Category: Music
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musica requitur sequitur: songs that must be played in sequence
Since my shoulder surgery 4 weeks ago, I've been spending a lot of time developing software and listening to Pandora. The pain meds (oxycodone & hydrocodone) put me in a bit of a brain fog, limiting the effective breadth and depth of my thinking (and doing), but a reasonably well-defined coding task seemed ideally suited…
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Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind, Strength and Vulnerability
I’ve always been impressed with the incredible range of Joni Mitchell‘s music – her voice, guitar virtuosity and the different genres she has explored – but after watching a documentary about her life and work, I have a whole new level of appreciation. In fact, I watched the video – Joni Mitchell, Woman of Heart…
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Steve Miller Band at Chateau Ste. Michelle: a concert review
We saw Steve Miller Band in our first concert of the 2010 summer season at Chateau Ste. Michelle on Wednesday night. CSM summer concerts tend to include a preponderance of rock stars from the 60s and 70s, some of whom are looking, sounding and performing better than others, so many decades after their heydays. Steve…
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Jackson Browne: a cool, crisp concert at the Chateau
We saw Jackson Browne in concert at Chateau Ste. Michelle last night. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and his fellow musicians gave a crisp, clean performance of many familiar songs on an unseasonably cool evening at the winery. Of all the concerts I've seen at the winery – nearly all of which are…
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Dave Mason concert @ Chateau Ste. Michelle
Dave Mason has lost some hair and gained some weight, but he still sounds strong after all these years. Chateau Ste. Michelle hosts a lot of concerts by older rockers, and some of them are aging better than others. I've been disappointed with a few of the concerts I've seen there over the years (e.g.,…
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The Past, Present and Future of Green
My wife and I attended the Seattle Green Festival last weekend. Amy spent most of her time in the exhibit area while I spent most of my time in presentation sessions, seeking and finding inspiration from Amy Goodman, Lawrence Lessig, Brett Horvath and Gabriel Scheer. Amy (my wife) spent part of her time helping out…
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Hope and Dreams trump Fears and Smears
The speeches of the two U.S. presidential candidates Tuesday night were hopeful and inspiring, a welcome change from the fears and smears that dominated much of the campaign … or, at least, one side of the campaign. John McCain delivered the most gracious concession speech I have ever seen, and Barack Obama delivered yet another…
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James Taylor and Other People’s Music: A Concert Review
James Taylor and his Band of Legends gave a great performance at Chateau Ste. Michelle Monday night. I was particularly impressed with the harmonies provided by his backup vocalists and the rhythm laid down by his bassist, drummer and percussionist, but the entire band was strong … one might even say "legendary". The legendary JT…
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The Indigo Girls’ Zoo Tunes Concert
The Indigo Girls gave a concert Sunday night at Woodland Park Zoo's Zoo Tunes 2008 Concert Series that was, note for note, the finest music I've ever seen and heard live. I've attended – and reviewed – a fair number of other great concerts, but all of them have had at least one relative "low…
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Snoop: An Investigation into Possessions, Perceptions, Projections and Personalities
Sam Gosling‘s new book – Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You – blends an engaging and accessible overview of some of the key concepts and research findings in personality psychology and environmental psychology with what amounts to a collection of short detective stories. Snoopology, the art and science of determining “which of your tastes…