Summer

Richter

One of my favorite musicians is Sviatoslav Richter, the great Russian pianist. Richter was more than just a brilliant performer. There was something profound about his playing. Nowadays people focus almost entirely on the performer. Richter, on the other hand, provided us with a direct link to the composer, giving us a glimpse of what Beethoven and others wanted to tell us. I feel Annie Fischer was the same type of pianist.

I have a number of Richter CD's including his famous live performance in Sofia of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." I also love his interpretations of Beethoven, Schumann and Rachmaninoff.

There is a fascinating documentary about Richter. It's called "Richter, the Enigma." We learn a lot about his life. And of course, there are plenty of concert clips. Like all great musicians, Richter was very self-critical. He was not afraid to say when he had a bad performance. Worth watching.

Spring

More peony pics

Spring

Spring is back and the peonies are in bloom. What more can a person want?

September

I have not posted in awhile. Been busy at work. It's already September. This year has gone by quickly.

I recently purchased a DVD of an old Japanese movie titled Anjouke no Butokai. It's about an aristocratic family in Japan. After World War Two the family is forced to give up their home during the Allied occupation. The film is directed by Kozaburo Yoshimura and stars one of my favorite actresses, Setsuko Hara, best known for her roles in movies by Yasujiro Ozu. It's a Region 2 DVD, but I have a region-free DVD player. There are a number of other Region 2 movies that I would like to purchase, all from Japan.

P5Q Deluxe

I bought a new motherboard, the Asus P5Q Deluxe. I needed to replace my P5K Deluxe because the ethernet on the board stopped working following a power outage. The P5Q Deluxe has 16-phase power regulation. The VDroop on this board is very low, which is good. Also added a Western Digital 640GB drive and Vista Ultimate 64-bit. So far, so good. Had a problem with screen resolution until I discovered the DVI cable had gone bad. After replacing the cable, I now have full resolution. :)