From the monthly archives:

January 2008

Homer update

January 31, 2008

I finished Act 1 of HOMER IN CYBERSPACE this morning. Tomorrow I’ll be fleeing to Palm Spring for four intense days of composing. I’ll be up at 5, compose till 11:30, have lunch, work all afternoon, see a movie and have dinner, go back compose a little more then go to bed, and start the [...]

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No cue cards, no teleprompters, and no second takes–legendary funnyman Sid Caesar pioneered live television sketch comedy with his 1950s sitcoms Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour. This classic sketch is “Argument to Beethoven’s 5th,” Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray play a married couple in a argument with pantomimed action and the dialogue is [...]

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John Adams visits

January 28, 2008

Last week composer John Adams agreed to fly down to rainy LA and visit our students. It was a big success. There was an hour of John critiquing live performances of student composers’ works followed by an hour and a half where he discussed some recent music. My chairmanly duties did not allow me to [...]

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Another one of my heroes: John Williams. This clip was uploaded by karthiktn and explained in her/his notes:
John Williams did the theme music for NBC Nightly News Beat many many years back. Recently in 2006 he recorded it afresh with a 90 piece orchestra at the Sony Studios, Culver City, CA.

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Let’s all take a moment and listen to my hero. Sigh…

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In the cracks

January 23, 2008

Looking in the cosmic mirror I realize that I have gravitated towards being “in the cracks” a term that means in between two contrasting points of view. I played in rock and bluegrass bands in college but missed the musical intelligence classical music gave me. In college, I embraced the avante garde but gave up [...]

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One of my favorite mountain songs “You are my flower” is sung here by a rather young looking Flatt and Scruggs. Note the rifle over the fireplace with beer steins on the left and a trophy on the right. Note the variable number of beats in some of the measures. And how come the [...]

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Missing Citrus

January 20, 2008

My parents are moving to a smaller home soon, one with a much smaller yard. I asked what they’d miss the most about their present house: “the citrus.”
I have some friends who are considering relocating in the midwest. What would you miss most about Los Angeles? I asked: “the citrus.”
We have two citrus trees in [...]

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Crop Circles on Google Earth

January 18, 2008

Speaks for itself. Is it a hoax? A natural phenomenon? A miracle? Who knows? It’s cool whatever it is.
I do have several books on the crop circle phenomenon and have seen quite a few TV shows on it, but I just don’t know. I assume it’s a hoax.
via videosift.com

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Little Drummer Boy: trio

January 17, 2008

Never too late or early to celebrate Christmas. Clay Aiken, Bing Crosby, and Tupac celebrate xMas in their own special ways.
via videosift.com

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