Such a week!

    How much culture can one old retired person absorb in a single week?  Uncle Jack was put to the test this past week and he seems to have survived unscathed in mind and body.  It started on Monday with a tour of several historical parts of the Johns Hopkins Medical Center, one of the world's greatest centers of medical research and treatment for over a century.  Some of the original 1889 buildings are still in use, perfectly preserved in their original state, and provide a link to the pioneering efforts of the founding doctors (see picture below). The highlight of the visit for Uncle Jack was meeting Dr. Patrick C. Walsh, retired director of the James Buchanan Brady (aka "Diamond Jim") Urological Institute who literally "wrote the book" on prostate cancer. Lucky for Uncle Jack he read "the book" ten years ago when he was diagnosed with stage one cancer of the prostate and had to decide what to do about it.  Thanks to Dr. Walsh's advice he decided to do nothing other than start a strategy of "watchful waiting", thus avoiding potentially harmful surgery that might have made the last ten years of his life a lot less enjoyable than they have been.  It was a thrill to have a chance to thank him in person.  (Dr. Walsh explained that the Brady Institute was named for the flamboyant "Diamond Jim" after he made a huge monetary contribution to the hospital following his successful treatment for prostate cancer back in the 1920's. Contrast that with Al Capone's gift of three dogwood trees to Union Memorial Hospital after they treated him for syphilis.)
     On Wednesday night Uncle Jack and Mrs. U.J. attended a fascinating two-hour lecture on the architecture of Baltimore by a young Johns Hopkins professor whose name he forgets. (He forgets almost everything these days)They have been doing a lot of exploring around the city on their own over the past couple of years and it was interesting to learn about how some of the extraordinary buildings they have visited fit into the history of the city.
       Thursday's free noontime concert at the Peabody Conservatory was exceptionally enjoyable because it featured "ancient" music of the 17th and early 18th centuries played on period instruments by some very talented student musicians. (When was the last time you ever heard somebody play a theorbo?)
      Friday night's Baltimore Symphony concert featured music of Ireland replete with step dancers and Irish tenors singing "Danny Boy" and whatnot.  Uncle Jack stayed home, drank a Guinness and watched basketball on his 52 inch you-know-what and Mrs. U.J. said he missed a great concert.  (And she missed a great basketball game in which the Miami Heat cooked the L.A. Lakers).
      Saturday afternoon's concert at Evergreen Museum unexpectedly turned out to be the highlight of the week.  It featured a young Colombian harpist named Edmar Castaneda whom Uncle Jack had never heard of but who has now entered his personal pantheon of great musicians---not just great jazz musicians but musicians, period.  Rarely has he heard such an electrifying performance on any instrument let alone the Colombian harp. If you ever get a chance to hear him play don't miss it.  Here's a small sample from Google that really doesn't do him justice.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGhgdynmtZo
     Yesterday afternoon's concert by the excellent Peabody Symphony was not too shabby either.  Any program that includes both Beethoven's Emperor piano concerto and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, both extremely well played, is not to be missed.  At $8 a ticket for seniors this is another excellent reason  for music lovers to live in Baltimore.
      Uncle Jack somehow found time to watch some college hoops over the weekend, as much as he abhors the rotten business it has become.  He suffered a bit from ambivalence as he watched Duke carve up Maryland but he hasn't lived here long enough to get very upset about it.  More important, he returned to the hardwood himself last week after finally getting his pass to JHU's magnificent O'Connor Recreation Center across the street from his condo.  He was a bit rusty at first and could hardly lift his arms the day after his first outing but this morning he was back in the groove and popping three-pointers with gay abandon.  Mrs. U.J. went swimming in one of the two gorgeous pools which she pretty much had to herself for half an hour.  Too bad the students are too busy studying to use these opulent facilities.

      Uncle Jack and Mrs. U.J. are off to Nags Head again on Wednesday 3/16 for a week of sun and fun.  He promises pictures.

The "Big Four" of Johns Hopkins medicine:  William Welch, William Halsted, William Osler and Howard Kelly, portrayed by John Singer Sargent in London in 1905.  For more information about these incredible men go to http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/history/history5.html   Find out which one was a drug addict.

The Johns Hopkins library addition grew to eye level this week in spite of some inclement weather that shut everything down for a day.

The mammoth construction crane has now been incorporated into the structure.  One of these days it will have to go or this is going to be a very funny looking building.