My favorite things

[bwv772]

For those who don’t know, Oprah Winfrey is a popular talk show host in the United States.  Every year I think she has a feature called "Oprah’s Favorites Things" where she describes a few things she really really likes, and then (oh surprise…) gives them them away to every member of the audience.

Last year she listed computers, cashmere scarfs, champagne glasses among other gadgets and gizmos.  I think sometimes it gets a little out of hand and sounds more like an infomercial than anything else, but anyways, I was thinking it would be interesting if we could list a few of our favorite things, they need not be music related, and of course, we can’t give 300 away.  And I wouldn't want this to become a garage sale either, no selling or promoting allowed, just list a few things and explain a bit why you like 'em, that's all.

So here is  …<drumroll>…  “BWV772’s Favorite Things”:

1. My piano:  An old upright I was babysitting for a friend who eventually sold it to me dirt cheap, I had some major work done on it, it’s a wonderful instrument in excellent condition, great sound.

2.  My Dampp-Chaser:  Bought second hand from my tuner/tech, this is my first summer with it, and it keeps the piano in tune.  Where I live it gets quite humid during the summer, and this is working out great.

3. My Nightsun XC bike light:  Awesome bicycle light, I can now go out on the bike anytime after dark with no worries, one of the best purchases I made.

4. Those Dura-Savers vinyl book covers:  I use them to protect my music books.  Reusable, easy to use, solid.  Again, an intelligent choice.

5. The Sugoi running shorts I bought on eBay:  Strange, yes I know.  The material feels like silk, very comfortable, simply fantastic in this hot and humid summer.

6. This recipe for Orange Julep:  1 cup orange juice, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 milk, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla, 5 ice cubes, mix everything in a blender at high speed for about a minute. Yum! Yum!

That's it so far!

[thalbergmad]

1. My piano, i would be lost without it.

2. My replica medieval longbow.  I like it but that fox who keeps scaring my cat is soon gonna feel the force.

3. My Trek Carbon bike. Comfortable, fast and good looking.

4. My left handed 5 string banjo. Comes in useful when i dont fancy playing the piano.

[pianonut]

1. hubby - a love machine 
2. children - they're very funny and loveable things too
3. carbon fiber bicycle (15 years old) - lightweight and also goes fast (racing bike).
4. cat - she's above the bike actually.
5. kawaii upright piano - that's equal with the bike (?should i say that)
6. turquoise bracelet
7. bible - actually first but sometimes forget where it is (on bad days)

[mikeyg]

1. heidi klum
2. elisha cuthbert
3. boobies
4. cars
5. math
6. chess

[Torp]

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

[BoliverAllmon]

For those who don’t know, Oprah Winfrey is a popular talk show host in the United States.  Every year I think she has a feature called "Oprah’s Favorites Things" where she describes a few things she really really likes, and then (oh surprise…) gives them them away to every member of the audience.

Last year she listed computers, cashmere scarfs, champagne glasses among other gadgets and gizmos.  I think sometimes it gets a little out of hand and sounds more like an infomercial than anything else, but anyways, I was thinking it would be interesting if we could list a few of our favorite things, they need not be music related, and of course, we can’t give 300 away.  And I wouldn't want this to become a garage sale either, no selling or promoting allowed, just list a few things and explain a bit why you like 'em, that's all.

So here is  …<drumroll>…  “BWV772’s Favorite Things”:

1. My piano:  An old upright I was babysitting for a friend who eventually sold it to me dirt cheap, I had some major work done on it, it’s a wonderful instrument in excellent condition, great sound.

2.  My Dampp-Chaser:  Bought second hand from my tuner/tech, this is my first summer with it, and it keeps the piano in tune.  Where I live it gets quite humid during the summer, and this is working out great.

3. My Nightsun XC bike light:  Awesome bicycle light, I can now go out on the bike anytime after dark with no worries, one of the best purchases I made.

4. Those Dura-Savers vinyl book covers:  I use them to protect my music books.  Reusable, easy to use, solid.  Again, an intelligent choice.

5. The Sugoi running shorts I bought on eBay:  Strange, yes I know.  The material feels like silk, very comfortable, simply fantastic in this hot and humid summer.

6. This recipe for Orange Julep:  1 cup orange juice, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 milk, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla, 5 ice cubes, mix everything in a blender at high speed for about a minute. Yum! Yum!

That's it so far!

so who you giving them too?

[gouldfischer]

Top three:

1) Piano (I have an old Meister in which I've been playing the Goldberg Variations for he last four months)
2) Chess (I love to spend some hours replaying the grandmasters' games)
3) Bicycles (I come to work everyday by bike - 2x20 miles each day)

Followed by:

4) Books (Currently reading Michael Herr's "Dispatches")
5) DVD's (Simon & Garfunkel's "Concert In Central Park" is cool)
6) CD's (Bach, progressive rock, Beatles, death metal, jazz, 80's pop haha I'm serious)
7) Swimming
Running
9) Maths (Graph Theory, in particular)
10) Puzzles (logical puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, all sorts of puzzles)

Cheers,
    Vinicius.

[m1469]

hmmmmmm... favorite things, eh ?  I am not sure that these things count, but I will say them anyway.


I absolutely adore outdoor markets of any kind.  I gravitate to them.

I guess I like them so much because so much hand work has inevitabely gone into them.  Also, depending on what kind of market we are talking about, but the ones I am talking about for sure anyway, these markets are comprised of local individuals who believe in what they do.  There are so many individuals who bring them together, and then many different people who walk through them.  You can find the most unique things in these outdoor markets, or the best and most delicious produce... the list goes on.  It just represents a richness to me that is deeper than the wallet.  Plus, they have their own sound(s)... just wonderful.


I will admit, I love flowers, especially wildflowers.

I find it amazing that there is such a thing as a flower, and then even more amazingly, wildflowers.  I mean, what a detailed aspect of Life's artistry !  I probably can't explain why I love them so much, but, it is like their sole purpose in life is to express beauty. 


tide-pools at the ocean

I find these absolutely fascinating.  Something about the ocean and its extreme mystery and vastness, somehow being harnessed to a degree in this little pool in the rocks and sand.  They seem to develop their very own ecosystem.


The night sky, unpolluted by city lights

Just an absolutely mind boggling, peace-giving, truly amazing aspect of life.  I mean, again, what artistry !  We could just have a dark nothing all around us, but NO!  We get these lights in the sky.  It just looks and feels like the place where inner and outter meet, and are one.  I can't explain that comment, you just have to know what I am talking about.


Night hikes.

I don't feel like explaining that one.


Music Boxes

I don't know, it's something about the actual sound that comes out of them, and the innocence they represent to me.  And between those two things, I can't seem to tell the difference between them, as in which is which.  I have been desparately wishing to have a beautiful music box, lately.  I can't get the sound out of my head, and I can't stop thinking about them.  Maybe I will soon search outdoor markets for a beatiful hand-crafted one.


And along those lines...


Hand-crafted things

Anything hand-crafted... it makes me get all excited inside.  I can just look at something and see what kind of work has been put into it.  There is just something that I deeply respect about that.  When somebody has put so much time into something, and then they share it, they are no longer displaying a thing, but they are sharing part of themself.  It is like I don't just see the thing, but the person.  It has a story.... hmmmm... very interesting.


Well, the list could go on.  But, I will not, however... he he... that was fun


m1469

[semme]

1. heidi klum
2. elisha cuthbert
3. boobies
4. cars
5. math
6. chess

rofl 


1. a few hours of sleep
2. piano
3. a pc with winamp/mp3 player
4. a volleyball
5. nice companionship
6. a bucket full of money to buy a grand

[donjuan]

1. Girls
2. Music (not just piano, but music in general)
3. Mclaren F1
4. Movies
5. That Gravy from KFC

[anekdote]

These are less like physical objects and more like ideas / hobbies.

01 ) Girls. And if I could understand and communicate with them, my life would be much happier.
02 ) Piano
03 ) Listening to music. My tastes are very diverse and eclectic. They range from progressive rock to black metal to classical to jazz and to folk.
04 ) Web programming. I love writing PHP.
05 ) Guitar
06 ) Evolutionary biology.
07 ) Comparative history. Theories dealing with recurring themes, events, cycles, etc., in history.
08 ) Politics and social systems (sociology?).
09 ) Archaeology / History.
10 ) Math and puzzles.
11 ) Ultimate frisbee. (A game I play with my friends.)

[trunks]

1. my piano

2. my collection of recordings, including almost a thousand vinyl LPs and another thousand CDs. In particular, the complete Artur Rubinstein collections.

3. any and all items made of solid wood

4. my chemicals, including highly reactive metals like magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium; non-metals like sulphur, phosphorus, iodine; compounds like the strong mineral acids (hydrocloric, sulphuric, nitric), strong alkalis (potassiumand sodium hydroxides), potassium permanganate, ammonia water, chloroform, acetone, toluene, mercury (the most common liquid metal) . . .

5. our dog (male Siberian Husky)

6. my books

7. my on-line articles (in Chinese)

[burstroman]

piano street
the truth
a sincere compliment
music by Schubert
a child's poem

[pianowolfi]

piano street
the truth
a sincere compliment
music by Schubert
a child's poem

good selection!

Mine are:
Chopin Nocturnes
Chäschüechli (Swiss food)(No Thal, not cuckoo clocks )
Sunsets
Mountains
Blue sky
Heaven


   

[henrah]

11 ) Ultimate frisbee. (A game I play with my friends.)

My brother used to play that at Bath Uni. He's really good at the move where you fling the frisbee down to the ground and it shoots into the air, he can do it really well between people's legs

My favourite things, in no particular order, are:
1. My Fazioli 228, absolutely beautiful piano

2. Amelie

3. Any film that has both great action scenes and a compelling emotional story, like Equilibrium (which I saw last night and is absolutely amazing), Kung-Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer (there's an amazing moment where the main character tastes the tears of the main female character, sends shivers eminating from the middle of my back every time)

4. A good bolognese. Proper bolognese that is with beef and pork mince, not the lame ones made with only beef mince

5. Piano pieces which have so many hidden voices for people to discover, Gnomenreigen being a prime example. Every rendition I've heard completely ignores the acciaccaturas in the beginning. It can sound so beautiful if it isn't rushed

6. Nintendo and how inventive they are. The Wii is going to be groundbreaking

7. Improvising at the piano

8. Enjoying a nice jay with my friends

9. Nature - sunsets, sunrises, colourful flowers, trees big and small, sunlight shining through clouds and creating sunrays... the list goes on

10. All nighters in the summer, especially when coupled with a 5am walk

11. My cat Dusty, I love him so much

12. Lindt chocolate, my god it's good!

And not to forget, 13. Sigur Ros - pure pleasure in sound