Category Archives: Music

Music and grief

Posted on May 7, 2013 by

Our elderly and Highly Opinionated tortoiseshell cat, Cleopatra, died recently. She made it to her 20th birthday last month, which astonished us all. Privately, I think she wasn’t about to let the dog outlast her. (Oka, our wonderful German Shepherd … Continue reading →


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Posted in Animals, cats, dogs, Music | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The White Fire and Stars

Posted on March 17, 2013 by

              A couple summers back I sat there at Hollywood’s Hard Rock café below Janis Joplin’s plum-colored suede bell bottoms, and Jimmy Page’s double-necked guitar. Behind me, the yellowing carbon copy of the March … Continue reading →


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Posted in Music, Writers on Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 27 Comments

Hacking Music, Part 2

Posted on December 9, 2012 by

(Picture from here.) In Part 1 I talked about hacking music back in the Baroque Period and did a quick leap forward into the sixties. I’m very interested in new musical idioms and forms. It has to be clear that I tend … Continue reading →


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Posted in Culture, Music | Tagged | 4 Comments

Hacking Music, Part 1

Posted on December 2, 2012 by

(Picture from here.) My Dad had a theory. He thought that if you raised a child listening to classical music the child would grow up to be musical. So he played a lot of music when I was growing up. When … Continue reading →


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Posted in Culture, Music | Tagged | 10 Comments

Free Sample: Music and Poetry of the Kesh

Posted on October 16, 2012 by

Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic novel Always Coming Home was originally published with a cassette tape, Music and Poetry of the Kesh, music by Oregon Shakespeare Festival Resident Composer Todd Barton, words by Ursula K. Le Guin, who performs many … Continue reading →


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Posted in Music, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ren Faire Wedding Part 2

Posted on October 13, 2012 by

This is the fabric that Phyl bought to make a skirt to go with the shift and bodice that she borrowed from Sara. Please note that there is no paper pattern.  Patterns are a new invention.  So I followed a … Continue reading →


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Posted in Book View Cafe, Culture, Events, History, Music | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Music, Altruism and Human Cognition

Posted on June 3, 2012 by

My father was convinced that early exposure to music was important and from the time I was born (some time around the K-T boundary) he played classical music in the house. When I was very young– perhaps three– he bought … Continue reading →


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The Sixties in Music

Posted on November 12, 2011 by

The internet is a wonderful place. If you want to see a 13 year-old Jimmy Page playing guitar on the BBC, you can see it here. You can see him being interviewed – he wants to be a biological researcher … Continue reading →


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Posted in Music | 5 Comments

Hatsune Miku and the Magic Turing Test

Posted on October 30, 2011 by

(Picture from here.) I am fascinated with Hatsune Miku. A quick history. Back in 2000, Yamaha started developing vocaloid technology– a synthesizer aimed at recreating a singing voice. By mid-2000s they technology had been encapsulated in two “virtual soul vocalists”, … Continue reading →


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Posted in Music, Science | Tagged | 2 Comments

There’s a Bimbo on the Cover: Verses 9 & 10: Awards and Remainders

Posted on August 10, 2011 by

Verse 9: Nebulous Well, my book won the Nebula award. Yes, my book won the Nebula award. Still it ended in remainders, ripped and torn by perfect strangers, but my book won the Nebula award. First, let me make it … Continue reading →


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Posted in awards, Book View Cafe, Books and Reading, Music, Star Wars, Writers on Writing, Writing life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments