Survivor

20. May 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Links, Ramble, TV

I don’t watch Survivor. I saw part of an episode once and was simply confused about the whole thing and why anyone would enjoy it. But I don’t watch American Idol either. So I guess I just don’t get certain things that are popular. Because I’ve never been popular. Maybe that’s why I play oboe? But I just read this bio of one of the Survivor contestants:

Benjamin “Coach” Wade
Benjamin Wade is known by many names. As the head women?s soccer coach at the Southwest Baptist University in Missouri, he is called “Coach Wade,” but he also goes by “Maestro” due to role as an artistic director and conductor of a California symphony orchestra. A skilled musician, Benjamin was traveling the world playing the trumpet before most kids could even spell “trumpet”. To say that he is a Type A, Alpha male, who likes to control the environment around him, may just be an understatement. Coach’s dominant personality will be a force to be reckoned with in the game.

So of course this got me thinking. Greg Sandow has blogged about Classical Idol. And sure, why not?

But how about “Classical Survivor” too? Let’s see … so many possibilities. Use your imagination! Leave comments. Let’s get this show rolling!

Meanwhile, I just hope there aren’t any professional musicians on the island (they do this stuff on an island, right?) out to get a conductor, or Benjamin “Coach” Wade is in deep trouble!

Frasier @ the Opera

03. April 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: TV

Martin: Is she here yet?
Frasier: No, not yet. That’s her box over there, the empty one.
Martin: Well, I’m not going to sit through a whole opera for some woman who’s not even here.
Frasier: Oh, for God’s sake, Dad, give it a chance. You might actually learn to like it if you’d listen to one.
Martin: Hey, your mother dragged to me a lot of these things when we were dating and they were all stupid. These stories make no sense whatsoever.
Frasier: Oh, that is not true!
Martin: Oh, all right, what’s this one about?
Frasier: Well, it’s about Rigoletto, the hunchbacked jester in the court of the Duke. He has a daughter, Gilda, who’s secretly living with him. But everyone thinks that she’s his mistress. In this opening scene, Rigoletto mocks the Duke’s enemy, who puts a curse on him.
Martin: A cursed hunchback dating his daughter – well, nothing screwy so far!
Frasier: He is not dating his daughter! Gilda is being courted by the Duke, who is disguised as a humble student.
Martin: You see, that’s what I mean. The whole thing’s so unrealistic. Everybody’s in love, pretending to be somebody they’re not.

Final Episode of ER

02. April 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: TV

Yeah, I’m watching it. I haven’t watched this show in years, but it’s the last one, and what’s a girl gonna do? So the line of the evening so far is

“hallucinating trombone player in sutures needs a tox screen and a psych consult”

I’m not sure I got the “in sutures” thing right; does that make sense, you medical people? T.?

But hey … what trombone player doesn’t need a psych consult, huh?

TV QOD

28. February 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Quotes, TV

It’s something losers put online so everyone can read.

-definition of “blog” by a character on NCIS

And Today?

12. February 2009 · 14 comments · Categories: Links, Ramble, Reeds, TV

Yesterday I shaped cane and wound some reeds. Carving on these, the cane felt “just right”. I don’t know how to explain this to you, but I like to say the can is “like butter” in that the knife just seems to take cane off in a smooth way. It doesn’t feel too hard. But it also doesn’t feel squishy soft.

I played a couple of them during lessons, and while they weren’t great, they showed potential. (I rarely play my good reeds during my students’ lessons; it’s a great time to start up new reeds, my students get to hear me at my “new reed state” which I think might help them understand that we all go through the reed issues. And, mostly, I’m too worried about wearing out the reeds I like the most which I prefer to save for performances. Of course this probably means my students think I’m quite a hack!) So after lessons they get to sit on my shelf and think about life. Do they really want to live? Do they want to please me? Only time will tell.

Today I’ll sit down, shape more cane, wind a few more reeds, and see what yesterday’s reeds are thinking as of today. I do know that this wet weather makes reed making a bit more pleasant. The extremely cold dry weather we were having isn’t my cuppa … nor is it my reeds’.

Meanwhile I’m having my latté and listening to the “album” that Brandon is on. (Isn’t it odd that this is called an album? We need a new word, don’t you think? It’s not an album. It’s not a disk. Hmm.) Some folks are grumping because you have to purchase the entire “album”. Whatever. My kid is on it, so I purchased it. (But I won’t leave a comment … wouldn’t want to get labeled a “shill” … a word I just learned, believe it or not.) If you aren’t on emusic, or if you aren’t into downloading an entire album, but are curious about what an oboe player’s son might do musically (nothing at all like what I do, btw), you can always check out his free tracks at Altair Nouveau. (And yeah, that’s a sketch he drew of himself.)

Yeah, I’m a proud mama. Deal.

And just one more thing…
Yes, I watched Top Chef last night. Maybe I like it partly because it’s sort of like auditions; each week the chefs are (supposed to be) judged purely on that particular meal/assignment. (I actually think they do take other things into consideration, but I’m only guessing.) Even while some of the chefs annoy me, I hate seeing them get dismissed, for the most part. I’ve not done a whole lot of auditions, but I’ve been hired to do jobs and, a few years later, get taken off the list. I know how it is to put one’s self out there and give it all you’ve got and later be told, “Not good enough.” Kinda hurts. Big time.

Top Chef

11. February 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Ramble, TV

I’m a Top Chef fan. Yeah. Really. (Sorry to disappoint some of you who think I only listen to Mozart, practice my instruments, and work on reeds all day and night.) When a chef is given the news that he or she is out of the competition the line is, “[Name of competitor], please pack your knives and go.”

It hit me tonight … a conductor just might say that to me at a rehearsal some day. Hmmm. I do hope that never happens. But really, can’t you just hear it?

“Patty Mitchell, please pack your knives and go.”

At least I’m now somewhat prepared for the line. And it does have a certain ring to it for some reason.

A TV Advertisement Line I See & Hear Daily

04. February 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: TV

She’s a happy homemaker from Sunnyvale who plays the oboe. Welcome, Courtney Mortimer!

I crack up nearly every time I hear this. Too funny. I think the ad is for the lottery here in California, but I’ll have to hear it again to verify that.

Sunnyvale isn’t that far away from us. I looked up the woman’s name thinking maybe she was even real. I’m that gullible. No luck finding anyone with the name, though.

Parents

09. January 2009 · 3 comments · Categories: TV

More from the show, Beyond the Practice Room which I’m still watching …

Seeing a mom … first words out of her mouth after a performance? She told her son he played wrong notes at the end.

Sigh.

I really encourage parents to be encouraging. I really despise the parents who are harsh. It makes me sad. I like parents who get their children to practice. I don’t care for parents who say discouraging things in front of me about their children. That makes me sad, too.

But ah, parents! We teachers rely on them in some ways. And hope they don’t do harm. Which is, I suspect, exactly how they feel about teachers!

Well, You show me a really fine talent that succeeds, and I’ll show you an ambitious parent. There’s gotta be something because otherwise, no sane child is going to spend eight or nine hours daily … it just can’t be.

Q: As an educator do you discourage or encourage that?

I tell people that anybody who says they love to practice is either a little bit stupid or lying.

I can’t remember the name of the woman talking about, but she was a child prodigy. The one who practiced all day, with a break for meals, English class, and a walk. She has some good things to say. I’ve decided to record the rebroadcast of this so I can watch this again.

“I love to watch them. I love to look at the choice of repertoire. And I learn. It’s so much fun. It makes me feel so young.”

-again, by the woman I quoted above, an 80 year old, former child prodigy.

Young Artists

09. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Links, Ramble, TV

We’ve all played badly. We’ve all played well. There are times when we played well and gotten terrible reviews. Times when we’ve played terribly and are ready to commit suicide and discovered everybody liked it.

The quote above is from a juror at a piano competition, explaining that all the jurors have “been there, done that”.

I am watching Beyond the Practice Room, on KCSM, which is about a competition in New York for young (ages 14-18) pianists. Terribly fun to watch. Humbling, of course.

Earlier today I was watching something on YouTube (I can’t even remember what now) and thinking about how incredible some musicians are, and how much time has gone into training for these musicians. Hearing that one of the jurors in the movie, when she was young, practiced all day long (with breaks for eating, a walk, and an English lesson).

If you want to record it, it’s on KCSM again at 2:00 AM on January 11.

Man, I love hearing the artists’ talk about their performances: “It was okay.” “It could have been worse.” It was better than I feared and not as good as I hoped.” “My hands were numb.”

Geesh … one young man’s father stayed up all night, playing classical music for the children while they slept, having heard that classical music is good for learning. Okay, then.

I must say, I’m simply amazed by pianists.

We oboists? We. Play. One. Note. At. A. Time.

But even without that … these kids are just miles beyond me.

I surrender.

Last Year was Oboe. This Year is Yo-Yo.

07. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: News, TV

You all saw the great oboe ad last year. I doubt we’ll get a second showing, but we can hold on to hope, yes? Meanwhile:

Hyundai Motor Co. will use music by famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma in a Super Bowl XLIII television commercial that consumers can re-edit online, Billboard has learned.

Classical music fans aren’t the most obvious target for a National Football League telecast or an ad campaign with an online video editing component. But advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which produced the Hyundai spot, said it expects the ad to resonate with many of those watching the game. Last year’s game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots drew a record 97.5 million viewers.

“I think the people that will respond to the Yo-Yo Ma piece when watching the Super Bowl won’t necessarily be classical music fans,” Goodby, Silverstein & Partners creative director Jim Elliot said. “Within the context of all the other advertising, which can be so chaotic that it almost becomes white noise, a quiet, gorgeous solo cello moment can be very arresting.”

A track from Ma’s 2002 “Bach’s Cello Suites Nos. 1, 5 & 6″ (Sony Classical) will be heard in the spot for Hyundai’s Genesis sedan. The campaign will also allow consumers to visit the Hyundai Web site to edit the ad’s video and possibly the music heard in the spot. “Goodby was given free rein to take tracks off of the album,” Sony BMG Music Entertainment vice president of music licensing Kenny Ochoa said.

The Ma spot will mark Hyundai’s third advertising appearance at the Super Bowl, which won’t feature any ads this year from financially imperiled General Motors, a longtime Super Bowl advertiser.

“Some of this pullback offers a way to get clear space for our message,” Hyundai Motor America vice president of marketing Joel Ewanick said. “We see it is an opportunity, not as a time to retrench.”

Read here.

When Is A Duck Not A Bassoon?

21. October 2008 · 2 comments · Categories: TV

Patrick Jane: Peter and the Wolf. Is the duck a flute or bassoon? I can’t remember.

Jennifer Sands: A bassoon, I think.

Just heard on The Mentalist. (Yeah, I’m watching that. Sorry to disappoint you.) Now we’ll see if the answer has anything to do with solving the crime. (Can’t imagine you can expect a concert goer to know the answer necessarily.)

HAHAHAHAHA

If only you’d told me the duck was played by an oboe.

That DID solve the case. And she was expected to know that, if she really had gone to the concert. I have to say that’s one poor case, because I can’t tell you how many people go to concerts and think they’ve heard an oboe when they’ve heard something else. Even if they tell you it’s an oboe, how many people who don’t normally attend concerts remember the names of instruments? AND, wouldn’t her daughter have said, “We didn’t go to that concert,” if she was asked. Geesh. That’s it. Failure of show.

All because it was the oboe.

Charlie Rose & Opera …?

20. September 2008 · Comments Off · Categories: Links, TV

Charlie Rose had something on with Peter Gelb today, I guess (?). I just landed there, due to comments about opera. The video isn’t up yet, but perhaps it will be soon, and then maybe this link will take you to it. Time will tell. But here is the comment that I was alerted to:

Unlike many opera is wasted on me. Nonetheless, inasmuch as they seem to gravitate to the melodramatic I might be drawn to one on Armeggeddon. (A sequel to Dr. Atomic?) It’s inevitability (doomsday fits my outlook) would add a gravitas that opera seems to feed on.

Just sharing. I’m nice that way. (And I’m just home from Eugene Onegin. So there’s that.)

Spark: Bonesetter’s Daughter

16. September 2008 · Comments Off · Categories: Opera, TV

I’m not able to watch this, but this Wednesday’s Spark episode includes Bonesetter’s Daughter. Read about it here.

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