The Syndicate

I was also in a piano competition and came in second. Scared the living daylights out of me. Never did it again and quit piano soon after.

juliets wrote:I was also in a piano competition and came in second. Scared the living daylights out of me. Never did it again and quit piano soon after.

Haha, see, you get where I'm coming from!

juliets wrote:I was also in a piano competition and came in second. Scared the living daylights out of me. Never did it again and quit piano soon after.

Why would you quit?

I love playing the piano. I think in some respects I like it more than the guitar (shh, don't tell my guitars). However, I do have a problem playing in front of people, but it isn't related to nervousness: I am used to my damned keyboard at home, so a real piano feels substantially different to me, and I tend to make mistakes.

"I don't do anything commonly"

Epignosis wrote:

juliets wrote:I was also in a piano competition and came in second. Scared the living daylights out of me. Never did it again and quit piano soon after.

Why would you quit?

I love playing the piano. I think in some respects I like it more than the guitar (shh, don't tell my guitars). However, I do have a problem playing in front of people, but it isn't related to nervousness: I am used to my damned keyboard at home, so a real piano feels substantially different to me, and I tend to make mistakes.

I quit because I didn't like the way my teacher was teaching and I didn't like practicing. And I didn't have good reach. I just didn't enjoy playing and I sure didn't want to do another competition which I would have had to do.

It sucks when bad teachers and the pressure of competition ruin an otherwise fun hobby. I'm fortunate that I was never pressured into competing, or I might have soured on music.

Some people should not be teachers, so true. I used to go for sculpture lessons, and the teacher hated kids, or so it seems in retrospect. I had a talent for it and enjoyed it but she made it into something I dreaded.

Sorry, didn't mean to awaken feels with my sighs.

Feels are good, feels mean you are still alive.

Long Con wrote:"I don't do anything commonly"

Whatever this means, I'm in the same boat.

i just need a timestamp

Here ya go

Marmot wrote:

Long Con wrote:"I don't do anything commonly"

Whatever this means, I'm in the same boat.

LOL it was something that I posted just in case. I was probably drunk.

I'm sure many have seen this, but wow.

I'm playing in the Philharmonic orchestra this week. It's doing a screening of G.W. Pabst's silent Pandora's Box (basically a loose adaptation of Wedekind's "Lulu plays", predating the opera written by Alban Berg) with live music (a recent new original score).

It isn't playing with the Philharmonic, it isn't even playing the piano part but rather the celesta part, for which there isn't even a celesta available but rather only a keyboard set on celesta - but hey, I'll take it.

Ricochet wrote:I'm playing in the Philharmonic orchestra this week. It's doing a screening of G.W. Pabst's silent Pandora's Box (basically a loose adaptation of Wedekind's "Lulu plays", predating the opera written by Alban Berg) with live music (a recent new original score).

It isn't playing with the Philharmonic, it isn't even playing the piano part but rather the celesta part, for which there isn't even a celesta available but rather only a keyboard set on celesta - but hey, I'll take it.

Technology these days makes it a very close sonic match.

We are bereaved.

My great-grandmother passed about two hours ago. She would have been 102-years-old on the 27th of this month. She helped raise me and took me to church when I was a child. I am sitting here recalling how much she delighted when I found an old tape of Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and W.C. Fields radio sketches and played it for her; it was as though I had taken her back in time. And she didn't shy away from playing video games with me, even if she hardly understood them. We watched Hee-Haw and The Golden Girls and The Lawrence Welk Show every Saturday night. She watched me play with Transformers. We shared the best of our worlds with one another.

I'm sure sad she's gone.

RIP great-grandma Epi

I'm really sorry to hear that Rob.

So sorry to hear this, Rob. It is good your children got to know her; how many people get to know their great great grandmother?

My condolences, Rob. I was never close to my grandparents and never knew any of my great-grandparents, so it's always nice to see families that maintain those bonds.

Oh, so sorry Epi. So glad you have good memories.

Sorry for your family's loss. I was fortunate to grow up knowing five of my great-grandparents. It's only in hindsight that I realize how special that was. Your children are extremely blessed to have known a great-great-grandparent.

G-Man wrote:Sorry for your family's loss. I was fortunate to grow up knowing five of my great-grandparents. It's only in hindsight that I realize how special that was. Your children are extremely blessed to have known a great-great-grandparent.

Wow! I never knew a single great-grandparent, they all died before I was born. And my sons only know grandmothers - my dad died before they were born, and BR's dad is a deadbeat loser who screwed off long ago and we just don't really talk about much.

Sorry for your loss Ep, sounds like she might have had a very fulfilling life.

S~V~S wrote:So sorry to hear this, Rob. It is good your children got to know her; how many people get to know their great great grandmother?

Her last words to me were to tell Abigail that she was sorry that she never got to have that sleepover where they sat up all night and talked (Abigail's idea). Abigail tickled grandma.

Sorry for your loss. It sounds though like you had a wealth of life experience. Never met any of my great-grandparents. I recall the last one dying when I was 3 or 4 years old, but I don't actually recall any time spent with her or meet whatsoever.

Epi, I really appreciate how well you are able to express the significant things happening in your life, the good, the bad. I'm sad to hear you've lost a close friend, and also it's very meaningful to me that you say something because I'm expecting to lose a family member I feel quite close to within a week or two.

Thanks everyone. The memorial service is Saturday afternoon. I don't know the time yet. I am in charge of the music. I know that much. For the prelude, I have selected "Great is Thy Faithfulness." I will accompany my sister on "It is Well (With My Soul)" (grandma's favorite hymn), and I was trying to put my finger on an appropriate postlude piece, and I started hammering out "We'll Meet Again."

I will make sure to ask about that one beforehand, of course- it is in a very old church. But somehow I think that's a nice send off.

"It is Well (With My Soul)" is such a beautiful hymn. I hope things are well.

speedchuck wrote:"It is Well (With My Soul)" is such a beautiful hymn. I hope things are well.

Indeed. A very good choice.

I drank a small carton of chocolate milk and now I'm gonna throw up k

Quin wrote:I drank a small carton of chocolate milk and now I'm gonna throw up k

Milk is nasty.

Oh not chocolate milk though - well at least sometimes.

I have chocolate cashew milk in my fridge, because I am just insufferable enough to willingly purchase "chocolate cashew milk".

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, Rob. Hadn't seen it until now. Wishing the best for you and your family. I know it's tough to lose a close family member like that, especially an elder you connected with so much.

MovingPictures07 wrote:I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, Rob. Hadn't seen it until now. Wishing the best for you and your family. I know it's tough to lose a close family member like that, especially an elder you connected with so much.

Thanks pal.

The memorial service was something else. I ended up playing seven songs: "I'll Fly Away" (an old Gospel favorite), "In the Garden," "Nothing but the Blood," "Amazing Grace" (Of course), "Great is Thy Faithfulness" (A favorite of mine), "It is Well (With My Soul)," and of course, "We'll Meet Again," which a lot of people didn't recognize and thought I was playing "Happy Trails."

During the pastor's remarks, I teared up, but for slightly unusual reasons. First of all, this pastor just got hired last year. Let me just say I don't know how to feel being older than the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church where I grew up...

Anyway, that means this guy didn't have long to know my great-grandma. But when he was up there talking about her, he was, in part, telling all about my childhood. Those were my Saturday nights. Those were my Sunday mornings. He commented on how my grandma had a different super-southern vocabulary for certain things (for instance, she never once in her life said "refrigerator" that I know of; she always said "cabinator," which sounds funny until you know that an old brand name was the "Kelvinator"). Here was a stranger narrating the events of my childhood weekends.

I learned something though I never knew. I always knew my great-grandma liked NASCAR and liked "ball games" as she called them. I never knew this:

This new preacher called on her one day and was surprised to see NASCAR and NFL and college basketball stuff around. He asked her, "Who is your favorite NASCAR driver?"

Grandma said, "Well, I don't watch the races no more that Jeff Gordon retired."

"Who is your favorite quarterback?"

Grandma said, "Well, I don't watch the ball games no more that Peyton Manning retired."

This new preacher- guy I've never met before until today- do you know what he did?

He wrote Jeff Gordon and Payton Manning and told them their greatest fan was a 101-year-old lady living in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

And do you know what?

Jeff Gordon sent an autographed magazine- Sports Illustrated- (you may have heard of it) to this pastor. And Payton Manning responded with a personal note. And one Sunday morning while Grandma was in Sunday school, this pastor surprised her with both gifts.

When I heard that, respect for a man I had never before met welled up in me in a way I could not articulate until sitting here now.

Wow, that's amazing, Rob. Awesome.

Wow. That guy is a guy who cares.

That was legit one of the most wonderful happenings I've read from you, Epig. So glad you had a pastor like this for your service. It's strange and I can't explain how come, but only yesterday I found myself reflecting on how much a religious memorial service can honor the life and remembrance of a person (and/or whether it matters). (Movies usually show me family members giving speeches of their own - was that the case for you as well?) But from the little I know (lost two grandparents and attended a few more funerals of neighbours, teachers, family members of teachers / friends etc.), the church I, at least in theory, belong to (orthodox) could be described as doing the most austere, if not actually lackluster, proceedings: the priest does all the talking and, apart from gathering information on the deceased and his relatives and relaying them accurately, nothing truly is said. Even at the funeral of a cellist's mother - herself having almost turned three digits in her age -, who is Catholic, the priest was permissive enough to allow the cellist to perform a classical short piece, given her background and such.

Anyway, excuse these personal musings / subtle rant, but bottom line, I'm very glad to hear your great-grandmother received a service that was emotional and fulfilling for you.

The pastor did the speaking, although had anybody asked beforehand to speak, I am sure he or she would have been welcome to do so. Memorial services here are rather diverse.

It sounds to me like it was a service SHE would have liked, and that is very special.

Rob's heartfelt posts were very timely for me. I have an aunty who I'm very close to on the way out due to cancer and this morning she told my mother (who has turned into one of her closest friends) that she couldn't talk any more and it was their last conversation. It's heart breaking for me. She is a special woman - strong-willed, loving, a true force of nature. She could command a room when she walked into it. She's also a natural fighter, and so she has lived nearly two and a half years after being told she would have trouble getting to six months.

But now it's clear she isn't going to last the week - perhaps not the day. It's really meaningful to hear someone as good with words as Rob is say what he said, at just the right time. While his words speak for him and him alone, his heart speaks for many more.

Thanks Rob

We went back to our old house for the last time tonight. Cleaned out the last of our stuff, did a final clean... it was the last day of our notice. I was feeling a little sad, even though a house is an inanimate object, I've really enjoyed living there and I will miss it.

It was while we were there that my aunt finally passed away. It's funny how sometimes life folds and reflects in on itself. Experiences intertwine and become forever linked.

There's one plane that flies out if Wellington three times a week. We have a chronically short runway so it's the only truly big plane we get, and it has the most wonderful sound. I always loved listening to it out on our patio, as we had a clear line of sight and sound to the airport. The plane took off ten minutes after my aunt died. It was such a beautiful experience just listening to that sound for the last time... I won't hear it at the new place.

It's back!

Hey everyone!

I cannot express how happy I am that the site is back. I also just want to emphasize that, due to working crazy hours and having no relevant knowledge whatsoever, I did absolutely nothing to accomplish this. Daisy and Sokoth were working constantly with every bit of their free time to battle every incoming issue and spearheading the charge. I also want to acknowledge the incredible assistance of Tranq and especially Makaze, whose very generous help was exactly what we needed to get things running again. We absolutely wouldn't be here again without any of them, so be sure to join me in telling them thanks so much for the help!

And it's good to be around you all again. Understatement of the year.

Over the past month I definitely have missed having this place in my life, despite the fact that I've just had one of the busiest months of my entire life so often it didn't have much time to register. The work onslaught shows no signs of letting up since in addition to networking, dissertation, other projects, and everything else I start teaching a 5-week class (for the first time at that) on Tuesday, so mafia is a no-go for quite some time, but I'm happy that now I can talk OT/music/whatever with you folks and hop in the discord whenever I have time. So rest assured you'll see my screenname pop in here from time to time, as much as I can afford for now, and just know that I really miss being more involved around here. Hopefully I'll get to talk to you all again soon.

I think I'm sort of in a weird place where I'm only playing LMS games and only up until I win one? Maybe?

MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2017 9:46 am Hey everyone!

I cannot express how happy I am that the site is back. I also just want to emphasize that, due to working crazy hours and having no relevant knowledge whatsoever, I did absolutely nothing to accomplish this. Daisy and Sokoth were working constantly with every bit of their free time to battle every incoming issue and spearheading the charge. I also want to acknowledge the incredible assistance of Tranq and especially Makaze, whose very generous help was exactly what we needed to get things running again. We absolutely wouldn't be here again without any of them, so be sure to join me in telling them thanks so much for the help!

And it's good to be around you all again. Understatement of the year.

Over the past month I definitely have missed having this place in my life, despite the fact that I've just had one of the busiest months of my entire life so often it didn't have much time to register. The work onslaught shows no signs of letting up since in addition to networking, dissertation, other projects, and everything else I start teaching a 5-week class (for the first time at that) on Tuesday, so mafia is a no-go for quite some time, but I'm happy that now I can talk OT/music/whatever with you folks and hop in the discord whenever I have time. So rest assured you'll see my screenname pop in here from time to time, as much as I can afford for now, and just know that I really miss being more involved around here. Hopefully I'll get to talk to you all again soon.

Glad to be back man. Also:

A) Keep offline backups
B) Update in increments
C) Get a test site

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2017 2:31 pm I think I'm sort of in a weird place where I'm only playing LMS games and only up until I win one? Maybe?

25 years from now, you'll get to win one just because the others will finally let you.