Gun (out of) Control

I am compelled to dust off my blog writing skills in response to the horrific shooting in Aurora, Colorado, at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." It occurs to me that we can no longer worry about political correctness when speaking up about gun regulation.

For some reason, the Republicans, members of the NRA, and the Far Right will have you believe that Democrats and Liberals want to ban guns entirely and take away your right to bear arms.

I am here to tell you that the problem isn't that people have guns. The problem is that crazy people can get guns too easily.

Can America Change Its Tune?

As a composer, I often ponder what makes a great song. By my definition, it is composed of a melody that is catchy and easily sung, along with a lyric that tells a story, has relevant meaning, is understandable, and has meter with rhyme.

In the 18th century, a club of amateur musicians, gathered regularly in London to perform concerts. By day, these musicians were barristers, doctors and other professional men. They named their club the Anacreontic Society, after the 6th Century B.C. Greek poet, Anacreon, whose poems celebrated women, wine and entertaining.

Imagine a private club of lawyers and doctors, secretly getting together with their 18th century garage band, and it’s not a stretch that drinking occurred at their meetings, even though the primary purpose of the Society was to promote an interest in music.