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Welcome to the club, CMNW;). For the record, Classical Revolution PDX (www.classicalrevolutionpdx.org) has been bringing Mozart & more to the masses with regular gigs at places like the Someday Lounge & Castello's Travel Cafe for the last couple of years. A spin off from the original Classical Revolution San Francisco, founding violist Mattie Kaiser has infused the Portland classical music scene with a sweet funky vibe where you can have a martini with your Mozart, or a beer with your Bach. (Tho Castello's is all ages too by the way, so families can come hear us there). Heck, I even played a Telemann recorder Sonata with a harpsichord accompanist at the Holocene of all places a couple years ago at our Baroque Bash. (Harpsichords and the Holocene don't usually go together;). Yet, you can often hear a pin drop as audiences naturally quiet down to appreciate the often superb muisc being presented even in such relaxed settings.

I'm so grateful to Mattie as she has provided an outlet for both upcoming classical musicians and audiences alike that is way more accessible than anything else going. Only a handful of elite performers can get into any of the paid groups in town - the rest of us aren't exactly chopped liver and would love to get to play the chamber repertoire, and this group provides that outlet. And audiences of all ages can enjoy it for nearly free (we usually ask just $3-5 donation). I hope to see CMNW do more like this to keep classical music alive and accessible to wider audiences.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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It's psychological. I'll never be convinced you can truly safely drive while talking on a cellphone since observing someone not be able to remain *stopped* at a *stop light* across from me about 6 years ago when I was opposite them at the same light in an intersection. I thought I'd spaced out and missed the light turning green when I saw them start up before I expected to, but indeed, the light was still red. I honked at them, and when they looked up (not able to see th light above them then), I noticed they had a cell phone to their ear, and were very deeply engaged in conversation and completely unaware the light was still red. (And yes, they were nearly hit by cross traffic). I've also seen many pedestrians and bicyclists walk or roll into cross traffic mindlessly while talking on cell phones. While *walking*. We all truly "lose our minds" while talking on a phone, and I don't want to make exemptions for tow truck drivers, etc. without their being a driver training component/certification as well. Hang up and drive! The conversation can wait. You are still loved, important and popular. And will be 20 minutes later after you've safely arrived at your destination without talking on your cellphone at the same time. (Notice how little peop can resist answering a ringing phone - it's emotional - they think someone's life may depend on their answering. Just tryin not answering yours sometime. Challenging, huh?)

posted 4 years ago
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