rostasi

Paul's not dead

"...You witness a drive-by, that's a few notes..."

If you go to the "myspace" site, listen to the "Fan Mail" track

Thanks for that.

Yes, this is a disgrace. Joyce has done more for Dublin than Haughey. I was there for the centenary in '04 and it was a wonderful celebration that began months earlier, culminating in extraordinary citywide Bloomsday events straight out of Ulysses with a HUGE parade of a complex musical variety thru Dublin streets! I'd been there in '01, but wanted to really be a part of this massive event in '04. It seems that other folks in other countries are celebrating, but Dublin just couldn't have the funeral and burial tomorrow instead. BTW...the David Norris fellow liberally quoted in the article is a VERY fine performer - probably the best known - during these festivities (which have gone on for over 50 years!) article On this canceled Bloomsday, life imitates art But some call lack of festivities as unfair to Haughey, Joyce By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff | June 16, 2006 In what some see as a mark of respect, and some Joycean purists consider sacrilege, official commemorations marking Bloomsday, the single day in 1904 that forms the narrative in James Joyce’s great novel ‘‘Ulysses,’’ have been canceled today in Dublin because they coincide with the funeral and burial of Charles J. Haughey, Ireland’s most colorful and controversial prime minister. Bertie Ahern, a Haughey protégé who is now Ireland’s longest-serving taoiseach, or prime minister, issued a statement saying it was appropriate that Haughey would be laid to rest on Bloomsday. ‘‘His affinity with the arts, his own extraordinary, colorful life were every bit as interesting as Joyce’s fictional hero Leopold Bloom,’’ Ahern said. ‘‘Being buried on Bloomsday is a coincidence I believe that Charlie would have deeply enjoyed.’’ But some, including David Norris, one of Ireland’s leading Joyce scholars, say the decision by the board of the James Joyce Centre in Dublin to cancel its annual Bloomsday festivities, while well-intentioned, is actually doing a disservice to the memory of both Joyce, arguably Ireland’s greatest writer, and Haughey, unquestionably Ireland’s most controversial leader. ‘‘At the end of the day, Charlie was a great Joycean,’’ Norris said in a telephone interview from Dublin, where he is a senator and lecturer at Trinity College. ‘‘I am quite confident that Charlie would never have dreamed of canceling Bloomsday. You can’t cancel Bloomsday. That’s like saying you can cancel Monday or Tuesday. And on the 16th of June, in Dublin, it will always be Bloomsday.’’ Indeed, Haughey was, like many Dubliners, one for keeping the day every 16th of June. A reporter once observed Haughey in a southside Dublin pub, having imbibed considerably more than the one glass of burgundy that Leopold Bloom consumes at Davy Byrne’s pub, recite from memory a long passage from ‘‘Ulysses.’’ Mr. Haughey’s companions cheered lustily, and he bowed gallantly. Norris noted that Haughey died on June 13 and will be buried on June 16, as did Paddy Dignam, a character from ‘‘Ulysses’’ whose funeral is the focus of Chapter 6. ‘‘It’s a wonderful example of life imitating art,’’ said Norris, attributing to Haughey the ability to control the timing of his own death. ‘‘I think Charlie did it deliberately.’’ In the book, Bloom suggests Paddy Dignam had a quick death, the best way to die. In real life, Haughey suffered from prostate cancer for a decade, and in 2003 had to sell his beloved 300-acre estate, Kinsealy, in North Dublin to settle the tax bills that arose from disclosures that he accepted at least $12 million in kickbacks from business interests. All the while, tribunals investigating corruption tarnished his legacy, making him a figure more tragic than anything Joyce dreamed up. Norris acknowledged it was Haughey’s genuine appreciation of Joyce that led him to have a soft spot for Haughey, whose politics swung considerably to the right of his. He noted that Haughey did much to support the arts, creating tax breaks for artists. ‘‘Charlie was many things,’’ he said, obliquely referring to the scandals. ‘‘But he was a great lover of life, and Charlie would be the first to tell you that life must go on, that the show must go on, and that Bloomsday must go on.’’ Norris said he thought it would be more appropriate to hold a moment of silence in Haughey’s memory during Bloomsday festivities. Despite the decision by the James Joyce Centre, Norris said he and others will carry on the annual tradition of dressing up in period costume, holding readings at various spots across Dublin and in Sandycove, the seaside village in South County Dublin where a Martello tower is the setting for the first chapter of ‘‘Ulysses.’’ ‘‘I am going to perform,’’ Norris said. ‘‘I think Charlie would approve.’’

O-Forum check yer own

Banjos!

Nearly all of us methinks...

Yup, I agree with you on that. I'm not a stickler on the aesthetic looks or anything like that. It was just that right after Sony dropped the series, It was a bit of a letdown - at first, I wondered if anyone else would release a full discography and deciding that, considering the nature of modern classical music, that it probably wouldn't be done. Money would surely be used for the Thomas Ades of the modern classical world. There was the feeling of having to begin again not knowing that there would be a continuation and all that. I do have to say that it's nice that major labels took this on - something that still surprises me to this day! You usually have to rely on the Modes and other independents for this kind of work. Last August, Ligeti's name came up in conversation with Stockhausen. He said that Ligeti had just arrived from Hungary and was in pretty bad shape both mentally and physically because of the Russian invasion - literally fainting - and Stockhausen took him in to his cramped apartment for three months and arranged a chance for him to work at the electronic music studio of the WDR as well as to receive some spending money. It's amazing what some of these great composers had to endure in those days. Emotional and, in the case of Xenakis for instance, physical scars of war.

Our Dallas Virgin has been deflowered.

I read that same book! Jerome Agel's book! It was a favorite read as a youngster. Funny how he refers to himself in the third person.

Of course, the great irony of the "...Space Odyssey" connection is that Kubrick didn't ask Ligeti for permission to use his music beforehand and Ligeti was not all that pleased. Anyway, one of the greats of the past century. Very sad... A similar note: I was just reading another interview with Elliott Carter during lunch today. He'll be 98 this December and he's still as sharp as ever. I think when we lose him and Stockhausen, it'll be mighty empty.

Yes, thanks!

Yes, very sad. I'm hoping that some label will actually do a proper presentation of all of his works. It seems that, for example, Sony really dropped the ball on this one. No more new works, but let's enjoy the bounty that we have now!

...and for the longest time I thought that she was the offspring of Tuesday Weld and Gavin Friday!

Yes, a Douglas MacArthur grant/award for great service during time of war.

There's always the White Horse Temple which was the first Buddhist Temple in China.

Some of you probably remember this?

Wow! It's the 80's all over again! Complete with heroin! Gosh, I really miss those days of complicated rhythms and intricate harmonies!

I'll lure them in with my 10"You and Bullmoose Jackson!

Yes, keep those teen daughters away from Allan's spa - definitely!

OK, back from lunch and decided to get rid of the fold lines. Well, most of them anyway:

He was good when he was there the last time!