I had another full day yesterday. All good stuff but it left me pretty exhausted at the end of the day. I managed to treadmill but omitted the dancing….
I was proud of myself for balancing both checkbooks yesterday. Eileen and I have consolidated most of our debt into a house equity account which has a very low interest. Now if I can just refrain from building up debt again. I have a plan of paying myself $400 a month for savings and retiring this debt at $1K a month. We’ll see if I can actually pull it off.
I have been relistening to Quadrophenia on Spotify.
I still have the vinyl for this one. Relistening to this, it strikes me how good the writing and production is. Nice melodies, good orchestration, good use of sounds. Very cool. Townsend really is a fine composer in my estimation.
Also relistening to Bartok’s first piano concerto.
Gyorgy Sandor’s recording is sitting on Naxos and Spotify. I head Sandor lecture and play years ago. He died in 2005 and actually knew Bartok. Helluva player playing fantastic music. Listening this morning I could hear Stravinsky’s influence on Bartok more than usual. I interlibrary loaned the score.
So today is officially a day off for me. I slept in a bit. Eileen and I will probably spend the day together goofing off, maybe take in a movie. I need to rest.
*********************************************************************
Michelle Obama’s Mission – Energizing the Campaign – NYTimes.com
Upcoming election will be an interesting one. Mrs. Obama has changed her tune a bit. Starting to get much more involved. I think she is acting a bit like a VP by saying things that the Prez can’t say in the same way due to his position.
*********************************************************************
Supreme Court Coverage of the Health Care Case – NYTimes.com
I hope the Court grants C-Span request to broadcast this.
********************************************************************
The Technocratic Nightmare – NYTimes.com
I was intrigued by this description in this article:
“At one point, everyone was asked to sing the new European national anthem to the tune of “Ode to Joy.” Dead silence. No one knew the new words that had been written to go with that masterpiece.”
********************************************************************
Good because partisanship has so divided the conversation as to make it functionally unworkable….. let the voters decide which direction they would like to take: government or free market. At least this is the point of view of this article.
**********************************************************************
Presidential Politics and Clean Air – NYTimes.com
this is the editorial
Re-election Strategy Is Tied to a Shift on Smog – NYTimes.com
this is the reporting.
It seems like we are headed in the wrong direction when we compare health and profit, but what do I know?
*********************************************************************
Russia – Chechen Poet Shot to Death – NYTimes.com
This guy sounds like he was a government supporter but it is still terrible that he seems to have been killed for his ideas and poetry by the rebels.
********************************************************************
FUN OBITS
Lee Pockriss, Composer and Songwriter, Is Dead at 87 – NYTimes.com
He wrote the song:
Karl Slover, One of the Last Surviving ‘Oz’ Munchkins, Dies at 93 – NYTimes.com
********************************************************************