Category Archives: Digressions

Last Saturday, I had the great honor of participating in a concert held at the Lijsterbes Kraainem in Brussels that combined music, painting, and literature. The idea came from my good friend and favorite contemporary classical pianist, Philippe Raskin. The story goes something like this:

In 1874, Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky composed Pictures at an Exhibition, a ten movement piano suite in honor of his recently deceased friend, Viktor Hartmann. Each movement is inspired by one of Hartmann’s paintings. Of the original ten Hartmann paintings, only five are believed to still exist today (though there are some doubts as to the authenticity of these remaining works). Listening to the piece, you have the sensation of walking through an exhibition at a museum – hence the name of the title.

With this in mind, Raskin hoped to recreate the spirit of the Mussorgsky composition through the joint collaboration of music, painting, and literature.  To do this, he first asked the artist, Magda Calleeuw, to paint the five missing Hartmann works. Next, he asked me to write ten vignettes inspired by the corresponding movements and paintings. Continue reading →

Here’s a very clever response by one Lily Coyle in the Minneapolis Star Tribune to Pat Robertson’s preposterous claim that Haitians had signed a pack with the Devil, resulting in the recent the earthquake (chickens roosting?):

Dear Pat Robertson, I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I’m all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I’m no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth — glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven’t you seen “Crossroads”? Or “Damn Yankees”? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there’d be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox — that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it — I’m just saying: Not how I roll. You’re doing great work, Pat, and I don’t want to clip your wings — just, come on, you’re making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That’s working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract. Best, Satan

Thanks to Cristina M for sending me the link.

After a record long intermission from Grave Error, I am back with my 2010 New Year’s Resolution. Now, I know I have mentioned before that this was not a political blog, was never intended to be one, that I would try harder to steer it back towards its more digressive origins, and that I have routinely failed at doing so. Nevertheless, for 2010, I am resolving to write less about politics. That doesn’t mean that I won’t slip off the wagon ever now and then or that politics are off limits altogether. Just that I will make a more conscious effort to concentrate more on digressions than on the absurdities of our political discourse.

At this time last year, we had “gone fishing“. This year we have been away in a lot of snow and

a little bit of sun.  We’ll be back online soon.

Two posts about football in one day? But, this one really is about football and not just an analogy.

These are the top ten goals of the 2009 competing for the FIFA Puskas Award. Once again, I will let you make up your own mind.

Besides its various sports related merchandise, Real Madrid is now marketing its own line of lingerie. Hopefully, the panties will score more and cost less than Real Madrid’s strikers.

Of course, “fun” loses its novelty over time.

Thanks, Bill.