Tuesday, August 27, 2019
To A Conversation with the Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg last night at Kleinhans, an event that has had the city buzzing all summer. It was a long day for the judge: she taught a class at the law school, and received an honorary degree, and did a bunch of other stuff before sitting down on stage with the dean of the law school and several local bar association presidents for a Q&A. She is not even a week post-radiation treatments, but seemed strong. Hilariously she came on stage with a big canvas bag, which she kept at her feet for the evening. I can't say I was crazy about the format, which seemed somewhat contrived. There were movie clips interspersed, and the questions were obviously submitted in advance, for example. On the other hand, nobody would want to overtax her, and she was as delightful and charismatic as you'd expect. What was most notable to me was the electric excitement in the room, especially among the women. There was spontaneous applause throughout the presentation, and Justice Ginsburg seemed really, genuinely pleased to be there.
Monday, August 05, 2019
"Obscure" acts that played at Woodstock. This list is someone inflated- Melanie, Richie Havens, Tim Harden, John Sebastian, Mountain- these are not musicians that anyone with a passing familiarity with 60's music would regard as forgotten. The Incredible String Band maybe, Bert Sommer, Keef Hartley, and Quill absolutely. I'd have put Sha Na Na on the list
Thursday, August 01, 2019
The liner notes for Bob Dylan's Witmark Demos are as good a description of how the music publishing business works as anything I've ever read.
