Y. Karp? Why Not!

Ever since I was a little kid I’ve been playing music. For I time I took piano lessons. I became a virtuoso pianist in my own mind. I might have mastered the “Chopsticks”, but it was so long ago, I can’t remember. I do remember, however, that when I was about 10 I really did become quite proficient at the recorder. I was able to play some really complicated tunes. When my fingers were long enough, I advanced to the Bass Recorder and excelled at that, too. It was pretty cool to be able to pick up the instrument and play at an advanced level. But I eventually gave that up when I graduated to the flute. Not exactly the coolest instrument, but I eventually did quite well with that, too. I think I took some exams or something. I certainly remember playing at least at one recital... Thanks to our newest sponsor, hot off the presses (so to speak) the novel “Ari Barak and the Free Will Paradox”. Science fiction you and your kids will love. See www.shaulbehr.com . Click here to listen on S...

Ever heard of Wierd Al Yankovich ? He's a musical satirist. That means that he takes a popular tune and substitutes the original lyrics for his own, more amusing ones. For instance, one of his most famous victims is Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (renamed "Eat It"). One may be forgiven for thinking that the parody is often better than the original, which it often is. Songs have two main parts: the music and the lyrics. As it turns out, the lyrics are secondary, it's the music that's important. You can take the words away from almost any song and you are left with the musical component, which often stands on its own. But, believe it or not, there are people who deliberately break the rules. They retain the words and substitute the original music for their own. I'm talking about the following unfortunate invention: Rock Operas - operas sung to contemporary rock or heavy metal. Imagine if they decided to make a Rock-Opera out of Macbeth. Yep. That'...