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Synchronicity and A Foggy Day
Here’s the story behind this photograph: In July 2011, I participated in a law & mental health conference at Humboldt University in Berlin. On one of the conference days, all morning and into a...
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Music and memories
Music and memories. We hear an old pop tune on the radio or MP3 player and it quickly summons memories — good, bad, in-between — about a chapter of our life we associate with that music. Are there any...
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Beautiful music in the city streets and subways
Harpist Alàis Lucette, playing on a Boston T platform (Photo: DY, 2014) Nearly every day, I travel from my Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain to the downtown via the “T,” the local shorthand for the...
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Jonesing for the Eighties
I’m now into a slightly extended binge viewing of Season 1 of “The Americans,” an FX drama series featuring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as a Soviet couple operating as deep cover spies in Washington...
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Singing the Great American Songbook
Some of the sheet music and song books I’ve used over the years! As my first year of teaching in Boston was coming to a close during the late spring of 1995, I wanted to do something that was less...
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Picking the worst pop songs of the 70s: Where do I begin!?
When I was younger and went to loud parties more often, one of my frequent contributions to the festivities would be to croon bad songs from the Seventies. Although I’m not a drinker, I managed to fit...
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Audition weeks: My favorite part of “American Idol”
Judges Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, and Harry Connick, Jr. Hey, J Lo’s lookin’ right at me through the screen! (Photo: DY, 2015) I’ve watched American Idol for about half of the show’s 14-year run,...
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The hot mess that is “Glee” is in its final season
Rachel (Lea Michele) and Blaine (Darren Criss) performing “Suddenly Seymour,” from Little Shop of Horrors (photo: DY, 2015) When Glee (Fox) came onto the scene in 2009, it was all the buzz due to its...
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Old standards about great cities
A wonderful 1980s Book-of-the-Month Club music collection, Songs of New York In my not-so-humble opinion, what separates a truly iconic city from many other fine places is that the great 20th century...
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There’s no great song about Boston, but there’s a lot of good music made here
Uh, Old Blue Eyes didn’t cover this one Okay, students of the Great American Songbook, think now: What iconic popular song embodies the historic city of Boston? What tune did Sinatra croon that...
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Fall, fantasy football, and a song or two
Thursday night kicked off the NFL season, which for several million fans also meant the beginning of fantasy football. Somehow I find myself in three fantasy leagues this fall, which means that I’ll...
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