Two years ago, my brother, Andrew Bourland, and my partner, Daniel Shiplacoff, urged me to start blogging and set me up on a Wordpress platform and away I went. It started originally as Red Black Window, or redblackwindow.com, and then changed to my name after the first year. The first name came from the name […]
We have two very close friends that both have cancer, specifically lung cancer.
L is 60, HIV positive since the early 80s and still smokes in between sessions on his oxygen tank. His cancer started on his back with a tumor. Even though they thought they had got it all with chemotherapy last summer, some of […]
I watched the new Tim Burton realization of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” the other day. I found it absolutely thrilling. But I realized that what I mean by “it” is probably different than what others may mean.
We went with Ronnie who looked at it as a musical trying to be a movie, as manifested by […]
I know it’s Christmas in Hollywood because the old persimmon tree in our backyard has lost all its leaves and all we are the most popular spot for wild and non-wildlife in the neighborhood. Good thing, as I’m not a huge fan of persimmons. But they are so beautiful in the early winter sky, how […]
Twice a year Scott Spiegelberg reports the “Top 50 Classical Music Blogs.” He uses two different methods, the first being the google ranking, and the second being the Technorati methods. Each post describes the differerences. I am happy to report that even tho I’ve dropped down in posts on my blog since becoming Chair, my […]
Many of us love to talk and write about music. I might divide writers about music into several off-the-cuff categories: There are critics who become expert in telling the public their opinions in words. There are music teachers at all levels who teach the art and craft of playing an instrument. There are music teachers […]
I was just informed by Dean Waterman that my promotion to Professor Step VI has been approved by the Committee on Academic Personnel and by the Chancellor. This is a career review step and one that indicates that the professor has a national and/or international reputation. This step carries with it a few extra words: […]
I just watched “The Mind Benders” a fascinating film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Dirk Bogarde about the alleged dangers of sensory depravation, a topic that predates “Altered States” by ten years. The score was by French composer Georges Auric (1899 - 1983). The score seems over-composed, like he’s working too hard. It takes […]
Basements are relatively rare in California. A previous owner of our home decided that they wanted a basement, so they dug one out. But rather than the wall being flush with the ground surrounding it, they left a walkway around two sides of the rectangle (like a “J” or a backwards “L”) where a cement […]
i put two large red inverted cans on top of the bird cages. You may remember I had a hawk problem, well, the smaller one that has been around for the past week turned out to be a falcon. He would just sit on the ledge waiting for the birds to come out. Patiently. Wow, […]
Our backyard is quite popular with Hollywood wildlife at this time of the year. We have a grand old persimmons tree that gives us far more fruit than we need, as well as two orange trees. In our backyard, we have possums, raccoons, squirrels, rats, mice, skunks, and all of the neighborhood birds. Fortunately the […]
My ongoing battle with rats continues. I have grown to detest the snap traps, which have been referred to as dull guillotines that often just leave the poor rat without a limb or a broken back or some other horrifying wound. It just seems too cruel. So I started looking for alternatives. Wikipedia has an […]
Subscribe in a reader