Michael Feinstein, new conductor for the Pasadena Pops Orchestra, wowed JPL today with his Frank Sinatra like performance, funny one-liners, and interesting song selections.
What struck me about him was his very strong performance - constant engagement with the audience - he smiled and he smiled and hardly looked at the keys on the piano he was playing. Some musicians focus on their instrument or forget the people for a while, but Feinstein had eyes only for the audience.
Towards the end, he said that one of his goals was to bring back the communal experience that music nowadays had started to move away from...Interesting. Sounds noble anyway.
On the way home, a radiolab podcast talked about how Beethoven's symphonies actually are supposed to play a lot faster based on the metronome markings he made in his notes.
And at lunch today, I gleefully related a story to others about how the iron content of spinach had been misreported for decades due to a decimal error in transcription. What a great story - except I found out later that it wasn't true. Apparently, there is a book out there called 'The Half Life of Facts'. Maybe it's time to read it.
In going with the spirit of entrepreneurship, I think there should be a way to sort truth from reality.
Climbing up 126 steps daily to get to my office is working out well I think. As long as no other humans hear me sound like a heaving elephant everytime I emerge from the stairwell.
What struck me about him was his very strong performance - constant engagement with the audience - he smiled and he smiled and hardly looked at the keys on the piano he was playing. Some musicians focus on their instrument or forget the people for a while, but Feinstein had eyes only for the audience.
Towards the end, he said that one of his goals was to bring back the communal experience that music nowadays had started to move away from...Interesting. Sounds noble anyway.
On the way home, a radiolab podcast talked about how Beethoven's symphonies actually are supposed to play a lot faster based on the metronome markings he made in his notes.
And at lunch today, I gleefully related a story to others about how the iron content of spinach had been misreported for decades due to a decimal error in transcription. What a great story - except I found out later that it wasn't true. Apparently, there is a book out there called 'The Half Life of Facts'. Maybe it's time to read it.
In going with the spirit of entrepreneurship, I think there should be a way to sort truth from reality.
Climbing up 126 steps daily to get to my office is working out well I think. As long as no other humans hear me sound like a heaving elephant everytime I emerge from the stairwell.
