Semisagacious Meditations
of an Autodidactic Polymath

I do not remember a time when music was not in my life. I've already mentioned my Fisher Price turntable. I was also one of those second graders with a plastic recorder, and when I was in 6th grade I upgraded to a clarinet. Music was emphasized in the shows I watched, from Sesame Street, to Square One, to the Muppet Show, and even Reading Rainbow.

Of course, all of us were exposed, for good or ill, to Disney films and their musical scores.

*shudder*

I'm sure my musical training in band helped me to appreciate how music works when music is not the focus of a medium. In shows and movies, it helps to create a mood and carry the illusion that what you're watching is an experience, and not just a square of color in front of your eyes. When I started writing fiction, I could always imagine a certain song or theme that went with the story or character at that moment, and whenever I came back to writing that piece, I could refer back to that tune to get me in the write mood to pick up where I left off.

When I first saw music used as a means of expression between two people online, I was taken aback. I was in an IRC (internet relay chat: a popular chatroom software) channel and witnessed an altercation in which one participant triggered a script to show his current music track. Displayed for all to see was the title of a song which was meant to be a retort as part of the argument. I thought, How juvenile. This person can't think of a decent argument or can't be bothered to type it out, so he refers to a music track as some kind of authority?! And now, well . . . yes, still quite juvenile. However, I am more open to the idea of popular music used as a means of communicating mood. After all, didn't we do this to some extent when we called the radio stations and asked them to dedicate a song for us? Now sites like MySpace have a spot exclusively devoted to hosting your current track (although they force autoplay, which is rude).

The music on this page is from playlist.com. If I find a better one, I'll let you know. :)