Column

Last season the Giants gave their fans the thrill of a lifetime by capturing the franchise’s first World Championship since its arrival in San Francisco in 1958. The victory parade on Market Street drew a crowd estimated at nearly 1,000,000 people. Fans celebrated The Freak, The Beard, The Panda, and Aubrey Huff’s rally thong.

This year The Freak had a losing record, The Beard hurt his arm, The Panda broke his hand, and the rally thong lost its magic as its owner suffered through arguably his worst season and may force the Giants to face the fact that they spent $23 million on a player whose skills have dissipated at age 34.

The fans, though, performed like champions. All 81 games at AT&T Park were sellouts and the team set an all time attendance record of nearly 3.4 million tickets sold. Even though many of the games were low-scoring snoozers, those at the ballpark remained engaged, loud and hopeful, pretty much until the bitter end.

How did things end so badly for the 2011 Giants? Partly it was the law of averages. Players like Huff, Pat Burrell and Cody Ross got hot at precisely the right time in 2010 to help carry an offense that many considered suspect. Each of those players thudded back to earth this season, and Burrell is suffering from a degenerative foot condition that might end his career. Andres Torres may have proved that career minor leaguers who suddenly have great years in the big leagues past age 30 are unlikely to repeat such a performance, and supporting contributors like Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria who did not return turned out to be sorely missed.

Mostly, though, the downfall of the 2011 Giants could be centered on two key injuries in a three week span. On May 25, Florida Marlins outfielder (and Northern California native) Scott Cousins leveled Giants catcher and reigning National League Rookie of the Year Buster Posey while scoring the winning run in an extra inning game. In the act of blocking the plate, Posey’s left leg was trapped under his 220-pound body leading to torn ligaments and broken bones in his left ankle. He missed the remainder of the season. Sixteen nights later former NL Batting Champion, second baseman Freddy Sanchez, dislocated his shoulder diving for a ground ball, and was also out for the rest of this season.

The Giant offense never recovered. Their total of 570 runs was 29th out of 30 major league teams. The only reason the Giants were able to win 86 games and remain marginally in contention until their last road trip was that their pitching staff was second-best in the National League. Unfortunately, even great pitching cannot overcome an offense that scores one run or fewer in 36 games.

Losing Posey was the biggest blow. Catcher is the most difficult position to fill in a daily lineup, and catchers who contribute significantly with the bat are rare. In 2010 Posey finished 11th in the MVP voting even though he was not called up to the majors until May. In one instant this season the Giants lost a player who figured to contribute 25 homers, perhaps 90 or more RBIs and hit close to .300 while holding down a key defensive position. Posey’s replacements hit less than .200, managed just seven homeruns, and turned a position of great strength into a significant weakness on defense as well as with the bat.

Giant manager Bruce Bochy said taking Posey out of the Giant lineup was, “like taking Johnny Bench out of the Big Red Machine … for us he was that important.”

Giants’ fans have reason to be optimistic for next season. Posey is recovering well from his injury and is expected to be 100 per cent by spring training. The starting rotation should return intact and because of the team’s success at the box office there is plenty of money in the coffers to add a couple of key bats to the lineup. The sentimental loyalty that often comes from winning the World Series won’t be a factor in constructing next season’s roster, and, perhaps most important, the Giants do not have a dominant opponent within their division that can be counted on to win year after year.

As you read this, pitchers and catchers report in about 90 days. In the meantime, it will be fun to watch the Giants rebuild their roster this winter and attempt to get back on top of the baseball world.

I have been teaching golf exclusively now for 17 years. I retired from full time competition in the fall of 1994 after competing for nearly 25 years.

During that time period where I was committed to full time playing, I have had the great fortune of working on my game with some of the finest instructors in the business. Playing on tour also opened the door for me to meet and play with some outstanding players. I learned a lot from their insights and to acknowledge all those who helped me learn and understand this complicated game, I would run out of room in this article. I mention this because I have experienced a lot in the world of golf. I have hit balls next to John Daley and have seen his ball sailing through the sky. I have witnessed the ball control of Mac O’Grady and Moe Norman while they hit shots with my clubs. David Leadbetter adjusted my grip in 1993, Jim McClean improved my posture, and I went down the stretch and was tied with Greg Norman in his “heyday” with 9 holes to go in the 1989 Australian TPC and so on and so on.

In the last year I have seen something on a regular basis that I believe is so impressive and phenomenal that I want to draw attention to it. For more than 4 years I have watched a young athlete swing his clubs. During that time his physique has changed but not his demeanor. I believe he is a special and gifted athlete and I have been privileged to mentor him and give advice to him. Last year he was somewhat frustrated because he lacked control. Control with the golf ball really means a combination of things. Control over the shape, trajectory and distance the ball travels I was sure that he was probably over-swinging and that by dialing his “effort” back, his control would improve. Well I was wrong. His dad mentioned that he thought he was getting stronger and perhaps he needed to have his shafts changed. This proved to be a tremendous learning experience. I was able to witness first hand the raw power and speed this young man was rapidly developing and then it hit me. His club speed was off the charts! I knew he was hitting it far but had know idea how far he could really hit it. He entered into a long drive competition and advanced to the next stage of qualifying. The rest, as they say, is history. A few months later he was competing on a world stage in the finals of the Remax World Long Drive Championship. He finished runner up at 16.

I have been watching him gear up for his return to the Remax and just recently he entered a competition in Southern California placing second with average drives of 380. Not bad considering he put the long drive stick down for several months and focused on his pitching! The day before the competition he pitched a shutout and struck out 12 batters on the campus of Cal State Fullerton with several major league and college scouts in the stands. Early the next morning he was driving golf balls around 380.

His club and ball speed is higher then it was at this time last year. His club speed is about 150 and ball speed is 210 miles per hour. His balance is back helping him with finding the center of the club and he is motivated. He is exempt into the final stage and the time is drawing near! Domenic is faster and stronger then last year and this equates to more distance if he is able to coordinate that power for a couple of swings at the right time.

It won’t be long before we see long drives nearing the 500 yard distance mark. Will he be the first to reach it? I believe it won’t happen this year but it’s not too far away and he could just be the man to do it!

Q. I’ve planted a portion of my tulip bulbs already. The rest are still in the refrigerator and will be planted later this month. I hope it’s not too late. Will the staggered planting extend the flowering? In addition, do I need to dig them up after they bloom or can they be left in the ground?

A. November is an ideal months to plant tulip bulbs with the short days and cool night along with other spring flowering bulbs. Unfortunately, the selection is limited. They’re best bought earlier and stored for planting now.
For many bulbs, staggering the planting does extend the blooming season. Gladiolus, and Daffodils are examples; however, this is not the case with tulips. You extend the flowering period by planting the early, mid-season and late flowering varieties. When planting, it’s important to keep your bulbs separated by flowering period. Mixing them together will produce an uneven blooming pattern. I wouldn’t be concerned if some of the bulbs sprout early. It commonly occurs, with above normal temperatures in the late fall and early winter months. The cold temperatures later on will not damage them. Unlike Daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs, tulips take several years to rejuvenate themselves after flowering. They are best replanted each year for the best color show in the spring. They don’t naturalize very well. In addition, in heavy clay soil, naturalized bulbs can rot when the area is over planted with summer color. The Darwin Tulip is the best variety for naturalizing. Tulips as well as any other bulb are removed from the ground and stored. You must wait until the foliage has turned a yellow/brown and easily separates from the ground. If you are going to replant new bulbs next year, you skip this step. Finally, Tulips, and Daffodils are popular flowering plants available February through May. They are forced into bloom for a single season. You’re going to be disappointed if you planted the bulbs expecting another color show this year.

Q. What, if any, vegetable grows in the shade during the winter months? We have a new garden in a new home and have now lost all the wonderful summer sun it had.

A. The exposure, that is sun or shade, is not an issue for growing winter vegetables and color. Right now, I’d plant the leafy varieties such as lettuce, spinach, and swiss chard. Transplants are available today as it’s too late sow seeds. They will not germinate with the cold and wet conditions. Also, available are onions and garlic. In January/February, plant Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Asparagus, Rhubarb, and Artichokes. You shouldn’t have any problem growing the winter cool season crops in the same location where the summer varieties grew. The indirect light will be sufficient. You should wait until late January or early February to sow radishes, carrots, turnips, beets, and others outdoors in the open ground. It’s to late to sow seeds now, as they will not germinate with the wet and or cool conditions.

Buzz Bertolero is Executive Vice President of Navlet’s Garden Centers and a California Certified Nursery Professional. His web address is www.dirtgardener.com and you can send questions by email at dirtgarden@aol.com or to 360 Civic Drive Ste. ‘D’, Pleasant Hill, Calif. 94523

Did you know you can grow potatoes in a garbage can? I didn’t learn that watching my movie for this month, I learned it from a friend over a plate of pasta last night. There are a lot of ways to experience faith. I knew by faith that my friend was going to show up for dinner. I know that every morning the sun will rise. I know that when the sea rolls away from the shore, it will return. Our founding fathers knew that if you plant the seeds of freedom, you grow freedom.

Award winning,Faith like Potatoes is a wonderful movie I found “On Demand”. I have to admit, I wasn’t really expecting a whole lot even though I had friends who had recommended it, but I ended up enjoying it immensely.

Angus Buchan was a Zambian farmer of Scottish heritage. Life in Zambia was hard and when the political unrest became an untenable danger to the family, they decided to move to KWA-Zulu, South Africa for a better life. With their tractors loaded on a big old truck, kids hanging out windows, they slowly headed south.  Angus (Frank Rautenbach) and Jill (Jeanne Wilhelm) buy a small plot of land with a caravan, a tiny seen-better-days travel trailer and begin to rebuild their lives. Jill likens it to being gypsies in the Garden of Eden. It doesn’t take long for the curious Zulus to find them and the endearing Simeon Bhergu (Hamilton Diamini) decides to work for them. He doesn’t know how to farm but he just keeps coming back to learn and help.

In the face of ever mounting challenges, hardships and personal turmoil, Angus quickly spirals down into a life consumed by anger, fear and destruction. A friend invites them to church and his life begins to change.

Based on a true story, the auto-biography of Angus Buchan, Faith Like Potatoes was adapted for the big screen by Regardt van der Bergh. It weaves together the moving journey of a man, who like his potatoes, grows his faith unseen until the harvest.

Faith Like Potatoes  is set in the turbulent hills of the KZN Midlands. Angus’ manic quest for material success is slowly transformed into a wild love for God and people of all colors, as he wrestles with faith, hope, natural disasters and tragic personal loss. The potatoes he grows is an amazing analogy for so many things in his life and ours; those things that grow within us, as individuals, as families or as a nation. We need to be careful of what we plant because it will…grow. Like I mentioned earlier, America, our incredible country was planted on the principles of freedom; freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But how are those freedoms planted, grown and protected? By our freedom of religion. Our founding fathers placed “In God We Trust” on our currency for a reason, a reminder!

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and just maybe your life will be changed a bit as you watch Faith Like Potatoes. You’ll experience the triumph of a farmer whose faith made him a phenomenon. As always, I welcome your comments at chastings@rockcliff.com

Mirco (Luca Capriotti), is a young, Italian boy, growing up in the early 1970’s, in what is obviously a loving home. Both Mirco’s father (Simone Colombari) and mother (Rosanna Gentili) encourage and support Mirco’s enthusiasm for movies. They take him to the cinema, and when Mirco complains that “Everyone else has a television,” his father promises they will soon have one as well.

Active and inquisitive, Mirco is a typical boy, ever willing to challenge authority. One afternoon, after playing with friends, Mirco returns home to repair a broken toy and is distracted by the forbidden fruit of his father’s shotgun hanging high on the wall, well beyond Mirco’s reach. But parental securing of the gun is no challenge for Mirco, as he climbs up to take it and the inevitable happens.

The accident leaves Mirco partially blind, only able to discern shadows. As Italian law does not allow blind children to attend regular public schools, and Mirco’s heartbroken parents cannot afford a private tutor, Mirco is sent to a well known Catholic boarding school / institution for the blind, in Genoa.

The school’s stern headmaster (Norman Mozzato), also blind, has apparently discovered the ideal solution for finding “appropriate, productive” lifestyles for these young boys he considers hopelessly handicapped. As his own life’s dreams and ambitions apparently died along with his eyesight, so too must it be for everyone else. There is no place for the “luxury” of creative expression, in the world of the blind.

But Mirco has other ideas. And while he has some difficulty in adjusting at first, we soon learn it is not a bitterness for his being blind that troubles him, but for the attempts of others to stifle his inner passion and creative spirit. What first appears as an understandable anger becomes revealed, simply, as the yearning of the creative soul seeking an outlet for expression.

Mirco befriends another boy named Felice (Simone Gulli) who has been blind since birth. In one poignant scene we glimpse that Mirco has some unique gift for capturing and communicating the essence of reality, transcending visual blindness by describing colors to his new friend. “Blue is like riding your bike and the wind hits you in the face,” Mirco tells his new friend, and “Red is like fire. Like the sky at sunset.”

The persistence of Mirco’s creative energy becomes focused, as he discovers a reel-to-reel tape recorder and soon, teaches himself how to use it. He learns a new way to bring his imaginations to life by telling stories with recorded sounds. When Mirco’s teacher, Don Giulio (Paolo Sassanelli) assigns an essay about the four seasons to be written in Braille, Mirco follows his own path and creates a recording that tells the story. Don Giulo recognizes the boy’s genius, but the headmaster, of course tries to deny and extinguish the Mirco’s blossoming, creative e spirit.

Mirco attracts the attention of a girl, Francesca (Francesca Maturanza), who becomes a collaborator in his audio fabrications, and it isn’t long before their exciting new activities enchant the other children in the school, even the class bully, Valerio (Andrea Gussoni).

The film follows a predictable path, as the mean-spirited headmaster tries to maintain order, but Don Giulo rises to champion Mirco’s cause, and the children perform for their parents in an “ear opening,” watershed performance. While it may come off as bit simplistic, its impact is enhanced by the fact that the film is based upon the true life story of the award-winning, Italian sound editor, Mirco Mencacci.

Produced and directed by Cristiano Bortone, Rosso Come il Cielo (Red Like the Sky) is a delightful, must-see film by any standard. Its well crafted cinematography and artful directing make it visually rich, and all of the roles are superbly acted. Without a shred of hesitation, it is five out of five, very solid stars for this film!

In music, pitch is the location of a note related to its highness or lowness and assigned a name like A, B, C, D, E, F and G on the piano keyboard. Many of us have heard of “perfect pitch” or have known someone who claims to possess this inherited ability or skill.

“Having perfect pitch is a great benefit to me in my career,” said Nancy Groeneveld, director of music at Community Presbyterian Church in Danville. She is a professional singer, pianist, teacher, and choir director. “My father was a musician and encouraged me to study music at a very early age – that’s when I discovered I had perfect pitch.”

There are several ways to describe perfect pitch: The pitch of a tone is determined by the number of vibrations per second. For example, the note A on the keyboard equals 440 vibrations per second. Perfect pitch is the ability to name or reproduce a tone without hearing it from a source like a piano. It is the ability to sing or name a particular note on the exact pitch.

Most musicians will tell you they would love to have perfect pitch. However, there are times when it is not so wonderful. “Sometimes having perfect pitch has its drawbacks,” said Groeneveld. Recently she was having lunch with a friend in a restaurant and found it hard to concentrate on the conversation due to the background music. She found herself mentally analyzing it by the key, instrumentation, form etc. “This happens all the time when there is music present,” Groeneveld said. “It can be a real distraction.”

Researchers have found that speakers of a tonal language such as Chinese dialects or Vietnamese have a higher percentage of people with absolute or perfect pitch than people who speak a non-tonal language. These and other East Asian languages are characterized by pitch variations in single words. Sometimes as many as seven or eight slight pitch differences occur in their speaking, according to Wikipedia.

Until fairly recently it was generally believed that perfect pitch was “God-given” and not a learned phenomenon. David-Lucas Burge, in 1981, supposedly dispelled this belief and created a program in which he guaranteed almost anyone could learn to develop perfect pitch.

Chords
Those with perfect pitch can name the individual pitch or the chord by a specific name such as a C major chord or a G minor chord. When a chord is heard those with relative pitch can tell you if it is a major or minor chord but they cannot tell you whether it is a C major or a C minor chord. Only people with perfect pitch can tell you the exact name of the chord.

Relative Pitch
Any discussion of absolute or perfect pitch would be incomplete and remiss without mentioning its counterpart, relative pitch. Relative pitch is the ability to recognize and or produce any pitch after having been given one note as a point of reference. People with perfect pitch hear the exact notes or tones in their mind. People with relative pitch hear the notes or tones in relation to one another. The vast majority of people have relative pitch including this writer. I once heard the statistic that less than one percent of the population possesses perfect pitch. It is that rare.

Many musicians have quite good relative pitch, a skill that can be learned. With practice, it is possible to listen to a single pitch once and then have reliable pitch identification. This is accomplished by comparing the notes heard to the stored memory of the first pitch.

Some people with relative pitch can develop perfect pitch on a single note. “String players have a decided advantage here, as they are constantly tuning their instruments from memory using the note A,” said Reginald Jacques, in his book, Voice Training In Schools. “It is extremely useful to be able to hear a note or two with a reasonable amount of certainly and then other notes by relation.”

Relative pitch helps you understand how all the tones are arranged to create the actual language of music.

Perfect pitch is a wonderful thing to have if you are a musician but being able to enjoy the wonder of music does not depend on having this ability or skill. The wonder of music is for all to enjoy,

Sources:
Voice Training In Schools By Reginald Jacques
Wikipedia
Essential Dictionary of Music By Lindsey C. Harnsberger

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net
Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Sometimes, I find myself shaking my head and chuckling at what appear to be mere antics of what surely must be just a few, confused, ignorant individuals. Then, I worry that these may really be well-meaning, otherwise intelligent people who sincerely believe in what they are doing.

As a rule, we don’t include much that is controversial in ALIVE, but what I see happening today troubles me to where I am compelled to share my point of view.

I fear that, as a nation, we are on the verge of major trouble, not so much for my generation, but for our children and the generations to come. The “Occupy Wall Street” movement is a foreshadowing of this trouble, as it demonstrates an attitude and way of thinking that is destructive to the very fabric and fiber of our nation.

We face tremendous economic and geo-political challenges today, but underlying these are social and cultural issues that many seem content to ignore, for fear of being cast as “intolerant,” or “politically incorrect.” And the fact that many self-serving, egomaniacal politicians are willing to pander to what they apparently have calculated to be blocks of voters, fanning flames of discontent by pitting groups against one another, is nothing less than shameful. Division, dependency and weakness are being encouraged, rather than resolve, strength and self-reliance. Our citizens are being led to believe that the people are to depend upon and serve the government, when it is the other way around.

The apparent widespread acceptance of the notion that when some people achieve success others have somehow been denied, should be soundly condemned as the fallacy it is. But that is not the case. The fact that Steve Jobs worked to accumulate tremendous wealth over his lifetime, in no way caused others to live in doorways throughout American cities. In fact, it is only by the efforts of wealth creators, like Jobs, that the so called “ninety-nine percent” have any hope at all of changing their material condition. If Warren Buffet, Ted Turner and Bill Gates want to be considered for sainthood, they’ve always had the choice to give their capital to the needy. But the fact is, as anyone who understands how capitalism works knows, they could probably help far greater numbers of people by using their resources to create new business ventures.

When I was about twelve years old, my uncle, Wayne, said something that has stayed with me. He said, “Someday there is going to be a revolution in this country, but it won’t be the kind of revolution we are used to reading about in history books. Someday, the producers of the world will revolt against the non-producers.” Kill the goose that lays the golden egg and all you have is no more eggs.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is an embarrassing display that serves no purpose toward making our citizens or economy stronger. Each one of the self-proclaimed “99%” should consider what life would be like if the one percent decided that camping in the public square was the best use of their time.