WTF-Beta

@wtg huh, never would have thought such a thing might happen with DOGE

@wtg yikes! That’s disconcerting!

@wtg thanks a lot for posting this! I will download it to read later.

@Bernard 50 minutes one way is a lot! Especially if something starts in the evening.

Also, I agree re trains. I wish the US had more (and better, more reliable) trains.

Ironically, back when we lived in Japan, the place where we lived was more rural and you needed a car. But when I was in Japan last summer for my research trip, I stayed in a bigger city and getting around was all streetcars and trains. I loved it! Especially the streetcars.

@Bernard said in New Year, new music? Ambitions?:

I would like something a little more local than the music school

Good luck!

How much of a drive is the music school?

Oh, one other goal has materialized for this semester. Before we moved here, I used to have more opportunities for piano parties. I had colleague who hosted them regularly, and after I got my grand, I hosted some at my house as well. Since we moved here (going on three years now), I haven’t been successfully at finding a music community.

But I found out that a new prof who joined our dept last semester plays the cello, so he and I agreed to get together in February or March and play for each other (we won’t play together yet, but maybe in the future). I’m hoping that can be the start of more regular music parties.

@Mark said in New Year, new music? Ambitions?:

I'm taking lessons again!

yay, that’s wonderful! I had my first lesson of the year this Wednesday. It was great

having a full knee replacement 2 weeks ago.

Oh wow, I trust the procedure went well? Best wishes for a quick and smooth recovery!

We have the same piano technician. That is how I got his name.

That’s a great way to find a teacher!

@shirokuro I agree about Bach! I continue to play a couple of the Goldberg Variations daily.

That’s great! Those are some of the most compelling pieces.

As for me…. It looks like I won’t be working on Bach after all

During my lesson, we talked about my goals, in terms of general or long-term goals and also semester in terms of repertoire, and then goals with regard to working on the Bach pieces.

Based on all that, that instead of working in one of the Bach collections I had (posted above), my teacher suggested that I go back to a book I was using at the beginning of last year for sightreading practice, and work through that. She pointed out that the difficulty level in the Bach pieces is a bit more varied, and since I’m not wanting to spend a lot of time each session on Bach, she thinks I’ll get better results with the other book.

Partly that’s because I really don’t want to spend more than 5-10 minutes on that part of my practice, and that’s not enough for Bach. But playing Bach as repertoire isn’t one of my goals (not yet).

So after all that, no a Bach for while.

@wtg said in In Minneapolis:

This is not good.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/immigration-agents-deploy-tear-gas-pepper-spray-minneapolis-confrontat-rcna253782

Infuriating. And terrifying.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Those are amazing photos too!

@Nina this was my question exactly!!

OMG.

This really is the beginning of the end.

Grok will join Google's generative AI engine in operating inside the Pentagon network, as part of a broader push to feed as much of the military's data as possible into the developing technology.

Seriously, we're doomed.

@wtg I’m really sorry to hear this, I missed your update in Nov above, I didn’t realize your student was dealing with this.

Things seem very bleak.

@wtg said in IgniteTech CEO on AI:

I've given up the fight for well-written journalism.

I know what you mean. Isn't that awful.

@wtg this isn't a criticism of you, just an observation. The headline also reads more like click bait because of how it's worded.

@wtg said in IgniteTech CEO on AI:

one of those companies who fired people and replaced them with AI

That headline gave me this exact impression.

Yes, of course when you read the article, it's clear, but I think the headline should have said "replaced" not "fired."

Certainly, for those who lost their jobs, it's awful and that others were hired after them is not going to provide any comfort.

But in the discussion of whether AI will just take jobs, or also create new ones, the distinction matters a great deal.

That headline is rather misleading:

replacing nearly 80% of staff within a year, according to headcount figures reviewed by Fortune.

In the months since, Vaughan told Fortune in an early 2026 statement, the company has only kept growing its headcount, recruiting globally for AI Innovation Specialists across every function, from marketing to sales to finance to engineering to support.

@Bernard said in New Year, new music? Ambitions?:

I should try to get some Bach in my regimen, I do love his music.

I do too.

The other thing about Bach, and the reason why I want to try to have him be a regular part of what I'm working on, is that I find it's like exercising, if I do it regularly. not only do I enjoy it, but it makes the other parts of my life easier because my body works better.

This is the first I've heard of an O visa.

Whoops I forgot to say what I'm working on.

Miracles by Alexis Ffrench. This is kind of interesting because Ffrench hasn't released the score for it, but someone at Piano Tell transcribed it for me https://forum.pianotell.com/d/1185-hey-alexis-ffrench-fans/76 . I worked on it a bit in 2024 but it was a little too hard (trying to figure out whether to use LH or RH for those inner voices was what did me in). This time, my teacher and I looked at it during our last lesson of Dec., and some how, now it feels very doable. I'm about halfway through it and it seems to get easier as it goes along.

Link to video

Pieces I worked on over the winter break that are almost ready, that I would like to record over the next few weeks:
Song for Gavin by Ludovico Einaudi
Midwinter Memories by Michele McLaughlin
Jesu Joy Canon, and "mash-up arrangement of BWV 147 and Pachelbel's Canon

The two Bach books I'm using:

Then maybe I'll move on to the Little Preludes... Besides the sightreading practice, another reason I decided to do the Bach is because last semester, I worked on an Invention (for the first time in probably 20 years!) and it was just a little bit too hard. In other words, I could get it worked up if I devoted a ton of time to it during each practice session, but I have too many other things I'm working on to want to do that. So I thought I should go backwards a little bit and do some pedagogical prep for Bach.

We'll see how it goes

@andyd Sounds like a great plan!

I start piano lessons for spring semester on Wednesday (yay!) We'll start with things that I worked on over the break, and do some planning for what I'll work on throughout the semester.

Last semester I spent a significant amount of time (by which I mean, several weeks, maybe almost two months?) working on a piece that ultimately was two hard for me and I put it away without even getting through the whole piece. Looking back, that was a bit demoralizing and not a good use of my time. I'm sure I learned from it, but I didn't learn the piece and have nothing to show for the work I spent. I did of course work through other pieces and I recorded some (two??) so it's not like that piece was all I did...

Anyway, this semester, I don't want to do that. I want to have more pieces that are more "in the pocket of playability" for me, and I'd like to make more recordings to share. So I'll try to pick pieces that are challenging, but still easy enough to polish.

I also plan to work through some each Bach (AM notebook, pieces in a book billed as pieces to play before Inventions). In the first half of 2025, I spent however many months working through a book of hymns arranged for piano players, and it was quite pedagogical, and sort of like a sightreading exercise. So this year, I want to use these Bach books for that purpose.