Category: Topics

Architecture, Contiguous USLeave a comment

A Professor, An Art Barn and A Lifetime of Enjoyment

Rich McClear

Liberal Arts educations are often derided in the popular press today.  Today the reason for a college education seems to be to find a job not to find a life or a vocation.  I’ve never regretted the broad liberal arts education I got at St. Olaf College.  Sure, it gave me skills to function in the workplace but more than that it gave me insight in how to live an enjoyable life, in finding a vocation. When I look back at my college time from the perspective of 50 years the one course that stands out, providing me more lifetime … Continue reading A Professor, An Art Barn and A Lifetime of Enjoyment

Radio6 Comments

A Prairie Home Companion 40th Anniversary Celebration

Rich McClear

On Saturday Suzi and I were fortunate enough to to sit on the Macalaster College lawn surrounded by family — kids, grandkid, in-laws, nieces and nephews celebrating A Prairie Home Companion’s 40th anniversary. The whole weekend was kind of a PHC festival with outdoor stages and indoor concerts in the Macalaster Fine Arts Center and the chapel.  There were food booths, including great corn on the cob, and radio booths.  At one the PHC sound effects man recreated the sounds we all hear on the show and had kids help him create the effect of a creaking ship, a crackling … Continue reading A Prairie Home Companion 40th Anniversary Celebration

Morocco, TrainsLeave a comment

Take the Train from Casablanca going south. (The Marrakesh Express)

Rich McClear

I’ve never heard a train song I didn’t want to ride.  I’ve ridden the Rock Island Line and the City of New Orleans.  Some songs I can never ride.  The Super Chief and Phoebe Snow are 30 years gone.  But you can still “take the train from Casablanca going south.”   We rode the Marrakesh Express.  The song is more about anticipation than the ride, but the ride, while crowded, is worth it.  You clickety clack from the coastal flats through rolling hills and dessert.  There are settlements of brown adobe brick, circled by a wall, looking like they grew out … Continue reading Take the Train from Casablanca going south. (The Marrakesh Express)

Austria, Easter Markets, Lent and EasterLeave a comment

Altwiener Ostermarkt, Freyung (Old Vienna Easter market at Freyung)

Rich McClear

Around the perimeter of the Altwiener Ostermarkt, Freyung (Old Vienna Easter market at Freyung Square) booths sell handicrafts, I bought an olive wood egg.  One sold live rabbits.  The food market and the wine tasting booths were across the street.  … Continue reading Altwiener Ostermarkt, Freyung (Old Vienna Easter market at Freyung)

Austria, Trains3 Comments

Railjet, Austria’s High Speed Train.

Rich McClear

Railjet is Austria’s high speed train.  While not as fast as Germany’s ICE (Suzi’s train from Brussels to Munich topped out at 275) or France’s TGV, we clocked a respectable 232 km per hour  (144 MPH) on the route between Munich and Vienna.  The train is comfortable with wi-fi (I took a picture when the speedometer tipped 200 and sent it out on FaceBook), a dining car, a cart that brings food to you and nice seats.  Taking pictures out of the windows at the alpine meadows at that speed was a challenge for my camera.  You don’t really feel … Continue reading Railjet, Austria’s High Speed Train.

Winds of ChangeLeave a comment

Pete

Rich McClear

One of the problems with the lifestyle I have chosen is that I don’t always have access to a radio station when I need one.  When I heard that Pete Seeger had passed on I really felt a need to be on the air, to talk about Pete, to play his music, to connect with my “tribe” of folkies and activists.  Facebook and this blog will have to do. The first time I interviewed Pete Seeger was in May, 1972 after a concert at Mankato State University. I remember it because it was the day Nixon announced we were mining … Continue reading Pete

Holy Land, Palestine, ReligiousLeave a comment

Merry Christmas !! Pictures from Bethlehem.

Rich McClear

Christmas Day — a good day to post pictures of Bethlehem.  The focal point of any visit to Bethlehem is Manger Square.  It is a pedestrian zone bordered by the Church of the Nativity, the Mosque of Omar, the Palestinian Peace Center and a wonderful falafel shop which also serves freshly squeezed orange juice.  Star Street, Nativity Street and Manger Street converge on the square. Some claim that the Church of the Nativity is the oldest Christian worship site in the world.  It was built during the rule of Constantine on a site selected by his mother, St. Helena.  She … Continue reading Merry Christmas !! Pictures from Bethlehem.