M Is FOR MASHUP - RERUN - May 2nd 2007
Media Particles for May
By DJ Useo
from Bruce
Anecdotes
Conductors
• Arturo Toscanini had a phenomenal memory and conducted without a score—but he had a good reason for doing so. His eyesight was not very good, and to see the notes he would have had to bring his eyes very close to the score, so a score was useless to him while conducting. After Toscanini began to conduct without a score, other conductors began to imitate him in a pretentious way—at the beginning of a performance, some conductors would walk to the conductor’s podium, close the opened score, then begin to conduct. Horn player Harold Meek of the Boston Symphony Orchestra believes that many conductors would benefit from having a score in front of them, as did such fine conductors as Serge Koussevitzky and Sir Georg Solti.
• Conductor Serge Koussevitzky used to take classical music to parts of Russia where classical music—and its instruments—had not been heard before. One farmer was fascinated by the trombone, and at the conclusion of a concert, thinking that the musician had been trying to disassemble the trombone—and not succeeding—the farmer took the trombone and used his great strength to break the trombone apart. The farmer then handed the pieces of the ruined trombone to the astonished musician and said, “There you are, sir.”
• Gianandrea Gavazzeni once conducted Un ballo in maschera, in which Plácido Domingo sang. Mr. Domingo sang the lines “Amelia! tu m’ami?”—and the orchestra came in full blast. People complained that with the full orchestra, they could not hear Mr. Domingo and his Amelia, but Mr. Gavazzeni said, “It doesn’t matter! That’s the way Verdi wanted it!” Thereafter, whenever the full orchestra came in, Mr. Domingo didn’t sing, but merely mouthed the words, knowing that no one could hear him anyway.
• As a young conductor, Thomas Beecham gathered together a small orchestra of fine, spirited, young players. They did a lot of traveling by train in the north of England, and each time they arrived at Preston Junction, they lit fireworks. Because of this habit, they became known as “The Fireworks Orchestra of Lancashire.” By the way, Sir Thomas could be an exacting conductor. To record the first four minutes of the “William Tell Overture” took him and his orchestra three hours. Afterward, Sir Thomas treated the five hard-working cellists to champagne.
• Not all conductors like applause—at least not while they are conducting. Sir Thomas Beecham once told an audience at Covent Garden, “Shut up,” because he felt the audience’s applause was intrusive. Afterward, there was dead silence—for months—whenever Sir Thomas conducted at Covent Garden. The silence got to Sir Thomas after a while, and he once told the orchestra after he had mounted the rostrum, “Ladies and gentlemen, let us pray.”
• During the Roaring Twenties, Arturo Toscanini was the musical director of the New York Philharmonic; however, his suite at the Astor Hotel was very modest. In fact, there was a large blinking advertising sign outside his window. Fortunately, this didn’t bother Mr. Toscanini—he enjoyed watching the sign blink on and off.
• Sir Thomas Beecham had such a fabulous memory for scores that he didn’t always need to prepare assiduously before conducting an opera. Once, he stood before the podium, then was forced to ask, “By the way, which opera are we giving tonight?” After hearing the answer, he conducted the opera masterfully.
• When Mary Garden became director of the Chicago Grand Opera Company, she wanted Giorgio Polacco as conductor. Therefore, she sent Mr. Polacco a telegram asking him to be her musical director, and he cabled back, “I’M SAILING”—without even first asking what his salary would be.
Conversation
• On 7 August 2012, three teenagers—Alexa Erb, age 18; Victoria Cornell, age 19; and Claude Mumbere, age 18—sat on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, for three hours and paid $1 to strangers to tell them their stories. The three teenagers called out compliments to passersby and held this sign: “Tell us your story and we’ll give you a dollar.” They had $26, and they spent $15. The stories were about Cambodia, Afghanistan, homelessness, and mental illness—and many more topics, too. Ms. Erb said, “I have found that sometimes listening means you don’t need to give a response. Just knowing that someone is truly listening to what you are saying is sometimes enough.” Ms. Cornell said, “I see now how we can use our stories, and our brokenness, to create bonds. We are all equal in our human condition; even when we are broken, we can become whole through sharing.” Mr. Mumbere said, “We have heard many stories today. Even from people who think they don’t have a story. When they start talking, there is so much to be said. It’s amazing to see what you can find in someone when you just take the time to listen.” Ms. Cornell said, “The common theme is that life is going to suck at times, but beauty always comes from the pain somehow. If you’re willing to pay it forward, and listen to someone’s story, it will be worth it.”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Get Out of My Dreams (and Into My Hearse)"
Album: LITANIES OF SURF
Artist: Genki Genki Panic
Artist Location: Chatanooga, Tennessee
Info: “Instrumental dungeon surf.”
“Genki” is Japanese for “Energy.”
“For fans of Agent Orange, Vic Mizzy, and Oingo Boingo.”
BreakingMyself, a fan, wrote, “This band was introduced to me by a 7" flexi from Goblinhaus Records purchased on a whim, what an awesome idea that was! Catchy, groovy, creepy and heavy, this album just works for me on every level. The bassline of Radon Chong hits a nerve I'd forgotten about, forged by the likes of Mudvayne and Korn over a decade ago (different genre, but still, definitely a compliment). Consider me a fan \m/ Favorite track: ‘Radon Chong.’”
\m/ = Rock On
Price: Name Your Price (Includes FREE) for six-track EP
Genre: Horror Surf. Instrumental.
Links:
Genki Genki Panic on Bandcamp
Genki Genki Panic Official Website
Genki Genki Panic on YouTube
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
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David Bruce's Blog #1
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David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Recommended
Other Links:
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
davidbrucebooks: EDUCATE YOURSELF - Free PDFs
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Gas dropped 3¢: to $5.56/gal (cash) at the no-name cash-preferred station.
Missing Notebooks Returned
Charles Darwin
Two of naturalist Charles Darwin’s notebooks that were reported stolen from Cambridge University’s library have been returned, two decades after they disappeared.
The university said Tuesday that the manuscripts were left in the library inside a pink gift bag, along with a note wishing the librarian a Happy Easter.
The notebooks, which include the 19th-century scientist’s famous 1837 “Tree of Life” sketch, went missing in 2001 after being removed for photographing, though at the time staff believed they might have been misplaced. After searches of the library’s collection of 10 million books, maps and manuscripts failed to find them, they were reported stolen to police in October 2020.
On March 9 the books reappeared, left in a public area of the building, outside the librarian’s office, which is not covered by security cameras. The two notebooks were wrapped in clingfilm inside their archive box, and appeared undamaged. The accompanying note said: “Librarian Happy Easter X.”
Charles Darwin
Prime Time Ratings
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Despite a night of feel-good vibes and performances by the music industry’s top acts, the Grammy Awards barely moved the needle as a television attraction.
The show reached just under 9.6 million viewers on Sunday, the Nielsen company said. That’s a 4% increase over 2021's broadcast, a more intimate affair because of the pandemic, and the smallest-ever audience for the Grammys by a wide margin.
Fox News Channel was the most-watched cable network in prime time, averaging 2.5 million viewers. TBS had 1.99 million, ESPN had 1.67 million, TNT had 1.47 million and HGTV had 1.1 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race with an average of 8.4 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7 million viewers and the “CBS Evening News” had 5 million.
For the week of March 28-April 3, the top 20 prime time programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: Duke vs. North Carolina, TBS, 9.87 million.
2. “Grammy Awards” (8 to 10:53 p.m. Eastern), CBS, 9.59 million.
3. “Grammy Awards” (10:54 to 11:30 p.m.), CBS, 8.76 million.
4. “FBI,” CBS, 7.58 million.
5. “NCAA Pregame Show,” TBS, 7.24 million.
6. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 6.93 million.
7. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.83 million.
8. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.48 million.
9. NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: Duke vs. North Carolina, Turner, 6.38 million.
10. “Ghosts,” CBS, 6.23 million.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Animal Charity Fundraiser
Doris Day
The 100th anniversary of Doris Day’s birthday is being recognized with a social-media fundraiser honoring her passion for animals.
The Doris Day Animal Foundation, a charity that supports animal welfare programs nationwide, is asking “animal lovers” everywhere to donate and celebrate her legacy.
The foundation announced a goal of $100,00 in donations, which it said it would match with funds to benefit animals affected by the war in Ukraine.
Day, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 3, 1922, created the nonprofit group, originally known as the Doris Day Pet Foundation, in 1978. She died in May 2019 at age 97.
Doris Day
Creates a ‘Short-Ass Movies’ Category
Netflix
Netflix has added a new category of movies to its service, thanks to a bit from last weekend’s episode of “Saturday Night Live.” Inspired by a musical bit from the show, viewers can now browse through an entire section of “short-ass” movies.
In the pretaped sketch, Pete Davidson, Chris Redd, musical guest Gunna and actor Simon Rex rapped about how movies nowadays are just way too long. “Three hours, 47 minutes? Bro, you must be crazy. No thanks, I’mma watch a short-ass movie like ‘Driving Miss Daisy,'” Davidson sang.
The entire premise of the song, called “Short-Ass Movies” was the idea that none of the men wanted to watch a movie longer than maybe an hour and 40 minutes. So, on Monday, the official “Netflix Is A Joke” account quote-tweeted the sketch, and captioned it “good idea.”
Within the “Short-Ass Movies” section, viewers will find options like “Scary Movie 4,” which clocks in at one hour and 23 minutes, or “Zoolander,” which is an even hour and a half, or the 2022 remake of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” which has the same runtime as “Scary Movie 4.”
Netflix
Fires Back at Chickenhawk
Defense Secretary
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin defended U.S. military efforts related to Ukraine and the strength of the military in general during a fiery exchange with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Chickenhawk, on Tuesday.
At a wide-ranging House Armed Services Committee hearing, Gaetz pressed Austin about a lecture on democratic socialism at the National Defense University that became a target for conservative media, accusing Pentagon officials of misplacing their focus.
"You guys said that Russia would overrun Ukraine in 36 days," Gaetz said. "You said that the Taliban would be kept at bay for months. You totally blew those calls, and maybe we would be better at them if the National Defense University actually worked a little more on strategy and a little less on woke-ism."
A fired-up Austin shot back: "Has it occurred to you Russia has not overrun Ukraine because of what we've done and what our allies have done? Have you ever even thought about that?"
Defense Secretary
Rumbling With Mysterious Quakes
Mars
It turns out that Mars is rumblier than we knew. New techniques have revealed previously undetected quakes beneath the Martian surface – and, scientists say, the best explanation so far is ongoing volcanic activity.
The evidence seems to be mounting that Mars is far from dead, but hosts, underneath its dusty, barren surface, an interior gurgling away with seismic activity.
The planet has very little in the way of a magnetic field. Planetary magnetic fields are (usually) generated inside the planet, by something called a dynamo – a rotating, convecting, and electrically conducting fluid that converts kinetic energy into magnetic energy, spinning a magnetic field out into space.
Mars' lack of a magnetic field suggests a lack of activity. This is a big deal; in fact, a magnetic field can mean the difference between life and death. Here on Earth, the magnetic field protects us from cosmic radiation that might destroy life. On Mars, radiation levels are much higher, even though it is more distant from the Sun.
Mars
Endangered Porpoises
Vaquita Marina
Scientists estimate only about eight of the world’s most critically endangered porpoises may remain in the Gulf of California, the only place where the vaquita marina lives, an environmental group said Tuesday.
Pritam Singh, chairman of the Sea Shepherd group, said its crews had not seen any of the elusive porpoises during about three dozen trips this year to what is believed to be the last area in the gulf where vaquitas live.
But he said scientists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature reviewed images taken late last year that suggest eight adults and perhaps one or two calves are still in the the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez.
Vaquitas drown in illegal nets set by fishermen to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is a delicacy in China and sells for thousands of dollars per pound (kilogram).
Vaquita Marina
Found Hiding
RAS Cells
Scientists have discovered a brand-new type of cell hiding inside the delicate, branching passageways of human lungs. The newfound cells play a vital role in keeping the respiratory system functioning properly and could even inspire new treatments to reverse the effects of certain smoking-related diseases, according to a new study.
The cells, known as respiratory airway secretory (RAS) cells, are found in tiny, branching passages known as bronchioles, which are tipped with alveoli, the teensy air sacs that exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the bloodstream. The new RAS cells are similar to stem cells — "blank canvas" cells that can differentiate into any other type of cell in the body — and are capable of repairing damaged alveoli cells and transforming into new ones.
Researchers discovered the RAS cells after becoming increasingly frustrated by the limitations of relying on the lungs of mice as models for the human respiratory system. However, because of certain differences between the two, scientists have struggled to fill some knowledge gaps about human lungs. To get a better understanding of these differences on a cellular level, the team took lung tissue samples from healthy human donors and analyzed the genes within individual cells, which revealed the previously unknown RAS cells.
"It has been known for some time that the airways of the human lung are different than in the mouse," senior author Edward Morrisey, a professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in respiratory systems, told Live Science. "But emerging technologies have only recently allowed us to sample and identify unique cell types."
RAS Cells
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