A teaching of Leo Nomellini (by Mitch Sisskind)

One day about sixty years ago Leo Nomellini found himself visiting the University of Chicago. Not sure how that happened. Maybe Leo -- a Marine veteran, first-ever draft pick of the SF49ers, and future NFL Hall of Fame member -- wanted to take the Great Books course offered by Mortimer Adler. No matter. As the afternoon wore on Leo strolled over to watch the really lame U of Chicago football team practice. Chicago had once been a national football powerhouse but had subsequently reduced the team to a pathetic shadow of its former self in order to eliminate a potential distraction from academics.

It so happened that afternoon that a middle-aged small business owner and fanatical football fan was also watching the practice. His name has not come down to us but let's call him Hy Kaish. He recognized Leo -- who even before his pro career was well known as an All-America college player at the University of Minnesota. With great humility, even reverence, Hy Kaish approached Leo, introduced himself, and then remarked that this pitiful collection of nerds loping around the practice field must look laughable to a man with Leo's accomplishments in the game with the funny ball.

Leo's reply is something that has stayed with me ever since I first read this story many years ago. He said, "I would never laugh at anybody who's trying to play football." Wow. The words of a wise man! Indeed, any Bible readers in the audience will know that mocking laughter is an extremely dangerous activity. To cite one example, when the Philistines mocked Samson they really got fucked.

So now, with the wisdom of Leo Nomellini in mind, let's start looking at some videos of amateur singers covering famous and much-loved songs. Today's song will be "The Sound of Silence." Later posts will feature John Denver's "Country Roads" and my personal favorite, which I've mentioned in a previous message, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." These three songs have reached the highest category of popular success. Huge numbers of people are tremendously moved by them, and I myself am among that number. (More about that at a later time.)

Here's a duet by a couple of college students. It seems as though her voice is much better than his, but we have to take the bitter with the sweet. Or as the Chinese say, "Eat shit to taste sugar."

This is a high school glee club from Germany. I love to hear these pieces sung with a slight foreign accent.

Well, this has turned out to be quite a long message! Thanks for your patience -- and here's a nice kitten video:

Comments

[Stacey]

I like the German interpretation. They create tension by singing slightly off the beat. The college students do have nice voices and harmonize nicely as well though I wish she would have looked up at least once.