When
· Naughties
· · 2007
· · · October
· · · · 15 (3 entries)
5★♫: Brain Plays Mozart · Continuing the theme (from August, argh, maybe I don’t have a 5★ life) of music written by dead guys, and in this case also played by a dead guy. The dead composer is Mozart, the performer Dennis Brain. I refer to Brain’s 1955 recording of the Mozart horn concertos with the assistance of Von Karajan and the Philharmonia Orchestra. You already know this music. You may not think so, but trust me, as soon as it starts playing you’ll think “Oh, yes”. I’m not sure whether it’s everyone actually having heard it, or whether Mozart tapped into something so smooth, polished, and elemental as to convince us that we’re on familiar and well-loved territory. Nobody could call this obscure, it’s sold a kazillion copies; but perhaps not in recent decades. (“5★♫” series introduction here; with an explanation of why the title may look broken.) ...
[2 comments]
[2 comments]
Minneapolis OK · The flight down here, on a brand-new little Embraer, was horrid. Minneapolis was having weather issues and held us on the ground in Vancouver, then we circled our destination for a half-hour. The pilot came on and said “Well, ladies and gentleman — uh, hold on” (a minute’s silence) “I was about to tell you that we’d been diverted to Duluth, but we just got clearance for Minnie”. He said it was a thousand-foot ceiling, but I think that was optimistic. Anyhow, I thought I’d stick my head out of the hotel and see about dinner and the ball game. Right across the street was the Town Hall Brewery, and I recommend it wholeheartedly. Lots of beers, but the first one tried, a seasonal Scottish Pale Ale (Scottish Pale Ale? Huh?) was so good that I stuck with it. The burger was competent and the fries outstanding, I mean really great. Plus, they had comfy chairs and sofas set up in front of a big HDTV screen to watch the ball game. Friendly strangers to argue with about Joe Borowski and Mike Timlin (who was pitching for the Blue Jays when I was watching them win the Series in ’92, he’s still throwing 93mph, yow). Town Hall is ten years old and I’d bet on ’em for the long haul.
[3 comments]
[3 comments]
WF X: The Parade Continues · This is the tenth progress report from the Wide Finder Project. What with Vegas and the Commies, I’m behind on a lot of things, including the Wide Finder. This is another entry just to note other people’s work, which I really absolutely will buckle down and run on the big iron and report back and shower praise on the good ones and derision on the big misses ...
[5 comments]
[5 comments]
