Rants&Raves

Bill

GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM

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Well, it’s happened. You’ve squandered another perfectly good practice session by reading this blog. The good news is that it’s the last time you’re going to be able to blame me for missing that F sharp 9 diminished arpeggio, because we’re shutting down Sticks&Drones. The bad news is that the music in front of you has still got to be learned, and now you have one fewer excuse to get it done. Despite our best efforts I’m really wondering if S&D had any kind of impact on the profession that we love. Looking across … Continue Reading

CODA. MY LAST POST…FOR NOW

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The height of your success is determined by the depth of your foundation.. To wrap up what has been a fantastic opportunity to explore ideas, to have heated and deep discussions and some real fun, I first have to thank Drew McManus (Adaptistration) for this platform. Inside the Arts is a place to read, discuss and share thoughts and ideas with the many brilliant people who write on the forum and who read the forum. It has inspired me and will continue to do so. With a blog we are all given … Continue Reading

Death of an institution

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To quote Jim Morrison – “This is the end.” Sticks&Drones is shutting down, its authors moving on to greener pastures (I’m writing a book and Ron’s running for congress), and the readership gets to focus on the new Star Wars movies without any distraction.  I had meant for this post to be something of a retrospective on the gritty life and times of S&D, but true to form the business has dialed up one more travesty that cannot be ignored. So, one more rant before S&D goes out in a blaze of glory. Let’s talk about legacy, history, and pigheadedness.

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For Sale: Bridge in Brooklyn, Cheap!

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Scholarship. Research. Facts. Since we live in the era of “Fox News” we all know that these things are in short supply. Goodness, haven’t you heard about the massive Ebola outbreak in the United States? No? Then how about Anna Magdalena Bach? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, based on nothing more than than a forensic analysis of handwriting a “professor” in North Australia has concluded that not only did Anna Magdalena compose the Cello Suites heretofore attributed to one Sebastian Bach, but also that the aforementioned Sebastian was a wife beater and all-around scumbag. Despite … Continue Reading

A (Washington) Post Mortem

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Two days ago I tuned into my local MPR station and within 30 seconds had correctly identified the two gentlemen talking – Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. There was something about how they presented themselves which made me immediately think about Watergate and Nixon. I didn’t even get the gist of their topic before I knew who they were. One of them (can’t remember which), when talking about that era, mentioned that he thought they were working for the greatest editor (Benjamin Bradlee) and the greatest owner (Katharine Graham) in the business. Lo how the mighty have fallen.

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Why Bother…

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It’s the 12th of August. There has been no news out of the Minnesota Orchestra debacle for a couple of weeks, and I’m sure that both sides are hard at work under the watchful eye of George Mitchell with a last ditch effort to patch things back together. But at this point why bother?

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