TubaOrNotTuba

“The show can’t always last for two hours”, I said to myself, as I settled in for another round of Idol auditions. It should, because how else can you get a feeling for the musical sense of a city. Tonight we saw the highlights of the visit to Louisville. Too much time showing us the grandstand from a racetrack. Too little music, considering that 11,000 potential (a word that covers a very wide range) musicians are distilled into a Kentucky barrel of 19 gold ticket holders.

Read the rest of this entry »

A generation ago, the average young man sitting in a high school classroom might have had a dream. He pictured himself as the lead guitarist for a world famous rock band, playing his power chords before thousand of screaming fans. Away from the school, he might have made the first, stumbling attempts at performing “Smoke On The Water” before the mirror, and in time, as his dexterity increased, he might have moved on to “Free Bird“, or even played for friends. The seeds of a garage band were born.

Read the rest of this entry »

And the journey ended, as it began, in an icy entry. The trip to visit with the rest of the family began just over a week ago, but our own family Christmas was placed on a back burner to be warmed gently through wintery nights. Now we’ll place a (tinier) tree in the main area, decide whether or not to invite a big bird to the table and begin the long march toward the next solistice. Our day was without event, given the excellent weather and bare pavement.

Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe I’d forgotten that things evolve. Perhaps I’d placed such a halo over the head of the last musical director that I figured we’d be in for something worthy of bronze. Instead, tonight’s concert by the bands and choirs and orchestral groups of my son’s school was one of the best in years.

Read the rest of this entry »

For the last two afternoons, I’ve been relistening to a CD I purchased this summer. Around here, there’s lots of music, and little time to actually listen without a dozen other sound sources vying for attention; all part of living in a close-knit social system. This one is a keeper. Each time around on the music box, it sounds better.

Read the rest of this entry »

On one hand, we’ve got millions of people asking other people “What kind of music do you like?” Like they really care about the answer. On the other hand, you’ve got Dr. Adrian North, from the Heriot Watt University over in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he asks the question, he really does care enough about the answer to pay attention.

Read the rest of this entry »

I wonder if other fairy tales leave as much collateral damage in their wakes. Today is C-Day, and the C may stand for Cinderella, or Caligula, or Celine, according to your interpretation. The whole city has been “stood on its ear”, which might be a tribute to the quality of the musical talent, or a tongue in cheek reference to the way that this oversized village handles fame and fortune (as reflected in the flow of traffic).

Read the rest of this entry »

… all you have to do is listen. A quote suitable for the efforts of Paul Horn or John Cage; less so for a movie out of Hollywood. Nevertheless, miracles of writing do take place, both in dialogue and music, and our film for today fits the coat perfectly. Or is it the scale? This is a movie about the urban soundtrack.

Read the rest of this entry »

Can a village be musical? After spending the evening at the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival, the question no longer stands unanswered. Very simply, yes. The village of Rollo Bay, PEI has a family that keeps the sound of the fiddle alive. Not just the fiddle, either; guitar, mandolin, djembe, even the Highland pipes on certain occasions.

Read the rest of this entry »

More and more often, I find myself booting up in Linux instead of Windows, and each time I come away a little more impressed with the efforts of the Mint team. After years of riding on the bicycle known as Slackware (biking is fun, but not always stable), I’ve found that the four-wheel comfort of the Mint distro works. This afternoon, I watched a bit from the DVD version of American Graffiti that I’d purchased from an eBay supplier. None of the problems with Linux not playing a movie I’d heard about. I just put in the disk and it worked. Like other things I’ve done recently. Wireless and printing and webcams and multiple language profiles. No kernel recompile, but some things aren’t necessary.

Read the rest of this entry »