I enjoyed that performance so much that I went on a bit of a binge and watched a bunch of their stuff on YouTube. Besides their version of “Shaft”, this is among my favorites:

It reminds me of the “Pachelbel Rant” that gives my theory students a good laugh each and every spring. In fact, I might start my theory class this fall with this, just to introduce my long running teaching point about the need to understand what is similar about different pieces of music so that we can really get to the essence of what makes each of them unique.

Not as interesting as Schulhoff, but I like stuff like this.

The EMF musicians gave their usual terrific performances of all of the pieces, but for me it’s always and forever about the music. The Wolf Italian Serenade was a charming piece and the Brahms trio is an exquisite work, but for me, the Schulhoff simply stole the show. Yes, his life was tragically cut short by the the Holocaust, but how he remains in relative obscurity is beyond my comprehension.

St. Louis County • Two people were killed and 13 injured — one critically — Tuesday in a catastrophic crash that closed eastbound Highway 40 just west of Interstate 270 as the evening rush hour was beginning, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Sgt. Al Nothum of the Highway Patrol said 11 vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, were involved in the double-fatality crash at about 3:45 p.m.

The accident started when a tractor trailer apparently plowed into a line of stopped cars waiting to get onto I-270.

“The driver of a large tractor-and-trailer unit was traveling eastbound on (Highway) 40 in the far right lane and basically ran over several vehicles,” Nothum said at a news conference.

I know the rhetoric about how the trucking industry keeps America’s economy moving and that this is an isolated incident and that most truckers are just trying to make end’s meet, but I can’t help be angry at this, especially since this is on my commute during the school year and a spot where I wait in traffic just a little bit earlier than the time frame for this accident.

Nothing against truckers since I know almost every single one of them drives more safely than most of the rest of us, but this is a great moment to mention how strongly I feel about this nation needing to rebuild its railway system, for a variety of reasons.

COLLINSVILLE — Few American cities can claim a condiment-centric festival. Collinsville can claim two.

A mere five weeks after wrapping up its International Horseradish Festival, the city kicked off its “World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Festival” Saturday, celebrating the 59th birthday of the giant red receptacle that towers south of downtown.

“It’s just a good reason to have a birthday party,” said Judy Demoisy, the festival’s organizer. “Any deep meaning? No. Just that any community should celebrate its assets. It’s an awareness thing.”

You have to see it to believe it…

… and you can, on this website dedicated to the Official World’s Largest Catsup Bottle!!

Americana at it’s finest along Route 66.

Her infraction? Carrying a sign that says “McCain = Bush”

I love her question at the end: “Why would Republicans who voted for bush find it offensive that a sign says Bush = McCain or McCain = Bush?”

Exactly.

To help with my transition, I am currently in the process of spending my EMF days in the local university’s well equipped music library poring over journal articles and re-acquainting myself with his influential pedagogical text. In the process I am also reading some of the articles about music therapy curricula with the vague notion that I might be able to provide something more to the therapy students at Marvyille and perhaps to the theory/therapy communities as a whole. (Besides, given the fact that theory jobs outnumber composition jobs somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 to 1 or more, it certainly can’t hurt to work up the chops and pedagogy is my only research passion.)

At some point, I might also try to write some music, though I think it will be more natural to return to this once the rhythm of the school year returns in just about 7 weeks. I do tend to write more and better music when I’m the most busy anyway!

Five weeks after the interview and with no official news I found out that the gig went to a graduate school colleague (it would be another three weeks before I got the form letter), which leaves me happy for him, but with many, many unresolved questions about the nature of academic job searches. It is the residual bitterness over this search that has kept me from blogging in recent months.

Apparently, from what I can divine from the comments of those with whom I spoke and my own post-mortem reflection, I think I gave an unfavorable opinion about a textbook or said something that created a moment of hesitation for the committee. Though I’m not really that inflexible, I think I tend to give the impression that my opinions are etched in stone. I believe this because I received a follow up phone call a week after my interview that left me with a very bad vibe.

(I later learned that a few days after this follow-up call, a fresh round of telephone interviews began. Ugh.)

On the bright side, I did receive a substantial part-time gig from McKendree University to supplement my teaching over at Maryville University of St. Louis. The salary reflects the part-time nature of the gig but fortunately I am responsible for the curriculum at both schools and will be able to teach from the same materials. This removes the largest single impediment from teaching in two programs and should prevent me from losing my mind teaching 21 credits of coursework a semester. Together, the renumeration from the two schools is approaching a credible full time salary and I have my wife’s outstanding Illinois benefits to cover that part of the equation. All is not bad because at the end of the day our financial situation will be greatly improved.

(It does mean that my thoughts about community service might be on the back burner for a while though. I need to get that sorted…)

According to the SSA statistics, my name finished in 129th position last year and has now dropped to 138th. I fear that Mark might be heading for the same hapless fate as that of Mildred, a name which despite being the bee’s knees and finishing in the top ten for the first three decades of the 20th century, hasn’t even been in the top 1000 since 1984!!

In other news, did you see that a robot conducted the Detroit Symphony last night? Nice publicity stunt, but a little frightening. I wonder if its audio receptors are protected under EU law from prolonged noise exposure?

While the Rockridge Institute closed in April 2008, the Institute’s staff remain committed to fulfilling the progressive vision it advocated and are available for consultations, trainings, and speaking engagements.

Disappointed is the only word that comes to mind. I truly enjoyed their articles and books, especially those of George Lakoff whose discussion of “framing” in political discourse opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at the politicians and what they say. It’s a bit sad to see a progressive think tank go out of business.

I guess they didn’t have an oil company for a sugar daddy.