Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss

A piece from NYT in summer 1995, that presages Ross becoming a genius of writing about classical music, the rest is noise etc:

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TEN MINUTES DRIVING AROUND PALO ALTO IN MY DAD’S OLD LEXUS LISTENING AS IF FOR THE FIRST TIME TO THE BAD PLUS ONE

1. 1. Prehensile Dream or “Girl in jeans at Uni Ave Aporoaching High”
   

2. Or “Woman with Dog Wearing Backpack near Stanford Gate” (Anthem for the earnest)

3.Let our Garden Grow or “white knuckles green light”

4. The Empire Strikes Backward or i hope the truck does not hit the pedestrian

5. backhanded compliment >> chariots of fire

Few people realize that John Venn Neumann, the inventor of the Venn diagram, lived here in Palo Alto. He used to play poker with other notable geniuses like Dr Richter, the inventor of the Richter scale, Nathan Oliveira, who invented the nude or if not the nude the idea of Xeroxing your a** on a copy machine, and Hewlett and Packard, in fact they used to play strip poker and do a life drawing session — or was it a collage bee? – -in that famous garage on Addison Street (which is now the world’s most expensive piece of property, or after the Japanese Imperial Palace, if you excuse the digression).

Anyhow, as part of our heritage, staff is required to use a Venn diagram in every report.

For example, here is one from tonite.

Although to the average reader, or citizen, this looks like 4 ideas and a bunch of overlapping ovals, it is actually 10 or 11 separate ideas. That’s the geniousof of it.Tune back in later as I break down ideas, 4 thru 11.

(Note: people think Plastic Alto is about music, but before that I was an English major at Dartmouth; but before that I was the highest scoring student in the honors math lane at Terman Junior High, which was named for the guy who invented the Theremin. Before he left to join the Beech Boys.

Backed with so to speak: Ed “Sharkey” Shikado announced to mixed reaction that we are disbanding the Public Art commission but hiring conceptual artist and my Gunn classmate John Beech to succeed Pasco Sam as head of Utilities:

In 1993, because my parents were supporters of Anna Eshoo, I was able to use a ticket to go to DC and watch Clinton being sworn in. I went with a college roommate, whose father worked in the Kennedy administration, who knew which tunnels would get us to the best places on the lawn in front of the US Capitol.
I remember being impressed with Maya Angelou’s speech. I thought “mark, the mastodon” was addressed to me. 
I was an English major and later, and for the ensuing 26 years, and currently, work in the arts, so I think poetry can have magic powers, like Prospero putting a spell on Ariel.
Even I admit, however, that Democracy requires more work than just the right words at a ceremony – -I’m paraphrasing George Packer and referencing his 2012 book “The Unwinding”.
Yet as a concert promoter I felt a connection to the artists who were part of this recent big day: Jennifer Lopez, Katie Perry, Garth Brooks, Lady Gaga. I noted that all of them have been at this less time than I have (although on the other hand, we still do not have a Gen X president, or someone born, like me, post-Kennedy).
My dream of America will be realized when Molly Tuttle of Palo Alto sings at an inaugural her version of Jerry Garcia’s “Standing on The Moon”…

(put to Diana Diamond column on PAW — note, they habitually censor and delete me; Diane called a previous post of mine “bombast”

edit to add: I posted a version of this on Molly’s youtube plus “work that, America”