Mentors

Within the space of of a month, we have lost two great mentors of jazz. Hal Malcolm and John "Coach" Moawad were pioneers of vocal jazz education. Beyond that influence, they touched thousands of lives with their passion, humor and loving care. They were more than great musicians and teachers. They were great motivators of people.

For me personally they were mentors and friends. They reached out to me and gave me many opportunities and challenges to foster my growth as a musician and as a human being. I am a better person for them having been a part of my life and this is a better world for the great legacy they have left behind.

Rest in Peace.

Christmas in the Tropics

This is not my first Christmas in a place where a "White Christmas" would be impossible (rather than just unlikely), and the whole experience altered by climate and culture. I remember some creative attempts at Christmas trees as a kid, including one year using the branch of a mango tree. The one family tradition that I remember with fondness, but never have seen elsewhere or attempted to replicate as an adult, was the home-made banner decorations using white tissue paper as the banner and cut stars in red and green foil.

This Christmas will be one of the most unusual. Although all my friends have left town and my family is celebrating on the opposite side of the world, I am sharing it with one of my favorite dogs and she always has her own way of adding color to events. For Christmas Eve, I'll be eating an Italian Christmas meal and joining in with hundreds of others in the Christmas Eve Midnight Carol Service at St. George's Cathedral. Then I'll have a Christmas breakfast and probably a seafood brunch on the beach.

I'm looking forward to experiencing a different kind of magical event which Christmas always seems to bring. Merry Christmas to all, and as Tiny Tim would say. "God bless us, everyone!"

Chennai update

Five months in Chennai and I’m finally catching up. I think I would have been better about updating if I was here for a short visit, but I live here and it doesn’t feel extraordinary most of the time. Of course, there are times when I step back and realize that I’m in an exotic country and I can marvel.

It’s an amazing feeling living in a place and actually doing the “tourist thing.” I’ve found that in most places I’ve lived, I’ve only visited the high spots to show visitors from out of town how cool it is. This time around I am striving to be an unabashed tourist.

For instance, I visited this beautiful church on a Saturday morning and realized that they were setting up for a wedding. I just went on snapping pictures left and right, “oblivious” to the fact—American tourist at his best. In fairness, they were at a very early stage of preparations and I wasn’t in the way.

St. Andrews Kirk is a “youngish” church, (about 1821). It’s loosely based on St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Trafalgar Square, London).

I also have the luxury to go back if I miss something. I’ve been to Mammalapuram three times so far, and I have plans to go back. The second time I went, I barely had time to see the sights. We settled into a beachside restaurant for a brunch that lasted for several hours—seafood, great conversation and a great view. I ended up skipping most of the photographs I wanted to take that day and went back another time. There are some other destinations that I will re-visit with friends, as that tends to color your experience.

The 7th Century Shore Temple at Mammalapuram, as viewed from Bob Marley's beachside restaurant.

Perhaps the best plan will be to abandon chronology and share experiences of different places and events in my time here so far.

Happy updating!

Currently reading …

Well, it's not exactly current, since I finished the book a while ago but I haven't shared it with y'all yet so here goes:

So the Dean tried first this and then that and nothing would seem to suit. First of all he wrote:

“It is now forty years since I came among you, a youth full of life and hope and ardent in the work before men–” Then he paused, doubtful of the accuracy and clearness of the expression, read it over again and again in deep thought and then began again:

“It is now forty years since I came among you, a broken and melancholy boy, without life or hope, desiring only to devote to the service of this parish such few years as might remain of an existence blighted before it had truly begun–” And then again the Dean stopped, He read what he had written; he frowned; he crossed it through with his pen. This was no way to write, this thin egotistical strain of complaint. Once more he started:

“It is now forty years since I came among you, a man already tempered and trained, except possibly in mathematics–” And then again the rector paused … And the rector mused so long that when he began again it seemed to him that it was simpler and better to discard the personal note altogether, and he wrote:

“There are times, gentlemen, in the life of a parish, when it comes to an epoch which brings it to a moment when it reaches a point–”

The Dean stuck fast again, but refusing this time to be beaten went resolutely on:

“–reaches a point where the circumstances of the moment make the epoch such as to focus the life of the parish in that time.”

Then the Dean saw that he was beaten, and he knew that he not only couldn’t manage the parish but couldn’t say so in proper English, and of the two the last was the bitterer discovery.

Stephen Leacock
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town

I’m not quite sure how I reached this stage of my life without hearing of the “Mark Twain of Canada,” but I have, (until now). I found three books of Leacock to bring with me on this trip, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the wit and humor of the man. He is a must read!

Noticing favorite words...

Aashish: “Fantastic!”
Shannon: “Absurd!”

I'm not sure what my characteristic word or phrase would be. I used to say “and stuff” a lot, but I don't think I do that anymore. It's probably easier for someone else to detect.

In the ground in Chennai

After not sleeping for about 40 hours, I made the adjustment to local time. After a couple of days of feeling tired at odd times, I have felt remarkably normal, (in terms of jet lag). For the past 10 days or so, I've felt like I live here. The "in the ground" reference was a misprint from my facebook status. I was never quite that low. I'm glad Mom doesn't read facebook, or she might have drawn the wrong conclusion.

Chennai, my home for the next 7 months, is a city of contrasts. There are trees everywhere, and there are times when I don't feel that I'm in a city of 7 million people. From my balcony, I look out over rooftops with washing hung out to dry, palm trees and a flame of the forest tree in full bloom. I share my balcony with the crows--Indian crows have a grey head--and some pigeons. There are birds that I haven't seen but can hear, including one that sounds like a car alarm.



The neighborhood is very quiet. One of my neighbors, a half block down, is an important government minister named Stalin (no relation to the Russian dictator). There are barricades to close the road, and armed police in front of the building and the ends of the block, but so far I haven't seen much activity. Some friends live in another neighborhood nearby where Stalin's father lives, (the most important government minister in Tamil Nadu--there are giant posters of father and son smiling benevolently at everyone). I went over to my friend's house the other night (to barbecue pizza on the rooftop patio--barbecued pizza with dough and other fixin's from scratch--awesome), and they had barricades everywhere.

One advantage of sharing the neighborhood with the second most important man in Tamil Nadu is that power cuts on my block will be rare. We actually had one the other night for a short time, and although the fans and lights continued on the battery backup, the air conditioners shut down. In arriving at this time of year, I missed the worse of the hot weather so lack of air conditioning is not fatal. With the balcony doors and windows open, we get a nice breeze, although I have been using the air conditioner in my room at night. When the rains come and mosquitoes arise in their trillions, I'll have to keep the balcony doors closed and use the main air conditioning more. The cook-stove is gas, so we can always cook in case of a power cut. I am going to look into getting some kind of screen doors for the balconies--all the windows are already screened.

The apartment is within easy walking distance of a grocery store, an amazing bakery, and several good restaurants. The Thai place is pretty good and the Korean place is heaven descended to earth--I'll be a regular there for sure.

Traffic here is reminiscent of Bangkok. Lanes are optional--horns are obligatory. I have my own car and driver which simplifies things greatly. Rama is a very good driver, and I feel safe. He also knows the city and knows how to get things done.

"Rama. The lock to the small balcony is broken." "Yes sir. I will fix." The same afternoon and 100 rupees poorer (about US$ 2), the lock has been taken care of.

Raju comes in 6 days a week to clean and iron. 3 days he also stays to cook. He cooks enough for 3 to 4 people, and most of the time I've had people here to help eat it, but if not I'll have great leftovers. The drawback is that Raju doesn't speak English and he also doesn't speak Tamil, so I can't even have Rama translate. We've done OK with gestures, and he does have a few English words like "shopping", "iron" and "tomorrow". He actually splits his time between here and Will's apartment in another neighborhood. Will's company has a couple of people who speak Hindi and can communicate with Raju, so if I have something complicated to share with Raju, I e-mail them and they let him know.

Anthony, who I am replacing, has been here for a year and has done all the ground work for me to have an amazing life here. He is introducing me to the area, the best restaurants and to the large network of expats from all over the world living here. I am not the social butterfly that Anthony is, but it's nice to be part of a community and I'll be fairly involved.

The first weekend I was here we went to Ideal Beach south of Chennai near Mammalapuram. It's interesting to get out of the city into the countryside. The beach is your basic tropical paradise. Relaxing on the beach in a hammock--not bad.

I have been really active in my first two weeks here, so much so that I have been dilatory in getting this new phase of the blog underway. I've been to two movies, (I can't remember the last movie I went to in the States), several dinner parties and many great restaurants. I have toured the ruins at Mammalapuram, travelled to Vellore and many other things.

More later. Cheerio, Alan

Thai Coconut Milk Curry (stew style)

Several have asked for the basic recipe, so here it is. I don't follow this precisely any more, but if you do you should have good results. The key is the slow adding of coconut milk, and the gradual richening (if that is a word) of the flavors.

Stew Style Thai Curry

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

• (Optional) Fresh or dried Kaffir lime leaves: 2 or 3 [Finely minced]
  
• Yellow, Matsaman, or Panang curry paste (Mah Ploy brand preferred): 1 TBS.
  
• Nam Blah (Thai fish sauce): 2 to 4 TBS.
  
• Sugar: 1 TBS.
  
• Water: ¼ to ½ cup
  
• Peanut butter: ⅛ to ¼ cup
  
• Coconut cream: 2 cans (Approx. 3 cups)
  
• Chicken or beef: 1 lb. [Cubed]
  
• Potatoes: 2 or 3 medium size [Cubed]
  
• Unsalted roasted peanuts: Garnish to taste

Preparation:

1. (With dried Kaffir lime leaves, reconstitute in warm water until soft, approx. 1 hour).
   Remove stems from Kaffir lime leaves and finely mince.
   
2. Dissolve curry paste in Nam Blah. Add minced lime leaves, sugar, water and peanut butter, and mix until smooth. Add additional water as needed to thin the mixture. Set aside.
   
3. Pre-heat ½ cup of coconut cream in saucepan. Add meat and boil until the meat is cooked through. If the mixture becomes too dry, add water. Set aside.
   
4. In large saucepan of water, boil cubed potatoes until fully cooked, drain water and set aside.
   
5. Heat 2½ cups of coconut cream in a saucepan until it reaches boiling point and set aside.
   
6. Heat a large wok or stockpot, add ½ cup pre-heatened coconut cream. Stir constantly over moderate high heat until it thickens, forms large bubbles, and begins to spatter.
   
7. Add liquid curry paste mixture and heat until mixture is fragrant and thick. Add pre-heatened coconut cream ¼ cup at a time, waiting each time until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Take your time on this step.
   
8. When all the coconut cream has been added, add meat and potatoes, combine thoroughly and simmer for 5 minutes.
9. Serve with Thai Jasmine rice, and garnish with peanuts to taste.
   

Updated: 9-23-00