Albert Einstein

http://www.artreview.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=3ebiejasbizyg

Genius of Albert Einstein! He was not only a physicist, but also a great philosopher who induldged himself into politics and had a direct impact on the development of historical events! His sayings are often quoted. The ones I like most are:

· “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”

· “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

· “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

· “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

· “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.”

· “Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.”

· “If A equals success, then the formula is _ A = _ X + _ Y + _ Z. _ X is work. _ Y is play. _ Z is keep your mouth shut.”

· “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
A flash back of Einstein and his love for music and the intersection of physics and music in his life.
Mozart and Bach were his favorite composers, so I chose two pieces he liked to go with this video; Mozart's Quartet in G major, K.156 - I. Presto, and Bach's Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins - Vivace.



http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl


http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl

LaLoie Fuller

Born Marie Louise Fuller in Chicago, Fuller began her theatrical career as a professional child actress and later choreographed and performed dances in burlesque ,vaudeville, and circus shows. An early free dance practitioner, Fuller developed her own natural movement and improvisation techniques. Fuller combined her choreography with silk costumes illuminated by multi-coloured lighting of her own design.

A regular performer at the Folies Bergère with works such as Fire Dance.Fuller held many patents related to stage lighting including chemical compounds for creating color gel and the use of chemical salts for luminescent lighting and garments. She danced across the stage enveloped in yards of swirling, shimmering cloth illuminated by multi-colored spotlights. She attracted the attention of many artists and is considered to be the personification of the Art Nouveau movement.
Fuller, whom enthusiastic Parisians called "La Loie," was the toast of Paris at the end of the nineteenth century.
www.timelapsedance.com Jody Sperling performs her Loie Fuller-inspired "Clair de lune" (from Debussy Soiree) at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, October 2008. Piano: Jeffrey Middleton; Lighting: David Ferri; Costume: Michelle Ferranti.

"K.K. Ragtime"

Have your kids watch this. They will all recognize this ragtime music.
This is the theme to Animal Crossing and Yoshi's Island video games.

"K K Ragtime"



http://www.WestCoastRagtime.com

Everybody gathered around enjoying Tom Brier's piano playing! It was GREAT! This all took place during the Annual West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento, CA in mid November of 2008.

"K.K. Ragtime" is the title of this melody and the composer's name is Kazumi Totaka. The piano arrangement is by Ron O'Dell and Tom Brier embellishes upon it brilliantly as usual!

Picasso....

Created over 22,000 works of art over the course of his lifetime.

http://www.images-art.co.uk/pages/buy.asp?ProductID=2041

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (full name Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso) was born on the 25th October, 1881 in Malaga in Spain. He was the first son of Jose Ruiz y Blasco and Maria Picasso y Lopez. His father was a painter and a professor of art at the School of Crafts and the curator of a local museum. Picasso learnt the basics of art from his father. Picasso also attended the Academy of Arts in Madrid, but dropped out within a year of joining it.

Elite Syncopations by Scott Joplin

Played by Cory Hall-BachScholar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_dZWHm7I78


All the paintings by Pablo Picasso are usually classified into various ‘periods’ based on the moods and styles of the paintings. These, in turn, were largely affected by his personal and love life.
Self Portrait of a young Picasso

1901 to 1904 is called Picasso’s Blue Period because many of his paintings in that time were in the shades of blue and blue-green. 1905 to 1907 is called Picasso’s Rose Period where his paintings became cheerful with the use of orange and pink colors. 1907 to 1909 is called his African Influenced Period where his drawings were inspired by African artifacts. 1909 to 1912 is called Picasso’s Analytic Cubism Period. 1912 to 1919 is called Picasso’s Synthetic Cubism Period where he began to use collage in his art. During the 1930s he returned to a more neo-classical style of painting. Another major change was the use of the Minotaur as his motif, rather than the harlequin in his paintings.


Pablo Picasso died on the 8th of April, 1973 while he and his wife Jacqueline were entertaining friends for dinner. His last words were: ‘Drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can’t drink anymore.’

The Favorite...Scott Joplin

http://www.perfessorbill.com/pbmidi15.shtml

Oh Great...Now my favorite is "The Favorite".....:o)



Scott Joplin playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list...

Cory Hall says......
This is a great but elusive rag. I spent a long time experimenting with different tempos and thought I liked it best a little slower. But a couple weeks went by and I finally decided I like it better faster. I add elaborations in the RH in the repeats and use my usual octave higher and lower technique. I also add a run of 16ths in the LH on the repeat of the B section.

If played as written and at a slower tempo, this is actually one of Joplin's least difficult rags; however, all these additions turn it into a difficult piece. I think it is the only rag other than Magnetic Rag to have a section in a minor key, as the B section is in G minor. I love this rag!

I agree with Cory....I love this rag!!!

SugarCane...

Cory Hall plays Sugar Cane by Scott Joplin.....

Scott Joplin playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list...
Cory says.......
This is one of Joplin's lesser known rags, but I think one of his best. I prefer dotted rhythms because it adds energy. I also have another version with "straight" rhythms that you can compare this one to.



Sugar Cane worker in the Dominacen Republic

And the Band Played on.....

There are conflicting opinions about the final song played on Titanic.
Nearer My Gold to Thee is the most popular choice. Accounts list a song
titled Autumn as the final song.
http://www.pendle.net/WallaceHartley/
Top Row, Left to Right: Fred Clarke of Liverpool and P.C. Taylor of Clapham.
Middle Row, Left to Right: G. Krins of Brixton, Wallace H. Hartley of Dewsbury, the Bandmaster and Theodore Brailey, of Notting Hill. Bottom Row, Left to Right: Jock Hume of Dumfries and J.W. Woodward of Headington, Oxon. Roger Bricoux, the cellist, was missing from this photo.

White Star Line song book peformed with violin, viola, violoncello and piano to recreate as authentically as possible 17 selections which most closely conformed with tradition: Can-Can from Orpheus, Maple Leaf Rag, Nearer, My God, To Thee, Merry Widow, Emperor Waltz, Humoresque, Barcarole, Gold and Silver Waltz, Elite Syncopations, Hail Columbia, Yankee Doodle, Tritsch-Tratsch Polka

Wallace Hartley, the bandleader, was asked by a reporter --months before he sailed on the Titanic --what he would play in the event of a disaster at sea. He said he'd play "cheerful stuff" such as ragtime. Nothing to cause a panic. "I'd never play 'Nearer My God to Thee,' " he said, for he'd reserve that for his own funeral.

As a functionary providing mood music, he knew it was his job to prevent panic, not create it. So he ordered a diet of ragtime on that last night. Survivors have detailed the names of the rag songs--"Oh, You Beautiful Doll," "Alexander's Ragtime Band," etc.

Harold Bride, the radio operator, one of the last to leave the ship, told the New York Times (after the tabloids had spread the hymn myth) that the last tune performed was "Songe d'Automne," a then-current pop hit by British dance bandleader Archibald Joyce. It's a beautiful waltz and makes a much more fitting swan song than the wretched hymn. Truth is always richer than fiction.

I vote for "Songe d'Automne" as the final song on the Titanic.

Pineapple Rag.....

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list...


BachScholar says....
The title on the original edition, "Pine Apple Rag", should have really been spelled "Pineapple Rag". (They should have hired a proofreader!) Joplin gave this rag the metronome mark of 100 bpm and I play it here at about 96-100 bpm. It is a myth that ragtime should always be slow.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Topping:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 (1-pound, 4 ounce) can sliced pineapple
Maraschino Cherries
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a 10-inch cast-iron frying pan (my mother always used a cast iron skillet) or a 9x2-inch cake pan over low heat, melt butter or margarine. Stir in brown sugar until blended. Remove from heat. Drain pineapple, reserving 2 tablespoons syrup. Arrange pineapple slices onto top of sugar mixture. Place a maraschino cherry in center of each slice. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add egg, milk, and vegetable shortening; beat 2 minutes. Add reserved pineapple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract; beat 2 minutes. Pour over pineapple slices in frying pan, spreading evenly.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes on a wire rack. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen; cover with a cake plate and invert. Serve warm.

Makes 8 servings.

Josephine Baker

Quotes by Josephine.....

"Beautiful? It's all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest . . . beautiful, no. Amusing, yes.”

“I like Frenchmen very much, because even when they insult you they do it so nicely.”

“. . . I improvised, crazed by the music. . . . Even my teeth and eyes burned with fever. Each time I leaped I seemed to touch the sky and when I regained earth it seemed to be mine alone."

“It [the Eiffel Tower] looked very different from the Statue of Liberty, but what did that matter? What was the good of having the statue without the liberty?”

“A violinist had a violin, a painter his palette. All I had was myself. I was the instrument that I must care for.”

“Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood.”

I believe in prayer. It's the best way we have to draw strength from heaven.”

“The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains.”

“I wasn't really naked. I simply didn't have any clothes on.”