The Brain and the Tango

First Real Book Club Meeting ...

Not quite a consensus, but few people had managed to finish reading This is Your Brain on Music, and even those who felt it had been a worthwhile endeavour were critical of the writing style, the quality of the arguments put forward, and the organization of the book.

Some people were genuinely interested in the technicalities of music. One was totally disinterested in the connections between the brain and music. But I think what almost all of us felt was that while the book may have been a dud, thinking about the complexity of the human brain was interesting.

One member suggested that a very different format would have made the study interesting ... using only four pieces of music and having the presentation multi-media rather than in book form. And forgetting about the first section except as an appendix of some kind.

So ... as a first draft that should not have been hastily published, The Brain does have some potential, but Leviton has to get rid of his "Look at Me! Look at Me!" sophomoric style of interacting with his readers/audience.

The to-ing and fro-ing of the discussion, the wine and snacks were certainly worthwhile.

Tango ...

Today I get to meet a new Tango. He is an old, un-neutered Old English Sheepdog who likely has one more year to enjoy life on this earth. He is medicated, has glucosamine in his water, and cannot climb stairs. He likes leisurely sniff about walks and is unlikely to be very interested in playing with Kenya. Anyway we will see how this meeting goes. If the hill is manageable for him and if he and Kenya hit it off, it would mean about 8 days of dog sitting which would be nice financially He is the grandfather of Wilbur, the sheep dog I used to walk.

I have been putting off dealing with onerous chores so the rest of my day will likely be spent cleaning my den, dealing with bills, and making a big pot of stew. But I think I will manage to sneak in a few pages of Lullabies and maybe start those slippers. And Kenya and I will go for another off leash walk now that the hunters have left our woods. I suspect that Tango's walks will have to involve Kenya being off leash. It would be painful otherwise.