This
page is designed to facilitate the Gypsy Scholar's current post-program
reflections. A chance for the GS to really let his hair down about things. The GS hopes that these will motivate his
listeners to respond in kind. Please visit
This Post-Program Communique webpage allows the once-a-week broadcast of the Tower of Song to have an afterlife for the rest of the week. The GS will use it to extend the topics presented in the Essay-with-Soundtrack and elaborate on things that the limitations of time would not allow. It will also serve as a forum for discussion; an interactive form of communication that gives listeners a chance to dialogue with the GS.
Please read: "The Gypsy Scholar's Plea For More Communication" (click image of Mercury)
This is to announce the "The Troubadours & The Beloved: Impossible Love & The Music of the Night" (10/17/11) is now available for listening 24/7 on the "Archived Essays" subpage. (This is an extended version, with songs added.)
10/17/11 Technically speaking, this program actually was in two parts--the seasonal Autumn tribute of four songs at the opening of the program and the "Impossible Love: Music if the Night" part. However, the songs of Autumn (3 out of 4 played) actually served as a bridge to the second part (the main part) of the program about "impossible love" (i.e., the unrequited love of the Phantom of the Opera), since they were about Autumn and lost love--and, so, the theme of the melancholy of the fall season ("Autumn Leaves" by Rickie Lee Jones, "Autumn" by Carla Bruni, "Forever Autumn" by The Moody Blues). Yet, one of these Autumn songs was even synchronous with the songs played for the Phantom of the Opera and "The Music of the Night." This was not planned by the GS and, thus, was a meaningful coincidence of subject matter (since the song was chosen by the GS only for its theme of Autumn). The song was Carla Bruni's "Autumn," which contains the following lyrics in the middle of the song:
But phantom, forlorn beneath the thorn, Your ghost where your face was ...
This seems like a direct reference to what Christine was feeling towards the Phantom of the Opera!
(The verse, "There is a wind where the rose was," which begins and ends the song, make it a typical song for the "Troubadours & The Beloved." So this song actually serves both major themes of the program. The GS interprets the word "thorn" as short for the hawthorn, the sacred hawthorn of lovers so popular in Celtic love songs.)
For "Declaration of the Occupy Wall Street General Assembly," click here.
The GS's Last program on The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, broadcast 8/22/11, did not get recorded and saved to station computer and, therefore, will not be available for archive listening. Click link below for GS's explanation and reflections on this.
On his long drive home from the station on August 1, after the GS had celebrated the Celtic-neopagan cross-quarter holiday of Lughnasadh or Lammas, he was stopped by forces beyond his control and experienced a very odd Lughnasadh ritual. He presents the story here for his listeners.
The GS has posted a piece
entitled "The Soundtrack: From Film to Essay" on his blog. It contains a portion of Philip Glass' recent interview on the last 7th Ave. Project and extrapolates his reflections to the GS's musical essays (how they came to be). Please read if you love film soundtracks.
Please read these comments on the last two installments of the GS's Independence Day series of musical essays, "Romantic Total Revolution: The Democracy Of Soul & The Goddess Of Liberty." These "Notes To ..." (besides discussing the Rolling Stones song, 'Street-Fighting Man') make some important connections to topics and themes that go back to the May Day series of musical essays, which will elucidate the current series and set the stage for the last musical essay to come.
For an urgent message to listeners from the GS about his Independence Day series of musical essays, click on image.
The GS has posted a piece
entitled "Our Carnivalesque Life Forever in Love and Politics: Total
Revolution" on his Blog in order to explain why he played Bruce
Springsteen's “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" for his first
installment of his musical essay for Independence Day, which was
presented midnight July 4th. Anyone like this song?
This is to announce that the GS has written and posted to his Blog his response to hearing the NPR Morning Edition (which he promos at the end of his program each week) piece on "The Supreme Court Justices’ Writing Tips." He has called this writing exercise:
“How To Write Supreme Court Decisions In Favor of ‘We The People’ Corporations.”
Please give it a read--and give the GS your feedback!
6/15/11
This is to announce that the GS has uploaded his last musical essay, "The Troubadours & Impossible Love, part 2" (which is mostly songs on impossible, unrequited love from the '60s on), to the "Archived Essays" subpage (link at bottom of this page). It contains an extra song the GS didn't have quite the time to play.
5/23/11
It was an interesting synchronicity for the GS's "Beltane / May Day #4" program (5/23/11) that President Barack ("Barry" [Ir.]) Obama was in Ireland (Dublin and Moneygal) to get back to his Irish roots ("making a presidential pilgrimage here to discover his Irish roots" and "to reaffirm those bonds of affection"), where he spoke about the Irish contribution to American life. (Listen to NPR's May 23 report on the President's trip. See CNN's website article for May 23: "Obama receives rock star reception in Ireland.") The GS calls it a "synchronicity" because one of the great contributions from Irish culture is its music, and the GS used a lot of "Celtic" song for this series of musical essays (and for the instrumental background music), especially in this 4th installment. This was the GS's way of affirming his own Irish roots and showing his affection for Irish culture.
