A couple of years ago, Phillip Glass came to San Francisco and over three nights, scored all three of the "qatsi" films live. At one part in the third film, a fully-attired muezzin came out and performed the Adhan (the Islamic call to prayer). That was the first time I'd ever heard the Adhan performed and it gave me chills.

At the end of the film, Glass and ensemble were given loud applause. When the muezzin walked on stage, he was given a standing ovation.

You might want to check out the Devil Music Ensemble who's stock and trade is doing live accompaniment to large projections of silent films. I saw them perform to Nosferatu. They too, do Dr. Caligari.

And how could I forget? The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble ("Shadows).

The series is set in the year 2517, after humans have arrived at a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship. The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters who live on Serenity. Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things".

The show explores the lives of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war and now make a living on the outskirts of the society, as well as the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system. In addition, it is a future where the only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two cultures as well. According to Whedon's vision, "nothing will change in the future: technology will advance, but we will still have the same political, moral, and ethical problems as today.

Mal - Latin, for bad.

I found this while searching for the reason firefly was canceled.

---------------------------------------------
Memorandum

To: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy Television Incorporated
From: Shillton Skankowski, FOX Television Entertainment Network Group
Date: February 19th, 2002

Dear Joss,

After that power brunch we had yesterday I just thought I'd send you a memo and let you know that I've talked with the other executives here at FOX and we've decided to give your little space western idea another chance. However, and I'm sure you'll understand why, we ask for a few simple adjustments to your marvelous show idea before we can continue.

1. We need to have things blow up more often. Something should blow up at least once in between every commercial break. Two or three things blowing up in between each commercial break would be even better.
2. The women on the show should kiss the men on the show more often, and each other just a little less (as in, not at all).
3. The name "Firefly" doesn't seem to properly convey the idea of a space western. We recommend you rename the show "Space Western" so that the viewers don't confuse your show with a PBS documentary about fluorescent beetles.
4. The focus groups who reported to my assistant after viewing one of your episodes said they didn't really understand who the bad guys were. We recommend you have all the good guys on the show wear white hats and all the bad guys wear black hats, so the viewers are better able to keep track at a glance just who they're supposed to be rooting for.
5. We recommend you add a new character to the show. A cute little girl. Focus groups respond best to dark haired girls who are about nine or ten years old. We know this is a science fiction program so we recommend you make her a robot who speaks in a monotone manner and takes anything other characters say very literally, to comical effect.
6. The women on the show are wearing too many clothes.
7. You put the show in outer space but I don't recall there ever being any actual aliens showing up. So we recommend you get some of your makeup guys from the Buffy tv show and have them doctor up some extras to make them look like Little Green Men or something. Also make sure they're wearing black hats.
8. Drop that Ron Glass guy. He's a bore.
9. Focus groups reported that the rooms inside the spaceship looked too much like a poorly furnished studio apartment. We recommend you repaint all the sets to make them look more like those cool sets on that old Star Trek show. Make sure there's a lot of bright flashing lights and "beep beep" noises in the background.
10. The women on the show need to be prettier. Go wherever you got that cute Gellar chick and hire some more who look like that.
11. Get in touch with the Jim Henson Company and add some aliens that are actually muppets. Kids like muppets. You can't go wrong with muppets. Or maybe get that guy who does ALF. He's been doing some phone commercials recently, but I'm sure he's available. Make ALF a guest star every few episodes and maybe we can get the 1-800-COLLECT guys to put a commercial on your show.
12. Make the 'future' of the Earth a little brighter. People wanna believe we're gonna do better. Right now the show's outlook is just a little depressing.

Of course you'll understand that we will not be offering any more money for these changes. In fact in order to broadcast your fine television show on our network, we ask for a simple retainer of $250,000.00 per episode, to defray the costs regarding a lack of interest among advertisers.

We look forward to working with you again.

Sincerely,
S. Skankowski

---------------------------------------------
Memorandum

From: Joss Whedon
To: Shillton Skankowski
Date: February 20th, 2002

Dear Skanky,

Get Bent.

As always,
Joss

>> ^Tofumar:
I love this performance. Oh, and if you go to youtube and look at the comments on this video, you'll get a nice example of what was parodied here on the other vid a few days ago: lots of people who probably can't even play cello critiquing this guy's interpretation.

lol you don't have to play a particular instrument to criticize a performance played on it, as long as you're not criticizing his technique but his interpretation. I do not like this guy's interpretation, it feels too fiddly, too fast, he emphasizes notes in weird places and he speeds up/slows down too fast and too much at once. But on the other hand, I love Phoebe Carrai's interpretation. Whatever if this Maisky is celebrated and won prizes, I don't care. Carrai's interpretation is better to my ear that his (she played for 10 years with a german historical ensemble devoted to 17th and 18th century music and it shows).

I have been listening to Chanticleer for many years and love them. I ushered at one of their concerts and was able to meet most of them. My brothers and sister had the opportunity to sing with them, and Joseph Jennings himself regularly comes and works with a choir I was a member of for 2 years, so I met him, too. SO you can imagine that I love Chanticleer. And yet, although I love their version of Shenandoah, I am partial to this one (not the choir, the arrangement).

This choir is awesome and I don't mind the mispronunciations at all. The only one that is mildy distracting is when the men pronounce "valley" like "vallay," but it doesn't bother me. I actually think it is charming when foreign choirs sing English songs and mispronounce a little bit.


In reply to this comment by Wynder:
This arrangement was adapted by Chanticleer -- a mens choral ensemble. This is a great version, although some of the mispronunciations make some parts disconcerting.

This arrangement was adapted by Chanticleer -- a mens choral ensemble. This is a great version, although some of the mispronunciations make some parts disconcerting.

Looks like the Band of Gypsies ensemble.

^ haha!

>> ^Haldaug:
If you like this kind of somber jazz music you should check out Christian Wallumrød Ensemble. It features, among others, Arve Henriksen:
http://www.myspace.com/christianwallumrodensemble


Thanks, I will check it out.

Do you happen to know the name of the song on this video? It sounds so haunting.

If you like this kind of somber jazz music you should check out Christian Wallumrød Ensemble. It features, among others, Arve Henriksen:

http://www.myspace.com/christianwallumrodensemble

Chanticleer is by far my favorite vocal ensemble. Joseph Jennings used to work with my choir from time to time, and we be sang two of his arrangements earlier this year when we toured Japan. I love most anything A Cappella, but they've got a special place in my heart. What can I say, they're the best.

In looking a the comments on the YouTube page for this video, I see a comment by a DanielAdoff that is thanking a commentor for a complement. I would assume that DanielAdoff (YouTube screen name) = Dadoff (VideoSift screen name)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwE2TXkGuIU

DanielAdoff has no videos on his YouTube page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DanielAdoff

The channel this video comes from has the following description of its ensemble comic group:

"Set in San Luis Obispo, California, a group of friends met in high school and instantly hit their comedic puberty with their satiric, yet profound movies dealing with such teenage problems as betrayal, murder, justice, time machines, the women who boldly love them, and the demons that dwell within their very own souls. Get ready to laugh...maybe."

http://www.youtube.com/Improvtopia

I'll let the rest of you continue the sleuthing. It's late . . . %)

"I don't want to prejudice you [but they're repetitive and boring]"

But you don't want to prejudice anyone, right.


"Perhaps I'm a little bit too much of a musician to fully appreciate them"

What a passive-aggressive pillock. Well, here we are decades later, still listening to them. I don't think anyone remembers this guy's string quartet ensemble with much fondness.

What an ensemble cast! Emmy awards here they come!