"It's all on the inside!"

Zippy May 19:

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Gay Marriage NZ

My 92 year old dad sent me this link today:

http://www.upworthy.com/this-new-zealand-politician-unleashes-one-of-the-funniest-gay-marriage-speeches-on-record-2?g=2&c=bl3

Zippy and Inspiration

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Cool obit

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/arts/music/janos-starker-master-cellist-dies-at-88.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0

What's it all about, Zippy?

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The 1 Percent’s Solution

The 1 Percent’s Solution:

"Part of the answer surely lies in the widespread desire to see economics as a morality play, to make it a tale of excess and its consequences. We lived beyond our means, the story goes, and now we’re paying the inevitable price. Economists can explain ad nauseam that this is wrong, that the reason we have mass unemployment isn’t that we spent too much in the past but that we’re spending too little now, and that this problem can and should be solved. No matter; many people have a visceral sense that we sinned and must seek redemption through suffering — and neither economic argument nor the observation that the people now suffering aren’t at all the same people who sinned during the bubble years makes much of a dent.

But it’s not just a matter of emotion versus logic. You can’t understand the influence of austerity doctrine without talking about class and inequality."

"The austerity agenda looks a lot like a simple expression of upper-class preferences, wrapped in a facade of academic rigor. What the top 1 percent wants becomes what economic science says we must do."

tiny turf wars

I have put a small pile of postcards advertising my concerts on the postcard ledge in the local coffee shop. A black haired young woman stands at the ledge moving things around there for several minutes. When she finally leaves I see that she has put a stack of cards in front of mine, blocking them from view. They are from the Center for Spiritual Living.

Last week Marilyn's open studio cards were pushed to the back and hidden, by cards advertising the art show of a group of local women artists.

We must be vigilant!

Questions

Two puzzling questions of the last week:

1. What am I feeling about the Boston bombings?

2. Why can't I bring myself to play any music since it happened?

(Now that I think of it, I haven't had much appetite either)

Why I love Feynman

"Another most interesting change in the ideas and philosophy of science brought about by quantum mechanics is this: it is not possible to predict exactly what will happen in any circumstance. For example, it is possible to arrange an atom which is ready to emit light, and we can measure when it has emitted light by picking up a photon particle .... We cannot, however, predict when it is going to emit the light or, with several atoms, which one is going to. You may say that this is because there are some internal "wheels" which we have not looked at closely enough. No, there are no internal wheels; nature, as we understand it today, behaves in such a way that it is fundamentally impossible to make a precise prediction of exactly what will happen in a given experiment.

...philosophers have said before that one of the fundamental requisites of science is that whenever you set up the same conditions, the same thing must happen. This is simply not true, it is not a fundamental condition of science.

Philosophers, incidentally, say a great deal about what is absolutely necessary for science, and it is always, so far as one can see, rather naive, and probably wrong."

(I want to be just like that atom...)

Mike Daisey in DC

Yes, Virginia, there is real theater in Washington - at least through April 21. And of course, it being real theater, there are still tickets available.

When a courageous actor/writer talks to us grippingly about freedom of assembly, class, corporate/public partnerships, childhood innocence, and intimacy - I am right there with him. He ended the show on 7th St (in front of the old DC Space?), trailing a sidewalk audience of 173 people, just to bring it all back into the "real world".

A thought I share with MD: If you believe in "freedom of assembly", try it sometime.

The Lithuanian Crawl

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GreatGrandDaddy

Our 2 million year old ancestor.

Today's Zippy

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Great obit

(except for the typos)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/j-david-kuo-onetime-leader-of-bushs-faith-based-initiative-dies-at-44/2013/04/06/24e9cd6a-987e-11e2-97cd-3d8c1afe4f0f_story.html?hpid=z2

Piano technique, continued...

When I was 14 I used to say that the space between the notes was more important than the notes themselves. Later in life I could not remember what I meant by that - it sounded kind of Zen and pretentious! I apologize now to my 14 year old self - he was pretty sharp, at least about this. Because playing the piano year after year, one gradually pays more and more attention to what you can control, and less and less to what you cannot. The attack becomes more the focus of one's listening and technical effort. But of course, the attack is only a small portion of each note: legato, pedaled or not, staccato, pedaled or not, the note has resonance and duration. No, you can't really control most of this. But damn it, you sure can listen to it! After all, it is most of the sound made on a piano, even if you yourself are not making it - the piano does it all by itself. So, sit back and enjoy the spaces between the notes - they require no effort on your part, and they are indeed the bulk of the music.

(By the way, I am selling my Yamaha P22, shown above. It is $2950 and comes with a bench and cloth protective piano cover. Call me for details: 301-891-6844).

Shuffled

Today's Zippy. Click to embiggen.

Classical Music Radio

Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2013 10:11 AM

To: Dina Vaz

Subject: Melissa Williams letter

 Dear Ms. Vaz:

I was inspired by the letter sent by Melissa Williams, who identifies herself as a Listening Legacy Circle Member. What a great sales pitch! I was all set to leave a large sum in my will to WQXR, a station I was unfamiliar with. I turned on your radio station for the first time. Like Ms. Williams, I, too, was "having a stressful day" and needed "the soothing sounds of classical music." My system was shocked instead by the constant oscillating dynamics of a composer identified by the cheery d.j. as Baytoevin (sp?). This wasn't soothing music at all. I changed my mind about the bequest. Why not put on Kenny G instead of Baytoevin? His music is much more restful and it stays at the same dynamic level throughout.

 - Charley Gerard

Dear Mr. Gerard,

Thank you for your message.  We appreciate your taking the time to give our classical music station, WQXR, a listening to recently, as well as your past support of its sister station, WNYC.  We’ve just concluded a Bach marathon on WQXR that ran for 10 days and featured all of his works, which was unprecedented.  Our playlist was vetted by Christoph Wolff, Harvard professor emeritus and the leading Bach scholar in the United States.  Perhaps if you give the station another chance you may find the music more soothing than you did with your first experience, but I completely understand if your preference is soft jazz.  In any event, thank you for being open to giving it a try based on Ms. Williams’ inspiring testimonial.

 All the best,

Dina Vaz|Associate Director of Legacy Giving

New York Public Radio

Real Theater

http://www.rferl.org/content/pussy-riot-play-disrupted/24917989.html

Contrary to Islam

http://www.jpost.com/International/Erdogan-Gays-contrary-to-Islam-307797

Art Disposal Service

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/mar/14/want-throw-away-art-and-dont-know-how/

We may need to call these guys.