January 30, 2006
In my job, a paralegal and I have to clear press releases (usually just for proper trademark usage, but also for factual claims that could count as representations). The lawyers in this article seem a bit cautious to me.
Here's a taste, but be sure to read the whole thing (the lawyers' critiques are in italics):
The author alleges the band KISS badly mimed "Beth" and "Detroit Rock City" on "The Paul Lynde Variety Special." Evidence?
I realize the words "KISS" and "Paul Lynde" don't normally appear together in the same sentence. But such a TV-variety special did air in 1977, on which KISS was the musical guest. As for my predicate "badly mimed," consider that during the performance of "Beth," the drummer miraculously played the piano by positioning his fingers 6 inches above the keyboard. You do the math.
Really. What 1970s musical variety show wasn't badly mimed?
(Hat tip: Lynn S. at A Sweet, Familiar Dissonance)
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)I will keep the old archive page up indefinitely, and for the near future, the online drop box will remain active.
Thanks for your previous support. Let's help John make this successful.
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January 25, 2006
The author is a music teacher. I discovered her thanks to this fantastic comment she left at The Phantom Professor's recently:
The unhealthy trend I see in my students is over-programming -- they try to "do it all." (I teach music privately and at a university, so my students are from age 8 to adult.) Parents will call to ask about lessons and then tell me their kids are taking soccer, ballet, karate, French lessons, and in Girl Scouts, and they now want to add music lessons to the mix. (I don't take those kids as students -- it's not fair to them to expect them to be Superkids.)
By the time they reach university, they're either burned out, OR they're so overprogrammed that they try to take 18 credits, work a part-time job, do an internship, and join three clubs, all in the same semester. Some get by on four hours of sleep.
By their junior year, they start to go a little nuts as a result.
But the irony is that by this point they are used to juggling so many things that it's hard to concentrate on just one or two priorities--because their attention spans haven't been developing all along.
I'm not really critical of my students, who don't know any better. It's their parents, who let them do so many activities when they're younger, who get my criticism. And the irony is that the parents are doing this (usually) because they want the BEST for their kids.
Luckily, some of my students' parents are resisting this trend. In one family, for example, each kid can pick one art activity (such as music) and one sport. No more. I think it's a very healthy way to live, and those kids seem to be a lot happier -- and a lot more like KIDS.
I felt that was addressed directly to my overachieving Plano, Texas strive-more crowd. In fact, the last paragraph is something my family has already done: we have severely curtailed all three kids' activities this year. No more sports this school year, and nothing extra beyond Scouting and music lessons. I know it runs counter to the "enrichment" mentality so endemic around here, but our kids seem much happier having the freedom to just paint at the kitchen table, play in the driveway, ride bikes, or read. Heck, even to watch some TV or play some video games with me. Not everything needs to be regimented and supervised.
Anyway, what does any of this have to do with the title of this blog post? To find out, go read this entertaining story of a day in the life of a music teacher. I swear that could be my second son.
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January 16, 2006
Despite the optimistic tone of this week's host, I have not received enough sustained interest to keep the Carnival going. Effective now, the Carnival is on an indefinite hiatus. I will keep the archive page up so that random surfers can find and enjoy the many worthy efforts of the fine hosts and contributors.
Maybe I will resurrect the idea in the future, maybe not.
In the meantime, if you are interested in assuming control of this carnival theme, please let me know. Thanks!
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January 09, 2006
If anyone is interested in assuming the Carnival of Music, I would be happy to turn it over to a new owner. Please leave a comment or send me an email.
I don't have time to implement the many wonderful ideas proposed previously to revive the concept, and it has been caught in the doldrums for a couple of months now. If no one steps forward, I will put it on indefinite hiatus.
In the meantime send your musical links to the online drop box, and I'll see that they get to Daniel at Pilgrimage to Parnassus for inclusion in the next Carnival. Thanks!
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