This is a ballbreaker. It looks pretty simple but it is just so damned awkward.
That whole movement is verkakte.
I wouldn't even dare to attempt them today.
Luckily, I don't have to.
I remember doing this in Civic and the first flutist and I would do special sectionals where we'd work for half an hour on just three sections from the last movement to get the timing and the voicing and the intonation and everything else just right. It's not enough to get the notes right, you have to make it sound like that's a single flute doing it. Oh me, oh my. Them was the days.
We'd start at a slower metronome marking and then speed it up to faster than the conductor could possibly expect it. I still can't believe we did it.
And the punchline: When we rehearsed the piece with the whole orchestra the conductor (a Vietnamese guy named Fang Dang Tran or something like that) told Greg (since he was first chair) "make sure to not rush that."
@Robusto The majority of Belarusians think it's a made-up threat.
Because prior to this moment Lukashenko freely allowed Russian mercenaries to use Belarus as a transport hub.
But in reality - who knows? In a decade or so, someone may write a memoir.
I think that Putin may hope to gain something in the interregnum if Lukashenko stands down.
The leading opposition candidate said that she only wants to win to get her husband out of jail. If she wins, she immediately announces a new election to be held in 6 months.
These six months may prove turbulent, and one can catch fish in turbid water.
Because the long-term repercussions of the epidemic may be really feld exactly in these 6 months. The economy may start cracking.
The last time, it was the drastic difference in living standards that largely helped Russia to attract separatists in Ukraine.
But Putin risks a lot too, because new, more sweeping sanctions may hurt RUssia a lot.
We need international cooperation, for instance, in case a really good covid drug is invented in the West, or a really rapid and cheap test.
> But let me change this theme which grows too sad, And lay this sheet of sorrows on the shelf; I don't much like describing people mad, For fear of seeming rather touch'd myself -- Besides, I've no more on this head to add; And as my Muse is a capricious elf, We'll put about, and try another tack With Juan, left half-kill'd some stanzas back.
@CowperKettle The U.S. Census Bureau keeps track of overall population, although CDC does the disease tracking. census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/… is web page of tables, the first of which is monthly, just totals, not births or deaths. Net increase is about 1.5 million a year, including immigration.
This is 2010 to 2020.
@CowperKettle I think “to put about” is a nautical term indicating a change (possibly a reversal) in direction. From sailing.
if a man or boy can't find a paid job, he can be thrown out to wilderness, but a woman or girl can't because she will have some danger after being thrown out.
so it's justified that professional jobs or positions give priority to women in their recruitment.
women poorly educated are more subject to poor treatment than men poorly educated.
My sister's co-pupil, a girl from the same class (?) in the University who also studied for a History degree, had it so bad for a period that she fainted in Moscow or in St. Pete. She was studying intensely and had very little money, so she ate little.
She had gone to Moscow (or was it St Pete?) to further her studies of Ancient Greek.
She was a total Ancient Greece enthusiast.
The last time my sister heard from her, she moved to the USA and was researching Ancient Greek manuscripts. She learned the language and history so well.
Thus many talented people leave Russia.
She fainted while she was riding a bus or a tram, and the standers-by helped her.
She could have found a position in Russia to earn money but she was too carried away by Ancient Greece.
And real deep research is underpaid in Russia, to put it mildly.
You should find contacts in Russia who actually are engaged in your target field, and investigate the situation by talking to them.
What do I call a "live demonstration" of a facelift procedure, in which live means "on a human volunteer" and not "via the Internet" or "on a mannequin"?
What do I call a "live demonstration" of a facelift procedure, in which live means "on a human volunteer" and not "via the Internet" or "on a mannequin"?
I'm translating a Russian text describing such a demonstration for training purposes.
Maybe "human volunteer demonstration"? Will it fit?
@RegDwigнt This is nothing we didn't already know, living here in the US. Basically, it boils down to "Because Trump" with the addition of "the Republicans" and "out-of-control capitalism."
@Robusto I like to think of the issue globally, not just because I'm not an American, but also because while the US has been hit the hardest for various reasons, people are more or less idiots everywhere
@MattE.Эллен What I'm saying is I've often seen it about studies that are literally about things happening inside the body. I haven't seen a surgery called in vivo, for example
So anyway. I didn't learn to aggravate flutists by looking at that. Because it's just a bunch of notes that all look easy. Which is why I say, play the fucking instrument. You can't tell what's easy by looking at dots on paper.
I have to say, though, it did sound quite nice.
Which also didn't help. They didn't make it sound hard. Meh. Musicians.
Btw, I recall a story, possibly apocryphal, about some composer (Wagner?) who wrote a piece that contained a passage for brass that was supposed to sound like chaos because the notes were "impossible" to play. And yet the musicians worked hard and played them flawlessly, as professional orchestral musicians are wont to do. The composer attended the rehearsal and when it came to that passage he ran down the aisle shouting "Stop! You're playing the notes!"
@Robusto I don't think so. in vivo means the organism is alive and the procedure is happen inside them, in vitro means you're not using an organism's body. You can use them independently. It is possible, as @M.A.R. says, that surgery doesn't count as in vivo
>The Contractor shall: Not later than the next day after ending the provision of services, provide the Customer with a Certificate of Delivery and Acceptance of Rendered Services (hereinafter the Certificate) signed on its part.
Do we say it thus in English: signed on its part?
Meaning that the Contractor has only put their signature, and the Certificate awaits signing by the Customer.
Odorigui (踊り食い, literally "dancing eating") is a mode of seafood consumption in Japanese cuisine.
Odorigui refers to the consumption of live seafood while it is still moving, or the consumption of moving animal parts. Animals usually consumed in odorigui style include octopus, squids, ice gobies, and other similar animals. Consumption of live seafood without remarkable movements, such as sea urchins, is usually not included in odorigui.
== Notable dishes ==
Katsu ika odori-don (活いか踊り丼) lit. "living squid dancing rice bowl". In this dish, a mostly-complete squid is used, and its muscles twitch...
Eaten alive
@CaptainBohemian No, I'm eating too much, sadly. I should go on a diet.
In my city, another thing has been blowing. Not Trump. A local deputy fined 20 000 rubles for helping out to gather citizen signatures for restatement of Mayoral elections.
The authorities are doing all they can to stop the initiative, using illegal methods as usual.
> No one should be shocked that a liar who has made almost 20,000 false or misleading claims during his presidency would lie about whether the U.S. had the pandemic under control; that a racist who gave birth to birtherism would do little to stop a virus that was disproportionately killing Black people; that a xenophobe who presided over the creation of new immigrant-detention centers would order meatpacking plants with a substantial immigrant workforce to remain open; that a cruel man devoid of empathy would fail to calm fearful citizens; that a narcissist who cannot stand to be upstaged w…
Now that's a summary
@CowperKettle Why? Can't they just reinstate the mayor they want?
So, I think that in every printed work of literature I've ever read, the convention for quotation marks was to put commas and periods inside of them: “I don't know,” said Sam.
In Britain, they often use single quotes instead: ‘I don't know,’ said Sam.
Is there anywhere that putting commas and periods outside the quotation marks is accepted in literature?
By "literature" I mean works that tell a story, usually fictional, by narrating a sequence of events, and which usually contain significant amounts of dialogue.
@M.A.R. The last time they tried to hold a mayoral election, an anti-Putin candidate won. So for good measure they just abolished the election. It's hard to forge elections in Yekaterinburg, too many democratically-minded election committee members here.
It's easier to forge elections on an Oblast (region) scale.
But still they somehow manage to rig the numbers. It was amazing that Roizman won that time.
I voted against Roizman, because he has a criminal history. But after he acted bravely against Putin, I became his supporter. Still I don't believe him 100%.
Yekaterinburg was a kind of democratic oasis, until the removed the police chief. Under the new chief, the police has gotten more brutal towards political protesters. A man who stood in a single-man picket (protest?) was beaten up and jailed for several days.
Just an ordinary guy from a town 200 km from here, who decided to support Khabarovsk protests by standing in the street with a sign that said I support Khabarovsk or something.
The authorities are acting quite clumsy. This way, they actively create opposition. Because of the Internet, people get to know about such cases. It's not the USSR
@M.A.R. yeah no, that's what it would've been twenty years ago on The Simpsons.
But this is actual reality now.
It's not that it's not funny. Or not tragic. I'm not saying that.
I'm just saying that it's fucking amazing in every sense of the word.
That journalist is something else. I have no idea how he got to this level of trust from Trump. How hard he had to work for it, and for how long.
But now that he's there, it's fucking amazing.
More than once I sat there waiting for Trump to end the interview, or for one of his aides to step in and end it. But it never happens.
The best part is that it's so fucking obvious what the journalist is doing. Every parent has to do that with their kids. Everyone understands what's happening. Except for Trump. Even though he's a parent himself. But he is even more of a child, so you can get away with doing this to him and he never even notices.
That is fantastic.
The real question is, how come no other journalist has accomplished that for the last six decades that Trump's been a figure.
Why does it take half a century and a 27-year-old guy from Australia.
Yeah. Retirement was supposed to be take-it-easy time, but it seems like there's never enough time to do everything you want to do. Especially things like hanging around and watching TV.
Some Ravel borders on unplayable. The murmuring flute arpeggios in Daphnis with their 12-groups to a quarter note require an enormous amount of stamina.
So at one point they had F sharp major to deal with. Six sharps. And they struggled and at the end of it the verdict was, "the fuck, why don't they just write it as G flat major instead".
And then, and I don't know if their editor guy did it on purpose, or if it was a happy accidently, but literally less than ten seconds later they get a different unplayable key signature. With six flats.
@Robusto it's a mixed bag I've not fully grasped myself really. Obviously sharps are easier to play because when push comes to shove, you just move the finger a half tone up at the very last split second. But with flats you might have to drop down to the string below.
So, executive summary, I would say 1-2 signs are fine, whether flats or sharps. Anything more is shit, again whether flats or sharps.
On the piano the more flats the merrier. First you discover E flat major and it's like the scales fall off your eyes. Or fingers, rather. But then you discover A flat and you're like fuck me this is even better. And then when someone tells you D flat please you go yeah you know what, the more the merrier.
If I'm repeating myself, that's because time is a factor.
@Robusto well yeah I should think it's the same on every instrument. From what few I've had personal experience with so far.
You can think in F sharp major, or you can think in G flat major, but it's not the same thing. And at a certain point you just flip the switch and it's only one way or the other.
Nobody thinks in D flat minor. It has to be C sharp minor.
And it helps to understand that the flute "solo" actually works its way into two flutes, piccolo, and alto flute, which all have to sound like one instrument doing it all.
@RegDwigнt Yeah. D-flat minor is the relative minor of ... F-flat major? lol
@Robusto it's quite wonderful how much of the orchestra is still active at that moment. People not only underestimate how loud the flute can be, but also how pianissimo sixty people can be.
Yeah. But it's not that way around that I'm worried about. It's the other way around. People using the crutch to try and imagine, or worse: learn, what an actual orchestra would sound like.
I'm transcribing Sviridov's Snowstorm right now. A student of Shostakovich's. He constantly has, like, let's just do the simplest example, like a tutti where everyone is FF. Except for one instrument that's only F. Or even just mezzo.
And it's not even necessarily the same instrument always.
And it is exactly right. You listen to a live recording, you understand.
But you start with an empty MuseScore file and no idea about anything, you'd just shrug and mark everyone FF. Because why not, right.
Things like that.
You can't give the same dynamics markings to the flutes and the horns. Or the cellos and the trumpets. Even if it's three flutes and just two horns.
And you might even know that. That they can't be the same. But that's not the same as knowing what the correct ones are.
It's one thing to not do everything completely wrong, and a different thing to do everything completely right.
So yeah no, Ravel wouldn't use Sibelius to somehow magically get worse. That's not the worrying bit. It's all the people who use Sibelius to somehow magically become Ravel.
And even when you decide you're in a mood for Sibelius it's so easy to switch to Bach or Paul Simon or whoever because how much time do you have left here on earth anyway?
Like, the ouverture to Romeo and Juliet, you just skip to the one bit that everyone else skips to. 12 minutes in. The rest is just like you said, fuck my life, my life's too short.
@Robusto well yes that's what I always think going in. Because I've heard the greatest hits. I've heard them all and they were all amazing. But then you sit and listen and wait for 20 minutes before a melody comes up that you can actually hum on your way back home.
And like, his piano concerto, that's the worst. He blows his load in the first 20 bars and that's it. And then he looks at the watch, and it's still 20 minutes to go, and he doesn't know what to do with them.
It's grown on me over time. Just like Le Sacre did. I can now hum along with every bar. Every note has my attention.
But the barrier to entry is much higher than I would remember it to be if I didn't remember it.
@Robusto yes absolutely. I am still to listen to any Wagner at all.
But then I watched Lars von Trier's Melancholia, and he has the ouverture to Tristan and Isolde play at the beginning for like seven minutes straight. And I fell in love and checked it out and now I firmly believe it's amazing.
So in that sense I would put it on par with Tchaikovsky.
@Robusto yeah same thing here. The opening bars of the violin's entry are like the best thing ever written since sliced bread. But then you flip the page and it's just some stupid etude with no end in sight. All melody all gone.
Any violin student that listens to the first couple bars immediately wants to play it. But then they do, and only discover that now it's too late to go back and say no thanks teacher, how about some Mozart instead.
The only person, the only person that never disappoints is Bach.
I literally don't know a single violin player who wouldn't just play Bach for fun. Whatever piece, at whatever time. Just for warming up, or rounding off. Or for killing two minutes in-between.
You pick up any piece at all and it's like ahhhh. A ray of sunshine coming in. Your whole soul opens up.
When I listen to a previously unlistened-to Bach piece I may or may not like it at first. But if I don't, I know I need to hear it again until I do. And he always comes through for me.
T's melodies work their way through all the instruments and all combinations of same, unlike, say, Brahms, where the orchestra is a pizza crust which features this or that topping at any given time.
Those are melodic throughout. Just like Bach figuration preludes.
Tchaikovsky will often introduce a lovely melody, but then immediately forget it existed. Not even chop it up and develop it in some way that I don't like. No. Just forget it altogether and do some nonsense for ten minutes.
I want my lovely melody back.
Precisely because that's what I always turn to him for in the first place.
@RegDwigнt Crop silo? Then where did all the ammonium nitrate come from?
> According to the Lebanese Prime Minister, some 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate were stored in dockside warehouse in Beirut, having been confiscated, so the resulting blast might have been almost equivalent to a one-kiloton weapon. The seismic waves recorded were equal to a magnitude 3.3 earthquake.