Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

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Random notes: July 2, 2010.

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Department of “The Jokes, They Just Write Themselves”:

Substance abuse research into Ozzy Osbourne’s DNA will cost genetics experts in Massachusetts $40,000 and take them three months to map out.

Today’s NYT has a followup article on the Ronell Wilson case, going into more detail on the legal issues. Basically, the death penalty sentence was overturned because prosecutors hammered that Wilson had not pled guilty, had refused to testify, but was claiming remorse. Several people in the article are quoted as wondering how the prosecution could have made “such a simple procedural mistake”. But I’m actually a little bit sympathetic to the prosecution: before the prosecution made their statements, Wilson was allowed to read a “statement of remorse” to the jury, without being cross-examined by the prosecution.

…in a penalty phase trial, “the defendant had the burden of proof of establishing that he was remorseful and that he accepted responsibility. When he argued that his unsworn, uncross-examined statement proved he was remorseful, the government should be allowed to say, ‘Don’t credit it because it wasn’t tested through cross-examination.’”

Loser update: Astros still hanging on to fifth place. Baltimore at 24-54, for a .308 (God’s caliber) winning percentage, projected to win 49.896 games over the 162 game season. Put another way, roughly 112 losses. Remember, though: we’re closing out the first half of the season. Things can change for the better (worse?) during the second half.

Posted in Clippings, Law, Loser, Music | Comments Closed

Miscellaneous crap.

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

The City of Austin has flushed the low-flow toilet rebate program. However, you can still get a free low-flow toilet: you just have to fill out an application and, if you’re approved, pick up your toilet from an approved toilet vendor.

The 2010 Bulwer-Lytton contest results are out.

Edited to add 1: Oh, what the heck. By way of Ace of Spades, a WP review of the greatest concert ever. Where “greatest concert ever” is defined as “complete disaster”.

Edited to add 2: Derek Lowe has a new post up in the “How Not To Do It” series. It appears that a lab at the University of Missouri underwent explosive renovations after some hydrogen and oxygen got together for a hot date. Photos of the aftermath at the link.

Edited to add 3: The HouChron has interrupted their “WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!” watch to let us know that Dr. Demento is ending his radio show. Why, yes, this is the same story that Slashdot and Lawrence brought you almost a month ago.

Edited to add 4: As I’ve noted in the past, my newspaper reading during the weekends can be spotty. So I missed this Ben Wear article in the Statesman about the MetroRail ridership figures. (Hattip: Blue Dot Blues, by way of Battleswarm.)

Edited to add 5: Headline from the HouChron: “Dear Abby says what to do when grandma spoils the kids”. Somehow, I suspect Dear Abby’s answer does not involve a Taser.

Speaking of Popehat, I think this is a great post by Patrick, but I’m a very bad person; whenever I read the phrase “Res Ipsa Loquitur”, all I can think of is “Ipsa this, you p—y little b—h!“

Posted in Clippings, Explosives, Geek, Guns, Law, Music, Politics, Radio, TV, Writing | Comments Closed

The Hidden World of Girls.

Monday, June 14th, 2010

I’m a day late and a few bucks short on this (somehow I missed it the first time around) but I did want to put up a link to this story from NPR’s “The Hidden World of Girls” project, featuring my friend Pat Cadigan.

(Lawrence and I discussed this: I get the Pat Cadigan beat, he gets the giant spider beat. Seems like a fair split to me.)

Posted in Books, Clippings, Music, Radio | Comments Closed

Art, damn it, art! watch (#10 in a series).

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Laurie Anderson, my favorite living performance artist, played her latest composition for the first time over the weekend.

The piece is called “Music for Dogs”.

Hundreds of dogs and their owners bounced around as Anderson entertained them with 20 minutes of thumping beats, whale calls, whistles and a few high-pitched electronic sounds imperceptible to human ears.

…

The concert was originally billed as a performance for dogs’ ears only, and was going to be largely limited to electronic noises played at a frequency too high for human ears. But Anderson changed things up when she decided she wanted people to have some fun, too.

Posted in Art, Clippings, Music | Comments Closed

Ring-ers.

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

The LAT has an interesting comparison of various recordings of the Ring cycle. (The article is slugged May 16th, but I did not see it on the LAT web site until it hit the front page today.)

One reason I find this article noteworthy is that it was written by Ethan Mordden, noted Broadway historian (among other accomplishments).

Posted in Clippings, Music, Wagner | Comments Closed

On the whole…

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

…I’d rather have the Informal Courses back.

(Previously.)

Posted in Clippings, Music, Politics | Comments Closed

Catastrophe theory.

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

LAT subhead: “Pulling off the climax of Richard Wagner’s ‘Götterdämmerung’ will be a technical feat at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.”

Apparently, they don’t mean it will be a technical feat if they manage to avoid killing the singers who play Siegfried and Brünnhilde, as you might have expected. Instead, the LAT piece concentrates on the mechanics involved in staging the climax of “Götterdämmerung”.

For L.A., director Achim Freyer conceived the opera’s final sequence as a Brechtian peeling away of stage artifice to reveal the inner workings of the production.

…

Competing for stage space amid the Brechtian swirl are the Rhine Maidens, the villainous Hagen, the corpse of Siegfried and a chorus of Gibichungs waving their lightsabers.

Is it just me, or does someone seem to have a Brecht obsession? And lightsabers? WTF?

Note to self: next time I put together a DVD order, I need to make sure to add Sing Faster – The Stagehands’ Ring Cycle.

Posted in Clippings, Music, Wagner | Comments Closed

Götterdämmerung.

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

I’ve been following the L.A. Opera’s staging of the Ring Cycle, and the associated “Ring Festival L.A.”, avidly. I’m excited by the idea of someone other than the usual suspects doing complete stagings of the operas, and I love the various events that have been arranged to go along with the staging.

But I wasn’t expecting Siegfried and Brunnhilde to openly revolt.

In separate interviews, British tenor John Treleaven, who plays the hero Siegfried, and American soprano Linda Watson, who plays Brunnhilde, said German director Achim Freyer’s avant-garde staging — which features a steeply tilted stage, bulky costumes and oversized masks — interferes with their acting and singing and poses excruciating physical burdens.

…

Watson called the set “the most dangerous stage I’ve been on in my entire career.…Your whole neck is tipped wrong. It’s very painful to do it for hours.”

As the LAT notes, this kind of public criticism during a production is rare. I’ve never heard of any performer claiming that a staging is actually physically dangerous, as Watson and Treleaven are. This makes me wish I had money and time to fly out to L.A.

Watson currently is the reigning Brunnhilde at the Bayreuth Festival

That must be a fun fact to drop at parties. “What do you do for a living, dear?” “Oh, I’m the reigning Brunnhilde at Bayreuth.”

Posted in Clippings, Music, Wagner | 1 Comment »

Random notes: May 6, 2010.

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

OMG! Faisal Shahzad had a Kel-Tec Sub Rifle 2000 in his car!

…all along he possessed a weapon that could have easily done extreme damage, one rapidly fired round at a time.

Later:

It is, in effect, a low-powered rifle. Unlike those of some rifles, its bullets probably would not penetrate a police officer’s bullet-resistant vest, a law enforcement official said.

And:

Unlike the Tec-9, it is not frequently used by criminals, the official said.

Meanwhile, Dana Milbank in the WP asks the musical question:

Is the NRA a terrorist organization?

What prompts this? The NRA’s opposition to barring people on the notoriously unreliable terrorist watch list from purchasing guns.

In other news: Houston rapper that nobody’s ever heard of files lawsuit against local radio station for not playing his “music”.

Trae is suing for general damages to his reputation, character, standing in the community, mental suffering, loss of professional opportunities, performance revenue and record royalties.

I’m looking forward to seeing what legal precedent his lawyer sites that requires a radio station to play someone’s music. Could I sue KGSR for not playing Jonathan Coulton? Even better, could I sue KGSR for playing Kasey Chambers?

Edited to add: “Washington Post puts Newsweek up for sale. Do I hear $1? Anyone?”

Provider 1 bids 300 quatloos on the newcomers.

Edited to add 2: I have been in the practice of noting Roger Ebert’s better negative reviews, especially the one-star and zero-star reviews. A zero-star review from Ebert is pretty rare; he’s stated in the past that for a film to get no stars, it not only has to be bad, but morally reprehensible in some way.

Accordingly, I am going to link to this zero-star Ebert review. I am not going to name the film. I do not encourage you to click on the link. I had heard about this film previously on FARK, and wish I had not.

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Hysteria, Law, Media, Movies, Music, Stupid, Thanks | 4 Comments »

Random notes: April 16, 2010.

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Obit watch: former LAPD chief Daryl F. Gates.

Plus: Invisible Siegfrieds.

Edited to add: And thanks to the Chron for reminding me that the Texas City disaster was 63 years ago today.

Posted in Art, Explosives, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Pullet surprise.

Monday, April 12th, 2010

The 2010 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today. Jimbo has a good list, with links.

I’m not as obsessed with the Pulitzers as I was in a past life, but I do want to single out two from this year that I think are particularly noteworthy.

The Pulitzer board, in their infinite wisdom, decided to give a special citation to Hank Williams

for his craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life.

Now, I like Hank, and I can’t argue too much with this decision. But to steal a line from Lawrence, “Fat lot of good that does him now.”

The other prize I think is noteworthy is Gene Weingarten’s prize in the Feature Writing category. I have a complicated relationship with Weingarten and his writing. He’s sort of the WP answer to Dave Barry, the go-to guy for funny skewed humor (Barry and Weingarten are close friends). I used to read him pretty regularly, until he made a statement in one of his online chats that I found completely stupid and unforgivable. After that, I tried to quit him cold turkey.

The problem is, Weingarten isn’t just a funny humor guy. Sometimes, he writes stuff that tears your heart out. In 2008, he won the Pulitzer for a story in which he had the great classical violinist Josh Bell play in a subway station, and wrote about the reactions of commuters. That’s not even one of his best works. In 2005, he talked the WP into sending him and a photographer to the small Alaskan village of Savoonga, which is about as far away from everything as you can get. Weingarten figured he’d get a funny cover story out of the deal. What he got was a cover story; a sad and heartbreaking cover story about a remote community that turns out beautiful works of art, and that’s being devastated by alcohol.

The story he won for this year is just as good, and even more devastating; a piece about the grief and agony of parents who accidentally leave their kids in cars. It raises fundamental questions about what justice means in cases like this, and how these incidents might be prevented. Weingarten’s story represents journalism at its best.

Also, Sheri Fink’s story about one hospital during Katrina (which I noted back in September) shared a Pulitzer for investigative reporting with the Philadelphia Daily News. Interestingly, Fink’s story was moved out of the feature writing category into investigative reporting by the board.

Edited to add: The Reason “Hit and Run” discussion of Mark Fiore’s Pulitzer for editorial cartooning is amusing to follow.

Um, seriously, this guy got a Pulitzer and Homestar Runner didn’t?

Edited to add 2: Weingarten’s post-win chat session on the WP website. Radley Balko approves.

Posted in Clippings, Media, Music | 1 Comment »

Obit watch: March 23, 2010.

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Wolfgang Wagner, former director of the Bayreuth Music Festival, and grandson of Richard Wagner. The NYT obit gives a good overview of the bizarre world of Bayreuth:

In 2008, Bayreuth announced the appointment of Eva and Katharina — half-sisters more than three decades apart in age — as the festival’s co-directors. In keeping with longstanding family tradition, they had not spoken to each other in many years.

Also among the dead: Robert M. White, former X-15 pilot:

On July 17, 1962, he flew the rocket-powered X-15 plane to an altitude of 314,750 feet, or 59.6 miles, almost 10 miles above Earth’s atmosphere.

(Edited to add 2: Better obit from the LAT.)

Edited to add: Sort of an obit, anyway: The Hump, aka “that place that served whale sushi“, closed on Saturday. Their website makes this sound like something they did voluntarily; I am not convinced of this. The Hump was a tenant at Santa Monica Airport, which is owned by the city. The city was apparently looking into pulling The Hump’s lease. Plus there’s the whole thing about the fine for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the possible prison time. Plus there’s the whole question of whether people want to eat at a place that buys meat from a Mercedes parked behind the restaurant, instead of a legitimate restaurant supply house. (Hattip: LA Observed.)

Posted in Clippings, Food, Music, Obits, Planes | Comments Closed

Random notes, special legal edition: March 19, 2010.

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Thomas Hagan has been paroled.

“Who?” Mr. Hagan, aka Talmadge X. Hayer, was the only man to confess to the killing of Malcolm X.

Two other men, Muhammad Abdul Aziz (then known as Norman 3X Butler) and Kahlil Islam (then Thomas 15X Johnson), were also charged with the murder. They maintained their innocence. Mr. Hagan did not, testifying at his trial in 1966 that he was responsible for the murder and that his co-defendants were innocent.

All three men were sentenced to 20 years to life.

I’m kind of boggled by the detail that Mr. Hagan has been on work release for 20 years.

In other news, a Federal court has ruled that the estate of Anna Nicole Smith is not entitled to any of the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II. I’m not clear if the Smith estate has any options at this point; since this appears to have been a panel of the 9th Circuit, can the estate appeal to the full 9th Circuit?

In other other news, accused child killer Casey Anthony has been declared indigent and will get public funds to pay for a defense lawyer.

In other other other news, accused child killer Casey Anthony got $200,000 from ABC News for old photos and home movies. (By way of Jimbo.) $200,000? Seriously, ABC?

Edited to add: Two more stories that came up over dinner tonight.

Lady Gaga’s ex-boyfriend/ex-producer is suing her for $30 million.

Texas A&M student was allegedly driving while texting. Texas A&M student allegedly crossed the center line and hit another car head-on, killing that car’s driver. Texas A&M student ordered to pay $22 million.

Not that I’m in favor of texting while driving, and not that I’m opposed to punishment, but when does punishment cross the line into excess? And, as Lawrence points out, if you’ve got a $22 million judgment against you, Costa Rica or Nicaragua are very nice this time of year.

Posted in Clippings, Law, Media, Music | Comments Closed

Random notes: March 1, 2010.

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Obit watch: John Reed, of the D’Oly Carte Opera Company.

…for a generation of fans, Mr. Reed was the memorable embodiment of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “little man” roles, among them John Wellington Wells, the title character of “The Sorcerer”; Major-General Stanley, the very model of et cetera from “The Pirates of Penzance”; Ko-Ko, the nebbish turned lord high executioner in “The Mikado,” a part he also played in the 1967 film version.

The LAT magazine profiles the man who brought Tiki to America: Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt. Mr. Gantt is perhaps better known by the name he acquired later in life: Donn E.R. Beachcomber.

Edited to add: I intended to blog this on Friday, but didn’t have anything to put with it, and it slipped my mind when I was preparing these notes: David Parker’s eulogy for his father, Robert B. Parker.

My father, at that moment in a cut-off sweatshirt covered with muffin crumbs, bacon grease, Flintstones Jelly and beer stains replied without dropping a beat–“Yeah, I’d like to see something by Twyla Tharp, I understand she’s quite innovative”.

(Hattip: Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind.)

ETA2: Also forgot to blog the most recent entry in Derek Lowe’s “Things I Won’t Work With” series: dioxygen diflouride (also known as FOOF).

The paper goes on to react FOOF with everything else you wouldn’t react it with: ammonia (“vigorous”, this at 100K), water ice (explosion, natch), chlorine (“violent explosion”, so he added it more slowly the second time), red phosphorus (not good), bromine fluoride, chlorine trifluoride (say what?), perchloryl fluoride (!), tetrafluorohydrazine (how on Earth. . .), and on, and on. If the paper weren’t laid out in complete grammatical sentences and published in JACS, you’d swear it was the work of a violent lunatic.

Also recommended: the “How Not To Do It” archives. Especially the story of the liquid nitrogen tank at Texas A&M.

Both the pressure relief and rupture disks had failed for some reason in the past, so they’d been removed and sealed off with metal plugs. You may commence shivering now.

Posted in Clippings, Explosives, Geek, Mixology, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

It’s a long way to the top if you wanna polka.

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a libertarian  (well, 99 44/100ths percent libertarian). For that reason, I fully support the arrest and prosecution of people who make polka videos; I believe the production of said videos violates the non-aggression axiom, much like the production of bagpipe recordings.

(Hattip: Balko.)

Posted in Clippings, Law, Music, Sarcasm | Comments Closed

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