#34 and The State of the Arts in the United States

Apparently I’ve been given a shout-out as #34 in the Top 100 Musicology Blogs.

But wait—top 100 musicology blogs, you say? How many musicology blogs are there? I’m going to guess that we are like Dalmatians and there are 101 musicologically-related bloggers out there. Even so, seeing that this blog is relatively new and my updates are few and far-between, I’m quite pleased I was given the status of the glorious number 34. Not only is 34 an awesome number, cosmically speaking, (according to Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. of the angels, who claims it means “Your prayers are heard and answered by the angels and ascended masters, who are with you right now.”) it is also the title of a lovely instrumental track from Under the Table and Dreaming by the Dave Matthews Band highlighting Leroi Moore. If some of my students had to write a paper on that piece, I could imagine them writing that it sounds like a “heavenly jam session” or “Jazz 4 God.” So, being bestowed the honor of #34, I will blog more with more frequency and try to keep it to music, gender, and pop related issues.

Several of my colleagues were also noted on this list, and you should visit their blogs as well: Good Noise and i am sitting in a room. Sadly, the Omniscient Idiot’s new blog was not applauded, but I am sure it has to do with his change in blog providers. OI had quite a following back in his typepad days [insert virtual shout-out here].

I’ve been in a feverish haze of sickness the past few days, am hopelessly behind in my tasks, and there has been much blog-worthy news. First and foremost, Obama is IN! And while that is exciting on its own, Quincy Jones has begun a petition to ask President Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. This is huge! While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, there has never been anything like this in the United States. If you are reading this blog, you are probably (at the very least) marginally involved with the arts. I encourage you to sign this important petition.