Fair readers, do you sometimes find yourself perplexed by rap music? Scratch thy head in anxious confusion no longer! This just in the inbox: Discover UnderstandRap.com, which "lets people who don't understand rap music submit confusing terms (parts of lyrics) used in rap songs for other people to explain"--often with Webster-like literalness. Examples: "the party was jumpin'" Term from Song: Who Let the Dogs Out? on Album: Who Let The Dogs Out by Artist: Baha Men the party had escalated to … [Read more...]

Announced today: Orchestras Feeding America National Food Drive Yes, it's tied to a movie promotion, but it's all for a very worthy cause and such efforts are especially important in such fraught times. Yet meanwhile... Minnesota Orchestra to cut budget, staff and salaries Philadelphia Orchestra "is lurching into crisis." Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to cut pay, freeze hiring New Jersey Symphony Hunkers Down For the Future Master Chorale to Shut Down in May Cleveland Orchestra plans 'deep' cuts; … [Read more...]

Yesterday I returned from New York to find that once again my neighborhood teen bad boys had tried to steal our scooter. The thing is equipped with lockable steering and a lockable kickstand, and the battery is still sitting in the house in winter storage, so pretty much all they could do was drag the 200 lbs. bike a few feet into the yard. Still, I am irritated. So today I went to my friendly local hardware store and purchased $43.75 worth of security. The rest is up to fate, I suppose. The … [Read more...]

Last night Scott and I were having a drink and a nosh and the subject came 'round to concert music and reality TV, as these things have a way of doing. Okay, okay, it was actually that we were comparing the TV we seemed to be consuming of late, and while I have been watching sub-par dramas, Scott copped to the fact that he'd been thoroughly enjoying the reality series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. What he seemed to like about the show was that it wasn't about the trappings of … [Read more...]

Did you see this? Blatant copyright infringement, wrapped in a heartwarming story! Tisk, tisk. And perpetuating this fraud through the US mail, no less. Kidding, kidding. So, it was more like several pots of coffee rather than a few bottles of cab, but I had tons o' fun hosting the book club crew here at MTG this past week. The guests left plenty to chew on (and yet no left over cheese plates or cracker crumbs between the sofa cushions) so we may still see a few posts trickle in. Meanwhile, big … [Read more...]