Animal Crackers is in the public domain as of yesterday.
For discussion of copyright and the crimes of Sonny Bono, see Dr. Boli and Another Movie Channel.
Tune of the day #110
Jehan Alain: “When the Christian soul no longer finds new words in its distress to implore God’s mercy, it repeats incessantly the same invocation with a vehement faith. Reason has reached its limits. Alone, faith pursues its ascension.”
Fans of the band Renaissance might recognize this.
Tune of the day #109
Celebrate the new year at Marconi’s Prize-Winning Bakery.
Tune of the day #108
Here’s a little Chabrier to end the year.
Timely note
If you reuse old calendars, those from 2015, 2009, 1998, 1987 and 1981 will work for 2026, though the dates for Easter will probably be wrong. Those from 2020 and 1992 will work from March on.
Quote of the day
As we say around here, infinite Information Velocity effectively = zero IV. You have access to all the information, instantly… but it’s all AI slop and none of it can be trusted, not least because AI is just Reddit but faster (probably trained on Reddit).
And actually this is great from a Dissident perspective. In a world of nothing but AI slop, what can you trust? Nothing but what is told to you by a real person, whom you know well, with an ironclad rep for honestly. The endpoint of Globalization is, as it turns out, extreme localism.
Tune of the day #107
From one of the first three albums I ever bought, a long, long time ago. One of my high school classmates thought that “Mary” was the Blessed Mother. Others thought she was Mary Jane. I think they were all out to lunch.
Tune of the day #106
An early piece by speed metal pioneer Sergei Prokofiev. YouTube won’t let me embed Yuja Wang’s version, so we’ll have to make do with Horowitz.
News from the north
It’s just a bit chilly in Alaska today in the Fairbanks area. North Pole, by the way, is where you find the homes of both Santa Claus and St. Nicholas.
The cat is Balsa, named for the protagonist of Seirei no Moribito.
Tune of the day #105
Another tune from my sojourn with Aunt Margaret and my Martian relatives.
Tune of the day #104
Along with PFM and Le Orme, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso was one of the big three of Italian prog. As near as I can figure, this tune from their album Darwin! concerns “Nature, red in tooth and claw.”
Tune of the day #103
“What’s so strange when you know that you’re a wizard at three?”
Tune of the day #102
Time for Good King Kong.
Tune of the day #101
For decades there was no escape from Led Zeppelin. I’m sick of them. I don’t ever want to hear “Stairway to Heaven” again, unless it’s sung by Herbert Khaury.
Tune of the day #100
Scott Joplin may be the most famous of the ragtime composers published by John Stark, but the others are well worth listening to (and playing, if you have the fingers), notably Joseph Lamb and James Scott. And Artie Matthews, who wrote five “pastimes” for piano.
Today’s quote
Coming soon: a wacky roadtrip version of The Gulag Archipelago starring Seth Rogan and Patton Oswalt.
Tune of the day #99
Grab your leek and sing along.
Tune of the Day #98
Norman Greenbaum is remembered mainly for “Spirit in the Sky,”1 but I liked the follow-up better. It’s an unexpected subject for someone raised as an Orthodox Jew.
Tune of the day #97
Another forgotten power trio, heavier than most. Their 1970 first album featured a memorably ugly cover.
Tune of the day #96
The late Romantic pianist and composer Moritz Moszkowski was popular in his day, but fell out of fashion as music became increasingly unlistenable in the early 20th century. His pupils included Thomas Beecham, Josef Hofmann and Wanda Landowska.