Today's Dose of Culture

[MC Horoscope]

Wow, did he really have to break that ancient vase to make his point? The moral was told much better with language, thanks!

[dcandohio]

Great exhibit, except the photos of his time in NYC which seemed primarily to be "me and my friends sitting around in apartments."

Why is it that the kinds of black and white "my time in NYC portraits" that tend to show up in serious exhibits always look like they're staged in the rattiest shithole apartments on earth? I've had family and friends who lived in some pretty nasty places in NYC, and all have managed to clean up and make the places pleasant enough. The apartments in those photos looked dreadful. Of course, compared to some of the places I've seen in Beijing, maybe Weiwei didn't have very high expectations for apartment life.

Weiwei's photos and films depicted a grim side of Beijing. I've been there a few times and it always seems a little sad.

[DonRocks]

"If Grant Had Been Drinking At Appomattox" by James Thurber

[DonRocks]

http://www.videobash.com/video_show/hilarious-green-screen-prank-on-weather-girl-420967

[DonRocks]

This is a great interview, and a must-spend 30 minutes for any baseball fan.

Bob Costas Interviews Ted Williams (1/3)

Bob Costas Interviews Ted Williams (2/3)

Bob Costas Interviews Ted Williams (3/3)

[DonRocks]

It is important to be fluid with the sciences as well as the arts. Thus, this evening's lecture about FFIs.

The number one problem with swimming pools, according to the Centers for Disease Control, may not be what you think:

"Regular bowel movements – what CDC delicately refers to as a 'formed fecal incident' – isn’t so much a worry. But diarrhea is."

Have a nice day,

Rocks.

[SeanMike]

It is important to be fluid with the sciences as well as the arts. Thus, this evening's lecture about FFIs.

The number one problem with swimming pools, according to the Centers for Disease Control, may not be what you think:

"Regular bowel movements – what CDC delicately refers to as a 'formed fecal incident' – isn’t so much a worry. But diarrhea is."

I still can't wait to swim this summer!

(Okay, let's leave it at "float and try not to get harpooned" but we'll work on it from there.)

[DanielK]

I still can't wait to swim this summer!

(Okay, let's leave it at "float and try not to get harpooned" but we'll work on it from there.)

Summer is coming.

[DonRocks]

[Michael Landrum]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAa0e7apG20

I am so sad to realize that what I always thought was the most beautiful line in this song: "Hetzi olam b'tochak mitkayam (Inside of you half of the world exists, or Half of the whole world is there inside you)" is really "Hetzi olam b'dochek mitkayam (Half the world is pushed up on itself, or Half the world lives crammed together)".

I will go back to believing the first version in my mind, a love song from father and son to a mother who is not there, as shown in the video.

[DonRocks]

Michael, there seem to be pretty strong political overtones in that song, but they might be symbolic.

Great art can always be interpreted on many levels, depending on your own personal experiences.

What is the title of this beautiful, sad piece, when was it recorded, and is that Shlomo Artzi's son?

I'm trying, unsuccessfully, to get the video to come back onto the screen, rather than just the link.

I have one of these of my own which you might appreciate:

La Maison du Bonheur, by Francis Lalanne. It doesn't translate well, but:

"Un jardin sur la mer; un chagrin jeté comme un fruit amer."

"A garden on the sea; a grief cast away like a bitter fruit."

And the chorus:

"Ce serait la maison du bonheur; même a fort loyer, je suis preneur."

"This would be my house of happiness; even if the rent is high, I'll take it."

Great. Nothing like starting your day with a good cry.

Matt, if you ever see this, this was our favorite song.

It doesn't directly imply a lost love, but it does - to me.

At some time later in life, take a good hour and learn it.

[pizza man]

http://tyrannyoftradition.com/2012/04/04/agnostic-fronts-vinnie-stigma-to-publish-childrens-book-called-i-thought-you-were-my-friend/

[DonRocks]

Alessandro Deljavan - remember this one.

[porcupine]

Alessandro Deljavan - remember this one.

"When Deljavan plays, he becomes so involved in the music — contorting his face into grimaces, squints and other expressions, and sometimes humming or singing along — that it earned him the distinctive but pejorative label of “eccentric.”"

I had some of the classic Glenn Gould recordings on vinyl, and his humming was audible. Never could decide if it was distracting or quirkily charming. But some musicians are damn near unwatchable on stage. I could always close my eyes and just listen, but I actually like watching musicians play their instruments.

[Sthitch]

Never could decide if it was distracting or quirkily charming. But some musicians are damn near unwatchable on stage. I could always close my eyes and just listen, but I actually like watching musicians play their instruments.

I felt that way when I had to suffer through a performance by Lang Lang, it was not hard to see why some refer to him as Bang Bang.

[DonRocks]

I had some of the classic Glenn Gould recordings on vinyl, and his humming was audible. Never could decide if it was distracting or quirkily charming. But some musicians are damn near unwatchable on stage. I could always close my eyes and just listen, but I actually like watching musicians play their instruments.

I'm pretty sure I've shared this video before here, but at 1:57, Gould gets up from the piano, thinks about why the piece isn't working, and comes back to change it. This note from a friend of mine who is the best amateur pianist I've ever met and knows what he's talking about:

"You know where he gets up and thinks about why the C minor counterpoint isn't working? This is REAL, not canned for the camera. He is trying to figure out whether you follow the line or keep it parallel for the middle voices. Like it or not, fucking the most pure genius of all time. Makes Heifetz and Horowitz look like Montessori students."

You have to watch this entire three-minute video to recognize the genius in it:

[Michael Landrum]

"People Obsessed With The Piano" for 500, Alex:

As an added bonus, and to tie into another thread, a $100 GC to anyone who comes up with a passable translation.

[Editor's Note: Six incomprehensible posts merged together, and three apparently completely erroneous attempts at using Google Translate deleted - ML, for those of us Nasty Goys, could you at least tell us what this is so we can have some sort of clue? Piano-obsessed, yes, but it is my musical medium and it's possible for someone to have a stab at comprehending it without having attended Hebrew School for ten years. This, despite Gould, Heifitz, and Horowitz all having been Jewish. To an average reader (at least without further guidance), some of these videos are akin to watching a 1950s Israeli version of Hee Haw. The following paragraph is a start, but what in the name of Elohim *is* all this stuff - how about a one-paragraph footnote for each, preferably not written under the influence of psilocybin mushrooms? DR]

And for any one interested in cultural history, the Banai's are kinda like the Andrew Sisters, but like over three generations. In fact, I think there was a great documentary from a while back called "All My Banai'm" which is a great play on words between bnai'im, which means "builders" and bna'im, which means "sons" or "offspring".

Believe it or not, "Lehakat Zahal" is one of the hardest units to get into, and seeing one of their shows is just one of the interminable tortures one must endure as a soldier. Check that, probably THE most interminable torture...

The girls being so hot just made it worse...

For example:

Or:

Wait, what is Ashton Kutchner doing there?

Now I think I am in love. How did they get Eric Rohmer to direct this?

He does do a great song, Fathers and Sons (Credit to Turgenov):

Poor girl, doesn't know she is singing about something horrible happening to her.

[DaveO]

With James Gandolfini having passed away I was thinking about the Soprano's:

An eloquent discussion about the wonders of Italian food from two characters on the Sopranos.

[Michael Landrum]

[Editor's Note: Six incomprehensible posts merged together, and three apparently completely erroneous attempts at using Google Translate deleted - ML, for those of us Nasty Goys, could you at least tell us what this is so we can have some sort of clue? Piano-obsessed, yes, but it is my musical medium and it's possible for someone to have a stab at comprehending it without having attended Hebrew School for ten years. This, despite Gould, Heifitz, and Horowitz all having been Jewish. To an average reader (at least without further guidance), some of these videos are akin to watching a 1950s Israeli version of Hee Haw. The following paragraph is a start, but what in the name of Elohim *is* all this stuff - how about a one-paragraph footnote for each, preferably not written under the influence of psilocybin mushrooms? DR]

Sorry Don, I guess I just assumed that more people would automatically make the connection to this, musically:

Maybe I just grew up with too many Gulag stories in my head.

[Dr. Delicious]

I sent the text to some colleagues in Israel. They had their translator work on it. Here is his translation:

A Pistol

Eviatar Banai

Lay down on the floor in forty degree heat with one hundred percent humidity

Why the fear, I'll do you no harm

I'm just locking the door and quiet, don't speak

Give me your shirt, I'll wring out the sweat and cool my face

We'll cut the dress with a scissors and take care not to scratch your skin

I'm hot and bitter, in just a minute we'll begin to play

Give me your hand

We'll tie it to the piano

And we'll play games

Between me and the floor you wipe away a tear

The body laughed, the body yelled, there is silence once again and the clock is

heard like a sigh

Wipe your nose, open your mouth I return once more

One last game and that's it

We'll take a small pistol out of the pocket and cock it

One short bullet quietly

A body becomes a corpse

Everyone weeps, everyone weeps

Your mother cries and I want my mother

[Dr. Delicious]

I should add that my colleague editorialized the following: Lately, Eviatar Banai has become a religious person. I'm wonder if he still 'stand behind' this song…

[DonRocks]

"People Obsessed With The Piano" for 500, Alex:

Fine. Here's Sasha Katsman and Don Rockwell debating the relative merits of Emil Gilels, and here's a *perfect* example of what we're arguing - a popular song that even non-pianists may be familiar with, the 3rd movement of Beethoven Moonlight Sonata.

---------------

Everything inside these dashed lines is optional reading/viewing material, In case anyone is interest in the context of our debate. It's absolutely worth viewing and knowing, but unnecessary toward understanding the final points made.

Sasha compared Gilel's Hammerklavier 3rd movement fugue in contrast to Richter's:

Gilels, fugue starts at 34:00;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usip4Jv3M4k

vs. Richter's here:

After I (apparently) wrongly defended Gilels (and mind you, I think Richter is a space alien who somehow managed to land on this planet, and integrate into earth's population and fool everyone into thinking he was human) for being very old and physically worn out when he recorded this (his recording is slower and clearly less edge-of-your-seat dynamic than Richter's), Sasha replied thusly, after concluding that I wasn't picking up on his inferences:

---------------

Sasha: "OK. There is no way Gilels would play something slowly due to technical deficiencies. I think the Scarlatti Sonata I pointed out two weeks ago speaks for itself. His technique was built to articulate, and to let the music express itself ( as opposed to superimposing vivid expressionism ). He knew how to create space and time, i.e. how to sculpt the music. He never compressed time the way Richter did, and, as Don rightly points out never climaxed unpredictably - something which Richter also did on occasion, often playing himself into a corner from a development standpoint, e.g. check out R's Scriabin's 5th. Everything I just described is the foundation of a great and important piano school, but the question is, what did Gilels himself do with it? How far did he take it?

I see two problems. One, with all the mastery and pedigree, his color and dynamics are fairly average. What's worse, his use of space ( which remarkably exists even when he plays very fast ) only exposes this problem further. If you sit back and play a significant harmonic shift in a transparent way, one that isn't overridden with performer's subjective emotions, you better make sure the listener is on the edge of his seat in anticipation. Rarely the case with him.

Two, of all the things said here, I can't even begin to agree with the statement that he has soul coming out of his ass. If this point is too subjective to argue about, then lets just leave it alone. Perhaps you see his soul expressed in a struggle against self-imposed overriding constraints of social realism, but to me it sounds like he often answers the "what" question and rarely the "why"."

---------------

Don: What you're saying is that he's Mozart, not Beethoven!

Your harmonic shift comment resonated with me the most. Richter telegraphed that it was coming; but doesn't that defeat the point of Subito Forte?!

So Richter is Hitchcock, showing the viewer the ticking bomb, allowing the beads of sweat to develop in anticipation, whereas Gilels is Tarantino, showing the bomb going off unexpectedly and everyone dying in one big, loud explosion?

I think that's unfair to Gilels - it also may not be what you're saying.

He doesn't have soul coming *out* his ass; he has soul that *can't* come out of his ass - he is *the* most constipated player I have ever heard - but make no mistake about it: he needs to take a shit the size of Baja California. Unlike Brendel who's a vegan and takes a three-inch crap once a week.

[DonRocks]

What is a Ground-Cunt Roll?

And why would someone want to give one to Major Tom?

[Pat]

Mellower (relatively speaking) than the version they played at the 9:30 Club last weekend and totally   .  Really in the groove here.  This gave me a big smile.

http://bit.ly/18fRkbH

[The Hersch]

Zögernd, leise

[The Hersch]

I'm probably outwearing my welcome, but here is a ridiculously sentimental song  that just tears me to pieces, sung by Erich Kunz, who had one of the great voices of the 20th century. Kunz's voice was warm in a way that makes every other baritone voice sound cold. Listen to "Wenn der Herrgott Net Will".

[Barbara]

Especially for all you Star Trek geeks:

 http://dailyhurricane.com/2013/09/labor-day-entertainment-star-trek-crew-watching-miley-cyrus.html

[zoramargolis]

Ode to Joy played on 167 theremins inside matryushka dolls

you gotta see this!

[DonRocks]

Ode to Joy played on 167 theremins inside matryushka dolls

you gotta see this!

This is not something I would have necessarily thought of without prompting.

[The Hersch]

Ode to Joy played on 167 theremins inside matryushka dolls

you gotta see this!

Wow. I didn't know there were that many theremin players in the world, let alone all in one room.

[ol_ironstomach]

It's a very specific and simplified type, the Matryomin, commercialized in Japan.  A bit too pricey when I looked into them.

Here's one for Rocks: two conductors, one very good (Tilson Thomas) and one legendary (Bernstein), interpreting Stravinsky on piano four hands.

[DonRocks]

Dear God.

[schulju]

Rocks, that clip should have come with a warning label....

[DonRocks]

I figured out how to beat Rafael Nadal.

You wait for him to get older.

Or, maybe not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMiXPPmLwCo

[zoramargolis]

Symphonic percussionists don't usually get to have this much fun.

clickandclack

[DonRocks]

Symphonic percussionists don't usually get to have this much fun.

clickandclack

I have this playing in the background, and I recognize every tune.

As long as we're at it ... we all know this, but this is something you can't watch often enough - especially the part when the pinky goes up to hit the high notes.

"The Cat Concerto" - Academy Award winner for Best Cartoon, 1946, with commentary by an expert.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqgoxt_the-cat-concerto-commentary_shortfilms

[Tweaked]

"The Forty Piece Motet" a sound installation by Janet Cardiff at The Cloisters Museum in NYC.

The piece is a recording of Spem in alium by Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505"“1585) performed by the Salisbury Cathederal Choir, recorded on 40 different channels and then broadcast over 40 individual speakers set up in a large oval in the Cloisters' Fuentidueí±a Chapel, each speaker representing an individual choir member.  Lovely.

[ol_ironstomach]

"The Forty Piece Motet" a sound installation by Janet Cardiff at The Cloisters Museum in NYC.

So happy to hear that this is visiting the US again.  I experienced it at MoMA in '05 in, as they described, a "neutral gallery setting" where it was still incredibly immersive - a simulation of invisibly roaming among forty virtual vocalists.  No stereo recording even begins to come close.  And still, Tallis didn't write for drywalled rooms, so installing this in a stone chapel should be something special...an aural feast for your inner Tudor monarch.

[The Hersch]

I'd say another sentimental Viennese song sung by Erich Kunz is in order: Mei Mutterl war a Weanerin (My Mama Was a Viennese). Kunz's voice was so much a part of the fabric of my childhood that I didn't really realize until I was quite advanced in years what a thing of exceptional beauty it was. (I should add that he did a lot of stuff besides sentimental Viennese songs; he was a fixture of the Wiener Staatsoper, noted particularly for the Mozart roles of Leporello and Papageno.)

[DonRocks]

"Jaguar Attacks Crocodile," narrated by Dr. Luke Dollar of National Geographic.

[porcupine]

And now for something that's not Tallis or Viennese: squawk.

[DonRocks]

Has there ever been a better name for a football player than this guy had?

Legendary.

[DonRocks]

[DonRocks]

Those who know me, know that I don't care very much about money or wealth, but I thought this list was an interesting skim-thru, and since wealth is undeniably a part of this nation's culture (for better or for worse), here's a list of the 50 wealthiest individuals, by state (I don't think I've ever seen one broken down by state, and that's what makes it interesting to me - in particular, I was surprised that there are nine states without any billionaires; also, reading bottom-to-top, the first "name" I recognized was Frist from Tennessee (#31), and that's only because his brother was a senator - the first person I recognized was our own Ted Lerner (#27), whom I've had the pleasure of meeting when I sat in his box on opening day, 2012 (not that I'm BRAGGING or anything). Sorry if I've (temporarily) strayed from my usual art, music, literature motifs.

[dcandohio]

Those who know me, know that I don't care very much about money or wealth, but I thought this list was an interesting skim-thru, and since wealth is undeniably a part of this nation's culture (for better or for worse), here's a list of the 50 wealthiest individuals, by state (I don't think I've ever seen one broken down by state, and that's what makes it interesting to me - in particular, I was surprised that there are nine states without any billionaires; also, reading bottom-to-top, the first "name" I recognized was Frist from Tennessee (#31), and that's only because his brother was a senator - the first person I recognized was our own Ted Lerner (#27), whom I've had the pleasure of meeting when I sat in his box on opening day, 2012 (not that I'm BRAGGING or anything). Sorry if I've (temporarily) strayed from my usual art, music, literature motifs.

I've met Les Wexner (Ohio) a few times. Odd, odd duck. He gives a crap load of $$$ to Ohio State. Our arts center and entire medical center bear his name now. The joke among cynical faculty is that soon we will be "Wexner University."

[Barbara]

Since nearly 20 million folks have seen this Youtube video, I am clearly late to the game. Nevertheless, I knew nothing about it until this afternoon when Hadfield was interviewed on "Science Friday" on NPR. He has a new book out. But, he had pretty much the same view of "Gravity" that I did (and I'm no Astronaut), and spoke in detail about the making of this video. His son came up with some new lyrics which don't have "Major Tom" dying in the end--cuz that just wouldn't do--and received David Bowie's approval. Enjoy the scenery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo.

[DonRocks]

Since nearly 20 million folks have seen this Youtube video, I am clearly late to the game. Nevertheless, I knew nothing about it until this afternoon when Hadfield was interviewed on "Science Friday" on NPR. He has a new book out. But, he had pretty much the same view of "Gravity" that I did (and I'm no Astronaut), and spoke in detail about the making of this video. His son came up with some new lyrics which don't have "Major Tom" dying in the end--cuz that just wouldn't do--and received David Bowie's approval. Enjoy the scenery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo.

David Bowie's 1969 recording of Space Oddity is one song that - although it sounds dated on the surface - may stand the test of time, not just for decades, but for centuries. That's also the year Apollo 11 (Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins) landed on the moon which makes it even more poignant.

This would be in direct contrast to Benny Bell's 1946 recording of Shaving Cream which - although it may have stood the test of time for decades - doesn't quite seem like it has the gravitas to make it for centuries. Then again, boosted by the ascension of the Mach 3 Turbo, with its patented triple-blade system, who can really say?

[squidsdc]

Since nearly 20 million folks have seen this Youtube video, I am clearly late to the game. Nevertheless, I knew nothing about it until this afternoon when Hadfield was interviewed on "Science Friday" on NPR. He has a new book out. But, he had pretty much the same view of "Gravity" that I did (and I'm no Astronaut), and spoke in detail about the making of this video. His son came up with some new lyrics which don't have "Major Tom" dying in the end--cuz that just wouldn't do--and received David Bowie's approval. Enjoy the scenery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo.

Thanks for this as I hadn't seen the video. I haven't seen the movie yet, either. I watched the video only because of your disclaimer about the ending   (Space Oddity, as classic a song as it is, has always given me the heebie jeebies and I have a pavlonian response to need to change the radio station as soon as it comes on) Still debating whether I'll be able to watch the movie or not...

[Barbara]

Thanks for this as I hadn't seen the video. I haven't seen the movie yet, either. I watched the video only because of your disclaimer about the ending   (Space Oddity, as classic a song as it is, has always given me the heebie jeebies and I have a pavlonian response to need to change the radio station as soon as it comes on) Still debating whether I'll be able to watch the movie or not...

Go see the movie. Hadfield gave the ending away in that interview and wasn't called out on it. He was in the audience when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival (he is Canadian, after all) and saw it there for the first time. He congratulated the makers on getting the scenery and the feel of being up there exactly right. When he was asked about the technical details, he responded (and I'm paraphrasing here) that it's a MOVIE. Nobody goes to see Spiderman and questions anybody on how, exactly, is he able to spin an spider web from his wrist.

Oh, and I think Hadfield's voice is far better than Bowie's.

[DonRocks]

Audie Murphy

A lot of us have heard the name Audie Murphy, but who was he, and what was he famous for?

Audie Murphy was the most decorated veteran of World War II, and then went on to have a successful Hollywood career.

Even though he may be most "known" for his Hollywood career doing "war movies," Audie Murphy was a real American Hero, and his biography speaks for itself.

When you think of Audie Murphy, don't think of "Hollywood actor," think of "American war hero."