With the help of your questions. You don't have to ask about me. Raise any question that you think might lead me to say something interesting enough that I won't edit it out of the final cut of (what's getting to be) the daily vlog -- which I will record when next the clock strikes the hour.
ADDED: The Vlog:
July 30, 2007
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58 comments:
You said you don't read every comment. Are there any commenters who you always read?
Who is/was your favorite UW President?
Could you explain to one who has never seen an Ingmar Bergman film, namely me, what it was in his passing that brought you to tears?
And could you convince me of why and give me a particular film of his that I should see before I too pass on?
How do you organize your books / DVDs / CDs / Records? Alphabetical, chronological, autobiographical?
When you link to a story, do you have a good idea of how many comments the link will cause based on past history? Have there been blog entries that really surprised you by the multitude (or lack thereof) of comments?
Who do you think was more important to their craft:
Ingmar Bergman to film; or
Bill Walsh to football; and why?
Has anyone offered to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge yet?
Did you instantly know that "My Dinner With Andre" was destined to be one of your favorite movies (if not yet "the favorite")? Or did it more "grow on you"?
And what's the "stupidest" movie (you get to supply the definition) you ever saw but that you like anyway?
(The second question does NOT relate to the first: I love My Dinner With Andre; watched it twice in an evening, the first time I saw it [in a threatre]).
Oregano or basil?
bach, haydn, beethoven, ravel or stravinsky
Your thoughts on surveillance cameras.
Should Alberto Gonzales resign?
Has vlogging supplanted podcasting Chez Althouse?
tagalong w/ Simon's:
Has Gonzales really done anything wrong?
Who do you think are the best artists around these days?
What do you think of art in our era in general?
Are you related to Paul Althouse, the tenor who sang at the Metropolitan Opera many years ago?
Is your view of dogs as negative as your view of squirrels? Some of your comments on dog-related topics, such as Robert Byrd's panegyrics, seemed a little anti-canine.
Have you seen that Chief Justice Roberts fell and was taken to the hospital? (Not actually a question for the vlog.)
Time's up!
Do you think demonization of one's political or other opponents (as opposed to honestly engaging their ideas and honestly evaluating their motives) is more common in the cyber world than elsewhere? Do you think it is problematic?
Damnit!
The Bigamists/Mormons have a dozen lawsuits winding their way through Federal Courts in Utah and Colorado.
If they can make a freedom of religion argument as to why they should be allowed to engage in bigamy.....
....on what grounds can the Court deny their claims?
By the way: these claims have nothing to do with child abuse, or marrying under age. All litigants are adults.
Watch. She won't answer my questions if they are too substantive.
From me, she only wants cotton candy/softball questions.
Hmmmmm.
Maxine, if she doesn't answer your question it'll be because it came after the deadline. Which you'd know if you read the comments before opening fire.
(By the way, knowing only the abstract description of these cases that you propose, the immediate answer to your question is stare decisis. The court decided this question over a century ago in Reynolds.)
Beethoven....after your vlog..i can see it....i would have guessed stravinsky but perhaps to clean...ravel.. a complicated sentimentality...haydn...for his sense of humor...beethoven for being the perfect movie critic if there were movies.
I've gotten watery eyes during the Egmont overture. And once preached a sermon on Philippians 1:21 using the 5th symphony. So I'm with you on Beethoven.
Bach is known for being more religious. Beethoven is more deeply spiritual and profound in my estimation.
Now I'm off to get some Bergman films on my Netflix queue.
I'm with Althouse on Beethoven.
Stuck on a desert island with one CD?
Beethoven's Ninth by Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
"Bach is known for being more religious. Beethoven is more deeply spiritual and profound in my estimation."
You've never listened to Bach then.
I love Beethoven as well, and I think it's wrong to see him and Bach (and Haydn) as separated from each other; better to see the continuum from Bach to Handel to Haydn to Beethoven to Brahms to Wagner to Schoenberg. Ravel was what he was, a great orchestrator, but certainly not an inheritor of the contrapuntal tradition. And of Stravinsky we shall not speak.
If you want "spirituality" listen to Bach's 54th Cantata, or the St. Matthew Passion or, best of all, Die Kunst der Fugue (especially the unfinished Contrapunctus 14).
Those front strands of hair are begging to be feathered back. --Just begging for someone to come in there with a curling iron, curl it back and create wings. If only Althouse's hair were longer, it would feather so beautifully.
"And of Stravinsky we shall not speak."
Why not? Anyone who appreciates the Art of Fugue should enjoy the compositional craft on display in the Symphony in C or the Rake's Progress?
"Why not? Anyone who appreciates the Art of Fugue should enjoy the compositional craft on display in the Symphony in C or the Rake's Progress?"
All craft, no art.
hdhouse--
Tough question.
Agreed with Palladian that Ravel really doesn't belong with the other four, though he has some shining moments. (In his own words, his greatest work had not a note of music in it.)
Disagree with Palladian about Stravisnky. Le Sacre is a revelation.
Bach is so much fun to play and engages in an entirely different way than Beethoven, it's a matter of moods.
Haydn is always a delight.
And music beats politics any day of the week.
"You've never listened to Bach then."
I have. And I've also studied a lot of theology and spirituality. I stick with Beethoven.
Maxine Weiss,
Is it possible that you are in fact a young urban gay male?
You seem to have a huge crush on Ann Althouse.
Oh, and when I say Bach is more religious I mean he is very much within the Christian tradition of spirituality. His is church music, for the Christendom church, expressing the sentiments of theology through an absolutely amazingly connected music.
Beethoven, in my estimation, is tapping into something more. He's reaching into and beyond the static church dogma.
To put it theologically, Bach is very ecclesial. Beethoven is very pneumatological. Both convey Christ, but I'm of the opinion that is the Spirit not the Church who does so most effectively.
Well, at least someone thinks I'm "young". That's flattering.
Ah, you just can't beat Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," but Bach's "Air on the G String" is also lovely. How can one choose one over the other? One is like raw emotion while the other is like skipping in the rain. My teenager (who plays cello) much prefers Bach.
But not Pachelbel! LOL Pachelbel Rant by Rob Paravonian Thought y'all might enjoy it. :)
Galvanized - Like the Barber Addagio for Strings, those are both pieces that are difficult to play because they really shine when you can play them slowly in a way that doesn't sound forced. which is harder than it sounds.I have a version of the Barber piece somewhere that's so slow and beautiful that it's physically painfull. (I don't cry at art in the way Ann describes in this vlog, but sometimes music can have that effect (Pink Floyd often does the trick)). Particularly in the case of the Moonlight Sonata, getting the first movement right - slow, patient and measured - goes to highlight the mania of the third movement, which is insane.
I don't know much about Ingmar Bergman but based of your vlog I will have to view some of his films. I don't think I have ever seen any of his films.
I agree with Althouse regarding Beethoven.
Barber, Ravel, Glass, Bartok are my favorites.
Also green is a good color for you. It goes well with your eyes and hair.
I teared up some when I saw the movie Housekeeping in the theatres at about age 18 during my first year in the Navy. Particularly in the scenes showing the two teenage sisters growing apart, one of them distancing herself from the other and her perceived awkwardness. It evoked for me my own failings with regard to my younger brother and the loss of our shared childhood. Did I cry over art, or life?
simon, I know what you mean. Albumleaf by Chopin has that same feel. What film is to Althouse, music can do for me. The smartest thing I ever did was buying a CD collection when my kids were tiny, which they love but won't dare admit to. (I have found them in my daughter's drawers when they were missing, though. LOL) Gustav Mahler has a piece that he wrote for his wife that has this crescendo that is makes your heart swell up into your throat - Adagietto (No. 5 in C sharp minor). That and Erik Satie's "Gymnopedie No.1 (though the fully orchestrated version) is so perfect.
And the movie that brought me the most tears is easily Schindler's List, mostly follwing the little girl in the red coat. The movie's score with the violin was...just..aghhh (choked up).
Speak for yourself, Simon. Moonlight Sonata was always hard for me because my hands aren't big enough. :P
Jennifer, which is usually a Chopin-related problem! I was always so angry my brother had that 10-key handspan. (But I stunk at piano anyway.) QQ
I think I am only going to try and post on your art, culture comments.
The political comments tend to get very nasty and overrun by the same posters. It starts to make me feel bad and my chakras lose their alignments.
After a refeshing Bikram Yoga, where I can see my third eye, I am all for Namaste not being called a commie and trying to defend myself.
Anyways, love the vlogs, keep them up. You look fabulous. Love the color green on you and you are officially a darling of the gay urban male. How exciting. If you have won over the gay urban male you are golden.
I just listened to Moonlight Sonata and it is absolutely one of the most fantastic pieces ever written. What a genious.
What would the world be without artists like Beethoven.
Galvanized - I was never a fan of Chopin. I think I've played all of two of his pieces ever - and that was under direct threats from my piano teacher.
I haven't practiced in so very long, but I'm just sure that if only I had a piano, I'd be tearing it up. :P
The Moonlight Sonata scene in Immortal Beloved brought a tear to my eye.
A rather amazing "music" movie that gets me to the core is "The Pianist". Chopin takes on a different level of meloncholy...anyone else enjoy that one?
Beethoven's middle period is unbearable. And his late period is a little overrated. The 14th piano sonata is usually played as schlocky dreck. The first movement should not be played ponderously and dreamily, but with a slow, deliberate, nervous energy. Then we're getting somewhere.
But I much prefer the 5th, 13th and 15th piano sonatas. Wonderful.
About Chopin I shall say nothing.
you are a real star Ann. I love your vLog!! art was made to make people feel so crying is certainly one of the things humanity probably has invented art for.
Art isn't worth crying over. Love is what we cry about.
Unless, of course, you are using art as a substitute for love.
hdhouse - Chopin is all about melancholy, isn't he? I've always meant to read about his life because he captures that feeling so well.
And Jennifer -- I was one of the unfortunate ones who, despite pops on the wrist from my piano teacher, adored the instrument but was unable to perform. I always say that it's such a bitter irony to appreciate music so much but have absolutely no ability to play an instrument. I am gravely envious of people who can. So get at least a cheap keyboard and tear it up!
Oh, Galvanized, I only meant to say that I'm delusional. lol
"It's not like when a young person dies."
That's my father, who is himself 89, and who keeps saying, "When someone my age dies, OK, it's sad. It is NOT a tragedy."
I sobbed like that when Orson Welles died.
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