Open thread 3/3/21
I’m baaaack! Yesterday’s shot took much longer than I thought it would – not the shot itself, but waiting in line in the car. By the time I got back I felt like chilling out rather than writing, and even … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Arts
Close harmony: Part IIB (the Bee Gees – how do they make that sound?)
[NOTE: Part I can be found here and Part IIA here.] As I’ve written before, until recently all I knew about the Bee Gees were a few of their disco-era songs and a vague recollection of longish hair, and I … Continue reading →
The quality of mercy
Commenter “Lee Also” writes this: I have always felt that, as doctors take the Hippocratic Oath when they receive their degree, Portia’s Speech should be administered to freshly minted JD’s as an oath: “The quality of mercy is not strained; … Continue reading →
Remove that blindfold: a metaphor for “equity”
[Hat tip: commenter “huxley”.] It strikes me that this is a good metaphor for what’s been happening to the idea of justice at the hands of the campaign for “equity” [emphasis mine]: For decades leading symphony orchestras have used “blind … Continue reading →
The left and “misinformation”
This would be funny if it weren’t so ominous: House Democrats are pressing cable and streaming services over their decisions to host channels that the lawmakers accuse of spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories that lead to “real world harm.” Reps. … Continue reading →
Songs that just arrive – if you’re right there waiting
I’ve gotten fascinated by the process of songwriting, something I don’t understand. I think I can safely say I will never write a song. But there are people who do it from childhood on, over and over. Sometimes they never … Continue reading →
And now to answer that burning question you’ve all been asking: is it vibrato or is it tremolo?
In my recent explorations in the field of popular music, I was reading an article in which a certain person’s singing voice was described as having vibrato, and I immediately thought, “No, it was tremolo.” Then I suddenly realized that, … Continue reading →
Orwell, Newspeak, and Sapir-Whorf
Commenter “Philip Sells” asks a good question: Does not Orwell’s concept of Newspeak presuppose something like Sapir-Whorf? And commenter “Frederick” responds this way: Yeah, it did, which lessened the book a bit for me…Reading it now is a little jarring… … Continue reading →
Presidential poetry for Presidents’ Day: education in my youth
I’m not that old, but pedagogical practices in my youth seem absolutely archaic compared to whatever passes for education these days. For starters, we had Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday, and they were on their actual real birthdays: Lincoln on … Continue reading →
Only love can break a heart
Here’s a little residual post-Valentine’s Day angst. I am struck by the similarity of the theme of both of these songs. I guess there are only a finite number of things you can say about heartbreak: Neil Young’s voice shouldn’t … Continue reading →
On Beethoven’s deafness
ADDENDUM: Here’s a description of the premiere of Beethoven’s 9th: …[T]he Ninth Symphony was premiered on 7 May 1824 in the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna…This was the composer’s first onstage appearance in 12 years; the hall was packed with … Continue reading →
Someone please tell Andrea Mitchell that ignorant AND arrogant is no way to go through life
And yet apparently NBC’s Andrea Mitchell has managed to do just that. As someone or other used to say: sad. Here’s the error Mitchell made in an attempt to put Ted Cruz in his place: .@SenTedCruz says #ImpeachmentTrial is like … Continue reading →