The Ultimate Writer's Fantasy

It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a film so inspiring that I’ve devoted a post to it. But Sunday I saw the film that has been touted as Woody Allen’s best film yet - and I have to agree, It was a near perfect portrayal of the ultimate writer’s fantasy - that is to be magically transported to a time when you could rub elbows and commiserate with all of history’s most famous writers and artists. Only movies can offer such magic.

Lower Education

There was a very insightful article in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal regarding the latest achievement test scores for the nation’s elementary and high school students and that there has been no improvement since the tests were last given in ’06. The Journal writer was making the case that "No Child Left Behind" is an utterly failed policy. Specifically, the article referenced the miserable scores on the history section of the exam, in which some 65% did not know what the Declaration of Independence was. This all brought back memories of another achievement test made up and given by brother John to high school honors students in South Florida in 1997 and published exactly 14 years ago yesterday. I say forget about 2006 and No Child Left Behind. They’re irrelevant. One need only revisit the "John Pop Quiz of 1997" to understand that the problem goes much deeper than even the Journal would have us believe.

A Legend In My Own Mind

The last four weeks have been quite eventful for me, many accomplishments, many recognitions. But tonight took the cake, and in a rather hilarious way if it turns out to be true. Tonight, while attending the retirement party at Orchard Lake Country Club for Jan Green, our longtime City Clerk, I received some news about myself, from none other than our second-in-command, that frankly shocked the hell out of me. I’ve requested verfication. If true, then it appears I’ve become a minor local legend. (If not, of course, then simply a legend in my own mind.)

Rhapsody in C minor

My third Piano Guild audition is now behind me for a week now and it was indeed rhapsodic. Besides the major accomplishment of mastering the entire "Sonatina in C" by classical Italian composer Muzio Clemente, I also had to perform Bach, Schumann and the very beautiful "Melody in C minor" by the great contemporary Russian composer Aram Khatchaturian. And C minor is no piece of cake. It’s been my most challenging scale yet. The piece itself is nothing short of a rhapsody.

E.T. Phone Berkeley (quickly!)

One small item in the news last week that rang at least a temporary death knell on still another casualty of the Great Recession was the announcement that funding has been cut for the SETI Project out of UC Berkeley. For those of you who have never seen films like Deep Impact, E.T., Close Encounters, or Contact - to name just a few - SETI is the acronym for Search For Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and has been an ongoing research project for some years now.

Controversy at 3535

I published a letter in yesterday’s Oakland Press on the subject of this so-called "Birther" issue. I have published a number of letters over the years on subjects far more important than I consider this one to be and nary has there been a peep from anyone. But this one – 11 impassioned replies on the OP web site, from both sides!

A Good Month For Piano (... & justin bieber ... )

March ended with my piano teacher affectionately scolding me for my failure to identify one of the chords in the E minor scale. "You’re supposed to know this stuff! What am I going to do with you?" It was the V7 chord and you can bet I’ll never forget that one again. But tell me all you music lovers ... do any of YOU know what a V7 chord is? (Except I’m sure my nephew Conor does.)

iPod/iPad - Tomaytoe or Tomahtoh?

"I say tomatoe, you say tomato. I say potatoe, you say potato. Tomatoe, tomato, potatoe, potato, let’s call the whole thing off!"   We all know this song and it’s recently gained a new relevance in view of my long-held intransigence against both the iPod and iPad.  

A Helluva 24!

The crisis is over now, everything’s back to normal, but had a real scare with Mom this week. The 24 hour period between 5 pm Monday and 5 pm Tuesday was particularly harrowing. I’ve spent the last couple of days bringing the immediate family up to date. Now it’s time for the rest of you.

Oscar Night

A number of you have commented to me that you miss me publishing my film reviews. Well, there are ten films up for Best Picture at the Oscars and I’ve seen nine of them so you’re about to get a whole slew of film reviews plus my two cents about the new Academy rules.

Manresa 2011: An Experiment In Beauty

It’s been two weeks since I returned from what was near the top of my list as the best and most inspiring of the 17 or so odd Jesuit retreats I’ve been on since Dad first took me in 1990. Why do we go? Why do we submit ourselves to 3 days of silence? What is the appeal of three days of doing nothing but attending lectures, liturgies, bible studies, meditation, and for a brief time some individual counseling?

3 Years, 4 Januarys, 5 Days



January 5, 2011


As we enter a new year, it is time to replace my profile photograph (far right), taken four months ago, with the current me – bearded now for 3 years and 5 days. This is my 4^th January since starting this thing (the last day I shaved was 1-1-08) and I sincerely hope to have an entirely different photo for the 5^th January. But, for the record, since this is a major objective of mine for 2011 (and, hopefully, for April; it would be a nice birthday gift for Mom), I thought I would remind everyone what I used to look like and present a little show-and-tell of the progress over the last 3 years. 

A Different Kind of Holiday Cheer

As we bring in a New Year, grateful for the blessings we’ve had in this tough year and hoping for better in the new, I am reminded of an intriguing article that was in the paper a couple weeks back about the residents of the small town of Skidmore, Missouri and how this month marks for them 30 years of an entirely different kind of holiday cheer.

Santa College

It’s appropriate that my photograph is directly to the right of each new blog entry. Looking at that beard every day like I must reminds me that I have to finish that damned screenplay. As I’ve mentioned many times, I made a commitment January 1, 2008 not to shave again until Ash Wednesday is done. I also pledged long ago not to mention the script again until it is completed. But I’ll make an exception today. On this Christmas, I must confess that the one overriding reason I feel motivated to keep writing is so people will stop calling me "Santa Claus." I get it every hour of every day.

A Very Special Christmas Greeting

This is a truly heart-warming video that I felt everyone must see. This is what is known as a "flash mob" and happened five weeks ago in a mall on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Speak of tidings of comfort and joy, this is it! Merry Christmas everyone!

John Lennon Redux (& other tributes)

      

I’ve been waiting for weeks to make this posting, a tribute to John Lennon on December 8th, the 30th anniversary of his assassination, but I had a terribly busy Wednesday and Thursday this week. Pearl Harbor, JFK in Dallas, the Moon Landing, John Lennon being gunned down while entering his Manhattan apartment. All of these were iconic events. All of these had in common the singular reality that literally everyone in its respective generation remembers it like it was yesterday and knows exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the shocking news. And it was shocking, like losing a best friend or an idolized older brother who was so cool, so beyond cool, that you wished everyday you could be just like him.

Ruthie Makes the Big Time! (and other things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving)

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! On this the first official day of the holiday season, I am privileged to report that Mom was featured in the Sunday Oakland Press on the 21st. A rather nice photo of her alongside Lourdes hefe Sr. Frances Mary Kernasovich, which I have posted to the right. I was completely unaware of this until one of the nurses informed me of it on Tuesday. Fortunately, I do take the Oakland Press (as you all could see from my November 9th posting in which I included my letter to the editor which they published on November 3rd.) So I was able to resurrect the Sunday issue and scan it and provide the article in its entirety on the email link that lead you to this posting. Mom is not mentioned in any of the rest of the article but it’s still worth reading for how highly placed Lourdes is among Michigan’s nursing homes.

Leaving Michigan 2010!

No, this isn’t about me pulling up stakes and moving back to sunny California. Not that it would do any good. California’s in worse shape than Michigan. No, this is my annual "leaves" shot of the autumn harvest here at 3535 in Michigan, or more accurately my annual project dispatching of all these piles. As I tell my friends in L.A. every year at this time, "you’ll never see this in Southern California!" Behind the large pile I’m standing next to, there are some twenty more just like it.

Beethoven's Progeny

Piano day again but I’m going to do a little change of pace here and talk about something that’s only tangentially related to piano. I’ve discovered e-readers and, though, I haven’t yet had the pleasure of using one, Kindle, by far the top-rated reader, just announced about a week ago that their latest and greatest, the Kindle 3, has been dropped in price from $189 to $139. I’ve not yet joined the 21st century as far as HDTV goes, or the iPod, or data phones, or texting. (I’ll never do texting! I see no need for iPods, and I have no desire to do Internet on my phone.) But I think I’ll probably soon be joining the Kindle Kraze!

John Lennon's Piano

Okay, it’s not really John Lennon’s piano in the photo at the right. It’s not even a copy of John Lennon’s piano. But last month, October 9th, would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday and, in honor of that, Steinway is offering an exact commemorative replica of the Steinway grand piano that he gave Yoko for her 38th birthday in 1971. That’s the piano on your right and Steinway is selling it again.

It’s been a while since I’ve laid out any piano musings. But Thursday is usually the day for it, (though this will probably be published Friday since it’s already 11:30 p.m.) Today was my 123rd lesson and the beginning of our annual intense marathon holiday push to learn one carol a week to give a family concert on Christmas Day.