Admirable Words, Vol. IV

1. Antimacassar
   
2. Aumbry
   
3. Chrestomathy
   
4. Cumbrous
   
5. Filigree
   
6. Mezzanine
   
7. Obdurate
   
8. Panopticon
   
9. Sledge
   
10. Uxorious

Downton Abbey: the Interactive Fiction Video Game

Perhaps you, dear reader, like everyone else, are watching the television programme Downton Abbey? I saw the first season when PBS re-aired it back in December, and am currently in the midst of the second season (unlike the Limeys, who have already completed the second season, but like all the rest of the Americans who hesitate to watch it illegally on the series of tubes that is the internet). For those who enjoy costume dramas, the Edwardian era, Maggie Smith, and Anglophilia, as I do, it is the perfect storm. It is commonly observed that the first season is far better; indeed, it is nearly perfect. But the second season, so far, is still quite satisfactory, even though the plots feel far more rushed. I almost hesitate to recommend it, for everyone is doing that now and popular media usually drive me to be contrary, but Downton Abbey really is quite good and you should probably watch it. Start at the beginning, though.

There's already been some merchandising — observe the PBS store, should you need proof of that — but the obvious next step is Downton Abbey: the Text-Based Video Game. I am clearly the man to make this happen, but for the fact that I have only great ideas and no relevant skills to do so. (Such is the plight of the "Idea Man", as no doubt Newt Gingrich could tell you.) Nevertheless, a taste:

You are a DOWAGER COUNTESS.

You are in the library. There is a SWIVEL CHAIR here. There is a FOOTMAN nearby.
Exits are EAST, SOUTH, and WEST.

What do you do?
>


South Bend, Again

It was pleasant to visit South Bend for a few days this week. Officially, my stated reasons for the visit were gastronomical: Madame Chen's (the best Chinese food in the world, so far as I know) and the South Bend Farmer's Market. These were both worthwhile. But it was a pleasure to visit with friends as well, and to play the Fritts (oh, how I've missed playing a tracker instrument!), and to see campus. I was struck by how nice it was, just being in South Bend again. I assure you that the climate does not appeal to me, nor the charm of the city. More than anything it was like seeing an old friend again — not a particularly close friend, but someone worth seeing nonetheless. After a certain amount of time one becomes aware of those little annoyances (or indeed, great glaring flaws of personality) that have prevented closer friendship. But before that happens it is very pleasant, indeed.

Perhaps this goes some way towards explaining our culture's incurable mobility: we long to be somewhere else because we are constantly overstaying our welcome. What we must learn is how to be at home. To do this we must become comfortable not only with a particular place and its particular people, despite their flaws, but also with ourselves. Introspection requires a certain stability, and stability encourages a certain introspection. Doesn't it?

Upcoming Orgelmusik

Organ preludes and postludes through Quinquagesima, 2012:

1 January (New Year's Day; Holy Name):
J.S. Bach: In dir ist Freude, BWV 615
Johann Gottfried Walther: Das alte Jahr vergangen ist
6 January (Epiphany):
Dietrich Buxtehude: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BuxWV 223
Max Reger: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, Op. 135a, No. 29
8 January (Epiphany I, Baptism of the Lord):
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 541
Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, LV 3
15 January (Epiphany II):
Claude-Bénigne Balbastre: Fugue in D minor
Gerald Near: Alleluia. Laudate Deum omnes angeli eius
22 January (Epiphany III):
César Franck: Prélude, Fugue & Variation, Op. 18
César Franck: Andantino poco allegretto, in Eb Major (from L'Organiste)
29 January (Epiphany IV):
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort
Johann Ludwig Krebs: Toccata in G Major
2 February (Candlemas):
Marcel Dupré: Élévation (Très modéré), Op. 32, No. 2
Marcel Dupré: Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf, Op. 28, No. 31
5 February (Epiphany V; Septuagesima):
Clemens non Papa (tablature by Bálint Bakfark): Circumdederunt me
Anonymous (tablature by Jan z Lublina): Conradus
12 February (Epiphany VI; Sexagesima):
Domenico Zipoli: Canzona in C Major
Girolamo Frescobaldi: Preambulum tertii toni
19 February (Transfiguration; Quinquagesima):
Gerald Near: Visionem
Felix Mendelssohn: Sonata, Op.65, No. 2: II. Allegro maestoso e vivace

It should also be added that St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Dixon, Illinois) will host Mr Kevin Vaughn for an organ recital on 29 January (at 4:30pm). It promises to be a worthwhile occasion; I am looking forward especially to his Howells and Reger.