The 'three French hens' a couple of weeks ago seems to have been very popular. The final video in that set was labelled "Jimmy (Moriarty cover)" so, naturally, I looked for the original and what I found was another group of French musicians who turn out to be rather good also. You can read about them here- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriarty_(band)
The sound quality/balance is less than good on one or two of these videos; apologies for that, hope it doesn't spoil your enjoyment.
Friday, February 09, 2018
Friday, February 02, 2018
FRIDAY MUSIC: Edgar Meyer and friends, by JD
This music post came about after listening to the violinist Joshua Bell on Radio 3 last week. Among the tracks played during the interview was one from an album called Short Trip Home which Bell had recorded with the virtuoso double bass player Edgar Meyer and others, a strange mix of bluegrass and classical. My curiosity aroused, I looked for more of the same on YouTube and found a whole new world of wonderful music and what follows is a selection from Edgar Meyer and friends.
Meyer himself began playing bass at the age of five! The mind boggles at the image of a small child grappling with a musical instrument almost twice his size but, no doubt, there are ways around such minor problems. You can read a short bio of him here in which The New Yorker calls him “…the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument.”
http://edgarmeyer.com/about/
Meyer himself began playing bass at the age of five! The mind boggles at the image of a small child grappling with a musical instrument almost twice his size but, no doubt, there are ways around such minor problems. You can read a short bio of him here in which The New Yorker calls him “…the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument.”
http://edgarmeyer.com/about/
Monday, January 29, 2018
JAZZ: Seated One day At The Organ, by Wiggia
Not an obvious choice for the playing of jazz, but these examples show it can be done with some aplomb.
Very brave lady, Sandra Kaye, taking on the mighty Wurlitzer with such bad acoustics.............
and to finish on the pipe organ at the Rockefeller Chapel, Chicago, Barbara Dennerlein.
Bonus footage: the largest working organ in the world (28,500 pipes):
Very brave lady, Sandra Kaye, taking on the mighty Wurlitzer with such bad acoustics.............
and to finish on the pipe organ at the Rockefeller Chapel, Chicago, Barbara Dennerlein.
Bonus footage: the largest working organ in the world (28,500 pipes):
Sunday, January 28, 2018
The Contradictions of US Education, by Paddington
What are we doing wrong in the US education system?
The short answer is: nothing.
The appropriate way to evaluate a system is based on what it is designed to do, and the education system is not designed to do anything. Rather, throughout 200 years of public education, it has been given a sequence of demands, and has responded by adapting organically.
Among other things, the system has been required to:
with no recognition that some of these goals are in direct conflict.
For example, demanding increased performance necessarily means that more students will fail to clear the bar. Alternatively, demanding increased graduation rates necessarily leads to grade inflation and lowering the bar. There is no way around this, as it is precisely the problem of Type I and Type II errors in statistical testing.
The over-emphasis on sports in some districts, and the effect on grade inflation, has been well-recorded. What is rarely noted is the effect on the other students. If unprepared student athletes, or others who seem to put no effort into their studies, still progress to the higher grades, what is the immediate incentive to work hard?
If teachers are trying to fix every social problem in their classrooms, where is the time for learning? In my experience, the more talented students tend to get less attention, because 'they will learn anyway'. This is a recipe for mediocrity.
In short, before we try yet another major overhaul of the system, we should perhaps first decide the goals to be met, and also check that those goals are actually achievable.
The short answer is: nothing.
The appropriate way to evaluate a system is based on what it is designed to do, and the education system is not designed to do anything. Rather, throughout 200 years of public education, it has been given a sequence of demands, and has responded by adapting organically.
Among other things, the system has been required to:
- prepare young men for factories and the military, and young women for marriage and domestic service;
- serve as a mechanism for upward social mobility (Dewey);
- produce an educated electorate (Jefferson);
- generate 'well-rounded' individuals;
- serve as a minor league for professional sports;
- fix major social problems (Head Start);
- provide enough science and engineering majors to keep the economy working;
- graduate most students, each immediately ready to be successful in higher education, or prepared for a job;
with no recognition that some of these goals are in direct conflict.
For example, demanding increased performance necessarily means that more students will fail to clear the bar. Alternatively, demanding increased graduation rates necessarily leads to grade inflation and lowering the bar. There is no way around this, as it is precisely the problem of Type I and Type II errors in statistical testing.
The over-emphasis on sports in some districts, and the effect on grade inflation, has been well-recorded. What is rarely noted is the effect on the other students. If unprepared student athletes, or others who seem to put no effort into their studies, still progress to the higher grades, what is the immediate incentive to work hard?
If teachers are trying to fix every social problem in their classrooms, where is the time for learning? In my experience, the more talented students tend to get less attention, because 'they will learn anyway'. This is a recipe for mediocrity.
In short, before we try yet another major overhaul of the system, we should perhaps first decide the goals to be met, and also check that those goals are actually achievable.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Friday, January 19, 2018
FRIDAY MUSIC: More French Hens, by JD
On the third day of Christmas Mr S posted a video by 'three French hens' and I thought the three young ladies, known collectively as LEJ, were rather good (that video was, as it turns out, played at the wrong speed and the image was reversed but no matter, they deserved further investigation!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.E.J
We deserve an encore (but not in France, when they wish for an 'encore' they will shout bis! as they do also in Belgium. On the other hand I might have been misinformed! However the OED confirms it.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.E.J
We deserve an encore (but not in France, when they wish for an 'encore' they will shout bis! as they do also in Belgium. On the other hand I might have been misinformed! However the OED confirms it.)
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Zero hours
"Two hours at normal power, or six to eight hours at economical cruising speed." I'll settle for that.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero |
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