Week in Review – January 26, 2020

“Hot Pepper”

Damon joined us for a “Bachelor Watch Party” on Monday evening.  Really, he and I did watch and provided lots of helpful input on the show for Diana’s entertainment.    We did have a slight dinner snafu – Damon is a bit meat eater, and we had decided to have burgers since we don’t have a pan suitable for cooking steaks.   The issue came when McD started to mix the “ground beef” with some pork to make the patties, discovering that Whole Foods had delivered some plant based ground beef substitute.  We actually couldn’t tell the difference at all – the burgers were delicious.

Diana left on the bus for Dallas on Tuesday morning for client meetings, and I had a quiet evening in at the apartment.

A work event had me fighting traffic up MOPAC (a highway named after the Missouri Pacific railway line that follows its path) to the Top Golf complex.  I had been dreading playing golf on a very dreich (you don’t know that word? – damp and wet) day, but the heaters and shelter of the multi-tiered golf bays worked very well, and I ended up having an enjoyable evening.  In my welcome speech I had mentioned that I hadn’t played much golf, which everybody finds strange, anticipating that everyone in Scotland is an avid golfer, and surprised myself and others by winning the competition in my bay.  My competition was trying to blast the ball as far as possible on every shot, with mixed results, while I just took it easy and was able to be more consistent.  Something about a tortoise and a hare I think.

Diana graced me with her presence again on Thursday evening, and I dragged her out to see the late music show at the Saxon Pub – Eric Lindell performing a rare solo show.  We’ve seen him with his band and Anson Funderberg a number of times, but never solo, and I really enjoyed the acoustic renditions of his catalog, and a few covers, including this version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”:

 

You might notice a better quality level in my video clips going forward – thanks to the 3 cameras on my new phone.  Lindell shared that he had found the acoustic guitar at a Pawn shop for very little and had a luthier put a new neck on it – sounds good, don’t you think?  He also welcomed his friend, “Rudy from San Antonio” – we met Rudy after a Delbert McClinton show in Dallas, and it was nice to catch up again.  Here’s our favourite Lindell song, “Lay Back Down”:

The Friday morning 6:00 am alarm that Diana set came way too early, and I’m sure I’ve whined before that we’re getting too old to stay out late on school nights.  There was some entertainment at the office, with a Tim Tam Jam in the accounting department.  Our Australian treasurer had a whole display and demonstrated how to eat a Tim Tam properly – bite each end off, sip coffee through the middle bit, and then “Jam” it in your mouth before everything gets too messy.  Who knew?

Diana joined me for a work happy hour at Baker St Pub on Friday evening.  I’m fortunate to work with such a fun and nice bunch of folks.  We tried a new place, Winebelly, afterwards – a place we’d seen a few months ago when enjoying brunch at Phoebe’s Diner, and thought it looked intriguing.  The ambience, service and food were excellent.  We started with shishito peppers and a superb chicken liver mousse.  There was a wee incident with the peppers – typically every 10th pepper is hotter than the rest – in this case Diana got the “hottest shishito ever” and “it feels like hot knives are being stabbed into my tongue.”  About 20 minutes later things had calmed down and we were ready to explore the rest of the menu.  Chicken empanadas were “the best I’ve had” and the mushroom salad was also very good.  We left perfectly sated.  Oh, I forgot to mention this funny sign that was on the wall by the restrooms.  Partially funny because McD used to use the mnemonic of “W.C. Fields” to remember the names of my 3 sons, Will, Campbell and Finn.

 

 

 

Saturday was a relatively lazy and quiet day – workout, coffee and crossword at Opa! (don’t ask about the service and food mixups from a usually great place), shopping for supplies for Denny and crew visiting, and then relaxing with books.

Comedor is a new and very well reviewed restaurant in downtown Austin.  It’s been open for a few months now and it’s possible to get reservations less than a month in advance, so we thought we’d try Sunday brunch.  The 75 degree weather was perfect for a casual stroll across the 1st street bridge and into downtown.  The design of the place is really stunning with huge windows and a lot of bare metal.  There’s also a very nice patio.

The service was very friendly (not always the case in popular, well reviewed spots) and the food was amazing.  Check out D’s Papas Fritas –  rosti style hash brown, soft egg, cured salmon, creme fraiche, smoked trout roe – she loved everything about it.

My Pambazo Torta with red chorizo, potato, fried egg, guacamole, queso fresco,  and black bean was an explosion of flavours and plenty to send me home with dinner as well.  All in a perfect huge brioche bun.

The remainder of Sunday was relaxing, with D cranking out some work, and me blogging and catching up on some reading.  All interrupted by the stunning news of Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash.

I finished the memoir “Uncanny Valley” by Anna Wiener this week.  As I was searching for an online picture of the book jacket, I came across some interesting material on the “Uncanny Valley Hypothesis”, and why not share this likely useless information with all of you?  The hypothesis states that as the appearance of a robot is made more human, some observers’ emotional response to the robot becomes increasingly positive and empathetic, until it reaches a point beyond which the response quickly becomes strong revulsion. However, as the robot’s appearance continues to become less distinguishable from a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once again and approaches human-to-human empathy levels.  The valley is clearly seen in this chart:

Back to the book, after that random distraction, exactly how folks lose hours down online browsing rabbit holes.  This newly released book was recommended by just about everyone that recommends books – New York Times, Washington Post, and on and on.  What’s all the fuss about?  Well, I enjoyed the conversational memoir style, and the setting (Silicon Valley during the technology boom) is one that’s reasonably familiar to me, making for a fast paced and relatable tale that does raise a number of ethical and social questions.  Here’s how McMillan describes the book:

In her mid-twenties, at the height of tech industry idealism, Anna Wiener—stuck, broke, and looking for meaning in her work, like any good millennial–left a job in book publishing for the promise of the new digital economy. She moved from New York to San Francisco, where she landed at a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley bubble: a world of surreal extravagance, dubious success, and fresh-faced entrepreneurs hell-bent on domination, glory, and, of course, progress.

Anna arrived amidst a massive cultural shift, as the tech industry rapidly transformed into a locus of wealth and power rivaling Wall Street. But amid the company ski vacations and in-office speakeasies, boyish camaraderie and ride-or-die corporate fealty, a new Silicon Valley began to emerge: one in far over its head, one that enriched itself at the expense of the idyllic future it claimed to be building.

Part coming-of-age-story, part portrait of an already-bygone era, Anna Wiener’s memoir is a rare first-person glimpse into high-flying, reckless startup culture at a time of unchecked ambition, unregulated surveillance, wild fortune, and accelerating political power. With wit, candor, and heart, Anna deftly charts the tech industry’s shift from self-appointed world savior to democracy-endangering liability, alongside a personal narrative of aspiration, ambivalence, and disillusionment.

Unsparing and incisive, Uncanny Valley is a cautionary tale, and a revelatory interrogation of a world reckoning with consequences its unwitting designers are only beginning to understand.

Khruangbin is an American musical trio from Houston, Texas, with Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald Ray “DJ” Johnson Jr. on drums. The band is known for blending global music influences, classic soul, dub and psychedelia.  The band members originally bonded over a shared love of Afghan music, and I think you can hear that coming through – not that I’ve ever listened to Afghan music, but you know what I mean.  Here they’re joined by another Texan, Fort Worth’s young soul singing superstar, Leon Bridges.

Here’s a song I heard this morning that might just be what Afghan music sounds like?

Mitch Webb and the Swindols were scheduled to play the regular Wednesday night Sun radio showcase at Guero’s, but were a victim of the rain that continued all day.  I was interested to see what they sounded like and am pleased to share that with you as well.  They are based in San Antonio and you can hear the influences from south of the border – and I have heard some of that for sure.

I heard this song on Paradise Radio and was reminded of the live version that we enjoyed at the Kessler – gosh I miss that venue, even with all the excellent alternatives in Austin.

And finally, here’s a Glenn Miller tune that I heard this week.  I forget how much I love his orchestration and arrangements.  The brass accents at 2:00 in are perfect, with the hushed trombones chugging in the background.

 

 

Week in Review – January 19, 2020

“We could live in this town”

Happy Birthday to my little sister, Elspeth, who’s celebrating today in Scotland.

We did have a more interesting week, as promised at the end of the post last week, with a couple of impromptu evenings (the best kind).

The week started on an annoying note, with a clog and leak in the McKinney house from the upstairs plumbing.  It gets used so little that it’s not a huge surprise, and we now have a new turn on all the faucets and flush the toilets schedule.  The restoration/dry things out guys got everything installed on Tuesday morning, and we felt safe to leave to drive down to Austin in the afternoon.

Wednesday was a long work day for Diana, and I was determined to get her out of the apartment on Thursday night.  We both have new eyeglass prescriptions, and so we headed to Warby Parker on South Congress to see what we could find in the way of frames.  We put Vincente, the store manager, to work finding us the perfect frames and he did a great job.  Within a few minutes we had five pairs picked out – regular and sunglasses.  I have grey and blue frames and some nice sunglasses, while Diana has gold and very cool sunnies.  We snapped these pictures int the photo booth before leaving:

The heavens opened right as we were about to leave Warby Parker, and so we ducked into the Italian restaurant next door.  We’ve walked past Boticellis many times, but never tried it.  The rain introduced us to a new great place – excellent back patio and food.

We sat in this covered patio area and enjoyed an amazing scallop and beet appetizer, with very fresh and perfectly cooked scallops.  I hadn’t had enough beets, and so went for the beet salad while McD  chose the meatballs and tagliatelle.

 

We will definitely be back to this delicious place.

It was still raining after dinner, and so we were “forced” into the Continental Gallery for some music.  Monte Warden and his incredible band were performing as we relaxed on a comfy couch in the living room style setting.  It turns out Monte is a famous songwriter, having written songs that have sold over 100 million copies, for folks like George Jones.  I loved the trumpet playing of Erik Telford, and the entire band were great musicians.  Here’s a #1 song that Monte wrote for George Strait, “Desperately”:

What a great impromptu evening caused by the torrential rain, and we got Diana out of the apartment and away from her emails for several hours.

I had just arrived home on Friday when a text came in from my Minnesota friend, Greg: “where can a guy find some good jazz in Austin tonight?”  Greg and Kristan were in San Antonio for a conference next week and decided to drive up and experience Austin.  We made quick reservations for Peche and the Parker jazz club.    Kris Kimura, Parker owner, did not disappoint with an excellent set of classic jazz.

I love the sound of the bass flute on “Wonderful World”.  After the Parker, we had a quick stop at the Elephant Room, for some more modern jazz and then called it a late night.

Saturday was a lazy day, recovering from the busy week and late Friday night.  We did manage a workout and got some good quiet reading in.

Sunday began with the usual workout followed by coffee (or mimosa) and crossword at Opa, and then got more interesting with a walk up to the Continental Club and Jimmie Dreams.  New Orleans music is all that Jimmie plays, starting with six excellent Allen Toussaint songs.  Midway through the set, McD was heard to say, “We could live in this town”.  Such great musicianship with no cover on a pleasant Sunday afternoon.  Here’s a Toussaint song recorded by Ernie K’Doe:

We walked back to the Catherine to watch the Packers vs 49ers playoff game.  Currently looking like the 49ers will win handily.

Trump was just observed causing a backup on Interstate 35 from our balcony.  Apparently he came into town to address the American Farmers conference – telling them what a great new deal he had struck with China to protect them.  Thankfully he was only in our town for a couple of hours.

I’m only half way through my new book this week – so more on that next week.

“A Certain Girl” is the song that Jimmie Dreams and his friends are playing up above.

How about this new solo song from Nathaniel Rateliff.  This guy keeps getting better and better:

Monte Warden, Thursday night music, led a band in the 80s called the Wagoneers, and wrote this song for them:

Jimmie Dreams played songs by Lee Dorsey (also a boxer and mechanic) and Bobby Charles, classic New Orleans artists:

And finally, I was sad to hear of the passing of Neal Peart last week.  He was the drummer extraordinaire for the Canadian rock trio, Rush.  I love his drumming and was fortunate to catch a couple of Rush live shows.  I also recommend his books, chronicling his travels by bicycle, car, and motorcycle, and his book blog “Bubba’s Book Club”.

 

Week in Review – January 12, 2020

“Snow Day”

This was a relatively uneventful week, with Diana and Alicia in McKinney and me playing at working hard.

Damon came over for dinner on Tuesday night and was able to participate in Diana’s update about the fire department going to Grammie’s house.  She called them because she smelled burning – a space heater overloading a plug.

In related news, this large looking mountain lion was caught patrolling around Grammie’s house again.  Apparently (according to McD) they make a 150 mile circuit around the Bay Area.  I’m not sure I want to come face to face with this guy – the bobcats are one thing, but this seems a lot more challenging.  Speaking of bobcats – here’s a picture of a mother and baby on Gypsy Hill this week – lot of nature going on up there on the “hill”:

I attended a fancy work executive committee pow-wow on Thursday night at the lovely Jeffrey’s restaurant in West Austin.  We had talked about having my birthday dinner there but chose Justine’s instead, so I was interested to try it out.

The setting is sophisticated but casual, with a very comfortable feel.  The bar area was very cool and has a great all night happy hour menu.  I laughed when our strategy guy, a 6 foot 6 inch Swede, left his menu on a candle until it almost caught fire – reminded me of a trip to the City Winery in Nashville when our group had a similar experience.

For dinner, I selected the snapper en papilotte (French for “enveloped in paper”), and it was delicious.

 

 

 

 

It was funny to watch the crew leave at the end of the evening.  Blair’s monster, lifted truck coming through the valet, Jacob, our tall Swede, taking off on a monster Harley etc.  What a crew!

I left Austin early on Friday, in hopes of beating the monster storm into McKinney.  Penelope and I were in the garage around 4pm, just prior to the downpour.  We didn’t get the 2 inch hail and tornadoes that were forecast – thank goodness.  The temperature was 70 degrees on Friday, and Saturday started below freezing with a dusting of snow.  Crazy Texas weather.

The weekend was normal – workouts followed by coffee and crosswords.  Diana did win the crossword battle on Saturday by 15 seconds – I really need to step up my game.

Alicia flew back to San Luis Obispo on Sunday morning, then we had late workouts.  I enjoyed the NFL playoff game between Kansas City and Houston, while McD read a kindle book.

I warned you up front – a pretty uneventful week.  We’ll try to be a bit more exciting in the coming week.

I finished “The Quaker” by Liam McIlvanney this week.  Liam is the son of William McIlvanney, one of my favourite authors and writer of my number one book – “Walking Wounded”.  This book was a Christmas gift from my parents, under the heading “getting you back in touch with your Scottish roots”.   It was the Scottish Crime Book of the Year in 2018.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of Glasgow in 1969, as major portions of the population are moved from old, decaying tenements to supposedly better environments.  The story was well done, unfolding slowly and keeping you guessing.  I thought I had it solved at page 250 of 400 – only partially.  Liam is an excellent writer, but doesn’t have his father’s ability to capture a thoroughly believable character in a few paragraphs.

“What if he does it again, sir?”  McCormack drained his glass and set it down.  “You thought of that?  We have Paton inside and the Quaker does another.  What happens then?  You’re playing golf in Maidens.  We’re still here””.

This paragraph reminded me of the hilarious day in the Maidens, when Uncle Ian’s wheelchair backed into a hole.  Good memories of good times.

The Barrowlands ballroom is at the center of this story, and it reminded me of going to the Kings Theater in the Gorbals a few times in High School – all that culture in the middle of a very rough neighbourhood.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good crime thriller and an understanding of the Glasgow milieu.

I came across this amazing version of St. James Infirmary this week.  What do you think?  Best version ever?

What an excellent Jerry Garcia song from his first solo album:

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is the new face of the blues.  We saw him at the ACL Hall of Fame induction ceremony, playing with Buddy Guy, and he was excellent.  From Clarksville, Mississippi, he grew up in the home of Robert Johnson and seems to really embody the blues.

The Building is a band fronted by Anthony LaMarca, guitarist for War on Drugs.  Very peaceful music.

 

 

 

 

Week in Review – January 5th, 2020

“75 degrees in early January?”

Penelope and I led the way down to Austin on Monday, with Diana following behind in the racing Passat.  Alicia flew in on Thursday and the girls are driving back up to McKinney on Monday, so we needed two cars.

My Christmas present from Diana was delivered in person to the apartment on Monday night.  Sharon from the Soundwaves art gallery decided it would be easier to drive over my painting than to mail it.  She is married to the artist, Tim Wakefield,  who creates these excellent music related pieces.  Mine is of The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” and is signed by Ray Davies.  It looks amazing.  Thanks D!  One of my very favourite songs from such an underrated band.

Sticking with the new artwork theme, we installed Quine and Loon in our Austin bedroom – don’t they look great?

And finally, D’s spin art from the Christmas party was installed in the Austin bedroom as well.  It’s an album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a glam rock band formed in Scotland in 1972.  I can remember checking their albums out of the High School library  in Stewarton.  How did the spin art folks happen to have one of these albums in Austin, TX?  I think Diana created a very interesting piece.

 

Our first New Year’s Eve in Austin was a lot of fun.  We met up with a work colleague, Issac, and his wife Adrienne.  They have a similar situation to us, splitting time between a home in San Antonio and an apartment in Austin.  Issac selected La Volpe (the fox) as our dinner destination with a 10:30pm reservation to facilitate ringing in the New Year.

The interior of the restaurant was very modern and cool, and I read was designed by Jennifer Long, who also worked on C-Boy’s Heart and Soul on South Congress.

The special menu was all small plates with some great options.  The plates ended up not being so small and we had plenty to eat.

The poached lobster and duck confit risotto were absolute standouts.  Great choice Issac!  We wandered around the corner to Antone’s blues club to close out the evening and posed for these fancy pictures in front of Eddie V’s:

New Year’s Eve in Austin certainly ended up being more exciting than our typical McKinney experience.  Maybe we’ll do it again next year.

We rested up on New Year’s Day and planned some fun for Alicia’s arrival on Thursday.  Festivities started with dinner at Diana’s favourite Austin restaurant, Peche.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals.  Then we walked across the street to the Parker Jazz Club for the early show.  The House Band was playing, but we got very lucky.  The trumpet player Mike Sailors was sitting in, along with club owner Kris Kimura (who plays 10 different instruments including various clarinets, saxophones, flugel horn, and ukulele), and an excellent trombone player.  Sailors has been a big name in New York for the last several years, playing with the Village Vanguard orchestra and the Birdland band, among many others.  He just moved back to Austin to take the role of jazz trumpet professor at the University of Austin, and this was his first gig.  What a treat!  The music was very much focused around Louis Armstrong – perfect for me.  Here’s a sample.

 

Did I mention an excellent trombone player?

Armstrong’s “The Sunny Side of the Street” took me back to New Orleans and Kermit Ruffins at Vaughan’s on my first evening in that fantastic city:

Everyone thought the music was outstanding.  A great first night for Alicia.

On Friday night, Alicia decided she was in the mood for sushi.  I suggested Lucky Robot on South Congress based on a quick Yelp search.  We had walked by it many times, but never considered dining there.  The food and service were both very good, with a menu that included several things that I liked – pork belly bao (steamed buns).  There are a lot of origami birds inside.

Saturday was a gorgeous 70 degree day – seriously, in January – so I went for a jog along the river trail while the girls hit the gym downstairs.  In the afternoon, we walked across to the Alta coffee shop and enjoyed the sunset.  A very nice, relaxed Saturday.

Sunday started with workouts downstairs and then brunch on the rooftop patio at El Alma – such a good, close spot.  Then we drove over to Covert Park to hike up to the top of Mount Bonnell.  This is the highest spot in the city limit of Austin at 785 feet – I know, not that impressive in the scheme of things, but does offer some excellent views of downtown, and up and down river.  There are some little multi-million dollar shacks right below the peak.  It’s 106 steps up from the parking area to the top of Mount Bonnell.  Whew, we made it!

McD took advantage of a table to enhance her view, and I snapped this picture of the two girls looking up river.

“Mission Song” by John Le Carre was my first book this week.  I “borrowed” it from the bookcase at Mum and Dad’s house.  The story is told from the point of view of Bruno Salvador, “Salvo”, a very talented interpreter of African, particularly Congolese, languages.  This is Le Carre’s 20th novel, published in 2006, and it focuses attention on the atrocities committed in the Congo, and largely ignored by the British and American press.  Salvo begins his interpreter assignment thinking he is helping Britain find a good solution to the problems in Congo, then realizes it’s just another plan to take advantage of the region’s natural resources.  He decides to attempt to stop the plan, with dire consequences.  This was a typically beautifully written Le Carre book, with another really disappointing ending.  A 375 page book, that comes to a conclusion with a report occupying the last page and a half – I’m getting really tired of less than rewarding endings.  The commentary on the role an interpreter plays and the skill associated with the position seemed very well done.

My second book was “Made in Scotland” by the hilarious, and very Scottish, Billy Connolly, a Christmas gift from my parents.  What an excellent read, but fair warning, the language is very salty at times.

There are so many great stories from a very interesting life, starting with Billy’s tough childhood and initial working life at 15, as a welder in the Clyde shipyards – building the Queen Mary and QE2.

I learned that Connolly had a band in the early 70s and recruited a young Gerry Rafferty to join.  The duo were quite successful, but Rafferty was clearly a more sophisticated and talented musician, going on to release some amazing albums.  Did you now that Dire Straits opened for Rafferty on some of his biggest tours?

I enjoyed the stories about Connolly’s Dad taking he and his sister to Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute, for summer holidays during the Glasgow Fair.  And handing their buckets and spades to the incoming Paisley Fair kids as they left.  The descriptions of  the trauma of a knitted swimsuit are very funny.

This book has a lot of heart and soul, and captures the Scottish population very nicely.

Let’s start with some more of “Sunny Side of the Street”.  The original and Kermit’s version from Vaughan’s:

 

The Australian Teskey Brothers came across Spotify again this week.  What a great sound:

And this song by FREEMAN popped up again.  I really like this one:

 

 

 

 

 

A Biography of Clorinda Campagna (Diana’s Mum)

Here’s an interesting biography of Diana’s Mum, Clorinda, written by a fellow member of the Pacifica Historical Society.

Written by Jean Bartlett, December 4, 2019

(A Pacifica Historical Society Project)

Oakland Tribune, October 8, 1961
Announcing Clorinda’s performance in “Tosca”

In 1977, Clorinda Di Lonardo  Campagna,  her  husband Dr. Sebastian Campagna, and their daughter and five sons moved to Pacifica, California. Prior to that, the growing family lived briefly in places that included: Nebraska, Michigan and New Zealand. How did the couple meet? Sebastian first noticed Clorinda when he saw her photo in the San Jose Mercury News. It was an announcement. The soprano would be performing with the Santa Clara Philharmonic.

“It is because of music that Sebastian and I met,” Clorinda said. “It was in the late 1950s and Sebastian saw my photo and decided to call me up. He wanted to meet me and I said, ‘No, I’m too busy and I don’t know you.’ But I did tell him to come to the concert. I remember my father asked me, ‘Who called you?’ I was embarrassed. This sort of thing had never happened to me. But Sebastian came and he introduced himself.”

“We didn’t really date,” she said. “We were both very busy with our professional lives. I was teaching full-time in the Alum Rock School District in San Jose and Sebastian at that point in time was in general medical practice in San Jose.”

But they did like each other and love bloomed. In 1963 they joined their paths at the altar.

* * *

Clorinda’s life has its roots in Guardia Sanframondi, Italy. In fact, the home where her father Carlo Di Lonardo was born still remains in the family. Guardia Sanframondi is a small town in Italy’s Campania Region in the Province of Benevento. It is 1,400 feet above sea level and looks out over the Titerno River Valley and the Valley of the Calore. The castle at the top of this hilly, cobble-stoned city was built in the

late 1400s. Rich with surrounding vineyards and olive trees, the medieval town is famous for its grape harvesting, olive pressing, annual wine festival and its Rites of Penance Festival.

“My father was from a family of five brothers and two sisters. His family’s business was olive oil and they had acres of olive trees. My mother, Costanza ‘Connie’ Foschini, was also born in Guardia Sanframondi. She and her sisters were known for never leaving their family home unless they were dressed perfectly! My mother and father were the same age, both born in 1898. At the very least they met in school, if they didn’t know each other beforehand. My father used to say, ‘The only thing Mussolini did for us is he made every child in Italy go to school.'”

After Carlo and Connie married they lived in Carlo’s family home. That is where the first of their five children, all daughters, were born.

“My sister Ludovica was born at home in Guardia Sanframondi in 1922. On the day she was born, my father was on the ship to the United States. It was a hard decision and it took a lot of courage to leave his wife and their daughter. But he and Connie knew it was best. He had cousins in Hackensack and two of his brothers lived in New York, and like a number of his family members he felt there was greater opportunity in the States. When Ludovica was 7, she and my mother came by ship to New Jersey. By then my father was established. He had bought a home on Grove Street in Hackensack, he had steady work as a cement finisher and he had planted a large garden filled with fruit and vegetables. His family would be taken care of.”

Connie, Ludovica and Carlo Di Lonardo, circa 1929.

 Pasqualina “Lena” was the couple’s second daughter and 14 months later, Clorinda came along on October 24, 1931. In Latin, the name “Clorinda” means renowned. Her father told her that when she was born, he was reading some Italian literature where the heroine, a warrior, was named “Clorinda” – and now, so was she.

“My mother was so proud that I came along on the 24th,” Clorinda said. “Because that was the official day the George Washington Bridge opened.”

New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the bridge the day Clorinda was born. The bridge which spans the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey to Washington Heights in Manhattan, New York, opened to traffic on October 25. It was eight months ahead of schedule.

Shirley was Carlo and Connie’s next daughter, and Margie was born in 1936. “We lost Margie in 1977 and it was heartbreaking. My parents were so stoic. Margie was very talented. She could play the piano without ever having taken a lesson and she couldn’t read music. She was an artist and a painter. She taught music in Orinda and the sound she got from her fifth grade students just made tears roll down my cheeks. She died of a primary tumor in the liver. I still miss her.

“I understand Italian but I don’t speak it. My parents both spoke English and both became U.S. citizens. My father formed a night school in the community to help prepare other immigrants for U.S. citizenship. He had real leadership ability, including with children. We had one boy in our neighborhood who was frequently in trouble and who often made trouble over at our local school. There were two families in our neighborhood that were German – we were all immigrants – and at school, he was calling their kids ‘Nazis.’ When my dad heard about this, he got all the boys in our neighborhood to come sit on our front steps so he could talk to them. We were told to go inside and we were a bit nervous because these boys, all of them, were our friends. What was my father going to do? But my dad talked to this boy and all the boys. He said, ‘We are all Americans and neighbors here and we don’t call anybody names. That just can’t be.’ My father and my mother were both very much about community – always help where you can help.

“At one point I remember that people wanted my father to run for mayor of Hackensack but he said,

‘No, I can’t be mayor, I don’t have the education for that.’ My father was a people person. He was devoted to his faith, as was my mom, and he was handsome. I remember when I was 11 or 12, after I went to church with my family, I was going to walk to the candy store around the block and meet my girlfriends. But they were waiting for me when I got out. ‘What are you doing here?’ I said. ‘I thought we were going to meet at the candy store?’ And they said, ‘Well, we are waiting to see your dad.’ ‘How come?’ I asked. ‘Because he is as handsome as a movie star,’ they told me. That really shocked me. He was just my dad!

“As to my mother, oh how she could sing. Everybody knew when Connie was baking bread. She was singing at 5 o’clock in the morning! She was, however, most definitely the more serious of the two and my dad loved to tease her and she never smiled when he teased her. I remember one New Year’s Eve in Hackensack, my dad had made wine with grapes from California’s Santa Clara Valley and he shared it with the neighborhood. We had a three story house, which included the basement, and the wine was down in the basement. This particular New Year’s Eve he thought it would be fun if his daughters came downstairs with him and then when we went back upstairs – we all pretended that we were drunk. My mom did not laugh and was so angry that she told us all to go outside. It was freezing cold and it was dinnertime and we were hungry. So my dad went to the store, bought hot dogs, came back and heated up the barbecue and my dad and all of his daughters ate outside. Eventually my mother let us back in. She knew we were there. She could see us through the window. But that was my father and my mother!”

During the Depression the family struggled financially and her father worked every hour he could. But her parents grew their own vegetables and kept chickens and rabbits and there was always enough to eat. In addition, there was always music playing.

“My mom constantly tuned into all this wonderful Italian music on the radio, straight from Italy, and we never missed a Metropolitan Opera broadcast. I liked opera from the moment I heard it.” (Like the George Washington Bridge, the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts were also launched the year Clorinda was born…and they are still going.)

Clorinda also began singing as a little girl and her ability to sing was recognized early on.

“I’ll never forget my kindergarten teacher,” Clorinda said. “She was a tall, beautiful blond woman with a beautiful voice, and she had us kids singing all of the time. When she realized that I could carry a tune too, she really encouraged me and invited me to sing.”

Clorinda sang in school performances. She sang with her church’s children’s choir, intermediate choir and when she became a teen, with their adult choir. Serious vocal lessons began when she was in sixth grade. Her school principal talked to Clorinda’s father. “Mr. Di Lonardo, Clorinda is ready for professional lessons.” He recommended vocal instructor Mary Olney Smith. Mary was just graduating from Mannes School of Music in New York City. And so Clorinda’s musical career began.

“Our cousins that lived next door were all musicians. I had an uncle in Italy who had a beautiful tenor voice and his son was a boy soprano with the Metropolitan Opera Boy’s Chorus. So it was not a surprise that I went into music.

“I really had a wonderful childhood in New Jersey. One of the things I so fondly recall are Sunday car rides with my dad. He loved the country, and he would take his girls to the southern part of New Jersey where there are some beautiful lakes. We would bring bread or crackers to feed the ducks and he would say, ‘If you are good, you can get all the ice cream you want at the creamery just across the way,’ and that’s exactly what we did!”

Four of the five Di Lonardo sisters: Clorinda, Lena, Shirley and Margie. Circa 1947.

In 1945, the family moved to California’s Santa Clara Valley.

“My father’s cousin was stationed in California during the War. When he came back to New Jersey, he described all the orchards he saw and he said to my father, ‘Carlo, California is for you.”

The Santa Clara Valley, which in the 1940s had more than 100,000 acres planted with orchards, was known throughout the world as the “Valley of Heart’s Delight.”

“My dad and my sister Lena came out first,” Clorinda said. “They drove across the country with another relative who was moving here. My dad wanted to be sure it was the kind of place he wanted to bring his family to – and the minute he saw it he knew this was where we belonged.”

“Through relatives my dad met Frank Iusi,” Clorinda continued. “Frank was a realtor and he was very successful. He became my father’s mentor and friend, and he helped my dad find the house that became our first home which was in the village of Agnew, California.” (Agnew has since incorporated into Santa Clara). “We packed up the house, put things on a moving truck and then my mother, my two younger sisters and I came out to California on the bus. My eldest sister, who like all the Di Lonardo daughters went to college, was married and remained in New Jersey. We stayed in that first home for maybe a year and then moved to another home in Santa Clara. Frank found us that home as well. Finally, and this is all within a four-year period, we settled in Campbell. Frank found a home which had five acres of apricots and was exactly what my dad wanted. My dad was a grower and always wanted fruit trees.”

California was a beautiful place to move to. Clorinda attended Santa Clara High School and sang with her high school’s chorus. She also studied voice with Helen Kalas. Helen was Clorinda’s first vocal teacher on the West Coast. The daughter of the Czech-born cellist Jan Kalas, Helen came recommended by a national touring concert pianist Clorinda had met in New York at a recording studio. (Clorinda had been sent to New York by her vocal teacher to make a professional recording.) Clorinda also became a member of Santa Clara’s Wutzit Club.

Circa 1948. Clorinda meets Robert Alda, center, and also says hello to a family friend at a Santa Clara youth organization fundraiser.

The Wutzit Club was a youth recreational organization. It was started during the Second World War by a handful of youth to put the kibosh on any juvenile delinquency. By the time Clorinda moved to Santa Clara, the Club was run by Father Walter E. Schmidt, Society of Jesus. The Club had weekly radio broadcasts, a glee club, a club newspaper, a dramatic society and a sports program. They also sponsored three dances a week, did community work and offered classes in the arts. When Clorinda joined in 1948, she was one of 1,000 Club members. Father Schmidt was also the co-founder and coordinator of the Golden Circle Theatre Party – an annual “Wutzit” fundraising event at San Jose’s Civic Auditorium – which featured local high school performers and a number of Hollywood stars. At one of the Theatre Party events, Clorinda was singing with her high school chorus and got a chance to say “hello” to someone backstage who she knew from Hackensack. He used to come and sing at her cousin’s house.

“My cousins lived next door and they had converted their garage into a little studio. I remember that when I was a little girl, this fellow from Hoboken (about 20 minutes south by car), used to come over and sing with them and then they’d all hang out at the local soda fountain. I talked to him as well. One time he gave my mother and my sister Margie a ride to the hospital because Margie had gotten her hand stuck in some sort of a chain.” That “fellow” was Frank Sinatra and Clorinda’s cousin was the drummer for the Shep Fields and “His Rippling Rhythm” Big Band.

Following high school, Clorinda attended San Jose State College (now San Jose State University). A spinto soprano, she studied with contralto and professor of music, Maureen Thompson, while continuing to study with Helen Kalas. (A spinto soprano is a lyric soprano with darker color and more weight to her voice. For the spinto, it is easier to push through the big climaxes of the dramatic repertoire. Leontyne Price is a spinto soprano.)

In 1953, Clorinda graduated with a dual major in music and education. While studying at San Jose State, appearances included soloist with the San Jose State A Cappella Choir under the direction of William J. Erlendson, professor of music, and with the San Jose State Symphony Orchestra, in 1952, under the baton of Dr. Lyle Downey.

From an April 3, 1952 announcement in the Spartan Daily regarding an upcoming performance at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, featuring, as pictured above: John Morrison, Gloria Collins and Clorinda Di Lonardo.

 Following her graduation, Clorinda continued to perform. She also taught full-time in San Jose’s Alum Rock School District. Along with being a sixth grade teacher, she additionally taught glee clubs and the Teacher’s Choir. She taught in San Jose for four years and then, following her performance with the Santa Clara Philharmonic, she was awarded a vocal scholarship with the Music and Arts Institute of San Francisco. There she studied in an opera workshop with conductor and pianist  Dr.  Antonia  Brico, history’s first woman symphony conductor, and singer Alma Michelini, a protégé of Juilliard School of Music voice teacher Mme. Marcella Sembrich. (Mme. Sembrich was the first star of the Metropolitan Opera performing the day after the Met opened in October of 1883 and immediately becoming  a household name.) Clorinda would also perform with Arthur Fiedler, the longtime conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.

“I was still living at home when I got the invitation,” Clorinda said. “I had never heard of the Music and Arts Institute. I was excited and nervous. I asked my father, ‘Do you think I can do this?’ And he said, ‘Yes you can.’

“I had never driven to San Francisco so my dad came with me the first time. But then when I drove myself for the first time, I was pulled over by a police officer. He told me I was going too slow. I told him I had never driven to San Francisco and he asked me where I was going. I told him and gave him the address. And he said, ‘Follow me!’ Everyone at the workshop knew I was coming and they all saw me arrive with a police escort. Of course they never let me live that down!”

Clorinda’s performance résumé story also includes participation in opera workshops with composer, conductor and professor Fedor Kabalin at the University of California. She was the 1960 Western Regional Winner in the American Opera Auditions. She sang the leading role of the governess in the Northern California premiere of Benjamin Britten’s opera “The Turn of the Screw,” staged by the University of California. She performed with the Oakland Symphony in Verdi’s “Requiem.” In 1961, she performed the lead role of Princess Yaroslavna in Alexander Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” on the stage of the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. Under the direction of 1955-West Bay Opera founder Henry Holt, she performed the role of Amelia in Giuseppe Verdi’s three-act opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball) at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre. (Both the Opera and the Theatre – the latter which is also the stage for TheaterWorks and the Palo Alto Players – are still highly prized Bay Area performance events.)

Clorinda as Amelia in the West Bay Opera production of Giuseppe Verdi’s three-act opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball) at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre. Circa 1961.

 October 8, 1961, soprano Clorinda Di  Lonardo was photographed for the San Francisco Opera by the Opera’s photographer Carolyn Mason Jones.

 In October of 1961, Clorinda sang the title role of Floria Tosca in Giacomo Puccini’s three-act opera “Tosca” at the Oakland Auditorium. Presented by the Italian-American Federation, tenor Sebastian Campagna sang the role of Cavaradossi – Tosca’s lover. Sebastian is the same man who introduced himself to Clorinda after seeing her picture in the paper. Who is this man she would marry less than two years later?

Creighton   University   varsity   wrestling coach Sebastian Campagna, 1939.

From Omaha, Nebraska, Sebastian Campagna was a state high school wrestling champion who went on to organize and coach Creighton University’s first varsity wrestling team in 1939, while he was a junior law student at the same school. He, along with his brother Don, additionally served on the Bluejays 14-man squad. Also a stage actor, his credentials included a number of performances with the legendary Omaha Community Playhouse. After he became a lawyer, he moved out to California. Following his service in the Second World War, he decided he didn’t want to be a lawyer. He felt he had much more to give and he wanted to become a doctor. His Creighton professors told him he was too old to become a doctor.

“Before I knew Sebastian, he was doing general practice in San Jose,” Clorinda said. “He then did a surgery residency with Presbyterian Hospital in San Francisco, with Stanford and one with Kaiser. In addition, he was a tenor. Following WWII, he auditioned for the San Francisco Opera Chorus in his Army uniform. Gaetano Merola, the founder of the San Francisco Opera and the director of the Chorus listened and said, ‘The soldier will sing in the Chorus!'” After the couple met, Sebastian studied under Clorinda’s vocal coach Alma Michelini.

On June 29, 1963 Sebastian Campagna and Clorinda Di Lonardo married at St. Lucy Catholic Church on Winchester Boulevard in Campbell, California.

Clorinda and Sebastian Campagna, June 29, 1963, Campbell, CA.

 The couple’s first child, Diana, was born in San Francisco, where Clorinda was also working as a substitute sixth grade teacher. Their second child, Victor, was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. These moves followed Sebastian’s long list of educational requirements – licensing, trainings, boards – to become a thoracic cardiovascular surgeon. There was a move to Texas and a move to Michigan. The latter is where their son Giancarlo was born. Sebastian did his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship in Auckland, New Zealand where the family lived for close to two years. Their fourth child, Leonard, was born in Auckland.

Clorinda continued to perform throughout their travels. In Auckland, she performed in numerous live concerts with a pianist. In Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, Clorinda recorded the “Poème de l’amour et de la mer” (“Poem of Love and the Sea”), a song cycle by Ernest Chausson, with the New Zealand National Symphony. The recording was subsequently broadcast on various radio stations in New Zealand. In addition, Clorinda did live radio broadcasts in Auckland, with an accompanist, performing songs from a soprano’s repertoire. She also enjoyed meeting New Zealand’s world-renowned lyric soprano Kiri Te Kanawa at a high tea at Dame Te Kanawa’s home.

“You never know what might happen,” Clorinda laughed.

Clorinda at home in Auckland, New Zealand with Victor, Leonard, Diana and Giancarlo. Circa 1970-1971.

 When the couple and their family returned to the States, they first went to Mississippi. Sebastian was going to be part of a heart team there. But the family didn’t stay. They wanted to return to the Bay Area.

Their fifth child, Marco, was born in Sanger, California. Next stop, Switzerland – an opportunity came up for Clorinda and the family of seven moved there for about a year. Clorinda had been invited to be a participant/performer in The International Opera Studio, which was established in 1961 under the patronage of the Friends of Zurich Opera. In 1973, the Campagna family was back in the Bay Area and their fifth son, Adamo, was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose. When Dr. Campagna became a part of the Pacifica Medical Center on Aura Vista Drive (now Bill Drake Way), the family moved to Pacifica. It was 1977. They rented at first and then bought their home on Gypsy Hill. Clorinda estimates that she, Sebastian and their children planted over 2,000 trees along their neighboring hillsides.

The Campagna family, circa 1984. Sebastian and Clorinda seated, with their children, from l to r: Marco, Giancarlo, Victor, Leonard, Diana and Adamo.

The children all attended Good Shepherd Catholic School once they arrived in Pacifica. Diana attended San Domenico High School in Marin, Victor attended Oceana High School in Pacifica, and Giancarlo, Leonard, Marco and Adamo attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco. Clorinda continued to sing at various Bay Area events. She was also the volunteer choral music instructor at Good Shepherd for many years and later did some substitute teaching in Pacifica. Then there were  her additional volunteer projects.

She’s been involved with Pacifica’s Annual 4th of July Celebration at Frontierland Park for more than 30 years. When the late, legendary Pacifica Tribune columnist Paul Azevedo passed in May of 2004 (Paul’s column “The Reactor” ran for three decades), Clorinda took over what he had done for many, many years at the Celebration – read to the crowd from the three parts of the Constitution – all of the Preamble, and some of the Articles and Amendments. The Declaration of Independence is also read in full.

“What I do is bring in people of all different ages – adults, elementary school students and high school students – to be readers,” Clorinda said. “When Paul passed away I thought we shouldn’t stop doing these readings. I think it is important that we realize our patriotism because we are kind of reluctant to show it or talk about it. I also think bringing in our young people as participants is important. They are our future.”

In addition, Clorinda provides the vocalist who sings “The Star Spangled Banner.”

“This is generally a young person from our town who is in high school or home from college,” Clorinda said. “All of the students who take part in our Annual 4th of July Celebration do so because they care.”

For a number of years Clorinda served as member of Pacifica’s Open Space Committee. She continues to be very active with Good Shepherd Church and is a longtime member of the Church’s Women’s Guild. She has been on the Committee for Pacifica Coastside Relay for Life since 2006 when her grandson, now in his twenties and a cancer survivor, was diagnosed with childhood cancer. She is a longtime volunteer with the Pacifica Historical Society, constantly working with its dedicated team of volunteers to successfully save Pacifica’s history. One of the Society’s projects, now completed, was to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore Pacifica’s oldest public building, the Little Brown Church, and turn it into the Pacifica Coastside Museum. Clorinda chaired a number of partnering events to bring in contributions. One such partnering event brought Pacifica’s iconic Winters Tavern to the table. Billed respectively as “Pacifica’s down ‘n’ dirty bar featuring live rock, folk & bluegrass bands in a rustic, wood- paneled space” and “the best dive bar in town,” Winters held a “Prom Night” in fundraising support for the Museum’s extensive, foundation-to-roof renovations.

“When you partner together with people and businesses in your community, everyone feels like they have a stake in the project and they want to be involved.”

She also continues to support the Pacifica Sea Lions. The Pacifica Sea Lions swim team is a competitive swimming program for youth 5-18 years of age. All of Clorinda’s kids were Sea Lions growing up and Clorinda has long been a force behind the Sea Lions hamburgers and hot dogs booth. She has also been a longtime believer in and fundraiser for UNICEF. On a family note, she is thrilled to be the grandmother of twelve, six boys and six girls.

In 2010, Clorinda was presented with an Outstanding Individual Contribution Award from the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce. In 2018, she was one of eight honorees singled out by Pacific Coast TV for continuous efforts which inspire and strengthen the community. For an opportunity to hear Clorinda sing, click into this link. It was recorded in 2012 at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco. The occasion was the wedding of her son and daughter-in-law, Adamo and Amy.

Jean Bartlett photo

In 2011, Pacifica Historical Society members Clorinda Campagna, Pat Kremer, Jim Kremer, Kathy McGuire and Shirlee Gibbs get ready for “Prom Night” at Winters Tavern, a partnership fundraiser chaired by Clorinda.

 

 Pacifica Historical Society photo

Helen James and Clorinda Campagna, at Pacifica’s Sam Mazza Castle, put the details in order for a Pacifica Historical Society fundraising event for the Pacifica Coastside Museum. Circa 2005.

Sebastian Campagna died on June 4, 1993. Clorinda still remembers it as if it was yesterday.

“We were both going to visit my father’s old friend Frank Iusi to provide some paperwork he needed from us. At the very last minute, we were almost out the door, I got a call from Cabrillo Elementary School wanting to know if I could be there as a substitute immediately. I figured they really needed someone or they wouldn’t have called so late. I was dropped off at Cabrillo by either Sebastian or Adamo. At 4 o’clock I was waiting to be picked up but no one came. Then Adamo came and when I saw his face, I knew something had happened.”

Sebastian was killed in a car accident. His car was hit by a train earlier that day as he made his way to the Hall of Records in Redwood City. He was 77.

“Sebastian was such a good man, such a smart man and a wonderful husband. He was also a wonderful father. I’ve often thought about how I was supposed to be in the car with him. I guess God was just ready for Sebastian. There must be more things I need to do and I am happy to do them.”

Jean Bartlett photo

Clorinda at a Pacifica Coastside Museum fundraiser in 2014.

 

Clorinda with her parents, Carlo and Connie Di Lonardo, on her wedding day in 1963.

Both parents were always very supportive of Clorinda’s singing, but her dad said early on, “How are you going to make a living?” But he also said, “Whatever you do, Clorinda, be true to yourself.”

The five Di Lonardo daughters, June 29, 1963: Ludovica, Clorinda, Lena, Shirley and Margie. “My sisters also very much supported my music journey. I had opportunities I wouldn’t have had without such strong family support. I’m very grateful.”

 

Clorinda and Sebastian dance together for the first time as husband and wife.

 

On stage with two of the leads in the Omaha Community Playhouse presentation of A.B. Shiffren’s comedy, “I Like it Here.” Sebastian Campagna, left, as Willie M. Colombo, and Charles Hoffman, right, as Sebastian Merriweather. April, 1947. (Sebastian was studying medicine in Omaha.)

 Following the Second World War and before he met Clorinda, Sebastian auditioned for Gaetano Merola, the founder of the San Francisco Opera and the director of the San Francisco Opera Chorus. The conductor listened to the tenor’s vocal and Sebastian was immediately awarded a spot in the Chorus.

 

Clorinda with her children on the occasion of her 75th birthday, l to r: Leonard, Victor, Clorinda, Giancarlo, Diana, Adamo and Marco. October 24, 2006.

 

Clorinda Di Lonardo Campagna and Sebastian Campagna, June 29, 1963.

Author: Jean Bartlett (www.bartlettbiographies.com)
Pacifica Historical Society / Jean Bartlett ©2019.