Abortion is a pretty powerful one, though. I've encountered my fair share of people who vote single-issue on abortion.

Was he talking about Wagner? I know he and Clara Schumann hated Wagner, both as an artist and as a person. One time, Clara refused to go to a gala or dinner or something because Wagner was going to be there.

I think that's the first time anyone has replied to me online with a Biber reference.

It was basically an ode to pulp, so I think the cheesy tone was intentional. However, I much prefer the 2nd games, as much as it's story is incomprehensible nonsense.

It seems like everything these days breaks the internet. Yet here I am, somehow still wasting my life reading A.V. Club comments.

In my piano and composition lessons, I talk about music history once in a while. I always give a mention to Heinrich Biber, who's near the top of my list of underrated composers. But I sometimes forget to say his first name, and because his last name is pronounced the same as Bieber, my students look horrified…

Just about the only parts of GWTW I liked were the scenes where Scarlet was being awful.

We watched GWTW a few years ago, and what was glaring the entire movie was that pro-South mythology. Maybe it wasn't as overtly pro-slavery as The Birth of a Nation, but all of the dog whistles were there, as was the revisionist portrayal of Reconstruction.

Well, you can't have a Lemon party without old Dick.

Isn't it kind of strange how easily David Spade must've been able to recognize her in the middle of a restaurant?

You should never be ashamed for wanting to see David Spade mocked, regardless of the source.

I also think we can all agree that Dr. Phil is the real monster here.

Don't bother with Matrix 3. Or 2, if it's not too late.

I'd buy that for $5!

Ugh, Jared Leto.

I hated the theatrical version I accidentally watched on Netflix with the awful bored/stoned Harrison Ford narration. But the director's cut is really something great. I will say that I liked it better the second time.

When it comes to reading music, there's really no creativity involved. That's what I'm talking about, and teaching music reading is unfortunately such a long process. Creativity really comes into play once you're able to play something fluently and then add in what's not written. A current example is a student I have…

I'm in an allegedly creative field (music), and I can tell you that I get much more excited about seeing a woodpecker than anything having to do with dragons, or walking barefoot.

That has its limitations, too. Some of my more challenging piano students have been the ones who pick things up really fast by ear. They have a tough time correcting learned mistakes, and I've really struggled with how to teach those students to avoid learning mistakes. I also know a few people who learned mostly by…

Something that took me too long to realize is that successful creative work is 5% inspiration, and 95% stealing from better artists.