Category Archives: September

Rachmaninoff

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“Music is enough for a lifetime
But a lifetime is not enough for music”
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff

I listen to music daily. My music repertoire is extremely diverse. I listen to a variety of music according to my mood. Classical music I listen to when I write and it’s my background music of choice. The past months while working on my current novel, Without Warning, I only listened to Rachmaninoff.

The first time I heard his music was in the movie, The Seven Year Itch; where Richard Sherman (played by Tom Ewell) is a married man whose wife is away for the summer. He famously uses Rachmaninoff music as a cynical tool of seduction, while hosting his attractive upstairs neighbor, Marilyn Monroe in his apartment.

I was writing and half listening to Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 when it completely stopped me in my tracks. I recognized this same tune from Eric Carmen’s 1975 hit song, “All By Myself”. Carmen died in 2024 but some of you might know him as the lead vocalist of the Raspberries, with whom he recorded the hit “Go All the Way”.

Anyway, I looked up information about Carmen and his song “All By Myself” and lo and behold, the verse melody comes from the second movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Apparently, when Eric Carmen composed his song, he thought Rachmaninoff’s copyright had expired, but he was wrong and later had to share royalties with the composer’s estate.

If you’re not familiar with Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, he was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. He started playing the piano at the age of four. By the time he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, Sergei was already the author of the First Piano Concerto, the one-act opera Aleko and a number of piano pieces and romances. 

Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. “Composing music is as vital for me as breathing or eating: this is one of the essential functions of life,” I love this quote and must agree wholeheartedly with Rachmaninoff.

Shine On

Harvest Moon

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“We cling to our own point of view,
as though everything depended on it.
Yet our opinions have no permanence.
Like autumn and winter,
They gradually pass away.”
Chuang Tzu

Welcome fall, my favorite season of the year. Although I’m a fan of evergreen trees, deciduous trees with their spectacular burst of color is always a welcome site.

The autumnal equinox, also called the September equinox or the fall equinox will arrive on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Not only do temperatures drop, but plant life slows down, and so do we. The autumnal equinox is an astronomical event that marks the start of autumn or fall. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox occurs every September whereas in the Southern Hemisphere, it occurs every March. 

During an equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”, an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through this line.

Surrounding the autumnal equinox is the relationship with the full Moon. Curiously, the full Moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox is always called the Harvest Moon. Why is that?

Well, surprise, surprise the name has to do with farming. Around the fall equinox, the full Moon rises around sunset for several nights in a row, traditionally providing farmers with just enough light to finish their harvests during the arrival of the Harvest Moon.

Shine On Harvest Moon

King of the Five String World

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“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”
Steve Martin


Today while I was detailing my car, I was listening to my favorite banjo music. Well, not only my favorite banjo music and musician but also one of my all time favorite performers.

I’ve been a fan of Steve Martin since I was in my teens. On July 4th back in 2014, my dear son bought tickets for us to see “Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers” perform at the Hollywood Bowl.

My son knows who Steve Martin is, but he was unaware of the banjo musician side of the man. He had a great time and we both were thoroughly entertained by not only the great music, but by his comedy throughout the performance. A great evening was had by all.

Shortly after the Hollywood Bowl concert, Mr. Steve Martin received the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award, one of the highest honors for a career in films. That same year he also received a Grammy for Best American Roots Song. The song, “Pretty Little One” is from his album Live (with Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell) and is such an amusing song, everyone should check it out.

I love all his bluegrass music that he has produced the last few years. But the one CD I listen to the most is, “Live”. Not only because it reminds me of the Hollywood Bowl performance, but because each and every song is pure perfection. It amazes me that one person can have such talent in so many areas of entertainment.

There was a time when some people I knew looked down on banjo music as just silly hillbilly music. But with entertainers such as Steve Martin, Bela Fleck, The Steep Canyon Rangers, and the recent interest in Pete Seeger, I’m glad to say it’s making its way back up the music charts.

In a sea of six strings, in my opinion, Steve Martin is king of the five string world.

Shine On

LeRoy Neiman

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“It’s a nice feeling to go out in the world and
look for excellence – the best in man.
My subject is very valid.
It’s about people, and about life.”
LeRoy Neiman

  • LeRoy Neiman, June 8, 1921 – June 20, 2012

There’s an artist that I’ve admired for over forty years. He was an American artist famous for his breathtaking energetic images. His brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes, celebrities, musicians, leisure activities, Playboy illustrations, and sporting events made him one of the most popular artist in the United States.

Leroy Neiman’s artistic style is familiar to a remarkably broad spectrum of Americans –rich and poor, black and white, urban and rural, educated and illiterate, and young and old alike. He was the official artist at five Olympiads.

Back in the 1970s, I received a large coffee table book, LeRoy Neiman: Art & Life Style. Whenever I feel like relaxing and looking at beautiful works of art, I will sit down with a cup of herbal tea and enjoy the majestic work of LeRoy Neiman.

Shine On

Just a few more samples of Neiman’s work.