The Bear Necessities

So, naturally, im listening to internet radio again. Yesterday they played Dvorak’s Violin Concerto which was REALLY awesome. I was pumped on Dvorak last night let me tell you. Maybe its the Czeck blood… that music really speaks to me for some reason.

BUT, more to the point of this post:
The music today has been just fabulous! About an hour ago they played Prokofiev’s 1st Romeo and Juliet Suite (oddly, i think have posted about this before…). This was of course, incredible (although the end was far too fast for my melodramatic tastes). Unfortunately i kinda had to go to the bathroom… throughout the whole piece. But i sucked it up so that i could enjoy the piece. I then proceeded to get distracted by work (i know, i know, who would have thunk it??) for a short piece. I was JUST about to get up when they announced that the next piece was going to be Dvorak’s Cello concert. WHAT WAS I TO DO??? I cant just leave when they are about to play a piece like that! So now im stuck here… listening to great music…and suffering from this near overwhelming urge to.. well… you know.
Like i said - such sweet sorrow.

Today is ‘Young Minds at Work’ day! All of my coworkers brought in their children, and now there are all these kids running around. It is kinda funny (and cool too). And for some reason, they are all the same age too.

I wonder what they think of us. hmmmm.

The musical treat for today is Tschaik’s Souvenir de Florence. The day got off to a pretty good start for a number of reasons, and in the middle of the morning i decided i could use a little music. I started up my trusty old internet radio, and to my surprise they had JUST started the Souvenir.

Its preeeetty darn exciting. Especially cause i am going to see this played live in SF in a couple weeks. It really doesnt get much better than that. As far as my appreciation for string chamber music goes, this is definately one of my favorites. very intense.

yup. on a side note, we are playing Shostakovich 5 in symphony this quarter. The concert will be in may (the 20th maybe)?? This piece totally rocks and everyone should come. Sure, i may do a lot of sitting on my butt and counting my toes, but when i do get to play, i play LOUD. The trombones really get to shake things up. Its pretty awesome, you know, being heard. What a BLOW. much more approachable than, say, the 10th or 11th symphonies (which are also much longer).

okokokok.
till next time.

In order to have a bit more control over the music i listen to at work, i am thining about signing up for one of those online music services (assuming they aren’t blocked). What are people’s opinions on the different ones available?

The only one i have any experience with is Rhapsody, and I was pretty happy with what i saw of that. So, that is my baseline, but if anyone has any recommendations i am more than willing to look at other services. Note that i do not want to do the buy-per-mp3 thing - im looking for something that gives me more variety (but retain control over what i listen to) than that.

cool.

this morning ive been listening to some excerpt frm Alexander Borodin’s opera ‘Prince Igor’. This particular excerpt had a very striking similarity to one song from Miss Saigan (Andrew lloyd Weber i think). I don’t recall exactly which song it was, but it sounds almost exactly the same.
oh well. i guess there’s no point changing a good thing?

Guess what?

Well, as you probably guessed, this is another post on music. I am currently listening to Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 “Rhenish”.

What does this have to do with Willow?

Well, this symphony (or at least the first movement) has a VERY striking similarity to the Willow soundtrack. In fact, one could conjecture (and probably rightly) that the main theme from Willow borrows very heavily from this theme of Schumann. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it dos give some insight into why some professional musicians look with disdain upon the movie music industry (thieves, all of the them! and John Williams is the worst!).

if you dont believe me, try comparing Leia’s theme (from star wars (duh)) to Tschaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

not that i mind of course. just sayin is all.

Another post on the radio (have you had enough of this yet?).

Today (actually, right now) i heard Bruch’s 1st Violin Concerto. Now, this piece happens to be one i like quite a bit, but have only managed to pick up the 1st and last movement at random from two different people. This results in a somewhat incomplete conception of how this piece goes, especially since it is being performed by two different artists.

Finally, i get to hear it all at once!! That makes me happy.

Normally, i consider myself an extremely healthy person. Like an Ox, id say. I rarely get sick and have never broken a bone.

Unfortunately, now is not one of those times. Somehow i got this soar throat that has somehow infused my vocal cords with some sort of solidifying agent, rendering me barely capable of speech. Which, in the end, is pretty funny. Now that it doesnt hurt much anymore, i have a great excuse not to talk to people. Which, i suppose, is not necessarily a good thing.

nonetheless, it is kinda funny to listen to myself when i do get around to talking. For some reason, i can only make my voice work if i talk real low, you know, kinda barry white-esque. what is even more funny is that sometimes a random word will just fail to sound when i am talking - like puberty all over again.

i guess soar throats arent so bad after all. pretty fun really. especially when i try to make high pitched sounds - all that comes out is this hoary rasp. the chords just fail to start vibrating. i would make a great ghost.

today is one of my coworkers’ 70th bithday. This is absolutely incredible. He has been working here through the entire cold war and saw the birth of the space program - its is really amazing how much he knows about the satellite business.

I can only hope that i love what i am doing so much that i continue to come to work through my 70th birthday…

well, they finally got the heater’s around here working.

i came to work in a sweater, and now its like 80 degrees in my office. i was roasting. so i started discarding clothing.

which, is all well and good, except it does nothing for the induced drowsiness. which, if you know me at all, you will recognize as a big problem i have. i can never stay awake. big problem. ack. must… focus…