First song that came to mind upon hearing of Michael Jackson's death. Not "Thriller" or "Beat It."
What it probably says about how I want to remember him: more innocent (a kid roped into show business), before Michael the Show-off ruled the '80s, part of a family (no matter how dysfunctional), and the song is classic Motown.
27 June 2009
23 June 2009
Marks
The Internet: a giant tree for people to carve their names and leave their mark in this world. Recently, a patient's spouse suggested I look up a You Tube video of her deceased husband. “You should see him before he got sick. You can see him dance a traditional Greek dance.” This was especially more poignant when I viewed the video, because throughout his length of stay he could hardly move his legs.
Whenever I google a patient's name, a sense of irrational guilt creeps up before I click “search.” It's this HIPAA business drummed into me. I feel less of a voyeur when a patient or patient's family suggests I look up his/her name on the Internet.
The first time I looked up a patient's name was to find out whether she was who she said she was. If she was published, then I would definitely find a book that she authored. It turned out she was a professor and her ratings on Rate My Professor would make me think twice about registering for her class. From fact-checking, I went on to reading patient obituaries. What I wanted was the knowledge that the patients I cared for were more than persons with diagnoses. I didn't want to define them by their illness. There's some comfort to see that friends and family miss them from looking at the online comments on the obituaries. But I wanted to color their lives for my sake. Maybe because I never asked them in the first place. So I look for the marks on the tree, that they were here, that they lived.
Whenever I google a patient's name, a sense of irrational guilt creeps up before I click “search.” It's this HIPAA business drummed into me. I feel less of a voyeur when a patient or patient's family suggests I look up his/her name on the Internet.
The first time I looked up a patient's name was to find out whether she was who she said she was. If she was published, then I would definitely find a book that she authored. It turned out she was a professor and her ratings on Rate My Professor would make me think twice about registering for her class. From fact-checking, I went on to reading patient obituaries. What I wanted was the knowledge that the patients I cared for were more than persons with diagnoses. I didn't want to define them by their illness. There's some comfort to see that friends and family miss them from looking at the online comments on the obituaries. But I wanted to color their lives for my sake. Maybe because I never asked them in the first place. So I look for the marks on the tree, that they were here, that they lived.
01 June 2009
Orchestrators
From NPR: In Praise Of Broadway's Orchestrators
By Susan Stamberg
The article asks, “Ever hear of Sid Ramin, Jonathan Tunick, Don Walker, Russell Bennett or Ralph Burns?”
Why, yes, I have. And might I add that you left out Michael Gibson, Harold Wheeler, and to an extent, Trude Rittman.
Tony countdown begins and theater geeks around this time lobby for a new category. The orchestrator category at the Tony's is only 12 years old. Only recently have they divided the design categories into plays and musicals. This year, talk was mostly about adding a Best Ensemble category. Mine would be for Best Musical Direction. I grant that the criteria for nominees in that category would be hard to delineate. Just nominate the original musical directors of a new production? Will “plays with music” qualify? All I really want is for Paul Gemignani to get some recognition from Antoinette Perry.
By Susan Stamberg
The article asks, “Ever hear of Sid Ramin, Jonathan Tunick, Don Walker, Russell Bennett or Ralph Burns?”
Why, yes, I have. And might I add that you left out Michael Gibson, Harold Wheeler, and to an extent, Trude Rittman.
Tony countdown begins and theater geeks around this time lobby for a new category. The orchestrator category at the Tony's is only 12 years old. Only recently have they divided the design categories into plays and musicals. This year, talk was mostly about adding a Best Ensemble category. Mine would be for Best Musical Direction. I grant that the criteria for nominees in that category would be hard to delineate. Just nominate the original musical directors of a new production? Will “plays with music” qualify? All I really want is for Paul Gemignani to get some recognition from Antoinette Perry.
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