President's Message
July 2008

0.  Our June meeting featured the completion of Bob Miller's BSO concert presentation with a comparison of live performances of Bruckner's 8th with William Steinberg, Eric Leinsdorf, and Klaus Tenstedt. Other favorite recordings filled out the evening. There was a discussion of the BAS's deletion from Wikipedia (our entry is still on Answers.com) and a BAS member agreed to pursue the matter.

1.  In Iraq the Symphony Plays On
Karim Wasfi, age 36, arrives driving a white Range Rover, sporting aviator shades. He is co-director of the Iraq National Symphony. "In my car I listen to the Saint Saens Requiem and the Mozart Requiem. That's usually the right mood for Baghdad." He has lost count of the number of times he has just missed being caught in a bomb blast or firefight. "We have a concert on the last Saturday of every month and give out the location at the last moment, for security." In the Middle East, an orchestra is not merely a Western institution and Mr. Wasfi commisions and plays many Iraqi pieces. Iraq has a long post-Ottoman tradition of Western classical culture that Saddam redoubled as part of his program of imposed secularism. Hence there is a strong demand among the middle classses for his endeavors. "My sisters think I'm crazy to stay. So why stay? To fight back against the malevolent and the ignorant. I like to think we inspire people." WSJ 27Mr08

2.  Andy Ciddor writes in TV Technology: The Future is Coming: In Hi-Def 4D Color
I think I must have been living quietly uder a rock for the last couple of years, because I have failed to realize that autostereoscopic 3D flat-panel displays (Google search HERE ) are not only possible, but actually in production and being deployed. They are the version of 3D that requires no special viewing equipment except a pair of normally-spaced human eyes. They use a high resolution video display panel with a substantially more sophisticated version of the plastic lenticular lens material used to create cheesy 3D postcards and children's books. (webmaster's note: see about Xograph HERE) The left and right images are displayed side-by-side in thin, alternating vertical stripes and the vertically striped lenticular lenses over the screen disperse the alternating stripes to the left and right of the image axis, thereby simultaneously providing different images directly to each eye. The 3D separation is good and the screens are comfortably viewable over quite wide horizontal angles with little effort and no noticeable visual fatigue. With the majority of televisions in the US incapable of any form of digital reception or widescreen display, the concept of a transition to 3D is out of the question for years to come, though we may have to accommodate to 3D sooner or later. Adding the time dimension gives 4D. 11Jn08

3. For BAS members out of town we have a special offer for Jazz lovers. A package of 30 Jazz CDs, randomly picked from Ira Leonard's collection, for $22 including shipping in the USA. To order, send a check, made out to "Boston Audio Society", to David Hadaway, POB 460, Rindge NH 03461. These were donated to the Society by Ira's brother, Joe Leonard.

President, Boston Audio Society

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updated 8/24/08