decay

Summer covers, had me a blast
Summer covers, happened so fast


I'm glad the summer covers mini-project is over. I still believe it was a good idea at the time, but I lost interest halfway through and never warmed to any of the results.

You go through the process and sometimes it clicks and sometimes it doesn't. I don't know how to make it click more often. But it's important for me personally to complete projects, and the more projects I complete, the more failures I accrue, and with more failures come more successes.

And so, with recent silly projects freshly off my plate, I had time over the last two days to record the following, somewhat less silly piece, a memento mori in the key of melancholia, and evocative, for me at least, of the aging process.

~~~~~~~

Sabitathica: decay

Somebody should use this piece to accompany an autumnal-themed auto commercial, so I can make a million dollars, quit my job, and complete more projects. I'll even promise to do fewer covers.

Bad science

Let us take a moment and avert our eyes in collective cultural embarrassment as Science once again acts like the drunk guy at the party talking too loud (and excitedly!) about things he doesn't understand. This morning's Washington Post has this to say about life off-Earth:

For the first time, astronomers have detected a rocky planet in another solar system that has the most basic and essential conditions needed to support extraterrestrial life.

Sigh. Okay Science, for the love of God, please, repeat after me:

We. Don't. Know. The conditions. Essential. For. Extraterrestrial. Life. Also. There. Is. No. Reason. To assume. Life. Must. Everywhere. Be. Similar. To what. We. Find. On. Earth.


That is all.

percussion

After ice skating we went to Bedlam Pro Percussion, where I bought a snare drum, a 20" ride cymbal, their stands, a pair of sticks and a pair of brushes. Apart from a few shakers and tambourines acquired over the years, I've never owned real percussion equipment before.

The cat hates them. She shares my low tolerance for loud noises, but unlike me, she's unwilling to put her preferences aside for the sake of art.

Apocalyptic dream last night, complete with extraterrestrials and ex-girlfriends (that line becomes thin in places).

I'll post the other two 80s covers soon, as most feedback was positive.

Listening now to Laisse tomber les filles, the Serge Gainsbourg song, sung by France Gall.

ice skating

Autumn has arrived, and not just because the calendar says so. The temperature has dropped a dozen degrees over the last two days and it's no longer unpleasant to be out of doors.

L and I went ice skating Saturday.


It was public-skating time, which means there was a DJ.

You: did the DJ play Party all the time?
Me: no, he did not. L requested it, but he didn't have it in his library.
You: what other songs did he not have in his library?
Me: faith, we got the beat, cruel summer, and pretty much anything else that was played ad nauseum in the 80s.

On the other hand, I did get to hear the song Macarena for the first time. I thought it would be catchier.

This is everyone doing their best to pretend like they enjoy skating to music not made between 1982 and 1988:


And here is L, decked out in her spiffy new scarf and mittens which she has demanded I tell you she knitted herself.


Everybody enjoyed ice skating. Nobody fell and hurt herself. Good times, good times.

Ash

Ash's wedding was this weekend.


The good times:




He asked me to conduct two pieces of music. Here's a picture L took during rehearsal:


As fate would have it, Party All the Time by Eddie Murphy was played at the reception, which is a coincidence because this song keeps coming up these days.

speakers, etc.

My new Audioengine A2 speakers were delivered last night. I got them because the laws of physics (also, my carelessness) broke my old computer speakers. I'm listening to Casals play the cello suites on them right now.

After listening to too much Bach:
Mozart never seems to have anything to say
Beethoven exaggerates how much he feels

Currently reading Jeanne de Salzmann's newly published book.

We saw a matinée of The American this weekend, which I loved.

I'm working with qigong in the mornings before work.

Night Song by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook reminds me of the flower farm in Maine.

the yarn store

Now that L is a knitter, she occasionally forces me to accompany her to the yarn store, which looks like this:

no I really don't think I can dance.

We were listening to music on Friday when spontaneous dance broke out. The song most responsible for this awesome event was Sweet-Lovin' Man by the Magnetic Fields.

L's dance looked like this:



My own dance was a cross between Ally Sheedy in the Breakfast Club and the Peanuts characters at a Schroeder throwdown.

Taking tiger mountain

Shadow with her new collar in a photo by L:


This year's incoming music school crop is a good one, lots of intelligence and sunny natures.