limbo

[pianistimo]

i now know what limbo is.  it is when a parent waits for an almost teenage daughter to shop.  she kept telling me yesterday 'don't follow me around.'  what am i supposed to do?  help!

[Mozartian]

---

[wishful thinker]

i now know what limbo is. 

No, you don't.  You have no idea of the meaning of that term; and anyway, Benedetto has abolished it 

[pianistimo]

?  i just made up another use for it - that's all.  it has no value in one place so i gave it some in another.

[mikey6]

I'm confused Limbo is not a game anymore?

[prometheus]

Limbo can mean a lot of things.

Generally it is the 'waiting room' of the afterlife.

[ahinton]

Limbo can mean a lot of things.

Generally it is the 'waiting room' of the afterlife.

Yes, this is the traditionally accepted meaning of the word - yet it is not the only one. Pianistimo asked the question - which in itself rather surprised me, given her avowed interest in pole dancing; limbo is like pole dancing without the pole...

Best,

Alistair

[cmg]

"Pole dancing??"  Not sure I'm familiar with this art form, but if pianistimo has an affinty for it, it must be one of the following:

a) a crossword puzzle clue, as in "pole dancing" (12 across, 7 spaces.)  Answer:  "mazurka."

b) a Pentecostal perambulation around an ossified snake -- stretched, dried and planted in the earth like a stick, around which the Faithful solemnly parade.

c) a ritualistic and seasonal outing with an adolescent girl invoking feelings normally associated with polar explorers -- lost in immense stretches of cold, bleak vastness in which they stomp their feet in a dance-like frenzy calculated to keep circulation up.  (Cf. Elektra's frenzied dance in Strauss's opera.)

Would someone kindly enlighten me as to the correct answer?

[ahinton]

"Pole dancing??"  Not sure I'm familiar with this art form, but if pianistimo has an affinty for it, it must be one of the following:

a) a crossword puzzle clue, as in "pole dancing" (12 across, 7 spaces.)  Answer:  "mazurka."

b) a Pentecostal perambulation around an ossified snake -- stretched, dried and planted in the earth like a stick, around which the Faithful solemnly parade.

c) a ritualistic and seasonal outing with an adolescent girl invoking feelings normally associated with polar explorers -- lost in immense stretches of cold, bleak vastness in which they stomp their feet in a dance-like frenzy calculated to keep circulation up.  (Cf. Elektra's frenzied dance in Strauss's opera.)

Would someone kindly enlighten me as to the correct answer?

Well - how's about "none of the above", for starters?...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

how about waiting for a pre-teen to shop?  you can see parents lined up along the outside of the store on benches and against rails.  occasionally looking at watches and wondering how much this will cost.  occasionally going in and comparing time to clothing and trying to rush things when the pile is more than three or four things. 

ok.  how anyone gets from limbo to pole dancing -even that is beyond my reasoning.  all i was talking about on that other thread is how to make a bedroom more romantic than bookshelves.  perhaps i am the only one who wants a bedroom make-over.  although we had closet factory come in and that lightened the clutter dramatically.  if you can stuff as much stuff in the closet as is lying around the floor - then you've accomplished at least a start in romance rule #1.  no clutter. 

[thalbergmad]

 

[cmg]

ok.  how anyone gets from limbo to pole dancing -even that is beyond my reasoning. 

I think we can blame this entirely on AH, pianistimo.  When he begins to free associate, verbal fugues of the greatest complexity begin to emerge.

[ahinton]

I think we can blame this entirely on AH, pianistimo.  When he begins to free associate, verbal fugues of the greatest complexity begin to emerge.

Well, "cmg", I thank you for the compliment (if that's what it is), but - well, really! - I ask you - how "complex" is the "free association" between limbo dancing and pole dancing?! I take that blame fully, nevertheless...

Best,

Alistair

[cmg]

Oh, definitely a compliment!

And how complex an association?   So complex that I had to interrrupt my reading of Dante's "Inferno" and run to my local video store to rent "Show Girls."   

[ahinton]

Oh, definitely a compliment!

Then many thanks!

And how complex an association?   So complex that I had to interrrupt my reading of Dante's "Inferno" and run to my local video store to rent "Show Girls."   

And that is in itself a less complex free association, I take it? By the way, how many showgirls did you rent? Did any of them do any pole dancing? How far - in light years (or millimetres, or whaever) from the Inferno is limbo?

And, while we're about free associating, what about "ada"'s
"Citizens for the right to keep and arm bears"?
What about the right to arm "ada"? Although, come to think of it, in another thread (which she recently initiated), she wrote about a medical procedure that would be "invasive" for women - and an "armada" is suggestive of an invasion, yes?

It would seem that a little free association - like a little knowledge - is a dangerous thing, so before I get into any real or tonal answers in this fugal exposition, I will desist from further polyphonic perambulations and leave it in a curtailed state like Contrapunctus XIV...

Best,

Alistair
 
 
 

[cmg]

Well, the upshot of my dashing to my video store was to discover "Showgirls" was unavailable, so I had to be content with memories of Tuesday's night's "Tosca" at the Met with Aprile Millo in the title role.  She's a fine singer who reminds one (faintly, like a distant echo) of Tebaldi, but her REAL significance for this thread of associations is that she was born with the name, April Miller, in NYC and promptly jazzed it up with Italianate fervor when her voice grew up.

Hence, Aprile Millo.  Significantly, fans of hers rally round the stage left pillar on orchestra level at the Met, at intermissions, to hoist toasts to her vocal triumphs.  This pillar, I might add, is now known as the "Aprile Pole."

What was I talking about?  Oh, yes, limbo and pole dancing.  And, of course, there is no direct mention of the latter in Dante and the former in the film "Showgirls."  Hence, I remain confused. 

And just for the record, I think "ada" must be Down Under's National Treasure.  The right to arm bears is very New Worldish and I, a tree-hugger, applaud any effort to save whales and bears, certainly.

As for "Contrapunctus XIV" and its "curtailed state," well, I humbly defer comment until I get my state into less curtailment.  That means, of course, that Bush MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!
 

[cmg]

Pianistimo, where are you?  Rolling out that bargain-rate sod carpet onto your lawn?  Installing a CD player in your roto-tiller? Memorizing the Schubert B-flat sonata??  All of the above, simultaneously?

You are missed and, if the comments of detractors even glance superficially across your radar screen, ignore them and forgive them . . . for they know not what they do . . . 

[ahinton]

And just for the record, I think "ada" must be Down Under's National Treasure.  The right to arm bears is very New Worldish and I, a tree-hugger, applaud any effort to save whales and bears, certainly.

Well, of course she is! It would surely be difficult NOT to notice that. Perhaps those who haven't yet notice it will come to do so once there are seventeen identical ones...

As for "Contrapunctus XIV" and its "curtailed state," well, I humbly defer comment until I get my state into less curtailment.  That means, of course, that Bush MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!

Contrapunctus XIV is, nevertheless, from The Art of Fugue, not The Axis of Evil and is accordingly by Bach, not Bush...

Best,

Alistair

[emmdoubleew]

how about waiting for a pre-teen to shop?  you can see parents lined up along the outside of the store on benches and against rails.  occasionally looking at watches and wondering how much this will cost.  occasionally going in and comparing time to clothing and trying to rush things when the pile is more than three or four things. 

ok.  how anyone gets from limbo to pole dancing -even that is beyond my reasoning.  all i was talking about on that other thread is how to make a bedroom more romantic than bookshelves.  perhaps i am the only one who wants a bedroom make-over.  although we had closet factory come in and that lightened the clutter dramatically.  if you can stuff as much stuff in the closet as is lying around the floor - then you've accomplished at least a start in romance rule #1.  no clutter. 

Pianistimo, if you wrote a book, I would read it.

[pianistimo]

if you read it, it would have to be a bestseller.  therefore, probably not a religious book.  maybe a 'how to, guide' like martha stewart or something.  just on a slightly lower level.

take for instance - my grand idea today to decorate the spots i tore up in the lawn and make it look like it was supposed to be that way - today.  i went and bought three bags of dirt - covered up the 1 foot wide dirt path near the driveway out to the street.  put in these little ferns with cardinals at the top.  and a few more miniature roses. 

anything that gives me any slight feeling of success - makes me just euphoric. 

i already have another book half published.  it is the story of my grandmother.  when i was growing up, she'd tell me stories of her childhood.  so i wrote them down.  now that she's gone - every year around thanksgiving - i start missing her badly and so i add another chapter.  this year, it was filling in how her family ended up in north dakota.  you know - family migrations are interesting.

[ahinton]

if you read it, it would have to be a bestseller.  therefore, probably not a religious book.  maybe a 'how to, guide' like martha stewart or something.

Be warned: look where she ended up...

take for instance - my grand idea today to decorate the spots i tore up in the lawn and make it look like it was supposed to be that way - today.  i went and bought three bags of dirt - covered up the 1 foot wide dirt path near the driveway out to the street.  put in these little ferns with cardinals at the top.  and a few more miniature roses.

What on earth is a good pentecostalist like you doing have anything to do with "cardinals"? I'm horrified! And a few miniature rosaries, too! Mon Dieu! Well, well; hell fire and brimstone are surely not enough for you (so I prescribe a week in Gravesend with Thal)...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

must i remind you , i am not a pentecostalist, ok.  and the cardinals were only three dollars a bird.  i put them in between the rose bushes - but didn't lay a rosary over them for hopes that they would not freeze and turn black.  we'll see what's still alive tommorrow. 

[thalbergmad]

must i remind you , i am not a pentecostalist, ok.  and the cardinals were only three dollars a bird.  i put them in between the rose bushes - but didn't lay a rosary over them for hopes that they would not freeze and turn black.  we'll see what's still alive tommorrow. 

Sorry, i still need the password of the day.

[pianistimo]

how about 'limbo?'

[thalbergmad]

Nope, that don't work

[cmg]

 this year, it was filling in how her family ended up in north dakota.  you know - family migrations are interesting.

I have close friends in Hawaii whose family originated in North Dakota (well, actually, SCOTLAND gets the nod for their ORIGINAL origination -- can't offend AH, you know).  Their last name is McGregor and a town is named for them.  Pianistimo, do you know of it?

They've told me great stories of dressing up prairie dogs in little outfits and putting on shows when they were kids.  Probably little kilts, you know?  With, maybe, cardinals attached to the little berets, etc.  They never mentioned if the prairie dogs were taught piano, but I bet if they were YOUR prairie dogs, they would have been these itty bitty rodentia virtuosi.

"Limbo?'' There's that word again.  Any connection with "pole dancing?"  Still confused.

[pianistimo]

mcgregor?  sounds a little peter rabbitish.  but, i'll accept the notion they were prarie dogs.  it's a might far fetched - but at this point, i'm willing to believe anything.  also, it's 8:53 pm and i'm really tired because i got up too early this morning.

[ahinton]

at this point, i'm willing to believe anything.

Can we have that in writing? (oh, how stupid of me - we just have, haven't we?!)...

Best,

Alistair

[pianolist]

"Limbo?'' There's that word again. Any connection with "pole dancing?" Still confused.

If you put pole dancing into Adobe Photoshop and rotate it 90 degrees anticlockwise, it becomes limbo dancing. I suppose it could be clockwise too, but my brain hurts this morning.

[ahinton]

my brain hurts this morning.

...after what I hope will have been a most successful event ysterday afternoon which I am most sad to have been unable to attend!...

Best,

Alistair

[pianolist]

Ah! How kind to pick up on the hint, Mr Hinton. Today I have been trudging round like a zombie. In limbo, one might say, though no dancing. Moving four heavy pianolas before and after a concert is enough exercise for me.

I think there might be a billet-doux in my inbox, for which many thanks. I haven't read anything yet.

Went OK, I think. Jonathan Powell was there, Richard Black and David Matthews, plus a friend of his from Brno. So at least one Piano Street member out of that lot, and I gave the forum a good plug from the platform, seeing as how I have five honorary gold stars.

Those who are interested could still hear a little bit about player pianos by accessing BBC Radio 3 on the Web, and finding the listen again feature for "In Tune" for Wednesday 29 November. It's about an hour in to the show and lasts 25 minutes, and you can fast forward. Mind you, the audio quality of the music is not anything for the BBC to boast about. They will erase it this Wednesday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio3_aod.shtml?radio3/intune_wed

Somewhere on Piano Street I expressed reservations about Petroc Trelawney, so I am very happy to say that he exceeded all expectations, and conducted the interview with sensitivity and a little humour. Full marks.

Mrs Pianolist is on her way home from Charing Cross as I write, so I shall go and pick her up at the station, and perhaps get back to PS later. Au revoir, gang.