Isabel Trautwein: Bach Ciaccona (In My Living Room)

Bach: Ciaccona (from Partita for Violin No.2)
Isabel Trautwein, violin.
At my home, Cleveland Heights.

Last year Heights Arts' 10th anniversary party had a silent auction where I bid on and won a performance by Cleveland Orchestra cellist Tanya Ell in my living room. This year, at one of the Heights Arts House Concerts, a similar silent auction included Cleveland Orchestra violinist Isabel Trautwein offering her services.

Based how much fun I had the first time I couldn't help but to aggressively bid again. With the privilege of placing the winning bid, tonight a small group of friends and acquaintances assembled in my living room to hear Ms. Trautwein play Bach's Ciaccona, the final movement from his Partita for Violin No. 2.

Before playing, Heights Arts Executive Director Peggy Spaeth provided background for the organization that ultimately made the event possible, and Ms. Trautwein provided a deliciously detailed background not only on the piece but on Bach's family (a line of well-respected church musicians) his life (as one to organize and save his family's music, and as one who travelled with his patron) and on the piece. It is said that Bach was traveling with his patron for six weeks and and upon his return he found that not only had his wife died in his absence, she was already buried. This clearly had a profound effect on the composer.

When the playing began it was almost overwhelming. The Ciaccona, to quote from Wikipedia, "This ciaccona is considered a pinnacle of the solo violin repertoire in that it covers every aspect of violin-playing known during Bach's time and thus it is among the most difficult pieces to play for that instrument." And Johannes Brahms is said to have written that "[o]n one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind."

The Ciaccona runs 15 minutes, 256 measures, exceeding the combined running time of the preceeding movements in the partita.

After the music concluded there was a moment of brief, but absolute, silence before a guest exhaled a "Wow" and the applause erupted. In that 15 minutes of musical passion the rest of the world seemed to stop and when my conscious reappeared it is impossible not to acknowledge this as fantastic benefit to living in Cleveland: Not only do we have a world-class orchestra (and museum and performing arts and...) but the talented individuals that compose those institutions are passionate, engaged, and sociable.

A brief question and answer followed before we adjourned for a variety of foods (many deliciously prepared by Rachel), cheeses, an deserts -- not to mention wines flown in from Temecula, my hometown in Southern California -- and conversation lasting late in to the night.

It was a delightful evening and I hope to host another musical gathering  in the not too distant future.

Lincoln

Paramount Pictures is in my Side Yard (And I Don't Think I Like It)

"Our eyes'll adjust, thank god for the Moon / maybe it's not the Moon at all, I hear that Spike Lee's shooting down the street / Bah humbug ... Bah Humbug" -- Light My Candle from the musical Rent (Mimi and Roger)

It's funny. Growing up in Southern California, home to Hollywood and all that jazz, some people assume that, well, Southern California = Hollywood, and therefore being from SoCal, I must be used to film making. That is not the case*.

No, instead, I'm subjected to the invasive hell of film making in my home in Cleveland Heights. For those who haven't heard, two movies are being shot in Cleveland this summer -- The Avengers (based on the comic book series, we "won" this production after the state of Michigan pulled tax incentives), and Fun Size (I'm still not entirely sure what this one is, but it's Halloween related, and something along the lines of sibling-looses-younger sibling).


I knew Fun Size was shooting in the Coventry Road Business District (aka Coventry Village) because my girlfriend works in one of the retail establishments and was visited by the filmmakers to give warning. What I didn't know was the Fun Size would be shooting at Boulevard Elementary School, my next door neighbor.

That "warning" came when I was woken at about 5:30 AM Thursday by the sound of a fleet of semis rolling into the parking lot next door, then sitting there idling for well over an hour. I am not a morning person. You do not get on my good side by waking me up before 7, much less before 6. (Here's my Twitter status update from when I had attained sufficient consciousness to successfully log on). After a day at the office -- wherein I was generally grumpy -- I came home and I thought it would be alright.

Then they fired up the generators, started trucks idling, and added a pinch of amazingly loud air conditioning running not long after I got home. Right next to my living room and master bedroom windows. (Literally if I opened my living room window and stuck a broom stick out, I could hit one of them). Ok. I can tolerate this for a few hours.

After my violin lesson, I met up with my GF and we hung out for a little while (but not as long as we otherwise might have because I was exhausted after having been woken up at five-freaking-thirty AM.) I go to drive her home and I find a mini-traffic jam, with a Cleveland Heights Police cruiser preventing traffic from entering my neighborhood. Fantastic. Before leaving, I roll down my window and ask the officer what the best way to get back is after I drop her off. "Just tell me when you get back". OK.

After dropping her off, I drive back. The officer gestures to try to get me to take the detour. I wait, roll down my window. "Excuse me, sir!" he comes over and I tell him where I live. He seems irritated, but tells me to wait while he clears out cars, then tells me to hurry. Not having ready access to the public streets around my own home is not doing anything to endear the filmmakers to me. But I make it home.

The generators, engines, and air conditioners are still going at full tilt. I'm tired, grumpy, and irritated. I'd probably be tired, grumpy, and irritated in any event, but the lack of notification from anyone that, hey, by the way we're going to be closing streets, making a ton of noise, and shining lights into your windows on these dates would have at least left me less p---ed off.

For those who don't know there's a common law right to quiet enjoyment: Essentially, as a property owner or tenant, I have the right to occupy my house free from the interference excessive noise, vibration, light, odor, etc. from surrounding properties... and Paramount's operations are most certainly interfering with my right to quiet enjoyment. Cleveland Heights also classifies disturbing noise as Disorderly Conduct**

After making it up to my 3rd floor master bedroom, I found that the noise was even more obnoxious than in my 2nd floor living room. I don't even get undressed. I go out side, corner the first person I see with a walkie talkie and ask for the location manager. He comes over, and we have a discussion. It is now 10:30 PM. I want to go to sleep.

I find out that shooting will be going on for another "5 or 6 hours" after which point they should shut the trailers down, until shooting resumes tomorrow night. Lovely. I have to say that the gentleman I've been speaking with is understanding, pleasant, apologetic, and generally nice -- which forestalled my initial instinct to just call CHPD (or walk over to one of the dozens of officers in the area) and ask that someone be cited for the noise violation. I had mentally prepared myself for an extensive argument, and that turned out not to be necessary.

I go up stairs and take a few Excedrin PM. It still takes me forever to fall asleep, and I don't sleep well. I wake up the next morning a bit groggy (Excedrin PM always does that to me) and make it into the office. After I get home from work, I meet with the contact to sign some paperwork so a check request can be generated. I'm not really thrilled by the offer, but I think all things considered it's a nice gesture from them (and less stress than trying to get an injunction, temporary restraining order or anything of of that sort).

Again last night they fired up the noise makers. I met my GF and a few of her friends for dinner, but made the decision to walk instead of drive to avoid that stress again. I make my way up to bed. The noise is at least as bad as last night. I take two more Excedrin PM. This morning I'm again a bit groggy, and wind up spending most of the day in bed enjoying the quiet. They aren't filming this weekend, they move to Coventry for Tuesday and Wednesday, and will be back at the school Friday. I just hope that they have a little more courtesy moving the trailers than doing it before 7AM

Lincoln

(Top picture is a view of the trailer village that popped up, from my one of my master bedroom windows; bottom picture is a shot of one of the trucks as seen from my side yard)
*- Although my now-deceased step-grandmother's home in Long Beach was used from time-to-time for location shooting (An episode of CBS's Criminal Minds was shot there) and just around the corner from the Ferris Bueller's Day Off house -- I was not involved in any of these.

**- Also included in the definition of Disorderly Conduct "The following acts, among others, are declared to be loud, disturbing and unreasonable noises in violation of this chapter, but such enumerations shall not be deemed to be exclusive, namely [...] (6) Heavy equipment. The use of heavy [...] equipment in close proximity to residential dwellings during the hours of 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m." (Chapter 509.03(b), Codified Ordinances of the City of Cleveland Heights)

Tanya Ell, Bach Cello Suite No. 4 (In my Living Room)

Bach: Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major, Bvw 1010
Tanya Ell, cello.
at My Living Room, Cleveland Heights.

In October, Heights Arts celebrated their 10th anniversary on 10/10/10. A silent auction offered a variety of local arts with the proceeds of the auction to benefit Heights Arts. Tanya Ell, a member of the Cleveland Orchestra, a fantastic cellist, and long one of my favorite musicians, offered herself playing one of Bach's Cello Suites in your home.

I couldn't resist the urge to start the bidding, knowing full well that I would not be the ultimate winner. As the auction progressed a mutual acquaintance snuck up behind me and asked "So, how high are you going to bid on Tanya?" "Like all great artists, the true value is higher than I can afford" was my answer at the time. Ultimately I was the second highest bidder; Ms. Ell was generous enough to offer a second performance. I wasn't passing that opportunity up.

That gets us to tonight: I've been interested in entertaining for a while but there's high inertia: When? Why? and most dauntingly: How?

With wine from my trip home over the holidays (and some supplemental bottles), food from Clyde's Bistro and Barroom just down the street (Thanks to Vivian, the general manager, for an excellent spread and advice that went far beyond catering), some chairs and serving wear borrowed from a friend, the conversation was easy and long lasting -- both before and after Ms. Ell's recital.

And what a recital. Tanya always has a beautiful sound. This was the first time I've heard her play solo and her sound was as intoxicating as any wine; as sweet as any desert. The vibrations resonated as soundly through the feet, up the legs and into the soul as they did off the walls and into the ear. Though Wikipedia notes that "Suite No. 4 is one of the most technically demanding of the suites since E-flat is an uncomfortable key to intonate on the cello and requires many extended left hand positions" one would not get this sense from Ms. Ell's effortless playing. The warm sound warmed the body on a blustery winter night, and in short, this was one of those rare performances that left me tingling.

Between movements and well after the music had finished Tanya shared a wealth of information about the music and fielded questions from the small audience displaying a wonderful knowledge not just of the music on the page but the theory behind the music. As an unexpected bonus, she also played a well-known movement from Bach's First Cello Suite, practically on demand and again seemingly without requiring any effort on her part.

And the true value was much higher than the my winning bid. It was, indeed, priceless.

I can honestly say that my living room has never sounded better.

I had feared that the group would scatter rapidly after the music had finished, but good conversation--matched with the balance of the food and wine--continued for quite a while after the music had stopped.

The words to aptly describe the evening are failing me at the moment, so I shall stop trying now.

I'd say my first foray into entertaining was a success, in no small part to Ms. Ell's generosity and the help and support of everyone who played a part in keeping me sane this week.

Anyone who wants to play a small recital in my living room... I'd be glad to have you!

Lincoln

(p.s. lest anyone have any ideas: As I told someone once, I never claim to be unbiased; I merely claim to be aware of my biases)

Confessions of a Nervous Host: Part I

Friday evening will be the first time I've ever hosted an event... The first time I've had more than two people in my home at the same time... The first time I've placed a catering order.

And I am freaking nervous.

Even if it weren't the first time I was hosting an event, I think I'd be a bit nervous, but the impetus for the get together will make for a truly special and fun evening -- but I kind of feel like it would be nice to have had some practice before hand (but what reason would I have used?)

There's another reason for nervousness that need not be discussed publicly, at least not at this point in time.

The guest list has been finalized and the number is lower than what I originally set for myself as a goal, but in hindforesight (yes, I am making up words) I think the number I have is good. While I had originally been fearful that I'd wind up with a room full of either completely identical or radically different people, I think that there should be a good mix for conversation.

My house is I think the cleanest it's been since I moved in, yet I'm still concerned that it's not clean enough.

Tending to hang on to things longer than I should, I've used this event as an excuse to declutter and organize my house. My garage leaves a bit to be desired, but, it is, after all a garage.

I am so thankful for the friends who have helped keep me in check -- everyone from my hair stylist ("If you've invited them into your home and they don't have a good time, well screw them!") to a close friend ("Just relax, have fun, and whatever will be will be") and Vivian, the general manager at Clyde's Bistro and Bar Room who is being quite generous with advice, food suggestions, and things that I certainly wouldn't have thought of on my own. Those three people, have really helped take the edge off.

And you know what? No matter what I'm going to have fun. And it ultimately supports a cause I'm passionate about (no, that cause is not myself.)

I'm really looking forward to it.

More details will come Friday evening.

Lincoln

With Photos: Real-Life Cops: Over the Parking Lot and Through The Woods...

Over the Parking Lot and Through The Woods the Drunk Driver Goes

One of those less glamorous things, but still a thing that I very much appreciate about living in Cleveland Heights is the Cleveland Heights Police Department. Normally they're pretty much ubiquitous but out of the way; when you call them though...

This department is, from my understanding, one of the most highly educated in Ohio with a shocking percentage holding graduate degrees. To avoid disrupting the neighborhood, they also have a lights-but-no-sirens-unless-necessary policy; tonight, for example, I don't think a single siren was used.

Anyway, tonight I was sitting in my living room starting to type my comments for tonight's Cleveland Orchestra concert when I noticed headlights in the parking lot of the elementary school right next door to my house... These lights would normally catch my attention--since there's little legitimate reason for a car to be in an school parking lot at 10:30 on a Saturday.

Tonight, though, they particularly caught my attention because they seemed to be moving at a very high rate of speed and at a strange angle (what was I saying a few days ago about Situational Awareness?).. sure enough, not long after I had looked up. Crash. I see the lights crossing the line of the fence and small thicket of trees that separates my town home building's parking lot from that of the elementary school. Crash. Bang. The lights haven't slowed down at all. But they disappear from view. I assume that they've hit the driveway and are now out on Euclid Heights Boulevard after taking a rather reckless shortcut.

I dial 911. "Police, Fire, or EMS?". At this point I'm thinking reckless driver. "Police".
"What's going on?" well. You just read the last paragraph.

While describing what I had seen though, I realize that I'm hearing a horn sounding constantly. Not the nice musical kind of horn, either. "I think there's probably going to need to be EMS, too."
"We'll get someone out there."
The call ends.

I run out back to try to find out where the horn is coming from, thinking they might be out in the street. I find smoke coming out of a neighbor's garage. I meet two of my neighbors from across the street who have also come to investigate...one of them is a nurse and makes her way over the mangled bottom of the garage door and into the garage.

"She's wasted."
"Can we turn the ignition off"

The other neighbor is calling 911 again.
I run out into the street to keep an eye out for the police. They're at the end of the street. I flag them down. (side note -- trying to flag a police officer down at night while wearing a black suit is a somewhat daunting proposition).

This is the part I love about Cleveland Heights: Faster than I could time -- no more than two or three minutes -- there were no less than eleven Cleveland Heights Police Officers on scene. Back in Southern California, the two occasions where I had use for police, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department could be counted on to arrive in about half an hour.

The Cleveland Heights Fire Department wasn't far behind.

The worked quickly, took reports. I tried calling my neighbor; no answer. I have no idea who the renters are or how to get hold of them. I keep trying my neighbor.



Meanwhile, the area around my home looks like a real-life version of Cops: two crusiers blocking one end of Euclid Heights Bouleveard, a fire truck blocking the other, in between, another fire truck, an ambulance, and a half dozen police crusiers in between. In the parking lot behind my home there are three more crusiers (as I'm writing this, there are still four back there seemingly providing security until the garage door can be boarded up).



I'm invited into one of the cars to fill out a report (the one in front of the ambulance below) -- this is my first time in the back of a cruiser and I have to say that it's a little tight on leg room but it really smells fantastic. Truly; I need some of whatever air freshener that officer is using, 'cuz if you can make a police car smell that good I can't imagine what you can do with a normal car.



As I'm walking back, the driver passes by on a stretcher. The general consensus is that she's wasted, and the only thing that saved her was apparently the school parking lot has a high enough curb that it slowed her down a little bit.

She still hit the garage door--and the back wall of the garage -- with enough force, apparently, to destroy the bathroom on the other side of that wall.

I have an investigator ring my doorbell a few times between then and now; I give him what information I know. I loan him a copy of the Yellow Pages.

One officer mentions that if it had been you or I driving we'd likely be dead; the amount of alcohol in her system plus the quick response may have saved her.

But Thank God I live in Cleveland Heights, where a under-five minute response time is the norm rather than the exception.

Lincoln

In Photos: A Technology Guy Plays With Drywall (& Technology)

I'm on my way to Southern California tomorrow for a quick-ish holiday family visit... before I leave though, I can proudly check a major item off of my to-do list.

But first...



Since I'm not sure how many posts will come between now and Christmas, before I forget let me wish everyone, not otherwise offended, a Merry Christmas... This is my front door with a live wreath from St. Ignace, MI courtesy of my grandparents and newly-installed handrail lighting in "blue-green" mode (it's capable of about 250 colors)


When I moved in, I had a perfectly nice house, but working in technology -- specifically audio visual integration/automation technology, I had some "upgrades" to install throughout the home -- security, whole house audio/video, lighting, and automation. Living in a vertical townhome, the easiest way to do this was to drop the ceiling in the garage and cut quite a few holes in walls on the upper levels.

It seems I've misplaced all of the real early photos -- the ones showing various bundles with somewhere around 150 wires but here are two early in-progress photos:



My boss -- someone with many miles of drywall under his belt from his own home improvement project -- was nice enough to help patch and blend the drywall in the living spaces of my home but left the garage as a learning lesson for me. I was nervous. I've seen some bad drywall in my time. The actual drywall went up during last spring, budding and taping was a process that I procrastinated on for far too long.

I'm hosting an event (might be a party, might not, the details are still a bit too be determined) in mid-January and between that inspiration and having 3 weeks of vacation to use before the year is up to motivate me to finish things. I have to say that I'm generally quite satisfied.



All of the drywall on the underside of the sofit was installed and finished by yours truly... I wish the areas around the conduit were a bit cleaner, but all-in-all I'm quite happy with the results. You really can't see any of the seams!

Since drywall doesn't really photograph that well -- it is ultimately flat and white -- I figured I'd throw in some photos of the reason I dropped the ceiling:



Go ahead and click the pic for a larger version and a description of what everything is.

Later this year or early next year, I'll put together a post on the AV Equipment Room

Lincoln

A technology guy plays with lumber... (with photos)

When I got my new phone from work a couple weeks ago, one of the first things I did was test the speaker phone to see if it would be usable. I called my boss from my living room. "How does it sound?" I asked "Like you have me on speakerphone in an under-furnished townhouse" was his answer.

Between having eyes that are bigger on style (I prefer clean lines and minimal ornamentation) than my wallet is on cash, it's true -- to take the apt words of my boss "under-furnished" -- Rather than buying pieces I don't love for the sake of owning furniture* many traditional pieces have been temporarily forgone**

For example, my bowling alley of a living room has been crying for something to delineate "living" from "dining" more clearly than the naked back of a sofa. The one piece that I've seen that earned a "eh, I could probably make that work" reaction shocked me away with a $1,900 price tag. Likewise, I was enamored by one of the set pieces from The Cleveland Play House's Around the World in 80 Days, but realized--if by some long shot I could acquire it--its proportions probably wouldn't work.

I've had occasional delusions of building my own furniture (and I do own a respectable, if far from complete collection of tools) but I also realize my own limitations: Mechanical precision is something I appreciate but is not a strong suit. Any design would have to be relatively simple, both to satisfy my desire for clean lines and to address the precision aspect.

The right combinations of light bulbs flicked on while my mom was visiting... a spontaneous visit to the Home Depot lumber department and about $80 in materials later I have "Phase 1" of my sofa table.

Yes, it's pine -- possibly the cheapest solid wood; similar size oak and poplar boards, for example sell for more per lineal foot than pine does for a full 6' board -- but the pieces my mom and I pulled look pretty darn nice, if I do say so myself... and it's real wood, not particle board, press board, laminate, or plywood.

My original thought was that I wanted something "piano black" (e.g. black high-gloss lacquer) but the natural wood is growing on me. Recognizing my limitations all of the joints are 90 degree butt joins rather than the more traditional mitred edges. It looks a little cleaner, but I can guarantee that I'd flub the measurements and waste perfectly good wood... Not having to worry about angles makes the cutting much easier.

Phase II will add a shelf underneath and will turn the "sofa table" into a combination "sofa table/sideboard" and add interface modules for my house lighting system so that the table lamps (to be acquired) can be automatically dimmed with the rest of the lights in my house.

With my mom's extra set of hands (which came in quite handy while navigating a 6' long by 18" wide piece of wood up the stairs without damaging anything as well as while nailing the trim to the top and legs) it took 6 pieces of lumber, 6 cuts and maybe 90 minutes to build. And left a sense of tangible satisfaction when I was finished.

(The geeky touches that prove that it actually is my living room: The Cisco VOIP phone, my violin, and in the background the posters enticing you to visit destinations served by long defunct airlines)

Lincoln
* - The idea of spending (wasting) money on something less than ideal for a nicety such as furniture is repugnant to my "don't do anything half way" motivations...especially if I plan to replace it.
**- It really wasn't that long ago that my nightstand (read: the object upon which my alarm clock sits) was upgraded from "cardboard moving boxes" to "scrap board held up by hastily-assembled 2x4 scraps left over from an earlier project"

My house has bugs...

Not the living kind (well, not many of the living kind -- I did see a lone ant try to sneak through my living room the other day) but the software kind.

As "Meet Lincoln" (over on the right, yeah, right there) says I "Work in technology," and that's about all I can say before most people's eyes glaze over. I work in an obscure corner of the technology world that combines computing and audio/visual -- some call it integration, some call it automation. I do that programming that make all of the toys play nicely with each other.

While my job has be doing exclusively commercial projects (casinos, hotels, government facilities, conference centers, schools, theatres, etc.) I've programmed the automation system for my home. It's cool: I can turn all of the lights in the house off from one button, I can adjust the air conditioning from anywhere in the world with Internet access, one button turns the TV on, sets the lighting "mood" (based on the time of day), gets the TiVo ready... the ultimate universal remote.

My house also does a fair amount of "thinking" on it's own -- as I joke around the holidays "It knows when you're sleeping, it knows when you're awake, and it kind of knows if you've been bad or good". If I arm the security system (from a convenient wall-mounted or wireless touchpanel, my iPod, or any number of other interfaces) it turns off anything I've left on, and sets a lighting look. If I've left a window open, it won't let the air conditioner run...

But the downside to this intelligence is complexity: With a normal home, you flick the light switch and the light comes on, if it doesn't either there's a power failure or the light has burned out. Not so in my house: It could be a programming problem. This weekend while trying the next cool new toy (and that's really all I can say thanks to a non-disclosure agreement) there were some lights I couldn't turn on...and others I couldn't turn off. Do you realize how bloody frustrating that is?

But aside from that little issue, my house has enough annoying quirks, largely from organic growth since I first conceived the system nearly 3 years ago -- and features that I forgot to add the first time around -- that I've decided to just reprogram my house from scratch. Yes. I am reprogramming my house. The dark side to the house of the future.

But I enjoy solving the puzzles.
Lincoln
(As a point of reference -- the MSRP for the control equipment (not including displays, aplifiers, wire, installation labor, etc) is just about $60,000. Of course, I didn't pay anywhere near that, but it's still far from an "every home" solution). It also explains why I'm still driving a 10 year old car.

Merry Christmas & I'm covered in paint

First... wishes for a Merry Christmas for those whom aren't offended by such wishes.

Since it seems like a waste of a blog post to end there...

The paint on the ceiling of my living room/dining room/kitchen (the wonders of an open-floorplan townhouse) has been mildly annoying me for a while now. Roller marks were visible from the previous painters, and I didn't exactly help matters with some "touchup" work I did a few months ago. (Having the laundry on the 3rd floor is awfully convenient but it makes for lots of collateral "fun" if you ever have a leak)

I don't like painting generally and I hate painting ceilings -- the painting itself can be fun, but the prep and cleanup is interminable.

But between the fact that I don't need to be back in the office for 12 days and the fact that my annoyance with the quality of the paint has overwhelmed by hatred for painting I decided to tackle that task. I have to say that it looks much better then when I started...

I have to say for 3 hours of prep, 700 square feet of plastic drop cloth, a few hundred yards of painter's tape, and a gallon of paint (totalling about $60) it turned out refreshingly well.

I'm not sure though if I managed to get more paint on myself or on the ceiling and will probably be picking ceiling paint out of my hair well into the new year.

Lincoln