Oct26

mutual tuning-in.

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pat metheny, side-eye tour, orchestra hall, detroit, michigan

detroit symphony orchestra paradise jazz series

october 2021

amazing experience

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We’re all familiar with the sense of wonder and joy we experience when we hear a song or piece of music we love, but there’s something even more magical about hearing that song performed live. Although many artists offered streamed performances online during the pandemic, these didn’t quite leave us with the same enchanted feelings as concerts. So what makes live music different? Columbia associate music professor Mariusz Kozak explains why live music is so powerful.

Live music allows us to experience what philosopher Alfred Schütz called a “mutual tuning-in.” This term refers to the phenomenon where we experience the passage of time and emotions with others. This is part of the reason humans need social interaction to thrive. When we attend a concert, we’re experiencing the tone of the music—fast, slow, happy, sad—with others around us. This creates a sense of intimacy with the crowd around us. This is also why research shows that babies who are bounced in time to music with an adult display more altruism towards that person.

This pleasurable effect gained from synchronizing with those around us is what makes live music and dance so powerful. Although most people probably relate to this feeling when remembering their favorite concert, this feeling is not limited to conventional music. It can also be experienced through collective visual synchronization. In the deaf community, facial gestures and movements are to convey emotions in music performance. The collective interpretation of the emotions behind these facial gestures also promotes a sense of unity.

The Blackfeet in North America use the same word to refer to music, dance, and ceremony, indicating the essential role of gathering to fully appreciate the benefits of music. Close friends can even experience this synchronization when walking or talking together.

Experiencing music in the presence of others cultivates a feeling of unity and empathy within us which exceeds anything we could experience by ourselves. As we head back to in-person concerts and relish this feeling once again, know that the true power of the music you’re hearing might not come from the artist, but in fact your fellow concert goers.

– Mariusz Kozak, Associate Professor of Music and Music Theory, Columbia University

 

Oct25

full of life.

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what an honor and a joy

to see the culmination

of my dear friend, breeda kelly miller’s

 hours, days, months, year, spent

writing, creating, staging, rehearsing, distilling

and bringing the story of her mother, mary kelly

to life on stage at the world premiere

of her emotional and brilliant one-woman play,

Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home.

 the arthur miller theater, ann arbor, the university of michigan

—

“you should feel a flow of joy because you are alive. your body will feel full of life.

that is what you must give from the stage. your life. no less. that is art: to give all you have.”

-anton chekhov

 

 

 

 

 

Directed by Brian Cox, a Pencilpoint Theatre Production. Go to mrskellysjourneyhome.com for updates. 

 

Oct24

simple gifts.

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 carried from home to school

clutched in chubby hand

  tiny simple gift

brings precious beauty 

to a teacher’s heart.

 

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“sometimes, said pooh, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”

-a.a. milne – winnie the pooh

Oct23

we write.

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“directly, or indirectly, everything we write is for someone.”

-author unknown

 

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Yesterday October 20 was the National Day on Writing.

The National Council of Teachers of English established the National Day on Writing

“to draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing Americans

engage in and to help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft.” 

Oct22

finally, a sport i can master!

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Living room acrobatics earn Peruvian inaugural Balloon World Cup

Anyone who has ever leaped over a couch to prevent a party balloon from touching the living room floor can now dream of parlaying those skills into a World Cup triumph.

Inspired by a series of viral videos and organized by Barcelona soccer playerGerard Pique and internet celebrity Ibla Llanos, the inaugural Balloon World Cup took place in Tarragona on Thursday.

Francesco De La Cruz emerged as the first champion after beating German Jan Spiess 6-2 in the final on a 8×8 meter court littered with living room furniture as well as a small car.

“I am very, very happy, I thank God that I have been able to achieve this,” said the Peruvian teenager.

The rules of the game are simple. Players have to hit the balloon in an upward direction and they score points if their opponent fails to prevent it from touching the ground.

Teams from 32 countries took part including an American team of Antonio and Diego Arredondo, whose videos of the game they played with their sister, Isabel, at home in Oregon were a huge hit on social media and inspired the tournament.

“We played the game as kids, and then, during the start of quarantine for Covid, we wanted to play it again,” Antonio Arredondo told Reuters.

“We started arguing with each other over if it hit the ground or not, so we started taking videos in slow-mo to see if it did, and then finally it got to the point of ‘Let’s post this video of us on Tik-Tok.’

“When I woke up the next morning, it was completely viral, like a million likes, and then after that we just decided to keep playing and played more and more until one of our rounds got the attention of Ibai and Pique.”

 Without sport, footballers turned to video games in 2020

Pique, who won a soccer World Cup with Spain in 2010, was delighted with how the inaugural tournament had gone. “It’s been amazing, it’s something totally different, sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone and try new things,” he said.

—

“and with just 4 minutes gone, the score is already 0-0.”

-ian darke

—

credits: reuters

Oct19

stuck.

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while shopping at target recently

i found myself in a long, slow, self-checkout line

behind a family of three-

a tired after a long day looking mother

 a perky tween daughter

and a high-energy young son

who was clearly bored and restless.

needing to create something to do

the young son

somehow found a way to

push his head through the middle of the skeleton wreath

that they were waiting to purchase.

 due to the crazy universal law of

‘on is easier than off’

he could not get it

back over his head to take it off again.

first he tried to get it off himself,

then his sister joined in,

when she heard his yelping

mom turned around, sighed, put her things down, and proceeded to help

looking at her wits end

as they patiently worked their way toward the front of the snaking line

continuing to struggle with the skeleton wreath removal project.

when they finally were in the front

mom asked the store clerk if she could scan the wreath while he was still wearing it

and deal with getting it off after they purchased it

she got the go ahead, scanned it on his neck, along with all her other items

and moved out of line.

employees quickly jumped in to help

 with one holding his ears flat,

another tilting the wreath in a variety of positions,

his mother putting lotion on his face

moving his head up and down,

and his sister trying to keep him calm.

when they were finally able to free his head from the wreath

he stopped crying

mom quietly pushed her cart out of the store

her son carrying the wreath

his sister holding his hand

looking like they were all more than ready to head home. 

—

“there is no panic like the panic when you momentarily feel

when you get your hand or head stuck in something.”

-peter kay

Oct18

deeply.

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“that we find a crystal or a poppy beautiful means that we are less alone,

that we are more deeply inserted into existence than the course of a single life would lead us to believe.”

-john berger

 

 

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anna scripps whitcomb conservatory, belle isle, detroit, michigan

Oct17

inside out and outside in.

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 entering the anna scripps whitcomb conservatory

designed by albert kahn and george mason in 1904

on belle isle, in detroit, michigan

you realize what an amazing vision of the world they had

“architecture is not such a knowledge form, but a form of knowledge.”

-bernard tschumi