On February 26, 2009, our team member, Malik Moosa-Soomar, wrote about the traditions of an Indian / Pakistani wedding. Well, this is the big week for Malik and Zaheen. Their April Wedding in Austin!
Yesterday April 10, 2009, Dick and Francene Fay and Dennis and I were honored to be invited to day two of Malik and Zaheen's wedding celebration. Day two is the Pithi and Sangeet event.
Enjoy the photo of Malik and Zaheen taken last evening.
I would write more today, but I am having computer problems. Tonight we will be attending the day three of the celebration wedding dinner and reception.
"There is no long distance about love,it always finds a way to bring hearts together no matter how many miles there are between them."
The lights on Broadway were dimmed twice this week to honor and remember two award winning actors, Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson. Don't jump to conclusions...I didn't know either Ron Silver or Natasha Richardson, but their work touched our lives and now sadly their untimely deaths do as well.
Live theatre is just that...live and filled with the unexpected. The actor that becomes ill, the lights that don't work, the sound system that fails, every production is just slightly different and that is the magic that is ours to keep when the lights go down and places are called.
My theatre experience, albeit limited, has always been from the production side of the house, serving on boards for summer stock theatre or for California State University Long Beach's Cal Rep. But this experience taught me that you just never know who you may one day see on Broadway. From 1992 through 1997 I watched young actors travel to New Hampshire to spend the summer months performing for the Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company(MWVTC). And as the years went by it was wonderful to watch some of these actors eventually act on Broadway...Steven Rosen (Spamalot), Ken Kantor (Guys and Dolls, Forum...and still today in Phantom of the Opera) Scott Davidson (Hairspray), Angela DeCicco (Les Miserables), Matthew Aibel (Candide).
In August 1998 we traveled to New York city for a memorial service for Dennis' Aunt Beatie (Beatrice Helfand Cantor). While we were in the city Aaron and Dan asked if we could get tickets to see one of their favorite musicals, Cabaret. (Dennis played the role of Max, owner of the Kit Kat Club in MWVTC's 1995 production of Cabaret.) The revival of Cabaret had opened on Broadway to rave reviews in early 1998 starring Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles. Sadly we could not get tickets as the show was temporarily closed on July 21, 1998, when a temporary elevator tower across the street from the venue had collapsed causing the production to be shut down. As I said, the unexpected is part of the "magic of live theatre!" Aaron and Dan were disappointed, but we did purchase a copy of the Cabaret production poster...and this week I stood in our home and stared at this poster remembering Natasha Richardson...in her Tony Award winning role as Sally Bowles. The Sally Bowles we didn't get to see on Broadway, because of the unexpected!
So this Saturday morning I dedicate this post to those unexpected life events that somehow touch each of us. I thank Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson for sharing their lives and talent. I will remember Ron Silver as the crazy neighbor who lived downstairs from Rhoda from 1976-1978 or as Bruno Gianelli in West Wing and I will remember Natasha Richardson in Nell, The Parent Trap, Cabaret and Maid in Manhattan.
The lights go down, places are called and life happens all around us, including the unexpected magic and sadness. Enjoy Natasha as she performs Maybe This Time. Your thoughts?
If you are a regular reader of the Webconsuls' blog, then perhaps yesterday you saw Keith Hansen's post about love and marriage. Keith addressed the subject of how to know when you have found "the one" and you are ready for marriage. I am happy to report that love is in the air at Webconsuls. Dick Fay and Francene Miyake were married yesterday, February 20, 2009.
Today, on behalf of the Webconsuls' team, I would like to congratulate Dick and Fran on the occasion of their wedding. I am dedicating this post to them.
I am not sure when Dick and Fran first met, but I came to know them as a couple about 10 years ago. I actually met Dick in June 1981, when he and Dennis were both attending an ARCO executive training seminar. But it wasn't until Dennis and I returned to California in 1997 that Dennis and Dick reconnected and eventually formed Webconsuls.
But back to the happy couple...and a wonderfully interesting couple they are. Here is what I can tell you about them: *Dick and Fran are fiercely loyal to their alma maters, Dick to Villanova and Duke, Fran to University of Southern California (USC). (I try not to call Dick the day after a critical loss!) *They enjoy attending USC home games. *Fran is an avid gardener. *Dick is an avid golfer. *Dick enjoys photography. *They are both great with numbers. Dick has a masters in Applied Statistics and Fran, I believe, is a CPA. *They are inquisitive and love to read. *They both enjoy traveling to exotic places. (Think "Following the Equator" by Mark Twain,1897)
Today as I was preparing this post I thought about finding a beautiful quotation about marriage. Mark Twain is usually a good source for meaningful observations about life. I learned that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) married Olivia Langdon 139 years ago this month! On September 8, 1869, Twain sent the following message to Olivia:
"This 4th of February will be the mightiest day in the history of our lives, the holiest, and the most generous toward us both--for it makes of two fractional lives a whole; it gives to two purposeless lives a work, and doubles the strength of each whereby to perform it; it gives to two questioning natures a reason for living, and something to live for; it will give a new gladness to the sunshine, a new fragrance to the flower, a new beauty to the earth, a new mystery to life; and Livy it will give a new revelation to love, a new depth to sorrow, a new impulse to worship. In that day the scales will fall from our eyes and we shall look upon a new world. Speed it!"
I hope you will enjoy today's photo album. The first photo is of Dick and Fran in Kenya 2004, taken on the equator. Photo two is just for fun: Olivia and Samuel Clemens on deck during the Following the Equator tour. Photo three is of Dick and Fran on their trip to the Arctic 2006.
You will notice there is nothing technical about this blog, it is Saturday morning and love is in the air. Today is about two really nice people, Dick and Fran. Here's to our friends, to a new gladness to the sunshine, a new fragrance to the flowers...and a new world together. Speed it, indeed!
25 years ago today my funny valentine, our perpetual valentine, was born. It was February 14, 1984, when our youngest son, Daniel Ryan Helfand, came into this world at about 8:00PM in the Providence Hospital, Anchorage, Alaska. It is hard to believe that 25 years have passed since that cold, freezing cold (about 6 degrees), winter night. Dennis arrived home from the office around five and found me resting in the bedroom. He inquired if I felt OK to which I responded: "Well, I am OK, just uncomfortable." By 6:00PM we were driving on icy roads hurrying to get to the hospital. Dan arrived so quickly that it was really Dennis and the charge nurse, Char Peters, who delivered Daniel. No anesthetic and that is why I said Dan arrived about 8:00PM, the truth is everyone in the delivery room was so busy that we forgot to look at the clock!
That evening Dennis and I knew that Valentine's Day would always be special to us. We would really never need to buy another card or Valentine's gift as we had our perpetual Valentine. To remember this night, Dennis wrote a song for Daniel. You can enjoy "Daniel's Valentine" here.
This sweet little boy, is now a man that loves books, music, history, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, harmonica playing, photography, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Twain, Emerson, Thoreau, philosophy, dogs, and good food. He was named for my uncle Daniel and my father's mother's maiden name Ryan. Daniel is a Hebrew name meaning "God is my judge" and Ryan, of Gaelic origin, means "king" or "little prince". I need not say more.
The video I am sharing with you today is Pete Seeger singing Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" at a celebration for Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday on May 3, 2009.
So today, as I wish Daniel a happy 25th birthday, I want to wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day. If you attempt to learn about the history of this day, you will find that everyone seems to have their own version of how and why we have come to celebrate Valentine's Day. I will let you do this research on your own. What I have come to realize in the past week is that I have many friends and relatives that have a February birthday. It is an extraordinary number. Let me see: our son Daniel(14th), Dennis' sister Vivian(19th) and brother Harvey(19th), Dennis' cousin Bob Stuckelman(19th), Dennis' cousin Joe Stuckelman(16th), Dennis' nephew Joshua Yates(14th), Dennis' nephew Jared Rubin(27th), our friend Arnold Glassman(16th), our friend Father Rick Degagne(11th), our friend Sheryl Thompson(14th), our friend Bart von Gal(21st), my cousin Harry Egan(14th), my sister Agnes Laband(13th), my nephew Steve Laband(5th) and the list goes on. Just this week as we celebrated Father Rick's birthday we both commented about all the February birthdays, so Father Rick counted back and we concluded that it must be the lusty month of May that produces all of these wonderful February babies. Come to think about it, May is the month we celebrate Mother's Day...so now we may conclude what really goes on in many homes on Mother's Day.
Happy Birthday Dan!
The February 2009 edition of National Geographic arrived this week. There on the cover were two magical words "Mount Washington". Mount Washington(6,288 ft), the highest peak in the northeastern United States, is located in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. What makes this article, Backyard Arctic, all the more interesting to me is that for 12 years I lived within 20 miles of this magical peak. Over those years each member of my immediate family had their own experience with the mountain. There are many ways of traversing Mount Washington and we lived to tell about it.
If you have never heard of Mount Washington you might be quick to ask: "What do you mean you lived to tell about it, Mount Washington only has an elevation of 6,288 ft?" I, too, was skeptical when I first arrived in New Hampshire in 1985. After all I had lived most of my life in Southern California where a 6,288 ft peak might be considered a foothill. As a young adult I had backpacked to the top of Mount San Gorgonia (11,499 ft) and San Jacinto Peak (10,834 ft). I had lived in Alaska and toured Denali National Park to witness Mount McKinley (20,320 ft), but after living in New Hampshire for a very short time I learned that Mount Washington is "Home to the World's Worst Weather", holding the all-time surface wind speed record of 231 mph (April 12, 1934). And sadly, Mount Washington is one of the 10 deadliest mountains in the world!
Perhaps what makes this jewel of the White Mountains so deadly is its accessibility and unfortunately not everyone who visits is prepared for the fact that the weather can turn quickly. You do not have to be a hiker, backpacker, proficient ice-climber, or skier to enjoy this mountain. Since 1861 people have been driving up the Mount Washington Auto Road, the oldest man made attraction in America. Not interested in driving up the mountain? Then you can ride to the top on the Cog Railway which has been carrying passengers since 1869. If you are really adventurous, then in the Spring you can hike up the mountain with your skis on your back and ski down the bowl, Tuckerman's Ravine.
I started this post by saying each member of my family had been to the top of the mountain and lived to tell about it. Since they are a little reticent to share their feats with you, I will. Enjoy today's photos from the family scrapbook... Around 1989 Dennis hiked up Mount Washington with a number of our guests from Cranmore Mountain Lodge. It was a Spring day and they were going to ski Tuckerman's Ravine. While Dennis opted out of the ski run, he did hike up and down the mountain that day.
I believe it was 1992 when Dennis convinced Aaron (who was about 11 at the time) to hike up the mountain with another group of guests. Not only did Aaron hike up the mountain, but being a proficient downhill ski racer, he skied the bowl.
In 1996, Daniel, a ski racer from the age of four, was the youngest competitor in the inaugural nordic Ski to the Clouds Race. He was 12! Not only was he the youngest to compete, but he finished the race.
At this point you are probably wondering how I traversed Mount Washington. Take a guess? You are correct...in a Mt. Washington Auto Road Stage Line Van driven by a tour guide. I was taking no chances. I had to live to tell about it. Today the Mount Washington Auto Road also offers the SnowCoach, weather permitting.
There is so much to learn about Mount Washington and so many ways to do it. Until you have a chance to experience it for yourself, I invite you to visit the sites referenced here today. One of my favorites is The Mount Washington Observatory. The history and majesty of this mountain will intrigue you. But you will learn that while man's ingenuity continues to try to tame and groom this mountain, it remains a force of nature that we can and must respect.
I would like to thank Howie Wemyss, a trustee for the Observatory. This week I contacted Howie at Great Glen Trails to ask if the records still existed regarding the 1996 Ski to the Clouds Race. Howie was nice enough to write me back: "I remember the race very well and how impressed we all were with your son...but unfortunately all of the records were destroyed in a fire in 2001." At Howie's suggestion I contacted Tom Thurston, Daniel's fifth grade teacher and X-Country ski coach. Tom, too, has fond memories of this race: "I remember that day on the toll road when he (Dan) skied the Ski to the Clouds. He was so tired but loved the ski back down."
As I sign off today I would like you to know that the current conditions on Mount Washington (9:45 AM EST 01/24/2009) are: Temperature -7.6 degrees F Wind 71.7 mph Direction 298 degrees (NW) Gust 76.0 mph Wind Chill -46.2 degress F
A great spot for Geocaching! If you have been to Mount Washington, let me know about your experience.
From 1986 - 1997, my wife Judy and I, along with our two sons Aaron and Daniel, owned and operated a New Hampshire bed and breakfast inn, Cranmore Mountain Lodge, in the White Mountains. During the evenings, I would often play piano and over time, these "mini-concerts" became a regular inn "feature." If I were not at the piano after dinner, the lobby Innkeeper buzzer would usually be pressed by 8 PM and I knew exactly what that meant.
The guests seemed to prefer the music of Broadway, the big shows, like Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Man of La Mancha, Cats, Fiddler on the Roof and others. Scores from popular films or background music such as Love Story, Unchained Melody, the Godfather (Speak Softly Love) and romantic ballads were always requested. Eventually I recorded a tape cassette and when CDs were introduced, I recorded and offered CD s for sale as well.
The setting was a beautiful common room with fireplace and this wonderful baby grand piano. Over the years, this room became the favorite of our inn guests, typically folks who enjoyed experiencing New England at a traditional and historic bed and breakfast. It was a wonderful time, with guests singing, humming or simply relaxing in easy chairs and rockers, as the treasures of Broadway and film were being played for them. Occasionally, a guest would ask me to accompany them and they would perform. On rare occasion, the vocal range and star quality were magnificent. Unfortunately, more often than not, some soloist requests, (and the thumbs-down performance that followed ), occasioned fear of "early guest checkouts" in me. Fortunately, inn guests tend to be rather "forgiving" and just seem to giggle a lot. At Cranmore Mt. Lodge, music was part of the inn's character. The common room made the travel experiences memorable for the guests.
The style and interpretation of the music was mine and "the common room" became my stage. I was its star soloist and performer. Why, come to think of it, I even owned the theatre. For the guests, sharing stories and experiences of their day, (with my music providing the background to give those tales "color and drama"), added something intangible to their trip. The inn became theirs. They were comfortable. They knew they were coming back. When the day of checkout arrived and they would say their goodbyes, they usually had a CD packed for themselves and a few others as gifts. The White Mountains National Forest area will always be known for its beauty, its foliage, and spectacular vistas. Tourism will always be its major industry. We were able to add another dimension to their trip. I hope you will enjoy this YouTube video of my recording of "Memory". Here are some of my favorite memories of New Hampshire. Daniel, my youngest son, created this video for me.
I have long since sold the inn and with it, my wonderful baby grand. I miss that piano, the feel of the keys, the shiny black finish. I think back (ten years already) to those times at the keyboard, with my captive audience in attendance. All those people and yet, in a strange way, always feeling alone. I had found my place and life was truly wonderful. I have never had a piano lesson. I am self-taught. My CD, Dennis Inn Concert, the Sounds of Cranmore Mt. Lodge has never gone Silver, Gold or Platinum. It ain't going to get any special recognition either or referenced on the Juilliard School web site. Yet, "somewhere out there" that CD is playing.
I am older now and many miles distant. It is nighttime in Newport Beach CA and as I sit in my home, I close my eyes and see the common room, the fireplace, the couples, the families. The piano is still shiny black and my fingers can feel the wonderful smoothness of the ivory. I am still their Innkeeper and they will be my special guests forever. The "Memory" feels good. Yes, the sounds of that time are alive and well... both for my inn guests ....and for me.
I hope you enjoy my CD Podcast, created by my friend and business associate Darin McClure of San Clemente California
Follow us on
