Here is what is keeping Brian busy in his spare time

Click on the title of any selection and you will be taken to Amazon, or CDNOW, or wherever so that these things can distract you, too.

Brian's Bookshelf

Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

Dark Sun : The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb by Richard Rhodes

The Age of Reagan, 1964-1980: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order by Steven F. Hayward

The Big Garage on Clear Shot : Growing Up, Growing Old, and Going Fishing at the End of the Road
by Tom Bodett

 

Brian's Stereo

Perpetual Motion by Bela Fleck (Sony Classical SK89610): This new disc from banjo (yes, I said banjo) virtuoso Bela Fleck features him stepping out of his jazz/bluegrass roots to tackle the classics, music by Scarlatti, Bach, Chopin, and Brahms. Very much worth the price of the CD.

Symphony No.3 in C minor, Op. 78 "Organ" by Camille Saint-Saens (Sony Classical SBK 47655): The "Organ" Symphony, as it is known, is one of my favorite symphonies. The "Poco Adagio" is very, very beautiful, with the pipe organ underneath the strings. The integration of the piano throughout the work is wonderful. You may recognize the melody of the final "Presto" as the melody heard throughout the movie "Babe". Also, you drum corps nuts will recognize this as the opener of the 1990 Phantom Regiment.

Bouncing Off the Satellites by The B-52's: This album was my introduction to this "interesting" band. With such family classics as "Wig", "Housework", and "Detour Through Your Mind" ("WHAT A SHOCK!! $16,000!! And all he wanted to do was dip us in plaster!!"), you just can't go wrong. It is truly an intellectual album, with such mind-bending ideas as "I need to leave my past behind...I need to leave my behind in the past."

Live at Monterey-The Don Ellis Orchestra: Truly one of the watershed concerts of modern jazz. The Don Ellis Orchestra gave this live performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival. The first number, entitled 33 222 1 222, is actually written in that key signature. Two measures of 3, three measures of 2, a measure of 1, and another three measures of 2. Ellis was famous for his odd (by convential standards) time signatures. Hank Levy's Passacaglia And Fugue and Ellis's New Nine are other fine pieces.

 

Here is what used to be distracting me...the archive!

This page was a distraction to the webmaster on 8 January, 2001