Starting out the new year right
Gun rights, the Clean Water Act, and football
I spoke with my friends Armstrong and Getty a few days ago about Judge Lawrence Van Dyke’s controversial opinion in the Second Amendment case McDougall v. Ventura County, as well as other legal news. And yes, I admit I stole the “apparatus” line from Frasier.
Litigating for freedom in Arizona
At Goldwater, we started the year out right with a couple filings in the Arizona Supreme Court, including a brief supporting the right to challenge an administrative agency’s authority without having to first submit to that authority—and a brief urging the Court to enforce the state Constitution’s rules about voter referenda.
Quantum Leap petition
I was always a big fan of the time-travel series Quantum Leap…well, maybe not always a fan. That last season was pretty rough. But word now is that NBC has begun the process of remaking it, or rather, making something like a sequel series. That could be good news, but of course one of the absolutely essential things about the show was Oscar-winning costume designer Jean-Pierre Dorleac’s work. A petition’s circulating to get NBC to bring Dorleac back for the new show, and if you’re a fan, you should sign it.
Slack key and Scriabin
It’s become an annual tradition for us to attend the annual Southern California Slack Key Guitar Festival—except last year, when we had to watch it online. So it was a treat to get back together in person and see Kimo West, Jeff Peterson, George Kuo and others onstage in Redondo Beach. For those unfamiliar with this distinctive guitar technique, native to Hawai‘i, I wrote about it a couple years ago for TOS. Jeff Peterson has a new album out (as he always does…) and this one is especially relaxing. Very nice music for morning coffee time.
This also seems to be a year for Alexander Scriabin, the Russian romantic composer of whom I’m especially fond. Well, I’m fond of his early stuff—his etudes and preludes, particularly. Just think, like, more Chopin than Chopin ever dreamed of being. (Here’s an example.) Later on in life, he went a bit nuts and composed pieces like the barely comprehensible “Prometheus: Poem of Fire,” which are, shall we say, complex.
My favorite performer of Scriabin is Chitose Okashiro, whose new album album is a transcription of “Prometheus,” not for solo piano, or for two pianos, but for seven pianos playing simultaneously. And she plays all the parts. (Like William Shatner in Julius Caesar.) It’s an amazing technical accomplishment. I still don’t get “Prometheus,” but she includes on the album some other lovely Scriabin pieces.
In the meantime, Dmitri Alexeev, who is also really superb, has just finished his Complete Scriabin Solo Piano Works. (I reviewed his Complete Scribabin Preludes here.) And Valentina Lisitsa, who is also an exceptionally fine performer of Scriabin, has just released a new album of his solo piano works.
Casey Baugh
My latest artist crush is painter Casey Baugh. Check out especially his “Nocturnes” series. I think my favorite is Braille to the Night. The reflection in the window and the shading on the ketchup and sugar are phenomenal. But it’s not just the technique: I absolutely love his combination of introspection and simple joy, as in One Hour More or Insomnia. Absolutely first class.
Coming soon…
It was great to speak to the Federalist Societies in Sacramento and San Diego this month. On February 23 I’ll be speaking at the University of Kentucky, and in March, at the University of San Diego. Both of those will be about the constitutional thought of Frederick Douglass. I’ll also be participating in a workshop on improving one’s writing skills, and you can join us here.
And keep an eye on National Review for my review of the new Zora Neale Hurston book!