“The Tweaker”

I had a friend years ago that hired a decorator to come in and arrange his living room furniture. Mind you, nothing new was purchased, the consultant just re-arranged the room with the same pieces of furniture and accessories. Surprisingly, it actually looked really good. I was astounded, as was he. All this familiar stuff was pulled from the room and re-assembled in a way that looked completely new. Vision. Steve Jobs did that with technology. If you haven’t seen the recent Malcolm Gladwell piece on Steve Jobs “real genius,” it’s worth … Continue Reading

Classical Music Radio Icon Passes

Arthur would have scoffed at that title. Icon. He wasn’t much for titles, mantles, or even accolades. Too “effete”. He hated pomp or ceremony. Loathed pretension. Back in the late 90’s, the title “Chief Announcer” was suggested to Arthur at Minnesota Public Radio, and he smiled deliciously. That smile spoke a thousand words and you could hear it on the radio. Arthur had been the godfather, mentor, muse, and yes, chief for almost 40 years, not just at MPR, but to countless other broadcasters, and especially his audience. An official title was completely unnecessary.

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Classical Birth Knell in Houston

Looks like Houston will get a full-time Classical station fairly soon, not though without some consternation and birth pains. According to a University of Houston news release, the Board of Regents voted to buy Rice University’s  student-run radio station, 50,000 watt KTRU for $9.5-million,  If approved by the Feds it would end the station’s student-driven programming and create an all new 24-hour classical-music station, the call letters of which would be KUHC. The students at Rice aren’t laying down quietly, mounting what always feels like a futile SOS (save our station) campaign … Continue Reading

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