Music and the Two Freds

Posted on September 20, 2012 by fsdthreshold

This is a brief post to let you all know that I’m still among the living. Life has been busy lately — full of blessings, but all-consuming. Will write more soon, but for now, two important things:

First, here are links to the two songs from The Star Shard. The composer, Dorothy VanAndel Frisch, is performing them on these tracks. So this is your chance to hear what they sound like! Many thanks to Dorothy for composing the music in the first place, for making these recordings, and for posting them for the enjoyment of all who enter here!

http://www.soundcloud.com/dorothy-vanandel-frisch/the-green-leaves-of-eireigh

http://www.soundcloud.com/dorothy-vanandel-frisch/blue-were-her-eyes

I’m sure we’d both love to hear what you all think!

Next: two dear old friends visited me recently, and we found at last the elusive statue of Mr. Rogers. Check this out!

Two Freds in Pittsburgh

I have to say, it’s the oddest texture for a statue I’ve ever seen. It comes across better in the photo, actually. In person, he looks rather like a mud monster. But you can tell that’s our dear Mr. Rogers!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

Some information on the statue explains that it’s made of a material that will last many thousands of years. So, millennia from now, this smiling mud monster will still be here on the site of ancient Pittsburgh, still a tribute to a great man who did so much to help and educate children.

Early September, 2012

And that’s it for now! This coming week, I’m off to Homer, New York, to be a visiting author at some schools and the public library! More about that next time!

"I'll be back when the week is new, and I'll have more ideas for you. You'll have things you'll want to talk about; I will, too."

‘Bye, neighbors!

 

12 Responses to Music and the Two Freds

  1. Hagiograph says:

    Very nice songs from Dorothy! I used to use “Audacity” to edit .wav files and it allowed me to clip the start up and stop sounds (like when you turn on the recorder and move to the instrument or the click of hitting “stop”). It also has some filtering capabilities to cut out the hiss when the occasional limits are hit (goes red) on the recorder.

    I’ve also recently discovered that the iTunes APP store has some cool music apps I’ve been playing with as well. The Korg iKaossilator allows for direct upload to Soundcloud!

    As for the Mr. Rogers statue: I often have difficulty with the “mud monster” style of statuary art. I wish it were otherwise because that style is not uncommon (there’s a famous one of Einstein done in that clumpy style). But as long as it hits the mark it will be a great ruin for eons in the future! (“These ancient ‘Amerucuns’ clearly greatly respected the teachers of the youth! These ‘teachers’ must have been among the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country. We understand that a city, ‘Pitsberg’ used to be here but nothing is left of it but this might statue!”)

    Reply
  2. Treefrog says:

    It’s great to finally hear the songs from the Star Shard, you did a great job Dorothy!
    “Mud monster” is definitely the right word for the Mr. Rogers statue, it looks like Mr. Rogers just came out of a bog; but it’s cool that it’ll be around for thousands of years.

    Reply
    • Hagiograph says:

      Please spare me! I’m stuck in SoCal where this last weekend it was 100degF in my back yard. This is unbearable! I’m cranking the AC every day and languishing under cloudless searing blue skies! This is beyond the bounds of reason.

      When “fall” arrives here the temperature will kinda dip and the eucalyptus trees will shed whatever it is they have for leaves and everything will stay brown (which is the color it all assumes about mid July).

      Reply
  5. fsdthreshold says:

    Thanks to you four! Very glad you’re enjoying the songs! Now that I have my Internet connection working again at home, I improved the links; now you should be able to click directly on them and get to SoundCloud, from where you can listen. (My connection was down for a few days, and it was trying — we learn how dependent we become on this virtual link . . . rather dismaying, actually.)

    Hagio, you echoed a prolonged bit of humor I was spinning out for the friend who took those photos. You know how, when archaeologists find ancient images of stone or clay, they’re usually determined to be “gods”? Well, here’s my vision of the future:

    7,000 years from now, the alien hybrid/cyborg descendants of the human race will discover this mud monster at the place where, in the 21st century, three rivers joined, a sacred spot for the people of the time. Clearly it’s an image of God as they understood Him; He is depicted emerging from the clay of the Earth, whence life began. His creative hand is extended.

    Moreover, the effigy sits near the riverward gate of “Heinz Field,” an elongated circular structure (excavated from the mud) with tiered seating for thousands: obviously a temple and an astrological calendar.

    This God of 21st-century humans was frequently depicted changing his shoes, symbolic of renewal, of the ceaseless march of the generations, the old begetting the new.

    Yes, Mr. Brown Snowflake, your seasons are here. The baton is handed off. I walked through my apartment shivering today, thinking, “It’s coming, the bone-suffusing, spirit-numbing cold. To move about will be a misery; roads will ice; engines won’t start. Just existing will take more chutzpah.” I wish there were a magic blanket that I could drape over my shoulders, and it would keep me perfectly warm until a kinder season comes.

    Reply
  6. Daylily says:

    I’m glad you enjoyed the songs; thanks for letting me know! Hagiograph, thanks for the editing tip.

    Hagio and Fred, I liked your visions of the future interpretations of the statue. They remind me of some of the science fiction stories I’ve read.

    Reply
  7. I am Mr. Brown Snowflake says:

    Ah yes, Fall. Now for the season of color, of fresh scents on the air, of harvest, of cool days and not-yet-cold nights: perfect. Over now is the staggering oppression of humidity, of the sickening sensation of open sweat glands caused simply by the act of being outdoors, of insects and pests, of sauna-like pressboxes and of the endless daystar that cloaks the starry fields of the heavens. Yes, so long Summer. Welcome, friend Fall!

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      Wow! Does that ever take me back! Yes! This statue looks a lot like Keltset!

      I forget . . . did Randor the Stirn also have that kind of skin surface — “like oatmeal”?

      Reply
  9. I am Mr. Brown Snowflake says:

    Yes he did! As for Fred Rogers … the trolley certainly took him to Heaven, where he prays for innocent children. There are several great videos on youtube.com of Mr. Rogers, but please check out the 3-minute clip of his receiving a Lifetime Emmy award for a dip into his profound wisdom and kindness. And for you jazzers out there, youtube search “Johnny Costa” for a great look at the complicated and expert jazz played during the episodes.

    Reply
  10. Julie says:

    ” ‘Heinz Field,’ an elongated circular structure (excavated from the mud) with tiered seating for thousands: obviously a temple and an astrological calendar.”

    Obviously! 🙂

    Reply

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