Author Archives: skierpage

cars: Toyota fumbles the future

Posted on 2019-11-01 by skierpage

Old+line car companies mangle the English language and engage in doublespeak when they talk about how they are leaders in “electrification” and that soon all their cars will be “electrified.” All this means is their cars will have something more … Continue reading →

Posted in cars, eco | Leave a comment

music: questions for Cory Wong

Posted on 2019-10-22 by skierpage

I paid for a VIP pass to Corey Wong’s upcoming show so I could spend more time with such a great musician. Part of it includes a master class, but I hope I can just ask him questions, including: What’s … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

music to which it’s easy to make hand gestures

Posted on 2019-09-27 by skierpage

Jia Tolentino writes in The New Yorker about TikTok, an app/platform on which people record themselves goofing around to music. ‘A twenty-six-year-old Australian producer … told me that he was now concentrating on lyrics that you could act out with … Continue reading →

Posted in music, web | Leave a comment

Hamilton musical beyond outstanding

Posted on 2019-08-30 by skierpage

Before seeing “Hamilton” I listened to its soundtrack while reading through most of its lyrics and some of the excellent annotations on the Genius site, stopping before I learned too many of the reveals in Act 2. So I knew … Continue reading →

Posted in art, music | Leave a comment

music: more Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio Hour classics

Posted on 2019-08-27 by skierpage

A friend urged me to listen to this show, preserved on a Web site. Open an episode in Chrome, Play in Popup, send to Chromecast Audio, and enjoy Bob nattering away on interesting collections of songs. I Shazam all the … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

music: Cory Wong, rhythm guitar ace

Posted on 2019-08-22 by skierpage

YouTube recommended Vulfpeck to me, mid-West funky players with a killer bassist Joe Dart, but a bit too whitey-tighty. They occasionally play with rhythm guitarist Cory Wong, who is just great. The love child of Nile Rodgers, Prince, John Mayer, … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Tagged , | Leave a comment

music: PBS Soundbreaking embarrassingly wrong

Posted on 2019-08-22 by skierpage

I should like the Soundbreaking documentary series more than I did. A bunch of musicians talking about recorded music, sign me up! But it’s a crazily scattershot as struggles to edit brief comments by musicians and pretentious journalists into a … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

music/web: need a precise neutral way to refer to songs

Posted on 2019-07-22 by skierpage

“Introducing NPR Music Playlists: From the songs played between news stories on-air to the most essential releases out every Friday, we’re committing a series of playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, updated every weekday.” This is no use if you … Continue reading →

Posted in music, web | Leave a comment

eco: Congressman Mo Brooks can’t do math

Posted on 2019-07-14 by skierpage

This morning Google Now featured excitable stories “Bipartisan Panel of Scientists Confirms Humans are NOT Responsible for Past 20,000 Years of Global Warming.” Indeed the brave iconoclast Mo Brooks (Alabama 5th District) on July 11th got Dr. Twila A. Moon … Continue reading →

Posted in eco | Leave a comment

audio: pavement back to the penthouse

Posted on 2019-06-29 by skierpage

Audiophile confession time: for months I’ve been listening to music on a $200 Jambox the size of a wine bottle, because one of my 40 kg VTL Signature 450 tube power amps blew up all my spare fuses for reasons … Continue reading →

Posted in audio | Leave a comment