music, therapy, and me

When I was an undergraduate, one of my favorite courses of all times was Sociology of Music. It was taught by my favorite professor in the department, Dr. George Heller, and the topic really tickled my fancy. During the course. we had the chance to select a term paper topic that included discussion about culture and music, and I loved looking for information that showed correlations between societal events and musical themes and elements. I started thinking about this course yesterday when I was working in my office.  To keep myself company during non-group hours, I watch downloaded television shows. Currently, I am enjoying vintage television. I am watching the first ever season of Columbo. It came out in 1972 and is just chock full of 70's kitsch. I am loving it. Now, the thing that made me think about Sociology of Music was listening to the soundtrack of this old television show and linking it to other soundtracks of the same era. This will take too long to explain in one post, ...

There was no post yesterday because I have recently enjoyed [sarcasm] my first ever Cortisone shots. Yep. I've managed to go for my entire life without this particular [more] pleasure. Let me tell you, I am NOT a fan, but I am assured that this should make my fingers a bit less likely to click when I am trying to use them, so... The problem with it all is that it is difficult to play a guitar when your fingers have swollen to the point where you cannot bend them to even 45 degrees. I had to figure out what to do with my clients yesterday that did not involve playing instruments - and frankly, that avoided having to move my hand at all. I figured that it was time for a movie day, so that's what we did. Disney movies to the rescue - I love Disney musicals and Pixar shorts and older Disney Silly Symphonies for these types of days. If asked, I can justify showing these movies within my medium of music, and my clients get them. We were watching Mickey and the Beanstalk yesterday an...

I went to see a movie yesterday - my second in three weeks, and something I do completely by myself on a less-than-regular basis. This summer, however, my movie theater and the Disney Movie Rewards program have teamed up to give me lots of extra points for watching Disney movies that I probably would have waited to see once they became DVDs but that I will see in the theater because of the points. (REALLY LONG SENTENCE!!) ANYWAY... I saw Pirates of the Caribbean V yesterday - Dead Men Tell No Tales . I sat in the middle of the luxury theater in a row by myself. There were five other people in the theater, but my theater is set up so other people are not really part of the movie watching experience anymore. We have these reclining seats and wide aisles. There is a wall between each row of seats. Every seat has an unimpeded view of the screen, even if the person in front of you is really tall or is wearing a hat or something (the walls really help). My theater now also offers sensor...