I saw...
The 50th Grammy Awards celebration
I listened ...
to the introduction of the Herbie Hancock Lang Lang duet. In that introduction they repeated the oft-quoted factoid that it was a Tom and Jerry cartoon that drew Lang Lang to the piano.
I thought...
about the unpredictability of inspiration. There really are no guarantees as to what will inspire us to do amazing things. The Muses are capricious and will whisper in our ears at the oddest times (seriously, keep a note book with you at all times…you never know what’s coming. And, on a side note, one of the animators for Tom and Jerry’s Cat Concerto was a man called Kenneth Muse). Lang Lang’s story seems to challenge the common assumption that if children are exposed to various forms of popular culture- such as cartoons, popular music, video games- their brains will turn to mush. This mush theory seems to shortchange the power of brain to grab interesting and inspiring information from practically anywhere, especially the brains of children. I saw two little girls at the airport this evening. It was clear they had met mere seconds before I observed them. As all of us serious adults waited for passengers to clear immigration and collect their baggage, these two girls, now fast friends, made a highly complex game utilizing the poles that formed a security barrier between the area where passengers would emerge from their customs screening and the area where their friends and loved ones waited to sweep them up in hugs. I’m not saying that these girls will be presenting this game at the 2022 Grammy Awards (did I mention that this game with the poles also included a song? A soundtrack, if you will). I’m just saying that we can be inspired by these little girls, Tom and Jerry, and Lang Lang.
The girls can inspire us to see that every moment is a great excuse to build a friendship, have some fun and make up a song. Tom and Jerry show us that inspiration can come from the gloriously silliest of places. And Lang Langs show us that, once you’ve been inspired, work like the blazes, cos, like they say, it’s the perspiration that’s going to let you reach the top.
P.S. One last word on inspiration – right now in Barbados we are very inspired by the success and hard work of our own super star Rihanna. She did Barbados proud. We love you too Rihanna.
The 50th Grammy Awards celebration
I listened ...
to the introduction of the Herbie Hancock Lang Lang duet. In that introduction they repeated the oft-quoted factoid that it was a Tom and Jerry cartoon that drew Lang Lang to the piano.
I thought...
about the unpredictability of inspiration. There really are no guarantees as to what will inspire us to do amazing things. The Muses are capricious and will whisper in our ears at the oddest times (seriously, keep a note book with you at all times…you never know what’s coming. And, on a side note, one of the animators for Tom and Jerry’s Cat Concerto was a man called Kenneth Muse). Lang Lang’s story seems to challenge the common assumption that if children are exposed to various forms of popular culture- such as cartoons, popular music, video games- their brains will turn to mush. This mush theory seems to shortchange the power of brain to grab interesting and inspiring information from practically anywhere, especially the brains of children. I saw two little girls at the airport this evening. It was clear they had met mere seconds before I observed them. As all of us serious adults waited for passengers to clear immigration and collect their baggage, these two girls, now fast friends, made a highly complex game utilizing the poles that formed a security barrier between the area where passengers would emerge from their customs screening and the area where their friends and loved ones waited to sweep them up in hugs. I’m not saying that these girls will be presenting this game at the 2022 Grammy Awards (did I mention that this game with the poles also included a song? A soundtrack, if you will). I’m just saying that we can be inspired by these little girls, Tom and Jerry, and Lang Lang.
The girls can inspire us to see that every moment is a great excuse to build a friendship, have some fun and make up a song. Tom and Jerry show us that inspiration can come from the gloriously silliest of places. And Lang Langs show us that, once you’ve been inspired, work like the blazes, cos, like they say, it’s the perspiration that’s going to let you reach the top.
P.S. One last word on inspiration – right now in Barbados we are very inspired by the success and hard work of our own super star Rihanna. She did Barbados proud. We love you too Rihanna.
7 comments:
Didn't watch the grammy. You know the time difference etc.... but i love Rihanna. Actually i love all her songs. And i think she is a beautiful young girl.
oh yeah, tom and jerry and calvin are high art in my book. who defines 'art' anyway?
nice one cynthia...my muse works are a different time though..i just need something to edge me and I find it next to me...:D
Very nice, Cynthia! The imagination and creativity of children (who are allowed to be children) is amazing.
If only I had a Muse whom I could summon up with the snap of the fingers!
Kamini
She may be Bajan, but her mom is Guyanese. I get a kick out of that.
Sorry, but I have to agree with Bernard Holland's article criticizing the kinds of physical histrionics that too many young pianists like Lang Lang indulge in. The contrast between Lang Lang's and Herbie Hancock's performances was a perfect example. It is not just that Lang Lang's facial tics and spasmodic episodes distracts from the performance, they seem so insincere, disconnected from the music. Less of an involuntary physical reaction to a spiritual surfeit and more of a willful choice to differentiate his act. Like Kiss applying face makeup.
haha..the cat concerto is such a classic! and among what it has 'inspired' is this sequence from the bollywood blockbuster 'dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge' where shahrukh khan plays the piano
Compare for yourself :)
cat concerto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLhGb5r5An0
movie scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaaRW2sREy8
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