Now I was out rocking out just the other night. I went downtown to see the Symphony. Now I know many of you don't like that kind of music but I find it relaxing and entertaining and so I like to go down there. You know, go down to the city cafe and hang with the artsy people and those looking for discount drinks on a Friday happy hour in the city. I mean there are gays and straights and blacks and whites and ups and downs and around the towns there so naturally I can feel comfy in my turn of last century Frock Coat and John Bull hat (that Agnes tried to steal) and sit and talk of art and philosophy and eat hummus and nachos and drink two for one yuenlings with a Dewars bump and prepare myself for the good tunes.

I mean I love the symphony...Again it is a great people watching experience because there is quite the mix. Gays in their smartest attire with the little red hankies so nicely folded and the cultured and the trash like me. This week was an odd mix of tunes...Ives the Unanswered Question followed by Mozart’s 29th Symphony (written when he was 18) then Saint Saens Symphony Number 3. The question came with a crowd full of coughs (a quiet subtle piece you know) and Mozart 29 with a slight snooze at the end (man that is relaxing and I had the big comfy chairs in the overhanging boxes this week). Then it was time for the intermission...I love intermission as I can walk in my frock and collect another scotch and just generally look cool with the Symphony Crowd! Well I was standing there in the line waiting to order my drink when I realized I was in the martini line...well martinis are OK but they take time with all that shaking and carrying on and ever body asking hey what is that martini you got ...well it is some crazy fruity tooty concoction or some liqueur diluted with vodka or this or that and the other well you can imagine how a mind can wonder under a situation like that and so I was scanning conversations...

Well I guess you know by now that Baltimore is the first major Symphony that has hired the first Maestro de Maestro that has ovaries...A real coupe to get this woman ...Marin Alsop...I think I have spoke of her before but of course the high society can not stand her...It has been a trip for those who want symphonies grounded in music generally written before 1850 to deal with a modern who happens to be a woman. I mean she is bringin in modern music and all that and without having testicles (SACRILEGE)...So any ways I am scanning the conversation and I here these two women talking...one says...well she is OK tonight....the conversation turns to Marin and music for a bit and then I hear.....Well, I am not a music aficionado...but if my husband were here, well, he could tell you why I don't like her...

???????

In my dreams I turned around and said because she is cursed like you you stupid bitch in that she was born with ovaries that cloud the mind and lead to utter incompetence....if you had a pair like mine you would know what I am talking about....but instead I said...I'll have a Pinch on the rocks thank you!

http://www.marinalsop.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv16oq4cD2M

...that is my hat

Yikes! Sounds like a pretty grouchie symphony time for you PSB, at least you got to wear a nice hat.

i will put this here? i was dreaming last night that i was trying to teach a cat how to speak english and i decided to start with the word expound, "like, the word expound for instance," i says, "which means to express in detail orsomethinglikethat...and the word explain which means to... and...and...blah blah blah..." "meow..?" "and..."
but anyway, back to the BSO thing, i mean i thought that it was an interesting commentary...i loved it! but i am not sure how exactly to expound on that or explain, but it was beautiful, somehow

"meow" is English. Mission accomplished!

yes, that is the english spelling for that onomatopoeia.

I got the following advice from Tweety Bird years ago: " Don't pith off da puddy tats!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tRnZKzAYGI

:) i liked the space kitty!

it was not a grouchie time, in fact it was great....the music was awesome....I guess the problem is I don't understand women? Here you have this incredibly talented and brilliant woman conductor and the "establishment" does not like her because she was born with ovaries...it even comes down to people with ovaries saying "my husband knows why I don't like her". Not grouchie, just don't understand? Marin is truly breaking a barrier in the arts and again "SHE IS AWESOME" but her ovaries are still a topic of "CRITICAL CONCERN" even among the women who (let me point out again) don't know why they don't like because "MY HUSBAND CAN EXPLAIN THAT". Oh, did I say MARIN IS AWESOME!....I just wish she could bring more modern music to the season.... She played John Adams' The Wound Dresser last year and I was nearly by myself and I heard continually about the awfull new sounds when I was in the lobby ...(of course I pointed out that it was music to a Whitman Poem about the horrors of war to glazed looks).

i would rather others not understand my thinking than to have anyone else try to explain my thinking only to compound the confusion :)

like i said, beautiful

I agree. ..if my husband were here, he could tell you why? WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?


Marin Alsop is a tour de force in her musicality and accomplishments. Why is it some women cannot take that? My best guess is that they are biased against her choice of a same gender partner. They watch her conduct, and judge her gestures. They say well she is OK tonight? OK?! Does that mean not bad for a lesbian? Who are they to make that judgment, and without even being able to articulate the reason. I am not sure I would have had the same restraint had I been standing there. (I may have turned around and gave them the hairy eyeball! )

We can hope this prejudice will someday be overcome, and in the meantime , the Maestra* de Maestro has just won the Conductor of the Year award.

I am proud to see a woman break through the glass ceiling of conducting. She payed the dues, her accolades are well- deserved, (and speaking of musical brains) her fMRI is glowing.

i believe that it is not required she be a lesbian for this!

somewhere in the way back machine I know I have mentioned John Adams as one of my fa, well, my fav composer of modern music, i mean I got hooked on shaker loops in the 80's, so I will dump this here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRc2zMHs ... re=related

I was in the basement tonight and found the original LP of shaker loops from the way back machine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aLwfDoaCsw

I also found my Castles of Ghana by John Carter, anybody ever heard of that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carter_(jazz_musician)

(nothing on you tube)
But you know what pisses me off, my Sonny and Brownie LP with John Mayall, Arlo and Jerry Mcghee got water damaged (f'n hell, second copy I have owned that got water damaged...and it is such a cool cover! I had two original gatefold Tarkio Roads in the same box that were lost as well...damn!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE5k2euahDI

as you probably know Sonny and Brownie did the best version of this with Arlo on piano and singing background (not on you tube)

http://www.amazon.com/Sonny-Brownie-Ter ... B000002G6M

great album...one of the best of my youth! (I saw Sonny and Brownie myself at least twice...I told you that before though!)


took my body to the doctor
he say,
man you won't live through the night
took my body home to mama
she say
Jesus gonna make it all right!

i am not sure if my meaning was clear so i will put it again like this,

i believe that it is not required she be a lesbian for this to happen.

Her accomplishments stem most likely from her genes and the environment she was raise. She has a life time of dedication to music, and never let being a woman stop her from going after traditionally a "mans" job. I cannot say if this is related to her sexual orientation, although it might help that she likes wearing a tux..?

I think the controversy may be coming from the aging patronage of the BSO ( who were doing a great job of driving the symphony into the ground before she arrived) and from stupid people who make inane comments like what psb encountered. They are not so uppity about the fact that she has ovaries but that her spouse has ovaries, too. Anyway it was never an issue when she was in the San Fransisco bay area.....if that means anything...