Cynthia Closkey's blog
Pittsburghers are wandering about these days, idling away the days and hours until The Happiest Day of the Year: Super Bowl Sunday. My advice for how to make an evening go speedily by (whether or not you’re a football fan): Go to the Pittsburgh Public Theatre and see their current show, Metamorphoses. It’s a short …
Continue reading “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers”
Super Bowl Sunday comes in just one week, and all of Steeler Nation seems to be searching for “The. Best. Steelers. Song. Ever.“ If you are among these searchers and have thusly arrived here at My Brilliant Mistakes, here are a few key links to help you on your quest: Bob Braughler at Masters of …
Continue reading “One week and counting — best Steelers song round-up”
One of my childish escapes guilty pleasures is playing Guitar Hero on the Wii. I’m nearly through Medium level in “GH3: World Tour” — I haven’t mastered the fast fingering needed in the final section, and of course once I get through that I’ll still have to beat the final boss. Now and again I …
As I was getting ready to head out for the evening tonight, I noticed that the water pressure in my house was much lower than usual. With temps in the single digits and lower, I quickly guessed the problem. This pipe had been in my garage. When I found it, the water was coming out …
The three remaining segments of my interview with Pulitzer-prize winning composer John Adams are online at the Pittsburgh Symphony website. Part 4: John describes the feeling of releasing a book in the current market, how he came to write the book Hallelujah Junction, and why he wrote a book like this. Part 5: John talks …
Continue reading “Encore! More of my conversation with John Adams”
The third part of my interview with John Adams, the PSO’s Conductor of the Year, is available on the PSO blogs. In this segment, John discusses how new technology has affected the way music is made, music itself, and the business of classical music. Read part 3 here. I’m posting this interview over several days, …
Yesterday for the Steelers-Chargers game, my two-year-old niece wore her Steelers cheerleader outfit. We said the Steelers needed her support and she should give them a cheer. She started shouting sounds. “Ah! Oof! Whoa! Ack! Yeah!” We all stared. After a minute, my brother realized that she was imitating us — those were the sounds …
The second part of my interview with John Adams, the PSO’s Conductor of the Year, is available on the PSO blogs. In this segment, John talks about blogging and history, not being recognized, and what it’s like to sit in the audience when his works are performed. Read part 2 here. I’m posting this interview …
Continue reading “Lamenting the lexicon of musical invective — part 2 of John Adams interview”
In November, I had the chance to interview John Adams, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Conductor of the Year. John shared his thoughts on contemporary and classical music, audiences, writing his autobiography, Pittsburgh, the PSO and Heinz Hall, and more. I’ll be posting this interview over several days over at the PSO blogs, in anticipation of …
Today I made a little light tent, for closeup photography. I needed it for a client’s product photo — usually our clients have their own product images, and when they don’t I’m more than happy to refer them to a professional photographer in the area. But this was such a simple little job, and we …