Nah

[NikF]

Gym day. Or more nominally, gym day as leg day in the form of sprint intervals around the pond in the park. My age means that I'm finding benefit in having Thursday to Sunday as days off for my upper body. It helps keep the occasional little tendonitis-like symptoms under control. I'll probably still do a couple of pull ups on a tree, but as long as my form is good it should be okay.

When I'm finished I'll trundle home and shower. Then a walk into town and a wander around a couple of guitar shops (I'm quite sure what my purchase is going to be) followed by finding somewhere cool for lunch.
Tonight I'll be watching a film or two in the company of my neighbour and her friends.

Ah, and for anyone following the saga of the problems with my house, I received a letter - hand delivered - early this morning confirming that everything is fine below the building. Hooray. But I'll be happier when the house next to mine gets the all clear too, because I'm wary of any issue that it has eventually having potential to extend into my property. But the letter today is a good start.

[NikF]

I'm about to see Debussy's Jeux with Mozart concert 20 and Brahms piano concerto 

Which Brahms PC? Better not be the d minor...

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Which Brahms PC? Better not be the d minor...

I believe he means the second.........I think

[NikF]

I believe he means the second.........I think

He better mean that. 

And shouldn't you be at a rehearsal? 

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

He better mean that. 

And shouldn't you be at a rehearsal? 

Normally a run around a pond in a park wouldn't make someone grumpy like you!
Next rehearsal for choir is on the 10th.

[NikF]

Normally a run around a pond in a park wouldn't make someone grumpy like you!
Next rehearsal for choir is on the 10th.

I dont usually need to psyche myself up to exercise, but this morning it's raining so heavily I'll be wet through before I get to the park. So ---> 

I hope your rehearsals continue to go well - like I said to you a while back, the whole experience is going to be great.

[NikF]

[I was never here]

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

The d minor isn't that bad is it? I really like it.....

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

19th century composers were fuckboys

[kishnevi]

I dont usually need to psyche myself up to exercise, but this morning it's raining so heavily I'll be wet through before I get to the park. So ---> 

You can think of that in two ways
Increased drag and weight of wet clothes means more resistance means better quality of exercise
OR
You will have already taken your shower by the time you get back home.

[NikF]

The d minor isn't that bad is it? I really like it.....

Sometimes the d minor is all that gets me out of bed in the morning.

Explain. Now. 

Nothing. Just keeping you on your toes.

Is it cause he was hitting up Clara Schumann? 

Although come to think of it... 

You can think of that in two ways
Increased drag and weight of wet clothes means more resistance means better quality of exercise
OR
You will have already taken your shower by the time you get back home.

True. A couple more layers of t-shirts, sweats and knitted watchman's caps and then each pull up becomes even more of a herculean task.
I've considered combining exercise with showering and shaving before. A sachet of shower gel and a Bic take up little room. And I'm not too proud to be seen taking my post workout nap by sleeping on a park bench. 

Though I really liked that piano concerto. There where bits that reminded me heavily of Mahler, some Beethoven (expectedly), Tchaikovsky?, even Scriabin  at one point (a harmonically tense cadenza I think). It's not a Brahms work I'm as familiar with I admit 

I've posted many times before of how an ex-girlfriend would regularly exhort me to listen to Brahms; "I don't understand why you don't like Brahms. His music is so manly!"  and her patience paid off when I finally heard a recording of the d minor (Curzon/Szell/LSO) that led to my small world becoming bigger. I'll always be grateful to her for that.

19th century composers were fuckboys

You should make a video for YouTube. A series of jump cuts. Screenplay by the alien dude.

XCU jessop "19th century composers were fuckboys"

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Goodness me, what makes any music manly???

[NikF]

Goodness me, what makes any music manly???

I'm aware that's most probably a rhetorical question, but...

I think that was down to her frustration. She and I came from very different backgrounds. She was educated (at that point finishing up her doctorate) and bright and warm and wonderful. Her mother was a music teacher who had once played in one of the German radio orchestras and her father was an architect. But I'm just an ordinary guy. I'm like a man you see waiting for a bus. Socially we were a world apart.

Up to that point my listening was mostly Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Gershwin and Stravinsky, that kind of stuff. In some ways I'm not very good at expressing myself which led to me saying things to her like "Mozart? Mozart is too fussy and delicate and his music sounds like he'd be good at crochet or something". So she invested huge patience and understanding (as have most of the women in my life ) to help me see the error of my ways and so lead me from ignorance. The tactic she employed was to try and make music more accessible to me in a manner I could relate to. The fact that English wasn't her first language might also have something to do with it.

For the most part it worked. Brahms is an obvious one. And Schumann and Chopin. Then Mahler.
Imagine what a gift that is to give someone, to help open such a world to them.

[NikF]

And now, down the hill and along the road to the baker. Buy a loaf (a white bloomer, I think) still warm and then back home to toast it, spread with slightly salted butter. Take it to the window with a cup of tea and eat while looking to see what's going on with any early visitors in the garden. 

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Had a lovely afternoon today. Saw a waterfall, had a picnic. The weather was beautiful.

[NikF]

Tired, sore, headachey on a wet, cold and miserable afternoon 

Had a lovely afternoon today. Saw a waterfall, had a picnic. The weather was beautiful.

[NikF]

I'm taking a walk to the other side of town where there's a farmer's market. There are a couple of cheesemakers who have stalls and I might find something cool and good. Of course, nowadays such markets often attract hipsters and other special snowflakes who head straight for the artisan confectionery to buy stuff like fish caramels. The hell with that crap. 

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I'm taking a walk to the other side of town where there's a farmer's market. There are a couple of cheesemakers who have stalls and I might find something cool and good. Of course, nowadays such markets often attract hipsters and other special snowflakes who head straight for the artisan confectionery to buy stuff like fish caramels. The hell with that crap. 

Fish caramels sound gross

Tell us what cheeses you find! I do like cheese, particularly a bit of Danish Blue.

[NikF]

Fish caramels sound gross

Tell us what cheeses you find! I do like cheese, particularly a bit of Danish Blue.

I just invented the idea of fish caramels in an attempt to poke fun at the more unlikely/eclectic combos of flavours some people enjoy.

I only bought one cheese. Nothing very exotic, just a traditional Scottish soft cheese called Highland Crowdie.
From another stall I bought a small jar of homemade tomato and chilli relish, which I'm hoping will be good with the cheese and some oatcakes.

I can't remember eating Danish Blue. But today I saw some Lanark Blue and one other I've forgotten the name of. Maybe next time I'll get a small piece of that too.

[NikF]

On one hand with music; you are giving people a soundtrack to immersed in, that can only be vague (even with lyrics) and then you got film on the other hand; which you are giving people a fully imagined portrayal of a story, often with deeper themes, symbols or messages.

I just wish that I had picked up the camera earlier 

Yeah, but you should start at the beginning with this stuff.

I've noticed how you sometimes listen to/watch the same thing over and over. So if I were you (which I'm sure is a horrible thought for both of us  ) I'd do this:
The next time you're in the mood for repeated viewings, watch one of your favourite films throughout with the volume down. When it finishes, immediately watch it again, still with no volume. The reason for doing this is to find the rhythm. To begin with, look only for the rhythm of stationary objects within the frame. Nothing more.
If you were at film school you would be doing that on a regular basis as a matter of course.

After that, study the Principle of Contrast and Affinity - I've a feeling that might be right up your street.

Also, it's never too late to make a start on something.

That's all I have to say on the matter.