November 29, 2017

November 13, 2017

Alfred Deller, counter-tenor performing "The Three Ravens." 

Glenn Gould describing why he believes the future of music is not in performance but in recorded presentation...among other topics. 60 minutes of conversation with this pianist and thinker.

October 24, 2017

An unusually sharp and emotional episode of the radio drama, Gunsmoke. Especially affecting because of the lack of production in this episode, which was a rehearsal and never aired. Special attention to the bar room conversation at 18:15:00.

October 22, 2017

October 18, 2017

November 13, 2017

The AM Gold-ness of this 1967 Burt Bacharach song hid the Hal David lyrics from me for all these years; to me, the lyrics are subtly intense :

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
 

Do you know the way to San Jose?
I've been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way
Do you know the way to San Jose? 
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose

L.A. is a great big freeway
Put a hundred down and buy a car
In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star
Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas

You can really breathe in San Jose
They've got a lot of space. There'll be a place where I can stay
I was born and raised in San Jose
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose

Fame and fortune is a magnet
It can pull you far away from home
With a dream in your heart you're never alone
Dreams turn into dust and blow away
And there you are without a friend
You pack your car and ride away

I've got lots of friends in San Jose
Do you know the way to San Jose?

L.A. is a great big freeway
Put a hundred down and buy a car
In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star
Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas

I've got lots of friends in San Jose
Do you know the way to San Jose?
Can't wait to get back to San Jose 

October 24, 2017

Overheard on the radio:

"Lassally was cinematographer for one of the most famous dance scenes in cinematic history that took place on the small island of Crete. Soon after the movie [Zorba the Greek] was filmed, he purchased a house on that island where he lived until his death."

Walter Lassally, 1926 - today, 2017  Wiki      The Guardian

New book out by Wu Hung that looks incredible:
Histories of Photography in China by Wu Hung

After Five Dynasties' turmoil and strife,
The clouds dispersed and revealed the sky,
Refreshing rain brought old trees new life,
Culture and learning once again were high.
Ordinary folk in the lanes wore silk,
Music drifted from mansions and towers,
Under the heavens all was serene,
Men dozed off at noon midst gay birds and flowers.

宋神宗, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty
Opening lines in Outlaws of the Marsh

October 22, 2017

Our dilemma of emptiness lies in no lack of ability; it lies rather in a lack of understanding. We are led to believe, for instance, that to be creative we must be original.

-Eric Sloane

October 18, 2017

“Facing it, always facing it, that’s the way to get through” - Joseph Conrad

October 17, 2017

In sooth, I know not why I am so sad:
It wearies me; you say it wearies you;
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn;
And such a want-wit sadness makes of me,
That I have much ado to know myself.

-Shakespeare's Antonio in the Merchant of Venice