“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” the saying goes. It’s long been thought that the best time to learn something new is when you’re very young. But we now know that, while younger learners have advantages, older learners can achieve far more than researchers expected. How? “By breaking up a difficult job into small, bite-size pieces.” Click here to read more.
Tune in to Experience Talks, our “Radio Magazine for the Experienced Listener.” Saturdays 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 99.5 China Lake, 93.7 N. San Diego, streaming live online and now syndicated on up to 100 Pacifica Network stations! You can also enjoy hearing all of our previous shows on the Listen Page of our Experience Talks website.
Saturday, 1/5: Host John Semper Jr. talks with vocalist Jerry Lawson
(Specially selected from our Experience Talks Online archives.)
JERRY LAWSON fronted the legendary a cappella group, The Persuasions, for nearly 40 years. He led the celebrated quintet, and recorded and toured with numerous artists such as Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Liza Minnelli, Joni Mitchell and Frank Zappa. Lawson sang lead on about 90 percent of The Persuasions albums, one of which, “Chirpin’,” was hailed by Rolling Stone as one of the top 100 LPs of the 1970s. His broad, warm baritone is regarded by many as one of the better kept secrets in popular music, a cappella being such a niche market. As music writer Rip Rense put it, “By any fair measure, Lawson is really one of the best singers of the last 50 years—up there with Sam Cooke, Brook Benton, Jerry Butler and Nat King Cole.” Lawson is also responsible for the brilliant vocal arrangements on all 22 albums with The Persuasions. The last five of his highly original albums found acclaim from People Magazine to the Los Angeles Times. After a very brief retirement, in 2004 Lawson was introduced to the members of the San Francisco-based a cappella group, Talk of the Town. He joined them as their lead singer and in 2007 they independently released their album, Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town. While certainly reminiscent of the Persuasions, the sound of TOTT is noticeably different, with more focus on a single lead singer and a smoother, tighter group harmony backing Lawson’s gruff leads. CLICK HERE to learn more about Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town.
“At 75, the star of The Graduate has finally graduated – making his directorial debut with Quartet,” a new British comedy-drama film based on the play of the same title by Ronald Harwood. The film stars Maggie Smith (Jean), Tom Courtenay (Reg), Pauline Collins, and Billy Connolly as retired opera singers living a retirement home for gifted musicians. They put on an annual concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday, however the arrival of Jean, Reg’s ex-wife, disrupts the equilibrium. See the trailer below (subscribers: click on the title of this post to go to the blog). Read an interview with Hoffman here.
Let’s start the New Year with a lovely video featuring the amazing, almost magical talents of Ray Bethell, master of the art of multiple kite flying. Bethell performs a kite ballet to “Flower Duet” from the opera Lakmé by Clément Philibert Léo Delibes. The video is by Robert Holbrook.
Click here and here to read more about Ray Bethell. (His skill is such that we can’t call what he does simply exercise, so we’re going to categorize it also as “dance!”)
Thanks to friends of EngAGE Sally Castiglia and Marian Friedlob for making us aware of this video. (Subscribers: click on the title of this post to go to the blog.)
Hose company #20 – 1st prize winner in the 1908 Rose Parade
Happy New Year and best wishes from everyone at EngAGE!
During this holiday week, we’ll be sharing some entertaining historical posts.
The Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as the Pasadena Freeway (State Route 110), was dedicated on December 30, 1940, and marked an important transitional moment in the history of American freeway engineering and transportation, leading to the development of the massive freeway system that now extends throughout the entire Los Angeles area and beyond. But now, there’s an 8.3-mile section of the freeway we can’t call a “freeway” anymore. It’s the Arroyo Seco Parkway once again, after Caltrans officially renamed the roadway, restoring its original moniker from its 1940 debut. The reason? It’s a dangerous stretch and, because the Parkway’s historical status prevents upgrading to meet safety standards, the speed limit is being lowered to 45. Read more here.
Those of us who live in the Los Angeles area find it hard to imagine how we’d get around without the freeways — although sometimes it’s equally hard to imagine how we manage to get around with them!
“Worth Repeating” is a weekly feature on the EngAGE Blog that will bring you previous posts that we think are still timely, interesting, or just plain fun! From 12/22/11:
Research has shown that looking for information about health is a primary activity for seniors who are active online. If that applies to you, HealthFinder.gov is one website you’ll find useful. The site is coordinated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) and its health information referral service, the National Health Information Center. You can search by topic or by service. The information presented is helpful for everyone, not just seniors.
“Healthfinder.gov is supported solely by U.S. government funds and does not accept paid advertisements, content, or links in any form.”
