Today’s writing soundtrack is Il Trovetore on Met Opera Presents on WQXR. That was one of my father’s favorites but all I know about it is the Anvil Chorus. I don’t know why I felt compelled to tell you that, but I did. It has nothing to do with what I’m writing about. I’m not even sure what I’m writing about.
Yesterday was therapy. I always make my appointments four weeks out. This was the third of the last series. I have an appointment for next week but couldn’t get one for the week after that. That wouldn’t have happened if the usual receptionist weren’t on vacation. She reserves my spot for me. That’s an example of privilege. It’s an earned privilege as it comes from trusting that I always keep my appointments. It’s like a frequent flyer program.
Even though there’s been a turndown in infection rate of late the new more infectious strain of COVID-19 has not taken over yet so things will likely get worse. I’m doing my part and finally broke down and bought high quality unwoven masks. I found them for $1 a pop. They will be delivered on Tuesday. Henceforth when I go shopping, the only time that I’m inside with other people, I will wear one. It won’t be for that long so I will air them out after use and wear them twice. I bought a pack of 10. I will wear a cloth mask over it when indoors. We are approaching the finish line, the vaccinations have started, we can’t slip at the end. I can’t control what anybody else does but I can do my part. There is a secondary effect, seeing other people take precautions makes it the norm, and therefore more likely that others will take precautions.
There’s a new edition of Gord’s Gold up on Mixcloud. This week the featured artists are Ryanhood, Chicks With Dip, South for Winter, and Miss Tess. Please follow and if possible subscribe. All the cool kids are doing it. It’s almost a tautology but I look at that lineup and go, “Wow! What great artists?” I need to record this week’s show. The sound quality of my parts has not been up to snuff of late. Ron does adjustments before he plays them on Folk Music Notebook. I’m still learning and figured out how to make those adjustments myself before posting on Mixcloud. I figure out what my problem has been. There’s a level check on Audacity. I have always been careful to keep it out of the red. Looking at the actual loudness numbers I see that the sweet spot is pretty deep into the red. The color code is poorly calibrated. That should be easy to fix, just up my recording level. I can’t go to an hour a week until I have this figured out. This is important homework.
I’m going to keep it short today as I have to watch The Folk DJ Showcase on YouTube. That will feature some favorites of mine, South for Winter, Kemp Harris, and Shanna in a Dress. The DJ Showcase is always one of the best places to discover new artists at NERFA. Unlike the other official showcases the artists are not picked by committee but each is championed by one DJ. That makes the choices more idiosyncratic. I wish more showcases were done like that. If I were on a committee choosing artists Dawes and Jackson Browne wouldn’t have a chance as I’d give them low marks. The key to being chosen by a committee is to be liked by many, someone loved by some but disliked by others are at a disadvantage. If there was a Vienna Emerging Opera Showcase in the late 18th century Salieri would be booked and Mozart wouldn’t. To paraphrase Lydia in Beetlejuice; “Committees ignore the strange and unusual. I myself am strange and unusual.”
Wise Madness 