22 APR 07: CURIOUS GEORGE
A big celebration was held at the RiverCenter Saturday night, as the Columbus Symphony Orchestra marked 20 years under George Del Gobbo. An anniversary cake was served at intermission, and hopefully the audience was refined in how it ate -- instead of engaging in a Gorge Del Gobble.
George Del Gobbo actually has two titles with the Columbus Symphony: music director and conductor. I think that means he actually chooses what the symphony plays - as opposed to many radio stations, where it's all in a computer.
The Columbus Symphony Orchestra marked the 20th anniversary of George Del Gobbo's direction with a Russian-theme program called "Shostakovich and the Struggle for Freedom." Many people would feel free if they never had to spell the name Shostakovich....
The C.S.O. web site notes George Del Gobbo came to Columbus 20 years ago from Fort Worth, Texas. He's certainly lost the Texas twang - but I don't recall him saying a Southern-style "hey" even once.
In many cities the size of Columbus, the name of a symphony conductor might be a trivia question. But to George Del Gobbo's credit, he's made himself a familiar face in the community. He appears in commercials, and isn't afraid to look a little silly. The late Robert Shaw in Atlanta might have made a joke about "mezzo-forte" in a rehearsal.
Most of my memories of George Del Gobbo don't really involve concerts, but his promotional appearances. He went on a diet one season, and did regular weigh-ins on the old WLTZ show "Coffee Break." I assume his baton speed increased by at least ten percent.
Then there was the commercial promoting the children's work "Peter and the Wolf," which featured George Del Gobbo as a prosecutor - and a wolf. His symphony concertmasters must not like to play along....
But there's a method to this sort of madness. George Del Gobbo seems to realize it takes unique promotions to put people in the seats at classical concert halls these days. That's especially true in a city like Columbus, which seems to have trouble supporting a classic rock radio station.
George Del Gobbo notes on the C.S.O. web site that NO member of the symphony makes a living simply from playing in Columbus. Many play in other cities, as "freelance" musicians. You'd think the violin players would have travel stickers on their cases to prove it....
(This may be true for George Del Gobbo as well. He's a guest conductor with two orchestras in Chile - where it appears THEY don't have any problem with outside immigrants taking jobs.)
So congratulations, George Del Gobbo -- and if there's any justice, someday the concert hall at the RiverCenter should be named after you. But of course, there's not much justice these days. And your family would have to outspend Bill Heard Chevrolet for the naming rights.
E-MAIL UPDATE: First she went after a fired radio talk show host - and now she wants more heads to roll:
The LIBRARY BOARD-DIRECTORS and all Committees
1. After two years of requests the Library Director, Claudya Muller, refuses to place members, their emails and phone numbers on line.
2. After two years of requests the Library Director, Claudya Muller, refuses to place meeting places, times, minutes and committees on the website. SHE WILL NOT PLACE MINUTES ON LINE. MINUTES ARE CRITICAL TO DETERMINE WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
3. The Library Director, Claudya Muller, will not email digitized minutes as she is required by law to do.
4. The members, if you can find a contact number or email for them (many are not valid), will not answer email, or even acknowledge it, nor will most of them speak with you on the phone. Meredith Jarrell just slammed the phone down on me when I found her phone number and called her and said " I have sent you many emails." She said 'No comment." and slammed the phone down. The same thing happened with several others. They feel no responsibility to the public.
5. They have had illegal meetings in private offices, that were unannounced and therefore illegal, they have taken illegal votes and done illegal business with the people's money. They will not supply the minutes for a reason.
6. They have taken city money and committed it without authority, Paley sculpture.
7. They have almost 6 million dollars now and they will not answer to the public about it now or later.
8. They are not elected but are appointed by the Board of Education.
9. The Board of Education has control over ONLY three things:
1. The Board of Education approves the total dollar amount of the budget-not what the Library Board does with the money
2. The Board of Education does procurement for the Library Board
3. The Board of Education handles the Library Board bookkeeping- payroll
10. In summary, the Library Board is autonomous and has operated illegally, and has refused to open up the workings of the Library Board records by placing them on line for all to see. The Director steadfastly refuses to send the minutes in email as required to do by law. SHE IS SUEABLE! The Board is part of government, but they operate outside the law and in the shadows with your money. They have millions for which they are responsible and they ARE NOT ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PUBLIC.
A School Board member has promised to present the petition to have the Library Board disbanded, to the School Board.
THEY NEED TO BE DISBANDED>
WE WILL START A PETITION TO DISBAND THE LIBRARY BOARD AND WE WILL PRESENT IT TO THE SCHOOL BOARD.
Please contact me about this with ideas and support.
Thank You,
Deborah Owens
AboutColumbusGA Yahoo Group
Well, not so fast here. I searched around the Columbus Library web site Saturday night, and found a list of Library Board members rather easily. Wouldn't a truly loyal library patron open a phone book from there, to get some of the other details?
But Ms. Owens makes a point, about upcoming meetings NOT being posted on the library web site. Nothing was listed at the central library for April or May - but I did find a graphic with dice rolling, so that could be the same thing.
While this e-mail says Library Director Claudya Muller is "sueable," Ms. Owens does NOT say if she actually has filed a lawsuit for all the information she wants. But then again, announcing a petition drive is a lot cheaper - and may scare Ms. Muller into the same result.
Do you think a petition drive to disband the Muscogee County Library Board will be successful? I'm not that sure it will - in part because most people aren't familiar with it, and in part because the library scoffers avoid the system as if it doesn't exist already.
Let's take one more e-mail, about a trip down Manchester Expressway:
I took a trip to Waverly Hall for a delicious steak at Luke's...Well,by the time I got there I was seasick from the awful paving job on the highway...Muscogee County really got ripped off by a fly by night paving company..It had more waves and dips than the surf at Panama City...
Here's hoping you get well soon - but look on the bright side. Fewer people are speeding on that part of the expressway than ever before.
Now to save paper and trees on this Earth Day, let's send some Instant Messages....
+ To Paul Voorhees of Ranger Joe's: I never knew that! I never knew you were an ordained Baptist minister. Maybe you should have gone to Iraq with the Third Brigade, and offer the Muslims a free haircut with every sermon.
+ To Doug and Brandon Greenway: You're certainly impressing people. A father and son making it to the final day of the Best Ranger competition - and for once, the father doesn't mind if his son has him climbing the walls.
+ To the Columbus Police Department: Interesting - very interesting. You crack down on interstate speeders, as a TV station openly asks for locations where speeding is a problem. But of course, you're ALSO innocent until proven guilty....
+ To Alabama head football coach Nick Saban: Wow - 92,138 fans for the spring game?! You'd better not let that go to your head. Especially since the game became a fundraiser for tornado survivors in Enterprise....
+ To the Auburn University defensive line: I've been aching around my rib cage for more than 24 hours, struggling at times to breathe. When did you sneak into my house and sack me?
+ To WRBL's Bruce Frazier: Excuse me for saying this, but NASCAR did NOT race "on the west coast" Saturday night. The last time I checked, Phoenix was still in Arizona - and California still hasn't fallen into the ocean.
+ To Tommy Bassett, wherever you are: Congratulations on winning the St. Jude Dream Home! You need a roommate to help pay the property taxes - right?!
+ To Church's Chicken on Hamilton Road: About that line on the receipt that says "$10-QuikTender" - I thought I gave you cash. Or is this your version of the Wendy's "100,000 Frosties" commercials?
+ To the toddler who wore a nice dress to church this weekend, and then proceeded to turn toward me and raise it up to expose her underwear: I don't know who your parents are - but if I find out, I'm going to suggest they severely limit how much MTV you watch.
BURKARD'S BEST BETS: Gas for $2.65 a gallon at Big Cat, 30th Avenue and North Lumpkin.... FREE flourescent light bulbs for Earth Day at Home Depot.... and please be careful not to hug a bush of poison ivy....
(BLOGGER'S NOTE: The jokes for today have concluded, but you're welcome to keep reading for some thoughts about recent news.)
BUT SERIOUSLY: Monday was Virginia Tech. Thursday marked the anniversaries of Oklahoma City, and the Branch Davidians in Waco. Friday marked the anniversary of Columbine - complete with a gun scare at Valley High School. Is the third week of April doomed to become the unofficial week of death in this country?
There's been a lot of talk in the last few days about what might have led to the Virginia Tech shooting spree. I think there might be a parallel with the big national story of the week before - the words of Don Imus. What Imus said hurt, but the words are common in our society and media. What the gunman did obviously hurt even more - but sadly, this sort of violence is common in U.S. society and media as well.
It's true that Don Imus and the Virginia Tech gunman are ultimately responsible for their own actions - whether with words or weapons. But each of us needs to be careful not to promote those actions, even indirectly. That could mean choosing to avoid TV shows and movies filled with violence. The right choices might just bring more righteous items from Hollywood.
Is the concern about a national "culture of violence" a new phenomenon? No, it's not. An old Bob Luman song came to mind Saturday -- one you probably hear only on "classic country" radio stations anymore. It begins: "In all the songs I've listened to lately, somebody gets shot." Amazingly, this song came out in 1960.
Luman's tune was concerned about "death lyrics" in songs such as Marty Robbins's "El Paso" and the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love." He took a humorous spin on the songs with this line: "If we keep on losing our singers like that, I'll be the only one you can buy."
The title of this Bob Luman song was "Let's Think About Living" - and the refrain could work just as well for us today as it did long ago, especially in light of this past week:
Let's think about living - let's think about loving.
Let's think about the hoopin' and the hoppin' and the boppin' and the lovey-lovey dove-in'.
Let's forget about the sighing and the crying and the shooting and the dying
And the fella with a switchblade knife.
Let's think about living - let's think about life.
P.S. A couple of years ago, VistaCare began offering armbands with the word "REMEMBER" on it -- to use to remember loved ones, or whatever else you see fit. As it happens, the bands have a Virginia Tech maroon color. If you'd like to have one to remember the victims of the Blacksburg bloodbath, contact VistaCare for assistance.
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