Summer, Finally

Not so Hazy and Not so Lazy

Maybe it’s because we have our first bona-fide day where you could go out without a jacket. Maybe it’s because the sun truly doesn’t set until nearly around 8:30. Maybe it’s because Granville Market is brimming over with sweet local strawberries, most of the spot prawns and asparagus are past, and the heirloom tomatoes are starting to appear. All of the above is contributing to a feeling that we have finally passed into the summer season.

For me, being between contracts/jobs and with some time on my hands, it means that I can enjoy some of this, although I’m certainly not spending my days at the beach. Next week, being the Canada Day and Fourth of July holiday week, both Pam and I are going to get a little summer break, with a trip to Whistler with my brother and his family. We’ve been looking forward to that for a long time.

Planning for the Autumn Demise of Classical Radio in Vancouver

Summer is also the time when a few things end. This morning was the last time that Tom Allen would do his ‘cage match’, a whimsical feature of ‘Music and Company’ where he would pit one piece of music against another and call for a vote. This week’s final cage match theme was: ‘With a bang or a whimper’, since it will be the last one of these bits of fun…forever. Representing an ending with a bang was Chabrier’s ‘Ah Hurrah’ from the Opera, Le Roi Malgre Lui. The opponent (representing a ‘whimper’ or soft ending) was the last movement from Haydn’s clever Symphony No. 45, ‘The Farewell Symphony’ (where one by one, the musicians leave the stage until there are only 2 first violins left to end the piece, a cleverly choreographed hint to Haydn’s patron, the Prince Nikolaus Esterházy that his court musicians as well as his composer were all homesick and wanted him to close up the summer palace so everyone could return home to Eisenstadt).

It was a typical cage match; one part joke, one part serious, one part drama. Like just about everything Tom Allen does on the program, it makes one think a little, and sets up the day. I will sorely miss this along with some of his other regular features. Probably my favourite comes at about 6:30 AM: This Day in… which observes some event in history that shares today’s date. Today’s was the first solo circumnavigation of the globe in a boat by Joshua Slocum, a Nova Scotian seaman who finished the trip that he had begun in Boston three years earlier in 1895 on today’s date. Like so many other ‘This Day In…’s, I didn’t know about this event, and felt the joy I often do from gaining a bit of knowledge just as I’m starting the day.

Without going off on another rant about the stupidity and wrongness of the CBC getting rid of the best classical music morning program in the world, I’ve finally accepted the inevitable and made plans. A couple of weeks ago I picked up (on sale) a curious new device at London Drugs: a BLIK Internet Clock Radio. It’s a standard-looking radio (unfortunately with inferior speakers to the Bose Wave Radio that we’ve been using for the last 10 years or so) that ‘tunes’ to a streaming radio station on the Internet rather than local FM (although you can do that, if the Internet is down). I’ve tested it, and while there is about a 20-second delay while the station ‘resolves’ to the URL you’ve chosen, it will indeed allow you to awaken to over 9,000 different stations all over the world (although in practice the number one would want to tune to is a small fraction of that number). I was able to set the presets to the BBC’s Radio 3 (which I knew well from my days as a Grad Student), the local CBC Radio 1, NPR in Boston, as well as the national NPR station. I’ll look for some other stations, as there are 8 preset slots. As you can imagine, retrieving and sifting through 9,000 stations in a tree-like menu using a terrible LED screen is a bit of a challenge (oh, if only Apple would make one of these- I guess they do, it’s called a Mac Mini with mouse, keyboard, speakers and a small flat-screen monitor running a browser with some preset streaming radio station bookmarks, but even something like that is too large for a night-table). Most of these stations have us waking up at 9:00 AM Eastern on North America, or 68(!) hours ahead in the UK. I fear that at noon 2:00 in the afternoon in London we may not get a completely morning-friendly classical music feed, so I’ll have to search further until I find a new place to tune to. Both Pam and I hope that we don’t have to resort to NPR, which always put me in a bad mood in the morning, particularly now that it has moved so much farther to the Right politically than it used to be (hearing the appalling Cokie Roberts sneer at the Democrats every Monday morning got my blood boiling early in the week - funny, but that was my word, but apparently it’s still what she is doing, defending Dick Cheney on the TV Program ‘This Week’).

While they are getting rid of Classical Music on Radio 2, I do remember the somewhat encouraging news that the CBC said that they were going to add a streaming classical music channel on the Internet. I doubt if it will have the incomparable Tom Allen on it, but at least there will be a Canadian alternative for our move from FM Radio to almost exclusively Internet radio from Labour Day on.

Things to Do When You are Between Jobs

It’s been a little over a week before my last day at IBM. I was frankly blown away by the good-bye that I got from coworkers that Friday. We all went out to a Thai feast in Burnaby (and by Thai feast, I mean it just kept coming and coming until we started giggling as each dish was brought to the table; Pad Thai? Sure, Crispy Fish with sauce? Why not!? More Stir-Fried Vegetables? Of course!)

I packed up my desk (I had spent over a week moving books and toys from it to home in half a dozen trips). It was a strange time, with my time alloted to the project over, and work still needing to be done the project I’ve been working on. I hope that I haven’t left too much hanging; Some of it was dependent on details of features that had not been defined yet, but where I had to leave wireframes (which are essentially diagrams of how screens should look and what should be on them and where) partially finished, I tried to make it clear how they could be completed. I said many good-byes to friends and colleagues, and drove home from Burnaby, a little dazed (hey, it was probably all that food at lunch).

On Saturday, we decided to play tourist all over again. We went to the open house of CityTV and took a station tour, meeting most of the crew of Breakfast Television (which I must confess, we’re not regular viewers of, but it was fun, nevertheless). I won a CityTV Umbrella, and we got some Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream at the end of the tour. I like the station; It’s small and has a lot of personality, and they run Jeopardy each evening (and also carry Reaper, which is a lot of fun and another series filmed here).

Saturday Night, I went to the ticket office at the Orpheum just before the Symphony Concert, and got a last-minute seat for the concert (only $15!). I heard the VSO play one of my favourite pieces, Prokofiev’s Third Symphony. I love it because it’s mostly loud and fast, and almost never lets up. In particular, the third movement is some of the wildest and most vivid music that Prokofiev ever wrote, and much of the drama of the piece is due to the fact that it’s taken from his opera ‘The Flaming Angel’, which chronicles a young nun’s psychotic breakdown and pursuit of a man she believes is an angel, complete with an on-stage exorcism and chase through the streets. Not your usual opera fare, and certainly not your usual Symphony. The orchestra did a fine job, but I suspect that it was too racy for the crowd, who didn’t give it as much of a standing ovation as they did for the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in the first half. Ah, when will they stop doing this?! Once again, people, when every performance gets a standing ovation, it ceases to mean anything!

The rest of the weekend was a bit quieter, but things picked up again today, with a job interview. I’m not going to write more about that until things settle down either way. Pam also has a lead on a contract, so it’s probable that the free time between engagements for both of us is probably going to come to an end soon.

Tomorrow evening is a special SIGCHI event: the film designer Syd Mead (who was responsible for the revolutionary sets and scenery of Blade Runner) will be in town speaking, followed by a screening of the final cut of the movie.

Battle of the (Military) Bands

Never has there been a better musical metaphor for the disaster of the Bush Presidency than this audio clip from the visit of the Pope Benedict XVI to the White House on April 16th. Thanks to my hero, Tom Allen of the CBC (who will be tragically let go this fall, much to my agony, but enough about that for the time being), his sharp ears picked up this amazing fiasco of Hail to the Chief:

Here’s the quote from Tom Allen’s Junk Drawer:

Here’s the musical event Charles Ives waited for his entire life. On April 16, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI visited the White House. Two musical groups were there to welcome him - the Herald Trumpets from the US Army Band, and the President’s Own Marine Band. The President, not surprisingly, was there, too. Protocol says that any time the President of the United States turns up in an official role, the band has to play “Hail to the Chief.” As you hear from the clip, protocol apparently doesn’t say they have to play it in just one key. The story is that one group came to rehearsal and the other didn’t, so they ended up, at the big moment, playing the same piece in different keys. I’ve received, predictably, contradictory reports of which group, the Army or the Marines, fired in the wrong direction, but the result was a direct hit for music fans who like their military bands on the experimental side. It’s fantastic!

I found out this morning that it was because one of the groups was a ‘civilian’ group. This was the musical equivalent of ‘friendly fire’ between American troops and Military contractors.

An Answer to One of my Protests

OK, I realize that I’m becoming a bit of a broken record, and I promise that these postings about the CBC are reaching an end. After all, each of us have to ‘get a life’.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t resist posting this, because it shows just how the blather the CBC spouts about multiculturalism and other BS is being used so that these people can get their way, a commercial-style radio network with next to no challenging or intellectual content.

Here’s the background: In addition to my letter to the CBC, I left a submission at the ‘Contact Us’ form on the CBC Web site, and here’s what I got in today’s email :

Dear David Drucker,
Thank you for your email about upcoming changes to the weekday schedule of CBC Radio 2. We’re enthusiastic about the changes being planned. It’s good news for all Canadian performers and all Canadian listeners. However, we know some people have misconceptions of why we are making these changes and how the new schedule will look.

The question facing CBC is whether we use Radio 2 to reflect excellence in all Canadian music and musicians or just a part of the industry; and whether we serve a broad spectrum of Canadian listeners or just of a portion of the audience.

Allow us to provide you with a little background to the proposals.

First, we recognize the quality and public value of “serious” music. Classical music will remain the most broadly represented form on Radio 2 while we expand the spectrum to include other forms of music for adult Canadian listeners.

Next, it may interest you to know that Canadian performers of all stripes release about 30,000 pieces of music every year. Less than 1 per cent of those receive regular airplay on commercial radio stations. The rich diversity of Canadian music and musicians is clearly not being heard on Canadian airwaves. Music genres for which Canada is famous throughout the world currently have little exposure on CBC Radio’s music network.

Since CBC’s mandate charges us to “reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, (and) actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression” as well as “reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada” the public broadcaster’s adult music network must be a home for these artists and this music.

Finally, we also believe there will still be some listeners who desire nothing but classical, or jazz, or adult singer-songwriters. So, this fall, CBC Radio will be launching three 24-hour-a-day web radio services to serve each niche exclusively. Obviously we would rather have a full FM network for each genre, but since that is not possible, the online solution is another option for Canadians.

Radio 2 is now and will be remain a music network for adult Canadians. Our values of thoughtfulness in presentation and excellence in performance remain intact. Our commitment to offer an alternative on the dial continues. The kind of listening experience will not change; the music highlights will just come from a broader spectrum.

We’re passionate about Canadian music. Radio 2 will be the only place to truly reflect the incredible breadth and depth of talent that exists in this country.

Again, thank you for writing. We look forward to your feedback when the new shows are introduced in the fall.

Ray Rusk
Communications Officer
CBC Audience Relations

I’m getting the standard party line I’ve seen in other media: Classical doesn’t represent true Canada; We’re not cutting out Classical music (or now an even better subtle insult: ‘Serious’ music; gee, why don’t they call it ‘Long-hair music’ or ‘Egghead music’); we’re just making sure that everyone is represented, so Classical Music has to go to make room for the other Canadian artists. That bit about ‘30,000 pieces of music’ is, I suspect, plucked from thin air.

Never mind that the mythical ‘audience’ they are talking about (instead of ‘portion of that audience’) doesn’t exist. The people who listen to Radio 2 by definition listen to Classical Music because if the CBC didn’t broadcast that, they wouldn’t listen to Radio 2. The alternative to Radio 2 is, let me see…Oh right: nothing.

Never mind that Canadian composers and Canadian Classical Music are going to continue to be phased out of the airwaves. The biggest bald-faced lie in the email is this one: Classical music will remain the most broadly represented form on Radio 2 …

Sorry, popular light classics from the hours of 10AM through 3PM, when no one but home-bound seniors will hear them is not ‘most broadly represented’.

To understand just how much the opposite of ‘most broadly represented’ is, here are some facts not mentioned in the letter:

The CBC Young Composers Competition has not been held since March 9, 2003. It, as well as the CBC Young Performers Competition have been suspended for the past four years. The Canada Council provided the funding for the $10,000.00 grand prize.

The CBC set the classical music budget for CBC Records to 0 in February 2008, precisely on the eve of their first Grammy win by Canadian violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under Bramwell Tovey on the CBC Records label. That’s right; the first Grammy win, and these guys get rid of the recording label. Many Classical Music performers launched their careers on a CBC Records label recording.

The commissioning budget previously devoted to commissioning new works from composers is now spread out to cover jazz, pop musicians, and some unspecified amount of contemporary classical music.

CBC cancelled Two New Hours, a multiple-award winning program that was aired for two hours a week in the incredibly prime time slot of Sundays 10pm to midnight. This program was dedicated to the music of living Canadian composers. It was cancelled in March 2007 in its 29th year.

CBC cancelled Music For A While, which aired classical music daily from 6pm to 8pm.

CBC cancelled In Performance the flagship Classical concerts program.

The CBC disbanded the CBC Radio Orchestra: North America’s 70-year old last remaining radio orchestra and platform for countless premieres of new Canadian compositions citing lack of resources. The next day, they ran a full-page ad in the Globe and Mail costing an estimated $30,000 to convince us of the same party line that I was read in the letter. It’s worth noting that there was not a single classical music (composer or performer) listed in the ad. Instead, the representation was primarily from commercial recording labels and others involved in popular music.

That bit about a ‘web’ station is utterly ridiculous as well.  Will I be able to listen to the web station in the car or on the Skytrain? Will I have to rig up a computer in the bedroom so I can wake up to it in the morning? Will kids in school who have never been exposed to Classical Music discover their Internet-based station?  Maybe in 5-10 years we’ll have pervasive Internet connectivity so that streaming audio is available at all times, including while traveling at decent quality, and is next to free for all, but not today. Like magazines that stop printing paper editions and only publish on the web, putting most of the CBC’s Classical Music solely on the Internet is pretty much getting rid of it from mainstream listeners.

It’s sickening to be read a party line that is disingenuous at best. That bit about multiculturalism is a smoke-screen.  Do you think they are going to be playing a lot of Pakistani and Chinese music? ( And isn’t ironic that so many Chinese are huge fans of Classical music and are building concert halls like mad in China while the CBC takes it away from listeners in Richmond?).

If the CBC says that people like me ‘just don’t get it’, that ‘The kind of listening experience will not change; the music highlights will just come from a broader spectrum’ and should simply listen to web radio, what they really mean is that they are simply interested in making more money — just like they do on TV by airing ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ — by pretending to be ‘multicultural’, and then running a commercial Easy Listening station. The pattern they’ve followed from the last 3 years plainly shows it.

The March

Today at 10:00 AM, supporters of the CBC Radio Orchestra met at the Queen Elizabeth Fountain. We waved to traffic going by on West Georgia, and heard speeches describing how protests like this one were going on in Montreal and Toronto (and also in Romania, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper is currently visiting).

Some passed out song sheets (also with all of the names of all the BC Members of Parliament, to send handwritten letters to). We sang some a couple of protest songs — to the tune of Three Blind Mice and Baa Baa Black Sheep (or Twinkle twinkle Star, if you will). My favourite bit was the second verse of the Baa Baa Black Sheep:

Bah, bah, humbug to the stingy beast
In his office way back east;
How can pencil-pushing jerks
Screw composer’s hard-earned works?
Bureaucrats don’t know their avant-garde
From a hole in their back yard.

Then the whole crowd marched a block south to the main doors of the CBC. Some of the radio orchestra members gathered at the door, and there were more speeches and chanting. There was no violence, and I think that frankly, the folks in the building were glad we were there. After all, I think they would have joined us if they could have. Here are a few other photos (the rest are on Flickr):