« first day (3796 days earlier)      last day (1422 days later) » 

Robusto
Robusto
00:16
@RegDwigнt Very nice. Almost makes me want to pick up the flute again, to play in pieces like this.
I used to play this kind of piece in chamber concerts in Chicago. Here's one such:
🎼 Lester Trimble Four Fragments from the Canterbury Tales | Modern Classical Music for Relaxation
►
A woman I was in love with at the time was the soprano. A glorious singer, and a great piece all around. We played it once at a Civic Orchestra chamber concert, and again as a special request at a chamber concert at the Art Institute of Chicago.
We got to walk through the museum at night, too, with our instruments. I don't remember why that was.
Anyway, I'm going to listen again.
BTW, what is the purpose of the broken beams in the vocal score? An eighth rest followed by a broken beam and three eighth notes beamed together? So she wouldn't think that was a triplet? Vocal notation is weird sometimes.
Xanne
Xanne
Hubert Hurkacz may beat Rublev in the Miami open tennis semi-finals. Wikipedia says that “ He plays a low, flat and dangerous ball, while holding the ball urt.” Whatever did they mean, “urt”?
 
1 hour later…
Robusto
Robusto
01:32
@RegDwigнt Poignant lyrics, too. Did they capture the original?
 
2 hours later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
03:17
34
Q: Has the distribution of income and wealth in the USA got much more skewed towards the rich in the last 4 decades?

matt_blackI recently asked this question about a statistic quoted by Kurt Andersen designed to illustrate the current wealth distribution in the USA in his book Evil Geniuses. It provoked a great deal of (unintended) discussion as I only wanted to check whether his illustration was correct. But he makes ma...

united-states economics demographics wealth
@Xanne Could be a vandalism, you could check the article's edit history.
I don't see how Wikipedia will survive without paid full-time editors.
 
1 hour later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
04:23
user image
Cerberus
Cerberus
Dangerous.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
04:40
I thought it was "spy-glass", because "telescope" is for looking at the stars.
At least that's how it is in Russian
twitter.com/bestofnextdoor
user image
Cerberus
Cerberus
05:06
@CowperKettle Spy-glass is probably better.
Although telescope just means "far-seeing".
 
1 hour later…
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
06:28
@Xanne Pfizer and Moderna seem to be the best ones, as far as I can tell. Also among the more expensive.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
> Hudjefa (Ancient Egyptian for "erased" or "missing") is the pseudonym for a 2nd Dynasty pharaoh as reported on the Turin canon, a list of kings written during the reign of Ramses II. Hudjefa is now understood to mean that the name of the king was already missing from the document from which the Turin canon was copied.
> It is thought that a scribe simply noted "erased", but then erroneously put the word into a cartouche, thus making it look like a personal name.
 
1 hour later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
07:59
user image
> And are these "leftists" right here, in this room with us?
 
2 hours later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
09:44
6.9 mn of Russians have got one or more shots of vaccine.
Less than 5% of citizens thus far.
user image
 
2 hours later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
12:07
user image
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
13:06
Word of the day: get your ducks in a row (to be well prepared or well organized for something that is going to happen)
 
2 hours later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
14:54
> House of Air won a Berlin Music Video Award, gained entry to the Raindance Film Festival 2017 and SXSW as a part of the 2018 Midnight Shorts.
Brendan Maclean
Brendan Maclean is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. == Music == Brendan Maclean's debut EP, White Canvas, was uploaded to iTunes March 2010. In January 2014 he released a second EP, Population, produced by Paul Mac. The lead single Stupid was featured by BuzzFeed and was heard as the Weather on Welcome to Night Vale, in episode 47, "Company Picnic." Soon after its release Maclean was signed to the Universal Music Publishing Group.May 2015 saw the release of Maclean's third EP, Thought I'd Cry for You Forever. The EP features an original spoken-word piece from the author Neil Gaiman. In...
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle I wear shorts not only at midnights, but during the rest of the day as well
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@M.A.R. Just don't watch this clip.
Russia announced 2 hours ago that Ukraine's unmanned flying vehicle killed a boy in Russian-occupied Eastern Ukraine. Looks like they are starting the hysteria machine up again.
The only war analyst I trust is a formel mol-biol researcher who fell in love with all things military, and the last 20 years works as a military analyst.
Felgengauer. He wrote that by the end of April the Russian army will be prepared for an all-out assault on Ukraine. But he does not know whether that will actually happen.
He thinks that Russia might make an amphibious assault near Odessa and simultaneously a tank thrust through Kharkiv, to connect the occupied Crimea to Russia
He says that judging by the types of vehicles and ships on their way to Crimea, he would do exactly that.
But again he says that might be just a maneuver to escalate tensions and get points at the parliamentary election in September.
There were no less than 4 battles of Kharkov back in WWII, because it was such a vital hub point.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
15:22
user image
user image
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
15:55
user image
user image
I wonder what the Poor Laws are
And the Treaty of Utrecht
The other events I seem to recall.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle What? Didn't catch your drift
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@M.A.R. I came across his video musical clip, which is basically hardcore porn.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle Why should my child, or any child, know about the date of the Roman invasion of Britain?
@CowperKettle Oh
Well
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@M.A.R. Oh, it is the list composed by the UK authorities in 1990
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
This is awkward
But incidentally the decadence of so many music videos has made me not watch them
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
16:03
Roman invasion of Britain was quite interesting.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
I've watched probably fewer than five music videos in my life
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
I watched a lot of musical videos in the 1990s
Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire (Official Video)
►
Got me acquainted with the US culture
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle I mean, still, even for a British kid, what is it supposed to signify? The date we (the British) suddenly became Romans and thus can justify our connection to them?
I mean, the process of events is interesting, for sure
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@M.A.R. Yes, it's like in Russia kids are taught that Vikings came to Russia in the 8th (?) century (I don't recall when) and set themselves up as Russian kings.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
But here the date seems to be emphasized a lot.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
16:07
Oops. It was in 862.
I forgot that. ))
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
I'll always be an advocate for reading more history, but most of the dates are unimportant and they probably just get stored with other bits of info
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
Yes, the dates are very hard to remember..
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle Back to education centers for you!
I've been so disillusioned recently about schools. I don't wanna call them that anymore, because that seems to carry a positive connotation
Now, "education center", that feels a bit 1984-ish and more accurate to what schools really do, esp. in my country
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
And in my class in school, many pupils did not study history much. I let one crib an answer from me during the final exam. He was amazed at the things he cribbed, like the war communism policies. He did not study nor read anything.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle Do they anywhere? I dunno if sparking interest for a subject like history is ever possible for kids, because schools universally seem to suck at it
Maybe kids aren't capable of loving more complex tasks involving more than their basic necessities at that age?
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
16:11
When we were in the final classes, we had Soviet history textbooks, but it was the year 1993, 1994, and the Soviet Union was dead. The history teacher just taught us the stuff she knew, she said that we should not open the texbooks.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
I mean, I haven't heard a single instance of someone saying "My school did history right. I love history because of my school"
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
Hitler loved his history teacher in school.
And hated his French teacher.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle The textbooks had the buttload of propaganda that's common at the final days of suppressive regimes?
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@M.A.R. Yes, of course. So we just bought some other books. I don't recall.
For some years, there were no "official" history texbooks.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Well, I myself had a history teacher who always seemed like that NPC with lots of potential side quests. He looked like a wise honest man. But the subject itself looked like a distraction then
It doesn't now, but it did then
@CowperKettle Well we're moving in that direction
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
16:14
@M.A.R. I think that your regime is strong. There must be some harsh policies on what to teach about history.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
They recently removed a drawing of a little girl from a kids textbook. It was a stylized drawing, very simple, and she had a headscarf and . . . Christ what I am I saying.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
Because a little girl is too picturesque?
In Soviet texbooks, there were a lot of little girls.
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle Not really. I mean, of course there's a huge amount of bias in the standard "history textbooks". No one buys into it though
@CowperKettle I mean, imagine a smiley they put as a logo of some store. This was as offensive as that. The features weren't human, they weren't suggestive or anything. As I said, it was stylized, she had a huge head with tiny eyes, nose and mouth.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
user image
user image
Haha
user image
user image
This was in the Soviet primer textbook on literature for the primary grades
The Islamic State of Iran should adopt this picture.
Утро (картина Яблонской)
«Утро» (укр. Ранок) — картина советской художницы Татьяны Яблонской, созданная в 1954 году в Киеве. На ней изображена девочка, делающая утреннюю зарядку (художница изобразила старшую дочь в интерьере своей киевской квартиры). Художественные критики отмечали радостную атмосферу утра, умело переданную автором, льющийся в окно солнечный свет. В изображённой девочке искусствовед увидела непосредственность ребёнка, а в самой картине человеческое тепло, душевность, ясность и свежесть восприятия мира. Картина считается ярким явлением раннего периода хрущёвской оттепели. По мнению британского искусствоведа...
A boy fell actually in love with the girl by looking at the picture, and grew up and found her and married her.
She was the daughter of the female artist, and herself became a painter too.
And her daughter became a painter too.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
16:47
user image
user image
Russian military trucks rolling to the border with Ukraine with parts of their license plates covered with blue tape.
The Pink Cloud
The Pink Cloud (Portuguese: A Nuvem Rosa) is a 2021 Brazilian science fiction thriller film written and directed by Iuli Gerbase in her directional debut. The film stars Renata de Lélis, Eduardo Mendonça, Kaya Rodrigues, Helena Becker and Girley Paes. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 29 January 2021. == Cast == The cast include: Renata de Lélis as Giovana Eduardo Mendonça as Yago Kaya Rodrigues as Sara Helena Becker as Júlia Girley Paes as Rui == Release == The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 29 January 2021 in the World Cinema Dramatic...
100% on Rotten Tomatoes
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
17:26
> The United Nations have developed a global strategy for fighting HIV. The only two countries that refused to accept it: Russia and Iran. Russian representatives, the dumb fuckers, said that the strategy failed to include a mention of "traditional family values" (i.e. anti-LGBT values). daily.afisha.ru/news/…
Every 50th person in my region, Sverdlovsk Oblast, is HIV-positive.
Putin is trying to turn Russia into Central Africa.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
17:41
What If The Simpsons Was British?
►
I can understand 50% of their speech
Cerberus
Cerberus
18:23
That's because they use some funny, non-standard accents.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
Does he say "eat your flag" at the fag-end of the video?
And Marge says: "Homer. The wind's got hibi on statue of Winston Churchil"
I'm not sure about the bolded part
And Bart says "Do not have a cow, father" (?)
Ah, it has subtitles.
Cerberus
Cerberus
@CowperKettle Yes.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
> The wean's got the head of yon's statude of Winston Churchill
Cerberus
Cerberus
That is hardly RP...
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
Scots Word of the Day: wean (small child)
cute
Cerberus
Cerberus
18:44
@CowperKettle Isn't this happening all the time normally anyway?
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@Cerberus Could be so!
It's hard to tell from all the media noise.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Right.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
user image
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
19:28
user image
Bill Clinton hiding in the bushes
 
2 hours later…
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
21:03
@Robusto it is utterly mesmerizing.
I first discovered the piece right then and there, ten minutes before I sent you the link.
I am now transcribing it in MuseScore, and trying my hand at a proper translation that hits all the marks, and more to the point: beats.
I will send you the link once I'm finished. I have another piece scheduled before that, so I'm eyeing maybe this Wednesday or Thursday.
The translation you read was basically fine; but it's a whole nother story putting it to music, especially existing music.
With every note that I enter, and every word I change for the seventh time, I discover more things that blow my mind.
It starts off completely innocuous, with a cliché idiom that even in Mozart's time was yesteryear.
But then with no warning at all it captures and demands your attention in ways you never see coming.
And the more you dig, the more you find.
Outstanding.
I've been humming the tune for the last two days. The first time I heard it, it seemed demanding if not impossible. That soprano's performance is stellar; and the line sure looks scary on the page. And not just because I can barely hum The Ode To Joy in tune.
But I am humming this piece now. And that's no accident. For if you strip it off the accompaniment, it is surprisingly diatonic.
This guy knew what he was doing. He studied under Shostakovich.
@Robusto a very good question I have absolutely no answer to. So for now I'm just keeping it as is.
The composer was married three times, first to an organist, then to a sopran, then for the last 33 years of his life to a harpist.
Which I take to mean, he must've known what he was doing here.
Cerberus
Cerberus
21:21
@RegDwigнt I agree, this is pretty good!
And then Youtube autoplayed to Shostakovich, which is also pretty good. youtube.com/watch?v=QB4_5vrK7Bc
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
@Cerberus well I have that piece transcribed on MuseScore as well. And indeed I have been playing just it for the last three months with my violin teacher.
As a result I have also produced arrangements for just two violins with no piano. But I've only uploaded the first two of the five so far.
Cerberus
Cerberus
@RegDwigнt It was Youtube's first suggestion after Rob's piece!
Good for you.
It sound very difficult.
To play.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
It is exceptionally beginner-friendly.
Like, I'm only in my third year now.
Every piece puts a focus on a different technicality, so it's a great mix not only in terms of what you get to hear but also what you get to practice.
The best recording is by Anne-Sophie Mutter with Dimitris Kavakos at the Vernier Festival, but YT seem to have taken it down.
Also and more to the point: What are you doing watching 10-minute long videos on YouTube.
Cerberus
Cerberus
@RegDwigнt Huh.
@RegDwigнt *listening to
Boris Tishchenko - Piano Sonata no. 4, Op.53 (Polyakov) (1972)
►
Now this.
Turns out I was in a perfect mood for all these pieces.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
21:40
You are welcome. As you know, this is the only best room on the Internet, and I am the only person who's watched all of YouTube, so the recommendations you get in here are always the bestest.
Like, even when they are crap, elsewhere you'll only get much worse.
Cerberus
Cerberus
How uplifting.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Inorite.
You should also listen to his Requiem some time, set to a poem by Anna Akhmatova, outlawed, Rushdie-style by the Communist state at the time.
Also while you're listening I can entertain you with a couple more stories about the composer, in no particular order.
And not for too prolonged a period of time, for I must resume my heavy drinking.
(On that note, why is teflon Mark being teflon again. Just get Balkenende back. Or ask Merkel. She'll be free, come this fall.)
Anyway. Lemme see.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Interesting.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Tishchenko was born in Leningrad in 1939, just in time for World War II.
His passion for music was first instilled into him at a young age by his mother, a "chemist of the highest qualification" working at a classified facility.
Together the two would play Tchaikovsky, von Weber, and Schubert.
Reportedly, Boris composed his first piece by mistake. In middle school a teacher played for the class Schumann's "Knecht Ruprecht", known in Russia as "Santa Claus". The homework for the day then was to write something about Santa Claus. Boris misunderstood the assignment and rather than writing an essay, wrote a piano piece.
Whether pure truth or an urban legend, it's an anecdote that suits the character. And either which way, a few years later Boris did enter the Leningrad conservatory.
He studied piano and composition under Galina Ustvolskaya and Dmitry Shostakovich, among other notable teachers.
His first cello concerto was commissioned by none other than Rostropovich, and orchestrated by none other than Shostakovich.
Boris later returned the favor by dedicating his third and fifth symphonies to Shostakovich.
Oh, and he also wrote a piece for 48 cellos, 12 double basses, and percussion.
That kind of guy.
(For reference, your usual symphony orchestra has like 8-10 cellos, and 4-6 basses.)
Cerberus
Cerberus
@RegDwigнt Haha very Russian.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
21:49
Inorite.
He was very open to experimentation, trying his hand at twelve-tone and aleatoric music, but ultimately found a musical language all of his own, that nonetheless always stayed deeply rooted in the Leningrad tradition.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Only 48 celli, I see.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Oh, here's a bit:
He was married a total of three times, first to an organ player, then to a singer, then for the last 33 years of his life to a harpist.
I think I mentioned that to Rob above.
He passed away in 2010 in St. Petersburg, leaving behind three sons, one from each marriage, and an astounding number of works and arrangements for all kinds of instrumentations, most of them very large in scope.
Seventeen symphonies.
Cerberus
Cerberus
And yet these sonate are not large, are they?
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
six concertos, six string quartets, various pieces for the organ, a dozen sonatas, three ballets — one of them the monumental "Yaroslavna", praised by Shostakovich himself —, as well as countless vocal works, including an opera and the aforementioned requiem.
Cerberus
Cerberus
So quite a lot.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
21:52
And yet nobody has ever so much as heard of the guy.
He raised an entire generation of notable Russian composers. And got tons of accolades. Commander of several Orders of the Russian Federation.
But nobody's ever heard his name.
And, like, he only died ten years ago.
Who will even still remember him in 2050.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Various artists have known revivals.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Yeah well. Like Bach for starters.
But you can't bet on that.
If anything, you should bet on the opposite.
Like, over at MuseScore I basically specialize in obscure stuff nobody knows. Essentially I'm entertaining a blog, come to think of it. Two obscure pieces a week, every week.
Cerberus
Cerberus
We're reviving him now.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
The lot of most composers is to be forgotten.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Good.
We now study vague cookbooks from Antiquity.
So there is always hope.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
21:58
@Cerberus yeah, but he's barely even dead. Now imagine how many Baroque composers nobody has so much as heard of, and never will.
Cerberus
Cerberus
If time is eternal, someone will hear of them eventually.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Have you read Asimov's The Last Question?
Anyway. I'll go back to my bottle, and then to transcribing the piece and translating the lyrics. Only got the first stanza down now. And it's only getting trickier with every note and syllable.
Cerberus
Cerberus
@RegDwigнt I have not.
Should I?
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
You fucking kid me.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Have fun.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
22:01
Hold on a sec
Robusto
Robusto
-1
A: When to delete Verb to be

RobustoThis phenomenon is known as zero copula (also null copula). It is a feature of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), (example: Gwendolyn Brooks's poem "We real cool"), but it also occurs elsewhere in English. The main area of acceptance is in news headlines: Police officer and suspect dead...

RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
It's like six pages, and only ten minutes of your time. And it's available online for free.
Robusto
Robusto
OK, someone tell me why this is worthy of a down vote.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
templatetraining.princeton.edu/sites/training/files/…
There you go.
Robusto
Robusto
Fuck this place. Seriously. I make a good faith effort to answer someone's question, and this is my thanks.
Cerberus
Cerberus
22:02
OK it's in a tab!
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
@Robusto I absolutely can't; but as you know even the most stellar performance of Bach by Hilary Hahn conducted by Barenboim is worthy of a couple thousand downvotes. And with all due respect, you're not even Bach, like.
Prost!
Cerberus
Cerberus
@Robusto Yeah, but remember, it it could be just a single grumpy old user.
Robusto
Robusto
@RegDwigнt I'm not? Wow, I'm going to have to reassess my life choices. Again.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Could also be because someone feels close-worthy questions shouldn't be answered.
+1 anyway.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
@Cerberus he also has a Last Answer. Which is also quite good. But do read this one first. As he says in the preamble, it's his favorite story.
Cerberus
Cerberus
22:04
OK OK.
Robusto
Robusto
@Cerberus Thanks. But this is really a shithole lately. People like Ashworth (prime suspect in this case) are all about poisoning the well.
2
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Eternal September is eternal. And also September. And it's not even the eleventh yet.
Robusto
Robusto
Wait, let's not be Septemberists yet. I need my summer, tyvm.
Cerberus
Cerberus
@Robusto Yeah, it would be just like our Chief Janitor.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Anyway. I'm out.
Do what you love, and fuck all the rest.
Cerberus
Cerberus
22:07
Adieu.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
You might not be Bach, but it worked for Bach, so why not start just there.
Bach is not complaining on YouTube about all his shit getting downvoted.
Robusto
Robusto
@RegDwigнt Have a fine Saturday night.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Oh is it Saturday yet...
Robusto
Robusto
@RegDwigнt I bet he had his complaints.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
This Gregorian calendar is getting me all confused.
Cerberus
Cerberus
22:08
It's Sunday.
Robusto
Robusto
Not where I am.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
@Robusto well he drew his sword and called people something with Fagott, as you'll remember from all the documentaries we've now watched together.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Not yet.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
But other than that, a pretty chill guy overall.
Robusto
Robusto
Beethoven called someone a shithead (Scheisskerl) in a letter. So, you know, there's that.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
22:10
Mozart called his cousine worse.
Robusto
Robusto
The point is, Bach probably was annoyed with fleas and constipation and all that.
@RegDwigнt Mozart was a pottymouth.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
@Robusto That, and with a whole school of frat boys learning counterpoint right next to the chamber he slept in.
Robusto
Robusto
Yeah. And torturing stray cats as well.
Them frat boys.
Now we have one on the Supreme Court.
RegDwigнt
RegDwigнt
Yes. But even so, he didn't have to watch Dame Judy Dench monologue her stray cat for ten fucking minutes.
Robusto
Robusto
Well ... I got nothing against Dame Judy. Judge Judy, OTOH ...
Mitch
Mitch
22:35
@RegDwigнt what if, now hear me out, what you really love just happens to be, and I presume it's not so rare, is fucking all the rest?

« first day (3796 days earlier)      last day (1422 days later) »