From the category archives:
When I first came to UCLA, many of my colleagues referred to this chap as “Jamie”–a nickname he now supposedly loathes. He did his Masters work at UCLA, was a TA, a classmate of Mark Carlson, and was on the way towards getting a PhD, but the Roger Corman films started coming fast and furious. [...]
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I remember when Frederic Rzewski came to visit us at Harvard in the composition seminar. I remember when Musica Electronica Viva came and performed at UW Madison. “The People United…” is emblazoned into my brain. I have the LP and he played it for us in the seminar. He reminded me that one shouldn’t ask [...]
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It was the quarterly visit from Matias and Jenny, with baby Katie (18 months) this weekend. As I’ve said before, having visitors in your home makes it feel like a vacation. The energy was dominated by Katie, who is now running and learning words at an amazing rate. Daniel, her godfather, was called “Tito Dan” [...]
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I was greatly saddened to see the passing of Kate McGarrigle, mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright and sister of Anna and Jane. I thought her cancer was in remission but evidently it returned. She touched many lives and helped shape the aesthetic of one of the great songwriters on the planet, Rufus Wainwright.
Like many [...]
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Mmm, I’m having a summer flashback. In our trip to southern France, we ate at home several times. One of the highlights of those meals was Jenny and Daniel searing a demi-lobe of foie gras, with salad, a lovely Gigondas wine, stinky cheese, French bread, and ham. That was lunch.
Jenny was perpetually photogenic as she [...]
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e was called “Leon” not “Leo” or “Leonard.” I made this clear with Pete and Deb who are debating calling their son “Leo” extolling my preference for “Leon” as in “Leon Kirchner” who died today.
Leon was my teacher at Harvard between 1978 and 1983. I remember fondly our coffee breaks between classes; the composition seminar [...]
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A man, who I’ll call Arthur, died in 2006 at age 60, leaving everything to his mother. He was a professor of zoology. In the case that he died before his mother, which he did, his mother was to give certain things to UCLA. Some were earmarked for the Music Department. His mother died recently [...]
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Some good friends had dinner with Kathleen Turner last week. The conversation that stood out was KT relating one of her pet peeves: fans complimenting her.
“OH MISS TURNER, I LOVE YOU!”
(In a grouchy voice) “You don’t love me, you don’t know me; you love my work.”
Tell it like it is girlfriend!
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A raw, angry, and provocative must-see interview from XXXXX, music critic of many publications, who has seen the need for and income from his reviews plummet. Bloggers (I guess, like me, although I have no plans of replacing a music critic: they’d have to pay me to do that) are doing it for free. It’s [...]
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