THE NORT SPEWS ~ News and Reviews

Very enjoyable and thought-provoking! Why don'...

2012-03-21T09:17:53.586-04:00

Very enjoyable and thought-provoking! Why don't I blog? Well...

Thanks so much for sharing your story. It does not...

2012-02-13T20:43:53.971-05:00

Thanks so much for sharing your story. It does not surprise me in the least that Arnie would have been so generous in sharing his gifts -- sorry I wasn't there for what sounds like a magical evening.

I too knew Arnold Grayson, from the Recorder Works...

2012-02-13T17:19:29.398-05:00

I too knew Arnold Grayson, from the Recorder Workshop, at 27Birds as it was called in the Coconut Grove area. I know he had a sister that lived in Pittsburgh area. I met her once when she came to visit. I don't believe I have known anyone in the music field that knew more about music than Arnold. He once gave a private recital, on a beautiful Harpsichord at his Workshop, for some 3 hours. It was just the three of us, & I must say it was a recital of a lifetime for my wife & I. Later after the private performance, he said he gave a recital for the king of Saudi Arabia, I think it was king Saud, Saud bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, at one of his many weddings. The Harpsichord was custom made by the king for the event. Afterwards the instrument was presented to Arnie as a gift by the king. It was that very instrument I personally listened to Arnie play at that private recital. I will never forget how perfect he played that instrument. I moved away for a time from the Miami area, & when I came back for a short visit in about circa 1986, maybe 1987, I went by the Recorder Workshop for a visit. I was shocked to find a deep hole in the ground where the Recorder Workshop once stood. I called his phone number & reached a person that told me Arnie had a stroke & was in a hospice being cared for. That is all they would tell me. I asked if I could visit him while in town, & was told he could not receive visitors. I really respected that man for everything he stood for in the music world. I only wish I could have seen him one more time before the end. Sincerely, Friend of Arnold Grayson.

Someone once said of a favorite bookstore, "I...

2011-09-26T09:05:56.750-04:00

Someone once said of a favorite bookstore, "It's the kind of place you go to be reassured by all the Anthony Trollope novels you have not yet read."

Time changes us, circumstances change the time ava...

2011-09-25T22:19:23.774-04:00

Time changes us, circumstances change the time available. Taste changes and that Trollope you wouldn't touch with a ten foot Latvian becomes a gem to savor.

Mahler's birthday was July 7. It was noted in ...

2011-07-16T00:00:08.528-04:00

Mahler's birthday was July 7. It was noted in "The Writer's Almanac" on that day right after the daily poem. Check it out at:

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2011/07/07

I don't want to be a party pooper. I know I might as well tatoo a backward STUPID on my forehead, and furthermore my father who I loved very much, was an accomplished pianist who played classical music but... I don't "get" classical music. Sure, some of it has "gotten" to me, but in general I don't get it just like I don't get jazz. I put them in the same category and I call them both "tum te tum" music. It sounds like the composer just put the murmuring of "tum te tum te tum te tum" to music. OK OK call me an ignoramus. I give it a chance every chance I get. I love Marches! Horay for the Red White and Blue! That's music! I love Rock and Roll! Bluegrass, Hillbilly music, Mariachi, Folk (Joan Baez, John Prine, Kasey Chambers...). Maybe I shouldn't click "Post Comment" because I am raining on Steve's and a billion other smart people's parade. Maybe I don't have that music appreciation gene. It must be just me. I have the same thought about beer. I can't believe people really like that stuff! But I sure do love that other music to the max. Yes, I do love some classical music. Two things Louis Armstrong said: "There are only two kinds of music - good and bad" and "All music is folk music. I ain't never heard no horse sing a song". Then there's Mike Tyson's quote not related in any way with music: "You have a plan then you get hit in the face"

Gagarin's fate -- perishing in a jet fighter t...

2011-04-14T09:22:09.209-04:00

Gagarin's fate -- perishing in a jet fighter training accident only seven years after his historic orbital filght -- is one shared by more than one US astronaut. Apparently those things are at least as dangerous as rockets.

All true Steve, from the distance of the demograph...

2011-03-20T15:32:35.841-04:00

All true Steve, from the distance of the demographics of the big picture.I have often wondered if those who lived in the Dark Ages or the Renaissance were aware of the classification of their time. Still I know though that you do concentrate on the personal victories, joys, and blessings of your life. Can't wait to wish you a happy birthday being thankful that you were born.

One word comment: Evernote

2010-12-06T11:15:04.786-05:00

One word comment: Evernote

Being unemployed, with a preexisting condition, re...

2010-11-23T00:17:12.815-05:00

Being unemployed, with a preexisting condition, recovering from a 3rd spinal surgery this year and living in Virginia, home to Eric Cantor, pictured above, I am a "poster child" for the disaster that is US health care. I love your modest proposal. Besides giving those who are perpetually healthy an opportunity to opt out of ALL coverage, it calls them out. Should I send the clipping to Eric?

Steve -- I cherish your thoughts and memories and ...

2010-08-31T11:22:20.034-04:00

Steve -- I cherish your thoughts and memories and reflections. And the fact that you are a beautiful, beautiful writer. laura

"Nothing is Lost Forever" -Tony Kushner ...

2010-08-20T20:12:34.059-04:00

"Nothing is Lost Forever" -Tony Kushner It gave us this poem. Thank you Steve. Bye for now, Karen

My 3 sisters, 4 cousins, mother & aunt took re...

2010-06-12T15:52:54.369-04:00

My 3 sisters, 4 cousins, mother & aunt took recorder lessons for years from Mr. Grayson --Arnie, as the adults called him, gentle giant as we called him behind his back. We had a little chamber group--sopranos, altos, tenors, and once were on TV with him. Some of us also took lute. Lots of memories, many concordant with what you describe. We 8 little girls couldn't help giggling (he was very shy) and he expressed disapproval by intoning "Oh, oh, oh." I knew him from about age 9 (1958) until his death, when I was in college.

Thanks for sharing your gifts so beautifully wrapp...

2010-01-29T15:41:21.448-05:00

Thanks for sharing your gifts so beautifully wrapped. And thanks to Warren for bringing it to my attention....Kathy

Steve, this is wonderfully expressive, and I'v...

2010-01-29T14:00:08.281-05:00

Steve, this is wonderfully expressive, and I've posted it to my Facebook page for whatever additional views that may bring. Thank you so much for making it available. Peacefully, Warren

That's the best way to be warped....

2010-01-12T19:49:05.333-05:00

That's the best way to be warped....

Correction -- of course I meant to refer to the Se...

2010-01-11T14:20:49.319-05:00

Correction -- of course I meant to refer to the Seventh symphony, the last movement of which is particularly expressive of wild abandon. I confess I probably muddled the two not only because Beethoven was writing both of them simultaneously, but because in Disney's Fantasia they used mythological figures, including Bacchus, to portray the Pastorale. Warped from childhood!

Nothing quite so fleshly ... maybe the closest he ...

2010-01-09T19:06:34.088-05:00

Nothing quite so fleshly ... maybe the closest he came to that was the Pastoral Symphony (6) in which he imagined he was Bacchus bringing joyous debauchery to all humankind. Fun!

Nice to read about Beethoven sticking up for his r...

2010-01-09T17:57:04.599-05:00

Nice to read about Beethoven sticking up for his right to come in the front door. We tell the same story in the art history world, about Jacques-Louis David, who came back from his long apprenticeship in Rome with the idea that he was a socially acceptable person. Of course the French were able to put these views into practice more dramatically - David became a leader of the radical wing of the French Revolution, and was damn lucky to escape execution with the rest of the Jacobins.

He got on board with Napoleon, as his many famous portraits attest, but when the Bourbons reassumed power after Napoleon's defeat David went into exile in Belgium and finally cut loose of politics. He was still an active painter - like many artists, in his last few years he wallowed in the richness and sensuality of youth - check out _The Farewell of Telemachus_. Anything like that in the late Beethoven canon? -- MS

Glad you like it and the whole electric mowing thi...

2009-10-30T08:57:51.389-04:00

Glad you like it and the whole electric mowing thing. You're right about the erroneous math - as I'm noting above. But I think 8 mpg is still much too high since it is based on walking 4 mph while behind a mower, and I think it is probably closer to 1 or 2 mph.

Hi Steve, I love your blog site love your wimsical...

2009-10-29T19:47:51.733-04:00

Hi Steve,
I love your blog site
love your wimsical and excellent writing.
love even more your topics (your interests)
and truly enjoyed meeting you and sitting next to you at Laura's recent workshop.
I'm now, via your blogsite, sharing you around, showing you off to my friends.

I used to mow my Dad's 60x100' lot in the fla keys with his electric mower. He set it up exactly as you said...the cord continually uncoiling as I'd zig-zag walk away from the plug...works great...soo much better than gas and easier to push, lighter. Ps: I think your example should read 8 miles to the gallon, rather than 8 gallons to the mile (unless you drank the other 7 gallons and, maybe even, wandered about in a stationarry circle as you sipped) Hugs and thanks ever so, Julie

ps, i'm posting as anonymous , even though I;m not anonymous, because my PC is too slow, and i don't really know what the other categories mean

I confess I missed that connection to The Glass Be...

2009-10-27T08:47:23.673-04:00

I confess I missed that connection to The Glass Bead Game. Thanks for the heads up. That book is in my stack of things to re-read along with a bio of Hesse. FYI if you Google the glass bead game you will find people actually trying to play it.
Cool.

I just finished this book tonight, after reading &...

2009-10-26T22:14:17.515-04:00

I just finished this book tonight, after reading "The Glass Bead Game" last week. Talk about serendipity.
Brilliant review. Awesome book. I almost fell out of my chair when I heard the "basket" described, then correctly named (spoiler...).

I shared a link and comments on your Facebook page...

2009-08-21T10:52:46.392-04:00

I shared a link and comments on your Facebook page, looks like they belong here, too! Since I can't see how to paste in a link, though, I will simply urge readers to find the Utne Reader on the Internet, and then search it for "undertaker" to read the words of poet Thomas Lynch under the title "Sex, Death and Poetry."

Nice Blog I have Subscribed ! Thanks !

2009-07-15T06:16:49.118-04:00

Nice Blog I have Subscribed !

Thanks !