Our local classical music station, King.org, has a penchant of playing off-the-beaten-path works. It really help me to expand my collection. Recently, I bought several CDs after heard them first online.
1. “New Year’s Eve with the Berlin Symphony“, RCA, 1990. Mainly after Franz Liszt’s “Les Préludes”. One of the better renditions I have heard for a while: rich, colorful and Wagnerian.
2. “Itzhak Perlman - Greatest Hits”, Deutsche Grammophon, 1993. Never a fan of I.P. but really liked Saint-Saens’ Havanaise. Need to caliberate out some of the sentimentality typical of Perlman.
3. “Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps (solo piano by Fazil Say)”, Elektra, 2001. Rite of Spring is a forever favorite. Two years ago, listened to a two-piano performance by Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman in Chicago and it was just awe-inspiring. Since then I have been looking for a surrogate. My first preference would be a two-piano version and tried samples from another CD. In the end, I liked Say’s performance better. I also listened to a Bernstein’s Deutsche Grammophon edition–it is God-awful.
4. “La Clarinette Francaise” , Asv Living Era, 1993. Mainly after Milhaud’s Scaramouche (3), Brazileira. Also compared to another CD, but decided Emma Johnson’s play was superior. I guess I must have listened to the samples too many times that sometimes this delightful piece becomes as a jingle in my mind.
Finally done with Foucault’s Discipline and Punish. I don’t think I can take on another heavyweight this summer. Maybe some contemporary stuff before school starts.
I thought I had the whole book figured out until I hit the last chapter (Prison). The slew of concepts like delinquency vs. illegality–all in pretty plain terms but are given vastly different interpretations–are pretty overwhelming. There, M.F. veers off a methodical and articulate style that marked the earlier chapters, and becomes somewhat rhetorical and self-indulging (IMHO).
After I put down the book, trying to think of a theme for a review, I got so tired and almost fell in sleep in the bathtub. The challenges are:
1. I don’t know which dialogue (metaphorically speaking) this book is written for
2. I can’t identify a central “why” question of the book (related to 1)
3. I have read too many interpretations prior to reading the original text
I am not sure this is a giant’s shoulder I am able to stand on or just look up to …
While researching at work, I ran into this “balletbot” story on Gizmodo. Later, I found the same video on YouTube:
There is something very unnerving but I haven’t figured out what it is yet.
Obviously, there are quite a few mismatches:
1. The elder Japanese dancer dressed in kimono in the background vs. the ageless non-Asian-male-figured (square shoulder and long limbs) machine
2. The well-manicured (I suppose) and well-covered dancer vs. the metalic and naked robot
3. The robot stands with knees bent–reminded me of apes
But they are not quite “it” … I mean I’d be OK if the robot boxes or shoots a rifle since there is this “mechanicality” in both humanly activities. But to dance? Man, the half-baked “gracefulness” is just so wrong!
Finally done with Foucault’s