Music and the Mind

Several years ago, for a communications class, I delivered a presentation that included musical snippets from several films. This was done to demonstrate the power that music has to create a mood and communicate feeling to the audience. From the Empire theme in the Star Wars series and the Halloween theme of Michael Myers, the bad guys are known before they are even seen. The grand entrance of the tropical island in Jurassic Park sets an expectation of awe and wonder. Every great movie is accompanied by a wonderful score inspired by the movie yet able to stand alone. To paraphrase what conductor Jeff Tyzik said at the pops concert of the Oregon Symphony this evening, ‘the movie needs the music but the music doesn’t necessarily need the movie.’

As you may have guessed, this evening’s concert consisted of “Music from the Movies.” We were treated to “Superman”, “Harry Potter”, and many others, including an arrangement by the conductor of eight movies through the years.

What a wonderful evening! As with most music, a flood of memories and thoughts came rushing back with each piece. Thoughts of Christopher Reeve as the man of steel and the all too human man that died before his time; the joy and wonder at seeing Hogwarts for the first time; Sir Alec Guinness commanding his troops in a Japanese prison camp or, for many of us, the Comet song (they even let the audience whistle, but no singing); and Johnny Depp riding a sinking ship into a harbor all came springing vividly to mind as the music rolled out over the audience in wave after wave of rich sound. This was only the first half…

The second half of the concert started with a holiday selection. Songs from the movie “Home Alone” were accompanied by the Pacific Youth Choir and the voices of these young musicians were clear and true and truly sent chills up my spine more than once during their short stay on stage. My own memories of being in choirs over the years and the excitement of a performance gave me momentary butterflies. Once the choir was finished the music turned to a medley from “The Holly and the Ivy” which contained many recognizable songs that I did not realize were a part of any movie, let alone a single one.

The final piece of the concert, as mentioned above, was a medley of eight numbers arranged by the conduct, Jeff Tyzik. These pieces were all from movies that received academy awards and every one of them was known to me and evoked strong memories of the movies from which they originated. The pieces were, “Tara” theme from “Gone with the Wind”; “Laura” theme from “Dr. Zhivago”; the theme from “Ben Hur”; the theme from “Dr. Zhivago”; “Lawrence of Arabia”; “Pink Panther”; “The Way We Were”; and the night finished with “Rocky.” I was a little surprised at the reaction of some audience members when the strains of “Gonna Fly Now” began but even the scoffers were entranced by the final chord.

In all, this evening’s pops concert was a spectacular reminder of days gone by and an outstanding example of how important music is to my life and, obviously, the lives of others.

I’m Thankful for...

I realize my blogs have been full of rants and soapbox moments but I want to take a minute to mention some of the things for which I’m thankful.

I am thankful for a loving wife and family. They are my strength and my guide and always bring me back to my center when I get too excited about the state of things.

I am thankful for the home that my wife and I share with our wonderful dogs. It is warm; it is filled with love; and it is a joy to come home to, every day.

I am thankful that I have a job that helps support me and my wife and provides us with the opportunity to occasionally travel and to see my parents and help take care of my mother-in-law.

I am very thankful that I live in a country that provides me the freedom to worship God in my own way and I am thankful to God for everything I am and everything I will be. I hope that I will be able to be the kind of man that God and my family can be proud of and continue to love.

There are many more things to be thankful for, but these are the ones that are foremost in my mind on this day of giving thanks.

God bless you all and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

What else did they think was going to happen?

Hasan, a military psychiatrist, is likely going to plead insanity in the Fort Hood shootings. Let’s see…

-He failed to die at the end of his killing spree.
He won’t get his virgins

-He is paralyzed from the chest down with limited mobility in his arms
He won’t get another chance to die in Jihad

-He is a trained psychiatrist working with PTSD patients on a daily basis
He might know a thing or two about how to fake an insanity defense and spend the rest of his life living off American taxes

The only good thing out of this would be for him to be placed on the new government healthcare plan (don’t fool yourself into thinking this isn’t going to go through) and run out of funding. Maybe he’ll be the first death-panel victim?

Ally Bank is Mean to Kids!

You may have seen these Ally Bank commercials where they’re making the kids believe they get something cool then take it away, restrict the usage, or replace it with some piece of crap? My question is: Can the kids really act that well, or are they catching initial reactions on film then re-shooting other parts of the commercial as needed? In the one with the bigger kid getting the “cool” truck taken away, the kid looks like he’s going to clobber the guy… AND I WANT IT TO HAPPEN!!

I guess this means that Ally Bank’s point is getting across! I’m not going to switch, mind you, but I get it.

What happens next? Dip our flag at the Olympics?

I saw in the news today that President Obama bowed below the level of the Japanese Emperor and lowered his eyes, which is a clear sign of subservience in any Asian culture. What?!?!

Okay, so it is an Emperor. Not like it’s a prime minister or anything, right? Wrong! The leaders of this country have always been respectful but never subservient! This isn’t about race; this isn’t about respect for elders. This is about being, or at least appearing, subservient to a foreign figure.

I remember a time in the not too distant past when the nation would be on edge at the remote possibility that a “rebel” Olympic athlete might dip the U.S. flag when passing in front of the Olympic committee during opening ceremonies. Now we have the President bowing subserviently to the leader of another country. Did his handler miss the memo? Is he that stupid? Does America even care? The results in an opinion poll are mixed but it seems many people are blasé about it. To paraphrase, ‘It’s the same old thing, what an idiot.’ Or ‘He is only being respectful. The U.S. President shouldn’t put himself above others.’ He should, however, at least consider himself equal.

I’m trying to think here… he wasn’t sure of the protocol about putting his hand over his heart during the singing of the national anthem before he was elected. He is bowing subserviently to the emperor of Japan. He is creating offices and putting people in them. He is printing money so fast it will be more worthless than the Zimbabwe currency in another year. He is bringing a catalyst for terrorism to New York for a “fair” trial.

I will freely admit that I’ve been out of touch for several years because politics pissed me off but I would have never guessed, even last year, that we would be on this path to destruction so quickly.

More and more people are looking at the current administration as a call to action. It is time to bring the country back. We must all do what we can, at every election, not just the federal level, to make sure we are putting the people that represent "we, the people," in office. We need to remove the political officers at all levels if they ignore the people they are supposed to represent and put laws in place because they think they know what their constituents need. They are not supposed to be “in power” they are supposed to represent.

Let’s get the idiots out and the representatives in, every chance we get!