Haikus: April 2009

HAIKUS: April 2009

By Peter Y. Chou
WisdomPortal.com

These haikus were written as exercises in mindfulness—
an attempt to catch the fleeting moment in my daily walks,
while reading, listening to music, and pondering about life.
(Underlined words are not for emphasis but to web links.)
This web page best viewed with Times font size 14.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 11:44-11:53 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Antonin Dvorak
Czech Suite in D major, Op. 39 (1879)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

A graceful polka
wakes me from a dream
where I asked her for the dance. Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 1:03-1:32 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Sergei Rachmaninoff,
Piano Concerto #2, Op. 18 (1901)
Listen, CD, YouTube

The hypnotist said:
"You'll write beautiful music"—
Rachmaninoff did!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 4:00-7:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Formatting 40 photos from Sunday Hike at
Santa Teresa Park & Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch

Santa Teresa Springs
water healed the Ohlone
tribe from dying out. Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 7:00 pm-1:00 am
Green Library, Stanford University
Composed web page on Professor Dupuy's class
"Problem of Evil in Literature, Film, Philosophy"

Must we need evil
to confront in life so
that we may do good?

Thursday, April 2, 2009, 11:18-11:30 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata #10 in G, Op. 14 #2 (1799) (Listen)
(CD) (YouTube); Camille Saint-Saens's memory

At the age of ten
he could play all 32
Sonatas from memory. Thursday, April 2, 2009, 12:29-12:48 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven (1809)
Piano Concerto #5 in E-Flat, Op. 73 "Emperor"
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: Glenn Gould)

This was Beethoven's
last piano concerto—
later called "Emperor".

Thursday, April 2, 2009, 7:30-9:20 pm
Stanford Theatre: (wrote haiku before film & fire)
Charles Vidor directs "Cover Girl" (1944)
starring Rita Hayworth & Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly removed
the walls so he could dance
along an entire street. Thursday, April 2, 2009, 9:30-11:10 pm
Stanford Theatre: Delbert Mann directs
"Separate Tables" (1958), starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, & Wendy Hiller

A seaside hotel
where guests harbor secrets
at separate tables.

Thursday, April 2, 2009, 7:40 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
Movie screen goes dark during
showing of "Cover Girl" (1944)

Someone shouts out "FIRE!"—
the nitrate film reel explodes—
projector ablaze! Thursday, April 2, 2009, 7:50 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
Fire engines and police cars arrive
at 221 University Avenue (News: 1, 2)

People streaming out
of theatre without panic—
Free pass for next film.

Friday, April 3, 2009, 12:08-12:19 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Stefan Ruha
plays Ciprian Porumbescu,
Ballade for Violin & Orchestra, Op. 29 (1880),
(Listen), CD, YouTube, Notes

Romantic piece on
the violin for lovers
from a Romanian! Friday, April 3, 2009, 12:26-12:37 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Yo-Yo Ma
plays Johann Sebastian Bach,
"Jesu, joy of man's desiring" BWV 147 (1723)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Joy of man's desire
to be complete— not knowing
he's already whole.

Friday, April 3, 2009, 7:30-9:30 pm
Friends' House, 957 Colorado Avenue, Palo Alto
Waverley Writers Monthly Poetry Reading—
Tom "Bubbles" Digby read poem "Realities?"

She would no longer
be afraid to look at things
that might be magical. Friday, April 3, 2009, 9:15-9:20 pm
Friends' House, 957 Colorado Avenue, Palo Alto
Waverley Writers Monthly Poetry Reading—
Read my poem "Song of the Self" (Notes)

Read my longest poem
"Song of the Self" in response
to Whitman's classic.

Saturday, April 4, 2009, 10:50-10:54 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Erik Satie,
Poudre d'or "Gold Dust" (1901)
(Listen), (CD), [Recall: Jan Gossaert,
Zeus as shower of gold falls on "Danae" (1527);
More paintings of Danae and shower of gold]

Danae locked in cell
by the King— but Zeus came in
as gold dust from roof. Saturday, April 4, 2009, 12:00 pm
White Plaza, Stanford University
Flyer on film screening: "This Dust of Words"
on Elizabeth Wiltsee, Stanford grad with IQ 200
who died homeless; John Felstiner's article
(Stanford Magazine, Sept.-Oct. 2001)

This dust of words have
helped us get this far,
not very far, far enough.

Sunday, April 5, 2009, 11:52 am-12:24 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony #2 in D major, Op. 36 (1802) Analysis
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube), (Premiered Apr. 5, 1803)

Premiered today 1803
Vienna— Beethoven's
Second Symphony Sunday, April 5, 2009, 12:55 pm
Galvez Mall, Stanford University
Oak Tree in front of Encina Commons
Basket from the Zodiac constellations? (Photo)

Twelve branches reaching high
for blessings from the sky—
O beautiful oak!

Sunday, April 5, 2009, 1:15 pm
Cummings Art Building, Stanford University
Lobby Art Exhibit: "Beauty First" (Photo 1)
Plastic disposables found at Kehoe Beach

Beachcombers gathered
two tons of plastic waste
from the beach for this show. Sunday, April 5, 2009, 1:20 pm
Cummings Art Building, Stanford University
Lobby Art Exhibit: "Beauty First" (Photo 2)
By Judith Selby Lang & Richard Lang

Truck, sailboat, jet plane,
butterfly, spider, horse, fish—
all toys from the sea!

Sunday, April 5, 2009, 1:20 pm
Cummings Art Building, Stanford University
Lobby Art Exhibit: "Beauty First" (Photo 3)
Plastic disposables found at Kehoe Beach

Plastic trinkets washed
up from the sea— some from
halfway around the world! Sunday, April 5, 2009, 1:20 pm
Cummings Art Building, Stanford University
Lobby Art Exhibit: "Beauty First" (Photo 4)
Plastic toy soldiers washed up from the sea

Did waves from the sea
swallowed up these soldiers
manning some sand castles?

Sunday, April 5, 2009, 7:00-8:43 pm
Roble Hall Theater, Stanford University
"This Dust of Words": Documentary film
on Elizabeth Wiltsee and Q&A session
with director Bill Rose & John Felstiner

A luminous film,
a mysterious woman
touching the sublime. Sunday, April 5, 2009, 8-11:48 pm (went @ 9 pm)
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University
Stanford Flicks : David Fincher directs
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008)
starring Brad Pitt & Cate Blanchett

Baby born as old man
who grows younger with age
reversing the clock.

Monday, April 6, 2009, 10:54-11:06 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Gustav Holst
The Planets: Mars, Bringer of War (1916)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: Mars Rover)

Mars Rover launched to
the Red Planet to explore
its terrain for life. Monday, April 6, 2009, 11:26 am-11:39 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven (1804)
Symphony #3 in E flat major, Op. 55 "Eroica"
Analysis, (Listen) (CD) (YouTube), Notes

Eroica has King
and Ace in its letters—
a good polka hand!

Monday, April 6, 2009, 3:15-6:30 pm
Building 260, Room 002, Stanford University
Professor Jean-Pierre Dupuy, FrenGen 265:
"Problem of Evil in Literature, Film, & Philosophy"
Lisbon Earthquake 1755: Voltaire & Rousseau

Rousseau argues that
natural evil is man-made—
punishment from God. Monday, April 6, 2009, 8:00-9:20 pm
Hewlett Teaching Center, Room 200, Stanford
Prof. Alexander Vilenkin, Tufts University
Hofstadter Lecture: "Many Worlds in One" Interview 9-9-2007, Book

There are infinite
universes just like us—
We are not unique.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 1:06-1:45 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Lang Lang plays Beethoven,
Piano Concerto #1 in C major, Op. 15 (1797)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Third movement: Rondo
Allegro scherzando ends
with dynamic tempo. Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 2:30-5:00 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me grocery
shopping at Longs and Safeway; also
to Los Altos Library returning DVD

Green grapes, strawberries,
broccoli, butter, coffee cake,
and canned apricots.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 11:14-11:28 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Hilary Hahn
plays Johann Sebastian Bach,
Violin Concerto #1 in A minor, BWV 1041 (1720)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: Hilary Hahn "an old soul")

Waking up to Bach's
music that lifts me higher
to heavenly realms. Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 1:58-2:03 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Simon Trpcesk
plays Claude Debussy (1890) (April Full Moon 4/9)
Suite bergamasque: 3rd movement, Clair de Lune
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: David Oistrakh)

Full Moon of April—
Frog Moon, Pink Moon, Planter's Moon
bring the May flowers.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 7:30 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Rodin's "The Hand of God" (1907)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Recalled Rodin when seeing "Cosmic Hand"

Rodin's Hand of God
molding man in his image
not from dust but Mind. Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 7:45 pm
Image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope:
Pulsar PSR B1509-58 spinning 7x per second
17,000 light years away resembles "a hand
reaching for some cosmic light" (News: 1, 2)

This Cosmic Hand is not God
for there's no need to
reach when you're the Light.

Thursday, April 9, 2009, 1:40-2:05 am
Walk from Stanford Oval down Palm Drive
to Palo Alto Cal-Train Depot for Bus #22
Midnight Express Bus didn't come at 1:14 am

Full Moon in a haze
like mothball in the Black Sea
than a dazzling pearl. Thursday, April 9, 2009, 2:05-2:41 am
Palo Alto: Cal-Train Depot
Waiting for next Bus #22 at 2:41 am
Pondering on Rousseau's idea on evil

Natural disasters
not caused by hand of God
but are really man-made.

Thursday, April 9, 2009, 10:24-10:33 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Giuseppe Verdi,
Aida: Triumphal Scene "Gloria all' Egitto" (1871)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Trumpet blasts welcome
Egyptian troops home
victorious in battle. Thursday, April 9, 2009, 10:52-10:55 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: George Frederick Handel
Solomon: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, HWV 67
(1748), (Listen) (CD) (YouTube) (2 Chronicles 9.13)

Queen of Sheba brings
666 talents of gold
for King Solomon.

Thursday, April 9, 2009, 4:15-5:45 pm
Encina Hall West, Room 208, Stanford University
Prof. Jay L. Garfield, Smith College
"What Is It Like to Be a Bodhisattva? Moral Phenomenology in Santideva's "Bodhicaryavatara"

Bodhisattvas come
back to enlighten others
again and again. Thursday, April 9, 2009, 7:00-9:00 pm
Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University
Ayesha Khan directs "Kashf:
Lifting of the Veil" (2008, Pakistan)
and discussion with the director

Armaghan returns
home to Pakistan in search
of his Sufi master.

Friday, April 10, 2009, 10:29-10:31 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven,
Piano Sonata #25 in G, Op. 79 "Cuckoo" (1871)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: Brendel)

Solitary bird
with wide repertoire of calls—
much like Beethoven. Friday, April 10, 2009, 10:36-10:47 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Gioachino Rossini
La Gazza Ladra (Thieving Magpie): Overture
(1817), (Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Servant saved from death
for stealing food later found
to be a magpie.

Friday, April 10, 2009, 5:45-6:45 pm
Levinthal Hall, Stanford Humanities Center
Avatars: Personae, Heteronyms, Pseudonyms Keynote Address by Matteo Bittanti:
"WYSIWYG, Avatars, Doppelgängers, Performers"

His avatar has
taken over his life—
that is somewhat scary. Friday, April 10, 2009, 7:00-10:00 pm
Green Library, Stanford University
Composing web page on "Simone Weil on Evil"
Typing Evil Chapter from Gravity and Grace
Simone Weil: Wikipedia, Weil News

Good is that which gives
more reality to beings—
evil, the reverse.

Saturday, April 11, 2009, 9:14-9:25 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Camille Saint-Saens,
Havanaise in E major, Op. 83 (1887)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: Jascha Heifetz)

Lovely violin tunes
from Camille Saint-Saens waking
me up this morning. Saturday, April 11, 2009, 10:36-10:47 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Frederic Chopin
Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66
(1834), (Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Fantasy-like tunes
similar to Beethoven's
Moonlight Sonata.

Saturday, April 11, 2009, 11:44 am
Art Library, Stanford University
Web page to my niece Marissa
for her Sweet Sixteen birthday
with 16-petals Rhapsody in Blue rose

May the 4x4
magic square of Jupiter
bring you lots of joy. Saturday, April 11, 2009, Noon-2:45 pm
Building 300, Room 300, Stanford University
Film: Benjamin Britten's opera "Billy Budd"
(1966), with Peter Pears as Captain Vere
and Theodor Uppman as Billy Budd

Beauty, handsomeness,
and goodness must be destroyed
by the evil ones.

Sunday, April 12, 2009, 2:00 am
Mountain View: Reading Dupuy's FrenGen265:
G.K. Chesterton's "Innocence of Father Brown:
Story 11: The Sign of the Broken Sword" (1911)

Evil most foul—
hiding one's crime by leading
a thousand men to death. Sunday, April 12, 2009, 1:25 pm
Mountain View: Walking down Latham Street
to Showers Drive for Stanford Shuttle Bus
to campus and watching a breathtaking view

Whisk of cirrus clouds
like islands near Sumatra—
hawk glides in blue sky.

Sunday, April 12, 2009, 5:11 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
"Galapos Volcano Erupts, Could Threaten
Wildlife" (Associated Press, April 12, 2009)
Is this a case of natural evil or moral evil?

Galapos Volcano
erupts— did the tortoise
do some evil? Sunday, April 12, 2009, 8:00-10:20 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University
Stanford Flicks : Edward Zwick directs
"Defiance" (2008), starring Daniel Craig,
Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, & George MacKay

Four brothers flee to
forest to avenge their parents
killed by the Nazis.

Monday, April 13, 2009, 12:33-12:41 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Joshua Bell
plays Antonio Vivaldi,
Four Seasons: "Winter" Op. 8 #4 (1725)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Vivaldi's "Winter"—
pizzicato-like snowflakes
falling one by one. Monday, April 13, 2009, 12:41-12:45 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Yundi Li
plays Frederic Chopin
Nocturne #5 in F-Sharp, Op. 15 #2
(1831), (Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Chopin's Nocturnes
so relaxing to listen—
so dreamy and sweet.

Monday, April 13, 2009, 3:15-6:30 pm
Building 260, Room 002, Stanford University
Professor Jean-Pierre Dupuy, FrenGen 265:
"Problem of Evil in Literature, Film, & Philosophy"
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "Emile"

The evil you do
and the evil you suffer,
both come from yourself. Monday, April 13, 2009, 4:20-5:55 pm
Building 260, Room 002, Stanford University
Jean-Pierre Dupuy, FrenGen 265 Screening:
Peter Brooks directs "Lord of the Flies" (1963)
based on William Golding's novel (1954)

Drumbeats gets louder
as the boys become tribal
rampant savages.

Monday, April 13, 2009, 7:00-8:30 pm
Kresge Auditorium, Stanford University
James M. McPherson, Princeton University
Presidential Lecture: "But There Was No Peace:
The Aftermath of the Civil War" (Bibliography)

After Appomattox,
the War still raged on
in the House and Senate. Monday, April 13, 2009, 9:45 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
1755 Lisbon Earthquake inspired theodicy.
A 6-year old Goethe expressed doubt of God
and wrote poem Prometheus (1774) at age of 25

Where's your mercy for
the afflicted? Where's your ear
to hear our sorrows?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 11:44-11:52 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Tomasso Albinoni / Remo Giazotto
Adagio for Organ & Strings in G minor, (1945)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Albinoni's Adagio
reworked by Giazotto—
soaring and sublime. Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 12:12-12:25 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludovico Einaudi
"Two Sunsets" (Due Tramonti) (2003)
CD, (Listen), YouTube

Saw double sunrise
one morning at Lake Copco
walking in the hills.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 2:00-3:00 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me grocery
shopping at Safeway on California Street
with strong gust of wind (45 mph)

Green beans, radishes,
deviled-eg potato salad,
mango ice cream, milk. Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 5:15-7:00 pm
Building 60, Room 120, Stanford University
Prof. Gregory Currie, University of Nottingham
Lecture: Dis-Interpreting "The Birds"

Too much interpretation
doesn't add more meaning
to Hitchcock's The Birds.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 12:05-12:12 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Gustavo Dudamel
conducts Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony #5 in Eminor, Op. 64, (1888)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Tchaikovsky's waltz from
his Fifth Symphony wakes me
up wanting to dance. Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 12:12-12:25 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony #4 in B-Flat, Op. 60 (1807), Analysis,
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube), Premiered March 1807:
Coriolan Overture, Piano Concerto #4, Symphony #4

Beethoven premiered
three works at Prince Lobkowitz's
home on the same day.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 6:12-7:02 pm
Pigott Hall, Bldg 260, Rm 113, Stanford University
Ziba Karbassi, Lecture & Reading: "Breath Poetry"

Poetry of breath is
words in sensual movement
in constant lovemaking. Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 7:15 pm-1:00 am
Green Library, Stanford University
Web page on Proclus' "On Existence of Evils"

There is no warmth in snow
nor cold in fire, hence
there's no evil in God.

Thursday, April 16, 2009, 10:34-10:37 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Percy Grainger
Molly on the Shore for String Quartet, (1911)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Molly on the Shore—
lively Irish fiddle tunes
for contra-dancing. Thursday, April 16, 2009, 10:51-11:00 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Felix Mendelssohn
Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Op. 27 (1828)
(Listen) (CD) (Goethe's poems, 1795)

Mendelssohn inspired
by poems of Goethe composed
Calm and Prosperous Sea.

Thursday, April 16, 2009, 12:12 pm
Home in Mountain View: Reading article
"Next to nothing is more than enough"
(San Jose Mercury News, 4-16-2009, 1B, 5B)
on Peter Lawrence, choosing a minimal life (Book)

The Happy Minimalist
in his near empty condo—
blessed and content. Thursday, April 16, 2009, 5:30-7:20 pm
Cummings Art Building, AR2, Stanford University
Prof. Finbarr Barry Flood, New York University
Lecture: "The Trouble with Images: Aniconism,
Iconoclasm, and the Representation of Islam"

Islamic defacement
of facial images
for religious reasons.

Friday, April 17, 2009, 10:46-10:50 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Karl Jenkins
Palladio "Diamond Music" (1996)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: orchestra, piano)

Diamond commercials
made Karl Jenkins' Palladio
a one-hit wonder. Friday, April 17, 2009, 10:50-11:07 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Georges Enesco
Romanian Rhapsody #1 in A major, Op. 11 (1901)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Frenzy music at the end
that spinning Cossack
dancers can't keep pace.

Friday, April 17, 2009, 7:30-8:55 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
Victor Sjöstrom directs "The Wind" (1928)
starring Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson,
Montagu Love & Dorothy Cumming

She goes mad in sandstorm
that uncovers the dead
rapist she buried. Friday, April 17, 2009, 9:05-10:30 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
William Dieterle directs "Portrait of Jennie" (1948)
starring Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten,
Ethel Barrymore, & Lillian Gish

Painter falls in love
with a girl in Central Park
from another time.

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 3:09-5:30 am
Home in Mountain View: Cooking fried noodles
with ten vegetables for Sally's Potluck Party

Broccoli, carrots, peas,
green beans, green onions,
cabbage, radishes, wheat gluten,
bamboo shoots, water chestnuts. Saturday, April 18, 2009, 11:39-11:47 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: George Frideric Handel
Concerto Grosso in C major, "Alexander's Feast"
HWV 318 (1740), Listen, CD, (YouTube)

Handel's Concerto
Grosso "Saint Cecilia's Day"
wakes me up today.

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 12:42 pm
Mountain View: Walking down Latham Street
to Shower's Drive for Shopping Express
Shuttle Bus to Stanford campus

A lone crow perched on
lamp post like a sentinel
"caw caw" as I pass. Saturday, April 18, 2009, 2:00-4:30 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Typing Hsün Tzu's Chapter 23
"The nature of man is evil"

Man's nature is evil—
propriety and righteousness
must be taught.

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 7:30 pm
Los Altos Hills, Sally's Potluck Party
After dinner, I am alone looking skyward
while the crowd is focused earthward.

Three deer graze on lawn
in Sally's backyard as crowd
gathers to watch them. Saturday, April 18, 2009, 8:45-11:50 pm
Cubberley Pavilion, Palo Alto
Ballroom dancing: Michelle Regal
teaches Nightclub Two-Step sequence

Outside turn, promenade,
pivot, skating hold, loops
overhead, woman ronde, basic.

Sunday, April 19, 2009, 12:50 pm
Mountain View: On Stanford Shuttle Bus
passing Showers Drive & El Camino Real
and noticed Focus Optical store sign

Black store-front sign badly
designed as shadow casts
blur that's hard to read. Sunday, April 19, 2009, 2:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University, Reading:
"Setting a World Record: Conch-Shell Blowing",
Symbolism: "Lord of the Flies" Conch Shell

127 people
gathered at Key West
blowing conch shells.

Sunday, April 19, 2009, 5:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Recalling Finbarr Barry Flood's
Lecture on Islamic iconclasm
& Picasso's "La Femme Fleur" (1946)

Picasso's Andalusian
Muslim blood made him
paint woman as flower. Sunday, April 19, 2009, 11:00 pm-2:00 am
KSFO 560 AM: Coast-to-Coast AM
George Knapp interviews Paul Von Ward
on "Reality of Reincarnation"
(Book, January 31, 2009 interview)

Unknown knowledge or skills,
body features and traits
point to your past lives.

Monday, April 20, 2009, 2:00-7:15 am
Home in Mountain View: Reading Melville's
novel "Billy Budd", and finding Claggart's
sudden death similar to Ananias in "Acts" V.1-6

Angel of God strikes
down Ananias and Claggart
for not being truthful. Monday, April 20, 2009, 6:54-7:00 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Giovanni Battista Martini
Plaisir d'amour "The Joys of Love" (1775)
Listen, CD, (YouTube), Elvis song

"The Joys of Love" must have
inspired Elvis to sing
"Can't Help Falling in Love".

Monday, April 20, 2009, 12:36-12:42 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Gordon Hunt plays
Domenico Zipoli, Elevazione "Ascension"
(1716), (Listen) CD, YouTube

Zipoli's Ascension
lifts our hearts to beauty,
truth and goodness. Monday, April 20, 2009, 1:01-1:30 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony #101 in D "Clock" (1794)
Listen, CD, YouTube

Where's the cosmic clock?—
Is it the planets circling
around the sun?

Monday, April 20, 2009, 3:15-6:15 pm
Building 260, Room 002, Stanford University
Prof. Dupuy, FrenGen 265: "Problem of Evil
Discussions of Herman Melville's "Billy Budd"
& Benjamin Britten's opera "Biily Budd" (1951)

Claggart's soul is dark
so he must kill Billy Budd
who is the good light. Monday, April 20, 2009, 8:00-8:48 pm
Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University
Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Poetry Reading
(Poetry Foundation, Poems, Wikipedia)
Read poem "The Orchard" (2004)

The fruit in my hand
warm like a heart smelled
of myrrh, burning blood, and gold.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 9:03-9:09 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Edvard Grieg
"Wedding day at Troldhaugen",
Op. 65, #6 (1896)
Listen, CD, YouTube

Norwegian gnomes stomp
around as Grieg's Troldhaugen
wakes me up today. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 11:00-11:48 am
Terrace Room, Building 460, Stanford University
Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Poetry Colloquium
When Brigit says it's her birthday, Tobias Wolff
tells her "You share birthday with John Muir"

"Do you write poetry?"
she asked the truck driver
who said "Doesn't everybody?"

Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 12:11-12:30 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax,
Pamela Frank, Rebecca Young, Edgar Meyer
play Franz Schubert, "Trout" Quintet in A (1819)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Today is Earth Day
and they're playing Schubert's
Trout Quintet— how lovely! Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 1:00-1:30 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Violin Concerto #5 in A major K. 219 "Turkish"
(1775), (Listen), CD, YouTube
Turkish Music Style

Mozart called this piece
"Turkish" for the percussions
in the last Rondo.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 7:55-9:30 pm
Encina Hall, Room 202, Stanford University
John R. McRae, Shinnyo-en Visiting Professor,
"Critiquing the Critique of Buddhist 'Enlightenment Experience'" (Critiquing Robert Sharf's negativity)

Oriental monks
are humble and rarely talk
of their experience. Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 7:55-9:30 pm
Encina Hall, Room 202, Stanford University
John R. McRae, Shinnyo-en Visiting Professor,
"Critiquing the Critique of Buddhist 'Enlightenment Experience'" (Critiquing Robert Sharf's negativity)

A monk Huining, dead
for seven days, came back
and told of time in hell.

Thursday, April 23, 2009, 3:00-4:35 am
KSFO 560 AM: Coast-to-Coast AM
George Knapp interviews Michio Kaku
on "The Future of Science" (Book, Kaku articles)

Moon goes around Earth.
Earth goes around the Sun.
Sun goes around Black Hole. Thursday, April 23, 2009, 7:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill College Middlefield Lab
Finding "Magic Blanket" shrub rose with
20 petals for niece Emily's 20th birthday

Magic Blanket rose
with 20 white petals
for Emily's birthday.

Thursday, April 23, 2009, 10:52-11:07 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Felix Mendelssohn,
Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, Op. 21 (1826)
(Listen), CD, YouTube, Shakespeare's Play (1596)

Inspired by Shakespeare,
Mendelssohn wrote this
when he was just seventeen. Thursday, April 23, 2009, 12:38-12:49 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven,
Overture to Egmont, Op. 84 (1810),
(Listen), CD, YouTube: Solti, Goethe's Play (1788)

Inspired by Goethe's
drama, Beethoven wrote
his Egmont Overture.

Friday, April 24, 2009, 10:53-11:10 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Gioachino Rossini
William Tell Overture (1829),
(Listen), CD, YouTube,
Schiller's "William Tell" (1804)

With Switzerland maps
on his walls, Schiller wrote
William Tell in six weeks. Friday, April 24, 2009, 2:08-2:19 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Frederick Delius,
A Village Romeo and Juliet:
The Walk to the Paradise Garden (1901),
(Listen), CD, YouTube

In the Paradise Garden—
all I want to do
is sing and dance.

Friday, April 24, 2009, 7:30-10:15 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger direct
"The Life & Death of Colenel Blimp" (1943)
with Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook

Deborah Kerr plays three
different women spanning
four decades and three wars. Friday, April 24, 2009, 10:25-11:55 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
Thorold Dickinson directs "Gaslight" (1940)
starring Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard,
and Frank Pettingell, (1944 Film)

Sinister plot to make
his wife insane so he
could find her aunt's rubies.

Saturday, April 25, 2009, 11:12-11:20 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Symphony #36 in C major "Linz" (1783),
(Listen), CD, YouTube: Vienna Philharmonic

Mozart wrote his Linz
Symphony in just four days
when he came to town. Saturday, April 25, 2009, 12:03-12:30 pm
Mountain View: Reading Dostovesky's
"Notes from the Underground" (1864)
on Stanford Shuttle Bus to campus

Underground Man says
technology will never
make humans happy.

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 10:44-10:49 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Joshua Bell
plays Antonin Dvorak
Rusalka: Song to the Moon,
Op 114/B 203 (1900), (Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Water nymph from dream
sings to the moon as I wake
slowly from my sleep. Sunday, April 26, 2009, 11:49 am-12:01 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Leif Ove Andsnes
plays Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Piano Concerto #20 in D minor, K. 466 (1785),
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Ah! Mozart music—
unending stream pouring
from his prodigious mind!

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 2:00-2:30 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Format page "Dalai Lama urges 'peace
through compassion' at UC-Berkeley"
(San Jose Mercury News, 4-26-2009, 5B)

"Think of others— then
your health will become better.
That's my medicine." Sunday, April 26, 2009, 5:00 pm
Stanford Art Library: Reading 4-24 news on
Man auctioning off "Hand of God" on eBay;
Paul Grayhek found rock on cliff in his
North Idaho backyard after avalanche.

"Hand of God" rock for sale
on eBay— minimum bid
a hundred dollars.

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 7:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Found 1967 postage stamps of Spain
showing human hands, bison, and deer
from Altamira Caves (circa 14,000 B.C.)

Hands of the artist
in the Altamira Caves
drawing bison and deer. Sunday, April 26, 2009, 8:00-10:05 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University
Stanford Flicks : Stephen Daldry
directs "The Reader" (2008),
starring Ralph Fiennes & Kate Winslet

Lawyer witnessed woman
on trial for war crimes
who was his old lover.

Monday, April 27, 2009, 6:00-7:00 am
Home in Mtn View: Reading Jean-Pierre's Dupuy's
"Theory of Mimetic Desire & Underground Psychology"
(René Girard's "Deceit, Desire, & the Novel")

Need rival or obstacle
to make desire object
more valuable. Monday, April 27, 2009, 7:00-8:05 am
Home in Mtn View: Reading Jean-Pierre's Dupuy's
"Anatomy of 9/11: Evil, Rationalism, & the Sacred"
(27 page paper for FRENGEN 265 class on "Evil")

Ground Zero where Twin Towers
fell was the same name
at first A-Bomb test.

Monday, April 27, 2009, 1:03-1:45 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony #3 in A Minor, Op. 56 (1842)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Mendelssohn's Scottish
Symphony— stirring enough
to wake me from sleep. Monday, April 27, 2009, 1:47-1:52 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Armand Amar,
Earth from Above: Original Sundtrack (1785),
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Blessings from heaven
fall to earth from above—
angelic harp music.

Monday, April 27, 2009, 3:15-6:15 pm
Building 260, Room 002, Stanford University
Prof. Dupuy, FrenGen 265: "Problem of Evil"
"9/11 News of WTC Collapse" & Discussions:
Dostevsky's "Notes from the Underground" (1864)

Evil acquires power
from envy, jealousy,
and destructive hatred. Monday, April 27, 2009, 7:30-11:30 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
Victor Fleming directs "Gone with the Wind" (1939)
starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh,
Leslie Howard, & Olivia de Havilland

Coquettish Scarlet
suffers in loving Ashley
who's already married.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 11:15-11:24 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Franz Schubert,
"Arpeggione Sonata in A minor" D821 (1824)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

This guitar music
of Schubert's Arpeggione
keeps me in dream sleep. Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 12:50-12:59 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Johann Pachelbel,
Canon in D major (1680)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Monks inspire us with
transcendental music for
they know silence well.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 4:15-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Checked out books on evil—
Susan Neiman, "Evil in Modern Thought",
"Moral Clarity"; Imre Kertélsz, "Fateless";
Phillip G. Zimbardo, "The Lucifer Effect:
Understanding How Good People Turn Evil"

Found some books on evil
for Jean-Pierre Dupuy's class
that are good to read. Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 5:30-6:30 pm
Stanford Cummings Art Building, Room 2
Dmitry Lyubin, Head of the Konstantinovsky Palace Department of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, "Russian Art & Politics: The Hermitage Museum and The President's Konstantinovsky Palace"

Nikolai Ge's Last Supper
is at the State Museum
in St. Petersburg.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 12:40-12:48 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven,
Romance #2 in F, Op. 50 (1798)
(Listen), CD, YouTube: Heifetz

Romance for Violin
composed by Beethoven—
so heart-warming and sweet. Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 2:56-3:01 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Johann Sebastian Bach,
Orchestral Suite #3 in D major, BWV 1068 (1723)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Bach's Orchestral Suite—
calm and graceful to dance to
at the costume ball.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 7:15-9:15 pm
Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University
Mediterranean Film Series: "Gitmek: My Marlon and Brando" (2003, Turkey, Iraq, Iran), directed by Huseyin Karabey, with Ayca Kamgaci & Hama Ali Kahn; Discussants: Nicole Watts & Lucinda Englehart

Turkish actress travels
to find her Kurdish
lover during Iraqi war. Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 9:30-10:00 pm
Stanford Green Library: Two glass case exhibits
honoring Antony E. Raubitschek (1912-1999)
with Room for his research in classics antiquity
and exemplary teaching at Stanford for 36 years.
Obituary, Memorial Resolution

No wonder I'm so joyful
working for ten years in
this room amidst his books.

Thursday, April 30, 2009, 11:17-11:22 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Il Giardino Armonico
plays Johann Pachelbel,
Canon & Gigue in D major (1680)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Pachelbel's Canon—
this version is quite jazzy
and not that inspiring. Thursday, April 30, 2009, 12:09-12:30 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Garrick Ohlsson plays
Frederic Chopin, Variations on "La ci darem la mano"
from Mozart's Don Giovanni, Op. 2 (1828)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Evil intentions—
Don Juan takes Zerlina's hand
for stroll in garden.