The Duncan Fremlin Blog

Lessons Learned from The Dying!

Australian palliative care nurse (and avid blogger) Bronnie Ware recently published a new book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

The idea of dying with regrets is repugnant to begin with.  However, it's not too late for me and my readers to learn and enjoy these words of wisdom.   

“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

 “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”

“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”

 “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

“I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

10,000 Hours and The Banjo

Apparently there was a banjo thingy on PBS the other night.  I don't have cable TV so I wasn't able to enjoy it but I received at least four emails form people who do have cable and they were kind enough to let me know about this memorable event.

There has been a buzz in the world banjo community that interest in this instrument is about to explode once again.  It's occurred a few times over the years.  The Will The Circle Be Unbroken album from 1970 was one explosion. The movie Deliverance was another as was the Beverly Hillbillies.  Lately, funny man Steve Martin has been touring the country with a terrific bluegrass band and that has attracted a great deal of media attention.  If I were Grant, the owner at The Twelfth Fret music store here in Toronto, I'd stock up on beginner banjos because next week will be the beginning of a pre-Christmas buying spree like we haven't seen in years.

I've read two articles recently that might be useful to wannabe banjoists (or anyone else eager to play a musical instrument well).  The first was Malcolm Gladwell's popular book, The Outliers where he identified the "10,000 hour phenomenon".  This is the approximate time it takes to become an expert at something.  As an example, he uses Bill Gates's 10,000 hours programming computers as a kid.  His second example is the Beatles playing in Hamburg Germany for 10,000 hours before they returned to acclaim in England.  

The second reading was an interview in last month's issue of Banjo Newsletter with professional banjo player Mike Munford (if you haven't heard of him, don't sweat it, neither had I.)  Writes Mike:

"Repetition.  I can honestly say I've been doing a lot of that many thousands of times.  There has to be an aspect of playing banjo that you love so much that you don't mind listening to the same thing over and over again.  I've done certain riffs over and over and I don't get tired of them.  It's a personality thing.  I can eat chicken fourteen days in a row and not get sick of it."

These are wise words for parents thinking of buying a banjo for their child.  Ask yourself.  Does my son or daughter enjoy eating peanut butter (or some such food group) every day for a year (like I did in 1957)?  

An interesting follow up to this is a popular play I saw last week.  It's presently being presented in Toronto by Mirvish Productions.  It's called 2 Pianos 4 Hands.  For any musician who's endured hours and hours alone in a room with an instrument, this is a must see.  It's one of the best plays I've seen in years.  As a former Kiwanis Music Festival participant, I found those scenes particularly endearing.  Ted Dykstra, one of the lead characters, reflects at the end of the play that as he aged, he grew to enjoy practising and the repetition that goes with it.  I'm not sure what that means but it would have been nice to have known that before I started this journey.     

Great Saturday Night Outing in the Annex

North American Premiere of "The Lament" at the Moving Images Film Festival

Saturday October 15, 5:30-7:30pm 

@ Annex Live

296 Brunswick Ave,

 

"The Lament" 

An Independent Film by Emma Lu Romerein

Produced by Sandstone Productions, 

Canada/Italy, 2011 

The world premiere of "The Lament" was at this years Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner and will screen this Saturday for its North American premiere in the Moving Images Showcase at the Annex Live in the Moving Images Film Festival in Toronto.  

"The Lament" is an independent experimental dance film shot on Super 16 mm and set to music by Nancy Sinatra with dancing performed by Gemini nominated Emma Lu Romerein. Sinatra's haunting lyrics propel the story and the dancing emotes a visceral language of heartbreak and longing. This film brings contemporary dance to the screen as an emotional experience and documents a fleeting art form. 

There will be 5 short films screened in this showcase taking place between 5:30-7:30 with Q&A for each film. "The Lament" will be shown 3rd. 

 

http://www.miffest.com/miffesthome2011.html

http://www.miffest.com/Categories.html

http://www.miffest.com/EventsScheduling.html

 

To Split An Infinitive Or To Boldly Split An Infinitive?

I'm not a particularly refined man.  I have my rough edges.  My shirt is often hanging over my belt (or at least part of it) and I don't always keep the hair in my ears trimmed.  I figure it comes from my rural roots in Northern Ontario.  This lack of refinement applies to my speech also.  I get the usage of "me" and "I" mixed up from time to time and yes, I often split my infinitives.

This doesn't go over well in my home.  You see, I have a grammar cop often sitting next to me or worse, editing my missives.  She does not split her infinitives.

Depending on who you read, splitting an infinitive is akin to burping out loud after a good meal.  Thankfully, it's not that bad in my home.  At the very worse, we discuss the merits or lack thereof of a good split infinitive.

I do believe that this discussion is over once and for all.  I have it under good authority that this issue is over blown and officially now a "non issue".  Isabel Dalhousie is my authority.  She is the brainchild of Alexander McCall Smith, the author of the Ladie's Detective series and of course, the Isabel Dalhousie novels.  Isabel is a philosopher of ethics and edits the Review of Applied Ethics in this series.  If I may quote Isabel from Alexander's latest novel about her activities:

 "Why not split an infinitive if one wanted to?  The sense was as easily understood whether or not the infinitive was sundered apart or left inviolate".  

Case closed!

P.S.  The most famous split infinitive apparently is from Star Trek, "to boldly go ...." but then I'm sure you already knew that.

 

 

Keith Richard's Diet

I just finished one of the best autobiographies ever, Life by Keith Richards.  Man, did I read this guy wrong.  I watched Weird Al Yankovic's interview with him a few years ago and that's the image I had in my head about this guy.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  This guy's a Renaissance man.  The wisdom in that book is endless.  I learned a lot about life and my vocabulary has been expanded beyond my wildest expectations.  

 

 

He shares his diet that has kept him skinny and fit as a fiddle for his 65+ years:

1.  he was a junkie for 15 years and,

2.  he doesn't conform to the eating schedule created by the factories during the industrial revolution.  It was dictated during that period that people were to eat when the horn sounded so they wouldn't disturb themselves as they were manufacturing things.  Keith, being the non conformist that he is,  eats a little bit, quite often through out the day hence his sleek figure.  

Oh, and he shares his recipe for bangers and beans,  a must have in every kitchen.

 

Arm Chair Economists Should Just Shut Up

There's a new book that most of us should read. It's called "Cocktail Party Economics" by Eveline Aomait.  I don't think it's a particularly deep and provocative book  i.e. it'll never be on a college curriculum but it does offer some basic facts about economic principals that most of us could use if we want to sound intelligent when we open our mouths to speak about these things.

Cocktail parties are where we often meet these arm chair economists. They just seem to know what's wrong with the world economy and social structure. The fact is, the more they know, the dumber they sound.

I know enough to know there are too many economic layers for me to comment on.  I also know that without an alternative, we're kind of stuck with the system we have, at least for my generation's lifetime.

Ms. Adomait was asked ina recent Toronto Star article, "What are the most common errors in thinking that you encounter when economics comes up?"  She answers, "That we can always have everything we want.  People complain about what the government is doing and where they're spending their money.  There's a sense that somehow we should be able to get this perfect.  The bottom line is, economics is about studying trade-offs.  Nothing is perfect."  

This seems to be a pretty good place to start if you're going to be an arm chair economist.  Then you just might sound like you might have some tiny idea of what you're talking about. 

 

Which of These Tribes Do You Belong To?

Environics Research Group co-founder Michael Adams (seen here showing off his new hair transplant?) 
recently wrote a book, "Stayin' Alive;  How Canadian Baby Boomers Will Work, Play, and Find Meaning in the Second Half of Their Adult Lives".  

He succinctly divides us into four "tribes":

1.  Disengaged Darwinists (48%) - they are traditionalists who prefer the world the way it once was, before we went and "gone soft".  (sounds like the feeble minded electorate, those looking for a quick fix for all that ails us).

2.  Anxious Communitarians (12%) - simple, stay at home, let's not rock the boat types (even 12% is too many).

3.   Connected Enthusiasts (21%) - they love the "new" Canada.  I'd call it Trudeau's Canada, multiculturalism, equal opportunity and all that stuff.  (Sad it's only 21%.)

4.  Autonomous Rebels - (19%) - these are entrepreneurial, not big on authority, likely recently appalled by the cops behavior during the recent G-20 here in Toronto.   (Mmmm, a bit too close to home this one). 

How do you see yourself in this mix?  If you're inclined, your thoughts would be most welcome under the comment section.

I doubt I'll read the book but if you do, I'd love to hear your review.  

Assemblage of Gray Power

We had quite the group for our last social event in our lovely home here on Woodycrest Avenue.  Except for my over paid assistant, Brittany McKenzie, everyone in attendance was 60 or over and it was lively.  The topic was Lyndsay Green's new book, You Could Live Longer Than You Think, Are you Ready?

 

 What did we learn?  Well, let's see.  In no particular order:  We learned that Christ died at 33.  Society honours the young but not the old.  We are married to our "stuff" and it's a bad marriage with no divorce in sight.  A psychotherapist is simply a physiotherapist who massages the brain.  If you grow old with an asshole of a husband or an old hag for a wife, your lifespan will diminish with each year together.  Don't forget, one woman's asshole is another woman's knight in shining armour.

One more thing of note.  Our generation sure likes to talk.

Adulthood Undervalued?

I read a great quote from author Jonathan Franzen recently.  Wrote Mr. Franzen:  "I think adulthood has become seriously undervalued in recent years.  I'm not morally blaming anyone for wanting to prolong childhood into his or her 30s.  It seems like a natural response to the sense that the world is too complicated to do anything about, so I have sympathy for the position."

Discuss.

I wonder if my parents felt the world was too complicated in 1943 when their world was really threatened.  Is it a natural response to stick your head in the sand and continue living in mom and dad's basement while you enter your third decade?  Or is it natural to see a troubled world and darn well do something about it?  Mr. Franzen doesn't give that generation much credit. 

Maury Chaykin, dead at 61

I should have created a Nero Wolfe blog category.

This is a fictional detective, a series of books by the late Rex Stout, all written in the 1940's to the 1960's.  I began reading the books somewhere around 1980 and I haven't stopped.  I read and re-read all of the books continuously.  I've since learned that I'm not the only Nero Wolfe fan who is sort of obsessed with the characters, the language, the politics, the vocabulary, the recipes, the orchids, the story lines, manners, etiquette and the very powerful personalities.  There are thousands of Nero Wolfe fanatics around though I've never actually met one in person.

The books have taught me a great deal.  Some day I'll write extensively about each valuable lesson, be it cooking, negotiating, relating, human nature, history and so on.

There have been many on screen (and radio) interpretations of Nero Wolfe but only one actor really captured the true Nero Wolfe character and his name is Maury Chaykin.  Sadly, he died last week.  I only met him once.

Without any doubt in my mind, he WAS Nero Wolfe.

I was standing in a line for something at the Distillery District years ago and Nero (I mean Maury) appeared, right in front of me. At first I was alarmed because this was my first ever meeting with my hero Nero Wolfe and I know him as a blustery and rude man, larger than life.  I gathered my senses, worked up the courage and blurted out, "as someone who reads a little bit of Nero Wolfe every day, you are Nero Wolfe". He then smiled (sort of) as Nero Wolfe would smile (not that ever did) and said "thank you". I made a hasty exit for fear I'd blather on like a star struck teen.
I still visualize Maury as I'm reading and re-reading my favourite passages - he was that good.