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November 30, 2016:

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, this week is flying by, like a gazelle playing the entire Mahler sixth symphony on the kazoo (oozak, spelled backwards). I have to say, it was thrilling to hear. I’m thinking about recording it and releasing it as a special limited edition of one copy. Speaking of the kazoo, there was a rather hilarious discussion on the Facebook on one of those dopey groups about growing up somewhere in LA, in this case the San Fernando Valley. At some point I was added to this group, but I pay no attention – yet occasionally something shows up and I see it. In this case a thread was started – who remembers eating at White Castle in Valley – at whatever location. Immediately tons of posts from people who all remember eating there, at whatever location. Then someone with, you know, a brain, came on and informed everyone that there were never any White Castles in the Valley or anywhere else in LA – ever. And yet, people kept posting they’d eaten there – they didn’t even bother reading the other posts, they just couldn’t wait to jump in and say how they’d eaten at one of the locations. The gentleman who corrected everyone in the first place then began posting responses to everyone who said they’d eaten there, correcting them and informing them that where they ate was a knock off called West Castle. In fact, White Castle either threatened to sue them or did and they all closed. Well, then everyone began arguing and telling him he was full of beans – the KNEW they’d eaten at a White Castle and that was that. So, the guy then posted this advertisement.

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And they still would not acknowledge they were wrong. And still new people arrived, didn’t bother reading the thread or seeing his multiple postings of that ad, they, too, joined the I ate there fray. Some people actually got vicious about it, and I mean vicious. I joined in, of course, because I cannot stand Facebook stupidity. And still they argued – they were right, they remembered it vividly, and they would not hear anything else and didn’t care WHAT the ad said. Then the guy who’d posted the ad posted some photos of the locations where these people said they’d eaten – and what was in the photos? West Castle. And still they would not believe. This is known as cognitive dissonance – when facts are presented that present clear proof that prove beliefs wrong, it causes those who believe something that simply isn’t true to become extremely uncomfortable and they therefore dig in their heals and simply cannot accept new information that is factually correct. They cannot accept it. They will not accept it. There are a million people who will tell you that when they saw Back to the Future during its original engagement that there was a To Be Continued card at the end of the film, signifying there would be a sequel. They SAW it. They KNOW they saw it. No one can tell them they didn’t see it because they SAW it. Only they didn’t see it because that card was added for the home video release, after the sequels were a reality. In other words, at the time of the film’s release no one had any idea if it would be a hit or a miss and certainly a sequel was on no one’s mind – hence the To Be Continued card never existed.

Now, these people have been told that by the producers and director of the film. They’ve been told it blatantly and yet they SAW it, they cannot accept the truth, they cannot acknowledge the truth because they know what they know, even though they’re wrong and their memory has played tricks on them. Cognitive Dissonance. What the HELL am I talking about? I went off on a tangent, didn’t I?

Yesterday was an okay day. Thankfully the fence people were very quiet so I got eight hours of sleep, arising around ten-thirty. I answered e-mails, did some work on the computer, and then went and had a Chinese chicken salad and a bagel, not necessarily in that order. Then I picked up a couple of packages, then came home. Whilst I did some more work on the computer, I uploaded the new box set that had arrived – the Leonard Bernstein remastered version of the complete Sibelius symphonies, and I listened as I worked. I believe this is my fourth set of the complete symphonies, or maybe fifth. Even the most lauded of them hasn’t been completely to my liking – I didn’t care for the most lauded, Colin Davis, and Lorin Maazel was definitely not to my liking – the closest was Paavo Berglund, but I wasn’t in love with the sound. Well, I do believe I’ve found the set that will be my favorite – Bernstein has a wonderful way with these symphonies – one can quibble with a tempo here or there, but overall I just thought he did a wonderful job and the sound is just terrific. I even thought he bested Ormandy on the ones Ormandy conducted. So, I’m a happy Sibelian.

The helper came by and couldn’t stand all the overgrown shrubbery near the front door, so she got rid of it all and it looks so great out there now. She picked up some invoices and things to ship, too. I had a few telephonic conversations, but my voice is not in great shape and I have to not talk for the next couple of days – I’m fighting like crazy not to get sick. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish and listened to a couple of SACD recordings – they just sound so clear and beautiful. Unfortunately, I’ve come to the game way too late – I had no idea how long ago they tried to foist this thing on people (people weren’t having it and it pretty much died, like DAT did, save for some hardcore audiophiles). So, there are a lot of really interesting SACD titles I’d love to hear but they are long out of print and really rare – some of them fetching over a hundred bucks on the third-party market.

Then I came back to the computer, did some other stuff whilst listening to some William Walton, a composer I’m crazy about, and then relaxed.

Today, I shall get everything ready for our new release announcement, which will probably make available at midnight so I don’t have to get up early, I’ll eat, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and hope and pray for a stress-free day, week, and upcoming month, because, believe it or not, today is the last day of November. And that means that tomorrow is December, and let me just say that it is my fervent hope and prayer that December will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. We need each and every one of those things.

Tomorrow is our second Kritzerland rehearsal, the Friday we have a meeting with Kay Cole, Saturday is our stumble-through, Sunday is sound check and show, and then we get ready for the Richard Sherman event and my very own actual birthday.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, prep our new release announcement, I must eat, hopefully pick up packages, do banking, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall insist that I ate at a White Castle and be a shining example of cognitive dissonance.

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