Thanks for playing along this week.
Here are the questions and answers.

MONDAY
According to PBS, people in this country read more books per capita than any other.
ICELAND (Winner-Tom Gomez, Sausalito)

TUESDAY
52% of teenagers bought at least one of these in 2007. 48% did not buy any.
MUSIC CD (Winner-Peter Harrison, Cupertino)

WEDNESDAY
Household chores…2 in 10 do this only once in a while. 5% never do.
MAKE THE BED (Winner-Tim Pavek, Danville)

THURSDAY
British movies fans say this is their favorite American movie of all time.
GODFATHER (Winner-David Stutzman, Danville)

FRIDAY
This TV show premiered on this day in 1962. One of its characters was named Daiy Moses. What was the character’s more common name and also, what was the show called?
GRANNY on BEVERLY HILLBILLIES (Winner-Lydian Reed, San Francisco)

Have a great weekend and see you Sunday morning on the Big Island of Sanity.

23 years in the spotlight. Not bad for someone who still has her 40th birthday in her sights. Midori is one of the best known names in classical music and that’s why it was a natural to feature her new retrospective CD "The Essential Midori". Her website, www.gotomidori.com. is presented in three languages and is packed with info about her life and career. One of the facts i came across was that she recently received her Masters degree in Psychology. Along with Midori and Friends, started in 1992 in response to serious cutbacks in music education in New York City schools, she has a similar organization in Japan, Music Sharing, which concentrates on music education for young people with a special focus on both Western classical music and traditional Japanese music, including instrument instruction for the disabled. A remarkable musician who gives so much to our world.
Here’s a video of a teenage Midori and how she kept her cool in a tough performance situation. Remarkable.

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Just wanted to let you know that I’m off on my dream vacation for the next two weeks.  Rik will be filling in for me.  (Be nice to him, he’s the hardest working man in show business.)  So, this trip is my birthday gift to myself but I’m letting my husband come along.  We’re going to Rome for a couple of days where I"ll catch up with my cousin Patrizio, not to mention some other folks like Julius Caesar and Michelangelo!  Then it’s down south to the Amalfi Coast.  We’re hoping to do some serious relaxing and not-so-serious hiking. Jim and I have a low tolerance for museum strolling and an even lower tolerance for waiting in line.  Nevertheless we have reservations for the Galeria Borghese in Rome.  It’s supposed to be spectacular.  But not surprisingly, our main activity will be a whole lot of eating and drinking.    Talk to you on October 9th!

Did you have a chance to see the Emmys Sunday? I am THRILLED that Mad Men won best drama. I gave up on network television years ago and am mostly interested in programming on HBO, Showtime, A&E, AMC, TNT and FX. These networks are doing a brilliant job and Mad Men is a great example of compelling story telling. And the music is FANTASTIC. Lots of torch songs from the early 60s by Jack Jones, Brenda Lee, etc…

I just finished a book set in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s about a classical pianist whose playing of Schumann and Liszt etc. is inspired by the spirits who speak to him. A bizarre but captivating story. Christopher Bram’s “The Notorious Dr. August.”

Fall is such a great time of the year in the Bay Area. We get our last gasp of beautiful weather until the end of October and then…BAM, the rainy season begins. Yesterday, I featured Joshua Bell’s new recording of Autumn from Four Seasons and it sounded so great.

Sunday, I MC’d an appearance of the KDFC Classical Invasion Orchestra at the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival. They performed the Thunderstorm movement from Summer by Vivaldi. Midway through the piece, there was this sound of rolling thunder coming from behind the stage. It was a group of volunteers from the Acallanes High School football team pulling a garbage can on wheels. It sounded just like THUNDER. I met some really nice people, several listeners and a man named John Evans from Austin, Texas!!

The apple tree in Neighbor Bill’s yard, which hangs over our back fence, is just loaded. It’s time to start making pies, cakes, bread, sauce etc. Hey Tim, get baking!! Tucker eats all the apples that fall to the ground and then burps all day. It’s too cute. Jackie isn’t happy right now. She’s wearing a cone on her head to keep her from chewing on herself. Jack Russells are so wonderfully tenacious, stubborn and full of nervous energy.

A lot of people have what I call "lottery dreams". You know, hit the big one, call in rich and head off around the world, or open a cool small hotel in an exotic hideaway, or finally support my favorite charities with some "serious" money and /or time. For some very talented individuals there is no buying of tickets or applying for financial aid (grant money). No, for some, the good folks at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation find you and bestow on you a "Genius grant" of half a million large. Such good fortune just rained down on violinist Leila (pronounced Leelah) Josefowicz. “It makes me so happy and gratified that my passions about music are reaching people,” said Josefowicz, 30, who got the news about her selection last week. “The grant gives me the liberty and freedom to use my time to study music the way I want and work on new projects with composers that have something special to say.” From all of us here at KDFC, "Congrats Leila!" (BTW: She plays at Davies with the SFS, April 1 – 4)

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Today’s Big 1 @ 1 was a performance of the famous and beloved Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff.  The Russian composer and pianist gave the work its premiere in Baltimore in 1934.  Here’s what the great man sounded like playing this work:

www.youtube.com/watch

Wish I had video too but it was a long time ago!

It was one of those occasions that I bet I’ll be telling my grandchildren about.  Last night I saw the world premiere production of Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, a new opera at San Francisco Opera.  I should say a new opera with music by Stewart Wallace and libretto by Amy Tan, based on her novel.  Anyway, it was thrilling to be a witness to something that felt so vital.  The production was stunning visually but it was the haunting music and compelling story of the love between a mother and daughter through the ages that brought me to tears more than once. There are only a few performances remaining but Hoyt is giving away tickets to this Saturday’s performance on his Commuter Quiz at 6:30 all this week on the KDFC Morning Show. Try not to miss it!

Today on our KDFC Pick-a-Ticket giveaway, my winner chose a night with the international origami artist, Ennio.  What, you might ask, is an origami artist?
It’s probably easier to show than tell in this case so here’s a link to some fun video of Ennio in action:
Berkeley Rep is presenting Ennio this December.

Ah the Fall Arts Season. The faithful belly up to the ticket counters all over the Bay Area and show their support for all the great local talents. The newly converted or just plain "classical curious" are there too and sometimes when the two meet it can be a bit awkward. How refreshing and helpful it was to stumble across a recent piece in the Sacramento Bee about what works or doesn’t for classical audiences. A big question: Should you applaud only at the end of a piece or at the end of the movement, or if you are blown away by a particular passage or soloists performance during a dazzling passage? Michael Morgan of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and the Sacramento Philharmonic says "Audience applause at the ‘wrong’ times is always a good sign. It means people are new to the experience and showing enjoyment of being there." You may get a dirty look from the cognoscenti, but don’t let that bother you. To read the whole (and very worthwhile) article click here.

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Call me Crazy!

I’ve been a fitness buff most of my adult life but must admit in the past couple of years have grown rather bored with going to the gym several times a week. I curtailed even my yoga regimen because of recurring injuries. I needed to try something new, something REALLY challenging. And lo and behold, be careful what you wish for.

One of the account executives who works here enrolled in an elite cross training program 2 to 3 days a week that is a solid hour of high intensity exercise using weights, basic gymnastics, running, rowing. One of the great aspects of the program is that you work out in teams with tons of support and inspiration. The program is run by the grand nephew of the one and only Jack LaLanne. Chris LaLanne’s gym is only a block away from KDFC so I went today for my assessment and first workout. I feel great and look forward to this 8 month commitment.