Five Bullets 11.8.24
Manhattan Bridge Loop, Music Education, Juno, & more.
Good Morning and Happy Friday.
This morning is cool with clear skies here in New York City. We are officially under a drought watch - October was the second-longest period without rain since 1869, and City Hall advised New Yorkers to conserve water through small measures like shorter showers, turning off the tap while washing hands or brushing teeth, and running dishwashers and washing machines only when full. City agencies will also be working to enact plans to prevent a future water crisis.
This week I picked up a copy of Roland Allen’s The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper. More than a few writers I follow here on Substack have recommended it so I knew I’d get a lot out of the book. Allen presents a thoughtful and well-researched history of how the notebook, a small, cheaply-made, analog ‘device’, had far-reaching effects on how we think, remember, create and share knowledge.
I’m also happy to report I’m making steady progress while reading Moby-Dick: the end is in sight. After being lulled by Melville’s incredibly detailed chapters on everything to do with whaling, the end chapters have erupted with a fury and I’m once again surprised by his singular voice. I hope to finish the book by the end of this month.
Here’s a passage from Chapter 114 which sounds a lot like Circles in Space to me:
“There is no steady unretracing progress in this life; we do not advance through fixed gradations, and at the last one pause: - through infancy’s unconscious spell, boyhood’s thoughtless faith, adolescence’ doubt (the common doom), then skepticism, then disbelief, resting at last in manhood’s pondering repose of If. But once gone through, we trace the round again; and are infants, boys, and men, and Ifs eternally.”
This week’s bullets:
Art: Spend some time considering Edward Hopper’s Manhattan Bridge Loop, then read this breakdown of the form and structure of the work with some words from the artist: “My aim in painting…is always, using nature as the medium, to try to project upon canvas my most intimate reaction to the subject as it appears when I like it most; when the facts are given unity by my interest and prejudices. Why I select certain subjects rather than others, I do not exactly know unless it is that I believe them to be the best mediums for a synthesis of my inner experience.”
Education: , my brother and new music educator at PS 128, has started a Music in the Classroom fund. Please consider donating. Your generosity will help Eric purchase instruments and learning materials for his students so they can continue to learn and play music!
Music: We said goodbye to Quincy Jones who passed away earlier this week at the age of 91. Jones leaves behind an incredible legacy of music, having worked on countless iconic records, as a musician, composer and record producer. Circling back to my previous bullet on the importance of school music programs: Jones discovered an interest in piano after sneaking into a recreation center to tap away at piano and later joined his school’s band playing several instruments. The rest is history.
News: 43 monkeys escaped a research facility in South Carolina after a caretaker left a door open. Though this sounds like it could be the plot from 28 Days Later, the facility stated that the monkeys do not pose a threat to humans. Neighbors in the surrounding town are used to seeing monkeys in their yards as there have been multiple escapes.
Science: NASA’s Juno spacecraft delivered fascinating photographs of Jupiter. Juno launched in 2011 and reached Jupiter in 2016 where it’s been photographing the planet and it’s moons. Recent photographs taken on the craft’s 66th flyby showcase Jupiter’s swirling storms, cyclones and turbulent atmosphere.
That’s all for this week. I really enjoy getting this weekly list together. It gives me a reason to explore my interests, learn more, and share it with you.
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Thanks so much for the mention regarding my classroom donations! Our goal is to raise $3,500 for instruments and other materials that my students can use to learn and experience music. In less than a week, we've already raised over $1,000.