With the 1960s folk band The Seekers playing in the background, a cup of Trader Joe’s Light Roast coffee beside me, and Judith Durham‘s dulcet tones in my ears – at least, before I pop in my earbuds, at which time Argentine conductor Daniel Barenboim (1942- ), Staatskapelle Berlin, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in … [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 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 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…]
This morning, my listening post has actually been three places – this, a local bagel shop, then a local car dealership to swap my snow tires with my regular tires, and now…my actual office. Yes, I’ve had a hectic morning. And that’s okay. Because, in each place, I listened to German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler (1886-1954), … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning (with Iron Maiden’s Powerslave album on low in the background) is overlooking the snow-covered balcony. The temperature outside is 30 degrees Fahrenheit, which is -1 Celsius. No matter how you measure it, it’s cold. Because I can barely hear Maiden in the background (it’s at the same level as music … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is Tim Horton’s, the Canadian-based fast-food chain with the unique food and coffee. The only thing Tim Horton’s lacks is peameal bacon, which I had for breakfast near Toronto once and loved it. I’m tempted to re-enter Canada just so that I can get more peameal bacon. So, as I … [Read more…]
In all honesty, I am not looking forward to today’s performance. Why? Because I’ve encountered Maestro Rattle five times previous to this afternoon, on… Day 15. Rating: “Meh!” Day 33. Rating: “Meh!” Day 51. Rating: “Meh!” Day 69. Rating: “Meh!” Day 87. Rating: “Meh!” And the results are a perfect score of “Meh!” ratings. And … [Read more…]
My office this morning is, once again, the cafeteria in the D&W food store. It’s kind of a lonely place at this time of the morning. But I like it that way. This morning, as I sip a Blonde Roast (“That’ll be a pour over. Is that okay?”) from Starbucks, I’m listening to German conductor … [Read more…]
While Season Four Episode Four (“Guardian Angels” – which, coincidentally, aired nearly 11 years ago today) of the TV series House plays in the background, and our cat languishes in the middle rung of his “cat tower,” I’m listening to German conductor Eugen Jochum (1902-1987), the London Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in … [Read more…]