Old Guard Whosers
13.9.02
Big congrats to Unca Matt!
Nattie 5:46:00 PM
Well, I'm feeling like having music pimped at me, so I appeal to the collective wisdom of my Whosas. I'll do a sort of "Desert Island Discs" type thing, and I'd like you to list 10 CDs you wouldn't want to do without, why, and any tracks that are particularly worth listening to (if applicable - sometimes an album is just fantastic as an entirety and it's hard to pick just one track). (Or hey, just recommend some music at me!) Here's mine in no particular order, just as they come to mind:
1) Steeleye Span - All Around My Hat. I know I'm irredeemably folkie, but it's just quite fab. My favourite track has got to be "Hard times of Old England" because of its kickass bass line.
2) Ian Bostridge - Die Schöne Müllerin. Well, I can't help it, can I? It's the first CD of his I've heard, and it helped me through a bad time back in 1997. On top of that, he's just got such a gorgeous silvery voice (and he's also an all-round nice person despite being a famous tenor!).
3) The King's Singers - Good Vibrations. Again, a first-I-heard, with close-harmony arrangements of a lot of songs, mostly by Paul Simon but quite a few others as well. I'm hard pressed to pick a favourite, but the arrangement of U2's "MLK" is stuning in its simplicity, and had me completely bowled over when I first heard it.
4) The Carnival Band - Hoi Polloi. Their collaboration with Maddy Prior ("Hang Up Sorrow And Care") is also wonderful, but at the moment I'm more into this CD, because it's boingy and cheery and fabbo and generally in line with the mood I'm aiming for at the moment. It's noisy, silly, irreverent folk, and it makes me happy. The last track, called "Strudelpolka / The Bash" has some *bloody* impressive fiddling on it. I don't care whether it's Giles Lewin or Steve Banks who's playing it, give me some of those hands! Er, *ahem*.
5) The Wise Guys - Skandal. Another one that just makes me happy - it's a German a cappella group, and on another album they've done a German a cappella version of "Baby one more time", which is disturbing to say the least, especially on video. They sound like they're having fun, in addition to being very, very good, and I think it's the fun that comes through in the sound.
6) Fretwork - Portrait. Mmmmmm, Fretwork, my very favourite viol consort. They still sound like my idea of heaven, and indeed we used their music for our recessional and the register-signing bit at the wedding. Wonderfully aethereal and clean playing, and they're so together that they sound like one instrument rather than 4 or 5 or 6 people playing.
7) Rocketgoldstar - Soft Eject. They're this weird Welsh band who play rather arty decadent music, but somehow I don't think they're being pretentious or weird for weirdness' sake. Also, someone in that band (the drummer, I think) has one kickass high tenor voice. "What are you singing about" is the best-known track, I think, and it's great to sing along with. The other songs are wonderful as well, but it's really an "in one go" album, hard to break up into individual songs.
8) Bonzo Dog Band - Tadpoles. "Hunting Tigers out in Indiah" and "Mr. Apollo". Need I say more?
9) PDQ Bach - Oedipus Tex And Other Choral Calamities. If you're not familiar with PDQ Bach, this is probably a good starting place. It's probably most fun if you're a bit of a music geek, but the bad puns are for everyone ;-) I love the leading tenor's voice, and the fact he sings his frankly ridiculous lines with the vocal equivalent of a perfectly straight face. It's a Dramatic Cantata telling the story of Oedipus Rex as set in Thebes Gulch, Texas, as you might have guessed, and it is very gigglesome. There are three other pieces on the CD, but the title piece is the most entertaining in my opinion.
10) Rufus Wainwright - Poses. More decadent music from a rather fine piece of Canadian Muffin. He's the one who sang "Hallelujah" on the "Shrek" soundtrack, by the way. Yes, it's another "in one go" album.
Yeah, I guess it looks like my musical tastes haven't really changed ;-)
Nattie 2:16:00 PM
12.9.02
well I thiought I'd post something. I am in a really foul mood. Reason is mainly this bloody job which I was looking forward to. At the end of the interview the other day i was essentially offered the job subject to the guy I was being interviewed by talking to his boss about money. His boss rang today and she said she wanted me to come in and see them at work producing this show so i could decide whether there was enough challenge in it. I know there's enough challenge in it but what could I say when she just gave me a time and place for this to happen. I am just pissed off that i am having to wait now at least another two weeks for anything to be resolved, and also wondering what this is all about... do they have some other motive? Maybe it will all work out better? Ah! Well I know this is how life is, but I am just totally grumpy now....
Dean 4:46:00 AM
Hello, all. This is Katherine, just checking in. Thanks to Nattie for setting this up. (Nice glasses! I have new ones too.) It's great to see what everyone's been up to lately. I've been attending WhoserCons (which I still enjoy) and I ever-so-occasionally check up on WBiiA, so I've gotten to see a few of you at least once a year, but there's several people who have in effect disappeared from my life for a couple of years. How wonderful to see you again!
As for myself, I'm in my second year of university, studying music. It took me a while and quite a struggle to get here. Ontarians usually spend 5 years in high school, and I took an extra year, so as you can imagine how sick of high school I became. So far, I'm still enjoying university life for the most part.
If you really want to know more, see my short-lived and sporadic Diaryland journal and my current Livejournal.
Katherine 12:41:00 AM
11.9.02
9/11 + 365 · One year ago at this hour, I was driving from Davenport, Iowa toward Dubuque when the world changed. I didn't see any pictures until I got to Madison, Wisconsin, around noon and picked up the newspaper. (In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't see any video until that night.)
When I got to Rockford, Illinois, I called my friend Alison in Brooklyn and heard the sad news that her boyfriend Darren was in the World Trade Center.
The memories of the distress in Alison's voice were all brought back to me right now, as the victims' names are being read at the World Trade Center site.
That is my most enduring memory of that terrible day.
Joe 12:51:00 PM
9.9.02
let's see if I can maybe spark the first debate... can't we think of something nicer to call ourseves than Old Guard Whosers... even Class of 97-8 would be better. Or maybe after some great WL moment... the Slattery Zips, The Funniest Cracks, The Skull Shirts, The Inflatable Pigs, The Sunkist Fashions Club... just a thought :-)
Dean 11:14:00 PM
Well, I'm sure you all want to see my new spectacles (I don't think they do, actually. -Ed.), so here are some pictures: me with my hair back, with my everyday glasses, or me with my hair down (for values of "down" that apply to hair that short!) and my non-everyday glasses. Note the resemblance to Franz Schubert. Smirk smirk, (because smirking is fun) I have nothing to say, I just like this picture. And finally, proof that my husband is completely daft :)
Yes, I know the pictures are a bit blue-tinged - someday we'll figure out why :-) Anyway, ta for indulging me in this fit of vanity!
Nattie 10:12:00 PM
Day off for me today, thank goodness -- still recovering from Memphis. I am going to have to call Bally's and see if they found my arse as I laughed it off *g*. Best of luck Dean on the interview!
Joe 2:45:00 PM
Bah - looks like the comments feature is down at the mo'. Grrrrrrr. Anyway, I'm just waiting for my hair to dry, having just had a shower, before I go off on my errands (or I get bicycle-helmet head - yep, I'm a fully-fledged Cambridge-dweller now!). So, today I'm picking up my new spectacles today (pictures imminent, I promise) and talking to APU about the MA I'm starting in a little while (they have me down as part-time but having talked it over with one of the profs I have decided to go full-time instead).
Some administrivia: if you want your posts to show up on the page hit the "post & publish" button instead of the "post" button. No, I don't know why - possibly so you can have part of a post up but not visible for future editing. Also, we want links for the links section - that can be anything from your own webpage or other journal, to a site you run (WL-related or not) - and yes, multiple links per person are perfectly acceptable. Mail me the URLs and titles, and I will put them up.
And last but not least, of course, fingers and toes crossed, and many anti-nerves vibes, to Dean on his interview tomorrow.
Nattie 12:50:00 PM
well let's hope this all works out. I thought I'd write something about my life at the moment which is "going through a stage" although perhaps most of you here don't know. My newsppaer which I have lived and breathed for years closed down last month. I took redundancy and a goodish payout and used some of it to go on holiday. Anyway I am off tomorrow to a job interview. the job is very excfiting, helping to produce New Zealand's premier radio news show but as always before interviews I am hugely nervous. As one of those blokes who always looks bad no matter how much time he spends on his appearance I worry about my looks and whether I'll say the right thing (I tend to be honest rather than diplomatic). Oh I am so worried. This time tomorrow it will be over. the thing is I know from the talks I have already had that I am 98 percent likely to be offered the job but I'm still all scared...
Dean 8:04:00 AM
Right - this looks like it lives, so please post generously :-)
Nattie 12:21:00 AM