Saying Something Nice

As everyone knows, the Cities are swarming with Republicans this week, and the whole metro has taken on a strange feel. Cities don't come much more liberal than ours, so playing host to the biggest GOP gathering of the year feels slightly off-kilter. I wasn't going to blog about it at all, partly because it has nothing to do with music, but mostly because my mother taught me that if I didn't have anything nice to say, etc. etc.

Two things changed my mind. First off, I got stopped on the street in downtown Minneapolis today by a bearded guy who was very enthusiastic about my work. At first, I assumed he was a fan of the orchestra (I'm continually amazed by how many people in Minnesota can pick individual members of the orchestra out of a crowd,) but when he started asking me questions about Keith Olbermann, I stopped him, and gently asked, "Sorry, but who do you think I am?"


As it turns out, I apparently look a lot like NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd, who has been getting a fair amount of national airtime in recent weeks. If only Sarah looked like Chris Matthews, we might be able to arrange to get Inside the Classics some exposure on MSNBC... (Insert your own joke about fewer people watching MSNBC than attending our concerts.)

Secondly, it occurred to me that I actually do have something nice to say. Regardless of what you may think of the current administration and its approach to governance, I've always been quite taken with the fact that we have a Secretary of State who can play piano at something approaching a professional level.


Dvorak Piano Quintet, split in two for some reason

Condoleezza Rice is actually something of an amazing woman on a lot of levels (if you're interested in a fascinating, completely nonpartisan look at her and the rest of the Bush brain trust, check out James Mann's excellent book, Rise of the Vulcans,) but it's the piano playing that really gives me pause. Not that she plays, you understand - I know a lot of adults who still play music for fun - but that she plays awfully well. She plays like a woman who still puts in a couple of hours practice on a daily basis, and I can't imagine where she ever finds the time.


...part two.

So there: an RNC blog post that didn't mention Sarah Palin's daughter, John McCain's age, or the protesters who decided that the proper way to show their displeasure with the GOP was to smash the front window of Macy's. Do I win a prize?