Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Horn tooting, etc.























Humanities Tennessee (the state arm of the National Endowment for the Humanities) has just launched a website devoted to Tennessee literature, past and present. The site is still under construction, but it has a nice selection of reviews up, including a few by me. I think BitterGrace Notes regulars will especially enjoy this great essay by Michael Sims.

If you happen not to be in a literary mood, maybe you'll enjoy a little music. I've been working on an article for the Nashville Symphony magazine about tango composer Astor Piazzolla, and I found this nice clip of him performing "Mumuki." (According to Piazzolla's biographers, Mumuki was the great man's pet name for both his wife and dog.)




Illustration from "Cronecken der Sassen (The Chronicles of Saxony)," 1492

4 comments:

jmcleod76 said...

"Mumuki was the great man's pet name for both his wife and dog."

Really, it's better that way ... Saves you from embarrassment once the onset of senility begins.

When I was a kid, my mom often called me by every possible name, including the dog's, before hitting on the right one: "Cha-, Kel-, Tik-, Jaime!"

BitterGrace said...

Ha! Good point. Nobody's ever called me by the dog's name, although I have occasionally used the same nickname--"Pooh"--for all my pets.

ScentScelf said...

Oh, I go away for a few days, and so many interesting things you are posting.

I am a big Piazolla fan. Long ago secured the flute/guitar tango music, and have visions of performing it some day.

Our family always joked how my mom had to run through the pets' names, then my brother's, before hitting on mine. They all said the same thing, but with theirs last in series. ;)

Then, one day not so long ago, I found myself calling my son the dog, the cat, the brother...

I'm seriously considering switching to Mumuki for all.

BitterGrace said...

Mumuki is a fantastic name, I admit.

If you can master that music, my hat's off to you. It's wonderful, but seems very difficult to play.