Category Musical Passion
The Lipinski Heist
The Lipinski Stradivarius was stolen one week ago today. As Frank Almond, steward of the violin and concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, walked to his car on the evening of 1/27 he was approached by a man with a stun gun. Stunned, he dropped the violin, which was then quickly taken into a waiting […]
Appreciating Appreciation in Atlas Shrugged
My father-in-law has just finished the two tomes of Ayn Rand. I’m no fan of “Objectivism,” but I confess to remembering that the books were interesting enough. Since I haven’t read them since I was 19 years old, failing memory and curiosity conspired against me, and I pulled Atlas Shrugged off the shelf and started reading […]
Christian Rock
Growing up, I thought I was supposed to like Christian Rock music. I remember two band names – Petra and Avenue G, but mostly I was and remain completely ignorant about the genre. I might even be wrong about Avenue G. Petra was huge – the U2 of Christian Rock. I think Avenue G performed […]
Dancing to Remember
When I was younger I used to go out dancing a lot, but it’s been a long time. In the past five years I’ve probably been twice. I do still enjoy dancing; it’s just that it generally happens out in the world when I’d rather be sleeping. Last night I went to a friend’s 60th […]
The Killers and Mika
I’m taking this cold and lazy Sunday morning to consider and learn more about the recording artists I have added to my list of favorites over the past ten years or so – since I moved to Chicago. I’ve only been able to come up with two – The Killers and Mika. I guess I’m […]
Music and Morality
“To suggest that people who live with a metric pulse as a constant background to their thoughts and movements are living in the same way, with the same kind of attention and the same pattern of challenges and rewards, as others who know music only from sitting down to listen to it, clearing their minds, […]
Names, History, Mythography
Audre Lourde called her autobiography a “Biomythography.” It was an acknowledgment of the fact that facts are hard to come by and they’re hard to sort out. Telling one’s own story is particularly fraught – if there’s anyone about whom we lack perspective it’s ourselves! Among the side quests I’m on since I started my […]
Opera and the Huffington Post
I have been visiting the Huffington Post for years, but I was still surprised when I googled “classical music news” and Huffington Post’s Classical Music section was one of the first results. Prior to today, I did not know about it at all. As my first post on musical news mentioned, I am not interested […]
Musical News
In thinking about ways to broaden my musical horizons, I have decided to periodically look into some websites that focus on musical news. But going in, I know I have a bit of a problem – I just do not have it in me to consume entertainment news, with the rumors of love lost and […]
The Right Stuff
I like the stuff of productivity – as a kid it started with an affinity for office supply catalogs and school supplies. I have a fascination with all the stuff that comes along with anything worthwhile that we humans do. People who sew, for example, need a lot of stuff – a machine, a box […]
Ryan Libel 