Saturday, June 28, 2014

The SMP Classical repertoire

 
Take your seats, Ladies and Gentlemen!


(Or if you prefer 'the gods', secure your standing spot!)


For you are about to be treated to a classical concert here at The Sanctuary :-)
Welcome to the SMP Classics :-)


Down Under recently reminded me just how much I love classical music. And The SMP being the main topic of this blog, why not combine classical music with my favourite all-time topic?
:-)


Without any further ado, let the show begin!


I bring you...The Top Twenty SMP classics...

Note: In this concert, it really is the music that counts, NOT the musicians or the video images...remember this is an auditory exercise, not visual. Work with me here, gentlemen. The ladies already get me :-)


Bearing in mind my name, there could only be one introduction to tonight's concert...


Welcome to Planet SMP :-)
At least that's what Zarathustra says :-)

Take it away, Richard Strauss!




Men are from Mars...





Women are from Venus...



Representing the alpha male types...
Whoa, can you feel the awesome power?





And the sweet, feminine gals...
How lovely!  How charming! How utterly feminine!




Mr. Cool is in town. He doesn't understand why he can't move for girls throwing themselves at him...
Confidence, perhaps? Oh, I don't know...! Why does this piece remind me of The King of Siam?



This lady scores highly (on both counts) on the hot-crazy scale. She should be avoided, but there's no stopping her admirers...of which there are legion :-)
They just can't help themselves :-)





This man is off  'on the town' with his wingman...aw, love the bromance!
Hm...pearl fishing...
Is this a new PUA term??
:-)


 
 
 
 
The good girls are praying for husbands...
 
 

 
 
The bad girls are smoking dope in the nearest bar...



The PUAs are getting busy...

 
 

A little something nocturnal for our party boys and girls? Keep it klein clean, Herr Mozart, this is a family show blog! :-)

 


Show me your dance moves ! (male edition)



Work it, girl! :-)
Can you too picture the Turkish belly dancer?






It's a date!
But...'first date' nerves rule :-(
Oooooh, the nail-biting is almost palpable here (shudder)...


 


How romantic!




She said yes!!!




But this is how he really feels about marriage :-)




She is already planning the big day...



And somewhere in a far away Celestial Galaxy, St. Jerome is shaking his head...
It's a tragedy! Another young man falls to his death! Get the funeral cortege ready!





Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

Thanks for the inspiration, Down Under.
I really enjoyed compiling this :-)




Any suggestions to add to this list, folks? If it's classical, it's in :-)
All entries will be enthusiastically considered :-)





Addendum:

As to the future of the SMP, I would be failing if I didn't end on a positive note.
I shall let Karl Jenkins have the last word.
Indeed, he is right: When it comes to the war of the sexes, better is peace than always war.

Ring out the old, bring in the new!

Take it away, Karl...
 










35 comments:

Unknown said...

What? No Beach Boys?

Spacetraveller said...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Bob, you're too funny.

Well played :-)

Anonymous said...

ST,

I'm glad you resisted the temptation to add La donna è mobile!

Down Under

Spacetraveller said...

Down Under,

:-) :-) :-)

Ah, now that would be throwing all of us ladies under the bus!

Way too controversial...even I wouldn't dare pull that stunt, Mister!

Good call though!
:P


Anonymous said...

@Bob Wallace,

You got me mate, fair and Square.

Now which Beach Boys number to choose... (scratching head)

Down Under

Anonymous said...

ST,

Although I have excellent eyesight (inherited - my great granddad, my granddad, and my brother were/are champion marksmen - there I am blowing my own trumpet again!) I somehow failed to see this page here until recently. Pity - I could've taken solace in the wonderful music at a time when I was somewhat distracted!

Congrats, ST, it's a great selection!

Anonymous said...

post August 13, 2014 at 10:09 PM was by Glissando Down Under, BTW. Anything that involves "blowing your own trumpet" is bound to be from him.

Glissando Down Under

Anonymous said...

P.S.

Still can't think of an appropriate Beach Boys number. I think they'd just lower the tone...

Glissando Down Under

Anonymous said...

ST,

"Way too controversial...even I wouldn't dare pull that stunt, Mister!"

Then may I be so bold:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeE33-mE98c

I'm not sure about an appropriate caption. Maybe we should just dedicate it to AWALT

BUT NOT INCLUDING:
my great-grandmother (bless her resilient old heart)
my grandmothers
my mother
my sisters
all of my aunts (with two glaring exceptions)
my beautiful (i.e. female) cousins
my dwindling entourage of female friends
all women who reject feminism AND walk the walk
And of course, you, ST.

Otherwise, to y'all - La donna è mobile!

"Always miserable
is he who trusts her,
he who confides in her
his unwary heart!"

(The Duke himself was an out-and-out PUA of the worst type, but let's not complicate things)

Glissando Down Under

Anonymous said...

Confound it, I'll have to stop spending so much time in here, enjoying the music. It's an addiction!

Anonymous said...

OMG The Bruch...
I've got the full concerto on CD.

Can you imagine listening to this one, standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the mighty Pacific? Behind you, all windows are open and a massive stereo pumps sound-waves of such power, they threaten to blast you into the stars? The only high to match it is that of beating extreme physical danger.

Many times I have stood there swaying in the sound, sawing the air like an idiot!

It's just as well I have no neighbours!

Spacetraveller said...

Glissando,

Blow your trumpet all you like!
Speaking of which, how wonderful is THIS man's trumpet-playing!
Unbeatable...
This one is for you...
(One of my favourite trumpet concertos ever, played by the undisputed heavyweight trumpet player of all time!)

LOL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpFaWJQHwbA

I LOVE Jussi Björling, by the way!
I know that the Italian and Spanish tenors have dominated the tenor scene of late, but I have a particularly hotspot for this talented Scandinavian :-)

Wow, you are indeed blessed to have such a long list of wonderful female relatives, Glissando!
Good on ya!
And good on them!

OMG The Bruch indeed...!
I DIG the imagery you present. I am truly envious!

Can I let you into a little secret...

In the UK classical charts, indeed that of Classic FM UK, Bruch's violin concerto has occupied the number one spot for YEARS.

It took me a while to figure out why.
Then it hit me:
The largest radio audience in general, must be women (typically housewives, maybe).
These are the people who are doing the voting!

Notice that I describe Bruch's music as 'awesome power', and used it to represent the Alphas :-)
This music is indeed very masculine, to which us ladies gravitate :-)
It is akin to being at the foot of a very big mountain and you stand there, your mouth agape, just taking in the awesomeness of it all...
In this very narrow sense, AWALT...
LOL!

Interestingly, the number 2 piece in the classical hits has typically been Mozart's clarinet concerto in A. (This alternates quite a bit with Vaughan Williams' 'Lark Ascending'. I suspect it is the men voting for this one ;-)
Feminine, serene, like gazing into a still lake on a lazy summer afternoon...

Oh the joy, Glissando...
Such utter joy...
THIS must be what Heaven looks and sounds like...
And we get to experience that whilst still here on Earth?
Priceless...

Anonymous said...

Wow wow wow
And again, WOW!

What a pleasant change it is, to listen to another man blowing his own trumpet!

I'll come back to listen some more, but first the morning chores await.

Glissando

Anonymous said...

A minute ago I was outside tossing hay to the horse, when I heard classical music in the forest.

Did you know, birds such as the Skylark and Song Thrush are hard-wired to sing?
Birds such as the Tui, a native of NZ, LEARN to sing:

The Tuis who grow up surrounded by Bell Birds sing liquid notes.
The ones surrounded by Minahs squawk like old crones.
The ones in the city centres wail like sirens.
The ones at the beaches sing Mr Whippy tunes.

The Tuis around me sing Bruch, Mozart et al. I'm not kidding.
Some are bold enough to take on Bach.
Just now, a minute ago, I recognized exerpts from Liszt's Four Scherzi chirping frantically in the trees. It was like a bird on acid - the poor thing seemed to pause for a gasp of air between every bar.

I've only done drugs once. My companions at the time were all raving about it being the best trip they'd ever had etc yet for me the experience was flat. Okay, I felt something different in my blood and, if I bothered to let it, in my head, but what's the big deal I kept wondering?

Once you've had an extreme music high or a whup-the-ass-off-danger high, nothing else can compare.

Even during sex I'm going
higher...
higher...
GOTTA TAKE ME HIGH-YA!
(just kidding)
;-)

Now I've gotta go let the dog down to the beach while no visitors around. He's a big lonesome fella, and I have to watch him with people.

Now that I've stopped raving on, there are some things you mentioned I'd like to come back to :)

Glissando

Spacetraveller said...

Glissando,

Thanks for the link to the singing tui!
THIS is the original classical music: Mozart for all his talent has nothing on this handsome chap, lol.

I think you are certainly correct about him having 'sensory overload': given that birdsong is nothing more than a serenade of a male bird to a female bird, one could say that THIS chap has got a sensory hit alright! He likes what he sees (visual overload, lol) and is responding accordingly!
Amen to that!
(I love a good romance, me :P)

Your sister in law has piano hands?
I would love to see her hands! As you know, I have a thing for piano hands... but enough of my idiosyncrasies :-)

Yes, a harp is a very feminine instrumenent to my mind too. Your grandmother playing the harp must have been a sight to behold, and indeed a sound to behear (if I may permit myself to coin a new word :-)

Which instrument is the most masculine?
Hm, haven't encountered this question before!
But you are right - our recent conversation certainly begs the question, I agree!

I would say...the cello or double bass, or even downright... drums.
I guess any instrument that can ape the lower-pitched male voice. Yes, the saxophone too (but I tend to associate that with jazz, not classical).

If I may continue with this (slightly weird, but there we are!) 'sexualisation' of classical music, I tend to think of a whole orchestra as the 'harem' of its conductor. That orchestra is submitting to the will of its conductor. In coarse language, the orchestra is the conductor's 'b*tches' (where this word is used as a term of endearment, rather than an insult).

In some concertos, the principal violin or indeed another instrument or groups of instruments, eg. the entire woodwind section 'duets' a little with the solo instrument. This happens a lot in Beethoven's concertos, and I have noticed this with Mendelssohn and Sibelius as well...
I find this little 'duetting' rather amusing because I interpret is as one of women in the harem 'stepping out' with the incoming new man (the solo instrument).
Usually this 'duetting' comes to a rather abrupt end, which I take to mean that the 'straying' woman has been caught out and is now back under lock and key under the watchful eye of 'The Boss'.

LOL!

"We can enjoy great music in the company of the gods and charge ourselves with celestial power. It's the only experience I know that is directly divine."

Amen.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I remember some of those "duets" you refer to. It's as if the composer is offering each member of his audience a moment for private reflection. During one performance (I can't remember which) I pictured an amorphous herbivore of the woods, emerging in a glimpse here, a flutter of movement there, and gradually straying in nervous fits and starts into the clearing. Once there, she frollicks and kicks up leaves from Mother Nature but is never quite at ease. She better duck for cover quick-smart when Mother (nurturer not only of prey) decides to return to her chores.

It's interesting that, while we both see a female in the 'straying' role, you would cast a male for the role in which I have my stern female. Vive la différence!

Getting back to macro matters, though, the conductor is male for both of us!

Anonymous said...

"I think you are certainly correct about him having 'sensory overload': given that birdsong is nothing more than a serenade of a male bird to a female bird, one could say that THIS chap has got a sensory hit alright! He likes what he sees (visual overload, lol) and is responding accordingly! "

However... But...
(There's always a "but")
The male Tui is the splendid one, with his parson's collar and the brilliance of colour under his wings (only seen when in flight) - and his repertoire of song which Gerald Durrell described as the best in the world!

SHE is a rather plain little thing. SHE should be sensory-overloaded by the sight and sound HIM!
;-)

Now I really do need to get out of here. I'm getting fixations on your selections, one at a time. Hmmm, lean back, put my feet up for just one more before I get back to my chores...

"We must be in Heaven, Man!" (Wavy Gravy, Woodstock everyone-knows-when)

Glissando

Spacetraveller said...

Glissando,

"The male Tui is the splendid one..."

Ah, I am scratching my head wih this one :-)

Yes, you are right - how DOES Nature explain this one? The male is the more beautiful and yet HE is the one that has to serenade a plain creature??
I don't get it...

The same with peacocks - I believe they are also more beautiful to look at than their female counterparts...

There must be SOMETHING worthwhile about the female of these species which the male finds attractive enough to serenade :-)
Otherwise, it just doesn't make sense!

Anyone know?



Oh yes, the conductor is certainly male, at least for me.
:-)

Whilst I have heard of female conductors (notable the American Marin Alsop - interestingly, she is a lesbian), I have never seen one in action.

I amuse myself at their different styles - Leonard Bernstein (as you rightly point out) always looks like he really OWNS his b*tches - he seems quite authoritarian in his demeanour...
Others like Simon Rattle of the Berlin Phil seems to be more 'easy-going' and actually 'dances' whilst conducting. Barenboïm always looks serious, but you get the impression he has a good rapport with his b*tches nevertheless.

Hm, maybe *I* am the one that needs to get out more, Glissando! You ain't the only one!
LOL.

"Our first experience of celestial music comes to us from a place than which nothing greater can be reached. It can't happen unless we do the reaching. That's why we burst with pride when we manage to rub shoulders with greatness in that awesome, transcendent place."

Never a truer word spoken, Glissando.
Bravo.

Anonymous said...

"The male is the more beautiful and yet HE is the one that has to serenade a plain creature??"
Maybe it's to do with that damn countryman of mine, what's his name, Briffault:
"The female, not the male, determines all the conditions of the animal family. Where the female can derive no benefit from association with the male, no such association takes place."

So ... in order to impress her, he becomes a many-more-splendoured thing than she!
BUT : is she capable of appreciating it? If she had even a modicum of appreciation, surely she would spare a little tune for him? Would not some of his glory reflect itself in some glory from her, or does her PROFOUND EGOCENTRICITY preclude this? Does the music of the bird-world's Mozart fall on indifferent ears? If so, wouldn't it be easier for him to just throw her down and have his way with her?

And so we come to feminism's demonization of the male...
(Yawn)
What was I saying? Oh yes, I was thinking of a song called "You Don't Impress Me Much" sung by some humbug from Canada.
(Yawn, ho-hum)
(Yawwnn... sheesh!) (blink blink)

Excuse me while I return to the embrace of the gods.
Let me see, a bit a Mozart maybe?
I reckon!
:-)

(Hey, if it's good enough for @brother metak to employ the occasional emoticon, it's good enough for me!)
;-)
o_O
B-o (whistler in shades - wow, there's a little art from me!)

Glissando

Spacetraveller said...

Glissando,

"Where the female can derive no benefit from association with the male, no such association takes place.""

Yes, correct. This is surely because the female offers more from a reproductive point of view. Nature is clearly VERY pro-reproduction. And eggs are very expensive, and sperm is by comparison 'cheap'.

I suppose this is why (even in our industrialised 'modern' life) a female MUST make sure the interested male is going to stick around for the long haul and must provide and protect both her and the next generation...
If she can derive no such benefit from him, Nature itself prompts her to ditch him...

Brutal but true, yes.
:-(


Briffault was a kiwi?
Well I never!

:-)
So your own countryman's observations...
:-)



I agree with you 100% about the bassoon...
It is indeed a VERY masculine instrument!

OK, I see your bassoon...and I raise you...an Alphorn!

Pure, unadulterated masculinity, this instrument...even more so because it is found in the 'wild' and will not be tamed or AMOGed by any conductor, No Siree! as the Americans would say...
:-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVfPFJep64Q


Anonymous said...

The Alphorn!
Spare a thought for an antipodean peasant hearing this sound for the first time!
Somehow I did not expect this of you, ST! Good onya, mate!
For a second there, I thought you were pulling my leg :-)

Wait, I'm not laughing AT you ;-) Let me explain:
I was raised in the Southern Alps of NZ, so an Alpine environment is very familiar to me.
HOWEVER...
If ever I came over a ridge and saw four blokes playing those things, I'd trek 20 miles back the to the nearest pub, shaking my benighted head all the way, and return to those guys with a crate of beer. I'd swig to their health, and hope that culture-differences notwithstanding, they'd swig to mine. And after we'd quaffed my crate, I'd pray they'd fetch a German beer or two (anything liquid and brown and not Fosters) from that pretty little chalet. Then I'd beg for an Alphorn to play along with them, and we'd play and quaff and play and scoff ourselves all the way up to Valhalla (or Swiss equivalent thereof).

Although I worked on projects in Europe for a couple of years, I never encountered the Alphorn. Their sound is alien to me, and reminds me just how "different" Europe can be. I never, in all my life, heard anything quite like it. What on earth made you think of the Alphorn, ST? (I really am intrigued.)

Again I say, Onya! It was quite a disarming experience for me, you know.
Meanwhile, during my Alphorn-acclimatization phase, I'm going to hold out for the bassoon. I'm sure you don't mind? :-)

BTW, the second Movement of the Mozart Bassoon Concerto (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYOPQuhdoQM) sends me to "the place" I mentioned.

I've come across people named Briffault quite a few times in present-day NZ (I don't know if they're related to Robert B, though).
Robert Briffault was born in Nice of a French father and a Scottish mother. After the death of his father, Robert and his mother shifted to New Zealand. In 1896 he married a NZ woman and they had three children. He qualified here and practised medicine here. After WW1 he shifted to England. His wife had died by then.

Briffault would have noticed the Tui for sure. He would have observed the males doing the creating, and the females selecting the tunes according to whatever it is that appeals to their feathery fancy: effort maybe, along with dedication, intricacy, prolificacy, durability, virility...

Hmmm, I wonder if anything similar might apply with human music...

Spacetraveller said...

Glissando,

"Somehow I did not expect this of you, ST!"

I live in the Swiss Alps!

(I too am totally ashamed of myself that I didn't think of the Swiss Alphorn before, when we were discussing 'masculine instruments'. The only excuse I can give myself is that it is not strictly speaking a 'classical' instrument).

I was only reminded of it when you presented the bassoon as a contestant :-)

I actually have friends who play this intrument. At any social event, party, gathering of any sort, out comes the Alphorn :-)

I am totally kicking myself for not remembering this instrument earlier...


"Hmmm, I wonder if anything similar might apply with human music..."

Hahahahahahahaha!
You KNOW it does ;-)

Anonymous said...

ST,

I'm wondering if you recommended the Alphorn in another of those "tragicomedic" moments of yours?

Glissando

Anonymous said...

Hi Dear ST,

"Glissando" is my very dear dear dear friend :-)
I caretake of his house when he is off by his boat for business. He gives me the run of the house to caretake of the horse and the dog and the chores for "Glissando" on his behalf. "I know how to make hay the old fashioned way" Hahahaha!
;-)
I caretake "for love and *not* money." :-)

Also I am very lucky for big friends of Glissando is to caretake of me! Glissando is very dear to caretake of my family :-) My friend is the big man, "don't mess with me!"
Hahahah! Big *handsome* man ;-) ;-)
Oh! Glissando is to see this! :-(
;-)

"The Sanctuary delivered" and is right. When Glissando was waxing lyrical about M, he heard me speak and not. He was not "found a gem amongst women", M and those women.

Please excuse me so much, my English is a "not your first language". Glissando was to laugh at my lingo. I loove The SMP Classical repertoire, bloody good stuff mate! ;-) ;-)

Glissando is very much of trust worthy in me, as M and those women are not very much of trust worthy. He gives me the one women the run of his "Number 2 Computer" :-)

Pull up a chair. Sit by me :-)
It is a "first speak" from me to a European women.

Time zones: Swiss time was 10 hours behind New Zealand time.
Swiss time was 1:37 A.M. right now.

Also is The SMP Classical repertoire right to post my post, I want to I don't mess with The SMP Classical repertoire?


Ann xoxx

Spacetraveller said...

Hello Ann!

A big welcome to you from The Sanctuary!

Your English is just fine, don't worry.

Glissando says you are Chinese. Would love a lesson or two in Chinese if you have the time :-)

I am sure M is a lovely girl. She just took what I believe is a wrong turn and I hope she can correct herself before it is too late.

I am glad you liked the classical pieces!

Which is your favourite?

Anonymous said...

Hahahaha! Good response, but she doesn't have a computer! (I get the impression that she and her husband frown on computers.) Next time I see her I'll hand her a printout of your reply, but I'll think twice before letting her anywhere near my computers again! There's an agile mind beneath those densely-packed follicles of hers.

I'm back to hear more of the Alphorn, having sorely missed its dulcet tone over the last 6 days ;-)

Man, I would just LOVE to play an alphorn. This instrument was made for me! Who invented it? Bill Tell? With an Alphorn at my lips, I'd be able to project my personality with integrity - a parp here and a parp there between sips from my stein. If you'd introduced me to it earlier, ST, I would have been tempted to style myself "Alphorn Down Under". And how much better would an Alphorn be than piano restricted to glissando?

Hmm, I wonder if they sell Alphorns in Auckland? I might have to wait for the next Annual Swiss Market Day (last one was 10 May 2014).

Now I'd like to close with flowery prose descriptive of my mighty Alphorns (yes I feel like I already *own* those four good blokes and their music) but I guess an attempt to raise the Aphorn to the "celestial" plain might be taking things too far
;-)

Glissando (A.K.A. Alphorn) Down Under

Spacetraveller said...

Glissando,

Hahahahaha, PLEASE let Ann use your computer more. I get the feeling she would be a great asset to The Sanctuary. She could teach me a thing or two, and I am not just referring to Chinese...

I love how you are getting so fond of the Alphorn :-)

It IS a wonderful instrument. I have 2 friends here (sisters) who are both music students, and being Swiss, they learned the Alphorn...
I find it a difficult instrument to play, but then again, I am not ever one that may be described as having a good pair of lungs, haha. It does require a strong pair of lungs, for sure, this instrument!

"Another contender for most masculine instrument?"

YES! YES! YES!

How could we have forgotten the didgeridoo?!

Indeed a VERY masculine instrument too!

Actually, it does have characteristics in common with the Alphorn, no?

I wonder if there is a link somewhere...

We Brits knew nothing about the didgeridoo until it was introduced to us by Rolf Harris... Shame about the recent developments...


Anonymous said...

The distant roar of lions in Africa is an ancient sound. A didgeridoo resonating from miles away across the burnt land of central Australia stirs something even older within me.

When I listen to it much, I experience a very unscientific pull into a place I've forgotten and can *almost* begin to remember. It's not exactly reincarnation, but that's the closest word I can think of.

Not Rolf Harris' didgeridoo, BTW. That link I gave you was the real thing.

Glissando

Anonymous said...

"Actually, it does have characteristics in common with the Alphorn, no?"

Indeed it does! That's what made me think of it.


Glissando

Anonymous said...

Hello ST!

Thank you so much for A big welcome to me from The Sanctuary!

Thank you so much for My English is just fine ;-) ;-) :-)
I am to learn! :-)

"Would love a lesson or two in Chinese". I have the time.
Please excuse me very much, which language of 7+ Chinese languages?
Mandarin is the first biggest language, Wu is the second biggest language, Yue is the third biggest language. All are difficult as my English is *not* very much just fine. :-()

Yue is very much of the Chinese language in Australasia. The Chinese government is to make Mandarin the one Chinese language as 6+ Chinese languages are to off! Hahaha! (As he is *off* by his boat for business.)

"M is a lovely girl. She just took what I believe is a wrong turn and I hope she can correct herself before it is too late" is right. The culture stops the parents. The parents are to speak. The women are to hear the parents, the parents are to be very much more first before the marriage, before the husbands are very dear after the marriage. The parents are to speak! The culture stops the parents :-(

"Which is your favourite?" Bach of all music.
Which is my favourite in The SMP Classical repertoire is Handel - Messiah - Hallelujah Chorus

Thank you very much.

Ann xoxx

Anonymous said...

Whew!

Crikey, ST, I hope you can make more out of it than I can. It took her FOUR HOURS to complete!
:-()
Struth!
Type - consult dictionary - delete - Type - consult dictionary - delete...

Just as well I told her to slave over it offline, in Notepad!

Her spoken English is easier to understand than her "written" English, thank the lord!

Good luck with it!

Anonymous said...

A pick-up line:
http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=K_1Ry44K-MM
Could he learn from today's PUAs?

I'm sure you would have considered "Che gelida manina", which makes me think you must have decided against it. I want to put this version forward because it's the one my great-grandfather had, and the picture is the one from his old vinyl record cover! It brings back memories so strong...

A weak knock is heard and the neighbour Mimi enters asking Rodolfo to light her candle which has blown out on the staircase... Rodolfo quickly blows out his own candle and in the darkness Mimi drops her key. She asks Rodolfo to help her find it and when he does he conceals it in his pocket and continues searching until his hand touches Mimi's hand:

What a frozen little hand,
let me warm it for you.
What's the use of looking?
We won't find it in the dark.
But luckily
it's a moonlit night,
and the moon
is near us here.
Wait, mademoiselle,
I will tell you in two words,
who I am, what I do,
and how I live. May I?
Who am I? I am a poet.
What do I do? I write.
And how do I live? I live.
In my carefree poverty
I squander rhymes
and love songs like a lord.
When it comes to dreams and visions
and castles in the air,
I've the soul of a millionaire.

From time to time two thieves
steal all the jewels
out of my safe, two pretty eyes.
They came in with you just now,
and my customary dreams
my lovely dreams,
melted at once into thin air!
But the theft doesn't anger me,
for their place has been
taken by hope!
Now that you know all about me,
you tell me who you are.
Please do!


How things have changed!?

Glissando

Anonymous said...

Oops, that link doesn't work. This one does, I hope:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_1Ry44K-MM

Anonymous said...

I admit, I often get a bit lonely in paradise. Most of the time, the dog and the horse are my only company. Often I run out of things to do. I've just finished building a barge to tow behind the boat. It'll be useful for transporting hay bales or taking the horse or sheep to the vet.

Truth is, I don't really need the barge. Building it just gave me something to do. I can carry all the hay I need in the boat. The vet is a close friend who likes to come here. He'd be disappointed if I started bringing the animals to him. I'll probably end up selling the barge.

My paradise is perfect and I've run out of things to do. I am my own slaughterman and butcher and farrier and builder and fencer and mechanic and plumber and electrician, and nothing needs doing right now. I've rung around all the rellies and friends and none of them need any more seafood or meat from me. There's no sense in doing any fishing or diving today, and I don't need to hunt, the freezers are chocker.

Anne planted some flowers. There are plenty of places I could plant some more. Trouble is, I know nothing about flowers. I know daisies and dandelions and roses, and that's about it. If I ask Anne, she'll insist on doing it herself, thinking I'm too much of a duffer to do it myself. When I asked her what's the difference between a daffodil and a tulip, she thought I was joking.

I could hit town for a couple of days, but I can't leave the stock unattended. Anne and hubby aren't always available to manage the place in my absence.

I could throw a party here, but I'm not in the mood for booze and din.

When a man lives alone and is self-sufficient, he ends up with too much time on his hands. I'm going to spend some time indoors listening to music, and I'll be happily idle today.

Thanks for building this place, ST. This part of it, The SMP Classical repertoire, is a peaceful, restful place. really is a sanctuary.

Glissando

Spacetraveller said...

Glissando,

"I admit, I often get a bit lonely in paradise..."

If it's any consolidation, those of us who don't live in paradise also get a bit lonely. Given that none of us can be with other people 24/7, loneliness from time to time is bound to be a feature, not a bug of human existence, no?

Hey, reminds me of this REM song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6yUY7M9yfw


"Thanks for building this place, ST. This part of it, The SMP Classical repertoire, is a peaceful, restful place. really is a sanctuary."

Aw, thanks Glissando!
Remember that YOU were the source of inspiration for this post.
:-)