Winter Activities
With the holidays behind us, it’s time to spend winter evenings with a good book and good music. Normally I’m hesitant to make music and literature recommendations, but I’m confident in these:
Alison Krauss and Union Station: So Long So Wrong
This disc is my loyal companion during long drives from Laramie, Wyoming to Nashville, Tennessee. This is good music, well produced, nicely arranged and carefully recorded. The spotlight moves frequently on this album, lead vocals are passed among the band members with fantastic results.
Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More
The first track is spellbinding. The recording and production is without rival. Musically it’s simple, pleasing, and favors repeated listening. The later tracks are duets with Brad Paisley, John Waite and James Taylor.
My musical tastes also wander to Mary J. Blige, Linkin Park, Cake and Little Big Town. Often these other artists wear thin after the first playing. The Alison Krauss albums can spin in the CD player all day long as the highway stretches out for twelve hours at a time.
I met Brian in 1986, we’ve remained friends over the years. He’s ridden a bicycle from coast to coast a couple of times and written a book about his experiences. I remember the summer he took the leave of absence, then returned with the notion of writing. For a couple of years he talked about his book and I watched as he spent time and energy at the keyboard. I thought, “Enough already, publish it and get it over with!” Recently I laughingly confessed my impatience for his writing process as he coached me through mine. He’s spent many hours reading and editing my manuscript and offering encouragement. A generous man to offer his time as he juggles a family, a broadcasting career and countless other musical endeavors that pull him a variety of directions.
He hates summarizing sentences like that last one….
“Countless? Give me details, make the reader see it…show me, don’t tell me.”
For a more specific listing of his accomplishments, check out a few of his links:
http://www.eduweb.com/acrossing/author.html
http://www.cnn.com/chat/transcripts/brian_newhouse_chat.html
http://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/programs/mnorch/docs/newhouse_bio.html
I guess writing a book takes time….I’ve got two years invested in mine and still have a distance to go…
Another favorite book:
Self portait of Chris before his death.
The recent film “Into the Wild” held significant meaning for me, as my experiences in South Dakota have been similar to what Chris experienced in 1992. Read the book or see the film, they both hold merit. The South Dakota experiences are omitted from the book, but vividly spelled out in the film.
It’s January - sit down and relax.
