(January 30, 2010)
Like much of the country, we actually had a white Christmas last month. This picture was taken on the morning of December 25, in the woods near our house.
Even before I got all the Christmas loot, I had already received a couple of unexpected musical presents from former students: one was a CD of traditional Chinese folk songs, and another one a recording of the violin sonatas of Eugene Ysaye, a composer and violinist I knew nothing about. I am really enjoying both, although they are quite different from "the sort of stuff" I am used to--which means it will take many more listenings to come to a full appreciation of them. But that is one thing I can always depend on, when it comes to discovering new (good) music: it always rewards you in the end.
For my own Christmas list, however, I looked much closer to my traditional "comfort zone", and asked for--and received--a ton of stuff by Chopin and Brahms, which I am also discovering slowly. The Brahms recordings, in particular--this collection here of chamber music--are one gorgeous piece after another. I was already familiar with about 1/4 of them, but there are plenty of gems among the formerly unknown ones, like the piano trio in B (opus 8) and the first string sextet (opus 18). And I haven't even listened to the clarinet quintet yet!
I did get a little "popular" music as well: The Sundays' Static and Silence, which is lovely, and Bob Dylan's Modern Times, which is, um, weird (but then, which Dylan album isn't?).
Not much new here, I'm afraid. I'm back to reading the Samyutta Nikaya (which should keep me busy for a while!), and I'm also finally getting around to reading Terry Pratchett's second book in the Tiffany Aching series, A Hat Full Of Sky. I love Pratchett's witches, so this is a treat that I had willingy delayed for a long time.
This semester I am teaching a course on physics for non-science majors, and a big concern has been trying to figure out what I am going to tell them when I get to the subject of global warming. I'll probably end up writing a whole separate web page on the subject, but for now I am only going to recommend this particular blog, "The Blackboard", as perhaps the most informative and reliable out there...
The whole world is filled with speculation
The whole wide world which people say is round
They will tear your mind away from contemplation
They will jump on your misfortune when you're down
Bob Dylan, Ain't talking