Thanks so much!

10. February 2008 · Comments Off on Thanks so much! · Categories: Ramble

I just received a message from the site that I labeled as “killer” due to what it did to my eyes. Now I can read it just fine! Very cool! Thanks a bunch, Jeff.

And Jeff is funny too. He wrote: “I changed my theme, so now you can change your description of my blog from “a killer” or just “killer.” 😉

Cheers.”

Cheers back at you, Jeff! 🙂

(Of course someone will probably tell you that the site NOW causes his or her eyes to go bonkers. You know how it goes. But since this world is all about the oboe you’d best stick to the revised site!)

They Really Look Like They Are Singing

10. February 2008 · Comments Off on They Really Look Like They Are Singing · Categories: Links, Ramble

I’m watching The Andy Griffith Show. Yeah, really. What can I say? I switched on the tube and there it was. And, to be honest, it was a sweet 30 minutes.

But anyway … the church women’s choir sang at the end (it’s the episode where Aunt Bea is vying to get choir robes for the women with a $500 gift to the church, while Howard wants to make the church level with the money). But the women … they look and sound like they are actually singing. And know the words and notes and are involved. I’ve not seen this on many shows. Most shows I’ve seen show people singing, sometimes we hear them singing out of tune (after all, no church singers sing in tune, right?) and I can usually tell, too, that the actors can’t really sing, or don’t know the words, are just look stupid.

I’m just sayin’.

Well, the Opera Will be Longer

10. February 2008 · Comments Off on Well, the Opera Will be Longer · Categories: Links

… and we know what most folk think of that these days!

BEIJING–China will stage a version of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s unfinished opera “Turandot” with an extra 18-minute “Chinese ending,” state media reported Sunday.

“Turandot,” which is set in old China, will be performed at the National Grand Theater in Beijing from March 21 to 26, the Xinhua news agency said.

The additional 18 minutes of music and song are the work of composer Hao Weiya, and will feature two new characters that will better express the two themes of the opera, love and heroism, according to Xinhua.

Puccini had not completed “Turandot” at the time of his death in 1924, and the job was left to another Italian composer, Franco Alfano.

For decades, the Communist government in Beijing banned staging of the opera in China, arguing it painted a negative picture of China. It was performed for the first time here in 1998.

Found here

Funny

10. February 2008 · Comments Off on Funny · Categories: Ramble

From my husband …

Q: What’s the difference between Silicon Valley and yogurt?

A: Yogurt has culture.

Heh. True, true.

As I was telling Dan, I saw my doctor on Friday and she asked me if I was still playing in San Jose Symphony (RIP). I told her that group actually died quite some time ago, and that I now play in Symphony Silicon Valley, and that I am very happy to have the job, but that our service numbers were cut down by more than half. She expressed dismay and shock that this valley let the symphony die.

But … but … she didn’t even know it had died! She lives here. Hmmm.

So I guess “my” music isn’t her thing, and I guess I shouldn’t expect it to be. But it did make me laugh (inside) that she expressed disappointment in Silicon Valley’s lack of support of our group, even while she never attended a concert and didn’t realize we’ve been out of business since 2002. She wasn’t the only one who acted this way. So many of my church acquaintances expressed the same thing, “Well, I never went, but I can’t believe this place can’t keep a symphony alive.”

Oh. Well.

Update:
Here is where Dan found the joke. Looks as if Guy Kawasaki is actually suggesting this joke may no longer be true.

Thoughts?

(While at that site you MUST check out this entry. And that’s an order.)

Now off to church I go!

Just A Meaningless (mostly) Note

10. February 2008 · 3 comments · Categories: Ramble

If you have a blog that has dark background and white (or light) print, I cannot read it. I immediately get a headache and my eyes go bonkers. I’ve read some bloggers saying that they actually prefer the dark background and light print, but it’s a mystery to me how that can be! SO … I’m not about to link to the dark background/light print sites because I don’t want to make the mistake of visiting those sites. Or perhaps I’ll have a special category with a warning. Maybe that’s better? As if anyone really cares what I’m doing! But if you do want to make this simple oboist happy, you can do what An Unamplified Voice did and give me the option to lighten your site. That would be ever so nice, don’t you think? And very clever too.

News you can — but possible won’t — use. 😉

Update
Okay … I’ve decided to mark those blogs: (*DBLP*) is my warning. I’ll just check those ones out via my RSS feed. (The blogger won’t get the hit though, right?) It’s just safer for yours truly. You can click on the links if you aren’t bothered by the DBLP thing.

And just in case you wonder: Jillian’s site is no problem at all. Joyce DiDonato’s is nearly not okay but I can deal. This is a killer. It just does me in.

Is He Whining?

10. February 2008 · Comments Off on Is He Whining? · Categories: Links, Ramble

Jerry Bowles* thinks Leon Fleisher was whining. I just didn’t read it that way. I think he was honestly stating what he felt and what he did. I thought it was well written, and that he chose a good option. But that’s just me. And I’m an oboe player. We are frequently accused of whining.

*article no longer available