Back from the brink....

Been taking zillions of pix of new family member

but none of them are really sharp thanks to my too

cheap digital camera. New computer replaced crashed number.

Talk to you soon.

 

Barry

Intolerance II

"Wow, I wish I knew what was going on here, everyone in America is talking about this guy!
- Gaz"

Talk radio became popular with people on long drives
into work. My prosperous dentist Henry Dwork lived
in New Jersey across the Hudson River, and drove to
a garage near his office. He might have listened to Imus
or Howard Stern on early morning drives. Knowing good ol'
Hank I would believe he enjoyed Howard Stern's raunchy good
fun to relieve the boredom.

Race still stirs things up in America. I'll tell you something I bet you
haven't heard already from an American. A good part of the
firing of Imus is that Imus was capitalizing on White America's
chagrin that Black athletes have dominated American sports.
The University young African American women winning basketball upsets White's notions of superiority. Tell me please that an
American Black woman tennis player was NEVER heckled at Wimbledon!!!! American comic and swell guy Chris Rock - the handsome young man with all the teeth -  get's huge thunderous applause during his
live concerts when he opines that Black Athletes will soon dominate
ice hockey once they get used to the cold. Lebron James (??)
or some such won't need a stick, he'll just use his long ding dong
with which to hit the puck. (I haven't said anything wrong have I?@!?)

I pray this clarifies everything.

Barry

Intolerance

CNN has the same drivel, or some of the same
drivel you  (and I) object to but presented a mite
better than on Network IMO. My quess is that
products and services advertised on CNN cost
more than services and products that support
CBS NBC and so on. In other words the CNN
viewers might have more education and more money
and have less tolerance for drivel news subjects.
Who's the comedian on HBO, Maher (?) first name
Bill? He says much, much more incendiary things than
anything Don Imus has ever said.

What I'd like to know is what, if anything, Howard
Stern has to say about the apparent demise of Imus.
An actor playing Imus appeared very briefly, and very
ignominiously in PRIVATE PARTS, the superb comic movie
made by Stern in 1972. Stern could educate me: I've
never listened to Imus but I would be interested in the
sociology Stern would come up with 'explaining' Imus's
collossul goof. Or, could it simply be senility?!

In an absurd, comically unintended way, Imus now
resembles in his lonely isolation, King Lear!   Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Barry

Unknown (an improvization)

What must it be like to play an instrument in an enormous orchestra such as the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra? Do those ladies and gents get enough acknowledgment? This arcane thought popped into my head while marvelling at the accurate timing of an instrumentalist in the Philadelpia's rendition of Beethoven's 9th which I listen to on every auto trip around town. (LA is huge: to go swimming is 17 miles round trip whether I go to Pasadena or East LA. That is, if I want a laned, 50 meter pool. Nearby, 25 yards, is only 1 1/2 miles each way.) 

The delight provided by Beethoven is due in large part to the skills of the instrumentalists, the conductor, and the recording engineers. I've never heard the piece in a concert hall. In that setting it must be truly overwhelming, especially part four which contains the Chorale. In the van (six seat Mazda) the singing sounds a bit shrill because all those voices can't be handled by such a small CD player and speakers.

The part (of four) that sounds the best, audio that is, is the transitional section, part 3. That section is utter perfection; thrilling is the only word for it. Even hard-hearted Michael, just turned five, and wants you to know it, has come around and agreed it is "pretty." There was a time when Michael complained extravagantly that Beethoven "hurt his ears."  

Lionel Richie (the black singer/composer?) has a fav. song of mine, "We are the Children."  Makes my heart leap. Richie kinda leads the children in song. It's as good as Beethoven, no kidding.

Barry