do me it on this Ides of March. Maybe I'll order a Little Caesar pizza for a midnight snack.

When I Consider

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him? Why do You bother with me? Why take a second look my way?

Because You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from Everlasting to Everlasting - You are God!

What in the Sandhill

Last night's rain shower accentuated this cold, brisk morning. Lingering rain clouds still hovered mischievously on the horizon as I headed north on State Route 99. It would have been the usual Thursday morning commute, except for a rare sighting of a Sandhill Crane. It grazed nonchalantly about a rill at the Delicato Vineyard.

The hustled highway of life passes by too quickly. To have seen the Grus canadensis outside of the conservatory was a special treat. Indeed, the bucolic impressions such as that penned by Po Chu-i (白居易) days are rare in this technologic and impersonal age.

The Cranes
by Po Chu-i

The western wind has blown but a few days;
Yet the first leaf already flies from the bough.
On the drying paths I walk in my thin shoes;
In the first cold I have donned my quilted coat.
Through shallow ditches the floods are clearing away;
Through sparse bamboos trickles a slanting light.
In the early dusk, down an alley of green moss,
The garden-boy is leading the cranes home.

On Lauren's MDS

2123 hours, 6 March, 2006

She is 16 and has ten years to live. She is going to die at the prime of her life.
Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS).


1743 hours, 9 March, 2006, Supplemntal:

Lauren's visit to UCSF resulted in a much positive prognosis. Contrary to earlier diagnosis, her blood-marrow transplant does not require perfect genetically matched donors. Accordingly, a donor could be found in three months. There is a 70-30 chance the transplant will be successful.

In the meantime, Lauren is to begin her clinical trial of a life prolonging drug. The cost for this drug is astronomical. For each 28-day supply cycle, the cost without insurance is seven thousand dollars.

The Portuguese's Birthday Today

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 6 March, 1806.

MP3 Selection Expired on 03-11-2006
Stephen Rhodes: Romance in C

While She Waits

He writes:

in the crucible of darkness
she wipes the shadows of despair
berceuse of childhood brings no sunlights of joy
nor remembrance of mother's bosom and eyes
the phantom dies each dawn
and reborns each night in her heart
but for how long?
the petals entombed in her heart are withering
in the waiting
time stops
always december nights and never the dawns of may

SBC-ATT Customer Service Rating: F-

I called SBC-ATT this evening regarding some billing questions. I was put on hold for over an hour. I finally gave up waiting.

Don't believe what ATT-SBC says about customer support 24/7. They don't have people to answer the phones from Friday through Sunday. In crude slang speaks: It sucks.

Wind Mills

On his birthday, Burt Weill's immortal ballad Die Moritat von Mackie Messer theme from the The Three Penny Opera .

Here is the 1956 Dick Hyman Trio "Moritat" hit recording. Two years before Bobby Darin 's tradmark vocal, "Mack the Knife."

MP3 Selection Expired on 03-06-2006:
With Hyman on the harpsichord: Moritat (Theme from the Three Penny Opera)

A Day of Respite from the Storm

I am always dreaming rainbow and a break from the storming weather. More rain to come.

Today is Chopin's birthday.

Click on the link below and listen to his rainbow impromptu:

MP3 Selection Expired on 03-02-2006:

Maria João Pires - Fantaisie-Impromptu in C Sharp Minor, Op.66 (Chopin)