Today marks the end of my journey through Beethoven’s Seventh, as interpreted by 17 different conductors in 18 different CD box sets. (Remember: Herbert von Karajan got two box sets in this cycle because Karajan.) Tomorrow, I start all over again with the letter “A” for “Abbado.” Only this time, I listen to Beethoven’s Symphony … [Read more…]
Today is Thanksgiving Day in America. On this day, we often make a big meal – usually consisting of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy and pies of all kinds – and we eat this feast with family and/or friends. Ostensibly, we take time today to give thanks for whomever or whatever we … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is the Restaurant-Chain-That-Must-Not-Be-Named where I am partaking of their signature Light Roast coffee, an Asiago bagel (toasted twice) with cream cheese…and a side of Hungarian conductor George Szell (1897-1970), the Cleveland Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major. The latter was BYO, by the way. They don’t actually … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is my happy place: the second floor of our local library. Tiny snow flakes are gently falling. A bottle of Evamor water sits to my left, a notepad with a fresh sheet of paper to my right. As is well with my soul. Or, it would be if I were … [Read more…]
My listening post this evening is with the TV series Grimm in the background, a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon to my left, and a fresh page of a note pad to my right. (If you’ve never seen Grimm, you owe it to yourself. It’s a great cop show set in Portland, Oregon. It’s like a … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is at a table, quite early in the morning, in a local franchise of the Restaurant-Chain-That-Must-Not-Be-Named. An Asiago bagel (toasted twice) with plain cream cheese, and this establishment’s signature Light Roast coffee are poised on my left. My trusty note pad and pen are similarly poised on my right. Both … [Read more…]
My listening post today is in the living room while the Disney movie Tangled plays in the background. The background is not for me. It’s for my wife. She’s in the kitchen cleaning, organizing, arranging (her love languages), and preparing for Thanksgiving dinner later this week. We are hosting it again this year. I’m sitting … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is Baker Book House, the largest theological book store in the Midwest. This is an amazing place to work, get coffee, eat a scone, and browse rows and rows and rows and rows of books, especially used books. Anyway, here I am listing to Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989), … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning overlooks the early November snow and the increasingly more iced-over lake. Global Warming, my ass. Anyway, as I sit here freezing my aforementioned ass off, I’m listening to Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) from his legendary 1963 Beethoven cycle, Berliner Philharmoniker, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major. … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is in a tiny house in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. If you look really closely at Vincent van Gogh’s painting The Starry Night, just to the right of the steeple, you can see me. I’m wearing a red beret. Just kidding. Actually, my listening post this morning is inside a steamer trunk. It’s … [Read more…]