baboon's home

Baroque Band, Chicago’s period-instrument orchestra, brought the Suites Candy by Bach, Telemann, Rameau, and Lully, to the Chicagoans at Chicago Symphony Center on Tuesday evening, March 11 2009.

Founded by British baroque violinist Garry Clarke, Baroque Band contains a small group of musicians including the viola da gamba Craig Trompeter and violinist Lori Ashikawa. Trompeter is a cellist and gambist, he performs and teaches regularly throughout the United States. Before moved to Chicago, Ashikawa studied and performed music in California. Baroque Band debuted in Chicago in May 2007, it regularly presents its programs in three venues: downtown at Chicago’s prestigious Symphony Center, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; in Evanston, just north of the City at The Music Institute of Chicago, where the Band is also Ensemble-in-Residence; and south of the city at The University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, where the Band is Artistic Partner. With increased recognitions in its first season, Baroque Band has been occasionally invited to play away from its home, even to the studios at WFMT, America’s premier classical music station, and has named the orchestra its Resident Ensemble.

Tuesday evening’s concert was performed in Grainger Ballroom of Symphony Center. Although the unexpected rain poured the city, the small room was crowded by audience. Grainger Ballroom is elaborately ornamented with the ellipse shaped mirror on the wall and petal like ceilings, well fitted the classical atmosphere. After the audience all sited, The Baroque Band entered the room under the lead of the conductor, Garry Clarke. It followed by the viola da gamba Craig Trompeter and violinist Lori Ashikawa as well as another violist, seven other violinists, two cellists, one bassist, one harpsichordist, two oboists, and one bassoonist.

The music began with Jean-Baptiste Lully’s suite from Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. Lully is the founding father of the esthetic style known as French “Classique”. His music was credited the origin of overture in suite. Ironically, the suite played on that evening, however, was the only suite without overture. Followed by that was suite of Georg Philipp Telemann with overture in D Major. Mr. Clarke showed his firm and vigorous leadership while conducting, the ensemble played harmoniously under the spotlight. During the solo of viola, Mr. Trompeter convinced the audience with his proficiency and confidence. 

The second half of the program started with the Jean Phillippe Rameau’s suite from Les Indes Galantes, which is reflective of the concept of the “noble savage”. Rameau’s work is more Italianate characterized, especially in his use of quick, motoric rhythms and with much florid writing for the voice. The performance alternated between tutti and solo of oboe and bassoon. The climax came in the last part, Danse du grand Calumet, giving the audience an imagination of exotic lands saw by the Europe during the middle eighteenth century.

The conductor concluded the program with Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major, beginning with a resplendent “Overture” in which the principles of the Italian concerto are fully exploit. Among the dances heard in this suite, the forlane and the passepied are particularly remarkable.

Besides the graceful music, Baroque Band also brought to the audience the sweet candy after the program, making the suite real sweet.

这是我最喜欢的一段， Rameau 的Des Indes Galantes

太懒了，从加州回来都3个多星期了，不想写blog，但又觉得不写点东西以后时间长了记忆都淡了。于是还是打开space随便写点流水记。。。

去年Christmas eve离开了冰天雪地的芝加哥，虽然飞机晚点了2个小时，到San Francisco已过午夜，在机场和早已等候多时的LJ,PH顺利回合，开始了8天7夜的加州行。我们早在两个月前就定好了行程，LJ从Pittsburgh, PH和ZJY从NYC非别飞到SF，然后开车游加州。

第一天，早上起来阳光明媚，一点没有天气预报要下雨的迹象。吃过早餐我们赶紧上路。第一站是UC Berkeley。从downtown往北大约30分钟的车程就到了。Berkeley校园依山而建，建筑风格比较朴实，既有古老的房子，也有现代风格的商学院。最著名的可能要数钟楼了，是整个campus最醒目的。校园不大，走走停停大约转了1个小时就差不多了。中午本想找个中餐馆吃饭，但无赖遇到Christmas，好多地方都不营业。好不容易找到个subway凑和着吃了。下午又回到城里，来到传说中的“花街”，就是沿着山坡zigzag的街道。好像以前在电影里就见过。这里顺便提一下SF，整个城建在海边，而且是在山脊上，所以很多上坡下坡的街道，有些坡度估计达到40度，开车上去有点象坐过山车最开始的感觉，不知什么时候到了顶点突然下坡了。简单在花街逗留了一会，看到快到傍晚，我们又想赶到海边看日落。无赖一直想找个好地点一直都没找到，开车转来转去太阳都下山了。突然来到山顶一处观景台，角度正好看golden gate bridge，于是4个人下车拿出相机一整狂拍，山脚架也用山了。惹的过路的车子都刹一脚看我们在拍啥。辗转了一天，晚上还是应该找个地方好好吃一顿。于是来到SF的chinatown，在MITBBS上众人好评的“五粮液”吃了一顿。味道还不错，就是店面装修档次差了点。SF的chinatown真的是那个大，比芝加哥的还要大几倍，随便走进一个超时，里面中国商品令郎满目，感觉和在国内没有什么区别。借机补充了一些水果和饮料以供后用。

第二天天气依然不错，看来我们走运了。按计划上午先来到金门大桥下，与昨晚的俯视不同，今天是仰视大桥，果然壮观。那一根吊索cable有1000多米长，接近1米的直径。当时那个年代建造如此巨大工程难度可想而知。拍了一些照后又上桥转了转，更近距离接触。这是有几个大bus也带着游客来观光，车上下来的全是中国人，好多还是从国内过来的。看来国内有钱人真的是越来越多了啊。不过现在美国遇到recession，正好也欢迎其它国家游客来旅游消费。游玩金门大桥，我们继续北上，开了1个多小时的车，来到一个state park叫Point Reyes。从google map可以看到这里已是SF最西北角了，突出的一块陆地伸到太平洋里。这里景色果然壮观，一面是一望无际的太平洋，一面是延绵起伏的陆地。听到海浪不停的敲打岩石，海风呼呼的吹在脸上，虽然有点冷，但有一种无约束回归自然的感觉。这里还有一个灯塔矗立在海角，是当时第一批西班牙殖民者来到美洲大陆修建的。就这样被海风吹了接近一个小时，实在撑不住了，赶紧回到车上开车返回SF。晚上回去的路上GPS指错了路，估计它是按照最短行程计算的，让我们走101。哪知到那段101那叫一个险啊，一面是大海，一面是高山，路就在悬崖上，而且还都是180度的大弯绕来绕去。还好我老司机了，从容应对。其间一头鹿还突然从山上跳出来横穿公路，我一个急刹躲过，也是有惊无险。晚上在鱼人码头吃了海鲜，每个人点了半个螃蟹，20刀，味道还不错，就是少了点。这样结束了第二天的旅程。

未完待续...

Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.

The election of Mr. Obama amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country.

But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.

Mr. Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency.

To the very end, Mr. McCain’s campaign was eclipsed by an opponent who was nothing short of a phenomenon, drawing huge crowds epitomized by the tens of thousands of people who turned out to hear Mr. Obama’s victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago.

Mr. McCain also fought the headwinds of a relentlessly hostile political environment, weighted down with the baggage left to him by President Bush and an economic collapse that took place in the middle of the general election campaign.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” said Mr. Obama, standing before a huge wooden lectern with a row of American flags at his back, casting his eyes to a crowd that stretched far into the Chicago night.

“It’s been a long time coming,” the president-elect added, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

Mr. McCain delivered his concession speech under clear skies on the lush lawn of the Arizona Biltmore, in Phoenix, where he and his wife had held their wedding reception. The crowd reacted with scattered boos as he offered his congratulations to Mr. Obama and saluted the historical significance of the moment.

“This is a historic election, and I recognize the significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight,” Mr. McCain said, adding, “We both realize that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation.”

Not only did Mr. Obama capture the presidency, but he led his party to sharp gains in Congress. This puts Democrats in control of the House, the Senate and the White House for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in office.

The day shimmered with history as voters began lining up before dawn, hours before polls opened, to take part in the culmination of a campaign that over the course of two years commanded an extraordinary amount of attention from the American public.

As the returns became known, and Mr. Obama passed milestone after milestone —Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa and New Mexico — people rolled spontaneously into the streets to celebrate what many described, with perhaps overstated if understandable exhilaration, a new era in a country where just 143 years ago, Mr. Obama, as a black man, could have been owned as a slave.

For Republicans, especially the conservatives who have dominated the party for nearly three decades, the night represented a bitter setback and left them contemplating where they now stand in American politics.

Mr. Obama and his expanded Democratic majority on Capitol Hill now face the task of governing the country through a difficult period: the likelihood of a deep and prolonged recession, and two wars. He took note of those circumstances in a speech that was notable for its sobriety and its absence of the triumphalism that he might understandably have displayed on a night when he won an Electoral College landslide.

“The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep,” said Mr. Obama, his audience hushed and attentive, with some, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, wiping tears from their eyes. “We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.” The roster of defeated Republicans included some notable party moderates, like Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and signaled that the Republican conference convening early next year in Washington will be not only smaller but more conservative.

Mr. Obama will come into office after an election in which he laid out a number of clear promises: to cut taxes for most Americans, to get the United States out of Iraq in a fast and orderly fashion, and to expand health care.

In a recognition of the difficult transition he faces, given the economic crisis, Mr. Obama is expected to begin filling White House jobs as early as this week.

Mr. Obama defeated Mr. McCain in Ohio, a central battleground in American politics, despite a huge effort that brought Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, back there repeatedly. Mr. Obama had lost the state decisively to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in the Democratic primary.

Mr. McCain failed to take from Mr. Obama the two Democratic states that were at the top of his target list: New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Mr. Obama also held on to Minnesota, the state that played host to the convention that nominated Mr. McCain; Wisconsin; and Michigan, a state Mr. McCain once had in his sights.

The apparent breadth of Mr. Obama’s sweep left Republicans sobered, and his showing in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania stood out because officials in both parties had said that his struggles there in the primary campaign reflected the resistance of blue-collar voters to supporting a black candidate.

“I always thought there was a potential prejudice factor in the state,” Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat of Pennsylvania who was an early Obama supporter, told reporters in Chicago. “I hope this means we washed that away.”

Mr. McCain called Mr. Obama at 10 p.m., Central time, to offer his congratulations. In the call, Mr. Obama said he was eager to sit down and talk; in his concession speech, Mr. McCain said he was ready to help Mr. Obama work through difficult times.

“I need your help,” Mr. Obama told his rival, according to an Obama adviser, Robert Gibbs. “You’re a leader on so many important issues.”

Mr. Bush called Mr. Obama shortly after 10 p.m. to congratulate him on his victory.

“I promise to make this a smooth transition,” the president said to Mr. Obama, according to a transcript provided by the White House .“You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations, and go enjoy yourself.”

For most Americans, the news of Mr. Obama’s election came at 11 p.m., Eastern time, when the networks, waiting for the close of polls in California, declared him the victor. A roar sounded from the 125,000 people gathered in Hutchison Field in Grant Park at the moment that they learned Mr. Obama had been projected the winner.

The scene in Phoenix was decidedly more sour. At several points, Mr. McCain, unsmiling, had to motion his crowd to quiet down — he held out both hands, palms down — when they responded to his words of tribute to Mr. Obama with boos.

Mr. Obama, who watched Mr. McCain’s speech from his hotel room in Chicago, offered a hand to voters who had not supported him in this election, when he took the stage 15 minutes later. “To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn,” he said, “I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.”

Initial signs were that Mr. Obama benefited from a huge turnout of voters, but particularly among blacks. That group made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to surveys of people leaving the polls, compared with 11 percent in 2006.

In North Carolina, Republicans said that the huge surge of African-Americans was one of the big factors that led to Senator Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, losing her re-election bid.

Mr. Obama also did strikingly well among Hispanic voters; Mr. McCain did worse among those voters than Mr. Bush did in 2004. That suggests the damage the Republican Party has suffered among those voters over four years in which Republicans have been at the forefront on the effort to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The election ended what by any definition was one of the most remarkable contests in American political history, drawing what was by every appearance unparalleled public interest.

Throughout the day, people lined up at the polls for hours — some showing up before dawn — to cast their votes. Aides to both campaigns said that anecdotal evidence suggested record-high voter turnout.

Reflecting the intensity of the two candidates, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama took a page from what Mr. Bush did in 2004 and continued to campaign after the polls opened.

Mr. McCain left his home in Arizona after voting early Tuesday to fly to Colorado and New Mexico, two states where Mr. Bush won four years ago but where Mr. Obama waged a spirited battle.

These were symbolically appropriate final campaign stops for Mr. McCain, reflecting the imperative he felt of trying to defend Republican states against a challenge from Mr. Obama.

“Get out there and vote,” Mr. McCain said in Grand Junction, Colo. “I need your help. Volunteer, knock on doors, get your neighbors to the polls, drag them there if you need to.”

By contrast, Mr. Obama flew from his home in Chicago to Indiana, a state that in many ways came to epitomize the audacity of his effort this year. Indiana has not voted for a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, and Mr. Obama made an intense bid for support there. He later returned home to Chicago to play basketball, his election-day ritual.

突然发现又是好久没写东西了。4月份到现在发生了不少的事情，简单回顾一下：

4月初反藏独和反CNN闹的轰轰烈烈，芝加哥也在4.24在federal plaza举行了大型的集会，想美国人宣传西藏问题的本质，声讨CNN及一些西方媒体的bias report。记得当时大家都很激昂，挥舞国旗，奥运旗帜，还有舞龙和耍狮，以及5个巨大的充气福娃。这里还要感谢当时那5个穿福娃的volunteer，在广场上站了几个小时没休息。最后在“歌唱祖国”的歌声中结束了游行

然后4月29日在UIC举行了庆祝奥运会开幕倒计时100天图片展及奥运签名横幅交接仪式。这个是我负责的学生会的最后一次活动，前前后后花了不少时间准备。中国驻芝加哥副总领事还有校方领导都有出席讲话，在会上还把美国其它20多所学校征集的奥运签名横幅转交给了总领馆，委托他们转交给北京奥组委，据说会悬挂在北京某个奥运场馆前。这次活动芝加哥的主流媒体都有报道，新华社以及中国外交部的网站上也报道了，活动的video也送到了CCTV，据说他们准备制作海外奥运专题节目。这里要感谢学生会的所有同学，大家真的是为这次活动的顺利进行投入了不少的时间和精力。

爸妈4月底也到了芝加哥，刚好在我们活动的前一天到，第二天还在倒时差的情况下也被我带倒学校参加了我们的奥运庆祝活动。我一直倒5月初才final 考完。然后和爸妈一起去东部旅游了一个礼拜，纽约－费城－华盛顿－尼加拉大瀑布－波士顿。记得上一次我们一家人一起出去旅游要追溯到我刚上大学的时候他们送我去合肥，然后一家人去爬了黄山，还去南京看了中山陵。这次旅行很是高兴，记得在从大瀑布到波士顿的路上，7个小时的车很无聊，和老爸聊了很多文化大革命的事，补习了不少历史，呵呵

在我们出行旅游的第2天，四川地震就发生了。12号下午2点多正好是我们的凌晨，地震发生当时爷爷奶奶就在家里打了我的手机，但当时晚上睡的太熟了硬是没有听到。早上起来发现未接来电赶紧打电话回家已经没人接了，出去买早餐的时候就看见USA TODAY的头版报道了中国地震，当时惊呆了。赶紧跑回房间告诉爸妈，然后打姑姑的手机，才知道所有居民已经被转移到户外空旷的地方。知道家里人都没事，才松了一口气。然后地震一直是旅途上大家最关心的话题，每天晚上回到hotel都要上网了解最新情况，接下来几天也不停接到朋友的电话询问我家里有事没有，因为知道我是四川的。地震发生后几个小时，就接到Tony的电话，他说准备成立芝加哥抗震救灾委员会，让我加入帮忙。这次地震之后芝加哥的侨界出现了空前的团结，80多个社团通过各种途径一共筹到了100多W美元的donation，绝大部分都是个人捐赠的。目前部分款项已经汇到四川，剩下还有差不多50W美元准备捐助2所希望小学，初步一所定在青川，一所定在彭州，通过四川省侨办联系的。

学生会的工作到现在结束了，summer可以把主要精力放在research上，静下心来做东西

春假去大雾山国家公园（Great Smoky Mountain National Park）玩了一趟，虽然比较累，但感觉不错

我们一行９个人，开了两辆车，星期六天还没亮就出发，到那里下午４点多．路上经过了Indiana,Kentucky,和Tennessee州，单程距离接近６００mile．沿路上各种天气都遇到了，从Chicago出发飘着大雪，进了Indiana又是下雨，最后来到Tennessee终于见到了灿烂的阳光，树木也开始发芽变绿了，提前感受到了春天的到来．一路上地形也是不断变化，Illinois和Indiana的一眼望不到头的大平原，进入Kentucky以后就有了丘陵起伏，到了Tennessee后在美国第一次见到了大山．

我们提前预定的住处是这次旅途的一个亮点．２层的小木屋，位于人烟稀少的深山老林里，那位置连手机都没有信号，可谓是与世隔绝．但里面条件很好，设备齐全，厨房里冰箱微波炉烤箱锅碗飘盆一应具全，卫星电视ＤＶＤ，洗衣机烘干机样样都有，连烧烤炉和台球捉都准备好了．当天晚上我们去walmart买了油盐酱醋，肉，蔬菜，水果，鸡蛋牛奶还有啤酒，回来开始烧烤鸡翅，牛肉，猪排，辣肠和土豆，还抄了虾，吃的很爽．晚饭过后打台球，然后又是打牌＋真心话大冒险，但因为要早起，没能玩的很晚

     

第二天又是天没亮就起床，大家自己做了早饭，煎蛋和bacon味道也很不错．上午开车进山，先游览了一条 auto tour的线路，开车看野生动物还有自然景色．不知是不是周末动物也要睡懒觉，我们只看到了几匹马和牛，然后和两只鹿近距离接触了一下，有人想看黑熊的没能如愿以常．之后中午吃过午饭（其实就是一包Oreo和巧克力）选择了一条路线hiking了２，３个小时，沿途经过了一个waterfall．下午又开车去了Cherokee小镇，一个India人保留区．可惜去的时候比较晚了，museum都关门了，逛了逛镇上的小店买了些纪念品．晚上回到住的小镇在Friday吃了晚餐就开车回到我们的小屋．晚上在大山里开车真有感觉，四周一片漆黑，就只有车灯照亮的那一片可见的视野．回到木屋我们又继续游戏，Uno和真心话大冒险．

第三天一早也是天没亮就起床了，吃过早饭就往CHICAGO赶．回来的路上绕到Kentucky的西部，参观了那里的另一个国家公元，Mammoth Cave National Park，据说是美国最大的地下溶洞，也是世界文化遗产．跟着导游在地下走了２个小时，觉得美国的溶洞跟中国的比真的是差远了，无论规模还是形态．这也不奇怪，中国的地理情况比美国的要复杂丰富的多，高原，丘陵，平原，还有那些大山，象黄山，美国是怎么也找不出的

回来的路上经过Indianapolis的时候atombob超速从警车身边飞驰而过，立马就被警察追上拦了下来．一张罚单$165，真够贵的．回到Chicago已经是晚上９点了，大家一致提议在chinatown老四川撮饭以庆祝这次旅行的圆满结束．３天时间确实短了点，但玩的很高兴.在这里要感谢Juju，Sean马,CC, Leo, atombob,shengsheng, hongyan, wenyin．没有你们也就没有这次难忘的旅行．希望我们下次有机会在一起出游！