Lent has continued to be more exhausting than my usual “Lenten Retreat.”  Week 2 included more music, less cooking, some minor sewing, ongoing reading, and (most important) the start of the 2010 Baseball Spring Training Season!

Music

I hadn’t been to Jazz Ensemble practice in almost a month (due to snow, vacation days, etc.).  This week my violin and I finally got there.  And now we have to come up with a 14-bar SOLO for “Play that Funky Music.”  This should be interesting

Over the weekend I attended a performance by the Mary Louise Knutson Trio, with special guest violinist Randy Sabien.  Picked up one of his CDs to help me with my jazz violin studies.

This week was also the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Chopin.  MPR carried some great concert segments celebrating the event.  And of course I had to pull out my books of Chopin’s piano music (and even ordered some more from the library).

Quite the musical week!

Cooking

I’ve decided one way to spend less money on food during Lent is to clear out my rather extensive pantry and freezer collections.  So this week I roasted some chicken leg quarters (from the freezer) and had them with some beets (from the freezer) and sautéd kale and brown rice (from the pantry).  Then ate the leftover baked rigatoni from a couple of weeks ago (from the freezer).  Next I’ll be whipping up a curry from a combination of fresh and frozen veggies in the frig. That should last a while!

Sewing

Never got back to the big sewing projects started last week, but did manage to do some mending and patching this week.  I guess that is in the Lenten spirit of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.

Lactantius

Made it through Book IV of Lactantius’ Divine Institutes (see previous post).  Still not wild about his style of argument.  Also not sure many of his arguments have the Biblical support he claims for them.  But the group is still interesting, so I will plod on.

BASEBALL!!!

Spring Training has begun.  Listened to part of yesterday’s Twins/Red Sox game.  Another game is on this afternoon.  Probably should take it slow.  Don’t want to wear myself out before the season even starts  I tried not to pay too much attention during the off season.  The Twins actually made some impressive acquisitions (Orlando Hudson, J.J.Hardy).  Maybe now that Daddy Pohlad is gone, the wallet will open enough to produce a winning team.  Not as sure about the Cubs . . . no cable means it will be harder for me to follow them (except when the radio reception from Chicago is good), but that might not be such a bad thing.

Other

Temps were in the 40s most of this week, so I tried to go for a few short (10-15 minutes) walks.  I tend to get post-exertional malaise and/or excessive fatigue and/or post-exertional headache from even the briefest attempt at exercise (other than yoga), but I needed the fresh air.  Also added “take your daily vitamins” to my list of lenten disciplines (along with flossing and drinking more milk).

Disgusted with poor umpiring, the stretched out playoff schedule (which I can only assume was designed by the TV networks), and rather sloppy play, I skipped baseball last night and watched a different LA event: Great Performances broadcast of Gustavo Dudamel’s Inaugural Gala and Opening Night Concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I’m not a big fan of anything in Los Angeles, but MPR has been plugging this concert quite a bit, so I thought I would see what all the excitement was about.

The concert included two pieces: John Adams’ “City Noir” (commissioned for the event) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major. Both provided the “Hello, LA. Here I am. Let’s have some fun.” message that I think Dudamel was going for. I enjoyed “City Noir” more than I expected, especially the saxophone solos throughout, the wide variety of percussion instruments included, the use of piano, celesta, and 2 (!) harps, and the blending of Latin and film noir influences. While the opening movement “The City and Its Double” was a bit chaotic, the second movement “The Song is for You” was lovely, and the third “Boulevard Night” brought everything to an exciting conclusion.

Dudamel’s enthusiasm for the Mahler was thoroughly communicated. Mahler’s First always takes me back to my days as a music student, which means I am amused again when I hear what sounds like “Three Blind Mice/Hot Cross Buns”

For a more authoritative review of the concert, see the LA Times Review.

And catch the replay of Great Performances if you get a chance.

Two wild games today.
The Cubs beat the Phillies 10-5, but they could have easily lost that game. At least twice the pitchers loaded the bases and narrowly escaped allowing several runs to score. But a win is a win, and a win against the Phillies is worth more than the multiple wins against the Nationals. So, good job Cubbies.
Quite the meltdown by the Twins, losing 1-16 in Oakland. I’m worried about Perkins, who hasn’t seemed to be himself since he suffered a high fever just before the White Sox series. I hope the medical team is checking to make sure he really is better and not suffering some long term problem from that fever. But Perkins was only in the game for one inning (plus 2 batters), so obviously the rest of the team needs to take some responsibility for the loss. I’m just thankful that by the time I checked in with the Twins game, the tragedy was almost over.

All of us can use the time off between now and Friday’s games . . . let’s hope that everyone brings their A-game on Friday.

How ’bout that Nick Punto!?! Last night he gets three hits including a homer AND makes an unassisted double play! Great work Nicky! Meanwhile Joe Mauer is in some sort of slump . . . striking out in dramatic fashion . . . Get your head back in the game Mr. All Star . . .

Still need to post about the three Twins/White Sox games. Enjoyed the series, but was pretty exhausted for a week afterward. Thank goodness for the All Star Break.

Piniella banishes Bradley after tantrum | cubs.com: News.

I wish they would banish Bradley to the minors.  I wonder if they thought to put an option in the contract that releases the Cubs from any obligation to pay him if he doesn’t behave professionally (or even like a grown up

Unfortunately, Lou only banished him for the afternoon and will put him back in tomorrow . . . which doesn’t really send much of a message.

Much more to write about the games since my previous post . . . including a confession that I’m now more of a Twins fan than a Cubs fan . . . .  I won’t be changing my blog header anytime soon, but I’m so fed up with the Cubs that I can barely watch them anymore.  Derrek Lee is just about the only decent hard-working guy left on that team.

Too late to go into all that now . . . just wanted to rant some more about Bradley.