In 1976, while working in Paris teaching ESL to middle managers at a French language school, I splurged and bought two tickets to the Béjart Ballet. I wasn’t making great money so this was a big expense. I had a hot first date, however, and wanted to have a special… A Memorable Night in Paris with Pierre Boulez and the Béjart Ballet
Original publication date: August 12, 2013 When I was 12 and 13, cycling was everything to me. I rode around 100-150 miles weekly, was on an informal team called “Le Voyageurs” (The Travelers), complete with jerseys, chamois-seated shorts, toe clips – the whole deal. A weekend ride would have us all ride… The Racing Bike I Never Got
I had the good fortune to attend the 5th annual Concours d’Elegance in Beverly Hills at the 1920’s Greystone Mansion, organized and presented by the City of Beverly Hills and Friends of the Greystone. I wanted to share a few highlights.
I love to feel something when I drive a fast car, or as a passenger in a nice car with a good driver at the wheel. Rental cars don’t matter, though when in Europe on nice big autostradas I always drove small cars like Renault 5’s and would have loved a Ferrari… Me, My Dad, and Cars
Last night, as I ground black pepper and sprinkled some French sea salt into my salad, I stopped to ponder how we take these spices for granted. Back in the Middle Ages, before the Portuguese, Dutch and other voyages of discovery sailed to Indonesia, India, and beyond, spices were worth… Salt, Pepper, and Other Spices We Take for Granted
Original publication date: February 14, 2013 Categories: History Zhuang Zedong, the Chinese ping pong champion, has just died. He sought out and met his American counterpart, Glenn Cowan during a visit to America in 1971. Zhuang was an important private diplomat for Mao’s China, and after this meeting the U.S.… How Ping Pong Diplomacy Changed History
I am a lover of cats and always have been. We always had a cat in the Schnabel household growing up. I’ve written about Scarlatti’s Cat Sonata and have watched countless cat videos. I’m a sucker for felines. When you adopt a pet, however, you sign a Faustian bargain. All the love and… Mr. T, My Favorite Cat RIP
Original post date: August 16, 2012 In 1973, fresh out of grad school and after an unhappy spell in law school, unable to land a job teaching in American community colleges, I found two job postings on a UCLA international job bulletin board. One was to teach English at a… The Road Not Traveled
The world has watched the Olympics in London, now continuing. It’s interesting to go back a ways and see an Olympics from an earlier time, Tokyo 1964 in the classic documentary by Kon Ichikawa. It was the first big international event held in Japan since the second world war ended. You… Tokyo Olympiad 1964: Amazing Documentary by Kon Ichikawa
The other night we hosted a dinner party and one of our guests worked at JPL. I brought out my copy of Murmurs of Earth, published by Time Warner about 20 years ago to document the contents of the Voyager Golden Record. It’s one of the box sets I saved… President Carter, Voyager, and UFO’S
I was both a literature and French major in college, so I could read Samuel Beckett’s novels and plays in both languages. His plays used a literary device called “stichomythia,” which had characters speaking short lines back and forth, so it was easy to read in French. Beckett, like Joseph… I Saw Samuel Beckett
In writing a recent blog, inspired by Gustavo Dudamel’s orchestral version of a popular Puerto Rican band’s hit song, I began to muse on the subject of music education in Venezuela and the U.S. There are a million kids enrolled in Venezuela’s music system, called El Sistema. Some of them, like Gustavo… Whatever Happened to Music Education?
I love David Byrne and Barry White, and I love cars, too. My favorites include the 1953 Packard Caribbean convertible, Henri Chapron Citroën DS 23 Pallas, 1956 Buick Roadmaster, Ferrari 365 GTB, Maserati 3500 GT… all cars I can ill-afford to own let alone properly maintain. When David Byrne once… David Byrne and Barry White and Their Rides
Categories: Jazz, Interviews, Album Reviews, Memoir, 1980s, KCRW Keith Jarrett has released another solo album, this time called Rio. As the title would suggest, it was recorded in Rio de Janeiro. On it we hear the now familiar musical mood swings: from angular vertical runs, acrid harmonies, to unbearably lovely… My Love-Hate Relationship with Keith Jarrett
I recently read about a new John Cage biography in the New York Times Book Review. I ordered the book, Begin Again by Kenneth Silverman, and it just arrived. Cage influenced people who don’t even know who he is. And then there are folks like Brian Eno and Ryuichi Sakamoto, both of whom owe huge… John Cage Remembered