Feeds:
Posts
Comments

making the most of after-market in-car satellite radio: Accurian cassette adapter from Radio Shack

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

I spend a lot of time in the car and love music and spoken audio. My 2004 Volkswagen Passat W8 has excellent sound but no satellite radio. I recently sprang for a Sirius radio off the shelf from Costco and then had reliable Jason and the guys at Auto Outfitters take care of the installation. I use a cassette adapter wired to the radio for sound input and the hiss was bringing the quality level of the music down to the barely tolerable level. Continue Reading »

Posted in paterfamilias, reseña | Leave a Comment »

rrhythmia: the habit of being really mad

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

For a Latin American woman, this is the worse place to be.

Marta’s husband was a respected professional. He had cultivated a career in one of Costa Rica’s government agencies and grown accustomed to the perks that go with it. He was affable, smooth, and just handsome enough to get through doorways and into hearts without appearing to push. His salary was enough to provide for some extra help in taking care of their mentally handicapped daughter, though not to relieve Marta of most of the extra burdens that little Anita brought to her life. Continue Reading »

Posted in clarity, denkschrift, rrythmia, textures | Leave a Comment »

otherworldly: Schindler’s List (a motion picture soundtrack)

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

In retrospect, it was probably inevitable that John Williams and Itzhak Perlman should come together in the making of the soundtrack for Stephen Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, arguably the finest motion picture ever made. How could the theme and its treatment do with other than film music’s established master and one of the greatest violinists of all time? Continue Reading »

Posted in reseña | Leave a Comment »

When a white boy dances: introducing the parties

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

It has been a life’s goal, since getting married at twenty-three years of age, to learn ballroom dancing. It’s been on Linda’s and my to-do-someday list for all these years.

When I brought up the possibility of taking the plunge several months ago, my colleagues and their wives were too busy and my wife felt it wasn’t the moment. A more prudent soul might have taken some counsel from this unanimous withdrawal from what seemed to me a splendid idea. But I decided I was just gonna’ have to do this thing myself. Continue Reading »

Posted in my hometown, when a white boy dances | 1 Comment »

simple, not simplistic: J.S. Bach, Complete Violin Sonatas / Grumiaux, Jaccottet, Mermoud

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

The musical genius of Bach can be savored in any number of configurations. But you’d be hard pressed to find Bach speaking more exquisitely than via these compositions for violin and keyboard. Continue Reading »

Posted in reseña | Leave a Comment »

a beautiful score: A Beautiful Mind (Original Motion Picture Score)

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

James Horner’s soundtrack for A Beautiful Mind is as psychologically intense as the film it so effectively embellishes. Continue Reading »

Posted in reseña | Leave a Comment »

Beethoven would have smiled: Beethoven, Complete Music for Cello & Piano

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

Rostroprovich and Richter are poster children for the merits of recording the lesser-known works of past masters. It is astonishing to believe that the Beethoven of, say, Symphonies, 3, 7, and 9 also sat himself down to compose small music like these pieces for two amiable but sometimes socially incompatible instruments. Continue Reading »

Posted in reseña | Leave a Comment »

a revelation: Jewel, Pieces of You

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

Jewel’s debut album struck a chord for the sheer non-ordinary quality of her voice. Even if the lyrics sometimes seem a bit overwrought and over-wise, the sound is convincing, especially when taken from a young artist just making her breakout. Continue Reading »

Posted in reseña | Leave a Comment »

Se habla el amor: Ana Cirré, Y no es por mí

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

Life without Ana Cirré is what most of the world’s music lovers endure, oblivious to this brilliantly alluring Spanish songstress and her songs of love, nostalgia, loss, and seduction. Continue Reading »

Posted in reseña | Leave a Comment »

score one for civilization: John Bridges, A Gentleman Pens a Note: A Concise, Contemporary Guide to Personal Correspondence

August 4, 2007 by David Baer

Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

Some of the polite arts that become trumped by technology on a functional level nevertheless preserve their potency as communicative acts. Such is the handwritten note in the age of email, voicemail, and Instant Messaging. Continue Reading »

Posted in paterfamilias, reseña | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »