Der Doppelgänger

Evidently, it's celebrity doppelgänger week on Facebook. I'm still trying to figure out how these things get started - first, the colors that began appearing in people's statuses (took me a while to catch on to that one...) and now this. Well, I can't think of anyone....actually, I just did. I have selected Matt Damon as my celebrity doppelgänger. Perhaps this is wishful thinking. Oh well. This trend reminded of Schubert's ominous rendition of Der Doppelgänger. Sends chills down your spine. Click the link for Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (my favorite) singing it. Whew!

Well, the chicken tikki-masala didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped. (This is what I had cooked as a surprise for Taneea.) Chicken tikki-masala is an Indian dish that we discovered while in Baltimore. The first time we went to Lumbini, an Indian/Nepalese restaurant, we asked for advice as to what to order. You guessed it, the waitress recommended chicken tikki-masala. It was so good, that every time we visited Lumbini after that day, (and I regret to say that it was more than a handful), we ordered this, along with buttered Naan. But it didn't turn out as I had planned. Perhaps, we should leave Indian food to the Indians. (How?)

OK, I miss Baltimore now. Not the parking, just the food. Oh, and the Inner Harbor was pretty nice, too. It was always nice to walk to and from school beside the ocean. Well, technically, it was the northwestern branch of the Patapsco River.

I am really glad to have had the city life experience for two years. I don't know if I could survive it long term, but it was nice while it lasted. As with many things, there are pros and cons. Pros: walking everywhere you go (good exercise and fun recreation), restaurants, shops, etc. at your fingertips, the beautiful cityscape scenery, the constant activity, the cultural emphasis, the dedicated "green-preserving efforts" (parks and gardens), and many more. Cons: you had to walk everywhere you went, there were restaurants and shops at your fingertips so it was entirely too easy and convenient to spend your hard-earned cash, the constant activity (including the shouting outside your door at 2 am from drunken bar hoppers and the sickening feeling you got when you watched your car get bumped [love taps as they were termed] from both ends as the same drunk bar hoppers pulled out of their parallel parking space), the rapacious city officials ("meter-maids") that mercilessly ticketed your legally-parked car, and the outlandish and ever-increasing property taxes and monopolized utilities. In the end, for me, the cons outweigh the pros. However, I think this depends on what city you live in. I am, though, very grateful to have lived in Federal Hill, an oasis from some of the woeful attributes of city life.

Well, we've been up near 60 degrees over the past couple of days and sounds like there is snow everywhere except for the deep south. If you look at this satellite photo, it seems as though Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia are immune to cloud cover. Poor Tennesseans. They're probably looking around at each other saying, "We got hosed, Tommy. We got hosed."

As you can see, this entry is very link-laden. Fortunately for you, I figured out how to insert hyperlinks into my posts. Anyways, I think I'm through for today. Hope all four of you enjoy reading this. At 593 words, each of you gets 148.25 words all to yourself! Speaking of words, did you find the word of the day?

Till next time.

System Failure

Well, I did it already. I was hoping this would be a couple of weeks down the road, but I have already succeeded in neglecting my blog. Turns out, I am adept at reading blogs. I have a proclivity for following every jot and tittle on other's blogs around the web, but alas, it is my blog that is forsaken at the end of the day (Those words are for you, Matthew). Thus, I have initiated a new challenge to surmount. On my dashboard, I have a widget that provides me with the "word of the day." I will attempt to incorporate this word into my blog. It is up to YOU to find it. Although, it will probably be very obvious as it's nature will be unlike any of the other words used in my entry.

If i was to sum up this week, I would probably label it "tech week." Though many of the things I do are tech-inclined, this week necessitated an unusual devotion to technology. First off, there's Apple's premiering of the iPad. Though I was hoping for the name iSlate, I will soon forget the other rumored names of the product and regard iPad as the only name this new product could have ever been. Initially, my reaction to the product has been slightly negative. I had hoped for something to run full Mac OS X, have more screen space (less bezel) and be available on for internet service on more networks. Essentially, the product seemed like a glorified iPod touch: "an iPhone without the Phone." However, I read an article last night on who the intended consumer of this product might be that shed some light perhaps on Apple's intentions and direction with technology. It suggests that, with this product, they are less concerned with tech specs (though their products certainly boast impressive specifications) and are more concerned with the user-experience. That's it - though they do sell technology, Apple is selling more of an experience. I think that, without featuring such a robust infrastructure, they may be able to rope a few consumers (avid readers, maybe?) into the technological experience without them knowing it. Concerning the iBooks application, though, there is something to be said of the physical, tangible quality of holding a book in your hands and reading it. The smell of the pages, the aura of turning pages, etc. Some may feel that the moving away from paper books is a verboten practice. Publishers, on the other hand are feeling the weight and burden of the up-front printing of books and music. I have noticed that, whenever we order new music at our church, it comes not in a package of printed-out sheets and booklets, but rather on a data CD, for you to print out yourself. Well, that was a rabbit chaser, here's the link to the article, you decide.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10443890-260.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

It's also tech week because I have finally updated my computer's operating system to Snow Leopard. Though many of the features are under-the-hood (faster, more reliable), I am enjoying several of the new aspects of the update. Although, any computing experiences on a mac are enjoyable.

It's also tech week because I had to rewire everything in our home theater system as we moved everything to a different wall. Going through the miles of speaker wire and A/V cords, I am ready for technology to shift to an emphasis on more, and reliable, wireless transmissions. The foundation is there, and is plenipotentiary, but has not achieved enough consumer adoption for manufacturers to get serious about making it a forefront feature at the consumer level.

One day, my posts are going to be interesting - just wait. That's it for today. What's on the docket for the weekend? Rest, cook (making a surprise dish for Taneea...pictures forthcoming), hopefully compose, blog, and dream about warmer weather. My Vespa is feeling very neglected. So is my yard, but we don't have to talk about that....)

Till next time.

On your mark, get set, blog!

How often do we actually go through the physical steps that we verbally reference when we say, "On your mark, get set, Go!" This phrase is a perfect example of rhetorical figure. No, not a rhetorical question. Do you really think I would ask you a rhetorical question? (Get it?) In every language, there are phrases, groups of words that we utter, often subconsciously. What do say when you answer the phone or greet someone? "Hi, how are you?" or "How's it going?" When we talk or write, our sentences are primarily constructed of many rhetorical figures or phrases strung together.

Music is the same way: it is, oftentimes just a string of rhetorical figures that have existed long before they are penned in a particular instance. There is a small number of these figures, many of them have names or particular meanings, but it's the combination and the atmosphere that creates originality. I know you're impatiently thinking, "alright, where's the example?" Here you go: Mozart used a lot of appoggiaturas in his music. He certainly did not invent these - they are merely rhetorically figures! It just so happens that this is one with meaning. (You lucked out!). These little gestures are termed sospirato, or sighs. See it?

Raise your hand if you are completely bored by now. Raise your other hand if you disagree that On you mark, get set, Go! is a rhetorical figure. Raise your foot if you think that Mozart simply enjoyed the utilization of these graceful motives and you think I'm reading too much into it by calling it a "sigh." Now do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around. This is my blog and I'll call it like I see it. Just kidding, you are free to disagree with me.

My reasoning in titling this post "On your mark, get set, blog!" is twofold: First, it is my first non-introduction entry. Second, it is the start to a new and busy week in the office here at Second Baptist. I cleaned and organized my desktop on Friday and after only one day of work, it is once again piled upon. I guess that's what happens when one listens to Scriabin (spell check wants me to say Scribbling) while working. Tomorrow, I'll listen to Bach.

Be well, do good work. and keep in touch. (author of quote?)

An introduction by way of explanation

Those of us that lived through the 80's (I only lived through six years of the awkward decade) may remember the commercial sponsored by a Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "This is drugs. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?" If you do not recall the commercial, or would simply like to see it again, here's the link, courtesy of YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs.
Great commercial. Great memories...well, most of them.

I have chosen to theme my blog so as to reflect what the brain is like on music. While studies have shown that a brain on music is quite different than a brain on drugs, and I hope they're right, I must admit that I was not the first to create the phrase. Daniel J. Levitin beat me to it with his book, "This Is Your Brain on music." Jerk.
http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0525949690

You may have already pegged me as unoriginal. Uncreative. Cliché. Let me point you to Ecclesiastes 1:9b "There is nothing new under the sun." Charles H. Duell must have come across this verse. As the U.S. Commissioner of Patents, he declared in 1899 that everything that can be invented has been invented. His recommendation, which was put to a vote and lost by one vote, was that the Patent Office close its doors. Well, now I'm finding that this story isn't true. http://www.ideafinder.com/guest/archives/wow-duell.htm. However, it is inspirational. Probably debunked by Daniel J. Levitin.

Eventually, I'll talk about music. Most of the time it will be random murmuring that is only audible because it is typed. This doesn't guarantee that it will make sense. Bear with me.

Till next time.