Show Notes - Week of November 9, 2020

Week 45 for 2020 is done and already at the curb waiting for the trash man to come haul it away. What happened for Yours Truly and His Cohort in the last week? There was very little profound to report on, but I have come to realize not all weeks need something earth-shattering or mind-blowing or any other hyphenated-adjective. It can still be a good week without it needing to be memorable. I certainly did not need another election week after last week, and so a week where reading and cycling were the most dramatic moments of the week was just fine by me. Let's dive in.

Cycling Update:
I had a good week in the saddle with 56.9 km made in my cross-Canada virtual tour. That is not a lot of distance, but I got out twice despite the ice and snow, and hit the stationary bike twice, which is even less desirable than riding on ice. In addition, I finished on the segment to Nanaimo while setting myself up to finish both the Duncan and Victoria segments in the upcoming week.

Fun facts about Nanaimo, courtesy of Wikipedia: over 90,000 people live there; the original population of the area was the Snuneymuxw First Nation and only 25 people today speak their native language fluently; the average high for this time of year is 9.3° C; and, the airport code is YCD.

Here is a look at the progress bar so far. Hopefully all of this will show green in next week's update and I can start on the second leg from Vancouver to Kamloops.

New Music:
There were two albums in the Music Finds playlist for this week. The first was an operatic vocal offering from Deutsche Grammophon (DG) featuring the Latvian mezzo-soprano, Elīna Garanča. She sings Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben song cycle and a selection of Brahms Lieder. Now before you go and think that I know what I am talking about, please note that I just copied all of that text from the DG site for this recording. I know very little about opera and classical vocals, but as I mentioned in mid-October, I am learning a lot from listening to Ben Heppner on CBC's "Saturday Afternoon at the Opera". It would have been nice to listen to Heppner explain the story behind what Garanča was singing, but for now I will be satisfied with simply listening and enjoying.

The second album as another release from Art Blakey. I mentioned last week that I was excited and shocked to see a number of "new" releases from Blakey available on Tidal. I dove into another this week, the "April 1957 Sessions". This was a good album, and the drum solo intro on the first track "A Night in Tunisia" was amazing, but overall this album did not hold my attention nearly as much as "Flapping Wings". It is still worth a listen, especially that drum solo. I have the next Blakey release, "A Christmas Soul Night" queued up for next week.

Hey, look! I am not sure if I missed this or if it is a new feature of Tidal, but now I can embed HTML code instead of just copying a link to the playlist.

New Beers:
Just one new beer this week, unfortunately. I really want to crack the 700 check-in mark on Untappd. I have a couple new beers in the fridge so maybe the update next week will be able to celebrate that milestone. 

Beer #698 was the Estrella Damm lager. I was pretty happy with this as I went in with low expectations given that it was under four bucks for a big can and was clearly an international macro. I was pleasantly surprised and got a bit of pepper in it and overall enjoyed the taste. Could have had more flavor and malt, but still worth a try if you have not had it before. (3.25 / 5)

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New Words:
Four new words this week. On a completely random tangent, I absolutely hate how some people think that people of different races should not be allowed to love each other. I wish we could come together and understand how love is more important than a misguided notion of color, even if just for brunch. (Seriously, even though I just made up a sentence to get the definitions in, that is something I really cannot stand.)

miscegenation
[məˌsejəˈnāSHən, ˌmisəjəˈnāSHən]
NOUN

1. the interbreeding of people considered to be of different racial types.

execration
[ˌeksəˈkrāSH(ə)n]

1. noun form of execrate
   

execrate
[ˈeksəˌkrāt]
VERB

1. feel or express great loathing for.
   

cohere
[kōˈhir]
VERB

1. be united; form a whole.
2. (of an argument or theory) be logically consistent.

levee
[ˈlevē]
NOUN

1. (ARCHAIC) (NORTH AMERICAN) a formal reception of visitors or guests.
2. (HISTORICAL) an afternoon assembly for men held by the British monarch or their representative.
3. (ARCHAIC) a reception of visitors just after rising from bed.