Mark Likes Music

I've never seen the Monty Python sketch that John Clare posted a month or so on  ClassicallyHip , but one thing I know: lupins are poisonous. Never joke about lupins.

Handel premiered his  Messiah   and its oft-quoted Hallelujah Chorus  in April 1742 in Dublin, and in the years following it was a perennial Easter favorite, not a Yuletide staple, as it is today.

There are tons of parodies and appropriations of the Hallelujah Chorus  on television programs, in movies, and in ads;  WQXR posted its top five last December . I've yet to find a version for zipper: Thanks, Joe Lehman (one of the funniest guys on Facebook; no foolin').

Pretty well everyone has heard the Hallelujah Chorus: It's a Christmas staple, on its own or as part of Handel's Messiah ; it's also become one of those pieces that people love to make their own. Since 1993, Marin Alsop has been performing a gospel version of Messiah , conceived with Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson, called Too Hot to Handel , with a particularly swinging Hallelujah Chorus: H ere's a "mildly cynical update"  by Edward Current and Steven Clark from the UK (only Brits would find this "mildly cynical"): And only Canadians would find a Hallelujah Chorus flash mob cool :

Anthem fails: they're not just for Americans  anymore. Deadspin   gives an account  of this very, very unfortunate version by Measha Brueggergosman of my country's big song: While the average length of "O Canada" as sung before an athletic contest is a bit shy of 50 seconds, Brueggergosman stretched it to almost two minutes and drew titters from players on both benches as she warbled her way through a nearly unrecognizable rendition.  The most cringe-worthy moment comes when, clearly dying out there, the Canada's Got Talent judge enthusiastically calls for the crowd to sing along. Polite Canadians, they do. I wonder how the Kazakhs would handle a butchering of their national anthem ? Maybe we'll find out: It was pretty classy of the medalist, Maria Dmitrienko, to keep her composure in what could only have been a humiliating and confusing situation.

Signature Brew of London has released Craig Finn's Clear Heart, a nod to the Hold Steady singer's new solo album . Pairing up with musicians to co-brand lines of beer is Signature Brew's marketing hook, but so far it has only one other act on its roster, a band called the Rifles . And how do you drink this beer? In a red solo cup, of course: Get More: Red Solo Cup , Toby Keith , Toby Keith Videos

Immediately after posting Darth Vader in a kilt (and on a unicycle playing bagpipes; can't forget that), I came across this on Facebook: And this on Tech Crunch: Face it, people: the Empire won.

It is (or was) a tradition at my high school for a bagpiper to march in the graduating class. Sad to say, they didn't use this guy: Thanks to the always internet-astute Peter MacDonald ; if you live in St. John, take guitar lessons from him. More Darth Vader here  and, with bagpipes and a kilt, here . Learn all about bagpipe making in Nova Scotia between 1820 and 1920 (Why not?) here .

Last Thursday, someone punched a 67-year-old man in the face while listening to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play Brahms . It didn't really rise to the level of a riot, but a lot of concerts have. Josh Kurp picked his top five music riots  on Encore Magazine's website. So did Laura Mann of the Dallas Observer . Both mention Altamont and the Who's 1979 concert in Cincinnati, as well as the 1913 Rite of Spring premiere. But Mann picks as her top choice something we don't hear much about: a 1949 concert by Paul Robeson show in Peekskill, NY that was undermined by the KKK .