Vaclav Havel

I woke at stupid 'o clock this morning to the news that Vaclav Havel has died. I was actually just thinking about the legacy of communism, yesterday, and whether all the protest movements we've seen this your will come to naught. Sometimes it's difficult to see that freedom is not something bought, paid for, and won in a single instance, but fought for on a daily --- and ongoing --- basis. I have a half-formed essay on the topic that is not yet ready for the light of day.

So far coverage is mixed, a kind of 'flawed hero' thing. It will interesting to see how long it takes for him to become beatified.

The Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/world/europe/vaclav-havel-dissident-playwright-who-led-czechoslovakia-dead-at-75.html?pagewanted=2

BBC World News has a pretty decent audio essay, but I can't seem to find it posted yet:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16236393

Lute Hero

Ellen Hargis & Paul O'dette, one of the premier vocal/lute duos in the US, will be guests on St. Paul Sunday this weekend:

http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/programs/606/

In the meantime, this catchy French tune from their Xmas album (embedding disabled):

http://youtu.be/se4MXDXi76s

I swear I can hear him working in parts of "Bring a Torch Jeannette Isabella" in there at about 1:43.

And also... here is O'dette doing variations on the Chacona. A must-see if you're interested in that weird post about the Chacona earlier this year, which takes a New World Renaissance dance craze and traces it all the way to Led Zeppelin.

http://youtu.be/YVIeaYFB6LI