Short Ride in a Fast Machine by composer John Adams is a lot of fun! Adams (born 1947) is one of America's most often performed composers and this paricular work is extremely popular as an encore piece. Adams is known as a minimalist composer, which means that he is interested in stripping music down to its bare bones, especially rhythm. Minimalist music is highly repetitive and can get downright boring if you don't know what to listen for (and even if you do sometimes!). The great thing about Adams, the thing that makes him my favorite minimalist composer, is that he avoids the tedium that other minimalists are prone to. I've been listening to this piece the past few days as I prepare to teach my last class of the year and it's so much fun I thought I'd share it here. The animation in the video is terrific too!
Funny ~
This is Man of the House hard at work. Doesn't he look like he's strenuously toiling away to earn our daily bread? He actually is! When he's not pastoring, he's teaching Latin and Greek to junior high and high school students online. Anyone who's ever worked with that age group knows what hard work that can be. But how many teachers do you know who can go to work in shorts and a T-shirt, put their feet up on their desks and still run a smooth and stimulating class? The commute to the office (down the hall from our bedroom) isn't bad either! :-)
Check out more "Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real" entries at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
My two oldest kids took Latin via an online homeschool (PottersSchool). It's probably coming up on 10 years - wow!
ReplyDeleteBut, I had to chuckle at the Issues' Etc. tee. My brother-in-law is a semi-frequent guest there. Small world.
I originally found you via the Sat. Review of Books at Semicolon but I've come back because I liked your blog. Hope you don't mind.
I thought the fast ride was both pretty and happy. The Cap'n with his feet up on the desk was funny and real.
ReplyDeleteDebd ~ Ummmmm . . . at the risk of blowing our semi-anonymous status, that's where Man of the House teaches Latin and Greek, so that would mean your kids were in his class! How's that for a small world? lol
ReplyDeleteWe are IE fans around here. See the widget in the sidebar? Who's your bil, in you don't mind my asking?
OMG! That is a small world. I assumed he was a newer teacher. I'll have to tell my kids (Dorothy and Andrew)- not that I expect him to remember that long ago. Its so much harder when they can't see the kids.
ReplyDeleteMy BIL is Pr. Weedon.