By this time I would expect anyone who doesn’t live in what is the Last Bastion of Civilized Man in America – AKA the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul – to be utterly tired of my relentless promotion of this area. Those who are indeed tired might want to skip over this post.
Odds & Ends
Connections
The show that got me hooked on cable TV was called “Connections.” This madman historian, James Burke, produced this fabulous show on science and history that was absolutely riveting. His premise was that history does not proceed in a straight line. So he would talk about one invention and then somehow connect it to something that you wouldn’t believe had any relation to it. It’s hard to describe, but it’s still one of the best shows ever.
Collective Pride…and Two Soldiers Tales
From the road this week: I’ve seen many a promotional video at airports whilst waiting for a connection, with all of them letting me know that by continuing on to my destination instead of stopping over, I will miss out big time on the excitement of the city that lies beyond the airport walls. Now mostly they are pretty frenetic because they try to pack as much in as possible and I have seen several that include the orchestra of the city albeit for a few seconds. The one I saw this week was different and had a twist, plus I was inadvertently placed in two related poignant moments in two different cities …..
Winning the War of the Words!….
In class today we discussed the word virtuoso and how it is essentially reserved to describe Classical artists. From time to time you hear it sparingly used to describe Rock Guitarists and Jazz musicians but not often. I say we shouldn’t give the word up, but definitely give it over….
What’s black and steel and costs a bundle?
I took a little trip last week, my first one in three months. The air was getting a little noxious here in the Twin Cities, what with the flag-waving, Liberal-denouncing, Bible-thumping, Tax cuts for the rich espousing, quadrennial waves of self-congratulatory apoplexy that was coming out of the Xcel Center. It was either get arrested or go do something else interesting. The next thing I knew I was landing at LaGuardia.
Authenticity
So watching the giant infomercials i.e the DNC and RNC conventions, I’m looking for any signs of authenticity, something real and inspiring, not so much who to vote for but who to hope for. With the RNC I sat squirming and surprisingly I found myself being bothered by something even more than the rhetoric….
100 degrees and climbing
Music and politics. It is always dangerous when those two things mix, though one could argue that it’s dangerous when politics is mixed with anything. Over the weekend the news broke that one of the most famous musicians in the world decided to put these two things into a rather large blender and turn it on hi speed. The response from the rest of the classical music world has been stunning – as in a stunning silence.
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”
Dante Alighieri
Phoning it in!….
If you don’t yet have an iPhone/iPodtouch then you are still hearing the hype no doubt. I have the touch and if it’s possible I think Apple is ahead of the hype and the curve. How about the ultimate musician’s accessory, no joke….
Phone, IM, Email, Games, Browsing etc…all great stuff but what sets the gizmo apart is the application store. Sure there’s the bubble wrap program, the marble games, tons of silly apps and also great reference and info apps that all utilize the on-line capabilities as well as the accelerometer (tilt feature). For literary junkies (and for free) you can even get the complete works of Shakespeare!