Suzuki Violin I

Cole and I are learning how to play "Perpetual Motion":

Donald Runnicles

From an article at the Washington Post:

Last month, while talking to a reporter from the Austrian daily Der Standard, conductor Donald Runnicles said, "I would really have to think about whether I could stay there [in the United States] if Bush wins a second time."

Runnicles, who is Scottish-born, is the music director of the San Francisco Opera and principal conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York. But it was in Atlanta, where he holds the relatively more minor position as principal guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, where he got the most flak. Not liking George W. Bush—not liking him to the point of fantasizing about leaving America—doesn't raise eyebrows in the rhetorical landscape of blue-state America. But those are fighting words in more conservative Atlanta (where Runnicles was instant fodder for right-wing talk radio), and the Atlanta Symphony and Runnicles quickly issued statements.

"The recent comments made by ASO Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles, reflect his personal opinion and not the opinion of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra," read a statement released by the symphony. Runnicles was abjectly apologetic: "I profoundly regret that my words might have had any negative impact on the ASO, which is so clearly a matter of civic pride for the city and the state."

who knows?

From a nice article on the wikipedia at the guardian:

The truth is that Wikipedia is continuously evolving. There are now around 3,000 new entries being added each day (about 700-800 of which are in English); and as the site has got bigger, so has the amount of editing that takes place on it. In September this year, there were an average of 11 edits per article. The entry on the Israel-Palestinian conflict has been edited more than 250 times this year alone.

The most contested entry, though, is that of George Bush, which has caused so much controversy that it has been frozen from editing. It had had more than 500 edits between August and the start of October, and there are more than 13 pages of discussion about the entry.

I arrived at the wikipedia yesterday, searching on the term "romance languages." I'd wondered—how many are there, really? My first thought was, hmmm, let's see, maybe four? Then I thought, well, maybe some of those little countries in Europe have their own languages? OK, maybe eight?

I underestimated.

I just checked to see what the current most recently changed entry is. It's a page updated thirty seconds ago on the Montreal Underground City.