Mick LaSalle wisdom

If you read this blog you know that Mick LaSalle is my favorite living film critic.  Just search this blog for LaSalle and you’ll see a lot of references to him.

In his “Ask Mick LaSalle” column yesterday he was discussing the Gatsby world in response to a question about who he would cast as Daisy Buchanan.  Near the end of his answer he came up with this gem:

“By the way, youth is very important for these Fitzgerald characters because, though the point of view is nostalgic, it’s the nostalgia of youth for youth.  I don’t think I was ever for nostalgic for my early 20s than when I was in my late 20s, because when you’re 21, you are basically king.  You have mastered the art of being a kid, and now you rule the youth universe.  But when you are 28, you’re like a really beautiful-looking 50-year-old, only with no money, no respect, no experience and no professional poise, and even if you’re good at something, there are a bunch of older people trying to block your path.  By the time you’re 35, you’re in a different zone – beyond nostalgia and into the next phase; that is, outside the “Gatsby” zone.”

U.S. tax system is an embarrassment!

We all know how unfair the U.S. tax system is.  Here is a great little article on the subject with a chart that says it all.

Follow up on audio production

My first Willy Nilly production concerned military snare drum work in pop and rock tunes.  My old friend Michael Lally responded to the post by pulling my coat to the opening credits of “Blackboard Jungle,” which commence with outstanding solo military drum rolls and flourishes, and the make a brilliant segue into Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock.”  I found these opening credits on YouTube.  Check it out here.

Thanks Michael…

My latest audio production

I have been wanting to to get back into putting together some audio productions for some of the things that bounce around in my head.  I decided to set up a digital audio workstation (DAW) on my very fast Sony Vaio laptop so that I would not be tied down to my desktop computer and its M-Audio sound board.  I already have a very good condenser mic.  So what I needed was to buy a digital audio interface to bridge between the mic and my laptop running Mixcraft 6 software.  I decided on a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which I now have in operation.  In the picture below, it is the red  doo-dad on the right – laptop and mic also evident.

I finished my first project on a subject that has been rattling around in my brain.  You can listen to it here.  Let me know what you think.  I hope to produce more of these in the coming months.

So sick of Benghazi

I have just about had it with the right wing pumping up the Benghazi incident to fanciful, paranoid proportions.  Day in and day out it’s one nut-case after another demanding an investigation, calling for the president’s impeachment, or seeing vast conspiracies under every rock.  Of course the real purpose in this whole charade is an attempt to diminish Hillary Clinton’s competence and popularity – 2016, you know!  And, it’s going to get worse this week. 

In the midst of all this right-wing bullshit, we have our usual hero and savior, Jon Stewart, laying down the truth.  His monologue last Wednesday was spot on.  Too bad more people are not listening to him.  

Pete Seeger–94 and still here with us

Friday was Pete Seeger’s 94th birthday.  Check it out here, which includes a performance of Jacob’s Ladder on his 90th.  Pete is one of the most authentic cats I can thinks of.  He can be forgiven for his condemnation of Dylan’s electric performance at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival – hey he was just being his authentic self, right.  Oh, and so was Bob!