June, 2010 - Bettina Network's Blog

Archive for June, 2010

A Harp Concert at King’s Chapel

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

copyright 2010 the Bettina Network, inc.

(If you would like to know more about King’s Chapel, another Bettina’s Blog reviews King’s Chapel and it is also included in Bettina’s Menu of Events.)

On Tuesday, June 15th at 12:15pm there was a wonderful harp concert in King’s Chapel. The harpist was Franziska Huhn

Her concert included the Ciaccona from J. S. Bach’s Partita in D minor for solo violin (BWV 1004). It was amazing to hear this piece played on the harp. The ciaccona is considered a pinnacle of the solo violin repertoire and has been transcribed for other instruments – the piano, the full orchestra, the guitar, organ and others. Franziska played the Ciaccona brilliantly and set in the background of King’s Chapel the incredible feelings this piece generates came through the harp playing and made the afternoon.

Also included in this concert was Bach’s French Suite no. 5, BWV 816. Written by J. S. Bach for the clavier, Ms. Huhn transcribed these pieces for the harp. I thought I would share with you the musicians thoughts about the French Suite and her transcription.

A lot of movements have melodies based on arpeggios and some on scales, allowing for a sonority that should work well on the harp. I have had the French Suite on my mind since I first read through it in 2000. I thought then it would work beautifully on the harp and finally I decided to sit down and do the transcription.

All of the movements can be played in the original key and all voicings can be left intact. The only movement which proved tricky was the gigue. It has fast moving left hand lines which can easily lose their clarity on the lower register of the harp. That area tends to build up a lot of vibrations and clarity of lines can easily be lost. In Bach, both lines – the melody as well as the bass line – are equally important, so it is critical that the lines are clear. In later periods the melody rules and the left hand is “serving” the right hand, but in Bach they are equal partners. In the gigue, it took several small discrete register changes of the left hand to make sure it could be heard clearly.

Overall, the character of the Suite is very intimate and personal. It is not a large showy piece, which is one reason I love to play it and thoroughly enjoyed transcribing it for the harp. In this concert, it was a great contrast to the much more extroverted style of the Chaconne.

Ms. Huhn is a rising young musician who has an international resumé of concerts performed throughout the United States as well as Poland, Turkey, Georgia, Luthuania, Norway, Russia, Syria, Germany, Pakistan and more with several concerts performed for German Presidents – both Johannes Rau and Horst Koehler. Ms. Huhn performs as a substitute harpist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, plays regularly with several chamber groups and studied with both Lucille Lawrence and Ann Hobson Pilot, among others. She serves as harp faculty at the New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music, received the Artists’s Diploma from the Conservatory in 2005 and has several harp albums available for purchase. She is the Assistant Director of the Harp Seminar at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute and the above is only a partial list of Ms. Huhn’s musical accomplishments. We know you will hear a lot about Ms. Huhn in the future and hope you take the opportunity to hear her play when she appears in your area of the world or when you are travelling to where Ms. Huhn is performing.

If you would like to follow Ms. Huhn’s career you will find her on the web at www.FranziskaHuhn.de.

She is also an important part of the Bettina Network, inc. and has been for over a decade.

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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

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1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Good News in New Orleans

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.
sent by a guest

There are many catastrophes in the Gulf these days. Most of the news emanating therefrom is dismal and seems as though the place is falling apart. This news, however, is good and may help the light to shine through and the creation of a new and better day for New Orleans. New Orleans has a new Labyrinth. It is beautiful; well sited; and wonderful to walk.

check out: www.labyrinthataudubonpark.org

Purpose of the labyrinth
The Labyrinth at Audubon Park has been waiting for its own timing and purpose and that purpose has now become clear, particularly as New Orleans is consumed by the gutting of homes, the rebuilding of levees and the removing of debris from many neighborhoods. The labyrinth stands as a symbol of hope and will offer the New Orleans community a place to heal, to walk together, and to celebrate new life.

Who did this?
The labyrinth has been a five-year collaborative effort of the Audubon Nature Institute and The Friends of The Labyrinth at Audubon Park. One of America’s most well-known creators of labyrinths, Marty Kermeen of Labyrinths in Stone, was commissioned to construct it in Audubon Park.

Where
The permanent labyrinth is located among the oak and sycamore trees on Audubon Park’s East Drive where Laurel Street meets Audubon Park near the Tree of Life. View map

Walking the Labyrinth
The labyrinth’s archetypal symbol of the spiral is the universal representation of transformation. The labyrinth is a tool that provides a sacred place for meditation, centering, and healing. A labyrinth is a walking meditation. All people and all cultures are invited to journey along the labyrinth. As in life, you will encounter many turns. Trust the path. There is no right or wrong way to walk a labyrinth. There are no tricks or decisions, just follow the single path, one foot in front of the other, until you reach the center. Return along that same path.

Our thanks for this bit of heaven on earth goes to: The Friends of The Labyrinth at Audubon Park
They are a non-profit organization whose mission is to build and support the first permanent labyrinth for the New Orleans community. The Friends are also active in projects to educate the public about the history of the ancient labyrinth and to raise awareness about the resurgence of the labyrinth as a meditative and spiritual tool.”

(Ed. Note) Most of the above in quotes was taken directly from the New Orleans Labyrinth’s web site.

Our thanks for letting us know about this new Labyrinth goes to Anne Gordon, whose book – “Numina” will soon be followed by another on Trees. We hope you have purchased a copy and have read through. When you have finished reading “Numina” you know you have been changed, but you aren’t sure what happened. It is a very good life experience.

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

In Memory of Jaki Leverson

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

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May 28, 2010, Jaki Leverson died.

There is much joy in bed and breakfast, much happiness, laughter, sharing, but there is also grief and pain.

Jaki Leverson was a guest in our homes from 1990 until she could no longer travel from London to the United States in 2008. We kept in touch via e-mail and messages from friends of Jaki’s who travelled to Boston and stayed with us at her recommendation. Even though we realized she was quite ill, we put aside the possibility of not seeing her again and kept her in our prayers.

It is very difficult to say good-bye to someone you’ve known for many years. It is saying goodbye to a very good friend. Twice a year, for two weeks, from 1990 through 2007, we spent many memorable breakfasts with Jaki and sometimes dinner. Some of you who read the blog to keep up with what’s happening in the Bettina Network may remember Jaki. She crossed paths with many guests while she was here and several of you have asked about her over the past couple years.

Jaki shared many stories with us around the breakfast table. One that stands out was the story of her trip to Spain. She was travelling with a group in Youth Hostels. At one hostel, the people weren’t giving them any “respect”. They couldn’t get any information, couldn’t get clean sheets, soap, some parts of the hostel needed a good scrubbing and Jaki tried to get attention to these things for her group, without success. Our breakfast table conversation had been about Germans who take no nonsense and insist on everything being just so – the mythological perfection of the German traveller. Jaki had not been enamored when meeting Germans in her travel who were insistent on perfection, they seemed such a nuisance. But during this trip to Spain, after her many failed attempts, into the hostel came a very matronly, Germanic woman with her group and she took over. Jaki said she was never so glad to see anyone as she was to see this woman from Germany, who in short order had clean sheets on the beds, soap in proper dispensers, workers at the hostel scrubbing everything and order reigning.

Jaki’s big concern, when in Cambridge, was for her mother, whom she worried and talked about. Her experiences from childhood and her current times with her mother were joyful. She expected to take care of her mother through the end of her mother’s life, but fate had it otherwise. She is now survived by her mother. For as long as her mother lives, we are sure Jaki’s spirit will always be close to her. Jaki’s regular routine, almost daily, was the telephone call from her mother – which generally came about breakfast time. The love and concern they had for each other stands out for us as a bond that endures.

Jaki was the long-time Resident Director of the Tufts-in-London and Tufts-in-Oxford programs. She was a scholar in International Politics and History, with a BSc from University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and an M.Litt at Linacre College, University of Oxford. She taught at Oxford, Cambridge and the American Institute for Foreign Study prior to her appointment at Tufts University. She also worked in Israel, Italy and Japan at various points in her career. She was truly a citizen of the world and it showed in her life – her interests, her wisdom, her experience and the way she was able to interact with everyone.

We will miss you Jaki Leverson. May God’s love permeate your new life. You will be remembered at Bettina’s for years to come and I am sure you know there will be Jaki stories told around the breakfast table.

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______________________________________________________________

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Soap for Leg Cramps

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.
by Marceline Donaldson

We have had interesting guests who have given us much over breakfast. Our knowledge and wisdom has increased exponentially. I don’t know of any school, degree, or learning center of any kind which is better. This mornings breakfast, however, left us amazed – and don’t you know it had a New Orleans connection.

We had a guest who asked for a bar of soap. We do get such requests every once in awhile, but generally from people who are not accustomed to using the organic liquid soap we provide in the bathrooms. This requesst for soap was different. This guest – with Mobile, Alabama connections – needed a bar of soap because he has leg cramps and is accustomed to putting a bar of soap under the bottom sheet so he can sleep without leg cramps bothering him.

Now I believe in this kind of ‘medicine’, however this was a bit much, even for me. So I did a bit of research and found several new sources of information.

If you have leg cramps and want to try it, it is supposed to work with all soaps except Dove and Dial. No one knows why it works nor why it does not work with those two bars of soap. Since we gave him a bar of Dove soap – we put a bar of Irish Spring soap in his room while he was out so he wouldn’t have to spend a night with leg cramps.

We discovered a new source of information you might like to check out. This information is on the web at AskDrGottMD.com. We have reprinted below what Dr. Gott had to say about nocturnal leg cramps.

DEAR READER: Since I first published this remedy for nocturnal leg cramps, I have received dozens of letters from readers who endorsed this novel approach.

Recently, I also received mail from patients with restless legs syndrome, a serious and uncomfortable disorder of unknown cause. These RLS patients have had success with the soap.

Although it would be irresponsible of me to endorse this as a cure for RLS, the initial responses have been overwhelming. I’ll update you in a future column as I receive more feedback from readers.

To review the technique briefly for people who may have missed previous columns, here is what to do: Take a bar of soap (large or small, new or used, but no Dial or Dove) and place it under the bottom sheet of the bed in the area of the feet and legs. Go to sleep and see what happens. If you sleep, undisturbed by leg cramps or RLS for a full night, let me know. Of course, write me if the technique is ineffective. I’m looking for honest and objective analyses.

Of course, Dr. Gott has a New Orleans connection – his medical degree is from Tulane Medical School. Before you think any other thoughts, he meets the Northeastern Establishments criteria for credibility by also being a graduate of Princeton University. He writes several medical columns and you can get many of his past articles and columns through his web site and several other sites – just Google or Yahoo Dr. Peter H. Gott and see what turns up.

I was a little wary of this advice because the couple claimed at breakfast that Mardi Gras first happened in Mobile, Alabama before Mobile folks brought it to New Orleans. Now that is rumor spreading that we have very little patience for so I was all ready to throw out this soap business, until I realized I should put aside my prejudices and listen, thereby learning a lot.

See: AskDrGott.com His His daily column has been syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association since 1984. Via postal mail Dr. Peter Gott, P.O. Box 433, Lakeville, CT 06039.

In this bed and breakfast business you never know what tomorrow will bring or who will cross the sill of your door bringing information you didn’t know you needed or that existed and we thank God for it every single day.

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Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

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______________________________________________________________

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.


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