The Breakfast Club (WQXR)

I don’t make a really big deal about it and I’ve spent a lot of time in other places, but in terms of media culture I’m totally a creation of the New York metropolitan area.  I had two of every network, including PBS as well as about 5 independent channels and that was just TV.

On the radio side there were 2 News Radio stations and WCBS 880 remains my favorite.  I don’t listen to much music at all, just news and sports.  I have also gone though periods where I was a fan of the Hard Rock and Alternative formats and I listened to Howard Stern’s final day at WNBC live.

However one that’s stuck with me is WQXR.  Until 2009 they were owned by The New York Times and it’s been on the air broadcasting classical (or what we now call Art) music in one form or another since 1929.  Oddly enough it started as an experimental TV station in a now abandoned format.

The format hasn’t changed much over the years though there is a little more concentration on 20th century composers of whom Francis Poulenc is one of my favorites mostly based on this one piece, his Sonata for Horn, Trombone, and Trumpet which he composed in 1922.

As a Brass player let me tell you all the parts are fiendishly difficult with contrapuntal rhythyms, tricky fingerings, and immense range, yet despite its complexity it’s extremely pleasant to listen to, kind of light and frothy.

Anyway I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  This particular performance is by the faculty of Michigan State University.

Obligatories, News and Blogs below.

Obligatories

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

I would never make fun of LaEscapee or blame PhilJD.  And I am highly organized.

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.

–Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

This Day in History

News

• Norwegian Youths Return to Camp on Utoya, the Site of a 2011 Massacre, By HENRIK PRYSER LIBELL and ANDREW HIGGINS, The New York Times
• Waves of Suicide Attacks Shake Kabul on Its Deadliest Day of 2015, By AHMAD SHAKIB and ROD NORDLAND, The New York Times
• Petrobras Oil Scandal Leaves Brazilians Lamenting a Lost Dream, By DAVID SEGAL, The New York Times
• Trump banned from RedState Gathering over ‘menstruation’ comment, by Ben Jacobs, The Guardian
• Doctors who colluded in US torture vote to crawl ‘out of the dark side’, by John Barber, The Guardian
• Tom Mulcair and Canada’s New Democrat party lead push for change, by Jessica Murphy, The Guardian
• ‘We do this for Mike Brown’: a year on, Ferguson is a wound that won’t heal, by Jon Swaine, The Guardian
• How cats took over the internet: new exhibition is catnip for feline fans, by Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian
• The problem with the liberal media, with or without Jon Stewart: it’s self righteous, by Jason Wilson, The Guardian
• Who will challenge Trump and his ilk now that Jon Stewart is gone?, by Jeb Lund, The Guardian
• White Ferguson court clerk fired for racist emails gets new job in nearby city, Associated Press
• Justice Department asks judge to leave migrant families in detention centers, by Oliver Laughland, The Guardian
• Syrian president’s cousin fatally shoots top air force official in road rage incident, AFP
• Saudi Arabia will need deep pockets if it is to win its oil war with US, by Larry Elliott, The Guardian
• Syrian training program no longer seen as only way to fight Islamic State, By James Rosen, McClatchy
• Deadly Nepal earthquake was not the ‘Big One,’ scientists say,  By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times

Blogs

• Watchdog Group Sues US for Access to Shell Oil’s Safety Plan for Arctic Drilling, By Mike Ludwig, Truthout
• Permits to Build Keystone XL in Jeopardy as Hearings Reveal Missteps, By Julie Dermansky, Truthout
• Shell Cuts Off ALEC, But Greenpeace Says PR Stunt Won’t Save Arctic, by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams
• The GOP Debate is What Oligarchy Looks Like, by Richard Eskow, Common Dreams
• James Comey: Retweets Equal Material Support For Terrorism, But Don’t Worry, We’ll Only Prosecute Real Terrorists, by Tim Cushing, Tech Dirt
• Mankiw’s Principles of Economics Part 6: Markets Are Usually A Good Way to Organize Economic Activity, By Ed Walker, emptywheel
• TPP: White House Responds To Malaysia’s Slavery Problem By Lowering Standards, By Dan Wright, Shadowproof
• The Republican Candidates Agree that the System is Rigged for the Rich, By William K. Black, New Economic Perspectives
• Psychologist’s Work for GCHQ Deception Unit Inflames Debate Among Peers, by Andrew Fishman, The Intercept
• Donald Trump Says He Can Buy Politicians, None of His Rivals Disagree, Lee Fang, The Intercept