Honoring Veterans Day

Today, we had a day to commemorate our veterans, including those who are no longer with us. Bonne and I hope you might find something you can do to participate, even doing something so informal as to thank a current or past military man or woman for their service to our country.

I have the good fortune to play contrabasson in the St. Cloud State University Wind Ensemble. We are put on the "American Spirit Veterans Tribute" concert this evening at SCSU in their Ritsche Auditorium at Stewart Hall. It is a treat for me to play these American arrangements, including two by one of my favorite composers, John Phillip Sousa. I hope you too found some ways to honor our veterans today.

- Richard Chandler

Living Composers Featured

I had the good fortune to hear the live broadcast of the Friday night Minnesota Public Radio broadcast by the Minnesota Orchestra in which they played seven new works by living composers. The pieces played were unique and profound. Our orchestra played them with beauty and conviction. We do well to remember that "all music was once new." Please check out the links below to read about how living composers are generating new works for our times and perhaps for the very distant future.

Composers Institute nurtures talent and new orchestral music
From Belarus to Minnesotat, a composer's journey

- Richard Chandler

What We Can Do To Help Our Country, Our Planet & Ourselves

What can you and I do as citizens to help our country.... starting today? We can do our part to help the environment and reduce dependence on foreign oil by doing these things, that ironically, will also personally save us money!

1. Immediately throw out all of the incandescent light bulbs that you can replace today with compact florescent light bulbs. This will pay for itself relatively soon in lower electric bills. Bonne and I did this and find that our lower energy costs far exceed the initial investment in new bulbs. (Please remember that the compact fluorescent bulbs contain mercury and you must be very careful if one breaks and make sure you recycle them by returning the burned out ones to the place of purchase.)

2. Use surge protectors that you can shut off for all ac/dc adapters that power most computer, television, telephone and a host of other electronic equipment.

3. Shut off the lights when you are not in a room!

4. Pump up your tires. Most tires are under-inflated and your gas mileage suffers as a result. More money back in your pocket, less use of oil and fewer carbon emissions poisoning our air.

- Richard Chandler

First Published on Famous Quotes Homepage

3rd Obama – McCain Debate Commentary

Barack Obama - John McCain 3rd Presidential Debate

Many of you will be quite pleased that with this last presidential debate, I'll quit commenting on the politics of the day.

Not much changed in terms of the candidate’s messages or their ways of delivering their respective message.

Some of what I found interesting were the nonverbal responses made by one candidate as that person listened to his opponent, particularly when an attacking statement was made. The listening candidate’s expressions and gestures seemed to clearly show how they felt about the statement in many instances.

Both candidates’ various messages seemed more defined this time, (but still not in anything like a definitive way.)

We watched a network that gave undecided voters a way to weigh in on what they thought of each candidate’s message as it was delivered, which we saw as a line on the screen that went above the middle line for a positive response to what was said and would show a ‘below the line’ reading for a negative response. It showed that these undecided voters did not like the attacks. The reading went above neutral line most often when the message was positively focused on how to move our country forward by solving a particular problem.

All of us as citizens might benefit from this same approach. Perhaps we will all have much higher marks if we place the focus on how we can work together to solve our critical problems and create the nation we wish to have, leaving our more petty concerns, fears and grudges behind. In light of how much needs doing to restore prosperity, focusing on anything else is self-sabotage.

- Richard Chandler

Commentary on 2nd Presidential Debate

My observations on the second debate were much the same as what seemed to be the case with the 1st debate, but perhaps it was even more clear with this second one. Both candidates looked and acted like they could be our president.

So the real question for me, (and perhaps for you too), is which candidate has the ideas that you feel will be most helpful for you as a citizen and will best move us forward as a nation.

- Richard Chandler

Commentary on Biden - Palin V.P. Debate

It seemed to me that we were left with the sense that both candidates for the VP position were stronger than our perceptions of them prior to the debate. I noticed that the questions of the moderator were actually answered much more frequently and with more specificity by Senator Biden.

There was more civility between the two of them than I had expected, and that was heartening, as at the end of this election it serves all of us to work together for our common good and not waste valuable time bickering over non-relevant topics.

Having said this, people like you who go to this quotations website are likely to decide who to vote for based on the content of the candidates answers and not so much on who we personally like or can best identify with in terms of their personality, gender or biographical story. And of course, what we individually believe is best for the country will vary widely for all of us. Please vote... Our future is best served by an engaged citizenry.

- Richard Chandler

Commentary on the 1st Obama McCain Debate

I watched and listened to the presidential debates. I watched and listened to some of the more neutral commentary from news people. And I watched and listened to the partisans on both sides emphatically state their viewpoints in ways that were not unlike the many political commercials that we have heard.

After mentally dismissing virtually all of what was said by the partisans, a great deal of what was said by the candidates, (as it was simply meant to discredit the other), and some of what I heard from the more neutral news commentators, I was left with an overall good feeling about the debates. Here are three reasons why:

Unlike what I remember from George W. Bush’s debates, it seemed like both candidates where to some extent thinking on their feet and not just reciting parts of their speeches.

They both showed a good deal of toughness while at the same time not abandoning civility. It looked to me like both candidates had what it took to be our president.

All of us have widely varying differences on which candidate’s policies, views and plans would be best for our country for the next four years, and for that, it serves us as engaged citizens to discuss and debate these issues and vote for who we feel would be the best president for our country.

At the same time, based on this debate, it is hard for me to understand how anyone could deny that either candidate would not be up for the job. So for me - separating out why I feel that one candidate has ideas that make more sense to me in terms of what we as a country should do and how we should do it – I was left with a feeling that both had outstanding leadership skills, even though there might be wide differences of opinion on which way we as a people should be led.

- Richard Chandler