Still Here...kind of

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 05:30 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Almost didn't make it to my knee injection appointment today - due to a horrible bout of vertigo last night. It kept me awake most of the night - mainly because I could not lie down. I slept sitting up in my arm chair for about two hours, then around 3 AM, woke up with my knee hurting, so attempted them bed again. Finally, managed to lie down with my head supported by multiple pillows and kind of sprawled, with a pillow supporting my knee.

This morning, it had abated enough for me to eat breakfast (poached eggs, greens), take meds, and hi-tail it to the knee injection appointment. I worried about getting to the knee injection appointment all night long.
I managed to get to and from the appointment, before the next wave of dizziness hit me. I've suffered waves of it off and on all day long. Read more... )

So. Not a happy camper at the moment. More a sick puppy who wants to curl into a hole.

Let's see the vertigo has been off and on this year since roughly February. Read more... )

***

Vox Machina has one of the best slow burn romances that I've seen - they develop it well, and it's friends to lovers, which is among my favs. Read more... )

It's become my new comfort show/obsession. Read more... )

***

Question a Day Meme - June

15. When was the last time you laughed out loud?

Sometime this week - watching Vox Machina or talking to mother. We laugh a lot on our phone calls. Also at work, the other day, talking to cubicle aisle mate, who shares my sense of humor. (I've a very dry sardonic wit like my Dad, not everyone gets it. And I like to make fun of things that irritate me or I consider absurd.)

16. Do you still use paperclips?

Sometimes? Rarely? I used to use them all the time at work - but we've moved into doing everything electronically, so I don't tend to use them any longer. I can't remember the last time I used one? I think in 2024?

17. How active have you been over the year so far?

I walk a lot, do a lot of knee exercises, arm exercises, and climb steps - all out of necessity. Can't really do much else at the moment.

18. How do you feel about Artificial Intelligence?

I think it's fine for certain rudimentary tasks - like data processing, accumulation of data, rudimentary data analysis, dictation (I love it for dictation - let it take notes. Doctors are using it now for that. And I wish I had access to it when I was in law school. I'm horrible at taking notes. Also letting it take notes, means the doctor isn't spending all their time taking notes or inputting stuff into a computer.), lab data collection, collection of hazardous data, and creating spreadsheets, charts, and providing an analysis across the large range of data.

I don't think it should be used for most critical thinking task. And not for the arts, unless it's special effects or to expedite sound and film editing. There's a use for it. We just should restrict or limit it? AI shouldn't be used for artistic expression - kind of goes against the whole point of artistic expression? I'd prefer they not use AI for animation, digital arts, and film/television acting, but they will. YMMV

Note? The data centers they showed on Good Morning America - Thursday Morning, and it reminded me of the large computer data centers utilized in the 1950s-1990s. It's not like large data processing centers never existed before - they did. We even have 1950s and 60s films depicting them. (The Desk Set, War Games, Tron, among others).

19. Have you ever had a pedicure?

Yes. I don't do them any longer - because I always get toe nail fungus.
Also my toenails do not need to be tougher or longer than they already are, or painted. They look fine.

I'm not into bling? The appeal of bling is kind of wasted on me?
beatrice_otter: Cartoon Obi-Wan and Yoda: The thing is, there were just no warning signs. (Warning Signs)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
The Naboo royalty is one of the most fascinating bits of the worldbuilding the Prequel Trilogy gives us, because it's so weird. And people don't really ... grapple with that very much, even in fic, but tend to take it for granted. We have an elected monarch (and why give an elected official a hereditary title?!?) who wears elaborate ceremonial robes and elaborate ceremonial makeup that literally nobody else in their society wears. This person has a reign name that is not the name they grew up with, and which they will keep as their primary professional name even after they are no longer monarch. And even their personal name seems to have changed. (There are two choices--either all the handmaiden's names were changed to match Padmé, or all of them including Padmé changed their names.)

This elected monarch is surrounded by body doubles/bodyguards who are not only good at fighting and can pass for the monarch in a pinch but who can also be the one making decisions and treated as the monarch in important diplomatic situations. Yes, sure, the reveal of the Real Padmé when dealing with the Gungans is cool, but why the fuck is the decoy the one leading the negotiations. Like. If Sabé-wearing-Padmé's-clothes-and-makeup had negotiated a treaty and signed it, would that treaty still be legally binding even though Sabé isn't Padmé? It sure seems so! Why didn't they swap Padmé back into the lead for the negotiations, and then back out for safety when the negotiations conclude?

This group of body doubles/bodyguards have personal names that are changed to match the monarch's personal name (and there's a good chance that the monarch's personal name is also changed to match theirs--to the best of my knowledge, Padmé and her handmaidens are the only Nabooians we see with names that end in "é". This group continues on for the rest of the monarch's life, including recruiting new members who change their names to match when they join. This group is separate from the regular security.

All of this does not smell political to me, especially when you see the difference with every other Nabooian political role. It smells religious.

Which is why my headcanon is that until fairly recently the monarch of Naboo was not, actually, the political ruler ... but rather the religious ruler. Consider Japan, where the "emperors" have been mostly religious leaders (head of Shintoism, descendant of the god Amaterasu) and had very little political power for most of history.

Sometime in the not-too-distant-past, the monarchs of Naboo had a role that was mostly religious and ceremonial. It was probably at least sort of a group role--not just one person, but a cadre of a leader and their attendants, who all had ceremonial parts to play that were to some degree interchangeable. Being part of this cadre was prestigious, and probably meant agreeing/vowing to serve the priorities of the leader for life, so that it shouldn't matter which person is actually wearing the ceremonial makeup at any given time. There was no age limit on this role, but it does require giving up parts of your identity or subsuming them into the role; this is often easier for young people who are still forming their identity, so you get a stronger cadre if you elect them relatively young and then they grow up together.

What, exactly, the religious duties of this "monarch" are I haven't thought up, and depending on the needs of the story you could go a lot of different ways. Are they an arbiter of theology, in the Christian vein? Are they a representative of the god(s)? Do they give oracles? Is it mostly about seeing that the proper ceremonies and rites are observed, and running the priesthood?

At any rate, while this was going on, there was originally some other sort of political leadership on Naboo. There were religious leaders, and there were political leaders, and the monarch was the religious leader not the political. You could have the secular leaders be a sort of shogun, or a President, or something.

And then, somewhere along the line, the secular/political structure collapsed, and the only leadership still in place was the monarch, who sort of ... appropriated the powers of the political leadership and joined them into the existing role. (This is basically what happened in Europe with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, btw; in most places the local bishops and the local churches were the only bit of the Roman bureaucracy left standing, so they sort of found themselves holding the bag.)

By the time Padmé was elected, the political/secular aspects of the role were the primary ones; certainly, we never see any sign of any religious duties except possibly that white makeup that nobody else wears.

And that would explain just about all the weird stuff quite nicely.
Tags:

Fragmented Friday

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 05:33 pm
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

This morning, some of us slept in:

#

Friday. Juneteenth, I'm told.

640ish new words written, bringing the total words to 10,700ish.

Stopping for lunch. Rook and Tali helped me do my PT homework, and Firefly oversaw the writing part of the morning. My duty to the cats has been performed, and now I need to eat lunch and go outside with my chair for half an hour and weed.

Speaking of the new meds -- my blood pressure dropped 30 points overnight (taking it from Scary High into the vicinity of what I consider to be Normalish) and I don't know whether to be impressed or horrified. That's some quick work, if it isn't a fluke. I guess we'll see.

How's everybody doing?
#
Today's Done-To List:
1 Wrote 670ish words
2 PT exercises
3 Duty to Cats
4 Walk
5 Cooked and ate lunch
6 Weeded side of garage
7 Worked on "lesson plan" for the characterization course
8 Washed dishes
9 Read 20 pages of book club book (Sourdough)
10 Updated FB

Still to-do
1 Answer a couple of notes
2 Feed cats
3 Compile blog entries and post
4 Serve Tali Happy Hour right now (ahem)


Pro Photo Annual Visit

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 02:30 pm
lovelyangel: (Mamimi Camera 2)
[personal profile] lovelyangel
Sony RX100 VII and two camera pouches
Sony RX100 VII and two camera pouches
Nikon Z6 • NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8

Yesterday when I was ordering hard disk drives from B&H Photo/Video I wondered if there was anything else I needed to add to the order. I knew that I needed a compact camera case, but taking measurements, estimating volumes and bulk, and doing it all online would be a pain. I decided the best thing to do, first, was visit Pro Photo Supply. It was time for my annual visit anyway.

Photogeek Stuff )

June Manga TBR 14

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 04:16 pm
bluapapilio: Lil Black Cats & Ghost from LINE stickers (lil black cat + book)
[personal profile] bluapapilio
Used my manga TBR boardgame. I finished 12/14, DNF'ing one and dropping one, on my last challenge.

Avatar:

Eroica
Skill:
Re-roll dice once


Roll #1:

A 1, prompt: comedy fantasy - Vampire Library.

Roll #2:

A 3, Double Prompts. Manga by a woman that got an anime + secret identity - Blue Exorcist.

Roll #3:

A 6, prompt: a oneshot - DT no Furi Shite Batsuichi Papa Kouryaku.

Roll #4:

A 5, Double Prompts again. Highest rated on TBR based on a novel + adventure romance - Akuyaku Reijou no Naka no Hito.

Roll #5:

Another 5, published between '10-'15 - Sankaku Mado no Sotogawa wa Yoru.

Roll #6:

A 2 and the TBR tile. 24x28 - Hanauta Apartment.

Roll #7:

A 2 and Double Prompts yet again. Historical adventure + supernatural fantasy - Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Roll #8:

A 6 aand the trap tile. Prompt: Animal/non-human companion - Witch Hat Atelier.

Roll #9:

Went back and rolled a 1, prompt: three/moresome - Bed Jou wa Muhou Chitai ni Tsuki.

Roll #10:

A 5 and Double Prompts demons/youkai + sword & sorcery. I don't know how I feel about starting a new long series buut Kanata Kara.

Roll #11:

A 1, prompt: action/mystery - Silver Diamond.

Roll #12:

A 1, CR tile. 4x34 - Tower of God. Uh, hope I remember stuff.

Roll #13:

A 3, prompt: mystery fantasy - Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei.

Roll #14:

A 3, prompt: mystery element - Detective Conan.

Roll #15:

A 1 and Double Prompts...yet again. Prompts: title starts with the first letter of your name + tsundere character - Kawaii Hito.

Roll #16:

A 3, prompt: supernatural drama - GACHIAKUTA.

Roll #17:

A 2 and the CR tile. 3x6 is - My Food Looks Very Cute.

Roll #18:

Another 2 and the end, reward is - Love on Hold


~Manga TBR List~


[Fantasy] Vampire Library ✔️
[Fantasy] Blue Exorcist
[BL/Smut] DT no Furi Shite Batsuichi Papa Kouryaku
[Fantasy] Akuyaku Reijou no Naka no Hito:
[BL/Horror] Sankaku Mado no Sotogawa wa Yoru
[BL/Romance] Hanauta Apartment
[Action/Supernatural] Kimetsu no Yaiba
[Fantasy] Witch Hat Atelier
[BL/Smut] Bed Jou wa Muhou Chitai ni Tsuki
[Isekai/Romance] Kanata Kara
[Fantasy] Silver Diamond
[Fantasy] Tower of God
[GL/Fantasy] Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei
[Mystery] Detective Conan
[BL/Romance] Kawaii Hito
[Action/Fantasy] GACHIAKUTA
[GL/Fantasy] My Food Looks Very Cute
[BL/Romance] Love on Hold

x4 shoujo/josei, x6 shounen/seinen, x6 BL, x2 GL

Crossworks sign-up letter!

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 11:50 am
gelliaclodiana: (crossovers! yay!)
[personal profile] gelliaclodiana
In my new life, apparently I write letters for exchanges other than Yuletide.

[community profile] crossworks is one of my favorite exchanges, because I love crossovers so much; the thing I love most about them is seeing characters from different canons interact in ways that shed light on who they are, even if they themselves are not aware of the parallels or contrasts between them. What happens when they meet? Does it change one of their worlds? Do they hook up? Do they hate each other? Do they save the world together? I am in fact a sucker for dramatic irony! This is why I usually request crossovers rather than fusions -- because I want the characters from the different canons to meet each other -- but as far as making the crossover work you are welcome to pretend that the two universes have always been the same, or smush them together oddly, or make a wormhole, or just handwave the whole problem.

I love both gen and crossover-pairing stories, and I absolutely think "it would be hot" is a good enough reason for any crossover. I like f/f, m/m and f/m and strongly prefer pairings where the characters interact as equals.

General likes: egalitarian relationships; competence; fish-out-of-water moments; bittersweet endings; dramatic irony, canon-divergence AUs; complicated villains; adventures and heists; saving the world

DNW: D/s and related dynamics including omegaverse and petplay; anal sex; harm to children; noncon; non-canon-setting AUs; explicit content for characters under 17; MCD for requested characters; threesomes or moresomes.
I have some canon-specific DNWs which are in the notes for the specific request.

The Regency, and maybe magic )

The Regency and also Time Travel )

we do bones or maybe wraiths )

Romans in Space )

politics, economies, empires, loyalties )
Tags:

HELL, FRIEND

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 08:32 pm
[syndicated profile] thebloggess_feed

Posted by thebloggess

First off all, apologies if you are signed up for my art substack where I send you a letter each week, because once again I sent off a letter that I thought started with “Hello, friend” but instead wrote, “HELL, FRIEND.” In my defense I have been very sick with a summer cold and alsoContinue reading "HELL, FRIEND"

June Manga Wrap-Up 13

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 03:33 pm
bluapapilio: Draluc from The Vampire Dies in No Time (Draluc reading)
[personal profile] bluapapilio
 


 Read ch. 9 of Time Traveled To Meet You.

 Read ch. 13 of Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei.

 Read ch. 23+omake of Witch Hat Atelier!

 Read ch. 16 of One Punch Man.

 Read Kesshoku Impulse, rated it 3/5 stars.

 Read ch. 17 of Sankaku Mado no Sotogawa wa Yoru.

 Read ch. 29 of The Gamer.

 Read ch. 10 of Silver Diamond!

 DNF'ed Harukawa-kun to Yuki-sensei no Fudanshi Jijou., too fast moving. Also dropped Shachou to Hisho, Ai no Shoumei.

 Read ep. 10 of Lady Crystal is a Man.

 Read ch. 6 of Love on Hold.

 Read ch. 188 of Wind Breaker!

 Read ch. 8 of Kagurabachi

Suffolk Place Names.

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 07:41 pm
[syndicated profile] languagehat_feed

Posted by languagehat

I know some of you will complain that this site is amateurish and doesn’t use IPA, but I don’t care — I’m a sucker for these things (North Carolina, Colorado, Wyoming, UK), and I can’t resist passing them along. So herewith please find Pronunciation of Suffolk place names; some particularly unexpected or entertaining ones:

Alpheton is Al-fee-t’n, with the stress on the middle syllable.
Athelington can be Al-ing-t’n, but most Suffolkers call it Ath-ling-t’n.
Bramfield is Bram-feeld and Brampton is Bram-pt’n, but Bramford is Brar-m-f’d!
Bures is Bew-ers, but Suffolkers tend to call it Boo-ers.
Chelmondiston is as it looks, but the stress is on the third syllable.
Cowlinge is Koo-linj
Halesworth is as it looks, but becomes Harls-w’th in the local accent!
Heveningham can be Henning’m, but is more often Hay-v’ning’m or Hev-ning’m
Hoxne is Hox-un, rhyming with oxen.
Monewden is Mon-a-d’n
Onehouse is as it looks, but locals call it Wun-uss!
Saxmundham is Sax-mund’m, but, unusually, the stress is on the second syllable.
Thorpe Morieux is Thorp M’roo
Wissington can be Wiss-t’n, more commonly Wissing-t’n these days.

Note to Yanks: The “r” is a lie — for “ar” read “ah.”

Friday Videos Pop Up!

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 07:04 pm
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

An image of a VHS cassette with a label that reads FRIDAY VIDEOS Smart Bitches Ep. 21 against a pink crosshatch backgroundToday on Friday Videos, we’re celebrating a program that should still be on the air, except that we don’t have music videos anymore, so maybe not.

Remember Pop Up Video from VH1?

I sure do. I could watch for hours. I love behind the scenes stuff. Like, SO much.

So here are a few faves:

You Gotta Be” by Des-ree:

The sign language interpretation of the dance moves. Who wrote these?


There are a few compilations on YouTube, and one person uploaded a DVD that’s over an hour of videos hosted by the creators of the show. I was looking for this video and am so thankful that JB Strawberry uploaded this DVD.

She Works Hard for the Money” by Donna Summer – one of my earliest favorite songs.

And I also now know the answer to who wrote these – they’re in the DVD!


I’ve definitely seen this one several times – it’s how I learned that Paula Abdul was the choreographer and in the video:

Nasty” by Janet Jackson

My favorite Janet album is always Rhythm Nation 1814, which is still relevant today, in a very chilling way. Especially the interstitials.


Tina Turner? Hell, yes, Tina Turner – she was in episode one with “I Ain’t Missing You at All“!


And of course, Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” which I definitely remember seeing hundreds of times:

(That’s Jewel; Mariah is later in the episode but the video should start playing at the right moment. I skipped all of Meat Loaf. You’re welcome!)

know I saw a Pop Up Video of Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy is Mine,” but I can’t seem to find it online. I’m pretty sure it was from the show that I learned that the gemstone on Monica’s forehead was real, and allegedly the two singers’ stylists were trying to one-up each other on set with their respective clients.

Here’s an entire playlist if you’d like to pop your way into the weekend!

And I found several more on the Lost Media Wiki, which is going to consume so much of my time now. I appreciate the confirmation from the wiki that “The Boy is Mine” pop up video is indeed lost.

Friday Videos hope your weekend really pops!

Thirteen Icons from Encanto

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 02:22 pm
itsnotmymind: (billy kaplan)
[personal profile] itsnotmymind posting in [community profile] fandom_icons
Icons from the movie Encanto:

EncantoLuisa001 EncantoAbuela026 EncantoDolores005

The rest here.
Tags:

Encanto Icons

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 02:17 pm
itsnotmymind: (katara)
[personal profile] itsnotmymind
13 icons from the movie Encanto.

I love this family. We all love this family. )
Tags:

LBCF: A Very Bad reporter

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 06:09 pm
[syndicated profile] slacktivist_feed

Posted by Fred Clark

Ace investigative journalist Buck Williams has a second interview confirming the existence of a shadowy international conspiracy. Buck helps to make sure that story never gets published. This is our "hero."

Ring Reviews: Ring (1991)

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 06:18 pm
sonofgodzilla: shushutorian vol. 1 (rewind)
[personal profile] sonofgodzilla
Last week, and with much excitement, I read Digital Devil Story - Megami Tensei, a 1987 novel by Nishitani Aya. The later anime OVA adaptations, released the same year, left a deep impression when younger. I've mentioned this before, but I am embarrassed to relate that this and the The Dark Myth (1990), and Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation (1995) constitute my first exposure to the themes and mythology of Shinto religion. To this day, the story of Izanagi and Izanami is something that unsettles, and perhaps this is because I'm English and I'm clearly reading that story in the same way that I would any of the Greek myths that involve descent and rebirth—from Persephone to Orpheus and back again—but there is something special and haunting to me about the landscape of Shinto's oldest stories. Anyway, all of this is to say, that with much excitement I read Nishitani's original novel... and found it full of stilted prose and unlikeable characters.

Context: the only translation is a fan translation, and I genuinely don't want to belittle the work that went into translating this and the books that followed. Rather, the issue, I assume, is that the sharpness of Nishitani's original prose comes across as very dry in English, something that isn't unique just to this work. As for the characters being unlikeable, main character Nakajima Akemi is equally shitty in adaptation, the difference being that the story in animation is allowed to be a lot more vivid in atmosphere than the prose of the novel allows.

Whilst I was reading the book, I mentioned it a few times in conversation to [personal profile] shadowhenshin, who replied with the idea that between this and Ring, "Japanese artists were sort of reconciling with the modern age by asking how these emerging technologies could possibly cohabitate with traditions of the past." I took that as my cue to re-read Ring by Suzuki Koji, and thus:

September 5, 1990, 10:49 pm, Yokohama )

Dao De Jing, chapter 30

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 11:53 am
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
[personal profile] lnhammer
He who assists a lord of men using the Way
Doesn’t use soldiers to control the realm.
Such actions surely [get] their proper return.
Where troops reside, thorns and brambles sprout;
After a great army, there certainly are bad [i.e., famine] years.[29-1]
The skillful achieves [his goal] then stops,
And doesn’t dare attempt control.
He achieves and then isn’t vain,
Achieves and then doesn’t boast,
Achieves and then isn’t arrogant,
Achieves and then doesn’t covet things,
Achieves and then doesn’t control.[29-2]
Creatures that get strong then get old:
This we call not [using] the Way,
And [those] not [using] the Way soon end.

[29-1] Other texts omit this line.
[29-2] One other text has “This we call achieving without control” and another text as “This we call achieving with control” — my guess is the latter's scribe dropped a “not”

以道佐人主者,
不以兵强天下。
其事好还。
师之所处,荆棘生焉。
大军之后,必有凶年。
善有果而已,
不敢以取强。
果而勿矜,
果而勿伐,
果而勿骄。
果而不得已,
果而勿强。
物壮则老,
是谓不道,
不道早已。

Continues the topic of chapter 29. Same realm/kingdom/world = “[all] under heaven” as in ch.29. The skillful one is traditionally understood as a commander/general.

Admin note: I’ve gone back and consistently retranslated 万物 previously “ten-thousand things” as “myriad creatures.”

---L.

2026 52 Card Project: Week 24: Celebration

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 01:04 pm
pegkerr: (Default)
[personal profile] pegkerr
As I mentioned in my last post, my granddaughter M's first birthday was this past week. Fiona and Alona decided to combine the celebration for Alona's Master's degree and the change in Fiona's career, along with M's birthday, into one big party.

We were incredibly lucky on the weather: after several weeks of miserable humid heat with poor air quality, the day dawned with comfortable air temperatures and beautiful clarity. The view over the lake was gorgeous. A large circle of friends and family had been invited out to my sister Betsy's beautiful home in Mound on Lake Minnetonka, and 75 people RSVP'd yes.

We had a truly lovely afternoon. There were a number of children, and they enjoyed themselves romping in the sun, playing lawn games, and dancing through the bubbles thrown off by the bubble machine. We had Middle Eastern food catered in as well as nibblies and desserts. Betsy had set tables out on the lawn, and I was included in many lively conversations. It was great to catch up with everyone. M has several great-grandparents, and they all gathered in Adirondack chairs on the lawn overlooking the lake to visit and pass babies around.

M had her own smash cake to taste and destroy, a definite highlight of the event. She was extremely happy all day.

A wonderful day.

M is just on the verge of walking, and whoa, her parents' lives will soon be changing accordingly.

Bottom left corner, Fiona and Delia sit at a table at a party, smiling. Behind them is a table spread with party food. Bottom right corner: a collection of gift bags. Center: white sheet cake with the message "Congratulations on it all!" Above that: Fiona and Alona smile at the camera. Between their heads at the top: a baby's hands smush into a yellow cake.

Celebration

24 Celebration

Click on the links to see the 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

MTT memorial, pt 1

Fri, Jun. 19th, 2026 10:48 am
calimac: (Haydn)
[personal profile] calimac
(pt 1? Yes, pt 2 is coming along in a couple of days)

Regular San Francisco Symphony guest conductor James Gaffigan was scheduled to lead Beethoven's Ninth this week. After former music director Michael Tilson Thomas died two months ago, management decided to repurpose this concert as a memorial to him.

This was appropriate, as the Ninth was a signature work for MTT. He performed it in his inaugural concert as music director in 1995, and I heard him conduct it at least twice - when he recorded it in 2013, and in the last concert by him I ever heard, in 2023.

To the Ninth - which was originally scheduled as the whole concert - management added new material as a first half. It began with brief appreciation/reminiscences by representatives of the orchestra, the chorus, and the symphony board - all women, by the way. I particularly enjoyed the chorus member talking about the time that MTT, with a combination of curiosity and whimsical joy, scheduled a fiendishly difficult choral work by the Italian ultra-modernist Giacinto Scelsi. Thanks to MTT's attitude, both performers and audience had a great time.

Then, three brief works - a lullaby movement from Brahms's German Requiem, done just as a memorial, I guess; Ives' The Unanswered Question, because it was a favorite of MTT's; and a raucously Bernsteinian squib by MTT himself, titled Agnegram.

Gaffigan took the three instrumental movements of the Ninth with broad imperturbability, satisfying without trying to dazzle. The Ode to Joy was bolder and busier in its instrumental presentation. The chorus burned through the score with unspeakable power, towering over everything Beethoven forced them to do. Principal soloist bass Peixin Chen gave an impressively deep sound, with a hollow tone that sounded as if he were singing from within a very large cave. Tenor Thomas Cooley was lighter and fleetier, with a pleasing strong tone quality. The two women don't get enough solo material to judge, but soprano Jessica Faselt and mezzo Kelley O'Connor were both strong and clear in voice, topping each other in turn as they sang together.

Friday Five: Timewasters

Thu, Jun. 18th, 2026 05:46 pm
castiron: cartoony sketch of owl (Default)
[personal profile] castiron
For all of these, I'm definining "waste of time" as something that's unnecessary and annoying. It's not a waste of time to clean the bathroom, even if I find it tedious. It's not a waste of time to play a few rounds of solitaire when I want to do something enjoyable and mindless, even though it's an unproductive activity.

1. What is your biggest waste of time in your home? Stuff-shifting. We have so much clutter that I always have to move things before I can clean, and I often have to move piles of stuff to get at a bookshelf or drawer. When it's my stuff in the way, I can get rid of it or find a better place to keep it; when it's Spouse's, there's more negotiation.

2. When at work, what is the activity that you find wastes the most time? My workplace is actually pretty good about this; I don't feel like I'm assigned much in the way of pointless timewasting tasks. Once in a while I'm asked to pull a report that doesn't end up used, or that I have to rerun because the requestor didn't give me all the fields they needed, but overall either the task I did is useful to the company, or it didn't turn out useful to the company but helped me learn something.

3. When getting busy with a date or significant other, what ritual could you do without? This is a very weird question, and not applicable to my life at this time.

4. What is the biggest waste of time on the Internet? For me, there's not any individual site that's inherently a waste of time; it only becomes one when I'm mindlessly spending time there without stopping first to think whether there's something else I'd rather be doing.

5. What do you do at a restaurant to waste time when waiting for your meal? I don't. Either I have a companion with whom I can have a pleasant conversation, or I have a book that I can enjoy reading before and during my meal.

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