Roger Bourland
writes about music and life

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If wading through the Rufus Wainwright bulletin board is not on your list of websites to read, allow me to bring you up to date about some new projects on the 2007 horizon.
Rufus Wainwright’s next studio album will be titled “Release the Stars” and will be produced solely by Rufus. Release estimated in early May […]

BibliOdyssey has an odd exhibit today called “Chansons d’amour” involving snails. The erotic tone in the set is palpable. Here is one of the manuscripts.
I have to say that this is the coolest G clefs I’ve ever seen. Alright, the fact that the dude appears to be stabbing himself through the chest is a bit […]

Why do we study music? Music schools and conservatories around the world teach their graduates to “analyze” music. I have always wanted my teachers to tell me why what they were teaching me was important. “Just because” or “Because this is the way it has always been done” or “it is part of the curriculum” […]

As a gin enthusiast, I was happy to receive a book from Larry Moore: Patrick Dillon’s 2004 publication called “Gin,” about gin in the 18th century, and especially in England. By the end of the 17th century, taxes on ale had become so high, that people were having to reluctantly abandon their drink of choice. […]

My Dear Rufus,
I hope December finds you in good health. Roger keeps me informed, to the extent that he can, about your life over the past few months as I haven’t received any mail from you.
I hear that your mother has not been well but mustered the strength to sit in on a few numbers […]

Daniel and I are in Phoenix for the weekend visiting my parents. Daniel helped Dad with his blog this morning, and we had a lovely lunch at my sister’s home with one of her sons, five dogs, our two dogs, and my parents’ two dogs. Nap time is about over and now Dad, Daniel, and […]

This just in from the University of Glasgow Special Collections: Ever wonder how God created the heavens and earth in six days? Our ultra-alter-hero Athanasius Kircher wrote MUSURGIA UNIVERSALIS (1650) to help we mortals try to figure these things out.
The plate shown above depicts ‘The Harmony of the Birth of the World’ (Harmonia Nascentis […]

“Singing Mouse” © 2004 by Pauline Lim.

See Pauline Lim’s work at the Tristan Gallery Online.

Daniel turned the big THREE-OH last week and we had a huge party on Sunday from two to seven. Dan’s mom, Josie, catered the party with the able assistance of D’s sister Julia, fed probably 125 hungry party people. Ham, mushroom tarts, a variety of homemade focaccias, lots of cheeses, wines, breads, and an amazing […]

Today at Hugo’s I had a new waiter. I noticed he had a treble clef tattooed on the inside of his right forearm, and a bass clef on the inside of his left forearm. I couldn’t resist asking whether he was a pianist, so I did.
“No, I’m a keyboard-guitar-bass-drums player” he rattled off as though […]

This just in from washingtonpost.com. Professor Barbara Block at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station has been tracking migration patterns of various creatures over the Pacific Ocean. The image was seductive. There is so much information in it. I didn’t see the key to which colors are birds and which are whales and which are seals, but […]

Andrew Sisters sing “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”

I have incorporated teaching the music notation software, Sibelius, into my first year music theory class. I gave one two-hour lecture on the basics. I then had a two-hour workshop where different students came up and used the software in front of the others, copying an assigned passage while the others watched on the screen. […]

I just stumbled upon a man who loves to paint martini themed art, and it’s really quite wonderful. The one above is called “Martini Genie” and Mr Godard has these program notes about the artwork:
In this image our lucky olive has found the magic lantern. When the olive rubs the lantern, a gorgeous genie appears […]

When a doctoral candidate in composition is ready to begin his or her dissertation, their first meeting is a meeting where the candidate meets with the committee to defend their dissertation topic. It is here that the faculty advise: “be sure to read…” or “you’re biting off too much” or “your proposal seems rather modest […]

I’m almost finished with a new project that I can’t tell you about yet. But here’s a hint. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.