Folk life

I was a blues day, some fine blues by a guy named Nick Vigarino watching all the folks dancing, lookin' like they're havin' fun. Later, a workshop for blues guitar shows me what I pretty much know awreddy except how to actually play good! I know, "two chords and the truth" Twelve bars, AAB rhyme scheme, that little triangular D7 fingering pattern, and the 3-0, 3-0, 2-0, 2-0, 2-0, 3-0 scale pattern. Know it all,
but still can't play more than eight bars 'fore I fall off the trail.
Hooray for the computer whereat I c'n edit and store and print out score.

I ate a polish sossage too, with 'craut'n'onions.
Wuz awful.
'Onion' the word showed up on the crossword this mornin', Is that a totally weird coincidence?

Or What?

The answer is "What"

Or even "What?"

Had a little panic attack about the piano violin piece.
I posted it, and my old buddy Glenn listened to it.
You remember my old buddy Glenn?
Salt of the earth.
Anyway, he listened to it and commented with a nice review comparing it with one of the greatest works of art in the world.
I can put up with that, it can be compared to one of the greatest works of art in the world.
The problem was that he indicated that it was 5:10 minutes long!!!
It's s'posed to be 6:15 or so!!!!
So I had a heart thumping night of sleeplessness 't till I could fire up the 'puter and check it out again.
Whuttifit got cut off or "edited" bu the great "THEM"?
Or sumpin'

But.....

It's O.K.

More than O.K.

It can be compared to the greatest work of ART the world has ever known.

Well.....I guess that looks like a punch line.

Merry

May; brain scan, blood donation, Rainier Symphony, Amelia the Opera, two new pieces for piano and violin, a thirty mile bike ride, various and sundry other etcetera.

Just posted the violin and piano piece. I called it "Dichotomy" because it is about a Hamletoid decision process.

I think it is anyway, who knows what music is about?

Now I am going to go to Folklife at Seattle center and listen to other folks music.

I don't know if I have graduated to being folks yet but I would like to step up from white trash.

I got rid of the cars in my driveway, what more do you want?

Last few days.

The Opera...four or five separate shows going on at the same time only loosely united by the idea of flying with singers mostly dressed in skivvies.
Hot mess.
Not impressed.
I am convinced that tye excessive applause and shrieking was paid for.
By clique and by claque.
If you catch my drift.

Music was O.K.
New work is always an experiment.
Kept wishing that Virgil Thompson was around, like to hear what he thought.

Anyway, who cares?

Wrote the violin and piano piece based on Ann's quote. I'll polish it up and post it.

In re Caprichino
(six short caprices for clarinet and piano)
Got a clarinetist, got a pianist, everybody has scores.
Ready to roll.

Gonna cost me...you bet.

Wednesday, June 9 at Soundbridge, 7:30.
David Mesler's concert for private composition students.

Sayonciaoweidershoenaderciara

Sun , Rain And the Vdub

The picture is lame but it's that kinda day.

I'm headed to the post office to send scores to a clarinetist.

Steamed

Hot humid days of spring here in Seattle and environs bring with them a renewal of such fascinating flora.

Vast herds of wild moss thundering across the yard.

Green fuzz gathering in my window sills.

Congregations of verdance on the bathroom tiles.

Mushroom families fungal parties rampaging between my toes.

The greening of the cat

Ah, spring.

Ah, pollen.

Ah, choo!

Breves, crochets, minims, hemidemisemiquavers and their coresponding rests

Today will be a day of finishing up a small piece for piano and violin.
A project that has been inspired by a question from a facebook friend.
The question was, "have you written anything for piano and violin?"
A question that was bound to set my imagination aflame.

Because she didn't say why she wanted to know.

But.

All my most successful work has been inspired by questions like this.
"Another Sad Song Littering the Highway of Life" was in response to a comment about the dearth of accordion music in the world and has gone on to garner 180 listens on myspace.
As far as I know, no-one has ever played it on accordion.

The "Adam and Eve" double concerto for two violins and orchestra (with the boogie-woogie back beat bass bottom) was quite the crowd pleaser when premiered at Tom Baker's salon (in piano reduction).

And before that I set four poems of James Joyce for piano and tenor because Bryan Stratton asked for it. These songs got me some praise from someone whose opinion I have reason to respect.

"Nightmare prelude" a variation on Diabelli's little waltz was due to a call for scores and got terrific crowd response.

So I have great hopes for the piano-violin piece.

Even though it is a reworking of a flute concerto that was instrumental in getting me fired from my volunteer job at the Seattle symphony and harassed of the streets around Benaroya hall.
And, the nice person who came all the way down from the fifth floor to tell me she liked the piece {a computer simulation with my old horrible sounding patches [not that the new sounds are all that much like a live performance])
died soon after.

So maybe I'm dealing with a jinxed hunk of music.

But I shall carry on.....a trick I've learned from watching BBC shows on public television.

Then later this evening we will head out to Renton's IKEA PAC and have another try at the Rainier Symphonies Pop's Concert.

Rivers

When a river has to turn a corner it often forms a back current, a little pool of water that swirls in a vortex exempting itself from the main current of it's life, going around in circles, advancing it's journey not a whit.
That is the feeling I have about this day, a Friday, a Friday that will apparently remain sunny for it's duration.

But just how much do I resemble a river (aside from being all wet, as my dear departed mother would no doubt quip)?

.............(A significant passage of time)..........

I can't think of anything.

At least those rotating pools of river water provide fish with respite on their battle with contrarian currents on the trek to paradise.

But, In A Greater Sense....don't we all.

Modern music

Went to the ultimate minimalist concert Saturday, not only didn't the orchestra play anything, but the orchestra didn't even show up, what's more the audience didn't show up. I hope the Rainier Symphony's pops concert next Saturday at the same venue is as exciting. And a fine meal at the Whistlestop was had by all.

Comma Sutra

Saturday, I rode, saw a guy crash his bike into a steel post, wasn't hurt, saw a sailboat tip over, saw the cascade mountains all clear ad bright, saw the lake, all shiny and blue, rode the kilo hill at 3rd West, had a egg white, spinach, and feta wrap , drank an Izze raspberry soda, rode down 3 West at a high rate of speed, stopped at Stan Sayers park for a breath and watched a guy take off on his jet ski, rode up all the rest of the hills on the way home, read more of Proust's third literary concerto, watched SNL w/Bette White, fell asleep................
and many other non essential activities.

Desperately chasing the blues away.

33.97 miles
10.2 avg
33.2 max
3:19:06 hours
314.2 + 1307 = 1621.2

Today the grass is too long.

I'll wait a couple days to see if it gets any shorter before I mowit.

Music, music, music, music

Went to a concert tonight -
Went to a concert the night before -
Got one tomorrow and -
Sunday will make it four.

I'm a concert goin' cat -
Love to hear that music play -
Got music in my soul -
Listen to it night and day.

Oh the strings and the horns -
The pianos and the saxophones -
That big bass drum -
Sends the rhythm down to my bones.

Music music music music -
Music playin' round my head -
If there wasn't no music -
Think I'd be much better off dead.

-------*

Didn't go for the 30 miler today as I had planned.
Stayed home and had a headache instead and fooled around with Duke.
A totally no-anxiety recreation.
Not only are there any artistic standards to worry about.
The game is obsolete and nobody plays it any more.
Even the computers it works on are obsolete.
No deadlines.
No worrying about finding piano players.
Just beautiful mindless semi-conscious noodling around with fantastic dream worlds.
The exquisite joy of pissing away the first really nice sunny day we've had in what seems like, YEARS!

-----------**

But I did manage to coin two new words.
Remember you heard 'em here first.

Prius...verb...sudden inexplicable very steep and dangerous shift of attitude or magnitude caused by computer hysteresis.

....The stock marked priused yesterday.

Brogging...bragging on your blog.

Just made that up after this mornings 20 mile jaunt 10 miles up the Cedar River trail and back in under 2 hours...brogging.

Good night

Flatland 20

Just got back from a 20 miler up the Cedar River trail and back (of course I got back or I wouldn't be here at the computer, wood eye?)

Here's the splog
20.84 miles
10.6 average
24.3 max
1:57:08 hours
280.2 + 1307 = 1587.2

Saw a big green jet plane take off at Renton field and almost ran into a gardener who was blow drying the trail.
Too many people on the riverfront to ride there so I stayed on the street through Renton.

Now I'm going back to the other computer to put finishing touches on the bebop trumpet concerto.

Nice talkin' to ya, drop in again sometime

More health problems

Much to everyone's surprise, my EEG test came out "normal" ..sooo... it's a whole new ballgame.