From Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses” illustrated by E. Mars and M. H. Squire; published by Rand McNally and Company, 1902.
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From the monthly archives:
January 2007
After such a raw week, I need something distracting. Hmmm, let’s see. A ha! Here’s one. One of the comments on YouTube reports:
Zladko “Zlad!” Vladcik is a fictional character created by Australian comedian Santo Cilauro and is the unofficial mascot of the equally-fictional nation of Molvanîa. It’s from hella days ago and Mt Dew has [...]
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In my music theory class I am experimenting with a new technique as an alternative to homework. (The homework involved is college level harmony exercises.) I have divided the class into groups of four (2+2) with similar abilities and temperaments. I hand out a set of in-class exercises for the class, and the students are [...]
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After a lovely morning of working, playing the piano, walking the dogs, I doubled over in pain and was taken off to the emergency room. I had no idea what was happening. Was it a perforated colon? An exploded appendix? Cancer of the prostate? Kidney failure? Death? I was nearly delirious when I left but [...]
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Alexandre Michel Desplat was awarded a Golden Globe for best score in a motion picture. This is well deserved, and I hope that he goes on to get an Oscar as well. He is a terrific composer who incorporates elements of “pretty minimalism” from John Adams and Steve Reich but spares us the trance repetition. [...]
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The tradition of a restaurant charging you a fee when you bring your own wine to their establishment (using their glasses and not buying their wine) is commonly known as “corkage.” As you wine drinkers know, many vintners are turning to screw caps, citing the high failure rate of corks as their motivation. What do [...]
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Yesterday I watched two word nerd movies: “Word Wars” and “Wordplay.” The first follows four scrabble experts and their journey to compete in a yearly Scrabble tournament, the second interviews Will Shortz and the mechanics of the New York Times crossword puzzle. One of the saltier crossword puzzle constructor commented that people will always love [...]
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Go ahead, click the play button. You know you want to. It’s in stereo!
The carpenters – close to you – 1970Uploaded by maxifabio
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We’ve had a pair of little white tables that have been sturdy and useful, but a bit hideous with who know who many layers of paint on them. The paint has been chipping off the legs and the table top, and the poor thing has been begging to be stripped. Today being a beautiful cool [...]
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“Doctor of Music.” Hmm, what does that mean? I have a Ph. D. in Music from Harvard. Students call me “doctor.” That is the same word we use for the person who gives us our physical exam every year, and the person who keeps our teeth healthy, and the person who help us see better, [...]
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