March 31, 2008
Catastrophe
Quelle catastrophe! What is happening in CBC land …? A process of alienation of the most devoted listeners. All the good aspects slowly being dissolved like vitamin powder in water.
The disbanding of the Radio Orchestra is unfathomable.
Stand up, speak out, pound your fists on the door people. The lunacy in suits are taking a slash hook to the arts, while filling up excel spread sheets, with middle manager smiles. Much blather about redirecting the money, CBC Radio Orchestra was only about ever about music, and Canadian composers and it should be left well enough alone and effort instead made to entice people out of their living rooms to hear its blessed sounds.
May the protest rise…
more here
and here with hockey analogy
May 29, 2007
Climbing on a bad hip and chocolate
Here’s a link to a travel article published in Sat’s Globe and Mail I wrote about climbing Croagh Patrick with the Puffin and granny/sister gang. For at least 15 minutes after the descending I considered acquiring an appetite for clambering and wandering about the place, but it appears to have diminished in favour of learning the Japanese abacus.
December 5, 2006
Shostakovich
This is what the brain needs. A blast of Shosto.
Tried giving it some exercise today because it hasn’t had any for a very long time and the brain people claim it likes it. After 4 mins according to the dottish clock, what felt to be at least 19 mins by my knee tendons, being of short stature, struggled to find the stop button on this stepping yoke machine, I managed to physically fall off it. This was followed by a bout of that dizzy, trembling they warn you about in the posters. I discovered an additional pulse in my abdomen and retired. I will repeat the experience only because my brain and cardio pipes do very well with only 7 mins total of it and the alternative will be looking for a new hip on ebay.
Recovery was possible with this piece of music.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/lunchtimeconcerts/pip/4dmbl/
It’s only available for a mere matter of days, so get a blast while you can.
Something up with that link .. it’s expired but here’s another lunchtime blast: Shosto comes in at the end, after the first two.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/lunchtimeconcerts/pip/ohtun/
The first piece in that last link did not agree with my particular neurological picnic.
This is more like it: lovely anecdotes at the beginning of this concert about him being a late starter, football coach and deeply suspicious of the postal service sending postcards to himself to check it worked.