From the monthly archives:
Here is a photo I found on the Rufus Wainwright message board taken by someone at Patrick McMullan Company. After much speculation on the RWMB about Rufus’s new beau, it was leaked that his new friend was called “Jorn,” but then we were told it was Jörn (mit umlaut) (”sounds more like yearn than porn”). [...]
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This is the most famous video on YouTube this week. Can you tell why? This youngster, named Isaiah Chevrier, is 4 years old and shows his amazing skill playing the African djembe. The facial expressions and expressive body language are those of an adult. He must have had a great teacher, speaking of which, could [...]
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Here’s a guy that did his homework.
This guy didn’t: (warning: may be disturbing to some; there are no close ups)
In 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt leaped from the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower in a combination overcoat-parachute of his own design. He expected to fly. He did not.
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Two legends: Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. I imagine Frank felt rather old generation here next to a hormone popping, knee buckling Elvis, fresh back from the army. Look at Elvis’s eyelashes: his face is so emblazoned in our memory, and his eyes are icons of pop culture. We all know those eyes. There they [...]
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Franz Mesmer practices animal magnetism on a a patient while friends look on.
[Here is the next installment in a continuing series called the spirit highway, about people and concepts found along the way.]
Somewhere along the way, I read that it is a good thing to channel one’s own sexual energy into one’s higher spiritual and/or [...]
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Berlioz in 1867.
[Doorbell rings. Prof Berlioz hollers down. Rufus waits patiently. Sound of keys against the door. Swearing in French, wrong keys. Silence. Sound of footsteps up from downstairs. More key sounds. Door opens. Rufus appears with a big smile and a flashdrive in his hand. Berlioz slaps him on the back and they move [...]
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(Liberty by Nitin Garg.)
I look back at my childhood as a young music lover and musician, and see that it was peppered with “heros,” “role models” (or so I thought), “cool people,” wayshowers, big brothers. These people ranged from local Green Bay heros like Jim and Lou Seiler who could do Byrd music as though [...]
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Alexander Pushkin: Tragedies petites. “Mozart and Salieri”
Xylography by V.A. Favorsky.
When people these days hear the name “Salieri” they conjure up the role played by F. Murray Abraham in AMADEUS whose character was envious of this brat who was touched by the hand of God. One of the short plays that I’m considering setting by Thornton [...]
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Here is a clip from a recent Brian Wilson documentary on the making of SMILE. It’s from 1966. In this touching sketch, Brian barely opens his eyes, he’s so lost in the song. The piano part, in his head, is the full band/orchestra but we mortals only get to hear the chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk piano part move [...]
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