where is thalbergmad?

[pianistimo]

where is thalbergmad?

[Kassaa]

where is thalbergmad?

Isn't he climbing mountains?

[pianistimo]

perhaps you are right.  perhaps the next pics will be atop mt blanc. 

[tds]

where is thalbergmad?

do admit now, under the grace of God, that you miss being picked on by thal.

[shortyshort]

do admit now, under the grace of God, that you miss being picked on by thal.

He's the only one that answers her posts. lol 

[pianistimo]

alas.  he has no time for me anymores. 

[desordre]

 Dear fellows:
 I have a theory.
 I think that Thal's scores have created life, and are forcing him to play them all, page after page. But don't worry: if he's a good sight-reader, and I think he must be, he probably will return after completing the task, maybe in 30 or 40 years. 
 Best!

[tds]

He's the only one that answers her posts. lol 

  more or less. and gives her the satisfaction she needs. yikes!!


tralalalah... doo doo duh doo...

[thalbergmad]

alas.  he has no time for me anymores. 

Not at all you old bat.

Computer problems forced me offline for 10 days.

I filled this time with reading about the true bloodline of Jesus and the discovery of the Mountain where Moses received the Commandments.

Looking forward to some fun with your "theories"

Thal

[pianistimo]

computer problems?  you?  well, over here - people have been having problems with the xm radio stations.  do you think this is caused by some satellite interference?  just an idea.

anwyas - i hope your computer is better.   are you still going for that climb on mt blanc?  is pianowolfi still going ona bicycle trek?  what is happening? 

[pianowolfi]

is pianowolfi still going ona bicycle trek? 

Yes. Yes for sure

[pianistimo]

that's a relief.  now, post along the way if you can.  we want to know the details.  i like to hear about cycling stuff.

and i want to see some pics of mt blanc.  you know.  the nitty gritty stuff at the top.  still curious about what wind does.  i mean - you might need those sunglasses glued on your head.  can you just see - you hold a flag up - and away it goes.  of course, like the north pole - nobody knows exactly where the top of mt blanc is probably.  unless there's an observatory onthe exact spot.

[thalbergmad]

No Mt Blanc this year.

Did not get down to 200 pounds.

Thal

[pianistimo]

sorry to hear it.  i'm living vicariously through each and every vacation you and elspeth and whoever else - talks (pianowolfi) about their vacations.  my neighbor, in fact, is going to guatamala soon.  she just got back from acapulco.  (yes, she works at a 'real job' - and she's slightly disgustingly rich.  but, she lets me cut her flowers - so i like her).

[pianowolfi]

that's a relief.  now, post along the way if you can.  we want to know the details.  i like to hear about cycling stuff.

Well I'll try. It's a new world to me, this America, you know. A new world but though so well known in some sense. A lot of us here in Europe have their "American Dream" and America is omnipresent in our daily life, in my life especially because I have many American students here, whom I very much appreciate . But it will be the first time I travel to another continent and therefore I have also a bit mixed feelings about it. Adventure? What will expect me? Will I survive? This is a question I anyway have everytime when I leave for a big summer bicycle trip, it seems to belong to my trips that I always say: "I don't know if I come back or not" I badly need this feeling of not knowing anything, otherwise I can't really "come back" in some sense. That's how it has been for years and this time it will be like that too, just even more extreme. Well that's how I am after all. And after all I love it

[pianowolfi]

No Mt Blanc this year.

Did not get down to 200 pounds.

Thal

Just do intense workouts, then the few pounds too much don't play such a big role I think. Preparation is all. And a competent guide!!

[elspeth]

That's the thing I love best about travelling... heading off over the horizon and not quite knowing what's going to be there, or if the me that comes home will be even close to the me that went. Every holiday should be an adventure.

One trip I have in mind, when I have about a month to go travelling, is just to go trainhopping. Go to a station and just buy a ticket for whatever train leaves next and see where I end up... and keep doing it round the country. No plans at all, just see what happens. Send a postcard home to my mum from everywhere, that'll keep her amused! (My sister and I get into trouble if mum doesn't get a card from everywhere we travel to... when I went to Finland I had to post it at Heathrow, there were no postboxes where I was staying!)

[pianowolfi]

Cool

[pianistimo]

train hopping, eh.  i might be able to do that quickly enough.  go into philly or nyc and come back in the same day.  maybe my family wouldn't even know.  i could keep it a secret. 

pianowolfi- why do you think you might not come back?  you'd like it so much you'd stay?  that's ok.  or - do you think you'd get lost.  that's what i think would happen to me in europe.  in fact, i know it would happen.  lost for a long long time.  perhaps become destitute in a matter of a week.  perhaps end up disoriented and confused.  that's why i don't travel far.  even here in pa - i try to keep tabs on landmarks.

now, when you climb a mountain - it's pretty hard to get lost.  unless you wander to another mountain -which is unlikely.  that is why the mountaineering kind of appeals to me.  thalbergmad - the mountain will always be there.  just keep working out, as pianowolfi says.  it's really doing it every day that gets the most results.  i'm finding that weekend cycling isn't enough.  although i've lost about 5-8 lbs from going 2 + hours on sat/sun.  it's just that i'm really exhausted when i come back.  vs. 1 hour every day or every other day.  i just know it's better - but don't always have the time or make the time.  probably have to just leave everything and say 'oh well.'

[thalbergmad]

now, when you climb a mountain - it's pretty hard to get lost.  unless you wander to another mountain -which is unlikely.  

Weird statement of the year.

[pianistimo]

what i mean is that unless mountains are connected by passes - you are generally aware of when you are going from mountain #1 to mountain #2.  maybe some kind of knee problem?

[pianistimo]

where is alistair?  he responds to anything.  i suppose he is basking in mediterranean sunshine and drinking icees.

[thalbergmad]

You are completely mental, but i love you.

Thal

[pianistimo]

completely? today i was practicing ravel's minuet on the letters of haydn's name - and it hit me.  musicians are ALL crazy.  who would think ravel could get by with the letters H, Y and N as B, D, and G?  i mean - he puts this little 'code' at the top and expects people to immediately 'get it.'  thankfully, this edition spells it out everytime it happens forwards and backwards and upside down.  it was after this - that i played liszt's consolation.  then, bizet's habanera from the opera carmen. 

then, i went back to bach's invention #1.  although, the second page was so boring that i had to start inputting octaves.  it just sounds better on the second page to have it get fuller.

[thalbergmad]

completely?

Yes

[berrt]

what i mean is that unless mountains are connected by passes - you are generally aware of when you are going from mountain #1 to mountain #2. 

im a dedicated flatland inhabitant - but as much as i know it's pretty good possible to get lost on ONE mountain...

next week i'll be off to the countryside in norway - only lakes and hills there :-)

of course, my stage piano is with me -

B.

[pianistimo]

which mountain have you gotten lost on, berrt?

[thalbergmad]

which mountain have you gotten lost on, berrt?

I got lost on Ben Macdhui.

A nasty place in bad weather. It is also haunted by a 20ft tall spectral giant.

Thal

[berrt]

which mountain have you gotten lost on, berrt?

i never got lost on a mountain, i only walk on secured paths there. but the idea scares me anyway.

B.

[pianistimo]

and, what, may i ask are you playing in norway on your stage piano?  (almost said spectral) 20 foot might be a bit too much to play in the flatlands. 

and, thal - what the heck is ben macdhui?  i suppose some scottish hill?  try mt. mckinley and you'll know what climbing mountains is all about.  there are no spectral giants.  only brown bears.  grizzlies.

[thalbergmad]

try mt. mckinley and you'll know what climbing mountains is all about. 

Yeh, i have read about Frederick Cook Expedition.

[pianistimo]

frederick?  you mean james frederick?  he didn't go by his middle name excepting with the natives.  they liked the soudn of frederick better.

[thalbergmad]

No, Frederick Cook.

The man who claimed the first ascent of Mt Mckinlay and first to the North Pole.

He was a bit of a fraudster.

Thal

[berrt]

and, what, may i ask are you playing in norway on your stage piano?  (almost said spectral) 20 foot might be a bit too much to play in the flatlands. 

i use it for practicing: polishing the raindrop prelude, learning liebestraum no3 (will i ever get the cadenzas? probably not), flower song (the idea to learn it came up by instromps recording) and some random stuff i grabbed in the library for praticing sight-reading (though most of it is too difficult for that purpose).
i think it's not against the law to play huge pianos in norway... but then there'd be the transportation problem... (if i'd own one   )
B.