The State of the Noah
Fortunately, I just missed our president speak, but I was able to hear James Webb tear the man a new one. I don't think I've ever heard such a feisty worded rebuttal, even if the man delivered it rather blandly (at least that's how it sounded on the radio; perhaps he showed off his marine biceps on the big screen?).
I just downloaded Deerhoof's latest album, "Friend Opportunity." Perhaps the Gen-Xers out there have been previously enlightened by this SF quartet, now trio, but their sound was shockingly weird and fun- the kind of twisted pop I can appreciate. At least today, for maybe tomorrow they'll sound as appetizing as Joanna Newsom currently does. Am I becoming a hipster?
In other music news, and picking up my attempt to write music reviews which I started once long ago, I caught Lorin Maazel of the NY Philharmonic conducting his new young all-Italian, all-privatized orchestra, the Symphonia Toscanini. I blanched at the overt commercialism of the event- a "60 year anniversary playing the hits Maestro Toscanini played himself!"- but for the $10, on sale from $50 tickets in the "choral balcony," it seemed like it was worth a shot. They played the Overture to Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, Beethoven's 3rd, Strauss's Don Juan and Debussy's La Mer. The Eroica was honestly a let-down- missed entrances, strange balance issues, and all the accumulated memory of the gazillion times I've heard this most beloved Beethoven symphony. But then after halftime, Emma's new phrase for the point at which everyone can stop pretending to be civil and rush to the restrooms, the S.T. tore up some Strauss- big and brassy, full of chutzpah, and followed by an inspired percussion-rich sound of the sea (as Debussy envisioned it, at least).
Music and books are what drive me these days, especially now that I'm done with my application to library school (the GSLIS, or giss-liss as it's known in these parts). Thanks to some help from old librarian friends, and given that I didn't need to even take the GRE (hooray for not re-learning 10 years of math!), it was a relatively painless experience.
In the near future, perhaps, an update on the state of my job- six weeks of 37.5 hour weeks doing work that only seems to exist in theory, not in practice, of a UI bureaucracy where after the fifth try you give up on contacting the person you're supposed to be coordinating your work with. Man, I look forward to some straightforward cylinder transferring; looking forward to seeing you all in SB March 10th-18th!
I just downloaded Deerhoof's latest album, "Friend Opportunity." Perhaps the Gen-Xers out there have been previously enlightened by this SF quartet, now trio, but their sound was shockingly weird and fun- the kind of twisted pop I can appreciate. At least today, for maybe tomorrow they'll sound as appetizing as Joanna Newsom currently does. Am I becoming a hipster?
In other music news, and picking up my attempt to write music reviews which I started once long ago, I caught Lorin Maazel of the NY Philharmonic conducting his new young all-Italian, all-privatized orchestra, the Symphonia Toscanini. I blanched at the overt commercialism of the event- a "60 year anniversary playing the hits Maestro Toscanini played himself!"- but for the $10, on sale from $50 tickets in the "choral balcony," it seemed like it was worth a shot. They played the Overture to Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, Beethoven's 3rd, Strauss's Don Juan and Debussy's La Mer. The Eroica was honestly a let-down- missed entrances, strange balance issues, and all the accumulated memory of the gazillion times I've heard this most beloved Beethoven symphony. But then after halftime, Emma's new phrase for the point at which everyone can stop pretending to be civil and rush to the restrooms, the S.T. tore up some Strauss- big and brassy, full of chutzpah, and followed by an inspired percussion-rich sound of the sea (as Debussy envisioned it, at least).
Music and books are what drive me these days, especially now that I'm done with my application to library school (the GSLIS, or giss-liss as it's known in these parts). Thanks to some help from old librarian friends, and given that I didn't need to even take the GRE (hooray for not re-learning 10 years of math!), it was a relatively painless experience.
In the near future, perhaps, an update on the state of my job- six weeks of 37.5 hour weeks doing work that only seems to exist in theory, not in practice, of a UI bureaucracy where after the fifth try you give up on contacting the person you're supposed to be coordinating your work with. Man, I look forward to some straightforward cylinder transferring; looking forward to seeing you all in SB March 10th-18th!