MUSICAL MUSINGS From Maggi & Jim Dalton & Singing String Music

"Solstice -Whirled with The Daltons" seasonal concert

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:29:00 +0000

"Solstice -Whirled with The Daltons" seasonal concert

Sunday, December 6, 2009

5:00pm - 7:30 pm
Location:
www.perishable.org for the The Live/Whirled Concert Series @ Perishable Theatre, 95 Empire Street, Providence, RI 02903 (http://www.perishable.org).

"You're Invited...."

COMING UP NEXT~!

CONCERT PROGRAM IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

Solstice -Whirled with The Daltons
Providence, Rhode Island

Sunday, December 6, 5:00pm – 7:30pm

95 Empire Street, Downtown Providence

It's all part of getting ready for the holiday season,
celebrating the blessings of the waning year
and getting ready for the joys of wintertide;
and this year we're happy to be adding the Perishable Theatre
to our circle of friends.

Along with our usual special blend
of musical performance
and historical commentary,
we'll explore myth, folklore,
and share some marvelous seasonal stories
celebrating the Winter Solstice Season.

Here's how to join us:

www.perishable.org for
the The Live/Whirled Concert Series
@ Perishable Theatre,
95 Empire Street,
Providence, RI 02903 (http://www.perishable.org).

We'll traverse a variety of traditions & time periods ...
many of you are familiar with
our seasonal concert cycle,
from which this concert is drawn,
"The Measure of the Year,"
which we've performed in various permutations
nationwide, for two decades.

At the LIVE/WHIRLED concert, let's all share the music and magic
to light and warm our hearts.

For the audience-participation "Act 2,"
we'll invite audience members to participate
with traditional carols, songs and customs.

95 Empire Street, Downtown Providence

402-331-2695 x 101
www.perishable.org

Tickets $10 / $8 students & seniors

available in advance from ArtTix
@ www.arttixri.com,

or by calling 401-621-6123, or at the door

Solstice-Whirled, the 2nd concert of Live/Whirled's 4th season!

SSNO Vol 17 #5 publishing later today...free subscription...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Our newest newsletter, SSNO Vol 17 #5, will be published later today...sign up for free subscriptions and special mailings and announcements...join our circle of friends, sharing music and conversation with us since 1985 ... online SSNO (Singing String News Online) up and running since the early 1990s!

Just drop us an email to subscribe: ssm@singingstring.org

please put "subscribe SSNO" in the subject heading.

Good Morning History Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Good Morning History Quote for Nov. 28

"I recorded a song called "I Fall to Pieces," and I was in a car wreck. Now I'm really worried, because I have a brand-new record, and it's called 'Crazy.'" -- Patsy Cline (1932-1963), to her Opry audience.

**********

"We hear strange noises every night around 10:30 - 1:00, and people say there's ghosts in the auditorium." -- Ryman auditorium security guard, 1996

**********

The Grand Ole Opry Channel on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/oprylive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnr9xkJbfhY

Steve Martin performs on the Grand Ole Opry

**********

"You didn't get on the Opry back (in the early days) for singing a song or having a hit number. They didn't ask you if you ever recorded. They didn't care. You had to be a showman. The only way you could get on was to have something to show and prove it. (My first night) ... I did the "Great Speckled Bird," and ... the audience stood and cheered and cheered. I tried to leave but they brought me back two, three times." -- Roy Acuff (1903-1992)

______________

Nov. 28, 1925 Debut of the Opry on radio

"The Grand Ole Opry began just five years after commercial radio was born in the United States. In 1925, the National Life and Accident Insurance Company built a radio station as a public service to the local community and with the hope that the new medium could advertise insurance policies. The station's call letters, WSM, stood for the company's motto: "We Shield Millions...."

--Source: The Grand Ole Opry, http://www.opry.com/MeetTheOpry/History.aspx

**********
"Grand Ole Opry

For over 75 years, the Grand Ole Opry has been entertaining America with a kind of spontaneous, unpretentious, unabashed presentation that is unique in broadcasting. Founded by George D. Hay, a radio editor for the Memphis Commercial Appeal, on November 28, 1925, the Opry first aired on radio station WSM in Nashville. Hay became its announcer, launching the program as "The WSM Barn Dance." Two years later, Hay renamed it "The Grand Ole Opry." Hay's first commandment was: "Keep her down to earth, boys!" It came to be the goal of every folk musician, and later every country and western musician, to perform on the Opry. It wasn't long before crowds clogged the corridors of WSM to observe the performers. This led to the decision to allow observers into the studio, where their reactions would add excitement and enthusiasm to the program. The Opry has had to move to successively bigger auditoriums throughout the years to accommodate the ever-larger crowds. In 1974, President Richard M. Nixon dedicated the Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland USA...."

--Source: The Library of Congress

**********

Y'all come back now, y'hear?

The Ink Tank: Editorial cartoon roundup - Boston.com

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:51:00 +0000

The Ink Tank: Editorial cartoon roundup - Boston.com

Posted using ShareThis

Full List - The Future of Work - TIME

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Full List - The Future of Work - TIME

Posted using ShareThis

The 00's: A Decade from Hell -- Printout -- TIME

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:13:00 +0000

The 00's: A Decade from Hell -- Printout -- TIME

Posted using ShareThis

THANKSGIVING DAY PRAYERS REQUESTED

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Requesting Prayers on Thanksgiving Day

Requesting prayers from our Circle of Friends.

Maggi is, for some completely bizarre reason, thinking of making her first-ever pumpkin pie.

Yup, that's right. First-ever.

Who are the prayers for?

Maybe for Jim, actually, who has to eat this thing when it's done.

Thanksgiving Day Menu Chez Dalton:

Maggi's *Rock Cornish Game Hens w/simple stuffing (I only DO "simple" as everyone knows!)

Our Jointly-Designed Spinach Salad

Maggi's Honey-Yams-I-Am

Jim's Marvelous Marinated Green Beans

Jim's World-Famous Mushrooms

Jim's Amazing WholeBerry Cranberry Relish

Hi Test Coffee and LONG WALK AFTERWARDS
__________

This is pretty much what we do for Yule, too.

*No, we don't do turkeys. Turkeys remind me too much of Benjamin Franklin. It seems unpatriotic to eat them.

Also, Maggi hates eating leftovers, and the middle name of Turkey

IS

"leftover."

and over
and over

AND OVER

HAPPY, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A Debate on Arts Education

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:41:00 +0000

A Debate on Arts Education

Posted using ShareThis

Magazine Publishers to Build an Online Newsstand - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Magazine Publishers to Build an Online Newsstand - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

Posted using ShareThis

Turkey Day, a la Academia

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:09:00 +0000

I love this article in the way only those of us who spend beautiful springlike sunny days indoors...poring over dusty crumbling archival materials in a darkened and window-sealed library room can love this stuff...

Culture & Society Articles | Viewing Turkey Day Through Academic Prism | Miller-McCune Online Magazine

Posted using ShareThis

Print Story: SPIN METER: Legislation inflation grips GOP - Yahoo! News

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Print Story: SPIN METER: Legislation inflation grips GOP - Yahoo! News

Posted using ShareThis

Education Week: Role of NAEP Could Change With Common Assessments

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Education Week: Role of NAEP Could Change With Common Assessments

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:24:00 +0000

I fear the prescience of this exceedingly astute column... and pay close attention to the analysis in the final paragraph:

"...But the rest of the country cannot rest easy. The rage out there is
larger than Palin and defies partisan labeling. Her ever-present
booster Continetti, writing in The Weekly Standard, suggested ...that she
recast the century-old populist outrage of William Jennings Bryan by
adopting the message “You shall not crucify mankind upon the cross of
Goldman Sachs.” If Obama can’t tamp down that rage across the political
map, Palin will at the very least pave the way for a demagogue with
less baggage to pick up her torch."

Make sure to read the entire column at the NY Time site. I am only quoting parts of this here of course.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/opinion/22rich.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=opinion&adxnnlx=1258870202-3tD0btFQR8VqVqjq1hVlmg
_______________
Begin quoted material.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/opinion/22rich.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=opinion&adxnnlx=1258870202-3tD0btFQR8VqVqjq1hVlmg

New York Times
Op-Ed Columnist
The Pit Bull in the China Shop

By FRANK RICH
Published: November 21, 2009

AT last the American right and left have one issue they unequivocally agree on: You don’t actually have to read Sarah Palin’s book to have an opinion about it. Last Sunday Liz Cheney praised “Going Rogue” as “well-written” on Fox News even though, by her own account, she had sampled only “parts” of it. On Tuesday, Ana Marie Cox, a correspondent for Air America, belittled the book in The Washington Post while confessing that she couldn’t claim to have “completely” read it.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

“Going Rogue” will hardly be the first best seller embraced by millions for talismanic rather than literary ends. And I am not recommending that others follow my example and slog through its 400-plus pages, especially since its supposed revelations have been picked through 24/7 for a week. But sometimes I wonder if anyone has read all of what Palin would call the “dang” thing. Some of the book’s most illuminating tics have been mentioned barely — if at all — by either its fans or foes. Palin is far and away the most important brand in American politics after Barack Obama, and attention must be paid. Those who wishfully think her 15 minutes are up are deluding themselves.

The book’s biggest surprise is Palin’s wide-eyed infatuation with show-business celebrities. You get nearly as much face time with Tina Fey and the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in “Going Rogue” as you do with John McCain. We learn how happy Palin was to receive calls from Bono and Warren Beatty “to share ideas and insights.” We wade through star-struck lists of campaign cameos by Robert Duvall, Jon Voight (who “blew us away”), Naomi Judd, Gary Sinise and Kelsey Grammer, among many others. Then there are the acknowledgments at the book’s end, where Palin reveals that her intimacy with media stars is such that she can air-kiss them on a first-name basis, from Greta to Laura to Rush....

....The book’s most frequently dropped names, predictably enough, are the Lord and Ronald Reagan (though not necessarily in that order). Easily the most startling passage in “Going Rogue,” running more than two pages, collates extended excerpts from a prayerful letter Palin wrote to mark the birth of Trig, her child with Down syndrome. This missive’s understandable goal was to reassert Palin’s faith and trust in God. But Palin did not write her letter to God; she wrote the letter from God, assuming His role and voice herself and signing it “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.” If I may say so — Oy!

Even by the standard of politicians, this is a woman with an outsized ego. Combine that with her performance skills and an insatiable hunger for the limelight, and you can see why she will not stay in Wasilla now that she’s seen 30 Rock. The question journalists repeatedly asked last week — What are Palin’s plans for 2012? — is a red herring. Palin has no obligation to answer it. She is the pit bull in the china shop of American politics, and she can do what she wants, on her own timeline, all the while raking in the big bucks she couldn’t as a sitting governor. No one, least of all her own political party, can control her.

The fact-checking siege of “Going Rogue” — by the media, Democrats and aggrieved McCain campaign operatives alike — is another fruitless sideshow. Palin’s political appeal has never had anything to do with facts — or coherent policy positions. The more she is attacked for not being in possession of pointy-headed erudition, the more powerful she becomes as an avatar of the anti-elite cause. As Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, has correctly observed, “She represents less a philosophical strain on the right than an affect and a demographic.”....
.... when Barbara Walters did ask some, Palin either recycled Dick Cheney verbatim (Obama is “dithering”) or ran aground. Her argument for why “Jewish settlements” should be expanded on the West Bank was that “more and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead.” It was unclear what she was talking about — unless it was the “rapture” theology that requires the mass return of Jews to settle the Holy Land as a precondition for the return of Christ.

The discredited neocon hacks who have latched on to Palin as a potential ticket back into power have their work cut out for them. But it’s better for Palin’s purposes to remain as blank a slate as possible anyway. Some of her most ardent supporters realize that she’ll drive still more independent voters away if she fills in too many details. And so Matthew Continetti, the author of the just-published “Persecution of Sarah Palin” and her most persistent cheerleader after William Kristol, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that her role model for 2012 should be Bob McDonnell, the new Republican governor-elect of Virginia, who won on “a bipartisan, center-right approach.”

What Continetti means is that Palin could still somehow fudge her history as McDonnell did; his campaign kept his career-long history as a political acolyte and financial beneficiary of Pat Robertson on the down-low. Even the far right has figured out that homophobia is a turnoff to swing voters, which is why Palin goes out of her way in “Going Rogue” to remind us she has her very own lesbian friend. (What’s left unsaid is that the book’s credited ghost writer, Lynn Vincent, labeled homosexuality as “deviance” in her own writings for World, the evangelical magazine.)....

....Culture is politics. Palin is at the red-hot center of age-old American resentments that have boiled up both from the ascent of our first black president and from the intractability of the Great Recession for those Americans who haven’t benefited from bailouts. As Palin thrives on the ire of the left, so she does from the disdain of Republican leaders who, with a condescension rivaling the sexism they decry in liberals, belittle her as a lightweight or instruct her to eat think-tank spinach.

The only person who can derail Palin is Palin herself. Should she not self-destruct, she will doom G.O.P. hopes of a 2012 comeback. But the rest of the country cannot rest easy. The rage out there is larger than Palin and defies partisan labeling. Her ever-present booster Continetti, writing in The Weekly Standard, suggested that she recast the century-old populist outrage of William Jennings Bryan by adopting the message “You shall not crucify mankind upon the cross of Goldman Sachs.” If Obama can’t tamp down that rage across the political map, Palin will at the very least pave the way for a demagogue with less baggage to pick up her torch.

end quoted

Maggi at the Mass. State House this week...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:29:00 +0000

This week, I was at the State House; and was interviewed for WBUR alongside the wonderful Rep. John Keenan, one of the most remarkable talents we've ever had in government and a truly good man, a great soul, through and through. I serve on the steering committee of the organization which presents the Artists Under the Dome conference...I'm working on a short little film to show you what it is like to "hang" with our governmental folks.

________________________
Begin quoted
http://www.wbur.org/2009/11/20/artists-lawmakers
WBUR.ORG

Mass. Artists, Lawmakers Meet To Discuss Creative Economy
By ANDREA SHEA
Published November 20, 2009 UPDATED 1:39 PM

BOSTON — This year the recession is on everyone’s mind — including artists like Salem musician Maggie Smith Dalton.

“My biggest concern is that in the rush to survive the crisis, people will shove aside the things that will be the longest lasting, and that is culture and arts.”

Elected officials gathered with artists Thursday on Beacon Hill to talk about their role in the state’s creative economy.

The annual meeting, called “Artists Under the Dome,” is meant to give artists the chance to meet face-to-face with politicians to discuss issues important to them.

State Rep. John Keenan, House Chairman of the Joint Committee of Tourism, Arts and Culture agreed with Dalton’s assessment.

“In this budget, it’s very difficult, but if we don’t have their voices up here explaining it, we wouldn’t even have a chance when the budget comes around to actually make our case,” Kennan said.

A number of arts agencies and grant programs suffered severe cuts with the last round of state budget cuts, including the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which administers grants to artists.
end quoted material

Academe and the Decline of News Media - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Academe and the Decline of News Media - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Posted using ShareThis

Creative Massachusetts: The Artists Congress 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:10:00 +0000

Jim and Maggi will be participating in this conference in these panels:

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7
MORNING
9:30 -- 10:00am Registration

AFTERNOON

1:45 -- 3:00pm

Workshop 2: Teaching Artists (small room)
Panelists:
Jim Dalton
David Marshall, Director of The Creative Minds Project
Maggi Smith-Dalton

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8

1:00--1:20pm Registration
1:30‚2:20pm Panel: Meet the Press and Create your own Press

Moderator: Maggi Smith Dalton
Panelists:
Pat Williams, founder and publisher of The Word
Christian Holland, executive editor, BigRedandShiny
Mary Bucci McCoy, artist and longtime
contributor to Art New England
Greg Cook, artist and art critic for The Boston Phoenix
& founder New England Journal of Aesthetic Research and the Boston Art Awards
Noah Joffe-Halpern, musician and PlaygroundBoston.com
Charles Coe, Co-President
of the Boston Chapter of the National Writer's Union

2:30--3:30pm
Workshop 2: Artist Residencies (small room)
Mary Sherman, artist and founder of TransCultural Exchange
Jim Dalton
Maggi Smith-Dalton
Kathleen Bitetti, artist, activist,
co-founder of MALC, co-founder of ArtistsAlliance.us

BiPolar Theater...NYer animated cartoon

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:39:00 +0000

350.0rg rally

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Maggi and Jim were proud to be part of the GLOBAL 350.org rally--playing music for the rally ceremony! Look for us in the Salem group photo @Times Square (we think that's where it will be.) Meanwhile, you can look at this...http://www.flickr.com/photos/350org/sets/72157622455212282/

Music Stars Demand Records On Bush Administration's Use Of Music For Torture

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:03:00 +0000

Music Stars Demand Records On Bush Administration's Use Of Music For Torture

Posted using ShareThis

TAYLOR MALI answers the question "Where is your favorite place to write?"

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:43:00 +0000

Star Trek Meets Monty Python

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Facebook | My Links

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Facebook | My Links

Posted using ShareThis

Sesame Street: Elmo Scares Julia Roberts

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:03:00 +0000

Sesame Street (Vintage) - Put Down the Duckie

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:57:00 +0000

The best!

Put Down The Duckie: Our Favorite Sesame Street Musical Guests « NPT Media Update

noreply@blogger.com (Jim and Maggi Dalton and Singing String Music) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:56:00 +0000

Put Down The Duckie: Our Favorite Sesame Street Musical Guests « NPT Media Update

Posted using ShareThis