Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Rostoskys serious thread. (by request)

We've got the same situation in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) LBE. there's no snow cover, and it's too warm for outdoor skating rinks. What's up with that?

I'm off to bed folks. I want to be up to do my Sunday classical postings. Hope some of you might post as well. In addition Rossy designated me as the first Desert Island castaway. I don't know how I got myself into this, but actually it was a lot of fun. Check it out!


Good Night!

Good afternoon dudes and dudettes, Up during the day today! lol.
Hope everyone is feeling well and keeping warm!!
No snow for us in wales! Apparently it happened everywhere else in the UK or nearly!
Ah well, that must mean its actually warmer i suppose, allthough you would not think so!

It's still morning in Minneapolis. A good Sunday to everyone! It's Classical Sunday time, and I have a few musical treats for you. I had the pleasure of hearing this performance earlier by the Kuijken Quartet of W.A. Mozart's "Flute Quartet KV 298." Enjoy!

That was nice Griffin, a good way to start the sunday of as well, very relaxing.

Glad you enjoyed it Rossy! I have a few more I think you'll like as well. I know you like guitarist John Williams. Here he performs Vivaldi's "Concerto for Violin (Guitar), Strings & Basso Continuo in A minor, R. 356: III. Presto." It's from the 1991 album: John Williams Plays Vivaldi Concertos

He just gets better doesnt he Griffin, ??

That is so true Rossy. I had not heard his beautiful works until last year when we got started on this thread. Amazing musician!

That will be it for now, Rossy. It doesn't mean I'm quite through with RST today, however.

Okay Griffin, RST will post up this weeks castaway at 5 pm london time as advertised.!!!
Its a tad quiet today, the girls must be busy!!
Or "otherwise occupied" lol...
You may check the origin of the word occupied!!

It's Super Bowl in the U.S. That means loads of football fans across the country will be glued to their tv sets watch the New England patriots vs. the New York Giant. I'm not much of a football fan myself. However, I've watched the game on one of those large flat screens with HD and surround sound. I must admit watching the game is much more exciting then!

Aha! I just realized that football is a different game in other countries. In the U.S. we call European football soccer. I wonder what you might call American football if it were to ever catch on in the U.K. Hmmmm.

Oh well, I will be around most of the day. I'm looking forward to hearing other postings!

The game was quite popular here for a while (I think in the late 80's/early 90's) and it often went under the somewhat bizarre name of 'gridiron', or just 'American football'.

It's not just soccer (or Association Football, to give it its proper name) that we need to distinguish - we also have Rugby football (which, like American football, uses an oval ball). This weekend sees the start of the Six Nations Rugby tournament, a far superior spectacle to anything played with the round ball. Just to confuse the issue, there are two codes of rugby - Union (played in most of the UK, France and Ireland), and League (played mostly in the north of England). Both codes are popular in the southern hemisphere.

How confusing.

Well folks the time has arrived for RST to interview our fist "castaway" on RST desert island.

RST: Today on RST our castaway is Griffin2417, known to quite a few of us here on PW, and a regular poster here on RST. Hello Griffin, and wellcome.

Griffin2417: Thanks Rossy! It’s good to be here.

RST: Could you tell the readers a little of your formative years (where you grew up, went to school)

Griffin2417: I was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. I attended St. Paul Public Schools through high school.

RST: Did you enjoy school?

Griffin2417: For the most part I did enjoy school. I did not like math, however. It was always a struggle. Fortunately, both of my parents were good at it and helped me through it.

RST: What were you best at in school?

Griffin2417: Definitely music. I also did pretty well with history, social studies and composition.

RST: Were you a "happy child"

Griffin2417: I would say I was pretty much a "happy child".

RST: Could you tell us about your first choice of music, what does it mean to you

Griffin2417: As will probably be the case with all of my music choices, I'll feel differently about my choice selections after we've completed the interview. However, this is where I am today with my music.

For my first selection I've chosen "Living For the City" performed by Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles. I love these two performing together. They've both been in my life since I was a teenager. Ray Charles is among some the earlier blues artists I listened to when I was in junior high school. Stevie Wonder was 13 years old when I first heard him. I was about 17 when me and my friends were dancing to his music. I think these two kind of represent some of the basic popular music I listened to growing up, and I still enjoy.

RST: Were your parents musical?

Griffin: They weren’t musical themselves. However, they were very supportive of my passion for music. They had several friends who were musicians and vocalists. Our participation in the arts was certainly encouraged in our family.

RST: What is your first memory of hearing music?

Griffin: I don’t have any particular recollection of the first time hearing music. It seems like it was always a part of my life. We sang hymns in our church. Listened to the choirs singing. In public school we were taught the basics about music and reading notes starting in Grade 1.

RST: What is your second piece of music today and why this choice?

Griffin: My second choice is "Winelight" by jazz saxophonist, Grover Washington. This has long been a favorite of mine. There are many varieties of jazz that I enjoy. However, I do seem to gravitate towards what's often called "cool jazz" or "smooth jazz." Whatever it's called, I love the feeling I get from listening to it when I'm in a mellow mood.

RST: Who did you approach first as a child, with any problems, your mum or your dad?

griffin: That’s an interesting question because I think that both my parents were equally approachable. I guess I would probably have decided who to approach based on what the topic would have been.

RST: Did you have any childhood heroes?

Griffin: I don’t remember any heroes as a young child. However, I was deeply influenced by Martin Luther King when I was a teenager

RST: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Griffin: I was never sure. One moment I wanted to be an actor. Another time I wanted to be a minister. I also remember flirting with the idea of being involved with music. However, I didn’t have any clear ideas until I got to high school. By the time I got to high school it was either becoming a social worker, a journalist, something that will allow me to be involved with music, though I didn’t know what that would have been.

RST: Record number three?



Griffin: I've chosen Tracy Chapman performing "All That You Have is Your Soul." A few things came to mind in deciding this. Folk music is something I started paying more attention to as I was heading to college. I chose Tracy Chapman because she represents a later generation of talented folk artists that keeping The tradition enriched. Furthermore, Chapman is also a social protest artist who beautifully expresses some of my personal values. If I were on a desert island, I'd certainly love to have this selection with me.

RST: Did you attend college?

Griffin: Yes, I received my Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications.

RST: Did academic studies come easy to you, or was it a slog?

Griffin: Generally, my studies went fairly well.

　

RST: Do you remember your very first job?

Griffin: My first job was when I was still in high school. I got a part-time night job doing janitorial work in an office building.

　

RST: Have you had many jobs?

Griffin: I’m not sure I can possibly remember how many? There was the variety of jobs I did to pay my bills and get me through college. These included being a waiter on the railroad, library clerk, campus traffic cop, receptionist, store clerk, and I don’t remember the rest. Then there were the jobs I did after I received my degree. I was a newspaper reporter for 13 years, and then shifted my career to managing programs for nonprofit organizations.



RST: What do you do for a living now?

Griffin: I am the Manager of communications and volunteers for a nonprofit organization in Minneapolis which also owns and operates a community theater.


RST: Record number four?

Griffin: Since I'll have the luxury of having a piano, I've chosen Van Cliburn performing Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. This is the recording I listen to while I'm learning this piece myself. This particular piece has a story for me personally. When I was 17 my piano teacher played this for me and then said that i would soon be ready to learn this piece. It didn't happen because I moved away to college shortly afterwards. I never found a teacher like her again until last year when I returned to my piano studies in ernest. My new teacher felt I was ready to take on Clair de Lune. It's difficult, however, I'm enjoying the challenge.

RST: Are you an "outside" person? or are you happier with slippers and a beverage next to the fire in your favorite chair?

Griffin: Another interesting question. Actually, I’m equally an outside person, and an inside person. During my work day I am very much an extrovert. It works well because communications is what I do. I meet with lots of people, I write, I do a lot of phone work. Lots of energy is needed for this. However, when I get home from work, I become an introvert. I like to quietly relax, and not talk for a while. I feel like I need this to recharge my batteries.

RST: Can you remember what first drew you towards the piano?

Griffin: I only have a vague recollection of my attraction to the piano. I think it was before I had even started elementary school.

RST: When did you first acquire a piano?

Griffin: My parents bought an upright piano when I was 6-years-old. I do remember that I asked them if I could have piano lessons.

RST: Record number five?

Griffin: As you know I love Andean music in general, and the group, Rumillajta, in particular. This selection is "Cielo y Montaña." (Sky and Mountain). I've chosen this piece because there are no words. Instead all we hear are these beautiful instruments, and our minds can float freely through the sounds.

RST: Would you categorize yourself as an optimist or a pessimist?

Griffin: I don't care to categorize myself as either. I would say that I generally try to be a realist. I can be both optimistic and pessimistic. It depends on the circumstances.

RST: Do you have any regrets

Griffin: Not really. I suppose if I think about it long enough I could come up with something. However, I can’t imagine it’s anything I would lose sleep over.

RST: If you could have been anything in life at the wave of a magic wand, would you have been anything else?

Griffin: Not really. I might have said yes to that question 25-30 years ago. However, an old friend used to warn us to be careful of what we wish for. Some wishes that come true could become a nightmare!(LOL)

RST: Record number six

Griffin: My piano studies influence this choice. In addition to learning Clair de Lune, I've started working on Frédéric Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude, Op 28, No. 15." this is probably what I'd want to have with my piano on that desert island.

RST: Griffin, you are going to be on this desert island for an indefinite time, are you a practical person?

Griffin: I try to be practical.

RST: Do you think you will be able to construct a makeshift shelter?

Griffin: I think I could manage to come up with a makeshift shelter for a desert island. Of course it depends on what resources are available to me.

RST: How about cooking over an open fire, do you feel confident about managing this?

Griffin: Fortunately, I have done some backpacking and camping in the wilderness, mountains and in the desert. Cooking over an open fire I can do. Getting the blasted fire started can be tricky, however!

RST: Record number seven

Griffin: I've chosen the Kyrie from "Missa Solemnis" by Beethoven. I just can't explain why I chose it. It's something I've listened to for years, and I'd really miss not getting to hear it again.

RST: Are you comfortable with your own company, remember you will be on your own for a long time?

Griffin: Well, I am comfortable with my own company for a while. However, I could drive myself crazy.

RST: What do you think you will miss most about the "outside world"

Griffin: I suppose it will be lack of information. Wanting to know what is going on in the world.

RST: What would you like to think the "outside world will miss most about you?"

Griffin: I can’t imagine the "outside world" will miss me if it isn’t known that I’m gone! (LOL)

RST: Record number eight?

Griffin: Choral music is an important part of my music interests. This is one that I'd definitely miss. Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei."

Now for a SURPRISE dudes and dudettes, before we make Griffin choose which one out of the eight he would save in an emergency, and before his choice of book and luxery item....

Something unexpected happened this week whilst griffin was compiling this interview, NObody, I can assure you was more surprised than Griffin himself when..

The Twin Cities Daily planet ran this feature on him...

Here it is in its entirety!!!

By Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet
January 31, 2012

Meet Carl Griffin — writer, community advocate, philanthropist, bicyclist, classical pianist, and much more. A gay, African American man, Griffin has spent a lifetime caring about social justice, from his days as a Minneapolis Tribune reporter to his work in the nonprofit world, where he is now the manager of communications and volunteers for the Plymouth Christian Youth Center and the Capri Theatre.

Griffin grew up in the Rondo neighborhood in Saint Paul, a once vibrant African American community before it was split in half by the construction of I-94 in the 1950s and 60s. Griffin was in grade school when his neighbors began being moved from their homes, sometimes forcibly, to make way for I-94. Houses were moved, or torn down. By the time he was in college, the freeway, which was now across the street from his home, still had not been completed.

Griffin lived on Rondo Street, which is now called Concordia. The street “was the hub of that community,” Griffin says. During almost his entire youth, there was the constant dust, and noise of the construction, but it got even worse after he went to college at Moorhead. “They didn’t have barriers,” he says. “We’d have to close our windows. We couldn’t hear ourselves.”

Griffin remembers coming back to St. Paul, after he graduated from high school in 1965. “It was like a war zone to me,” he says. “The homes of old neighbors and friends that were no longer there. It was sort of like a fabric of the little block had been ripped out.” Many of his neighbors moved to other parts of the city, and others moved to Maplewood, Griffin says.

The experience of seeing his community ripped apart led Griffin to see the importance of social justice, a value he has carried with him throughout his life. When not at work, Griffin pursues his social justice interest, such as his work with Headwaters Foundation for Justice, where he was the co-chair for six years. “Groups in the areas of social justice bring folks to the table for social change,” Griffin says.

Two years ago, Griffin was given an award by the Headwaters Foundation for his philanthropy and activism. Griffin says he was shocked when he found out that he would be given the award. He was taught by his parents to give back to the community, so for the past 10 years he has set aside money each month for the foundation in addition to his contributions to the United Way. “It’s not that big of a deal,” he says. “I’m fortunate that I’m able to do it.” Griffin is particularly interested in helping his old neighborhood, and was struck by the timing of the award, as Rondo is once again in the midst of upheaval from a transportation project, this time the construction of the Central Corridor light rail.

Griffin was also hugely influenced by all of the political and social change that was happening in the 1960s. “So much was happening,” he says. “As a kid I had impressions. I know it influenced me greatly.” He became involved in the NAACP, and participated in racial equality groups in high school, at Central. He joined picket lines to protest George Wallace, and attended rallies in the summer of 1962 to support the Mississippi Summer. “I remember how angry I was looking at the newspaper, seeing those dogs biting the stomachs of children who were resisting segregation,” he says.

At home, as people in his neighborhood were forced to move away, he saw how most black people who could afford to buy homes in other neighborhoods were not allowed to.

In college, Griffin wrote for his college newspaper, where he got into trouble a few times, he said. “Back in those days the four letter word was a big thing,” he says. “It was a good education for me about freedom of speech.”

Griffin eventually moved back to the Twin Cities and ended up writing for the Minneapolis Tribune, where he was a general assignment reporter, covering a range of subjects such as city hall and community issues. Sometimes, Griffin found it difficult to stay neutral on all the issues. At times, he says, he just wanted to help people he was writing about. “It’s the whole thing about being fair,” Griffin says. “I guess at times I thought, 'Gosh I wish I could help these people.'”

Griffin came out to his friends in college, and has been with his partner for 43 years. They went to some of the first marches in Loring Park (before it became what it is today, he says) back in the early 80s, and worked briefly on fundraising for Clare House

As an African American and a gay man, Griffin has seen discrimination on both sides, although one is overt while the other covert. “My skin says it all,” he says. He’s had plenty of experiences with overt discrimination — not getting jobs, for instance. But as for being gay, “it’s kind of weird,” he says. “You hear people saying things about gay people and they don’t know you are gay. You have a choice to say something or not say something. I’ve chosen to interrupt their thinking process.” When Griffin worked for the Tribune, he was influential in the newspaper including gays and lesbians into their anti-discrimination policy.

After reporting for thirteen years, including eight years at the Tribune, Griffin finally decided that he needed to move on to other things. He had been joined the board of the African American Cultural Arts Center, and was really excited about what they were doing, and he realized that he wanted to be more of an advocate. After writing grants for the AACAC, he worked for the Red Cross for nine years, while they opened a branch in North Minneapolis and at Sabathani Community Center. He’s worked for PCYC since 2000.

The other important part of Griffin’s life is music. He started piano lessons when he was six years old. He had a short break from 4th-6th grade, while he played clarinet in band, and sang in choirs, but he realized in seventh grade that he wanted to play piano again. He found a phenomenal teacher, and studied classical piano. He didn’t share his love of classical music with many people, though. He worried that they would think he “wasn’t cool.” He continued playing piano into college, but he says the timing wasn’t right for a career in music. It took longer to complete a degree in music, and at the time, he was getting more encouragement to go into journalism.

In the 70s, his parents told them that they wanted their space back from where his piano stood, and they sent it to Griffin. He started playing again, but the piano had fallen out of tune and he didn’t have time to play.

Then, two years ago, Griffin’s partner told him he was secretly trying to figure out a way to pick a piano keyboard. “I had to ask myself… am I serious enough?” Working at PCYC, he’s interacted with many wonderful musicians and artists that gave him a lot of inspiration. He asked permission to use the Capri Grand piano, and began practicing, to see if he really wanted to do it.

He ended up getting a Yamaha P155, on the advice of Rick Carlson, from the Wolverines. “Now that I’m back to piano I feel so completed,” he says.

Griffin doesn’t regret the path he chose. The writing path taught him discipline, the process of writing a draft, and then going back to it with patience and diligence, and, he says, “It’s no different for the piano."

RST
Excellent Griffin, and may I take this opportunity to say; Absolutely well deserved!!!!

And now we will move onto the hard part!!!!

RST: If there was a catastrophic event on the island and you could only save one of your records, which one would it be?

Griffin: Tracy Chapman performing "All That You Have is Your Soul."

RST: Griffin, we are giving you a bible or any other religious text that applies to your faith, we are also giving you the complete works of shakespeare. You can choose one Other Book to keep on the island, which book would you like?

Griffin: I’m not a particularly religious person. However, I would carry a small book called "The Long Road Turns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation" by a Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh. It is simply a short book of inspirations that I like to have with me when I want to quietly reflect on what is happening around me.

RST:You are allowed one luxury item, what would you like?

Griffin: A piano with all kinds of sheet music!

Griffin, thank you for sharing your desert island discs with RST, it has been most pleasurable, may I just say on behalf of the thread, that we hope you are never marooned on a desert island, and that you will continue to share your postings with us all.

thank you.

Griffin: You are quite welcome. Let me also tell you what a pleasure I get from sharing my postings with everyone on RST.

It is our pleasure Griffin, again, thank you so much for sharing, and for being brave enough to be the first castaway!!