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100.40.104.113
Either for amusement, or, for instruction.
Jack Baruth is one of the classiest writers I know.
Road & Track is lucky to have him, although this trenchant memoir is on the personal blog he shares with his brother.
Before sending them in, many many times I re-read the submissions I formerly made to Stereophile (and before that TAS), trying to read as though I had never read it before and was more skimming than reading, because I just needed to make a decision to buy something quickly--because that was the monkey on my back at that moment.
I was trying to catch what had I innocently or ignorantly written that might lead the unwary astray... .
# # #
THE ONLY "enthusiast magazine" writer I have ever seen address that issue publicly is Jack Baruth, who, by the way, hunts flea markets for early-press Yacht Rock albums, and who cherishes his Music Hall 5.1 deluxe turntable with the nice wood finish. Magneplanar speakers, but that's a separate forum... .
So, IMHO, everyone should read it, and I think a few audio scribes could learn from it.
JM
PS: The shot of Jack with the young ladies who had gotten out of their transportation to find out who was filling up a new Ferrari is not relevant to the linked-to article, but, it shows Jack in his element.
Follow Ups:
...who will never read Jack's article. Even if they did, they would dismiss it. They are too busy drinking their $500 bottle of wine paid for with "play for pay", advertising-based "journalism".
If you don't know to whom I am referring, just go to Facebook and look up Mat Weisfeld's posts from October 13 and 14.
But it would be nice if they had had some wider effect.
ATB,
John
... or at least they were when I made my post. They are not on the VPI page, but on Mat's personal page. I don't think it is possible to link to a specific post, which is why I put the dates on them. You have to scroll down quite a ways.
.
John, go back and read some of Ken Purdy's writings. An excellent auto writer and short storyist, who took his own life at to young an age. A very talented gentleman.
When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey
Starting IIRC with his Playboy coverage of F1 Grand Prix racing back when the cars were cigar-shaped and there were no driver aids other than the brake pedal.
I later would buy back issues of Playboy that had hi-fi coverage, or his articles.
jm
The problem with writing or teaching is that once you put it out there you are never sure if you readers or students "get" what you are trying to say. I chose a 2nd career path to teach struggling math students of which there are plenty. That is because in this age of technology kids don't care what it is, but what it does. They don't care about technology, or the math other than it is a graduation requirement.I must talk less, ask more, get them to tell me what they think should happen to the numbers in the problem presented. What kills most of them who are sitting in 6th-8th grade with 1st-3rd grade skills is the most basic of understanding of basic skill, which is not much different in explaining why one manufacturer chose one set of components and manufacturing choices that would be better for me and hoping your readers UNDERSTAND what you are saying. Will they take the time to take in all you are saying, or just jump to the end to see what you recommend? Are they truly committed to "learning something" or do the Jack Friday thing and as in "just the facts, Maam".
We know that it often comes down to different and not necessarily better, which is what great writing exposes. Audio is always the sum of the parts and how close they came to arriving at their performance objective and we rely on your experience to help us wade through all the options as we can never get to see or try for ourselves and is the price worth the engineering and performance?
Jack was smart enough to not only be involved in a sport he was writing about, but knew he wasn't the only authority and advice he passed along might be wrong. He also knew that some companies took engineering to another level and that small things matter like the quality of the welds, the quality of the tubing used, and over all angle measures that can alter the frame flex that can change spring and leap ability. What he was most surprised about that his words had the power to have someone agonize over a $20 decision that took time to implement that was a big deal to the reader. He realized that the availability of enough income was a key component and that many will take the time to save for better if they believe the rewards will ultimately be there. There is power in his words and that he has a responsibility to be true and right in explaining his recommendations. It is called character, a commodity often missing in writing, commentating, and recommending things.
Whatever you chose to write about in the future we can always count on something new and that you will present not only what it is, but what it does in the best possible way, and not just for monetary gain. You will gain readers, just as Jack did by being true and respecting your readers ability to enjoy and also save for a purchase they will hopefully not regret. It is what you have done ever since I discovered you writings in Stereophile. Many of us are looking forward to your new offerings.
Jim Tavegia
Edits: 11/03/15
...and a lover-man to boot...
I dont think he would fit in at TAS .....
I hear your dog whistle.
Not sayin' I agreee, now...
Just that I hear it.
JM
"Good night, and good luck."
Vbr,
Sam
nt
Des
Setright was Jewish, I believe Orthodox, but he was very educated in music, and he once observed that Edward Elgar's Newman setting "The Dream of Gerontius" could turn ANYONE into a Catholic for as long as it was playing.
THAT was gracious.
jm
Jewish, but still managed to be educated in music. Unlike: Szell, Walter, Horenstein, Mahler, Horowitz, Rubinstein, Bernstein, Copland, Riech, Pearlman, Feldman, Solti, Glass, Barenboim, MTT, Klemperer, Kissen, etc, etc, etc.
The key qualifier in that sentence was ORTHODOX.
I have known Orthodox Jews who were educated in Jewish religious schools and their education was remarkable intense in some areas (Talmud studies for the boys) but rather scanty otherwise (the culture of the outside Gentile world). A neighbor of mine when I was growing up was ordained as an Orthodox Rabbi. He had not really heard American popular or Western classical until he went away to a secular Gentile college.
You rattle off a list of musicians with Jewish ancestry, but in some cases with ironies you seem unaware of.
Um, exactly how "Orthodox" was Aaron Copland??? Answer: Not very.
Mahler as an adult converted to Christianity, and IIRC as a child sang in churches.
I don't think that there is one Orthodox Jew on your list.
There is no question that European Jewish Orthodoxy had a vibrant musical culture, but I also think that it would be unusual and noteworthy for someone raised and for instance trained as a cantor in a traditional Orthodox community to be very familiar with a work by Elgar that was at the end of the day an apologia for certain Catholic beliefs that the Anglican Church found uncongenial.
That is the sum total of what I meant.
And I assume that most people took it that way.
jm
In defense of poster BenE, I also read your sentence as referring to his being Jewish, rather than Orthodox. The phrase about his being Orthodox was set off by commas, suggesting to me that it was to be read parenthetically. In any case, the confusion serves only to underscore the danger of readers misinterpreting one's writing, which was the point of your initial post. Thus, the misunderstanding fortuitously serves your original purpose.
nt
The Russian Orthodox Church had a similar hostility towards secular music that had a major impact in Russia, at least until the time of Peter the Great. I guess this is characteristic of many religious institutions that seek to keep their followers free (or isolated) from "heretical" outside cultural influences and ideas.
I don't think your sentence is clear in terms of Orthodox being the key issue. I do realize my throwing out, off the top of my head, a list of Jewish musicians contains some who later converted, like Szell, etc. They were born Jewish and in many cases into observant homes. They certainly were regarded as Jews whether they converted or not. Do you think the Mahler was ever regarded as anything but a Jew in Viena or in Germany?
That said, I'm sorry I misunderstood your intent.
Believe it or not, I am personally no stranger to antisemitism, and due to my peculiar circumstances, I have also had on (rare) occasion Jewish people confide anti-Irish remarks to me, they being ignorant that my mother's family came from County Cork.So I am under no allusions about Mahler.
My ancestral name (according to myth and legend) was von Marx. There are supposedly three coats of arms in Austria and Germany for von Marx, and all three prominently feature golden Stars of David.
They might allow you to purchase an increment of status or respectability, but, by the same coin, they will make sure that nobody is deceived or uninformed.
NOW, if my original intent was ungenerous or narrow-minded, I probably should regret that. But I have seen religiously-driven cultural narrowness too many times and so perhaps I am hypersensitive to it.
There's an ultra-orthodox Catholic schismatic group up in Massachusetts and they have an active website, blah blah blah and they have these self-declared Holier than the Vatican types who purport to give spiritual counsel through bulletin boards, and the most tragically uproarious exchange I saw was this poor girl wrote in to say that her (valid and licit) Roman Catholic parish was starting to offer Irish Step Dancing Lessons, and was it OK for her to attend and take part?
No, nay, never! quickly came the response. The ultra-orthodox Catholic site told her that all kinds of awful things could happen. They made Irish Step Dancing sound like the gateway drug to the porn industry.
Which reminds me of the famous Jewish joke about the nervous young bridegroom and the Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi...
Shalom,
JM
Edits: 11/03/15
To the reason Southern Baptists will not make love standing up?
nt
Interesting observations/life experience...
Are you implying John was off the "Mark" .... :)
NT
I didn't know that. I loved his writing in "Car" magazine - his trip to
visit Linn Products in Glasgow was a highlight - but when I read one of his
books, I was dreadfully disappointed - run-on sentences, overlong
paragraphs etc, etc. Definitely needed to work with empathetic editors!
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Hey John,I'm glad that you brought that up. I'm an excellent speller, but I struggle with the proper usage of semi-colons, elipseseses, dashes, quotation marks/ending punctuation.
I'm a big fan of Charles Osgood with regard to this - he seems to have all of this under control, and is quite likely the most grammatically articulate person I've heard (along with Bill Buckley).
But, the written word is a different animal than the spoken word, and the written word is where I have trouble duplicating the intent of the spoken word.
Can you point me to a good, more-or-less concise, reference source for these things?
Thanks!
:)
Edits: 11/05/15
> the written word is a different animal than the spoken word, and the
> written word is where I have trouble duplicating the intent of the spoken
> word. Can you point me to a good, more-or-less concise, reference source
> for these things?
This is an enormous subject. For those of us "of a certain age," the bible
is Fowler's "Modern English Usage," linked below. Though first published
in 1928, its wisdom is still relevant. The fourth edition was published
this year.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Thanks for sharing as that is some very interesting ideas that I need to truly consider.
Jim Tavegia
nt
NT
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