mere cat

Tales from Deep Space

"Tales from Deep Space" from Snarkmarket, like, totally cracked me up.

SSH (the secure shell for an insecure world)

Over the last few days, I’ve been messing about with Open SSH (the secure shell), which I need to connect to a MySQL database at my ISP, and upgraded the version on my Mac to the latest one. I had to upgrade Open SSL as well, and it was a bit of a hassle as well as a learning experience, but it all works fine now. I am especially happy that my little successes mean I won’t have to rely on Fink to obtain Unix software. As fine a project as Fink is, the packages I’ve been interested in are not up to date. This may mean that the Fink maintainers are being cautious about releasing new versions before thorough testing has been conducted, rather than simply not keeping up with new versions. I haven’t had any problems with any of the “cutting-edge” versions, however. Just lucky, I guess.

Spring Planting: Hostas

Although Spring arrived some time ago, this weekend was the first with actual Spring-like weather, and it was glorious. We spent most of Sunday in the yard doing chores and working on the garden. I decided that my recently-arrived baby hostas would be much happier in the ground than in their cramped little pots, so with Anne’s help, I planted them in a holding area until I could decide where they will ultimately go. Two of the three varieties really were babies—the pots looked empty except for the tiniest green dot to indicate a new shoot. The third kind, Fair Maiden, were about 4 inches tall and had substantial roots poking out the bottom of the pots. All went well for my first-ever planting, and I am looking forward to the plants’ progress.

Susan Werner at The Point

I haven’t seen Susan Werner in concert since her appearance at the Media Theater in 2002. She was touring with a band at the time to support her then-current CD "New Non Fiction." Although many of her CDs included collaborations with other musicians, I had never seen her share the stage with anyone. I remember thinking that the band diluted the impact Susan usually has live, and in the large theater, I missed the intimate rapport she creates with her audiences. Even though the Media show wasn’t my favorite, Susan had a new CD out, and I was eager to see her again.

Last Friday, seven fellow Susan Werner fans and myself gathered together first for dinner at the Indian restaurant Khajuraho in Ardmore, and then descended on The Point in Bryn Mawr for Susan’s 10:00 PM show.

First, a little bit about The Point. It is a reincarnation of and homage to the Main Point, a legendary venue that hosted such artists as Bruce Springsteen many, many years ago. I never saw Bruce there, but I am old enough to have attended a number of concerts there. The new Point is only a few doors down from the old (I didn’t even recognize the original location). It has much the same feeling as the original Main Point: a kind of coffeehouse atmosphere (although now you can order drinks!) with tables, chairs, and even comfortable couches randomly arranged around the room. The room is just large enough to hold a fair-sized audience, yet small enough that no one is sitting too far away. It’s probably the perfect place to hear music. Come to think of it, it’s probably the perfect place to play music, too.

Susan Werner as sultry glamorpuss. Wish the photo were black and white, though.

Susan’s new CD is called “I Can’t Be New” and represents a departure from her previous releases. Rather than being a showcase for her newest songwriting efforts, “I Can’t Be New” is a collection of songs she has written over the years that share a style and sensibility influenced by the great composers of American popular song, such as Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, or the Gershwins. It’s her “standards” album, only they are her own standards. All along Susan has been writing sophisticated music in her own style; these songs are merely in a more familiar genre.

She was accompanied by two superb and sensitive musicians, Boston’s Billy Novick on woodwinds and Philly’s own Tyrone Brown on electric upright bass. As an encore, she did not one, but two covers from My Fair Lady: “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.” She played "Loverly" as a slow blues, practically reinventing the song. It was one of those magical moments that make going to live concerts so rewarding. Susan has reinvented other people’s songs before; it happens at almost every show, in fact. (For a recorded example, check out "Everybody’s Talkin’" on "New Non Fiction.") Later, it occurred to me that she should issue a CD of her imaginative covers called, hmm, let’s see, “I CAN Be New.”

Susan appeared on Mountain Stage recently; I missed it, and could find no trace of an archive of the performance. She was interviewed on NPR and that interview is available along with several songs. Enjoy.

Blissed Out

Anne is taking a quilting class and got a sewing machine last week. Tonight I was treated to the soothing sound of the machine’s intermittent hum from the next room while I was wrestling with some database problems. I could almost feel my blood pressure and heart rate drop. Ah, domestic bliss. Maybe that’s why I finally succeeded in “hooking up” the Perl script that builds my pages to a MySQL database. It’s not all bliss all the time, but it’s a wonderful life.

Canine Courtship Rituals

We haven’t added any new pictures of our puppy Oakes to his page for over a month, in part because he hasn’t changed that much, but our friend Jessica took this nice picture of Oakes playing with her Seeing Eye puppy Ella. They almost look like they’re cooperating instead of competing. I think he’s saying, "See? Men can too be sensitive!"