oboeinsight

I wonder if this is the guy who was in our row at the Symphony concert. (If his concert-mate was sometimes sketching or writing in a small book, then I’ve got the right man. I couldn’t really see what she was doing—it seemed rude to look. And yes, sketching or journaling isn’t entirely unheard of at concerts. We used to have a woman at Opera San José who would come down to the pit to sketch us and then, sometimes, hand us the pictures. For some reason, though, I was always irked by that. I have no good reason to be, I know. Maybe it was just that the pictures were not very good at all. Sigh. I’m such a snob!)

So the blogs keep rolling in. And again his is a positive experience blog entry.

Okay. Enough of my ramble. Errands are calling. Later I think I’ll write a bit about “When Students Quit”. (Because, yes, a student quit yesterday. And another quit last week. And yes, my feelings do get hurt. More later. Stay tuned.)

The stuffiness of the setting put me off, a stuffiness you could feel even over the TV and radio, when concerts were broadcast. I really do believe something has to be done about this. The snobs and the squares are keeping the rest of us away.

Read here.

Okay. Whatever. I’m a snob. I’m a square. And I’m old, too. 🙂

Should we change our demeanor for those non-snobs and non-squares? How do I become a non-snob and non-square? Or is it too late?

I am uncomfortable at the non-classical concerts. So there you go. I am uncomfortable at jazz events because you are supposed to clap when someone solos and I find it disruptive but if I don’t do it I look uptight (which I probably am; I’m an oboe player, after all). I’ve played rock shows, and I’m uncomfortable with all the “show stuff” that goes on.

Or maybe I’m just totally defensive. I dunno.

But the writer of the above quote isn’t dissing classical music. The writer is actually getting into it. So how to deal with that? Change how we do everything? I wonder. (And since I’m uncomfortable with the clapping during jazz, would they change that for me? Oh. Wait. I’m 50. They won’t change for me. 😉

I’m just kind of being silly here, I know. But really … what do we dump? (Someone please dump the tails! That I’ll go for!) What do we keep? Should we add colored lights to the performance, as San Francisco Symphony did at last week’s concert? (I was very distracted by it, actually! Why “blue” for R&J, red for Don Juan, and a yellowish orange for Rachmaninoff. What did the colors mean? I kept trying to figure it out!)

Ramble, ramble … time to get back to HP since Jameson is releasing into my care for a while!

I was surprised to find this new post about the San Francisco Symphony blogger event. I guess I was wrong when I said I thought the last of the blogs had appeared. I don’t believe the people we sat next to ever blogged (I believe it was just the man who had a blog, and the woman came along for the ride.), so maybe there will even be more. Who knows?

If I don’t blog within two days about an event, you can pretty much bet I’m not going to. I’m just that way.

So far I think only one other blogger is a musician; I’m finding it interesting to read all the bloggers’ opinions about the concert. They are all quite positive about the experience. I’m absolutely fine with that. The symphony I was in for 27 years folded (San Jose Symphony RIP). Yes, I’m in a new one now, but there isn’t nearly as much work. If we can get more people in the hall, I’m all for it! Now what I’d like to see is if these bloggers ever buy a ticket and attend another symphony concert. Guess I’ll have to bookmark all of them and see, yes?

I believe I met the two women who have this blog and one of them posted a blog entry about the symphony concert we bloggers were invited to attend. She doesn’t mention the invitation or the festivities, but she does give her review of the concert.

As far as “themed programming” … well … I’ve done ’em for years, so that was no surprise to me at all. (And I thought Tchaik’s R&J was one of the biggest warhorses ever, so it was interesting to read what she thought.)

My guess is that this will be the last blogger I locate … seems like they’d all have posted by now if they post at all. One thing about blogs is that they are pretty much “in the moment” or very close to it. Yes?

“Mr. Pattyoboe”.

🙂

And yes, lots of subs in the orchestra. Some I knew; Andy in the bass section, Alex in the horns, James in the oboes … and there were more.

That’s the way summer works. Musicians … well … some actually do the vacation thing. Others are doing summer music festivals. (I forgot, but meant to attend Midsummer Mozart Music Festival’s concert—a group I belonged to “back in the day”—last night. Rats.)

Soon I’m off to UCSC to hear a high school student who is interested in the campus. Ciao!

I guess I’m not a “classical music purist” because this article suggests I’d be unhappy with the “Big Duh” ads by Hyundai. And I’m not. I don’t care.

Hmmm. Perhaps I’m not as uptight as a particular horn player (see bottom of that post) might think. 😉

(Truth be told, some non-oboe players have suggested I’m not your typical, reed obsessed, crazed oboist. Now of course I am a bit of a worrier about how I’m perceived, so when someone says, “Your not like the typical oboist,” part of me is flattered but the other, somewhat more powerful part, worries that I’m just being told I’m a horrible player! Call me silly.)

If someone ever wants to explain Technorati to me feel free. I did subscribe—or whatever it’s called—years ago, but I honestly don’t really “get it”. What’s it for? Who cares? And how do my sites get the “authority number”? This site has a higher one than the pattyo so I’m assuming higher is better?

Not that I care about this either. I’m just trying to figure it out, because I noticed a couple of bloggers who blogged about the San Francisco event are on some sort of Technorati list, but Technorati doesn’t recognize my (!) four (!) exciting (!) posts (!). And since it’s all about the oboe—or the oboist—I just wonder how Technorati could go so wrong.

… and if you click on Technorati list link do you see some pop artist’s picture on the site, with an ad for “Live Earth Concert Recap”?** Why do pop artists like to look somewhat pasty, near “Edward Scissorhandsish”, sort of sad and angsty? What would happen if we had saw of these guys with a smile on his face? Would the teen girls lose interest in someone who appears to enjoy life? (Since most teen girls—I’ve seen some of those “No one likes me or understands me” blogs and I used to keep a journal much the same—like unhappy people … until they meet them, that is! Guys who are truly that unhappy—like girls who are that way—are usually fairly self-absorbed and … yawn … boring.)

Unlike a self-absorbed oboist. We are merely realistic about what truly matters. 😉

Oh dear … a true pattyramble™. So sorry! Or am I?

Hmm. Maybe I don’t care. 😉

**UPDATE: I clicked on that link again and now I don’t see AngstMan™ but some cute young girl who is sort of smiling. So I guess angst is more attractive in guys. Or something.