Sitting At The Kitchen Table

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 05:42 PM

WE have a green leather armchair and a La-Z-Boy couch in our kitchen, with an ottoman and a beat-up pine coffee table. The "real" kitchen table is a granite-topped work island -- not very homey -- but somehow the couch and the armchair and the coffee table cancel out the graniteness. The inevitable presence of Perdita (small black cat) in the armchair helps, of course.

My kitchen is primarily a workshop, a clean version of the village forge where I liked to hang out when I was four. Like the blacksmith's shop, half of the kitchen is workspace and the other half is entirely social. Sometimes the social impinges on the work, and elbows have to be nudged out of the pastry, but in the seven years Edmund and I have lived there I have only once shooed people out so I could make the gravy in peace. It doesn't matter if I put out a tray of glasses and tempting bottles in the -- what did you call it, Jerry, a Great Room? -- right, the Great Room. People always go where the action is, and plop themselves down at Ground Zero.

We have a round mahogany dining table that I bought for $200 from a guy who put an advertisement in the Penny Saver. I love that table so much I even paid a cabinet-maker another $200 to make leaves for it so it could be expanded to seat eight. The Victorian oak chairs came from my great-grandfather's house in Beauport, Quebec, and I dimly remember sitting on one of those chairs, supplemented with a cushion and three volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, as a very small child. My father would shove his thumb between the rails into the small of my back to make me sit up straight; he deeply disapproved of children who slumped at the table. He later told me that his father had done exactly the same thing.

I think the single thing Edmund likes best in life is to sit down with half a dozen friends at that table, and then proceed to ply them with course after course of hearty food, accompanied by lashings of wine. I remember him looking at a photograph of a festive table-setting in the Homes section of the newspaper: you know the kind, all centrepieces and place cards. "Where the hell are they going to put the turkey?" he demanded. "That's no way to set a table!"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 04:57 PM

Oh yeah, be sure to floss before you come..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 04:56 PM

It's been a beautiful day, the sun is setting and we're about to have supper in our Great Room. I talked to the guys today and we're having practice this Saturday morning up here. Today at the dentist's, I was talking with the Dental Hygienist (before she filled my mouth with tubes) and she told me that her husband was listening to a CD I gave her a year ago of the Messengers when we did a concert in Washington, D.C. for the GWFSS. She said that he had asked if he could ever come to one of our practices because he loves our music. He plays guitar and was in charge of the music ministry at his church for 8 years and sings TENOR! and us being without a tenor and all... When I got home, I talked with my wife about it (NEVER ask friends over for food unless you ask your wife first, fellas... that's real dissrespectful.) She was fine with it, so this Saturday we'll have a tenor to be named later coming to sing with us and a genoouine Dental Hygienist thrown in on the deal. There'll be plenty of food and a lot of music.

And plenty of room...

I'll keep an eye out the window, looking for you..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 09:42 AM

If we all took showers, the world would be a better place to live in.


Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most powerful.

:D


A

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 08:48 AM

There's always been a lot of talk about being a cheerful giver. They say that God loves a cheerful giver. There's much less talk about being a cheerful receiver. If we can't be a cheerful receiver, we are denying someone the chance to be a cheerful giver. I used to tell a friend of mine who was constantly sending me music that I was his "unplowed field." Now musically, I am not completely "unplowed," but the image seemed right. We all need friends who are "unplowed fields". If we didn't have them, how could we know the joy of sharing?

Ten years ago when I first joined the black Men's Chorus that I sing in, I was so excited about singing with the guys (we don't sing from sheet music and learn all the parts by ear,) that I could hardly contain myself. And couldn't think of a good reason why I should. So, I put together a listening tape of some of my favorite black gospel recordings and gave a copy to every man in the chorus, and a few friends. The Male Chorus is about 40 men, and I ended up making pretty close to 50 copies. There are also folks we visit who are house bound because of age or health problems who appreciate getting music. When I handed out the cassettes, the guys said, "How much do I owe you?" and started reaching for their wallet. I told them "You don't owe me anything... just enjoy the music, and that's more than enough payment for me." Everyone enjoyed the tape so much that I made a Volume II and shared copies with everyone. I finally ran out of enough good material after I finished Volume VIII. All told, I made close to 400 cassettes and completely burned out my tape box in the process. But, no one was happier than I was. And that's how sharing works.

Lest it sound like I am congratulating myself for my generosity, I have to say that I can never give as much as I have received. For every tape or CD I send out, I've probably received as much from others.. often people are hardly know. If I end up sending Catters music, understand that I am only giving in response to the generosity of others towards me. My friends who have been so generous to me have so much more music than I do that I can't give them the same amount of music in return. I have to give to other "unplowed fields." In the Good Folks" thread, I mentioned Don Stevens and Jim Hickam as two people who have buried me in wonderful music. There is no way that I can reciprocate with them. But, I can shower someone they have never met with music. And that person can shower someone else.

If we all took showers, the world would be a better place to live in.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 08:32 AM

Good start, Amos... keep working on it... it should be a fine song.

Yes, Ron: It is amazing to sing with some of the old rhythm and blues legends. Jimmy, who sang lead with the Ink Soots for so many years was my first choice to replace our tenor. He sang with us once, and it was very exciting! He stepped in and sang with us for the first time when we were performing. He immediately found his harmony and we blended together beautifully. He's also a verey sweet man. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the freedom to join the group because he has heavy demands on his life because of health problems in his family. Family has to come first, and I understand that. Doug also sang with us three or four times... the one who not only sang tenor for so many years with the Flamingos, but was also on the Five Satins recording of In The Still Of The Night, which was recorded in the basement of a house in New Haven. Doug didn't work out because he has a much more contemporary approach to harmony and doesn't really enjoy the straightforward four-part harmony that we love. It was a difference in style and we couldn't make it work. Maybe I should see if Fred Paris would like to join us.

One thing I've seen in my life is how certain cities become a hotbed for particular styles of music. That's always been true from Nashville to Detroit with the Motown sound, Philly, Seattle, Minneapolis in the era of the artist formerly known as Prince, New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco for the folk revival.. New Haven has always been a hotbed for groups, and many of the great rhythm and blues groups came from there. I spent most of my adult life in Stamford, Ct. which is only 45 miles at most from New Haven.
I started my gospel quartet there, and we were the only old-styyle gospel quartet in Stamford and the surrounding towns. In New Haven when they put a program together, they invite more than twenty different groups to come and with each group doing tow songs, the programs can last four or five hours. Now that we are no longer in Stamford, there isn't a single old-style gospel quartet singing there, while there are probably thirty or 40 in New Haven and the neighboring communities.

I also wanted to comment about sharing music. But, I think I'll start another post for that. I think I've pretty much used up a screen's worth with this one.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 11:37 PM

Jerry--

That's amazing--that you have all those connections with those classic doo-wop groups--the lead singer in the 5 Satins, and you mentioned the Flamingos and even pre doo-wop classics--the Ink Spots. Just wonderful stuff--it is so great to be in a group and just be able to break into multi-part harmony in a field or on the street. I used to be in a madrigal group and we'd do that in restaurants, etc (after a Renaissance Fair for instance.)

And I noticed that a lot of my singing friends weren't getting much exercise so I started "Volleyball Not For Singers Only"--we'd play volleyball and sing madrigals and Sacred Harp between games. We weren't very good at volleyball--that's for sure--we also had players who did things like one put a deflated beach ball on his head. I always imagined we were getting some exercise. And we had some really good volleys from time to time. But we had to try to attract some good players to keep games lively. Fortunately we had a lot of friends (remember it was not for singers only)--and some of the non-madrigal people even enjoyed hearing madrigals and Sacred Harp between games (all memorized). We even tried once to sing while playing-- I AM the Rose of Sharon and the LILL-y of the Valley. We only tried it once.

Anyway, I just love all sorts of a cappella, unaccompanied or whatever anybody wants to call it--archipelago, Acapulco etc.

Hope we can do more at the Getaway this year.

And Leftydee--your sessions sound just wonderful.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 11:19 PM

It was just an old kitchen table
It had been painted six or seven times
It was where I'd sit while my momma made us dinner
It was where I saw my first dime
If I needed a place to take apart a radio
Or glue a plastic model plane
There was that old kitchen table waitin' there
And I wish that I had it back again.

The winter I was seventeen, Joleen and I drank cocoa
And sat there while we talked about our plans.
And if Momma went upstairs when the kitchen clock said nine,
We'd get a chance to kiss and hold each others' hands
We would sit and listen to the kitchen radio
Singing "Blue Moon" and "Cryin' in the Rain"
Just an old kitchen table waiting there when it was needed
And I wish that I had it back again.

...hell, it's a rough and smarmy start, but it's a start. IMagine a tune vaguely parallel to "Momma Tried".

A

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 09:18 PM

"It was his old kitchen table.." I can already here the song. Certainly a worthy topic for one. I actually wrote a song about our screen porch door... mentioned it in one thread or another on the Cat so I won't repeat it. Sometimes, something inanimate is woven so finely into our life that it seems to take on a character of its own. That old saying, "If walls could talk" applies to kitchen tables and screen porch doors, too.

My oldest son, his wife and kids have moved to North Carolina. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up swinging down that way, maybe catch you and the Pea-Vine, maybe even catch a day at the Getway. Ya never know...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Bobert
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 09:10 PM

Great thread, Jerry...

Oh, where to start???

I grew up sitting a a huge "dining" room table that seats 12.... It's where my mom would offer me 2 cents to finish the remianing brocolli... It was where my mom and dad would argue over civil rights as my brother and I would look on... And where when I came into my own self I would argue about politics, civil right, and the war in Vietnam...

But it was also a table where our gay nest door neighbors would talk of theater and art... And where my friends woould sit when ivited to dinner... My dad worked for Ford Motor Company and he would have his business friends over for dinners there and my mom would be on her best behavior...

Then I got marries and my folks moved away to New York City and the table went into storage... And then they moved again and again as my dad kept getting different jobs but the table was always "somewhere" with blankets thrown over it...

Then when I moved to Wes Ginny and was designing an addition on the house we had bought I asked about "the table" and my parents seemed relieved that I wanted it and so I built a big room for it and until recently moving back to Virginia had it for 18 years... And in those 18 years it took on a new life... Next to it is where my son ate his first meals in his high-chair... It was at that table that Judy and I spent our evenings and where relatives and friends sat when they came to visit... It was there that many an evening I would be asked to play a few songs and ended up playin' half the night...

And it was at that table that Judy took her last meal... It was a Tuesday and she died that Friday...

Foure years later it was the table where I served my new wife, P-Vine, her first Bobert-cooked breakfast and where we had all three of her sons and their wives for Thanksgivings...

BUT it was also the table where I would sit every December and write out Christmas cards to my family and to my friends and, if nothing else, this has been it's most important duty as I try very hard to stay in touch, even if only once a year, with my friends... Yeah, some prolly wonder why I still do it since I don't see them too much anymore but it means a lot to me and sitting at that table writing messages to my old friends keep the lines of communication open for when I get time to see them agian... You included, Jerry... sniff..

Now, since the move "the table" is yet back in storage and I am building madly trying to make a space for it and it will happen and my prayersa and my hopes are that many folks who I have come to know- and love- here at Mudcat will come to visit and sit at "the table" and add another chapter to its glorious life...

No, it's not exactly a "kitchen" table but, hey, I think if it could talk, there's probably not too many "kitchen" tables that wouldn't let it thru the door....

I'll let everyone know when it's ready for some new chapters...

And...

...thanks Jerry. One day you and Ruth will break bread with me and the P-Vine and...

..."the table"...

Yer Bro,
Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 09:06 PM

Sounds good, Rap:

We don't have a mountain view, although we are at the highest end of Hillcrest Ave, which pretty much says it all. What we do have is an area we created for attracting birds. Our yard is small, but there is an 8 foot (or 14 foot if I don't trim it) hedge between our house and the neighbors. We created a bird sanctuary with a squirrel- proof bird feeder (yes they do exist,) two (Count 'em) birdhouses our Grandson and his friend made for us, a bird bath and in the summer, two recirculating waterfalls. When we sit at our table (which sounds much like yours) we look out a floor-to-ceiling wall directly at the small bird sanctuary. The birds are endless entertainment (even moreso than the fish in the aquarium that have become so large that Ruth is afraid of them.) We also have a deck off the Great Room where we have cookouts. Last Summer, our son Pasha and his son "little" Pa-Sha and I (mostly helping) built a screened-in Gazebo that comfortably sits 16 people. Between the Great room and kitchen, the deck and the gazebo, we can easily handle 40 people... and usually do a couple of times a year. There's music and food... the two basic fuels of life.

And plenty of extra guitars, banjos, mandolas and even a fiddle..

And Bob, if I ever make it out to Michigan again or we make it to the Getaway, I know who to get to sing the bass part on Ten Pound Radio..

Doom boppa doom, Doom boppa doom, badah Doom boppa doom...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 08:29 PM

Hey, Jerry, we call ours "The Dining Room." A counter/low wall between the table, etc. and the kitchen, just enough that you can tell they're two different areas. Our table, extended, has eight regular chairs and we have seated sixteen adults (but it's cozy). We leave our table extended, and we eat there all the time.

And then there's the back porch (deck). Summertime, we eat out there and watch the golfers and then, when the golfers go home, we watch the sun set behind the mountains seventy miles away. Best show in town; someday the city is gonna charge us entertainment tax.

Come 'round, tune up the guitar that's in the basement by the fireplace. And oh yea, that's another "great room" area....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: number 6
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 08:29 PM

I don't like doo wop ... but it is beter than apacella.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Snuffy
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 07:06 PM

Bom bom a bom a bom bom a bom a
Dang a dong dang a ding a dong ding

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: lady penelope
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 06:02 PM

I've always liked Blue Moon done as a doo wop song........

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 03:00 PM

I can fondly remember many times around kitchen tables, but haven't had one in a few years now, as it happens. Every now and then I get to sit at Raptor's kitchen table, though. He has a traditionally set up living place in that sense, and it's nice. It has a great view in the backyard.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: leftydee
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 02:50 PM

Well....d'ja hear me? I was beltin' out that bass line!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: leftydee
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 02:31 PM

Jerry,

I'm pickin' and grinning. I just played Davenport along with the tape The Secret Life of, well..... You.

Nice little gathering you've got going here. Listen closely, you'll here me growling out Ten Pound Radio in a minute.

Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 01:35 PM

Glad to see you, Laura:

Everyone has a tale that just waits to be told. You too..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: *Laura*
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 01:30 PM

I haven't got one of my own at the moment but I'm enjoying the kitchen table stories. I'm being the person at the moment who sits next to the table and listens to all the people sitting round it.
Nice thread Jerry

xLx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 01:16 PM

Glad to see you Bob: I was hoping that you'd stop in.

Oh yeah, there's Ten Pound Radio that I wrote, that's on my second Folk Legacy album:

It wasn't all that long ago
When we listened to the radio
We all knew the songs by heart
And everybody sang their part
And every corner had a group
We sang Searchin' and Alley-oop
And even though those days are gone
I still like to sing those songs

   Now when you walk down town at night
   Underneath the street lamp light
   All the kids you're like to see
   They won't be working on their harmony
   Oh no......
   They'll all be listening to a ten pound radio
   And even though they know the song
   They never even sing along
   Oh no-o-oh, no,no,no,no-o-oh
   No-oh,no-oh,no-oh,no, no-o-oh
   No-oh, no-oh-oh o-oh- no-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Not sure I got all the no-oh-ohs right... you have to sing it to hear it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 01:07 PM

Hey, KT:

I still have three today... actually two, but singing with two different groups at the same program.. One program is all spirituals.

Last night was interrresting. For the first time in the nine years that we've been together Joe and Frankie didn't make it at the last minute. The other member of our quartet moved to Florida, so you know that he wasn't there. So, it was a new first for me. I was the first one white man/black gospel quartet in History. Not that it bothered me particularly. I've performed alone most of my life, and I recognized several of the others groups because we've sung with them in other churches. I also sing alone in nursing homes all the time, so it felt right for me. I've gotten known as that white guy who sings in the black community, so I was right at home.

The greatest thing about the night was that they had a group called the Gospel Express. I talked to them awhile before the program and know one of the women who sings backup. The groups is fantastic. Think James Brown crossed with Wilson Pickett as their lead singer, and the three women sounding like the backup singers for Ike and Tina Turner. Throw in a lead guitar who sounds like he's off a Temptations album, and fine bass player and an 8 or 9 year old drummer that is already going professional, and you've got the group.
The lead singer is a soul singer who got the Spirit, and the lead guitar player (who is even older than I am) sang lead on one song that sounded like Hank Williams should have done it. My son Pasha from Ruth's first marriage was there with his wife, and Pasha and I were having a great time. We both love the old soul music. Never mind that Pasha is Muslim. He can still get down.

As for rhythm and blues (dubbed doo-wop many years after the fact, I have put together what I modestly think of as the definitive collection of rhythm and blues groups starting with the first black groups like the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers and the Ravens, right up to a track from Paul Simon's failed Capeman musical. That's where I learned to sing harmony. Living next door to New Haven, I keep meeting singers from the early groups. Fred Paris, who sang lead on In The Still Of The Night is a good friend of a mutual friend who lived just a door away from us, Jimmy, who replaced Bill Kenny as the lead singer in the Ink Spots when Kenny went solo sings in one of the male choruses that I sing in, as does Doug, who sang with the Flamingos for something like 17 years, and also sang with the Coasters. New Haven has always been a hotbed of quartets, and still is. Now, it's gospel quartets... They're coming out of the woodwork.

Gotta get packed up to go..

Polly put the kettle on..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: open mike
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 12:58 PM

Kate Wolf's Trumpet Vine is the first song that
comes to mind for me, too, on this topic. I
wonder if we have it in the D.T. if not, we
should. I will check!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: leftydee
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 12:56 PM

Ron, Do you remember "So Fine" by the Fiestas? "There's A Moon Out Tonight" by the Capris? Good harmonizers! The ol' doo wop just makes you smile, doesn't it?

I host a weekend music blast each July (to which you're all invited) and some doo wop always gets a special spot with eleventy-seven part harmonies. Man.... it sounds gooooood! I'll post a thread about the July gig later. We have from 60 to 90 folks each year and music from Friday night 'til kisses and hugs on Sunday. We have couple 'Catters there already in Cap't Bob and Coldjam. Great fun, food and music.

Earlier someone mentioned RedRose tea. Do you recall the old ads with Chimps dressed like rockers? It may be cruel, but performing chimps crack me up. I wish either of my bands was as entertaining as chimpanzees riding bicycles.

What a great place to talk with friends this is, here in your great room, Jerry!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 12:39 PM

Yikes! I'm rushing in and out again today. Not even enough time to read everyone's postings......I'm glad you're kkeping that kettle on Jerry. I'll be back!

And jimmyt, I may have been fired from the blues band, but I can do-op with the best of em! May I audition...please????

Sins, I've often wondered why it is that when I'm trying to pull together a spread for 12 people on Thanksgiving, they are always huddled around in my tiny kitchen, watching, instead of relaxing in the living room. Never fails!! Endearing, though!

Jerry, how did your gigs go?

KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 12:10 PM

I can't help with the "doo wop" at the Getaway, Ron, but I just wanted to pull up a chair for a minute to agree with Daylia about having fish in the kitchen and what great table companions they are ! I don't know if they have these in America, but over here in the UK a lot of older houses have a serving hatch between the kitchen and the dining room for plates to be passed through. The house we moved into when I was 10 had a serving hatch that the previous owners had put a tropical fish tank into, and we took it on, having never kept fish before. We had angel fish, catfish, neon tetras, all kinds, each with their own personalities and they made great "dining companions". The kitchen table was right next to the tank, and they'd always come across to have a look and a "chat". The house I moved into last summer had a hatch between the kitchen and living room, which has now been made into a window (handy to see what's going on on TV etc.) and I'm thinking of getting a tank again to put there.

I'm curious about these "Great Rooms", Jerry - I've never heard the term before.

Bye for now,
- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 11:23 AM

We were talking about doo-wop a little earlier. I always thought a real good one to start with is "Come Go With Me", by the DelVikings, I think. There are 3 or 4 different musical threads through the whole song--for various different voices--from bass to pretty high. And "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is one everybody is likely to know. And I've always loved "Goodnight Sweetheart" by the Spaniels. But any suggestions anybody has would be great. Maybe we really should try to think singing some of the same doo-wop songs before we got to the Getaway. Unless people just want to show up and see what happens. That's always fun too.

Any thoughts?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 08:15 AM

Funny thing is, in our home here in Derby, we spend more time sitting at the table in the "Great Room" next to the kitchen. I don't know who came up with the idea of "Great Rooms" but they were really on to something. Our Great Room is next to the kitchen, with just a three foot high half way dividing the two rooms. That means that food and conversation flow smoothly between the rooms. When someone is working in the kitchen and there are a lot of people in the house, they aren't cut off from the conversation and music, and the guests aren't clogging up the kitchen arteries. When we just have one or two people visiting, we often do end up in the kitchen.. at least while food is being prepared. We have a taller table with a stool where people like to sit, but our kitchen table is glass. I mean, it looks nie and all, but who can feel warm looking sitting at a glass table? It's like having a metal pillow.

The table in the Great Room is wood and we keep it expanded to it's full size, so 8 people can comfortably sit there. There is also a small couch and a love seat (AND a fireplace) in the Great Room, so it is a very inviting place to gather. On top of that, it has a ceramic tile floor and floor to ceilings windows on three sides, so the acoustics are terrific. Like a Men's Room without the urinals. That's where I record the Messengers.

There's more to say about the magical mix of food and music.. and birds. Definitely birds. But right now, I'm heading up for breakfast.

In the Great Room.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 07:52 AM

I don't know if we ever had a kitchen table - I can't remember the set up of the house my great-grandfather built where I lived till I was 7. We lived in our next house till I was 14 & I can remember the bedroom I shared with my 2 sisters, & my parents bedroom & but not my brother's, or the bathroom or the kichen. I lived in the next house till I was 26 & I think it had a galley kitchen. Memory has never been my strong point, and as I get older ...

In all the years since then I've lived in flats with galley kitchens, usually on my own, so I almost feel deprived! Tho I have had some good times around other folk's tables.

I'm really enjoying other folks' memories.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: *daylia*
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 07:00 AM

PS   It's not a good idea to put two Siamese fighting fish together in the same bowl. Having no space to themselves is just too stressful for them. There's wisdom in that, somewhere, I know ....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: *daylia*
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 06:56 AM

... I find the kitchen the most lonly place in the house.

Aww Rap, it'll only get better. Know it, ok?

I've had this little mood-lifter on my table for a few months now -- a peace lily growing in this big vase of water, so you can see the roots, complete with a lovely bright red and blue Siamese fighting fish. I sit beside it and watch it while I eat my meals alone. And believe it or not the little thing has learned to recognize me too! When I sit at that table these days it watches me, gets all excited and swims up to the surface looking for food. So, we eat together now, every day, under my cat's watchful gaze. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:59 PM

Kendall's TV show entitled "Stories Told In The Kitchen" was one of the reasons so many New Brunswickers sent donations to MPBN (Maine Public Broadcasing Network). I never missed a show. I wish I had had a VCR back then. I suppose we are all "kitchen people" to some degree.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:10 PM

Back in 1981, in April, my mother died. We drove out from Ohio to Springfield, Illinois, about 12 hours at the time, and overnighted with my brother. He had some Jamison which he shared with my wife and me, and the next day we drove on two more hours to my home town and the funeral.

Well, it turned out that they had to keep Mom on ice for a week -- the Catholic Diocese wouldn't let her be buried during "Holy Week" and we had to have the funeral on Easter Monday.

So we all stayed at the old homestead and got reacquainted with each other around the old kitchen table -- the one where we'd eaten so many meals, had so many fights, did so much homework, built model airplanes, assembled our gear when the three boys went off to war (and two to Vietnam). The siblings got to know each other's wife (no, not that way!) and the wives formed a bond that has lasted -- when my brother Tony was slammed in the hospital for his nine (yeah, I said 9) bypasses, we were the first people his wife called and we were on the road over the next day.

Anyway, we buried Mom on the day after Easter and had a post-funeral get-together at my Uncle's. That evening, Uncle drove over to the house with a six-pack, figuring that he'd have to comfort the four kids. He found us around the kitchen table, talking, playing Yatzee, and going through papers Mom had saved (and a lot of it she had kept hidden from "us kids"). Uncle drank a beer, left the rest, and I'm sure walked out shaking his head.

All around the kitchen table. And as for the delay in burying my mother, sometimes I think she planned it that way.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Cluin
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 08:35 PM

Somebody's got a 1001 piece puzzle on the go, one of those quaint old harbour things. I'll pitch in a few minutes working on "the dock".

Anyone caught hiding a piece for the end gets to do the dishes tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: SINSULL
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 08:24 PM

Kendall's TV Series was based around the kitchen table - "Stories Told In The Kitchen". Two guys sitting at the table drinking hot tea and nibbling on toast. Wonderful warm setting for some hilarious tall tales.

The kitchen was always the center of life in my house. Drove Mom nuts. She'd be trying to cook Thanksgiving dinner while steering around 20 people in a room that was crowded with six. Funny, but in my childhood, the homes we kids always looked forward to visiting were the ones where we met in the kitchen. We dreaded the places where we were expected to sit up straight in the living room.

Nice thread, Jerry. It brought back some happy memories.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 06:39 PM

Hey, gnu, PM me! They are far from professional and, of course, not complete because I could not be in all places at once (You might take that up with KT- I had great faith that she would get the cloning done in time) but they are fun and evocative of the whole weekend.

Eb

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 05:40 PM

I'm off to sing with the Messengers tonight... singing three more times tomorrow. I'm really pleased to see so many old and brand new friends stopping by. I'm just going to keep the pot on for a few days and see if people find this a place to stop in.

Doo I doo Wop? Mop bop a lu bop, a mop bam boom!

Awright, jimmy... I'll let you sing bass... am I generous, or what?..

I wrote a new gospel song with a classic rhythm and blues chord progression and melody... I need folks with a real feel for the music to do it... sounds like something the Penguins might have sung Sunday morning at a Baptist church..

Catch yez all later...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 05:39 PM

I'll bring the wine.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 05:31 PM

Jerry, wow! you have a great bunch hanging around the table. Hi KT you sweet thing and if it isn't Ebbie, the Real Northern Lights herself! Ron, how about we start getting some thoughts together for a do-wop song next getaway? Jerry might be coaxed in to singing with us, and i know AllanC wants to join in. We should come up with some possibilities and get a rehearsal tape to some folks in advance, huh?
Cluin and Raptor and Rumanci and Gnu and Ranger and Clinton hisself!LAdy P and Michelle and Donuel, and David from France and Amos, the wise old wizard of San Diego, well, what a fun bunch you have assembled.

Listen, Someone run to FKC and get a couple buckets of chicken and I will start these 37 packets of Ramen noodles in some boiling water if y'all want anything else, get up and get it yourself. Ruth ain't here to wait on us hand and foot! We can play a bit while we snack. how bout some blues for a starter, Amos, somewhere 'round the key of E

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Cluin
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 03:53 PM

The kitchen table's piled with stuff that never got put away. The kids eat in the living room in front of the TV.

It's like the garage... you build it to park the car in, but after a while there's no room in there for the car.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 03:27 PM

Gnu--

You'd want to contact Ebbie--who did them--and find out if there are still possibilities of obtaining them. She took a survey soon after the Getaway to find out specific demand--I think there was a thread on it--you might have missed the thread. But she should be able to tell you what the options are at this point. I hope you can still get some.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:37 PM

Getaway CD's? Ah... please? Who is closest to me that I can send some $'s to to get them?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: lady penelope
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:18 PM

Mmm, kitchen tables. ~There's something very unstressful about them. Even though great dramas can happen about them, it seems to be the place that allows them to happen and it seems to take the sharp corners off in the process.

In my mind the kitchen table epitimises my Mother. She was always there. Whether it was cooking, sewing or reading a book (her favourite occupation) it happened at the kitchen table. My mother taught me to sew and to cook and so many other things in the process, all around that table.

When, as teenagers, my brothers and I would drag our respective 'gangs' home, it would be the kitchen that got taken over for the quaffing of large quantities of tea (with the occasional heretic drinking coffee) and people still mention that when I meet them years later.

My parents moved to a bungalow a while back and the kitchen isn't big enough to get a table in (it's what's grandly called a 'galley kitchen' here in england - my Mum want's to know when does she get the slaves.....?) and for a while it just didn't seem right, there was no table in a quiet place to walk in and see my mother reading at it .

It's worked itself out now, my father (a carpenter by trade - and calling I think) has made the garage into his workshop and the dining room into his music room (still plays his trumpet - 72 this week!) so my mother has inherited the living room. So of course she has put a kitchen style gate leg table in it and all is now right with the world... :o)

Jerry's quite right, there's no 'should' when it comes to feelings Raptor. Just 'cos you're 'only' ( :o) ) 37 doesn't mean that the world looks any better at the moment than it would if you were 70. Give yourself time to let the kitchen table have other memories for you. And remember, you're no weirder than the rest of us........ :o)

Now I'm getting urges to go bake something.......... which is nice, but fattening........ :o)

TTFN Lady P.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:14 PM

Oh yeah, KT... sitting at someone else's table is a treat, too. I've done that many, many times.

I had to run out for some stuff for supper, and I was glad to see that folks just came in and made themselves comfortable.

As Tom Bodet says, "We'll leave the light on for you" when we go out to sing with the Messengers tonight.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:01 PM

Hi everyone!

Is it okay to just pop in for just a minute? Okay, a quick sip of tea.   It's wonderful and SO good to visit with friends.

Our kitchen table is still the gathering place...It was when the kids were little, still is when we have company and we prefer to play our music there, too. And now, what a great thing to add thoughts of the likes of all of you to my table. Okay, Jerry's table, but it's at my house tomorrow!

KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: ranger1
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 01:16 PM

Hey Jerry! Got a cozy spot for a little ranger? How 'bout some herbal tea? Anything as long as it's not chamomile.

The kitchen table is very dear to me. It's where we'd hang out when I was little. My maternal grandma taught me to read, print and tell time at that table. At my paternal grampa's, we'd sit around the table and he's tell me tall tales or sing to me. I remember my cousins "bringing" him new songs by singing them to him. Sometimes my great-uncle would be there and he'd play his fiddle while Grampa Moses sang. That was the same table where Margaret MacArthur did a field recording of him, that I now have copies of on CD. Good memories.

Hiya Ebbie! I second the thanks for the CDs of the Getaway. It's kind of like being back when I listen to them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 01:02 PM

The first time I cooked a meal for some of my French friends, it was like taking coals to Newcastle.An Englishman cooking for the French!
This was some 30 yrs ago. And they still talk to me,and come to eat!
They also like my wife's cooking,she's from Croatia by the way.We were out there during the war.Her father owns a restaurant in the town.It used to get full up with American journalists and the like.We used to sit for hours with them,talking music and stuff.Strange times,but plenty of good moments.Got to get back in the kitchen!
Cheers

David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:56 PM

Speaking of fidelity,(high, not in-) I've been thinking how accustomed we've become to 18 track, digital studio recordings. I just put together a CD of old tapes, so that's been on my mind. For awhile, I was feeling kinda sheepish about the whole project because the sound of the tapes isn't nearly up to the standards of contemporary studio recordings. Felt kinda embarassed about it. And then I began thinking, "This is pretty stupid!" I came to love folk music through old monaural records recorded on primitive equipment which were reissued on pretty low-fi record albums. I didn't crinkle my nose when I heard Charlie Poole sounding like he was singing up through a man hole cover. Or The Carter Family records sounding like they'd been kept in a kitty litter box.

So, I've decided that rather than call the songs I burned to CD "home recordings" which sounds highly amateurish, I'll refer to them as "field recordings." After all, there's a field not far from here. Field recordings sounds all scholarly and important. Home recordings sounds like you used crummy equipment because you didn't have the money to go in a studio. True enough, of course.

For us folk-type people, the song's the thing. I love the crisp sound of a contemporary studio recording, but I'm not about to diminish the old tapes and earlier recordings as being somehow less valueable. They are what they are.

Besides, most field recordings weren't even recorded in a field.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:32 PM

"France didn't change. I did." Great line, Jerry.

You're welcome, Ron!

I have Juneau friends who travel a good deal (as they say, they don't have children so this is how they prefer to spend their money). Their first trip to France surprised and delighted them. The people they met were friendly and helpful and took the time to explore where they should go next. In staying open and flexible Gerry and Susan have had wonderful experiences which they then share with us.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:28 PM

That would be really something for us to look forward to, Jerry.