String theory

Still on the theme of Facebook’s apparently desire to become the Dremel Multi-Max* of Web 2.0. The thing is, most of us are capable of using various bits of the interweb, and joining any relevant dots when it feels appropriate.

For example: yesterday I was listening to David Suchet on Desert Island Discs, while reading Shane Richmond’s Telegraph blog. David was expressing his admiration for Joe Morello’s drum solo on ‘Take Five’; Shane, as I mentioned in a postscript to the previous post, was sticking up for Wikipedia in the face of what seems to be a particularly ill-advised rant from someone who is not, repeat *not* the offspring of a former deputy leader of the Labour Party.

Independent of conscious thought, my fingers reached for Morello’s Wikipedia entry, and discovered the fact (although the appropriateness of that word depends on the precise quantity of salt you choose to pinch when referring to Wikipedia) that he actually started as a violinist, playing his first solo with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the age of nine.

But the bit that really impressed me was this:

At the of age 15 Morello met the violinist Jascha Heifetz and decided that he would never be able to equal Heifetz's "sound", so switched to drumming.

Which supports my contention that only a real genius understands how good he isn’t.

* Only follow this link if the phrase "oscillating tool" does not make you gurgle with merriment.



PS: I think if I ever find myself running a nightclub, “jazz casual” will be the dress code.

PPS:Even cooler Brubeck footage here.