In America

  Great participation across the board     It was gratifying to see even participation across the entire group. Heard some new voices at the karoake ad-hoc session. Visiting parents mingled with each other and with other members of the community. New folks introduced themselves and got themselves inducted. Lot of good banter.  Democratization of singing At a recent amateur singing event, I had sung directly from smule on the iPad. Typically, I need to download and provide the track file. I found this exciting for how easy it would be for anyone to come in ad-hoc and participate. A teenager suddenly feels like singing a modern english song - come over to the stage, search the song, and sing! A visiting parent has a desire to sing a nostalgic old song - come over, search and sing. Anyone can come in and sing their favorites! That was the vision.  Had a discussion with Girish on this, and we came up with the plan to bring in an iPad, an iPad stand, a cable that wou...

Art surpasses Life.  Art just got expressed through a person. The life of the person who participarted in the art really has no bearing on the life of the art itself.  The life of the art is determined by the art, not by the artist.  I heard Simbu reference a statement from ARR that he would no longer create anything "negative". In that conviction, there is a realization that he sees that the art is going to be "out there".  Bach's music feels omnipresent. He is referenced in many Bergman movies. I wonder if the new generations would have any appreciation for his movies.  ARR music should also live on far past his lifetime. I recently caught up on "Dil gira kahin per dafatan" which he released a solid seventeen years back.  Bach died in 1685, 340 years back! His music lives on strong.