Kos Music

I usually stop by Daily Kos every couple of days to get my political junkie fix and any new info floating around out there. Today as I was wandering through, I came across two sections I hadn't visited before: the tracking numbers (very impressive) and the musical compositions of Markos Moulitsa--founder of Daily Kos.

As I listened, I found myself wondering why we tend to look at people as one or two dimensional (maybe some part of our brain never gets over the shock of seeing our second grade teacher in the grocery store?) and why we pigeon hole them: You're an actor? A musician? An athlete? Nope, thanks. Don't care to hear your political opinions. Unless of course, you're selling what I'm buying. The right hate Barbra, Susan and George (Clooney). But Arnold, Clint and Sean (Astin) are more than welcome to opine. And lets not forget Ronnie, though that's kinda hard when everything in DC is soon to be named after him. But I digress. Again. Back to the music!

I'm sure Kos gets this a lot, but I was reminded of George Winston. Or rather, the way I felt the first time I heard a George Winston recording. Just struck by the purity of each note, every composition fraught with joy and a quiet passion. The type of music that, like Aaron Copeland compositions, imprints a very clear image, and makes one long to know this person, to see if he is indeed the one glimpsed through the music. I would have thought that so much political crap could have drowned out the beauty. And who knows, maybe it has; there don't seem to be any compositions post 1999.

So I'll admit it: I was surprised by the music. That was me pigeon-holing him (that sounds disgusting, but you know what I mean). After all, he's a progressive blogger who occasionally gets death threats from "fans" on the right. So what's he doing writing music? And such lovely music, I might add. I'll use it to remind me that there is almost always another side to everyone--even Ann Coulter can't possibly be the shrill one-note composition she appears to be.