BRATS, BELLS and BEETHOVEN

A LESSON FOR THE KIDDIES

For all you kiddies out there it really does pay to be the team brat. It really pays to pout and to stomp off the court or field....to sit and wimper on the bench...to tell the coach you don't want to play because you don't like him or because you don't get to play enough. I know that I for one greatly appreciate adults that set a standard for kids to look up to. I promise - it really works - if you start practicing this as a child and perfect your extreme-brat skills through high school and college you can make more money than all your buddies AND you get to be on a better team. So THANK YOU Stephon Marbury. Your utter disdain for your coach and owner, lack of interest in thinking about your teammated and the greater good, and childish behavior has led to you being booted off the New York Knicks and moving on to the world champion Boston Celtics, where you will have a fabulous shot at a world championship ring. So all you little leaguers and mini-hoopsters out there go ahead - the coach is just the coach...he's just a guy...throw a fit...hire a lawyer...get your parents involved...the league will switch you to another team when trouble lurks around the corner. Oh....and thank you New York Knicks for letting the brat out of his contract instead of forcing him to just keep his whining ass on the bench for the rest of the season. Shame on you.

THE DIVING BELL

So my movie reviews will look at both current movies but also those out on DVD. If you are at all interested in artistic film making, a great story and creativity by a film maker rent Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a translation of the French memoir Le scaphandre et le papillon by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. It describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition called locked-in syndrome. Again - I don't go to movies simply for entertainment value although I did find this very entertaining. Just pay attention to the way the filmaker shot various scenes especially in relation to the the main character Bauby. You can actually feel what this syndrome must have been like for him. For those of you likely to shed a tear during a movie, this can be a tough one, especially when Bauby is around his kids.

A NEW SYMPHONY BY BEETHOVEN

Mr. Beethoven has presented us with a new symphony. This is his fifth symphony. To the average listner this piece presents us with something truly out of the ordinary - and angst, passion and violent energy not often heard on the concert stage. Only time will tell if this symphony will live long past it's premiere but here is why it probably will. Through a simple 4 note motive Beethoven is able to develop, expand upon, manipulate us with over 30 minutes of emotions as diverse as the personalities of all those musicians on stage. He repeats and repeats and repeats his opening motive as if to say - "You will hear me out...you will hear me out" and then very craftily manipulates us without letting up on his opening proclamation. Few people realize that this motive continues to appear all through the symphony - slightly manipulated, sometimes heroic, often exuberant. How an individual can take 3 short repeated notes and one long note and turn it into what is bound to be a masterpiece for generations to come is a sign of genius that will live on forever. But it is not really the motive that will carry this work on. It is the sound of a man who is often in turmoil but who also sees the good in life. What he feels and sees cannot be expressed in words by him. It must be expressed differently. And we should be thankful for that.