Tunes and words
Around 20 years ago, the TV show That’s Life sprung a surprise on Nicholas Winton.
A 60 minute documentary recently delved deeper into his story, and interviewed him at the age of 104.
His story is remarkable in (at least) three ways:
Continue reading “Winton”
Next week, the people of Scotland will vote on whether to become an independent country and separate from the United Kingdom. If you want to gauge how material a decision this could be, you only need to check the average cholesterol level of the citizens of the United Kingdom before and after a “Yes” vote.
This week we had some very interesting discussions about the evolution of “intelligence” in popular culture building on traditional concepts of “brainiac” intelligence to skills and broad kudos for expertise earned through hard work matched with natural ability.
One of my favorite exponents is Danny MacAskill who does things with bikes which are just extraordinary.
This one’s about what you can achieve when you put your mind to it.
Interesting statistic that I just made up: the average successful music artist today spends three years between albums. It’s probably something like that. For Daft Punk, it was eight years. The Beatles had come and gone in the space of eight years.
Great musicians find inspiration in diverse places. From Victoriana (The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper) to Vietnam (The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black”, Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son”). From the wife of Mr Robinson (Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs Robinson”) to innovations in elevated beverage containers (Macklemore’s “The Ceiling Can Holders”).
Many common names reflect an ancestor’s profession. Michael Schumacher’s antecedents made shoes, Bradley Cooper’s barrels. Harry Potter’s made pots. And probably put magic ingredients or something in them, I’m not sure.
Seattle’s Green Lake Aqua Theater was a short-lived watery amphitheater. In May 1969 Three Dog Night headlined a show there. They were supported by up and coming British import Led Zeppelin.
So this week’s theme is unlikely and impressive support acts.
George Martin passed away this week. He is best known for being the man who signed and produced the Beatles (and for his pirate alter ego that wrote the Game of Thrones books).
What’s in a name? In the week when Donald Drumpf was unveiled, I’ve been reading the autobiography of Jay Williams, former basketball star, current ESPN commentator and friend of Bing. He discovered that his management had changed his name from Jason to Jay when he opened the paper one morning.
Many famous songs don’t retain their original titles.
The Beatles’ “Yesterday” started life as “Scrambled eggs”. Percy Sledge’s ‘Why did you leave me baby” became “When a man loves a woman”.