Adaptistration’s editorial cartoonist, Paul Dixon, decided the field needed a new award to help validate advances in new model thinking. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll leave it at that.

And just for fun, if this wasn’t fictional satire, who would you vote for?

In case you’ve been missing it this week, a bit of YouTube viral madness has been making the rounds thanks to a video created by New York Philharmonic trombonist David Finlayson, who attached a GoPro camera to the slide of his trombone. The resulting slide POV clip caught made the rounds through network morning programs and even the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC. So what could be better than a video of one trombone slide POV? Well, a duet of course.

Enter National Symphony Orchestra principal trombonist, Craig Mulcahy, who was apparently working on a similar project at the same time as Finlayson. And as it turns out, the etude Finlayson played in his video has a duet part, which Mulcahy recorded and synced alongside Finlayson.

The entire thing is genuinely cool and terribly fun to watch. If nothing else, it leaves me wondering how far you could stretch this out, how about a trombone ensemble POV slide cam made with trombonists from across the country?

At his blog, Mulcahy indicates there are more videos to come so I suppose we’ll all have to stay tuned.

It looks like Inside The Arts author and celebrated cellist Lynn Harrell’s no holds barred account of his encounter with Delta Airlines and their decision to pilfer all of his, and his cello’s, frequent flier miles continues to garner attention. The 12/27/2012 edition of the LA Times published an article by Donna Perlmutter that features Harrell’s ordeal and expands on it with a slew of similar trials from other musicians.

Although for some, Perlmutter’s article might be telling us what we already know, it’s a thoroughly researched and well written article that continues to shine a light on an unfair business practice that needs to change.

And you know when something is approaching critical mass when it starts to inspire parody. Case in point, the wonderfully barbed satire from the 12/31/2012 edition of The Yard in the form of a spoof news article that proclaims Selfless Cellist Check Herself At Gate, Gives Seat To Instrument.

I would have cried from laughing so hard if the humor were just a little less dark.

Ms. Li, who says she usually buys an extra seat for her cello but could not afford to this time, was hoping her cello could be stowed in a closet in the plane’s cabin. Spirit employees denied this possibility. Fearing for her cello’s safety, and aware of the many horror stories of instruments being damaged aboard aircrafts, Ms. Li requested to check herself instead. To her surprise, the Spirit employees accepted Ms. Li’s proposal. [...]

As she was being battered beneath the cabin, Ms. Li’s instrument was receiving first-class service. The cello was polished, restrung, and her bow received a complimentary fresh coat of rosin. It even got to visit the cockpit where the copilot, an amateur cellist himself, tried his hand at the First Bach Suite over the PA system to the delight of the more than a hundred passengers, just as the aircraft had begun its initial descent. The unexpected turbulence resulting from the negligent co-pilot’s impromptu cello recital caused further injury to Ms. Li: head trauma, split seams, and a snapped G String.

You know it, you love, it, and it just isn’t the holiday season without it: The Messiah Organist On Crack. If this holiday classic is new to you, give it moment and hang in there until the end; I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s 0:43 of unfiltered Messiah goodness.

I was remiss in failing to mention one of the more entertaining classical music websites around in last Friday’s post about artist and arts manager photos: Awkward Classical Music Photos. If you haven’t visited the site before or haven’t been there in awhile, take a slice of time out of day for a good laugh. 

Some of my favs: