a southern gal in the north

go on over and buy it!  (I DID)

KING FM brings you the Seattle Symphony! 

KING FM is your exclusive home for great broadcasts featuring the Seattle Symphony.  Wednesday at 7pm join us for our new program Musical Moments with Gerard Schwarz. The world-renowned conductor of our own Seattle Symphony Orchestra, comes to KING FM every Wednesday night to shares stories, insights, and music from his lifetime in classical music.  This week, a look at Beethoven symphonies, and a Haydn trumpet concerto where he is featured soloist.

Then, Thursday night at 7:30, KING FM brings you a live concert broadcast with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and acclaimed pianist Barry Douglas. Join us for our exclusive Season opening broadcast sponsored by Wells Fargo. 

Are you ready?

Sirius Channel 85 Metropolitan Opera Radio

Metropolitan Opera Radio Launches on SIRIUS with Puccini’s Madama Butterfly Tonight 6:30 pm ET Metropolitan Opera Radio launches on SIRIUS with a LIVE broadcast of the Met’s gala performance of Madama Butterfly, conducted by Music Director James Levine and directed by Academy Award®-winning film director Anthony Minghella. Singing her signature role for the first time at the Met, Chilean soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs stars as the doomed Cio-Cio-San. The marvelous tenor Marcello Giordani is the unfaithful Pinkerton, and exceptional baritone Dwayne Croft sings the sympathetic role of Sharpless. Synopsis Later this week

Mozart’s Idomeneo Thurs 9/28 7:30 pm ET Conductor James Levine demonstrates his mastery of Moazrt’s greatest opera seria. Ben Heppner shares the title role with Kobie van Rensburg, and the radiant Dorothea Roschmann sings Ilia.

Ponchielli’s La Gioconda Sat 9/30 8:00 pm ET Violeta Urmana, Olga Borodina and Aquiles Machado bring Ponchielli’s passionate melodies back to the Met for the first time in over 15 years. Conducted by Bertrand de Billy.

One thing is certain: Music has a future
A departing critic argues for its staying power

By Richard Dyer, Globe Staff | September 24, 2006

One of the questions a retiring music critic is most often asked is about what kind of future music is going to have , or even whether classical music will have a future.

There is only one answer: No one can say what the future of music will be, but that music will have a future is certain.

We’ve heard from the doomsayers for decades, and they aren’t entirely wrong. There’s no doubt that this is a difficult moment for classical music. We know that the financial situation of many orchestras, opera companies, and smaller ensembles is perilous, support is drying up, the public is graying, and nobody is buying subscriptions anymore.

Part of the public is understandably bored by the endless repetition of core masterpieces that weren’t meant to be heard as often as they are, weren’t intended to lapse into routine. Another part of the public is resolutely opposed to anything new in music, no matter how much they welcome or even seek out innovation and change in the other arts. And the whole mess, we hear, is the fault of the schools, which are not educating new audiences, and of the media, which are more interested in sensation than in substance.

This is not the whole story of course, but one wonders if the situation has ever been much different. All you have to do is read the letters of Mozart or the memoirs of Berlioz to realize that circumstances have never been easy for musicians, or for anyone who wants to accomplish anything worthwhile.

Outgoing critic Richard Dyer argues for classical music’s staying power – The Boston Globe.

Cordelia and Baby Silk in the Kitchen

As you can see from the photo above, thanks to a wonderful woman in Washington, DC I now have a bag of 10 skeins to help finish my Wing of the Moth Shawl.  Thanks so much Liz!

Once I had exchanged emails and realized I would be able to complete the shawl, I have continued working on the Twin Leaf section – not much exciting progress but here it is anyway.

The most work this week has been on the final stages of the MISSION ORGANIZATION project – you can see some of the results in that photo – the cleared off counter in the kitchen and moving my fav cookbooks up on the end of the counter .  Much clearing out of old items and cleaning shelves, etc.

In the Den – where most of the knitting takes place – I have been battling with my dear older cat, Cordelia (in the top photo) and a particular problem for many cat owners – peeing on the sofa.    Its not really her fault – I had the sofa before Cordelia – with my previous two cats – both whom died.  When the elder of those two, Emma, got her final illness; she had incontinence issues and therefore the sofa was scarred.  I had it cleaned and I was immune to any residual smell.  But apparently Cordelia wasnt.  So its been a constant issue with us.  If I keep her litter box IMMACULATE then its ok – but let things pile up (shall we say) and wham, there is the spot on the sofa – interestingly only in one area – right in the center in the middle between the two cushions.

I can’t afford a new sofa right now and even Craig’s list was not yielding anything – the real problem was that i love the design of this sofa – so i kept taking the cushions out and spraying them with all manners of cleaners and bleach/vinegar, baking soda/peroxide combos but nothing really worked and besides the cushions were pretty splotchy anyway and the upholstery was being eaten away by all the stuff! 

So after yet another unsuccessful search for a used sofa last weekend – i had a BRAINSTORM  – and after a bit of research found a website for FOAM CUSHIONS!  Actually there were two I had narrowed my research to = and I chose to go with one that had lower prices – I could get their highest quality and firmness foam for less than the other one. 

Last Monday, I put all four cushions on the curb for the garbage pickup!  And I ordered two seat cushions and two back cushions and even a new cushion for my desk chair (which is wood and even with TWO chair pillows is very uncomfortable after several hours).    After a bit of emailing the cushions are on their way TODAY!! and I will get them on Tuesday! 

I changed the thickness of the back cushions from 5 inches to 3 inches so that I can more comfortably use some of the throw pillows i have made with coordinating fabrics.   I have material for a new slipcover for the sofa that I had purchased years ago when I redid my Living Room in the Park Slope apt and had not completed (due to the sick cats and then loss of interest i guess).  So I will work on the slipcover this weekend and then can make the cushion covers when they arrive!

Until then I get to sit on the bare bones of the sofa bed – but its worth it to get an almost new sofa!   Here’s what it looks like now with the old sofa cushions gone away and my throw pillows. 

Those are pillows that I made out of a great tapestry piece that was too small to cover the whole sofa but enough for two big pillows and two smaller ones (they are arranged in the corners behind the others.  The new slipcover and cushions will be out of the purply material (its a damask paisley type fabric) of the pillows on the right. and of the material on the arms (trying it out you know).

My sister reported that she could tell the minute she walked in the room – “it smells so clean in here now” (hmm, makes you wonder how inured we get to our own place’s smells!)

ok.  off to research how to make a slipcover! 

So Sirius IS going to offer an Internet only plan – see Sirius Internet Radio.  However as of Friday night, there are no referring pages when you click on the INFO or SIGN UP buttons. 

Phone calls to reps at the company have given TWO answers as to availability – either MONDAY 9–25 or TUESDAY 9–26.  Well, we are ready to sign up and thrilled whenever its ready!

Don’t forget – Monday night the Grand Opening of the MET SEASON – available online at the new Metropolitan Opera Radio!

From the Met’s website:

In tackling his first production for the opera stage, Anthony Minghella drew upon his extensive experience in the theater to get to the heart of Puccini’s beloved opera. He assembled an unusual artistic team including set designer Michael Levine, costume designer Han Feng, and associate director/choreographer Carolyn Choa, all of whom joined forces to create a visually stunning and theatrically compelling production.

Singing her signature Butterfly role for the first time at The Met, Cristina Gallardo-Domâs is the doomed Cio-Cio-San. The marvelous tenor Marcello Giordani is the unfaithful Pinkerton, and the deft baritone Dwayne Croft sings the sympathetic role of Sharpless.

WGBH SYMPHONYCAST: NERUDA SONGS
Sunday, 9/24, 2pm, WGBH 89.7

In this world premiere, the late mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson performs a cycle of five sonnets by Pablo Neruda set for voice and orchestra by her husband, composer Peter Lieberson. And the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Esa-Pekka Salonen, celebrates the centennial of Dmitri Shostakovich with a performance of one of the Russian composer’s most riveting symphonies, Symphony No. 10, from 1953.

 See the WGBH SymphonyCast playlists.

Announcing…

The Dulaan Project is a cooperative effort of the Flagstaff International Relief Effort (F.I.R.E., 501c3), Mossy Cottage Knits, and the Kunzang Palyul Chöling (KPC) Buddhist community of Poolesville, Maryland. Dulaan (which is Mongolian for “warm”) is dedicated to helping the struggling and impoverished children and adults of Mongolia. Due to economic and political upheaval, unusual and disastrous weather conditions which have devastated the nomads’ livestock herds, and “normal” weather conditions which frequently reach -40 degrees in the winter, there are many children who live in heating ducts below the capital city of Ulaan Bataar, and adults who scavenge through garbage heaps to survive. (For more pictures of the extreme living conditions in Mongolia, see these earlier blog postings—Entry 1, and Entry 2.)

To help the Mongolians, the Dulaan Project encourages crafters to make and provide two kinds of items: double-thick fringed fleece blankets like this, and knitted or crocheted items. The knitted or crocheted items can be made out of any warm yarn: Wool, acrylic or blends. You can make anything: Scarves, hats, blankets, mittens, socks, neckwarmers… And you can use any color.

You will need to ship your finished items to the F.I.R.E. by July 1, 2007 so they can be shipped to Mongolia in time for the winter. See this detailed flyer (in pdf format) for address information and specifics about how to box and ship your items. Feel free to use this Box Inventory Form to list the contents of your box when you get ready to ship.

Mossy Cottage Knits: Dulaan 2007!.

The Panopticon has a great post today that is inspiring as to how and why we collect books – as reference – and magazines which promote “necessary” accroutrements for our hobbies, houses – lives.

See what he wrote:

Zen for Sale
The Book Impulse runs strong in my family. When we develop a new interest, there is always a corresponding rush to the bookshop. This is why a year ago I had one knitting book, and now have about forty. And why eight months ago I had one book on Buddhism, and now have half a shelf.

The Panopticon: Zen for Sale.

His post struck me as i do the same thing – dont know where it comes from as neither parent did this – they bought normal old fiction books.  maybe cause there are more books out there now?  and as for magazines – yikes you can find a magazine for buttons these days for heavens sake!

When i came back to knitting – when i picked up knitting i was young and poor and in tiny apartments, after a bit of a hiatus when i started again, i was not as poor and in not as tiny an apt – so i went from three knitting books to – uhm, well, i dont really know how many.  One bookcase is just books, and one is magazines.   And thats not counting the gardening and music books – aiee don’t even ask about music.  You know musicians are JUST as bad as knitters and gardeners when it comes to books – we can ALWAYS justify buying a score (and no, I am not telling you how many bookcases of music there are, really. and anyway, i know musicians who have lots more than i do)

oh well, i know i will never win the "i have the least amount of things" contest.