Music for Halloween

I've been pondering the music to share for this All Hallows Eve, something to capture the darkness of this day. There are the obvious Thriller's and Monster Mash's, but whenever I think of the dark, ghoulish, demonic, scary, other worldly sounds of Halloween (which is what Halloween was before it became slutty), I am immediately drawn to classical music. No one seems to capture that darkest of darks quite like classical composers.

Mussorgsky's Night On Bald Mountain might just be the scariest of scary, and Disney brilliantly captures the dark, twisted soulful sound of this music in the final scenes of the original Fantasia. Happy Halloween!

Music to celebrate Harry Potter

I am a Harry Potter nerd. I have grown up reading Harry Potter, even into adulthood, following his adventures through the magical world of witchcraft and wizardry. I bought all the books at midnight, staying up until the wee hours of the morning reading them and swallow up the wizarding world so that it might be apart of me forever. I’ve seen every movie (also in the wee hours of the morning) and spent a healthy amount of time pondering what house I would have been sorted to. I am equal parts sad and excited for tonights final film. The saga is coming to a close. I’m willing to wager that the probability of my walking into the theater tonight and bursting into tears is pretty high. In honor of this Harry Potter Day, I thought it fitting to share some of the music from the films. This subtle and haunting melody has become iconic and helped shaped these stories from the beginning. I can’t help but hear it in the background every time I go back to read the stories.

Homeward Bound

The only problem with living in the great city of Austin, TX (besides the geckos that keep getting into my apartment) is that it is 1,700 miles from my family. That 1,700 is only exacerbated by the rising cost of travel and the fact that certain members of my family are not on good terms with airplanes and suddenly it has been 6 months since I have seen my family. With the possibility of it being another 6 months before I see them again, I quickly searched for a remedy (and a weekend when I don’t already have concert tickets) and booked a flight to the north.

As serendipity would have it, I’ll be home not only when my youngest brother will also be in town, but it will be smack dab in the middle of the Rochester Jazz Festival. The Jazz Fest might be one of my favorite things in the whole world so be ready for an influx of jazz haikus (the Jazz fest is where I got my start in concert haikuing) and great music!

Happy Birthday Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan will always be my childhood

father bend over his guitar

rasping his voice singing “once upon a time you dress so fine.”

Happy Birthday Bob. 

Songs for Terrifying Southern Moments

I don’t like lizards, especially the small anole/gecko kind. They are quick and unpredictable and gross. Tonight one got into my apartment, which commenced a lot of shrieking and arm flailing on my part. My heroic dog managed to corner it and bite off its tail (which twitched for a good 3 minutes) except now I have some kind of small (but not that small) tailless lizard awol in my apartment. My friend told me to take a shot of whisky and chalk it up to being part of life in the south. I had no whisky on hand so I took a shot of tequila and am now perched in the center of my bed clutching my butterfly net while Cooper sniffs out the lizard. I figured I’d post a song for the occasion as I’m not sure sleep is in the cards for me any time soon. Here is “The Lizards”, by Phish.