Tomaso Albinoni and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad “One-Hit Wonder” Moniker

Last updated on: January 9, 2015 at 1:00 pm By Joseph Susanka

For years, I’ve been fascinated by Tomaso Albinoni, the Baroque composer whose presence in the public “eye” is tied almost exclusively to a single piece: the bleak and ubiquitous Adagio in G minor, which he didn’t really even write. In 1945, Remo Giazotto, a Milanese musicologist traveled to Dresden to complete his biography of Albinoni and his listing of Albinoni’s music. Among the ruins, he discovered a fragment of manuscript. Only the bass line and six bars of melody had survived, possibly... Read more

No Commentary Necessary — Renan Ozturk Edition

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:14 pm By Joseph Susanka

This, folks, is what a “sizzle reel” should look like; an amazing visual feast. Renan Ozturk was a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2013, and his Vimeo page contains some of the most mesmerizing, visually resplendent things I’ve seen in a long time. Like that plane-and-ice-flow shot from his 2013 reel. Wow! (Also, some of those climbing shots reminded me that I have a vertigines tendency. Yikes!) Read more

Vacillating Between Gnathonic Schwarmerei and Weltzchmerz

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:14 pm By Joseph Susanka

It’s hard to know what one could possibly say about this Mental Floss article on “13 Words That Knocked Out Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalists” other than to admit that it makes me feel stupid — an unpleasant (but common enough) occurrence. My favorite example of a word I could never spell (and that I might not even have realized existed before reading MF’s article?) “Schwarmerei” — a word that has eliminated finalists twice in the last 10 years. Yep,... Read more

Prejudice-Free Soundtrack Listening

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:14 pm By Joseph Susanka

Several weeks ago, I stumbled across a promotional featurette involving A Film That Shall Remain Temporarily Nameless But Which I Have No Intention Of Watching Any Time Soon. While the details are hazy to me at the moment — tabbed browsing can get a bit crazy at times — the Trailer in Question somehow ended up in a background tab. Which means that its music was allowed to play unchecked and blessedly emancipated from any potentially damaging associations. (The clip... Read more

Winnie-the-Pooh Finds His Original Voice

Last updated on: August 11, 2015 at 2:59 pm By Joseph Susanka

Ever since I was a little child, the name “Winnie-the-Pooh” has conjured up two instantaneous and incredibly powerful associations: E.H. Shepard and Sterling Holloway. Now, thanks to OpenCulture, I can add another to the list: Pooh’s creator, A.A. Milne himself. Here’s a rare recording from 1929 of the British writer A.A. Milne reading a chapter of his beloved children’s book, Winnie-the-Pooh. Milne was a prolific writer of plays, novels and essays, but he was mostly known–much to his exasperation–as the creator of a... Read more

A Sacred Charge Upon a Nation’s Gratitude

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:14 pm By Joseph Susanka

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, “of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion.” What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race... Read more

The Absent-Minded Professor – Family Movie Night

Last updated on: January 16, 2015 at 2:43 pm By Joseph Susanka

The Story: Ned Brainard, a chronically absent-minded chemistry professor at cash-strapped Medfield College, stumbles across an anti-gravity substance that he believes can save his beloved institution. While his bumbling effort to monetize the discovery prove ineffective, he does manage to attract the attention of the powerful Alonzo Hawk, a corrupt businessman who vows to steal the material for himself. The Stars: Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn Release Date: 1961 Rating: G Our Take: Professor Ned Brainard (Fred MacMurray) is... Read more

The Brown Sisters, Year In and Year Out

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:14 pm By Joseph Susanka

One of the things I love most about photography is its ability to “freeze” things we humans usually experience fluidly — to capture and crystallize something (or someone) for future viewers and generations who will never be able to experience those moments “in person.” On the other hand, that ability can sometimes be as much curse as gift, leaving shutterbugs struggling to find elegant ways past that very tendency towards crystallization — searching to present the passage of time photographically in... Read more

The Man Behind the Booth, Part V

Last updated on: January 20, 2015 at 1:07 pm By Joseph Susanka

Asking questions and recognizing the importance of asking questions is not, in my view, enough for people to come to epiphanies. The changes that stick, in my observation of others and myself, come about through the painful mess of doing things. Without the unexpected lessons of events, it is possible to live in the solipsism of therapies that flatter but do no more than coddle and reassure us. — Finally wrapping up my lengthy, enthralling, five-part conversation with Christopher “C.K.” Kubasik, creator and... Read more

Zimmer and Whitacre: Strange Musical Bedfellows

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:14 pm By Joseph Susanka

Earlier today, I was browsing through Eric Whitacre’s website in pursuit of “Sainte-Chapelle:” a composition commissioned by the Tallis Scholars to commemorate their 40th anniversary, and which they performed for the first time this past March. As I wandered harmlessly through the site, searching for a “Chapelle” snippet to share, I stumbled upon this, all unsuspecting:Now, what’s a nice cinematic track like you doin’ in a classical place like this? Whitacre’s reveal: I co-composed the “Mermaid Theme” with Hans Zimmer and conducted... Read more