Back in the U. S. of A. ($1.36)

The jet lag is not too bad. In the first day or so, here is what has happened.....

1. The Book. On the trip, I had a great time reading "The Way of All Flesh" by Samuel Butler. Written in the late 19th century, this extended coming of age story is a delight to read, and full of clever social commentary that is as appropriate now as it was then. Semi-autobiographical, they say, it tells the story of the early years of Ernest Pontifex, who started out as the moderately abused son of a conventional clergyman (being a clergyman and a good father is not possible, according to Butler), is sent to a very unpleasant English boarding school, becomes of interest to his unmarried and fairly wealthy aunt in London, who somehow winds up in Cambridge and himself becomes ordained as a clergyman, who goes on cycles of losing and gaining his faith in various ways, who enters into an unfortunate liaison with an alcoholic and already married (to Ernest's later surprise) young woman of considerable beauty but no social standing, and who becomes (of course) a writer, one whose books are always reviewed poorly in comparison with his previous book (whichever one it is at the time), which is then described as an overlooked classic. You may not like his treatment of women in the book (when he treats them at all), but you have to admire Butler's writing style, incitefullness and humor.

2. The restaurant. Yesterday, we had lunch at Thai Kitchen on M Street. We didn't think so at the time, but it was probably a mistake. We ordered Tomkha, kanom Jeeb, PadPoyZian, and Rama Jay. OK? (Actually we ordered too much, so it became lunch and dinner, but a very unsatisfactory dinner).

3. The concert. Also, a mistake. It was part of our scheduled Smithsonian Jazz concert, this one concentrating on the music (compositions and big band arrangements) of Benny Carter, who died at 96 in 2003. The first half of the concert left us both cold, so we left, thinking that the problem was probably not Benny Carter's. I found some of Benny Carter's original recordings on www.tuxjunction.net, and we confirmed our belief. Carter had an extraordinarly smooth and sweet tenor sax style; he clearly differentiated between the role of the sololist and the band. The Smithsonian band was filled with technically proficient musicians whose style did not resemble Carter's in the least, and there was little differentiation between soloist and backup; it was simply loud, with little variation in tone. At one point, the conductor (who had done some of the transcriptions) said that Carter's style was unique, but his music could, when played by others, could be equally appreciated. I agree with half of this, and I think that the fact that it was mentioned at all meant that we were not the only ones who were dissatisfied. I do not think, however, that many in the audience left when we did.