Flap over Palin line in MCT’s ‘Mikado’ reflects the hazards of bias

Years ago, as a teenager, I attended a meeting of my church youth-group led by a guest minister. I still remember how he arrayed our group in a circle, and without any explanation, whispered something in the ear of one of our group members.

She laughed, turned, and whispered in the ear of the person next to her, who then passed the message along around the circuit.

The secret eventually got around to me. Now, 20-plus years later, I don’t remember much of it, but it had something to do with a bicycle, a list of items from the store, and some places and names. “Pass it on,” I was told.

Eventually, the circle was completed. The minister asked the last person in line to say what he had heard out loud. Then, the minister read from a piece of paper the original message he had whispered in the first girl’s ear.

Neither a single fact nor even the basic gist of the story had made it all the way around the circle. [Read More...]

Shining eyes and classical music: a talk by Benjamin Zander

This video, from the always-awesome TED series, made my heart race and tore it out too. A brilliant talk by one of the most interesting people in music today. I dare anyone to take part in his “experiment” and not be moved. (Thanks to Diana Bauer for pointing me to it…)

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Missoula Symphony program, courtesy YouTube

The Missoula Symphony Orchestra has quite a diverse program on tap this weekend, including one of my personal favorite works in the entire orchestral repertoire: music from Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe.” For those curious about the show, I decided to put together a compilation of clips from YouTube.

Here’s the entire “Daphnis and [...]

Please review subsection 1(a) before complimenting me

One of my fellow newsies forwarded a link to this amazing rant written by a certain Douglas Britt, the visual art and society reporter at the Houston Chronicle. It seems Mr. Britt has grown tired of creative types getting creative in how they communicate with him. If they’d just stick to the system and follow “simple instructions,” it would make everything better! Unfortunately, those “simple instructions” come in the form of a rambling, 1,400-word screed that I, for one, would have a hard time following even if I had to. It’s worth a cursory read, but only in the same way that a train wreck is worth craning your neck to see as you drive by.

Yet there’s definitely a part of me that sympathizes with Mr. Britt’s plight. [Read More...]

Seasons of Vivaldi & Piazzolla kick of season for String Orchestra of the Rockies

The String Orchestra of the Rockies will open its 2010-2011 season this weekend with a pair of concerts in Bozeman and Missoula. On the program are two short seasonally themed works: the “Summer” concerto from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons; and the “Summer” movement from Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla’s “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.”

Though the two pieces were written hundreds of years apart, they share plenty: They’re vividly colorful, rhythmically bouyant, and just plain exciting pieces of music.

As it happens, there are a couple of really excellent videos on Youtube of each piece. [Read More...]

“Life in a Day,” this Saturday

My wife just pointed me to Google’s “Life in a Day” project, which happens this Saturday. Basically the idea is to videotape everything that happens to you this Saturday, July 24, and submit it for possible inclusion in a film which will debut at Sundance next year.

I think we’re gonna do it; [...]

Tornado? We ain’t scared of no tornado!

Apparently in Billings, the sight of a tornado just doesn’t faze people much. Check out all these drive-by dingdongs casually cruising past right next to the Metra as its roof flies in circles overhead.

The Octopus gets Lynch’ed

Filmmaker (and Missoula native) David Lynch recently featured Missoula chess champ Greg “the Octopus” Nowak on his Interview Project; check it out, here.

Dudamel’s the dude

I’ve been away from the office for a week, just getting back in the flow now. Thought I’d share this 60 Minutes segment about Gustavo Dudamel and his quest to transform the musical culture of America. This guy inspires me like few others. Enjoy. Watch CBS News Videos Online

Another argument for Beethoven’s Fifth

Following up, in a way, on yesterday’s post about the relevance of Beethoven, I thought I’d share a classic clip. Sid Caesar was a master of physical comedy. Beethoven was a master of music. Together, they make a pretty hilarious and brilliant video that pretty aptly brings this great old work of classical [...]