All posts by Jonathan

Classical ring tones

When I was at the grocery store today I heard someone’s cell phone ringing using Bach’s Fugue in D minor as the ring tone. I got to thinking about all the cell phones out there that use compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc. I wonder what those composers would think if they could hear the music they created being played with those tinny, annoying, electronic tones. I can just hear them now… “Who’s cell phone is that?? I can’t stand that song now! Turn it off!”

Or in Beethoven’s case: “What? They’re using Für Elise on that thing? Thank goodness I’m deaf.”

Wonders of the Universe

The wonders of the universe we live in never cease to amaze me. Today NASA released spectacular pictures taken from a new camera recently installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. Looking at those breathtaking images brings several questions to my mind. Will humans ever see beautiful scenes like this in person? If so, how long until we do? Are there beings out there pointing their telescopes toward our galaxy and pondering these same thoughts?

Spring ritual

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I’ve discovered that as I get older I have some seasonal rituals which I always do. Okay, the word ritual might be a little strong, maybe I should call them traditions. Anyway, today I performed one of my Spring rituals. Usually on one of the first warmer, sunny days of spring, I head out the door for a long vigorous walk with my walkman attached to my belt and the headphones in my ears. The album I always end up listening to on this first walk of Spring is Shadow Man by Johnny Clegg and Savuuka. It’s a definitely an album to listen to in the springtime with its blending of African and Western pop music styles. In my mind, it’s not Spring until I listen to that as I breathe in the fresh air and walk along the parkway with the sun on my back.

The Robins of Spring

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Spring is officially here. Today (about a week after the Spring Equinox) I finally got to experience a full day of sunshine and warm temperatures in the mid 40’s. I know what you’re thinking, but after a week or so of 20 degree, windy weather in Wisconsin, 45 really IS warm. The best sign of Spring I saw today happened when I decided to take the long way home from work and go through the park. As I was driving along I saw this big flock of robins. There must’ve been at least 30 of them. All I could think when I saw this whole flock of robins just hanging out together in the park was, what a great thing to do on such a nice day.

Dreams

I’ve always been fascinated by my dreams and what my unconscious mind comes up with while I’m sleeping. Sometimes I have dreams that are so interesting it’s like watching a really good movie. Then of course, I’m disappointed when the show’s over and I wake up. Last night I had this dream about someone I used to work with, but haven’t seen, spoken to, or even thought of in at least 10 years. Where did that come from? We were in some kind of scavenger hunt and not being very successful. I’ll leave it to you to interpret what that means…

Several years ago I used to keep a dream diary. Maybe it’s time to start that again. Pleasant dreams!

Baskin Robbins gone

Today I discovered the local Baskin Robbins ice cream shop (where I had my very first job, way back when I was 16) is no longer there. It made me a little sad to find out a place that I spent a few years at, no longer exists. It also made me wonder a little about my own mortality and what will be left on this planet to show I was here. I suppose I should go out and plant some trees or something. Until then, I guess there’s always the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Sherman Alexie

Last night I went to hear the author Sherman Alexie speak. He’s of Native American descent and has written several books of contemporary native fiction, short stories and poetry. He also wrote the screenplay for the movie Smoke Signals.

What a great speaker! He was funny, poignant and very thought provoking. I really enjoyed his take on American culture, current events and just life in general. I also liked his philosophy that a great deal of the world’s problems can be traced to the fact that people think their way is the only way, what they believe is right and people who believe otherwise are wrong. Wars, religious conflicts, political conflicts, discrimination and so forth can all be traced to the fact that somebody thinks they are right. Near the end of his talk, Sherman (I can call him that, he autographed a book for me!) asked the audience to think about one thing in the next 24 hours. “You might be wrong.”

No snow, now ready to camp

I still haven’t had an opportunity to get out hiking on my snow shoes this year and a few weeks ago I was still wishing for some winter weather. Yesterday I got a Cabela’s catalog in the mail. As I was flipping through it and drooling over the new camping stuff they had, I realized that now I’m ready for warmer weather (which of course means that we’ll probably get some serious cold weather with lots of snow). I figure I’m maybe 2-3 months away from my first camping trip of 2002. Who knows, if the predictions for an El Niño weather pattern in the Pacific are correct, maybe sooner than that.

Orchestra Baobab

There’s a lot of good music that comes from the continent of Africa. The shame of it is, you never hear it on commercial radio stations here in the United States (thank heaven for public radio). Lately I’ve been listening to an excellent afro-pop album. Pirate’s Choice is a disc that came from a 1982 recording session when the group Orchestra Baobab was at their peak. It’s just been reissued with a second disc of bonus material from the recording session (which is every bit as good as the material on the first disc). The music itself has a very laid back tone to it — not what I first expect when I think of this type of music. You can also hear the heavy influence of Latin and Cuban music on the band. Just the thing to help you think of summer in the middle of February.