Dusk in the sunshine state

Enjoyed a nice bbq'd briscuit sandwich during our Austin layover. Arrived in FL just in time for a Shake n Steak dinner, just like back in the college days. And back to our zebra themed room at the Sheraton Safari. Could Florida ( or Flo Rid A, as Josh calls it) be any flatter?

Nessun Dorma

Nobody shall sleep!...
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

Literary Tuesday

Just finished reading Van K. Tharp's Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom, second edition.  Sorry Mr. Tharp but I don't feel any freer.  In fact, went into work today hoping to get some final training in before trading live tomorrow.  After leaving the house at 5:30, I arrived to find that the office didn't have any functioning internet.  More boring training videos.  I'll put off live trading until after vacation.

Took the kids to see How to Train Your Dragon in 3D today.  Fun movie.  Young vikings flying around on dragons a la Avatar and the pterodactyl thingies.  Funny thing was, the main dragon - Toothless - acted just like Cubby.  It was uncanny.  Except for the fire breathing....although Cubby doesn't exactly have puppy breath anymore.

list Monday

Top 10 Places I've Been

1. Santorini - One of the most beautiful places, with nightlife and beaches, no bias because I honeymooned there.
2. Aruba - Tough to pick my favorite Caribbean destination, but Aruba had it all (St. John was one of the prettiest undeveloped islands; Caymans in the top 3.  And who could beat Atlantis).  Still so many islands yet to visit.
3. Barcelona - the most cosmopolitan place i've been, though I went right before the '92 olympics
4. Venice - most unique place, with a Jewish quarter smack dab in the middle
5. Paris - most cultured city.  Don't miss Musee d'Rodin.
6. Monaco - luxury beyond belief and a central local to explore the rest of the French riviera.
7. Cabo - ultimate relaxation within a stone's throw from civilization.  If you have the means, Esperanza...
8. Florence - most artistically stylish and the Ponte Vecchio.
9. New Orleans - like visiting a different country without leaving the USA, great eats (I went pre-Katrina).
10. Montreal - like visiting a different country without leaving Canada.  Surprisingly, great corn beef.

Back to the future....

Saw Hot Tub Time Machine last night.  Quite a trip.  Not sure which was more hysterical this or Hangover.  John Cusack was his usual awesomeness.  One thing though, they made the 80's look fairly cheesey, and not in a nacho good way.  Sure, we wore our share of layered polos with animals on them and the collars sticking up.  But I don't really remember anyone purposefully emulating Miami Vice.  All in all, I recall a fairly preppy time ala Brooks Brothers.  One could do worse.  They kind of bad mouthed the decade, but for a coming of age mwa, it was the pinnacle of pop music (stay tuned for a best of the 80's) and the prime of my wasted youth.  I want my $2!

These are the days of our lives...

Survived another encounter with the electric hedge trimmer.  (I wonder if it's friends with the magnutron.)  No body parts were maimed in the taming of the shrubs.  The plants, however, may beg to differ.  Hey, they'll grow back, I think.  That is all.

The week in review

Started work Wednesday.  Actually, just training.  Training entails watching inane econ 101 videos and mock trading.  Mock trading entails making fake, paper trades just to get used to the keyboard system.  I was pretty happy trading for nickels and dimes, until I saw that the guy across from me found a stock that ran $6 bucks.  The office is a bit of a work in progress, but the 3 or 4 other traders that I've met so far seem cool.

Getting up at 5:20.  A. M.  Soon that will be more like 4:15.  That's gonna take some getting used to.  More so for the wife, who likes to watch late night TV.  Also, commuting 50 miles each day (to my old stomping grounds, no less) - also, gonna take some getting used to.  Good thing I gots me a vacay coming up.

At least, I get to come home to delicious gourmet meals.

     J1:  Why do we have to eat gourmet?

     J2:  Because we are a gourmet family.


Had a little league game last night.  Nevermind, that we are now 0-7.  My son, who almost got creamed by a liner to second base, has been bugging me non-stop to let him pitch.  Well, I've been trying to get a single, damn elusive win by playing our best pitchers - to no avail.  So, yesterday, being down 16 - 0 to nothing, I called for my young right hander.  One of the other Dads implored, "Don't concede!"  I ignored him.  I let J1 pitch to a few batters.  He did OK.  Didn't get his head knocked off.  And then I went to relieve him to let another pesty kid pitch.  Now my son is upset that I pulled him.  Can't win.

And there you have it.  Have some gardening, ll practice and game, and some movies to catch up on this weekend.

Ode to a lipless chicken

Upon the feet of a dying guru,

don't take that first step - it's a lu-lu,

better off taking a choo choo.

come with me and play kissy moo moo.

Genealogy Wednesday - Invasion of the Malinowitz's

So, my Mother heard from my second cousin, once removed Ruth.  She is my Mother's father's mother's brother's daughter's daughter.  She's 82.  My Great Grandmother (Bubbe Belzie Sternberg) had about 8 brothers and sisters.  We have been able to trace back/down 3 of those siblings.  And surprisingly, they mosty lead to relatives in Israel.  Most likely, the other Sternberg's perished in the holocaust.  Anyway, Ruth was enthusiastic about our Tree-in-progress.  Suddenly, I have about 22 additional third cousins.  It helps when one couple has 13 kids on their own.  A baker's dozen.

I was driving along the continent's edge yesterday.  The hue of the sea and sky were both this smoky gray/blue so you couldn't tell where the water ended and the atmosphere began.  There was no horizon.  Eerily beautiful.  Wish I had a good picture.


Starting work today.  Will keep you posted.

Literary Tuesday - Saltwater Buddha

A light quest for Zen and the perfect wave.  Left me thirsty.  It's the saltwater.  Seriously, it's a shame I'm so wimpy about the cold water because I'm looking forward to getting back out there (and hopefully, on a wave) in the near future.   I've also been reading White Tiger, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, and Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom.  I'm a busy beaver.

In the "What will they think up next" category, bacon in the waffles.  Bacon:  the king of all meats.  Starting work has been pushed back to at least Wednesday.  So, the bride and I went to San Diego's world famous Hash House a Go Go (now, also in Vegas) yesterday for some brunch.  Shared the sage fried chicken and waffle tower, with eggs.  A more gourmet, upscale version of Lo Lo's.  (pssst....Lo's is better, but it's not dining al fresco in San Diego).

Off to batting practice for the Oh and 6 Sun Devils.  Brutal.

List Monday - Top 10 songs of the 1950's (non-blues)

1. All shook Up - Elvis...had to pick one by the King, heartbreak hotel or jailhouse could have been here too.
2. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry...he and Little Richard are the unsung forefathers of r&r
3. Earth Angel - The Penguins...actually a b-side, one of the earliest r&r songs, and it's best ballad
4. Be Bop a Lula - Gene Vincent...derived from the bebop jazz style, prior songs included "Be-Baba-Leba" and "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop"
5. Rock around the Clock -  Bill Haley & the Comets....happy days, need i say more
6. The Great Pretender - Platters...slightly lyrically better than Only You.
7. Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis....the killer, embodied r&r lifestyle
8. Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino....actually dates back to 1940, but Fats made it a r&r staple
9. Little Darling - Diamonds....great doo-wop cover of an r&b song
10. Chantilly Lace - Big Bopper...a song with personality

Honorable mention:  In The Still of the Night - The Satins, Not Fade Away - Buddy Holly, Sh-boom - The Crewcuts, Get a job - Silhouettes.  Surprised to learn Duke of Earl was from 1962.

A Puffle Tale by Jillybean

There once was a puffle

who was very lonely.

He was the only puffle 

in the pet shop.

Then he saw a penguin so cute.

He fell in love.

Then one day, 
she came into the pet shop.

She wanted a purple puffle.

The puffle jumped up and down

and got out of the cage.

The penguin burst into joy

and bought him.

He was so cute.

What she did was to take him

on a walk to get fresh air.

All the other puffles were so jealous.

They went home

 and when the puffle saw the house,

he freaked.

Then he lived there.

The End

The week in review

Mowed the lawn.

Saw a movie:  She's Out of My League.  It was mildly amusing.  Seemed like the movie was made with the sole purpose of employing a running "manscaping" joke.  Also, didn't really buy the chemistry between the two leads.

Little league game...don't ask.

Watched Parenthood...losing steam?  Or am I just not caring about the cliched characters.  Also, watched Pacific.  Slow start, will give it some time.  Loved Band of Brothers.

My car.  The right door stopped locking and the window stopped working.  Made an appointment with the dealer.  Daughter slammed the door.  All was ok.  Soon after "check engine light" came on.  Kept appointment.  It was the flux capacitor or magnutron or something.  Actually, it was the air intake meter.  Seriously.  I think they make this stuff up.

me:  do i need to fix that?
dealer:  you do if you want your check engine light to go off
me:  is it bad?
dealer:  short term, no; long term, yes
me:  well, what's it do?
dealer:  you're car is running lean
me:  I don't want to drive a fat car
dealer:  no, it's pumping too much air in the engine and not enough gas
me:  great, so I save on gas...

$630 later....$400 for the part, $200 for the labor, and $30 for a crab enchilada lunch at Javier's.  (On an aside, I just love that restaurant:  the food, the architecture, the architecture of the clientele.)  To top it all off, when I went to pick up the kids, the door and window stopped working again.  And, the window is stuck in the down position.  Hope it doesn't rain again.

Haven't heard anything about the job that I am supposed to start Monday.  Hope it's legit.

Attack of the Magnutron

Dawn was breaking.  It had been a cold and damp San Clemente night.  The chair creaked as I sat down to blog my daily entry.  Cubby, who had followed me downstairs, soon retreated back to the bed's warmth.  The pines rustled, performing an early morning ballet as the breeze whipped off the ocean.  Off in the distant hills, a past-his-bedtime coyote howled one last howl.  I could hear the soft crack of twigs snapping outside.  The snaps grew louder and crisper.  Footsteps of a sort could now be made out as well.  Suddenly, from the other side of the house, there was a loud smashing sound and the ensuing tinkle of shattered glass.  The moment passed and an eerie silence followed, weighing heavily.  I was not alone.  It was inside.  I stood upright at my desk.  Just then, the sadfagd
                                                                 fdhdfjgdfg
                                                                                  dfgs
                                                                                      ert
                                                                                        kl
                                                                                            s
                                                                                             s
                                                                                             s

Happy St. Humprey's Day (sllightly lesser known than Patrick's day)

From TV's Parenthood:

Son:  I got something in my house ... it's a possom ...rat ....racoon...i don't know something

Dad:  call an exterminator

Son:  it's personal

Dad:  personal?

Son:  yeah, every night he's up on the roof making noise right above us... it feels like's it deliberate... like he's... mocking me....i gotta get rid of it...

Dad:  well, sonny, you know it could be something else...

Son:  like what a weasel?

Dad:  a weasel?  No, something psychological..

Son:  it's not psychological.

Dad:  something your manifesting...

Son:  I'm not manifesting anything...

Dad:  you seem king of resistant to the idea...

and scene

Go Go Greene

Just settling in after a whirlwind trip to the desert of my past.  After blowing off ll practice (they lost without me on Sunday, btw, so it isn't me....although I am the one who picked the team - no fantasy baseball for me this year), we had an uneventful drive to my P's house.  I was feeling congested and unfortunately missed my old neighbors' St. Pat's party (Steph went and didn't get home til 2).  Had Micky D's with the rest and played some RummyQ.  I must have been sick because my Dad won once.  Sunday had some Dunkin' Donuts and took the wife and kids to a Cubs/Angels spring training game in Tempe.  It was hot, steep and full of bees.  The kids got autographs of Larry Rothschild, the pitching coach, and some prospect named Chris Robinson.  Three innings and $80 in food later the kids had had enough.  The Cubs went on to win.  Took Cubby to visit his rock star brother, Bugsy.  Dinner at NYPD.  Monday:  had breakfast at OverEasy, took the kids to school, Chipotle and the hotel.  Played taxi service between the kids friends' houses - Perry's, Max, & Katies.  Had a nice dinner in a choice hotel - the Westin Kierland, thanks to shopper wife.  Drinks, picked up the dogs (thanks Mom & Dad....and how about my Dad, walking the beast after going on an all morning hike - impressive), and back on the road (mmm, Popeye's).  Think the desert air cleared my congestion.  Need to go back and be more liesurely next time.  Now packing for Atlantis.

p.s...hope to get back on track with literary tues, geni wed, and novel thurs. soon....

Beware the day after the Ides of March

just joshin'....I got nothing.  Travel day.  Nice melons:

Beware the Ides of March

The tIDES are stirring up tsunamis

VP BIDEn is pissing off the Israelis

PrIDE is one of seven sins

IDEologues are idiots

list Monday, a request

• 
  
  
  One hen
• 
  
  
  Two ducks
• 
  
  
  Three squawking geese
• 
  
  
  Four limerick oysters
• 
  
  
  Five corpulent porpoises
• 
  
  
  Six pair of Don Alverzo's tweezers
• 
  
  
  Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
• 
  
  
  Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt
• 
  
  
  Nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic, old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth
• 
  
  
  Ten lyrical, spherical diabolical denizens of the deep who hall stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at the same time.

Happy Pi Day

Ode to Bald Spaghetti


Vests do not have sleeves.

Trees would be bare without leaves.

I don't want Joe Namath's knees.

Please pass the parmesan cheese.

The awesome adventures of Suuuu-per Cubby the Wonderdog

Chapter 3 - The Escape

When we last checked in with our chubby hero, Cubby had been captured by aliens from outer space.  (As opposed to aliens from inner space?)  He was encaged by a dog-like race of, well,  dogs.  These demon dogs brought our struggling Portie, against his will, to the planet (ice rock) Pluto.  Where else were you expecting, Uranus?  They took him to a science lab manned (dogged?) by a scientific lab (generally more of a retriever than an empirical thinker). He was to be studied and probed, to determine if there was intelligent dog life elsewhere in the universe.  Could the Plutonian pooches integrate themselves amongst the Earth's doggy population.  Their ultimate goal:  to mark their territory and takeover the planet for all of dogkind.  Could our hero escape their canine clutches?  Could he save the Earth from their pawsitively diabolical plan?  Could he phone home without opposable thumbs?

He used an UFO to facilitate his escape -  an unidentified feasted object.  During one ill-conceived experiment, the lab fed our hero some foreign matter that has yet to be identified (possibly underwear?).  Later that evening, Cubby was left under the watchful guard of a couple of, well, guard dogs.  Suddenly, with a loud retching noise, the Dog of Steel Stomach projectile vomited the earlier ingested matter in the direction of the furthest guard, knocking him out.  Using his nuclear-powered paw, he gave a quick double karate chop to the thick neck of the remaining guard dog, sending him to doggy la-la land as well.  He skedaddled out of the lab's lab.

Before he blasted off of the icy rock, he had one final business to attend to.  Well, two pieces of business actually, as he had been cooped up for quite awhile and Cubby is nothing if not a house broken dog.  Finished relieving himself, he used his canine power of smell to sniff out the energy source of the Plutonian empire -  a kibble powered tractor/transport tower.  Cubby, known to have a hankering for kibble, ate the tower.  The Earth, its humans, and man's best friends were spared.  Once again, Suuuu-per Cubby had saved the day.

And with a mighty swoosh, our hero took off into the spacey skies and headed home.  As he zoomed towards Earth, Cubby miscalculated his re-entry speed for his now 60.5 pound frame.  He landed with quite a thud in his own backyard.  He was OK, but his hard landing must have caused the giant hole that was dug up in the flower bed....

.....to be continued......

The week in review

Well, our Arizona company came and went.  A couple of Steph's lady friends and their daughters.  Jilly had a blast.  I survived the heightened estrogen levels.

Took the dogs to Laguna dog park.  Cubby had an especially good time (no, that's not Fozzie):

I had an especially good time riding the segway.  An hour and half of riding along the boardwalk and on the piers.  Quite fun at 12 m.p.h.  And no, didn't wipe out once.  Might have to get one.  Or an Ipad.

Well the San Clemente ASU Sun Devils are now 0-3.  After Josh struck out, he quit the team.  But on his second at bat, he got a hit.  So, he's back.  We were actually winning through 4 of the 6 innings, but then we fell apart.  My assistant is running the game on Sunday, so if we win, I know it's me.

Off to the accountant now.  That should be fun.

And now for a segue...

Went to Newport today
to ride on a Segway.
I rode it near and far
to Corona Del Mar.
I rode it far and near
out along the wooden pier.

Far, near
kept it in first gear.
Near, far
stopped for a Balboa bar.

Far, near, here, there,
I rode it everywhere.

With the grace of an Ocelot,
like gallant Sir Lancelot
in the days of ol' Camelot.

I rode with stylish panache.
I'd make proud my Jill and Josh.
In great joy, I was awash.

Without any screech,
gliding by the beach.
Zooming by the sand's edge,
as I drove out to the Wedge.

Continuous motion
along the blue ocean.
A gift that made me happy,
from my beautiful family.

Genealogy Wednesday

Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a man-child was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte...and there was the prideful knowledge that the name of Kinte would thus be both distinguished and perpetuated.

- Roots, Alex Haley

I am first and foremost a family man.  Since I was a young child, I have endeavored to chronicle the history of my family.  Since 2009, I have been on a renewed genealogy kick.  Pretty big word for a kick.  With the advent of these new fangled internets and family tree sites, great progress has been made.  And yet, the more progress I made, the more questions arose:

• Where are the records of my grandfather Harold's birth?  
• What became of his father, the last Greenblatt?
• How did Harold, Rose, and Ida's parents enter the country?
• Who is David Sternberg?
• Why doesn't Dr. C know the name of his grandkids?
• Where did all these Israelites come from?
• What about the other 5 unaccounted for Sternberg siblings?
• How many people did Great Uncle Leon marry?
• Who did Great Grandmother Lee, if that's her full name, remarry?
• Should I get in touch with my local 3rd cousin Orthodox rabbi?
• Am I really related to my brothers?
• Who invented liquid soap and why?

Literary Tuesday - Let the Great World Spin

Just finished Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.  The story of the intertwining lives of the witnesses to the greatest funambulist endeavor of our lifetime.  A tight rope walk of a read that you won't be able to walk away from.  Not that it is suspenseful, but McCann's deeply endearing character studies, including the character of troubled New York City of the mid-1970's, will have you hooked.  He writes with a beautiful turn of phrase that will make you want to read the novel with an appreciating methodical eye, although a few sections towards the end were overly verbose and thus, skimmable.  The lyrical book succeeds on many levels, from exploring the lives of the ordinary urban dwellers to larger concepts of love and chance and beauty.  A highly recommended read.

List Monday - Dream Destinations

1. Rio
2. Bora Bora
3. Lisbon
4. Amalfi Coast
5. Israel
6. Turks & Caicos
7. Tokyo
8. Sydney
9. Prague
10. Petra, Jordan

Happy belated Dr. Seuss Day (3/2)

What's in the bag?

by Dr. Snerd (aka Josh)

Hey there, Fred! Isn't time for you to go to bed?

No, no, no! I'm just looking in my bag.

What's in the bag?  What's in the bag?  Is it a rag?

Is there a hag in the bag?  Maybe a flag or a stag?

Then the bag erupted and sucked them in.

Will the bag or our heroes win?

Down inside they found a dog,

who was looking hard at a pink log.

More like a lizard; Oh no, here comes a blizzard.

They blew all around

in a loud whistling sound.

Fred found a sword

and gave his friend a board.

They found a 3 headed Galu

which yelled and barked Woo Hoo.

The Galu ran and jumped away.

They found fish with cards and decided to play.

The bag spit them out.

Our heroes began to pout.

It was a really fun card game.

Their faces were in shame.

Our heroes were sad.

The adventure wasn't that bad.

And Fred went to bed.

Family at play

It was cold and rainy in San Clemente,

Coaching my first born, my Kunta Kinte.

Would we play little league in this tsunami?

I did not know, I am no swami.

With our furry portie,

a cute dog named Cubbie,

by the lonely palm tree

peeing like a banshee.

There too, brother Fozzie,

also a wavy portie,

dreaming of life at sea

eating kibble and a cookie.

Lovely bride Stephie

chatting with the paparazzi,

supporting her family

sipping a cool chianti.

And my darling daughter Jilly,

playing by the rhododendron.

Who's making this weather so silly,

ocelot's with a magnutron?

The week in review

Another largely uneventful week here in the OC, which is sometimes better than an eventful week.  It's still cold and damp, can't handle these 60's.....brrr.  More rain a'comin.  Jilly tried turning on the fireplace with the wall switch.  Only this house has a real, wood burning (ok, with a gas starter) fireplace, not the fake kind like at our previous abode.  Speaking of which, at least, we're not at the old Scottsdale house where the water heater pilot went, the tv lamp needs to be replaced, and a window won't shut.  Oh wait, $500 later, yeah, I had to cover that too.  At least their magnetron is holding up.  Will  have to check out the place when we go back to the 'Zona soon to visit the P's and the Flubbies.  Spring training is fully underway.  It's a new dawn.  The year of the Cubs.  It could happen.  Wait, probably not since I put money on them when I was in Vegas.  What's the deal, wasting 5 homers on their opening spring exhibition schedule.  Save some for the season.  Had a good batting practice last night.  Josh is less afraid in the batter's box and expressed an interest in more actively practicing his pitching, instead of camping in front of the xbox.  Actually, he's been a busy beaver with 2 auditions this week.  Hopefully, we'll get our first real game in tonight, freezing are butts off, playing on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Not too shabby.

Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 ate 9.

In honor of today, Worlds Maths Day (no typo, and not to be confused with Pi Day which is later in the month, obviously; and and even though yesterday was National Reading Day), please read at your leisure, my favorite math proof:

Assume:

let a = b

multiply each side by a:

a^2 = ab

subtract b^2 from both sides:

a^2 - b^2 = ab - b^2

factor:

(a - b)(a + b) = b(a-b)

divide each side by (a - b):

a + b = b

from the opening assumption:

b + b = b

simplify:

2b = b

divide by b and ergo:

2 = 1

Q.E.D.

Simple ergonomics.  By the way, hope everyone had an enjoyable Casimir Pulaski day (3/1).  Go Pierogis!

March comes in like an Ocelot...

So, an ocelot walks into a Chinese restaurant at night (afterall, they're nocturnal).  The wild cat, ranging from  South America to Texas, had never been in a Chinese restaurant before.  The eating emporium's proprietor, a giant panda, sidled over to take the painted leopard's order.  The tabby gave pause.  Being fiercely territorial and a particular eater, the cat tried to order from a mental menu of its known prey:  small deer, various rodents, reptiles and amphibians.  The polite but portly panda regretfully replied, "I am so sorry, but we do not serve any of that."  By now the lynx had grown quite hungry and frustrated.  He snarled, "Fine!  I'll have the pizza.  And don't tell me you don't serve that or you will feel my feline fangs in your femur."  The panda scurried back to the kitchen.  Never having served a pizza before he improvised.  He used egg rolls skins for the crust.  Plum sauce for the gravy.  Hot peppers for the pepperonis.  And white rice instead of mozzarella.  He gave the dish a quick stay in the oven and proudly served his concoction.  Drooling with hunger,  the kitty devoured the pie in one bite.  The wrath of the hot peppers kicked in and the cat was inconsolable.  He quickly downed the pitcher of clear liquid placed in front of him, not realizing that it was hot sake.  Now, being both burning from spice and temperature, and also quite a bit tipsy, the cat was out of control.  He ran out of the restaurant on all four paws, hopped into his car (a jaguar, of course), immediately crashed into a telephone pole and died.  Never order pizza in a chinese restaurant.

John Belushi:

  Now look, pal! I know a country where March comes in like an emu and goes out like a tapir. And they don't even know what it means! All right? Now listen, there are nine different countries, where March comes in like a frog, and goes out like a golden retriever. But that- that's not the weird part! No, no, the weird part is, is the frog. The frog- The weird part is-

[has seizure and falls off chair]

School of Rock

M H T 101 Introduction to Music 
A historically oriented study of art music, its styles, and forms from the Baroque period (1940's - 1955)to the present day. This course is designed to provide a solid grasp of twentieth-century European (particularly both major waves of English invasion musicology) and North American art music by offering both broad coverage of significant works and in-depth examination of the era's diverse musical trends, social and political environments, and aesthetic and cultural controversies. Students are expected to contribute to class discussion, engage closely with musical scores, listen attentively to pieces, and write sensitively about compositional details as well as music's multiple roles in contemporary culture. Major graded work includes a midterm, final, and a paper that combines analysis and interpretation. This course will apply toward requirements for a music major.

Recommended Prerequisites:  Introduction to the Blues, with an academic emphasis on Willie Dixon, Advanced Sinatra, Elementary Forefathers:  Berry, Richard and the men of Sun Records or consent of department. This meets the General Education requirements for Humanities and Fine Arts.

Required Listening: 


Pink Floyd - Wish you were here


U2 - Joshua Tree

Rush - 2112

Neil Diamond - Hot August Night

Stone Roses - Stone Roses

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

Bob Marley - Legend


The Clash - London Calling

Grateful Dead - American Beauty (had to pick 1)

Genesis - Three Sides Live

Roxy Music - Avalon

Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions

Los Lobos- just another band from east l.a.

Cheap Trick - live at budokon

Sinatra - In the wee small hours