Why do you visit GMG?

[ChamberNut]

Your neighborly concern is touching, ChN, but I assure you I am in fine health.

0:)  Anytime.

Another option would be:  Share our love of German-speaking composers' music. 

[karlhenning]

Would there be many votes there, do you think?  0:)

(Say! Is that a horse over next you, ChN? Looks like he's shuffled off this mortal coil and joined the bleedin' choir invisible . . . .)

[Mark]

It kills time between other tasks

If I could translate this to "an entertaining and valuable way to utilize a short amount of free time", it would be one of my choices.

Translate away, my good man.

[Brian]

It's not like I can talk about this stuff to my IRL friends

I do have a classically-minded friend, in fact a music theory major, but he talks nonstop about Bernard Herrmann so when I do something like discover Karlowicz or find a really fantabulous recording of a Tchaikovsky Symphony, I'll tell him and he'll say, "That's nice, so, I was listening to the soundtrack of Taxi Driver..."

[scarpia]

Your neighborly concern is touching, ChN, but I assure you I am in fine health.

My quote reflected a need for another voting option . . . for certain others.

How about, "to deflate the odd, self-important, supercilious, pompous wind bag?"   

[karlhenning]

I do have a classically-minded friend, in fact a music theory major, but he talks nonstop about Bernard Herrmann so when I do something like discover Karlowicz or find a really fantabulous recording of a Tchaikovsky Symphony, I'll tell him and he'll say, "That's nice, so, I was listening to the soundtrack of Taxi Driver..."

Popcorn-Head! Fie, I say!

[Kullervo]

I do have a classically-minded friend, in fact a music theory major, but he talks nonstop about Bernard Herrmann so when I do something like discover Karlowicz or find a really fantabulous recording of a Tchaikovsky Symphony, I'll tell him and he'll say, "That's nice, so, I was listening to the soundtrack of Taxi Driver..."

Just tell him, "Oh this is just like that... but better."

[karlhenning]

Just another one-liner for the hell of it.

[Solitary Wanderer]

I don't have any classical music friends. Theres one women who attends our monthly discussion group who enjoys classical, but only in a part-time sort of way. Shes difficult to talk with anyway, well, she doesn't actually stop talking so you just feel abused and...unheard.

My musical life-journey has always been a lonesome road to travel, but thats largely been fine with me.

However the advent of the internet has been great for the enabling and sharing and enjoyment of specific interests.

I chose the first option because I check and post in the same threads most days 

[PSmith08]

I come for the free continental breakfast, but I stay because of the service. I find the staff helpful and attentive to detail, even to the point of giving me excellent restaurant recommendations and - if I need them - making reservations for me at a restaurant of my choice. Located in the heart of the downtown, it is within walking distance of most of the city's major attractions and a bunch of small shops, cafés, and bars that really let you experience the local flavor. On nights where I don't want to go out, just like David Bowie in "Modern Love," I'll eat at the hotel's seafood restaurant - better than most hotel eateries, let me tell you - and maybe go for a swim in the excellent health club. There might be better hotels in the area, but I would be hard-pressed to believe that. The bills at the end of each of my stays are reasonable, considering all the amenities.

Wait...this isn't the review board for EasilyPleasedTraveler.co.dd, is it?

I'm so embarrassed.

[Mark]

I come for the free continental breakfast, but I stay because of the service. I find the staff helpful and attentive to detail, even to the point of giving me excellent restaurant recommendations and - if I need them - making reservations for me at a restaurant of my choice. Located in the heart of the downtown, it is within walking distance of most of the city's major attractions and a bunch of small shops, cafés, and bars that really let you experience the local flavor. On nights where I don't want to go out, just like David Bowie in "Modern Love," I'll eat at the hotel's seafood restaurant - better than most hotel eateries, let me tell you - and maybe go for a swim in the excellent health club. There might be better hotels in the area, but I would be hard-pressed to believe that. The bills at the end of each of my stays are reasonable, considering all the amenities.

Wait...this isn't the review board for EasilyPleasedTraveler.co.dd, is it?

I'm so embarrassed.

Today's star post. You should get an award or something.

[M forever]

How about, "to deflate the odd, self-important, supercilious, pompous wind bag?"   

I would vote for that.

[vandermolen]

My wife and daughter do not share my musical interests (how weird is that? ). I have one CD nutter friend/colleague at work, but that's it apart from a few friends I see from time to time. I would be tempted to opt for "all of the above" as I have learnt a lot here. I like to think that I have made new friends here and it is fun, not withstanding an addictive element to it.

[karlhenning]

My wife and daughter do not share my musical interests (how weird is that? ).

Not all that uncommon, really.

There is wide overlap, but my wife and mom-in-law do not share the entire breadth of my musical interests.  Mom was a little antsy during the premiere of the Wuorinen Fourth Concerto, for instance.  But there is more and more overlap as time goes by.

[vandermolen]

Not all that uncommon, really.

There is wide overlap, but my wife and mom-in-law do not share the entire breadth of my musical interests.  Mom was a little antsy during the premiere of the Wuorinen Fourth Concerto, for instance.  But there is more and more overlap as time goes by.

Hi Karl,

The only music my wife has commented favourably on is Klaus Egge's String Quartet.  She did, however, enjoy a live performance of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony at the Proms a year ago.

[Keemun]

My wife and daughter do not share my musical interests (how weird is that? ).

I'm in much the same situation.  My wife might enjoy attending a classical music concert with me, but classical music is not something that she ever desires to listen to at home.  My son and step-sons don't care for it at all.  My daughter does enjoy classical music, but being 11 years old, it competes with Hannah Montana, et al.    I also have no classical music enjoying friends that I am aware of.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I could have ticked all the boxes, but what I chose in the end was To expand your knowledge of classical music. Because I have been introduced to more new composers than I would ever have been able to discover on my own, in spite of the internet and a well-stocked music library in Rotterdam. The beauty of GMG is - there are informed enthusiasts (and perhaps on occasion a passing monomaniac), who can accompany you on your journey into the unknown territory that is a new composer's oeuvre. And in the process friendships can and do develop.

(My wife loves classical music, btw, but certainly not in the mildly obsessive way I do. Neither does she listen to it very often. But she likes Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler (Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen), and even Brian!)

[Sarastro]

I visit GMG to expand my knowledge in... English. Because I must (and...ah, if only GMG could help me get rid of the accent completely!). I like the way people write here - elegant, eloquent, and witty.

In Russia I had several classical music friends of my age and around (found them online though and then met in person). Even here I was found by some opera lovers and invited in communities, but they were a little older, and after I had learned their preferences for Fleming and Netrebko I fled right away (though we met couple of times, and probably I will see some of them at LA-Opera). It is also very hard to meet often in California if you live too distant from each other.

And, frankly speaking, recently I found out I have no urge to share my opinions, give or take recommendations. Just listen to the music on my own; it is, after all, a matter of personal taste, so one decides for himself what he or she likes and what not. No recommendations needed. And here, in the US, there are opportunities to go the library and read about interesting material, borrow recordings, go to major musical events sometimes.

But my wife will have to obsessively love opera, anyway, or even be a singer. A hard task to fulfill, isn't it?

[ezodisy]

(and...ah, if only GMG could help me get rid of the accent completely!).

Well you wouldn't think that way if you lived here (London). Everyone has a different accent, including native English people (by postcode, as the joke goes), so you would never think twice about it. I know it's different over there though.

But my wife will have to obsessively love opera, anyway, or even be a singer. A hard task to fulfill, isn't it?

Ballerina. Best of both worlds.

[knight66]

English often sounds better with a bit of a foreign accent; especially when set against Estuary-speak or Brummie, (both regional accents).

Mike