Recovery - Day 4

Powerwalking w/2 lb. weights
Day 4
Time: 11:45
Distance: .4888

Day 3
Time: 9:54
Distance .3707 miles

Day 2
Time: 6:47
Distance: .2737 miles

Day 1
Time: 4:17
Distance: .1517 miles

Recovery - Day 3

Powerwalking w/2 lb. weights
Day 3
Time: 9:54
Distance .3707 miles

Day 2
Time: 6:47
Distance: .2737 miles

Day 1
Time: 4:17
Distance: .1517 miles


Here's what this post is about.

Recovery - Day 2

Powerwalking w/2 lb. weights
Day 1
Time: 4:17
Distance: .1517 miles

Day 2
Time: 6:47
Distance: .2737 miles

Here's what this post is about.

Why I still by CDs (it's not because I'm old)

Yes, I still look for -- and purchase -- CDs. I'm not a technological dinosaur by any means. I have no problem downloading (legally) just the hit song of a current group. I, like many others, am not willing to pay for filler.

There are three basic reasons why I still purchase a lot of music and rip it myself, though. If you haven't gone all-digital, perhaps one or more of these apply to you.

Liner notes
Most of the music I purchase these days falls into one of two categories. If it's popular music, then I'm getting compilation albums of obscure genres, defunct record labels, or career highlights of forgotten or little-known bands.

I always know what I'm getting into musically, but I rely on the liner notes to put things into context. How did the label start? Why did it fail? What was the band's lineup at the time of the recording? How was the regional market for this genre different than the national? These are some of the things I expect the compilation liner notes to answer (and for the most part they do -- especially British releases. They take this stuff seriously).

I also buy a lot of classical music, and liner notes are equally important there. I'm long past the stage where I need to read about Beethoven tearing up the dedication page to the "Eroica" symphony. I'm very familiar with that story -- but then I'm not buying yet another version of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, either.

Rather, I'm purchasing works by lesser-known composers, or modern composers. I rely on the liner notes to provide biographical information (especially for the newer composers), and detailed information surrounding either the composition or performance history of the work.

Was Joachim Raff's first symphony well-received? How was Leo Smit's music saved and championed after his death in a concentration camp? How did Robert Simpson fit into the musical world of Tudor England? This information helps me appreciate the works on a different level. They're not just music floating in space, but rather part of the vast continual tapestry of classical music stretching from the middle ages to the present day.

Multi-movement classical works
I know for most people, hearing a single movement out of a symphony or a piano sonata is no big deal. It's short, it has the hit tune, and after a few minutes its over.

Unfortunately, I don't function like that. While early music suites were put together casually (even by the composers) and could be mixed and matched, by the time you get to the 1600's, composers are starting to use mult-movements in their works to provide contrast and drama. Monteverdi in 1624 strings together several madrigals to make up his drama "Il combattimento di Tancreci e Clorinda." Each madrigal stands alone musically, but it's only when you hear them in sequence that the full story and dramatic pacing comes through.

And most of the music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven was written specifically for multi-movement forms. The typical classical symphony begins with an uptempo rousing first movement. Then there's a slower second movement in a related key to change the pace. Then a lively scherzo (but much lighter musically than the first movement) in triple time to get the juices flowing again. Finally, the last movement, which is lighter in construction than the first movement, but faster to get everyone excited again.

While each movement has a beginning and end, they're not four separate pieces of music strung together. Beginning in the1800s composers carried over themes, motives, rhythmic patterns from movement to movement. So to fully appreciate the over-arching structure of the music, you really have to hear all the movements in order.

I can't purchase classical music except movement by movement ($$$) and once I've downloaded it, I can't really control how they'll show up in shuffle. Yes, I could make folders for each work, but really: that doesn't solve the problem.

In iTunes, I can join adjacent tracks to play as one continuous "song." Works for me. Now when Haydn's "London" symphony comes up on shuffle play, I know I'll hear the whole thing (which is the way I want it). Ditto for Vaughan William's chamber opera "Riders to the Sea."

Multi-disc classical works
Unfortunately, I can't load everything onto iTunes and join tracks. Havergal Brian's First Symphony is so big, it's spread over two discs. And you can only join tracks from a single disc in iTunes. So that one has to sit on my shelf for later listening. Ditto with my Wagner Ring Cycle (averaging 3-4 per opera), and other larger symphonic and operatic works.

So if I want to listen to something that runs more than 75 minutes (and I do with fair frequency), my only recourse is to pull the discs off the shelf and put them on.

Unavailable and irreplaceable recordings
Most of the stuff I'm really interested in just doesn't turn up that often as a digital download. So even if I wanted to go that route, I generally don't have that option. A good number of the discs I purchase are actually out of print (or seem to become so shortly after I buy them).

But that's fine, because at least I have a hard copy for backups. And I've needed them. I recently had a 1TB hard drive go belly up before I could adequately back up my music library. I lost some downloads I'm not interested in replacing, and some I won't be able to even if I could (the band websites are no longer online) but the Kurt Hessenburg Symphony on Cassandra? No problem.

So that's why I still buy CDs. Most of them used, many out of print, but still. The ones I pick up still have value beyond the digital tracks they contain.

Recovery - one step at a time!

Yesterday I finished up three and half months of hospital treatment (friends and family know what for -- that's not the point of this post), which left my body pretty beat up. I had just started doing some serious running when this thing hit, and after an enforced period of inactivity, I'm raring to get back on the road. Like my writing partner Ken, I'll be documenting that return as a way to keep me going!

This week it will be all power walking with 2-lb. weights (and probably next week as well). As you'll see, these early stats will be rubbish, but I'm hoping they improve. Here we go!

Today's stats:

Powerwalking w/2 lb. weights
Time: 4:17
Distance: .1517 miles

Tomorrow will be better.

NPR, Juan Williams, and the collateral damage

I've had more than enough of the pundits nattering on about NPR's firing of Juan Williams. What hasn't been talked about, though, is the damage NPR did to their affiliate stations by this reactionary and ill-thought move.

A little background
These days, most people use the terms "NPR" and "public radio" interchangeably. But they're not. Each of the hunderds of radio stations across the public radio system is independently owned and operated -- many still primarily licensees of universities and colleges.

Each independant public radio station (just like your local TV station) runs a mixture of locally and nationally produced programming. NPR is a network similar to NBC or Fox. Your local TV station may identify itself as "Fox 19" or "NBC 12" to make that association stronger. For decades, NPR has been encouraging local stations to do that as well, and so effectively that many listeners think their local station IS NPR.

But just as there are many syndicators that provide programming to television stations (King Features, Viacomm, etc.) there are others that provide programming to public radio. People mistakenly say they like "A Prarie Home Companion" on NPR. Garrison Keillor's show is actually produced and provided by American Public Media (APM) -- not NPR. (APM also produces "Marketwatch.")

If you're hearing "This American Life" on your radio, you're not hearing it on NPR. That feed's coming from Public Radio International (PRI).

But the reality is that virtually all public stations carry NPR's "tentpole" programs -- "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." They're called that because for many stations, their audiences dramatically spike when those two shows come on. And they bring in the most pledges from said audiences. Some stations raise three-quarters of their operating budget from pledges made during those shows.

Which is good -- because NPR programming is expensive. For some stations, carriage fees (primarily to NPR) can account for half their operating budget. But after two decades of careful brand placement, most stations are stuck. They don't dare drop NPR -- nothing from APM or PRI could possibly replace the audience and the cash (although their shows are significantly less expensive).

Left hand, meet right hand
Most public stations are in the middle of their fall fund drives. NPR puts out suggested dates for their affliates to do these drives. They provide special fund-raising breaks and mentions in thier programs to help the stations out (and to further cement the link in the audiences' minds that their local station IS NPR).

So this controversial firing happened in the middle of the mostly-NPR corodinated fund drives for public radio stations across the country. You would think someone at NPR would realise this was the wrong to time do such a thing. Especially because they made this mistake before. When NPR dismissed the popular Bob Edwards, it was also in the middle of an NPR-corodinated fund drive, and the reaction didn't really hurt NPR, but it hammered the member stations.

Killing the messenger
Remember: to most people, the local station IS NPR. So the local stations have been forced to bear the full fury of listeners (and Faux News dittoheads) calling and expressing their outrage at NPR's bone-headed move. It's tied up phone lines and interferred with the fund drives.

But it's done something more dangerous. Just like the Bob Edwards controversy, people are voting with their dollars. Pledges are being cancelled, underwriters are pulling their contracts, and as a result, some local stations are taking a serious financial hit.

And whether or not the station makes its goal, when that carriage fee bill comes from NPR it will need to be paid in ful -- or elsel. The local station, which has no input into what NPR does, will have to make due with less money. NPR will receive the same amount from the local station they always have.

The bottom line -- keep pledging!
So regardless of how you feel about Juan Williams and NPR, please support your local public radio station. It needs your help more than ever.

A legal resolution to an embarrassing situation

The WTJU copyright issue, day 53 -- resolution.

That's the big news in my little world. I finally got a response from the general manager at WTJU, and so formally sent off my consent to have my image used on the WTJU website.

Good thing I wasn't in a litigious mood! But I always felt it was something best handled between rational adults rather than hired lawyers. So what did I do? I granted the University of Virginia and WTJU the non-exclusive right to use my image in full or in part in any media they chose for the support of WTJU. I also stipulated that should the image be used in full, the phrase "courtesy Ralph Graves" should appear either in the lower right hand corner of the image, or directly under it. I further waived any fees for the use of this image.

If you're not of a legal bent, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. It's simply this. According to current copyright law, when something is created, it is automatically the property of the creator. You don't have to register the work with the Copyright Office. So the image used (until today without my permission) was my property.

By granting a non-exclusive license to UVa and WTJU, I gave them permission to use the image, but I can still use it, and I can grant other people or organizations permission to use it as well. I know they only wanted to use part of the image, so I included that in the permission. But if they decide (for some reason) to do a postcard or a print add with the full image, then I'd like to get credit, primarily to serve notice to others that the image is owned by someone (me).

So there you have it. It always was a simple transaction, and should not have dragged on for two months, but in the end everyone (even me) got what we wanted. WTJU can use my picture, and I can still claim the image as mine.