Maybe I'm just lazy. I think I have enough favorite music from the late 60s and 70s to get me through the rest of my life. Plus, many of the artists from back then continued to put out great albums for years, and sometimes decades, later. (one example, of course, is Bruce Springsteen). I'll admit … Continue reading Music Monday: Music with a Message
I'll admit that I wasn't much into poetry growing up. In school, it seemed as if poetry was used as the vehicle to enhance our memorization skills, and that was fine with me. I found memorizing poems easy; understanding what the poet was trying to say, impossible. So once I finished high school, I probably … Continue reading The Power of Poetry
No worries, members of high school and college bands and performing groups. There is no need to end your participation once you graduate school. A number of companies have their own in-house musical groups. In a recent Wall Street Journal story, Chip Cutter writes about how many tech companies have their own in-house orchestras, bands, … Continue reading Music Monday: Coding, Operating, and Performing – You Can Have it All
This post was inspired by a recent post of a fellow blogger, Beth. Beth wrote how yesterday (January 18) was National Thesaurus Day and paid homage to Peter Mark Roget, creator of the famous Roget's Thesaurus. Since I didn't know about his Thesaruas beyond the basics, I went out to Wikipedia and found the following: … Continue reading What’s Your Desert Island Book?
Serendipity strikes again. I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Nashville Noise by Coti Howell, and she had a post about Pandora announcing its country artists to watch for 2020. There are 15 artists on the list, and I started checking out each one by going to YouTube and looking for some of their … Continue reading Music Monday: Song Suffragettes
I can't say I know much about punk rock, but it is cool being friends with the lead singer and guitarist of a punk rock band. I've written about Bud Drago before; he is a fellow faculty member at Villanova, and was a member of a London punk rock band going back to the late … Continue reading Music Monday: Punk Rock with a Message
I'm not really sure what led me to the following video, but it shows the band Brand New in its early days, playing at a rec center that holds up to 150 people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj7qzmtrgRM The video was filmed in 2001, one year after Brand New had formed. The lead singer is about 23 years old. … Continue reading Music Monday: Early Hints of Stardom?
My wife and I had the chance to watch a wonderful movie this past weekend, The Peanut Butter Falcon. I highly recommend it. Here's the movie summary from Rotten Tomatoes, where it scored a 95% on the Tomatometer and 96% on the Audience Score: A modern Mark Twain style adventure story, THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON … Continue reading Music Monday: Selected Songs from the Wonderful Film, The Peanut Butter Falcon
John Hennessy returned to his roots tonight, giving a lecture about what the past 50 years have been like since he first arrived on Villanova's campus. John graduated from Villanova in 1973 with a degree in electrical engineering and then went on to Stonybrook University for his Masters and Ph.D. Hennessy then became a Stanford … Continue reading From Villanova Class of ’73 to President of Stanford to Chair of Google
There are lots of things to like about my job, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be watching my students transition from teenagers to professionals. There are a variety of paths that students choose upon graduation and in the years that follow - some work overseas, some perform a year or … Continue reading The Best Part of My Job
Borden's Blather 