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Meta
Category Archives: Popular music & culture
The view from here: perspectives on careers in music & the arts from Margarete von Vaight
An interview with Margarete von Vaight Careers in the arts were always a risky proposition. Right now as companies push the pause button on their seasons there’s extra cause for concern. Can those organizations come back? And what happens to … Continue reading
“If you build it they will come” revisited, or Field of Dreams in 2020
I was looking for an uplifting bit of escapism. Field of Dreams is a film that I’ve always loved. It still moved me when I saw it this weekend but now in a totally new way. One of the small … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Popular music & culture, Spirituality & Religion, Sports
Tagged baseball, baseball movies, Black Sox, BLM, Eight Men Out, Field of Dreams, John Cusack, Kevin Costner, Shoeless Joe Jackson, WP Kinsella
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10 Movies: a quiz
Social media can be a lot like real life. There we are, all alone, when someone tries to get our attention demanding some sort of response. It may involve some work, or some fun: or both. I’m recapping the way … Continue reading
Wordless chorus
This subject seems apt right now. The voices in this music have no words, which is a perfect expression for a time when we don’t know what’s to come. Of course we never do, but it’s especially noticeable when we’re … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Essays, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Popular music & culture
Tagged Claude Debussy, Danny Elfman, Edward Scissorhands, Giuseppe Verdi, Good Will Hunting, Gustav Holst, Maurice Ravel, Rigoletto, Scrooged, The Planets, The Wizard of Oz, wordless chorus
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In the mail
I just received a mail package containing a recording from an artist. It was mailed April 7th, with a covering letter inside dated April 6th. It was coming from a city that is about an hour away on the QEW, … Continue reading
Saturday not quite Live
SNL in the era of quarantine? It’s impossible in the usual way: The eager audience in Studio 8H of the Comcast Building (the one many of us know as the “RCA Building”) The cold opening The monologue The musical guests … Continue reading
Posted in Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Popular music & culture
Tagged Adam Sandler, Anthony Fauci, Big Papi, Brad PItt, Colin Jost, comedy, COVID-19, David Ortiz, Kenan Thompson, Michael Che, Miley Cyrus, Pandemic, Pete Davidsen, saturday night live, SNL, Weekend Update, WFH, What's up with that
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Gone With The Pandemic
Last night we watched the first half of Gone With the Wind. The film began at 10:00 pm taking us up to the intermission around 11:30 pm. Whatever misgivings I have about the story it remains an amazing achievement. What … Continue reading
Beautiful day in the neighborhood and goodness
There are at least a couple of Mr Rogers films out there. There’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a 2018 documentary. And there’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the 2019 film based on an Esquire magazine interview by Tom … Continue reading
James Rhodes & the Beethoven Revolution
Koerner Hall was jammed full tonight. Apparently everyone wants to hear James Rhodes play Beethoven. I’m late to the party, having no idea who this guy is, just intrigued by the interest I sense all around me, an electricity. The … Continue reading
Moonrise Kingdom on Valentine’s Day
I saw the trailer for Wes Anderson’s next film. Google says it opens in the summer. Argh, I wish I could see it now, but, hmm, …a seed was planted. And there we were, staying in on a chilly Friday … Continue reading