Thoughts On Attending a Classical Concert

I was reading Vigilance by Julian Barnes and encountered this: "When you're in a concert hall, having paid money and taken the trouble to go there, you listen more carefully...However the state-of-the-art your system, nothing can compare to the reality of a hundred or more musicians going full tilt in front of you."

That motivated me to, this evening, replace my listening to a CD or YouTube video through my wonderful Klipsch computer speakers with a live concert. 

Here are my notes:

I arrive at 7:55 and the orchestra is tuning up and practicing: Cacaphony, loud cacaphony. It's wrong that they should subject an audience to that. Tuning up for a moment is one thing but they should be practiced before they come on stage. I needn't listen to that when I listen to a CD, and that's free and in the comfort of my home. We were subjected to that until 8:10, when the 8:00 concert began.

Another concert ritual I don't understand: Why do the musicians all wear tuxedos, black and white suits, etc? Unnecessarily stuffy if you ask me. Classical music is stuffy enough as it is.

Reading the program reminded me of how academics can destroy even music by overintellectualizing. Here's a quote from the program notes: "Unabashed chinoiserie is heard from the outset, in the form of a pentatonic scale whose properties as a subset of the diatonic and octatonic scales Stravinsky exploited to create an ingeniously shifting polytonal landscape."

The first two pieces on the program were Stravinsky's Song of the Nightingale and Bartok's Dance Suite. As far as I'm concerned, both could be accurately described as interesting but annoying tonalities amorphous. Yet somehow I liked them.

The quality of the orchestra--which consisted mostly of UC Berkeley students--to my professional-pianist ear--weren't that much worse than the professional recordings of those pieces I listened to before I went to the concert. Much credit must go to David Milnes, the conductor, who does have a killer resume.

Listening to the Brahms 4th Symphony reminded me that the classical orchestra is a manifestation of humankind at its finest: 150 people having worked for years to master their instrument, weeks together to coordinate their playing of masterworks, all so we audience members can, for a pittance ($5-$16,) experience all of that live in a beautiful venue, or free on the Net. Speaking of which, here are links to YouTubes of the concert's three pieces, performed by professional orchestras:

Song of the Nightingale  (Berlin Radio Orchestra, Lorin Maazel conducting)

Dance Suite by Bartok (Dresden State Orchestra, Bernard Haitink conductor)

Brahms Symphony #4 (Vienna Philharmonic, Istvan Kertesz, conductor)

I came away glad I went and sad that classical music isn't more popular. At the risk of sounding like an old fart and, heaven forbid, a judgmental one at that, most classical music that has stood the test of time,  is simply better, yes, better, not just different, than so much of the currently popular music.

What Might the World Be Like 100 Years From Now?

I wrote a recent post, Musings on Mortality. A reader, Jeffrie, commented, "May I ask what you would expect and/or hope the world would be like if you got to see the world 100 years after you die? And how would you live?"

Predictions beyond a year or two are notoriously invalid because too many factors can render them wrong. But for the fun of it, I'll take a shot here.

I'll get the bad news out of the way first. My guess is that 100 years from now, we'll have suffered a near Armageddon. The dramatic miniaturization of weapons of mass destruction make it too likely that a solo actor will have, for example, opened a vial of mutated highly communicable, deadly smallpox virus in the lobby of the international terminal of a major airport, infecting hundreds of people who are headed all over the world. Before a cure could be invented (Remember it's mutated and so no vaccine would exist), much of the world's population could die. Of course, almost no one would be crazy enough to do that. But among the billions of people on the planet, it only takes one person, for example, one disgruntled, demented scientist. 

Because of that and advances in clean-tech such as truly safe nuclear power, we'll worry far less about environmental degradation. 

I'd imagine we'll be transporting ourselves in nuclear-powered flying cars that can take off vertically from whatever parking spot we're in. 

We will have determined what gene clusters cause the major characteristics in humans: intelligence, impulse control, predisposition to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Prospective parents will, at their election, choose to ensure their children have good genes for such characteristics. Most parents will eagerly take advantage of this. Government will make that option available free to the poor as part of its Single Payer health plans. Life Expectancy will be 110, nearly all of it spent in good health. The right to assisted suicide will be ubiquitous and widely used among those in severe, likely irreversible pain. 

Because nearly all people will have high intelligence, greater efforts will have been made to automate menial tasks. So robots will replace humans in everything from busboy to janitor, ditch digger to cab driver. (You'll enter a cab, enter your desired address, and be flown directly to your destination. Sensors will prevent crashes.)

Asia will become dominant, America just a large midlevel player, exceptional mainly for its diversity. There will have been minor civil-war-like skirmishes but America will have become the true salad bowl envisioned by today's diversity activists. Privately, people will still choose to socialize mainly with people from similar socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds but, in the workplace, differences will be grudgingly accepted as "just the way things are."

The academic side of education will occur outside of a school. Each student will use his SmartPhone with a screen that folds out to 8 inches to take mini-courses taught online by dream-teams of the world's best instructors. These will be interactive and simulation-rich. Testing will all occur online, of course. Students will sign-in using iris-recognition technology. Small-footprint schools will exist but mainly for extracurricular and socialization activities. 

Politically, the world will have continued its leftward move. National sovereignty will be giving way to one-world government, with much redistribution from wealthier regions to poor ones. I believe that because the Have-Nots have more babies than do the Haves and they vote for liberal/redistributive governments. Also, many of the Haves feel guilty about their wealth and the media and colleges exacerbate that with such theories as "white male privilege," which implies that sexism and racism significantly affect people's success. 

How would I live in this new world? I'd probably choose to earn my living as a physician. I've always been in awe of the miracle of the human body and value life immensely. I'd consider it a privilege to help people extend the quality and quantity of theirs. My career counseling clients consider me a good listener, which is critical in a physician. I'd be additionally attracted to the medical profession 100 years from now because science will have advanced enough that so many currently difficult-to-treat conditions will have ready cures. 

Avocationally, I'd, as I do now, look to champion causes for making the world better that are not widely supported. That way, I'd feel my individual efforts would make more of a difference than if I simply jumped on an already large bandwagon. For example, I'd guess that 100 years from now, a commonly supported cause would be calls for yet more efficiencies. Because of that, I'd probably be a counter voice: reminding us of the importance of kindness, of smelling the roses a bit, and of pets. Indeed, one thing I wouldn't change in my life, even if it were 100 years from now: I'd try to find a pet as sweet as my doggie Einstein. 

A Busy Person's Guide to Great Gardening

Bougainvillea Spectabilis framing my home's entrance

Despite working 80 hours a week, I manage to have created and personally maintained, without a gardener, quite a garden. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Here are the keys:

1. Of course, there's the obvious: Everything's on an automated watering system and I place nine-month formulation time-release fertilizer under each emitter.

Chrysanthemum Fruticosum in my garden

2. I plant things that require no spraying or pruning and which are long-blooming or fruiting.

Six-packs of annuals are great because they're cheap and you can pop one in the soil in just a minute: Spade one shovelful of dirt out, dig a little compost into the hole, mix some more into the soil you removed and replace it. Then stick the plant in, sprinkle a bit of fertilizer around its perimeter, water, and voila:  Annuals grow quickly so you'll soon get full-sized plants that will bloom for months with no more care.

Bird of Paradise in my garden

My favorite annuals are Impatiens Xtreme Lavender and Accent Lavender for shade, Zinnia Magellan Coral, Zinnia Short Stuff Deep Red, Chrysanthemum Fruticosum, and Chrysanthemum Pink Comet for sun, and Viola Penny Denim (a wonderful miniature pansy) for the winter months. 

• Orange and lemon trees. I live in almost-no-frost Oakland, CA. Citrus trees are attractive even without fruit or bloom but, in bloom, the fragrance is wonderful, and few plants are as ornamental as an orange tree full of fruit. I don't get enough heat for the oranges to taste great but they deserve prized spots in my garden merely for their ornamental value. I have a Trovita orange and a Meyer Lemon. The former makes a particularly ornamental tree and the latter produces gourmet, less sour lemons in great quantity. 
• Bougainvillea Spectabilis, Bouganvillea James Walker, Pandorea Rosea, and Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia Reginae) are my core shrubs. If I didn't live in a frost-free climate, I'd more liberally use Camellia Buttons and Bows, Camellia Shishi Gashira, and Encore Azalea Autumn Royalty and Encore Azalea Autumn Twist. 



Zinnia Short Stuff Deep Red in my garden

I have a red, fine-leafed Japanese red maple tree (Tamukeyama) and a green-leafed Japanese Maple (Sango Kaku). The latter's bark is bright red, providing winter interest at a time where little else (except my Denim violas and Camellias)  provide color.

3. I use general purpose fertilizer for everything--it works well enough, and I save time and money. 

4. I don't have a lawn--that saves lots of time, money, and water.

5. I've paved over my parking strip. Parking-strip plantings take a lot of work but little reward. 

6. Sometimes while on the phone, I get on my cordless or cell and pull weeds, remove spent blooms, or provide supplementary water. 

Making This The Best School Year Yet

Twenty-six years ago, I wrote the cover story of Family Circle's back-to-school issue. It was called something like, "Making This the Best School Year Yet."

If I were writing such an article now, here would be its main points:

• No parental action can improve a child's school year more than ensuring s/he's in a well-suited teacher's class. If your child is unhappy with the teacher, visit the class. If you agree there's a problem you think the teacher could address, tactfully ask.  If not, visit the other classes in the same grade. If one seems a better fit for your child, ask the principal for a transfer. Don't criticize the teacher. Just say s/he's very unhappy and having visited another class, you sense s/ he'd fit better in that class. 
• Ritualize homework: It's non-negotiable, to occur at a fixed time each day, and you can be called on to help only when s/he's really stuck. 
• If your child's social life is poor, play diagnostician. Watch him on the playground and/or when you invite (good) kids to your home for play dates. Offer feedback.
• For most kids, school is boring. Your child is not wrong in asking, "Why do I need to learn (geometric theorems, the causes of the Peloponnesian Wars, etc.) The right answer is, 

"You're right to wonder about that. The question is whether, in exchange for studying less, you're willing to pay the price: a lower grade. Plenty people with not-great grades succeed in life, but it's a bit harder. I can support your decision to accept lower grades but only if you spend the time you would have spent studying on something constructive: learning something you care more about, starting a business, tutoring a child, but not watching TV, playing video games, or hanging out with your friends."

• If most of the kids at your child's school are functioning at too low (or even perhaps too high) a level, consider changing schools. Peers may have more influence on your child's development even than you. 
• A word about students in college and graduate school. My best tip here is that you usually needn't accept the education provided as-is. Adapt it to fit your interests and strengths: Choose your courses and instructors carefully: read reviews on websites such as RateMyProfessors.com or ratings published on your campus newpaper's or student government's website. Ask permission to do papers and projects of interest to you instead of the regular assignment. If there's a topic you'd love to learn about that isn't available in a course, ask a wonderful instructor if you could do an independent study with him or her on that topic. 

School and college can be so much more or less valuable depending on whether you make the most of it. Hopefully, these tips will indeed help make this the best school year yet.

Why No More Career Advice for a While? An Explanation/Apology

I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch but it appears that starting in November, I'll be writing a career blog for US News.

They require that my posts be original to US News. (A week after it's published, I can post it on this blog.) I don't want to use up my best new career ideas between now and November, so until then, my posts on this blog will be on topics other than career.

For those of you who read my blog for career advice, I've already written much on the subject. Just click on "career advice" in the label cloud on the right side of this blog and/or visit my website: www.martynemko.com. They contain hundreds of my articles on career issues.

Musings on Mortality

Although I'm healthy, as a 62-year-old male, I'm thinking more about mortality. Here are my current musings:

Awareness of mortality reminds me to make each hour as productive as possible. I really wonder why so many older people fritter away their time on things like golf and TV. Why don't they spend more time, for example, mentoring, blogging, and/or tutoring.

I reduce my fear of death by remembering that it's just a long sleep. And if the dying is too painful, I'll off myself using the Final Exit method.

When I do start to worry about death, I immediately distract myself. The more I think about it, the harder that is--the worry gets more hard-wired in my brain.

There is no afterlife--I'm convinced that's a fable people have created to blunt their fear of death.

I've signed up with Alcor Cryonics to be frozen upon my death in hopes that medical science will advance enough, say in 100 years, to bring me back to life, healthy. Of course, that's a true long shot but it's a balm, another way to reduce my fear of death. And I sure would love to see what life on earth will be like 100 years after my death.

Perhaps all this nice calm talk is rationalization and if I got a terminal diagnosis, I'd be scared shitless.

I'll be on KGO's Ronn Owens Program this Friday

This Friday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, I'll be back on the Ronn Owens Program, one of the most listened-to radio shows on the West Coast.  You can hear it on 810 on the AM dial throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area or on the Internet at kgoradio.com

I've been on Ronn's show for 25 years now, so I have a pretty good idea of what he'll ask me about. He'll probably ask me to suggest some good but not-obvious careers, advanced strategies for landing a job, and ideas on self-employment. Ronn tends to probe me for what to do in difficult situations: soft-skilled clients, older workers, etc.  In between his questions, I'll offer callers specific advice on their career conundrum.

Tune in. Call in. The price is right.