DEATH, JOE AND GLASS

DEATH AND BASEBALL

I'm glued to the sports tube all day. So it's tough when I hear that a baseball player suddenly dies. And what is equally as sad is the fact that 2 other people died along with the major league player. It's really amazing. It happened in one split second of life. Their car had to be at the exact intersection that a drunk driver just happened to be speeding through last night. It seems totally random. The timing has to be perfect. 2 seconds would have made a difference and that what makes it particularly scary. Two seconds before or two seconds later and those cars would have not collided. He was 22. I'm double that age. I don't know why I get to be so lucky. I assume there may be some purpose but I'm not really sure.

SHOELESS JOE

So watch Field of Dreams if you wish. It's a great family movie starring Kevin Costner and young Ray Liotta and James Earl Jones. But before you do...do me a favor. Read all about "Shoeless Joe Jackson". I really believe that there is a time in life that we might considering re-visiting the facts. We certainly do that in big court cases.....old murder cases...what have you. This country has a long history of a faulty court decisions, crooked lawyers, politicians seeking fame and those trying to make a name of themselves. Joe Jackson deserves another hearing and I think it's about time we give it to him.

ARE YOU KIDDING ARE YOU KIDDING ARE YOU KIDDING ARE YOU KIDDING?

I will be conducting a symphony in May. It is by an American composer. A very famous composer. His name is Philip Glass and he is one of the most prolific American composers of the 20th century. I repeated my title above because Mr. Glass basis much of his music on additive repetition. But here is the cool moment of the week. I received an e-mail from one of his "people" telling me that I may in fact be conducting the first ever west coast performance of this work. How is that possible? Maybe there is still some purpose for me to be around and doing this whole conducting thing. You never know, do ya?

GRIPE OF THE DAY

My new neighbor. Whoever it is has a dog. The dog has barked for 2 hours straight the past 10 days. I filed my second complaint today after the dog decided to bark from 5:40 a.m. to 6;30 a.m. Thank you for the wake up call. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I may be moving soon and I won't be happy about it.