Would you join us for dinner?

Chicken and vegetables cooked with tomato and basil sauce. Fairly good success. Chicken cooked with tomato was one of, or I should say, the only speciality dish for my wife when both of us served residency at a med school hospital. We have invited a few colleague doctors to our small resident dorm there and provided that dish with white wine. It was the days of our honey moon. Possibly listening to the songs for baritone, we have enjoyed tasty chicken at our dining room.

 

 

Recalling that dinner, I have made this one. The background music was the Concert D major by Chausson. pretty good as I wrote. The only problem is that I have made too much like the photo below. I wonder if anyone would come here with a knife and a fork as our guest. A big dish will be served for you.

 

 

A supplement to the prior post

This morning, 15m has improved a bit. I could work a few staterssides. When I got a report, 439 to 559, from Jim KF7E, I knew I had better tie the ribbon then. He seldom gives me a report below 579 there.

I started practising cello. Scales in various tonalities. I am feeling this basic training more and more interesting. it is a priviledge of a string instrument player to make scale by ourselves. There are minute difference in scale according to the position and to the end of the scale, either for melody or for accord. I am still feeling lost in this vast world of music. But it is a fun for me to wander around there and to find something new to me.

The scale of keyboard instrument like piano is a kind of compromise. The equally tempered scale of modern keyboard is invented for smooth modulability, so far as I understand. Roughly speaking, there are two other scale systems as told above. What I would say is that the world of music is not perfect itself. Despite of the theoretically perfect outlook of music, it is "being failed" itself. This fact indicates, however, there is a real perfect world of music existing apriori somewhere, possibly, in the other world than this real one.

Whenever listening to the Art of Fugue, I feel I could hear the quintessence of music, perfect as well as imperfect. The surprisingly vast structure makes us feel almost dizzy at the perfect aspect of music, while the imperfect finish indicates the imperfect characteristics of music. The imperfect would suggest us there is a really perfect world apriori.

It is always difficult for me to discuss something philosophical. It is, however, what I feel for such music as the Art of Fugue. My effort for perfect music is endless or should be destined to be a failure. But I still make it.

The Art of Fugue

Gould is totally involved in the music. It seems as if he lived in the music itself. Music must have been his life, emotion, idea, religion and atmosphere. In the performance of the latter contrapunctus, he sung in low voice. He was wholly immersed in the world of this piece. 

 

I used to listen to this music, the Art of Fugue by Bach, performed with the organ at the chapel of the ICU in Tokyo when I was around 20 years old. For a young boy, it was a bit complicated piece. But I still remember how it had abruptly ended in unfinished manner. There has been much discussion about this finish as well. I was impressed this otherwise perfect piece had to be finished in this way. The world could never be perfect.

I often listen to this piece played by Juliard String Quartet before goint to bed. It sure soothes my mind telling me, despite of its imperfect outlook of the world, there is an order in the world governing ourselves. I don't need to worry too much even facing to absurdity and imperfection in the world as well as in myself. I feel I am relieved and encouraged in that way.

I have read Fugue means flying in Latin. Listening to this genre of music, we might feel we were looking our life and world with bird's eyes. A sense of a distance from the real world. I don't know why but sure feel it as that way.  

Supper tonight

I went for a barber this afternoon. It is a barber I used to go for The old couple has taken their only granddaughter to my office for treatment when she was a toddler. that girl has grown up and would take the entrance exam for some university next spring. The master has been, however, sick for several weeks. He seemed to be on gradual recovery. He is now in mid seventies. His wife has managed to do with the work for a while. I knew we could have such a trouble all of sudden any time ahead. I wished him quick recovery. Having had my hair cut there, I drove back home. Looking all the scenary I used to see casually on the way of commute to the office everyday.

I realized again I should take every moment of my life with family as precious and important thing.

 

The supper menue. Eggplant and the other vegetables with minced pork seasoned with mapo foreground. Saury with lemon, the 1st harvest this year, background. And a few other dishes. Boy, I have forgotten cooking rice!

 

 



CWT frequency range

It seems they have decided CWT frequency range to be moved to 28 through 38KHz from the bottom of the bands. It was thanks to WB6BEE Don's proposal to the CWops head. I would approve this decision. It is still the least way to cope with the problem.

But, in the CWops reflector, there are opposing opinions from some members. They say they have used the present frequency range for long time, so that they have a right to stay on the present one. The other says some operate on the frequency off the present range. The frequency range has little meaning as he says. It is not a problem of right or of the status quo. But the balance between CWT operators and the others is questioned.

I guess, judging from the number of QSOs most active participants achieve in each session, that is, less than 150, there are only 200 or, at most, 300 operators participating CWT. Non participants are much more in number all over the world, I believe, It is a question if the present situation this number of operators are occupying the bands for 3 hours every week is valid or not. At present, they occupy most frequently used portion of the bands. I could hardly approve that they could go on that occupation.

Some insist it is only for "3 hours" every Wednes day. We could scarcely enjoy ordinary QSOs before it starts. I have been messed up by big CWT participants' signals for number of times. It  made me hasten to finish QSOs. After experiencing such a mess for some times, I won't operate much on Wednes day now. In every week end, there is some kinds of contest going on somewhere in the world. In week ends, we must say, the conventional bands are not usable for ordinary QSOs. If the whole day of every Wednes day is regarded to be occupied by CWT, including the week end's contest, 3 days out of a week are spent by contesters. Is it fair? From the standpoint of the length CWT occupies the bands in a week, at least, the frequency range should be moved as it is decided this time. 

Contest activity on a certain plain week day every week is a novel idea. However, it is another question if it works good for the ham radio society or not.

Being a doctor.

I am a kind of timid. I hate seeing a doctor for health problem. I won't see him/her until I get a serious problem. When I have some health problem, I would consider of the possible cause for the problem. I am inclined to diagnose pessimistically by myself. So far, I haven't made correct diagnosis for myself yet.

About 20 years ago, when I worked at a hospital, I had a colleague doctor who had finished the postgraduate school specializing in Pathology. I wondered why he has returned to clinical medicine since Pathology is a basic medicine and has probably promised him a career as a researcher. He had taken days off for a few days. It didn't seem to be a vacation for him. When I came across with him in the hospital after his coming back, I asked what had happened to him. He answered to me, as if he had had nothing special, he got lung cancer with metastasis to brain. He seemed to have had chemo and radiation therapy. I fully understood what brought him back to the clinical work at the hospital away from his career as a researcher. He looked straight at me and told what stage of the illness he had been in. as if he introduced his case in conference to me.

It was me who had been surprised to hear that. What conflict has he had in his mind? It was beyond my imagination. He had worked there for a few years since I quit the hospital. So far as a person working with him told me later, he had worked until very last moment of his illness. In the end, he has been transferred from the hospital to a med school hospital on an ambulance car. He has given indications for the drip infusion to the personnel in the ambulance car by himself.

When I heard of this story, I wondered what a job a medical doctor should go on for. It is really a hard job, not only physically but also mentally. He has worked hard for his patients; I have heard he was a doctor of capability and was relied on by his patients. He has had own such a problem, which he must have known what outcome he could expect. Curtailing his own life, he has worked hard for them. I wonder his knowledge of the ultimate outcome has relieved him or has strained him. It might he;p him to prepare for that. But, seemingly, no relief to him, I guess.

I wonder if I could live at the last moment of life as he did in his life. Being a medical doctor, we might have the bright side as well as the dark gloomy side in our lives. It might be a Karma for doctors. Hopefully, I would accept it as it is.

Longing for Shinshyu

Shinshyu, that is, the old name of Nagano Prefecture, is a fascinating place to me.

In my teen age days, I often visited a relative there every summer. The family was a farmer typical for the high land in Shinshyu. Warmhearted people. An old house with strawy roof. There was a brook running beside the house. Time was slowly passing. I have enjoyed walking around and even trekking the mountains there with their children.

Later, when I entered the medical university, I had the summer camp of the orchestra at a resort in the end of August for some times. I have posted here some photos of that area last summer. By the end of August, I could feel the earliest fall over there. Cool breeze was running down from the mountain. It has trembled the trees in front of the hall where the orchestra was practising. The sunray filtering through those trees was sparkling on the floor. So beautiful and impressive.

Whenever I recall of that camp, this tune comes in my mind. Menuet in Petite Suite by Debussy. It was a piece we were practising at that time.

 

Don't you feel that cool breeze in this tune?

 

I  still yearn for Shinshyu. When could I return there?