Music - Sports - Movies: Round I. The Introduction

So I'm going to start writing now. Keep in mind this comes from a serious classical musician with the secret fantasy of being a sport journalist and movie critic. We all have to have hobbies, right? So here ya - go - no personal info. Just my daily rant:

MANNY BEING MONEY

OK, we get it. I understand that everyone needs to be paid what they're worth. I also understand that Manny Ramirez brought in milllions to the Dodgers in tickets sales and renewed interest in the team as they made their way toward a pennant last year. But at some point in life isn't there time to say, "OK, I think I can live with that amount - at least for a year or two". I mean, don't get me wrong, if I decided to be under the complete control over my agent and allowed him to do all the bargaining maybe I would let this linger on forever....but really......20 million dollars this year and 25 millions next year......not enough yet, huh? Listen - for all you A-Rod haters - even Alex said enough is enough to his agent....he said "I want to be a Yankee...let's get a deal done". There is a certain point at which the player needs to take control for the sake of his own image.....or maybe he doesn't.....but what happens if the Dodgers don't make another offer? No other team will make an offer at this point......this will be one of the more interesting bargaining moments in baseball history.

SLUMDOG MANIA

OK - the music was excellent.......good story line, interesting music, and the most important and most overlooked fact - no Hollywood Stars!!! Now for all of you out there that won't go see a film unless it has the can't miss star I just ask that you give it a try. Spend one day and go to a theater that shows mainly independent films - if you go with an open mind you will find that there are hundreds...thousand of fine actors, good director and great writers ....possibly some of the most talented in all of film making that write things that are a bit off the mainstream...not filled with the big name gorgeous talent, yet include some of the most thoughtful writing and outstanding acting that you will ever see on the screen. Slumdog did not give us a chance to look at an actor or actress and think "now who is he married to again?". It's because they were real people and not actors and so we could believe that these people were really part of this story. More interestingly it taught us that it might just be interesting to really get to know someone well. We are all generally unaware of all the life experiences of others....what makes a person think and act a certain way, what give the person the intelligence to answer multiple consecutive game show questions.....watching that movie makes me more interested in find out why a person thinks and acts the way they do. It's a great exercise in human understanding.

MUSIC OR NOT TO MUSIC....THAT IS THE QUESTION

So I ranted last week that I was very upset that a local talk radio station went off the air as the format was changed to bubble bum pop top 40. All Britney all the time.......big f&*%ing woop-dee do da day!!!!

So I have to explain this in a bit more detail. I'm in a rather high brow profession - college academia and combine that with serious classical music and you're not exactly looking at a day full of fun and laughter. So I enjoyed listening to a talk station that was mostly comedy all day long. I need to hear funny stuff....I need to here immature bathroom humor.......for the love of humanity I spent Saturday's with dad in his junkyard in the Bronx........do you have any idea what those guys from the Bronx talk like?? I just crave that connection with my past and often miss it. So this bring me to my little blurb - I'm involved in music all day long, every day. So unlike some classical musicians who insist on immersing themselves in the music at all times, even when off of work I just need a break. I don't want to hear it. That doesn't mean I don't read about it, study scores and prepare as well as anyone for rehearsals. I just don't listen to classical music casually - it is my career. I take it seriously. It's high art and I treat it that way. So I liked my comic talk radio in my spare time but I guess I'll have to find it somewhere else.