Who's leaned on Paul Dacre?

Today's Mail On Sunday front page - moronline edition:

BUT in the influential hmm-must read-this-again-have you-seen-this print version:

And there's more - much more - of that sort of thing inside.


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The Empty Brain

This essay from aeon is worth reading.

Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or 

store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer

No matter how hard they try, brain scientists and cognitive psychologists will never find a copy of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in the brain – or copies of words, pictures, grammatical rules or any other kinds of environmental stimuli. The human brain isn’t really empty, of course. But it does not contain most of the things people think it does – not even simple things such as ‘memories’.

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Friday Night Is Music Night - Poetry into music

JD presents an unusual selection relating to W B Yeats:



One of the comments beneath the video says "it sounds musical" Not surprising because Yeats himself said the rhythm of the verse was so important and "it took me a devil of a lot of trouble to get this poem into verse and that is why I will not read it as if it were prose!"

His poems are indeed musical and that is why so many singers have set them to music, among them Van Morrison and Loreena McKennitt. The best results, in my view, have come from Mike Scott and here is a selection to fortify your soul:






Lastly, "The Stolen Child"::




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The future of austerity

Here is a clip of Jeremy Hunt giving evidence to a Parliamentary select committee, with commentary.



In it, there is a section from a Michael Moore documentary where a guilt-ridden medical finance director explains how she was heavily incentivised to say no - and how her conscience was salved at the time by being told she was not denying care, only payment.

"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? 
That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun 

- sang Tom Lehrer:



I think it's a pattern for public services generally. The rich, and those who promote their interests, are cutting their connection to the plebs.

Watch what happens to school-age education, too. And especially, special needs.


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Not welcome in Russia

According to The Moscow Times

Russia is rated the least welcoming country to refugees, according to a survey commissioned by Amnesty International and conducted by consulting firm GlobeScan.

The survey, published Thursday, created a Refugees Welcome Index that ranks countries on a scale from zero to 100, where zero means that all survey respondents would refuse refugees entry to their country and 100 means that all respondents would accept refugees into their neighborhood.

Russia was given an index score of 18, the lowest. China was the most welcoming country for refugees — scoring 85. The median index score was 52.

I wonder if it really matters - do refugees flock to Russia?

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Sunday Serenade - Quirky Classics

Rossini: Cats’ Duet -


Arnold: Padstow Lifeboat March (brass band version) -


Michael Haydn (formerly thought to be Leopold Mozart): Toy Symphony -
 

Now one that can't be embedded here, but it's great fun -

Rollinson: Morning In Noah’s Ark Link (1907 recording) on a free jukebox site set up by the US Library of Congress:
Playable link: http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/1279/ 
A modern (2000) version is on this compilation by the New Columbian Brass Band – the individual track can be downloaded, and the whole album is a pleasure:
Link for scrutiny/purchase (Amazon): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teddy-Bears-Picnic-Columbian-Brass/dp/B00004STPU?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0 

To play you out, a piece that may leave you feeling aerated and giddy:

Lefébure-Wély: Sortie in E flat -



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Friday Night Is Music Night - Young Jazzers

JD offers a selection of rising talent in the jazz world...

The much maligned younger generation are not all trying to be famous for being famous by caterwauling and prancing about on telly 'talent' shows. Some of them (quite a lot them actually) have real musical ability and are keeping the flame alive in the world of jazz:

Stephanie Trick:



Rachael Price:



Chloe Feoranzo:



Chloe Feoranzo with Stephanie Trick:



Tuba Skinny:

  

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