To music, that is. And the popular medium for use. I’m not sure where to start because if you take the historical view, as I always do, the average twentieth and twenty-first-century United States citizen has had many options for … Continue reading
You know it’s a really great work of art when it’s gemlike — full of angles to analyze. And Passion, a late Stephen Sondheim musical, is packed with meanings and facets. I took in the magnificent production at the Signature … Continue reading
When I was in college, my father introduced me to a young man working with him. I’ve forgotten the man’s name, and almost everything else about him, except for one thing: he wanted to give me a piece of jewelry … Continue reading
The local radio station is playing in rotation a song called “Gold Rush”. While the band, Death Cab for Cutie, explains it’s about a romantic break-up, it’s clearly a eulogy for what is being lost in the current development tsunami … Continue reading
It all started with the pair of timpani my wife and I rescued from a middle-school dumpster a year ago. I’ve been playing those, off and on, down in our basement, not letting my lack of knowledge about kettle drums … Continue reading
Letters have colors. A year is in the shape of an oval. A week starts out like a row of blocks, with Saturday slightly taller, and Sunday the tallest of all. Each day of the week has its own color, … Continue reading
On Facebook, someone suggested that the song that hit Number 1 on the pop charts the week you turned fourteen defined your life. This is a pretty silly idea, given that most of the songs that make the charts are … Continue reading
Over the years I have listened to portions of various operas on the radio or watched them on television, and while I appreciated the artistry involved, I never felt the pull. To me, opera equals pageantry and over-the-top emotion, either … Continue reading
by Brenda W. Clough I am a child of my generation, and so when you say ‘trog’ I think of mop-topped young men with guitars crooning minor Top-40 hits like “Wild Thing” and “Love is All Around.” But the 1960s … Continue reading
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
