Archive for May, 2009

Yesterday, we visited the botanic garden again, and because it was a certain kind of day — slightly rainy, towards the late afternoon — and because there were very few people in the gardens, we decided that we would visit the Japanese Garden, which is the crown jewel of the park.

We don’t go every time we visit the Botanic Garden, partly because it costs money — $3.50 per adult and $2.00 per child — to get in, but more because you have to have the right group of people and the right conditions to enjoy it. It’s not as fun to go to the Japanese Garden when it’s thronged with people. It’s also not fun if anyone in your group is tired, mentally or physically. You need all your senses alert to appreciate the experience.

Entering the garden through a high wooden fence and gatehouse, you look into a tree shaded valley, filled with fenced walkways, rocks, evergreens, ponds, and pagodas. You feel as if you’ve entered a mystical world of history or perfected forms. Under ideal conditions, such as were had on this visit, the garden is almost silent. You move from interest point to interest point, enjoying the water, the trees, the stones and the animals which include squirrels, blackbirds, and koi.

Feeding the koi is something kids appreciate the most. The koi, some of which are over 2 feet long, come to the surface of the ponds, opening and shutting their round mouths for food you buy (just 25 cents) from a dispenser. Children delight in throwing food into the throng of fish and watching them flop around in the water, struggling for a tiny bite. 

The Zen Garden asks you to expand your imagination and try to "reach" for the world of ideas. The viewer looks at the patterns in the sand, and imagines a river.

The Karesansui (I’ve always heard this called a Zen garden) is another important attraction. You walk up onto a wooden deck and make your way around the carefully raked white gravel in the garden, which is shaped to resemble a river. Depending on how long you are able to stay in contemplation, you may have more or less of a feeling of detachment from worldly cares, a kind of acceptance of the idea that all is not as it appears.

There’s plenty more to see (a map brochure offered by the gate lists 19 areas of interest). The entire visit takes about an hour, longer only if you like to sit and contemplate, which wouldn’t be the case if you were me, and had small children to watch.

Photocredits: Flickr Creative Commons, JoshBerglund19

Early Childhood Matters, a public/private partnership program which aims to help young parents get kids ready for kindergarten, will take 500 children to a baseball game on Sunday. The program provides activities, parenting classes, and literacy skills help for children. Good throw by our own Fort Worth Cats baseball team! From a press release by the City:

Fort Worth — A sea of children wearing white and yellow T-shirts will take over a portion of the Fort Worth Cats’ LaGrave Field Sunday evening to watch what could be, for some, their first baseball game ever.

500 youth along with parents, volunteers and staff of the City of Fort Worth’s Early Childhood Matters program received a gift of complimentary tickets to the May 17 game.

• When: 5:30 p.m., Sunday, May 17, 2009
• Where: LaGrave Field, 301 N.E. Sixth St., Fort Worth
• About: Early Childhood Matters (ECM) is a neighborhood-based program coordinated by the City of Fort Worth. It is an innovative public/private partnership that is working toward the goal that every child in Fort Worth will enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life.With more than 400 families and 900 youth, age newborn to 5 years, ECM offers resources that include training for parents, youth literacy skills and general education to support families so that they can better help their children be ready for school. The ECM program is offered at four sites: the North Tri-Ethnic Center, Southside, Worth Heights and MLK. The program is available without charge to families. Community leaders in each of the four neighborhoods serve on Early Childhood Leadership Councils offering advice, support and outreach.

If you haven’t seen the Fort Worth Herd of longhorns walk and trot its way down Exchange street, followed by cowboys in traditional dress, you probably should.  And if you want to get more involved, the Herd’s ten year anniversary will offer a couple of chances. The City will be celebrating by inviting horse owners to ride along, while others are invited to a fundraising dinner.  The press release:

FORT WORTH – The world’s only twice-daily cattle drive is celebrating 10 years with a special opportunity for residents to become a part of the action that draws locals and tourists alike to the historic Stockyards for a rich western heritage experience.

Guests can bring a horse and join The Herd’s genuine cowhands at 11:30 a.m. June 13 as they drive the Longhorns along the Trinity River and east on Exchange Avenue. This year, a 16th steer is being added to The Herd to commemorate the anniversary. Registration to ride in this special cattle drive is $75 and benefits The Outriders of The Fort Worth Herd, a non-profit organization that provides volunteer and financial assistance.

If you prefer to just watch the action, show The Herd your support by attending an anniversary dinner and auction fundraiser at 6 p.m. June 12 at River Ranch, 500 NE 23rd St. Tickets are $100. For more information about the Fort Worth Herd 10th Anniversary Celebration or to reserve your tickets, call 817-336-4373 or e-mail TheHerd (at) FortWorthGov.org.

The Fort Worth Herd was established in 1999 by the City of Fort Worth to celebrate its 150th anniversary and serve as ambassadors for the city. Since its inaugural cattle drive in 1999, the Fort Worth Herd has become the single most recognizable symbol of Fort Worth’s rich western background. Driven twice daily down East Exchange Avenue by genuine cowhands, the Fort Worth Herd offers spectators around the world an authentic glimpse into history.

“In its first 10 years, the Fort Worth Herd has introduced our city’s history and attractions to millions around the world,” says Judge Steve M. King, president of The Outriders. “They have far surpassed our expectations when we started the program in 1999 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Fort Worth’s founding.”

To learn more, visit www.fortworthherd.com.

I have been working as a long-term substitute music teacher, and that means I’ve been working full time. Though I can’t really feel it’s full time when I get out at 3 and can pick up my own kids from school. There is something so precious about the last two hours of the work day — you can rest, drink a cup of coffee, pick people up, talk, cook dinner, and help with homework.

School teaching is work, of course, and when you’re on duty, you’re on duty. As the music teacher, I have five classes from 8:15 to 12:05, and there are NO BREAKS in the morning. Then there’s two more classes in the afternoon. I do get an hour of planning every day, but I have to use it for lesson creation, since I have to come up with something for the kids to do. 

The lessons come out of a group of music books made by Silver Burdett, which combine student texts, large flip books, transparencies, support music, and sets of CD’s. These CD’s in themselves are remarkable. Each grade year consists of 15 or 16 CD’s of music from all over the world and American history, and one CD devoted entirely to Texas music. There are about ten times as many lessons as are needed to complete a school year, and I’m only covering six weeks, but still, in order to teach them you have to prep by learning:

1.  the songs

2.  the history of the songs

3.   the rhythms if the kids are going to play maracas or jinglebells or drums or triangles, and

4.  any dances or hand gestures.

I originally thought this would be a good job for me because it fit my schedule and location needs, and because I was asked — getting a long term job as a sub is at the school’s discretion, of course, and since you get paid more these jobs are somewhat sought after. But I am beginning to like it more or more, even to the level of considering teaching music over the long term. As I walk around the house in the afternoon singing to myself “I got shoes” or “Caballito Blanco,” some of the songs I”ve learned from the music books, and my own children tell me it’s just a little uncool, I say, “Don’t take my music away! This is my job, after all!”

And when the kids at school have a good time dancing the Vibora or the Rock and Roll Hokey Pokey, lessons I found, rehearsed and then taught, I admit, I feel very satisfied. So, for now, I am pleased with music teaching. I’m also pleased with the approach of summer and of payday.

Two friends in the neighborhood mentioned the new City Market (3563 Alton Rd Fort Worth, TX 76109 (817) 921-4020) “Farmer’s Market” to me. One believed that it was a neat idea to put produce on special out on the curb every Saturday and Sunday morning. The second friend thought they were just putting the same old stuff outside as a promotional gimmick.

Sunday morning, when I was down there at about 7:30 doing the weekly grocery shopping, I checked out the scene: a group of boxes of produce of various, similar bargains.

I asked one of the City Market workers where this produce came from. “They ship it up special from Houston every week,” he told me. So there you have it. The produce is special for the “Farmer’s Market” promotion. But it’s still shipped from outside the immediate area. This is not as much of a Farmer’s Market as, say, Cowtown Farmer’s Market.

But it’s not just taking out the same old produce either. How you feel about this will probably depend on your level of cynicism. My feeling? Take what you like and leave the rest. And I chose the garlic and cucumbers.

This is a press release from the City of Fort Worth. It’s a continuation of news about the consideration of new regulations effecting large agressive dogs (I called the basic concern ”large population of Pit Bulls,” but the city stops short of saying that):

What:

The first in a series of public meetings to gather input on concepts recently presented by the city’s Code Compliance staff that aim to be proactive in addressing the growing number of stray animals – particularly large, aggressive dogs – in the city.

When:

6 to 9 p.m. Thursday

Where:

Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s Dorothea Leonhardt Lecture Hall, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.

Schedule of other meetings

• 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 16 – Rose Marine Theatre, 1440 N. Main St.
• 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, May 19 – Travis Avenue Baptist Church, 3028 Lipscomb St.
• 6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 28 – Meadowbrook United Methodist Church, Community Life Center, 3900 Meadowbrook Drive
• 6-9 p.m. Thursday, June 4 – Goodwill Industries, Community Garden Room, 4005 Campus Drive
• 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, June 6 – Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Dorothea Leonhardt Lecture Hall, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.

Fort Worth DNA seems to have started publishing simultaneously with the demise of West and Clear.  With the tagline “written by the community, for the community” Fort Worth DNA offers an opportunity for local writers to put up their feelings on various topics, and in particular

Yes, I’m serious, you can all write there if you like. You just have to register and post. Getting paid will involve having an Adsense account, entering it in your Fort Worth DNA profile, and getting Adsense clicks to generate revenue. Not quite as easy as rolling off the proverbial log.

I was unable to figure out from my perusal of the site who the publisher is. Some wondered if this was another Panther City Media project.  Possibly.  Nevertheless, I am registering for the site. Not to put up content, necessarily, but to reserve a handle. Just in case. 

Because with the internet, you never know which way things are going to go. You know that, don’t you? 

West and Clear, Fort Worth’s flagship blog, is stopping publication. I can’t help but be in shock about this — after all, they appeared to be doing well, with strong readership and regular advertisements from folks like Fort Worth Opera and the Amon Carter Museum, patrons that any local blogger would feel proud to serve. After their long series on the downsizing at the Star-Telegram, could it be that Westand Clear were  not immune to some of the downward pressure in journalism? And what are the factors that drove their decision?

The only real clue they have left is the following statement from their closing post: “Unfortunately, our real-life demands have have left us with too little time to maintain this site in the style to which we hoped you would become accustomed. As a result, this post is West and Clear’s farewell … ”

I understand. Blogging is a (relatively) thankless job with (relatively) poor renumeration. But I have become an advocate, at this point in my writing career, of setting aside some time for somewhat altruistic writing projects like Fort Worth Renaissance.  I also think it’s too soon to tell when the readership, and advertising, for blogs like this one and others could increase. If my experience of the web holds true, we don’t really know what the future holds. Blogging for money is truly in its infancy. The equity and page ranking that West and Clear is giving up could actually be valuable in the end.

Then again, I suppose regional blogging could be a dry well.

All right, finally, I am just really disappointed. That’s the truth.  But, Panther City Media’s throwing in the towel will not effect Renaissance or it’s business plan. We remain committed to covering lifestyle in Fort Worth to the same degree we have been, indefinitely.

Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie
Fort Worth Opera, May, 2, 9 2009
Bass Performance Hall
Review by Dean Cassella

The Fort Opera Festival’s current production of Dead Man Walking, a relatively new (2006) work, has everything that one could hope for in an opera performance except one. The libretto, based on the memoir of a nun, Sister Helen Prejean, who counseled Patrick Sonnier (Joseph De Rocher in the opera), an inmate placed on death row for the brutal rape and murder of a teenage girl and her boyfriend, is riveting and thought-provoking.

Composer Jake Heggie has a profound gift for orchestration, made evident from the first bars of the prelude. The sets perfectly capture the bleak and somber atmosphere called for by the subject. The singers and musicians delivered a powerful, resonant performance worthy of the best halls in North America.

What is missing is melody.

Although I try not to be close-minded about these things, I do tend to approach new operas with a bit of suspicion. We are, for all intents and purposes, still living in the post-Wagnerian world when it comes to opera, and the last serious exemplar of tonal melody (who was himself half-Wagnerian) was Puccini. I actually love Wagner’s works, but I am one of those who believe that the great master set opera down a path that eventually stripped away the medium’s most enduring qualities, qualities at which Wagner himself excelled, despite his (often spectacularly successful) innovations.

Dead Man Walking narrates the last few weeks in the life of a man condemned to die by lethal injection in a Louisiana prison. Amidst the ordeal of his final appeal and last meetings with his mother and brothers, he develops a relationship with a nun who wrote letters to him, presumably under the Christian injunction to comfort those in prison. Through his relationship with Sister Prejean, he eventually comes to accept responsibility for his crime. The final scene—his execution—is performed in absolute silence as he is strapped to a table and hooked up to a machine that administers the poison. The humming of the machine is harrowing, as was the reenactment of the rape in murder at the beginning of Act I.

The melodies throughout are almost entirely dissonant (but in a mild way) except for a Christian hymn sung by the nun in her first appearance. One could almost think of this music as her leitmotiv—or that of “hope”. Although one could argue that this bleak subject matter calls for such a harmonic treatment, and it does, in fact, work most of the time, I nonetheless believe that the work’s impact would have been greater if the dissonance was balanced by some consonance. Rigoletto, after all, deals with some very dark and seedy subject matter, and even has its own version of De Rocher in the person of Sparafucile. Yet that work contains some of the most powerful song in the whole standard repertoire. Another interesting point of comparison is Carmen, the work which began this season’s Fort Worth Festival. As was pointed out in the program, Carmen caused some problems for its original audience because such unsavory characters were singing such beautiful melodies. In Dead Man Walking, scenes which included De Rocher’s mother, either pleading to the parole board to spare her son’s life, or bidding goodbye to him just before he was escorted to the death chamber, were crying out for even a touch of the sentimentality that made opera the art form that it is. Had Heggie used song-like melody, the impact of De Rocher’s execution would have been three-fold.

Bass Baritone Daniel Okulitch, most recently seen locally in the lead role in Dallas Opera’s Marriage of Figaro last fall, gave an outstanding performance as De Rocher, and his loud, edgy voice captured the character perfectly. He also gave a partial reprise of his recent nude scene in Paris/L.A’s The Fly although this time he only strips down to his tighty whities. But the loss of genitalia shock value is made up for by the large number of tattoos Okulitch sports for the role. So far as I can tell, the operatic  ”naked thing” got its start in the late 80’s with Sir Peter Hall casting his wife, Maria Ewing, in the title role of Strauss’ Salome, wherein she takes it all off during the Dance of the Seven Veils, something that has of late seemed almost de rigeur.

Speaking of nudity, the Fort Worth Opera website gave one of those “nudity and mature themes” warnings that usually turns out to be a type of lurid promotion. This was not the case here, because the proviso referred not to Okulitch, but rather to the rape/murder at the beginning of Act I. Although the stage was so dark that it was hard to tell just how much covering the actors had, it was disturbing, if only because the simulation was being done with live people, rather than filtered through a projector lens or monitor. In any case, there was nothing erotic about it (unless you are as depraved as De Rocher).

Prima donna Robin Redmon played the role of Sister Prejean in a very prosaic, low-key way that makes sense, given the character. Her powerful, lovely singing, however, was anything but prosaic.

In conclusion, I believe that Dead Man Walking is a worthwhile experiment, and certainly was worth the time and effort to see. I would encourage others to give it a chance in future productions. Attending the show with me was someone who has active interest in classical music, but relatively little sympathy for modern composition. Despite her initial reservations, she found the production well worth seeing.

But I still wonder if I will ever get to see a new opera in my lifetime that embraces, rather than avoids, soaring melody and song.

My mother sent me this article from the New York Times which says that in New Haven, Connecticut, they are considering allowing up to 6 hens per city lot.  That’s a good thing, I’d say, since I am in favor — major favor — of keeping chickens in town. Of course, here in Fort Worth we are allowed to keep up to 12 hens on our residential lots, a priveledge I have availed myself of in the past.

We are not allowed to keep roosters for obvious reasons. They crow and wake people up. In fact, even if they were allowed, I don’t know if I’d want one. Another important rule is the chickens must be kept 50 feet from the house.  And fenced in, not left running around the yard.