Ten Cents on the Dime

Finally just heard that James Blunt “Beautiful” song that everyone’s been talking about (live even…I love BBC America!).  And on behalf of music snobs everywhere, I’d like to tender the sincerest of apologies to Ms. Britney Spears.  Apparently, it can get worse.

Thanks to the power of Netflix, I am about to embark on a terrifying journey…I shall attempt to use as background noise (doubt that I have the brain cells to lose to actually focus on them) the extended editions of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Hopefully, this will knock some Othello themes loose before it knocks my brain loose from its moorings.  If I don’t survive, I’ll miss you all…

Sometimes, it hurts when Warren Ellis is right.

At this moment, there is a murder of crows in the back yard.  I’ve counted fifteen so far, and they keep darting in and out of the bushes, so it could be more.  There’s also a finch, but I’m guessing that’s just a coincidence.  I do think, however, that the word about the birdfeeders is getting out.

No, I’m not making this up. Unfortunately, since I don’t serve my own pages I can’t test this, but the Sunlight Foundation has created an Ajax widget that can pop up a miniature info window for any member of Congress you find yourself tossing into your page, complete with campaign finance profile and voting record…no, seriously, look for yourself. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. (via Warren Ellis)

The creators of Les Miserables and the the producers of Riverdance are collaborating on The Pirate Queen, “an epic musical adventure celebrating the legendary Irish Chieftain Grace O’Malley.” I can’t imagine what could possibly go wrong with this project.</sarcasm>

In a desperate attempt to remain media-worthy, Lance Bass of ‘N Sync has revealed that he is gay. The news was greeted with tears from ‘N Sync’s legion of underaged female fans, and a resounding “Yes, and…?” from the rest of the world.

All kidding aside, I’m understanding of (and a little saddened by) his reasoning for keeping his sexuality under wraps – to keep the story from overwhelming the group. But doesn’t this smack of media-management just as much as the rest of their careers have? And is it just me, or is there something inherently wrong with this statement?

Lance Bass, band member of ‘N Sync, says he’s gay and in a “very stable” relationship with a reality show star.

Only in America, folks…

Read tonight an article (NY Times, registration required) about Lincoln Center’s push for a larger audience, which stung me a bit.

While Lincoln Center’s main attraction is still its artistic content, Mr. Levy argues that the performances alone are not sufficient to attract today’s audiences (emphasis added). “That sufficiency is the environment we create, the barriers we break down in the sense that Lincoln Center is open and accessible to those of all income classes from all over the city and the country,” he said.

While I can certainly agree with the sentiment and the need to expand one’s audience, does that require our turning our arts centers into baseball stadiums, complete with trendy restaurants, a playground for the kids, and fireworks during intermission? (Sorry, Warner…)

…two installations of public art were planned for this summer: “Big Pleasure Point,” an assemblage of brightly colored boats by Nancy Rubins on view on the plaza, and “Enlightenment,” a digital reworking of the last movement of the “Jupiter’’ Symphony, timed to the opening of the Mostly Mozart festival on Friday.

I have to feel that trying to out-glitter, out-color or out-tech the wash of modern distractions only dooms us to failure. The performing arts are never going to be as glittery as American Idol, as gaudy as Hollywood, as trendy as MTV/iTunes/MySpace/next-music-distribution-hotspot. And with such distracting competition, does it serve anyone for us to try?

Or instead, should the arts remain the calm outside the storm? And should our arts centers, instead of shouting “look at me”, search instead for ways to say “welcome”?

Deep into Othello tonight…giving up my original plan (the instrumentation wasn’t fitting together the way I’d hoped), so I’m back to the drawing board and getting a lot of good vibes from polytonality…*fingers crossed*  Tomorrow’s tech tests on this method, and then (hopefully) rough demos on Thursday.

Background- Queer Duck: The Movie, Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion

My family likes penguins…

Originally uploaded by tencents.

More Flickr/blog testing…don’t worry, these aren’t the sort of penguins that sing Sinatra!