Archive for December, 2006

Blog name change?

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

My brother suggested that as my blog turns one year old, that I consider changing the name. I think he said ROGER BOURLAND, so that it was clear who was behind it. I picked Red Black Window last year as a poetic image, and also the name of the middle movement of my THREE DARK […]

For what it’s worth

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

Yay! Statistics for classical blogging nerds like me. By referring to those constantly changing Technorati rankings, Scott Spiegelberg has ranked the top 51 classical music blogs on his [17th ranked] blog, Musical Perceptions. You’ll be interested to know that Red Black Window was ranked 19th, and Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise was on top […]

Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

I stumbled upon a wonderful singer-songwriter/composer that I recommend you listen to: Andrew Bird. He has been steadily releasing albums since 1997. I say “stumbled” when in fact I was looking on iTunes for anything new by Rufus Wainwright and saw that “others who bought Rufus also bought Andrew Bird.” So I took a listen […]

Virtual Reality can lead to false memories

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

I dreamed that a tamale became a blimp! It was so real! [Link]

We always knew that one creates one’s own reality. I have never been convinced that people who claim to remember things from age 1 through 10 are actually remembering or just recreating from old family photos. Perhaps it’s only me as I’ve noticed […]

54th Birthday

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

© by ZoDy/Deviant Art

Today I am 54 years old. Too bad I’m home with a flu, it’s not a devastating one, but I’ve decided to NOT share it with anyone and am staying home from school today. I’m not a huge fan of birthday parties. Children should have them every year until they turn 16. […]

Defragmenting your hard drive and other cosmic activities

Tuesday, December 12th, 2006

Those of you who take care of your hard drives know that from time to time it is necessary to defragment it. What happens is that ideally, all of your jpeg files will be one place, your mp3 docs elsewhere, and your .doc files are there and so on. But as life happens, your things […]

Roger Bourland: miscellaneous reviews and press

Monday, December 11th, 2006

Adamo, Mark, “Harmonic Convergance,” The Washington Post (04/30/1993)
Allen, Susan, “Three Magical Places,” The American Harp Journal (02/01/1982)
Allman, Kevin, “Singing Praises of the Gay Choral Movement,” Los Angeles Times (09/22/1992)
Bargreen, Melinda, “Seattle Men’s Chorus opener: It was packed with emotion,” The Seattle Times (03/26/1993)
Barkin, Elaine, “Critical Standards Need Explanation,” Los Angeles Times (04/13/1992)
Bibisi, Suzan, “Healing Music,” […]

In case of emergency…

Sunday, December 10th, 2006

Airlines are required by law to demonstrate all of the life saving devices on the aircraft before take-off, in case of emergency. If you are only flying over land, it is of little consolation that the cushion under my seat can be a flotation device.
I’ve noticed that religions do not espouse an “in case of […]

Betty Boop, M.D.

Saturday, December 9th, 2006

Al Hirschfeld draws Paul Newman

Friday, December 8th, 2006

Illustrator and cartoonist Al Hirschfeld’s grandson posted this video of his grandfather at age 99 drawing a sketch of Paul Newman. It is a beautiful performance.

[Via Drawing!]

Old, boring, and irrelevant

Thursday, December 7th, 2006

I had friends who broke up because one thought the other’s friends were old, boring and irrelevant. Wow. Like the disciples around the table at the last supper: is it I Lord? Am I old, boring and irrelevant?
Or is that just a lame break up line? Ah! To stay eternally hip. What a bore!
Sigh…
[Photo by […]

Rufus Wainwright as a National Treasure

Wednesday, December 6th, 2006

My friend and colleague, John Hall, always used the term “national treasure” (not Nicholas Cage’s performance) to refer to an important person (in the arts I assumed) who had contributed much to the culture of their time and deserved(s) to be preserved (protected). I look back with shame at artists like Bela Bartok who died […]

Appreciating the Beatles

Tuesday, December 5th, 2006

I am so damned lucky and ultimately thankful to have been of the generation that experienced the Beatles reign from 1963 to 1971. I just finished watching the eight-part Anthology series on DVD and am overwhelmed, angry, gratified, thrilled, puzzled, and ultimately stimulated. This series is part of our legacy, and for that reason, I […]