I'm guessing this is a classical musician. Or someone in marching band, but really it sounds like something a classical musician would say.
So, she concluded, she adopted that philosophy as well.
She concluded from what the personal idol said that she had at some previous point adopted this philosophy, and that was what explained her already demonstrated lack of nervousness?
1: Coltrane would practice his solos over and over for days until he hit every note.
I was trying to make a joke in 3 but am not sure if I succeeded.
Yep, classical musician. Nope, she concluded the story by explaining that she'd adopted the philosophy as well. Silly!
Oh huh. Failures so far today: joke-making, reading comprehension.
Success at silly-making, though.
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Christ, the Pistorius case is going to make OJ's trial look like a model of competence and dignity by comparison.
Oscar Pistorius' murder case took a sensational twist Thursday when it was revealed that the chief investigator who analyzed the scene of Reeva Steenkamp's fatal shooting faces seven counts of attempted murder charges himself...Hilton Botha, whose stumbling and at times incoherent evidence on day two of Pistorius' bail hearing gave the Blade Runner's case a serious boost, was allegedly one of three drunk police officers who opened fire on a mini-bus taxi full of passengers in 2011, according to South Africa's Eyewitness News.
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8: but they were trying to perform a traffic stop! These things happen. Also I like that this is not enough to get him removed from the Pistorius case.
No threadjacks in the first 10 15 20 comments.
It's not a threadjack. They practiced shooting up cars until they were really, really good at it.
Actually on the topic of the OP I recently read that article about the dude who shot Bin Laden losing his health insurance (parts of that article -- well, okay, parts of any article that depend on Navy SEALS talking about themselves and their activities -- made me suspicious, but anyhow), and among the parts I choose to believe was the bit about how regardless of how well-trained (over-trained, even) the SEAL teams are they will still goof up on occasion, like one time where a guy accidentally rang the target's doorbell while setting a breaching charge.
I assume with classical music it's different, as by the time you're practiced enough to be comfortable, any mistakes you would make would be minor enough that only you, the people sitting near you, and maybe a couple really fussy experts in the audience would be able to tell, but still. Practice makes at best nearly perfect, right?
At least when American policemen open fire on civilian vehicles, they do it sober.
12.2: I sort of had this discussion recently with regard to going to the symphony. I do not generally pay any attention to who the guest artists are--at the professional symphony level they all play well enough for me to get what I want from it.
13: The article was pretty lame, but I loved this Onion headline right after Dorner thing ended, "Los Angeles On High Alert As LAPD Back On Regular Duty."
I got really annoyed when we were brainstorming essay questions for the upcoming Scholarship Bucks Day. One person really wanted a question framed around that YouTube clip where everyone ignores the virtuoso violinist who's busking in the subway. The essay question boiled down to "Woe is humanity, amirite?"
I think it's totally stupid, because the reality is that tons of buskers sound like really good musicians to me. Being a good musician does not protect you from harsh financial realities. I went off on this enough to get my way on that particular essay question.
12: If TWYRCL's remarks about her colleagues are anything to go by, classical musicians notice that stuff rather acidly.
More seriously, she saw that audiences, professional and otherwise, expect and demand a recording-studio crystalline perfection now, in a generational shift from what was considered acceptable in, say, the mid-20th century.
opened fire on a mini-bus taxi
In fairness, it's altogether possible that the minibus driver shot first.
Tangentially, a Johannesburg joke: "Terrible minibus accident on the M3 today. Minibus flipped over and caught fire. The driver and six passengers were killed, four other passengers were injured, and the other 38 passengers escaped unharmed."
Kudos to Flippanter for being open-minded enough to date a woman who remembers what classical concerts were like in the mid-20th century.
It's well-known that classical musicians have acidic opinions about the guy that shot up Bin Laden.
12, 17: It was actually kind of an eyeopener for me to see a concert at Lincoln Center which contained some (fairly minor, but evident) flubs. (This despite what Flip correctly says about the new standards.)
Arthur Rubenstein disagreed with the method described in the post,
In general, however, Rubinstein believed that a foremost danger for young pianists is to practice too much. Rubinstein regularly advised that young pianists should practice no more than three hours a day. "I was born very, very lazy and I don't always practice very long," he said, "but I must say, in my defense, that it is not so good, in a musical way, to overpractice. When you do, the music seems to come out of your pocket. If you play with a feeling of 'Oh, I know this,' you play without that little drop of fresh blood that is necessary - and the audience feels it." Of his own practice methods, he said, "At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different"
To the OP, I envy those students in my undergraduate degree who considered themselves ready to take a test only when they had successfully solved every problem on every test of the preceding twenty years. At the time I thought my procedure of sampling a few questions and then going out for drinks was clearly superior.
Young people who do too much pianist practice get hairy palms.
I am very fond of Rubinstein's recording of Chopin's Nocturnes.
I thought these days everyone just took beta blockers.
8: Pistorius will get away with it.
I don't have the sort of ear that could have distinguished among the four (!) Strads that I recently heard played in concert, but I will say that soloist quality always seems quite high to me, even if I don't find the performance particularly affecting.
I wonder if the musicians are drawing a fine distinction between nervousness and excitement/adrenaline rush. For an important argument in court, I'm always hyped up. But if I'm well enough prepared, I'm not afraid that I'm going to screw anything up, I'm just excited. Nervousness only comes in when I'm aware I have a weak spot -- something I should be ready for but I'm not.
When I used to gig regularly I didn't get that nervous. Now I play a couple of times a year in public and I'm hopeless. Unless I'm completely over-practiced, to the point where I've been able to play it properly for weeks, but have still put in tons of relentless practice on top, I fall apart a bit.
I've done a couple of fairly hard classical guitar pieces both as part of a duo and solo, recently, and the solo in particular, I struggled so much with nerves. [There's a vid online, but not sure if I want to post it]
The duet, I had hands that were shaking so hard they were cramping up, but I played OK.
So yeah, I sort of get the comment in the OP. If I practice beyond the point that I think is reasonable, it makes a massive difference with nerves. OTOH, I don't really get nervous just jamming or improvising.
The quality of professional musicianship has increased a lot too. There's a big oversupply problem (so, yes, that might be a highly skilled person playing for subway tokens).
re: 28
Double blind tests have shown that even concert violinists can't tell the difference between a Strad and a good modern violin, so I'd be surprised if anyone can really identify specific violins by ear [except with extensive playing of the specific instruments] without already knowing which.
33: They certainly look pretty, though.
I suspect 25 is a better and more subtle version of the porn / classical music joke I am trying to construct in response to 22.
I've been teaching a kind of OCD person to knit over the last couple of years (yes, years). I finally started making headway when I realized that she actually expected to be able to knit an entire item from beginning to end without making any mistakes at all along the way, and that was why she kept completely unraveling to the beginning whenever she spotted an error instead of bringing the item to me so I could help her fix whatever (usually extremely minor) mistake it was, no matter how many times I begged her not to do this. I found a book that had actual printed illustrations of common mistakes and how to fix them, at which point she finally believed me that making mistakes and then fixing them was actually part of knitting "correctly."
In retrospect I'm really sorry it took me so long to figure this out. How nerve-wracking it must have been for her to pick up the needles each time!
36: That's me! My mother wonders why I'm not making any progress on my knitting and it's because I have no idea how to fix the mistakes and have to bring her the item to get fixed. I guess I don't entirely believe that making mistakes is normal. It doesn't help my latest project involves regularly dropping huge amounts of stitches to make a very pretty pattern. But it fights against a lot of training.
I think it's totally stupid, because the reality is that tons of buskers sound like really good musicians to me. Being a good musician does not protect you from harsh financial realities. I went off on this enough to get my way on that particular essay question.
You are completely correct. I have strong opinions about this as well.
Speaking of buskers, I recommend this collection of NYC subway musicians, it's very well put together. Also, I love this video of Warren Zevon playing in a subway.
More seriously, she saw that audiences, professional and otherwise, expect and demand a recording-studio crystalline perfection now, in a generational shift from what was considered acceptable in, say, the mid-20th century.
I would, again, recommend Repeated Takes as an interesting book on that topic but will note that other people disagree.
To the OP: After I did debate for a couple of years I felt like it really increased my comfort with presenting and speaking in public. But I've learned that there's a limit to that comfort. I've had two separate instances of being in a high-stakes setting, doing a prepared talk, getting through the introduction, starting into content, relaxing a little bit and working to make eye contact, and then having my mind go completely blank at a transition point.
Both times I experienced a moment of completely panic, stopped, looked down at my notes, realized that what I wanted wasn't in the notes (because it was a transition rather than a central point), decided I just had to start talking again and trust that I could say something coherent -- and in both cases I did completely fine. The idea did come back to me once I had no choice but to remember it.
So I don't have any advice, but it was a very distinctive feeling and the second time it happened I thought, "I need to figure out how to avoid this." But I haven't had any high-stakes presentation since then.
37
Dude, buy this book!
It has big, clear illustrations in a spiral-bound format that lays flat hand-free while you work, and it's dirt cheap. If anything doesn't make immediate sense, use the terminology provided to search YouTube and you'll probably find several videos illustrating whatever it is.
I don't know enough about, say, classical piano or violin to identify certain types of mistake. Although I know which player's versions of pieces I like.
But with guitar, I'm a proficient enough classical player to spot almost everything. It's certainly true that the current crop of younger players are amazing. Flawless technique, but, and more importantly, they make the more technical pieces -- which the name players of the past made sound like tricky technical exercises -- sound like music, if that makes sense?
The current young concert players are so much better than the big names of the 20th century, up until the 90s or so, that it's stark.
Thanks, that looks really helpful.
I've played both classical and jazz piano, and in performance, the main struggle is to get each style to sound like music, as opposed to some stuff you heard somewhere else, and are now trying to reproduce.
I wouldn't like to perform classical these days: too much effort. My jazz gigs should take more effort, but let's be honest here. No one in most of these setting is there for more than the appearance of music anyway.
Don't get lost. Don't forget you're not Coltrane. Play the changes. Enjoy the free beer.
like one time where a guy accidentally rang the target's doorbell while setting a breaching charge
The SEAL equivalent of the flaming dogshit trick.
Anyway, huh, this is maybe the first thread directly relating to my professional life. Nattargrammat is right; standards have risen noticeably, even in just the last 20 years or so, as I've heard in hundreds of classical concerts over that time. Not only are obvious mistakes just not that common these days, the technical requirements for, say, winning an audition for a section position in a second- or third-tier orchestra are daunting. Compare string quartet recordings from 50 years ago and now, and the difference is amazing, even allowing for changes in recording technology. In live performance, the best string quartets today can be eerily perfect.
the four (!) Strads that I recently heard played in concert
Tokyo String Quartet?
40: Got any examples handy? Whenever people talk about this sort of thing, I'm always curious as to whether or not I can actually recognize the difference. (Most of the time I can't.)
I guess I don't entirely believe that making mistakes is normal.
By the time I'm done ripping and resizing and reknitting, I figure I've knitted everything I've ever made twice. I'm admittedly not the most meticulous person, but spend 5 minutes on Ravelry and you'll know that making mistakes is way more normal than not.
26: Don't knock the beta blockers.
43.last: I didn't realize that was one thing that distinguished that ensemble - if I'd been paying attention I could've rearranged last weekend so that instead of reading my book club's selection at the eleventh hour, I'd've been attending their local concert.
(Not because I can tell the difference - I've heard of and willingly believe the experiment ttaM cited in 33, and, above and beyond that, I'm sure I couldn't do it - but because as a rather simplistic listener I like to have some narrative/historical value-added.)
45: Oh, man, yeah. I just finished a maddening fairisle blanket -- I ripped out my first month's work on it because my floats were too tight and it was puckered, and spent a lot of time ripping out rows here and there later on. (And dropping stitches I'd knit in the wrong color to pick them up in the other color. I'm not sure you're allowed to do that, but it didn't seem to show too badly.)
47.2: I believe it too, but they do make a gorgeous sound, and here's your narrative/historical value-added: all four of those Strads come from Paganini's personal collection (the Paganini Quartet used to play them, hence the name, then they went to the Corcoran Gallery, then the Nippon Music Foundation bought them and loaned them to the Tokyo SQ). Bonus value-added: the viola inspired Paganini to ask Berlioz to compose something for him to show it off, and Berlioz responded with Harold in Italy.
This guy, of whom I can do a really hilarious impression to the not that many people who get the joke, is big on the idea that classical performances these days are *too* flawless and that there's a lot lost when scores are invariably performed absolutely note for note.
I don't really know enough to have an informed opinion, but I've noticed a difference when he's played two versions of the same work.
50: I wondered about that too, but I'm don't have the musical knowledge or ear to comment on that competently.
And dropping stitches I'd knit in the wrong color to pick them up in the other color. I'm not sure you're allowed to do that
Oh, yeah, you're totally allowed to do that. If you're wondering whether you may further take up the slack on floats that got too long after this operation by looping them over your needle and knitting them together with their neighbors on the next round, however, the answer is no (as I discovered just this morning).
Though I've been knitting 20+ years, I'm new to socks, and have had to start both of the pairs I'm working on twice each so far. It's taking me a while to figure out how the sizing works (and more importantly how to fudge it as I go along. I think I'm just going to switch to a smaller needle when I get to the ankles on this one pair and call the fuller top half "calf shaping," for example).
50: He has so many weirdo contrarian opinions, it's a wonder Slate hasn't hired him.
53: Oh, man, I'm driving myself nuts casting on a pair two at a time on a circular needle right now. I've done them toe up, which worked fine, but cuff down I'm tying myself in knots -- I've gotten tangled and had to rip out and restart three times already.. I have until my mother's birthday on April 15 to get them done, but I'm not a fast knitter at all.
Moderately on topic: I just received a hand-calligraphed gift card posing the following inspirational question: "What would you Attempt to do if you Knew you could not Fail?" I imagine this has come up before, but I do not have even the most minimally inspirational response to this question. Keep doing what I'm doing? Stop procrastinating? Stamp out malaria? The laundry? Build a seismically stable house in the hills?
Invent a dog that crapped pot.
/apo
Change the past to eliminate all my past failures too! They made me weaker and worse!
I've never tried to do a double-cast for socks before, because it sounds so much more difficult than making the socks one at a time. I can't imagine how I wouldn't get myself hopelessly confused.
With respect to getting the sizing right and shaping the calf, ribbing makes everything fit. (This only works if you make chunky socks out of worsted weight. I don't have the patience to knit socks out of fingering or sport.)
The hard part for me has always been making the heel gusset without leaving a little gap on either side. If anyone has ideas about preventing that, pls. advise.
jms, have you seen Grumperina's tutorial on the "pretty way" to pick up gusset stitches? It only works if you've been slipping every other row to get a chain selvedge, but I think that's the standard way of doing it. Otherwise, I just pick up an extra stitch and knit it together in the next round and let them sort themselves out in the wear. Obviously this is less obvious with sockweight yarn.
LB, I would 100% do the first ten rounds or so separately (whatever easy small number you can remember so you still get the benefit of having them the same size) and only connect then. It's like knitting flat before joining in the round to keep from twisting the cast-on stitches, a lazy way to avoid having to restart.
I haven't done this successfully, but a tip I've read is to pick up two more stitches than you're supposed to -- not right in the hole, but on each side of it. And then decrease them in the next row so you're back to the right number.
Can you wear worsted weight socks? I'd think you'd need shoes a size too big.
LB, I would 100% do the first ten rounds or so separately (whatever easy small number you can remember so you still get the benefit of having them the same size) and only connect then.
Oh good lord this is obvious and yet I would never have thought of it. Thanks -- I haven't crashed and burned on this attempt yet, but assuming I will, that should get me through the next time.
59
Yeah, the idea of knitting two socks at a time makes my head hurt, though I did finally force myself to learn how to do the magic loop thing, so in theory I could one day learn how to do this.
I'm using a sock pattern from an old INKnitters magazine where you do an M1 in the thread across the gap between the flap and the instep as you're picking up stitches along both sides of the heel flap, and then you knit them each together with the neighboring stitch of the instep on the next round. Looks non-gappy to me, but I haven't blocked and worn them yet.
63: I haven't done a lot of socks, but two of the three pair I've knitted before have been two at a time, and it's not hard at all once you're started. I thought I'd be accidentally knitting them together all the time, and it never happened.
I hate double-pointed needles, because I drop them. This wouldn't be so bad, but I mostly knit on the subway, and retrieval is maddening. Circulars don't go anywhere.
56
Moderately on topic: I just received a hand-calligraphed gift card posing the following inspirational question: "What would you Attempt to do if you Knew you could not Fail?" I imagine this has come up before, but I do not have even the most minimally inspirational response to this question.
Developing cold fusion. Playing the lottery. Having an affair with a supermodel. Writing a commercially successful novel. Running a marathon without putting all that boring, painful effort into training. Assassinating some really horrible dictators. Reforming America's system of government.
Wishing for more wishes.
Nice job, Cyrus. Did those answers inspire you to change your life.
I'm nervous at the beginning of an argument no matter how prepared I am. Weaknesses in my arguments don't particularly make me nervous because I (usually) have anticipated them and either figured out how to deal with them or figured out that there is nothing I can do about them.
re: 44
I don't have time to do it right now, but I'll happily post some links tomorrow morning (UK). I think I can rustle up some decent examples (guitar, anyway).
69: Yeah, I didn't so much mean weaknesses in my arguments as weaknesses in my prep. If I'm prepped to my own satisfaction, any weaknesses in the argument are just there to be dealt with.
Ah. Yeah, weaknesses in my prep make me a basket case: nerves laced with self-loathing.
73 comments in this thread and we haven't had a Viagra joke yet? Standards really are slipping around here.
Josh, if you didn't understand the comments in this thread to be cock jokes, you're really missing the point of the blog. But, really, you didn't miss that, did you? Even 3? And 32? And 73??
I had someone ask me if I get stage fright, and I really don't. I do get nervous before a performance, but it's usually around inviting people to see it, will they turn up, etc. than around how I'll do. I am horribly comfortable with imperfect performances, which may explain why I gravitate towards improv.
When I was a high school stage actor I was shit for remembering lines.
re: 44 / 70
Harder than I thought to find good stuff on youtube. The younger players I really like tend to play a different repertoire. Less of the early 20th century Spanish warhorses, and rather more mid-19th century stuff which the big 20th century players -- Bream, Segovia, Williams, et all -- tended not to play as much. I might have to make a mix instead, with audio rather than vids to make a direct comparison.
However, here's an example of a good young player playing Regondi's Intro and Caprice, which is about the hardest thing I've seen written down for guitar. The legato, the changes in tone and attack, the ability to sustain the melodic line over the background, the way the changes in position are completely seamless, etc. You don't really get that with John Williams, et al. And make no mistake, even the quiet intro section before the piece sounds obviously hard, is insanely difficult. It's a nice piece. You don't hear guitar music in that pianistic style that often.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD0g_cfyJlk
My fave version of this is Anabel Montesinos, but it isn't on youtube.
"What would you Attempt to do if you Knew you could not Fail?"
I'd stop preparing for class. I'd fly stand-by a lot more often. I'd budget much less for high-end groceries. Might as well lose the baby weight while I'm at it. Stop taking the cat to the vet when it's sick.
What would you Attempt to do if you Knew you could not Fail?"
Just thinking about this. I'm not sure I'd feel something at which there was no risk of failure would be worth doing.
I would probably (a) destroy the sun and then (b) install myself as an omnipotent deity.
This is a pretty good album about man's quest to destroy the sun.
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For those that were following the other thread, Blume's mom died this morning. Everybody's fine as far as these things go, but since she had shared the stuff about the hospice care with you guys we thought we'd tell the blog.
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I would try to have a lot more sex. A whole lot.
Shit, I'm sorry Sifu and Blume. I know it isn't easy.
I'm so sorry, Blume and Sifu. You guys are in my thoughts (and, to the extent it's of value to you, prayers).
I'm so sorry, Blume and Sifu. You guys are in my thoughts (and, to the extent it's of value to you, prayers).
So sorry, you two. Take care of yourselves.
I am very sorry to hear it. Losing a parent is like nothing else, I think. Doesn't matter if you were "prepared," in some sense, for it.
I will be sending good thoughts now and in the future.
Oh shit. Really sorry to hear that. Take care, Blume (and Sifu).
I genuinely can't imagine. I'm sorry, guys.
So sorry, guys. Thanks for sharing the news here. I'd been thinking of you and of Blume's mom.
My sympathies as well. It's a lousy club to join.
50: He has so many weirdo contrarian opinions, it's a wonder Slate hasn't hired him.
Kill yr Werktreue, dude. Taruskin's got your back.
I'm sorry, Blume. Take care of yourselves.
I'm so sorry. You have my condolences.
Deepest condolences to Blume and Sifu. 92.1 is very true in my experience.
How terrible. My thoughts are with you both.
I had someone ask me if I get stage fright, and I really don't. I do get nervous before a performance, but it's usually around inviting people to see it, will they turn up, etc. than around how I'll do. I am horribly comfortable with imperfect performances, which may explain why I gravitate towards improv.
k-sky, my brother.
Aw, Stanley, of course we'll come to your show.
My sympathies. I have the impression this has come sooner than might have been thought and of course the timing is bad, but then there's no such thing as a good time really.
Thanks, all. It doesn't seem like it would mean much, but it really is nice to read words of sympathy from so many of you.
As for the speed, well, my mom was in Stage IV of stomach cancer for close to two years - all the chemo was palliative, it just happened to to keep things at bay really well for a long time - so there was no chance of remission, and we knew that. She was just out east for a visit at the end of January, and went into a really fast decline the week after she got home. All in all, going from being able to walk the half mile from the subway with me to my apartment to dying in your sleep three weeks later is a pretty blessed way to go, when talking about cancer. But still, the decline was staggeringly fast, and it's very confusing to be both in shock at how fast it went and truly grateful for the things she and we the family were spared.
Among other things that could have happened, at some point this spring Blume won't be able to travel very well, and it would have been really painful if it had happened then.
Just noticed this thread. My condolences, Blume and Sifu.
Yeah, sorry, Blume and Sifu. Cancer really sucks.
Very sorry, Blume and Sifu. But good to hear, at least, that she avoided the cycle of hospital desperation treatment.
Deepest condolences, Blume and Sifu. That's terribly sad.
So sorry to hear that, Blume and Sifu. My condolences; I can hardly imagine what you're going through.
My sympathies, Blume and Sifu. Thinking of you.
I am very sorry to hear it. Losing a parent is like nothing else, I think. Doesn't matter if you were "prepared," in some sense, for it.
Yes, it changes you. So sorry, Blume.
Incidentally, I think 77 might be my most plausible answer to 56.
I only just saw this. Condolences to you both.