MinDHOUSE Book Club - September 26, 2014 at 914 Song Sparrow Court, Arnold, MD

This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Maureen and Dan were guests.  And coincidentally Dan is a musician (trombone) and music professor ... so here is a picture of Dan visually illustrating an octave:

All of us were fascinated by Dan's illuminations of the challenging prose of author Daniel J. Levitin.

Ray likes Reggae and feels at peace with "3 Little Birds" by Bob Marley.  Dan likened the peace of Bob Marley to the crowd noise of radio baseball in the sixties - "crowds sounded like the sea", said Dan.  Gretchen talked about Victor Wooten, "the man of the bass".  Maureen said that many different physical parts of the brain process and make meaning from music.  Doug likes Appalachian clawhammer banjo music (music that predates bluegrass).  Dan told a story about a Chinese accordion player learning to appreciate Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  Ray speculated on the relationship between music preference and personality.  Doug asked about the difference between harmony and melody.  Dan said that melody moved horizontally through the music, while harmony was a "vertical" concept above and below the melody.  Everyone sipped beer or wine or water while Ray searched for a hot, crazy matrix ... click here to see what Ray found.

Books, wine, beer, water, laughter ...

Robyn enjoys slow classical music as an antidote to her fast paced world and recommended the American Guild Society to get some slow and flowing music.  Melissa noticed that her girls' soccer coach plays classical music to his players.  [AN ASIDE: "Happy is the person that recognizes beauty" - On Being Podcast].  Pandora provides a focused listening experience, although one might get Joni Mitchell singing Dylan's Spanish Leather.  Dan solved this problem by selecting a very specific Pandora channel: Thomas Tallis's Motifs for 40 Voices.   It was mentioned that rich people in the front row of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni may not realize that Wolfgang is making fun of rich people.  Ray said that many hum a tune without realizing the meaning of the lyrics: "... and called it macaroni" in Yankee Doodle is an oblique reference to a gay bar in London.  Robyn noted the cross-cultural similarity in pattern and tempo of lullabies, and the universality of a mother's singing to her infant.

Ray and Doug claimed to be banjo players (who would claim that?!): Thanks Melissa and Robyn for the pics.

Rachel liked The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - a surprising love story.  The group agreed.  Several really enjoyed the Audible version narrated by the English film and TV actor Jim Broadbent.  Rachel said that the story picked up at chapter 18.  The transformation of flabby 65 year old Harold during his 550 mile walk across England was unlikely, surprising and delightful.

Swamplandi!

Is next ... in October ... date to be set ... how about Friday, October 24th?  Does that work?

Thanks Rachel and Ray for hosting!  (love the salt water fish tank)

Swamplandia! is a 2011 novel by Karen Russell. Set in the Ten Thousand Islands, off the southwest coast of Florida, it is the story of the Bigtree family of alligator wrestlers who live on Swamplandia!, an alligator-wrestling theme park.