Scriabin Prelude, Op. 16, No. 1 in B

[rachfan]

Scriabin’s Prelude, Op.16, No. 1, (January 1894), falls within his early period influenced by Chopin’s style.  Marked andante, the usual rhythmic pattern is triplets; however, the triplets are either aligned as polyrhythms or counterpoint. This presents a thin texture to the listener, yet it is more difficult to play than it sounds.  I would characterize this piece as a reverie.  Scriabin wanted the bar lines to be transparent—a manner of playing often found in Russian romantic music. This being a reverie, I surmise that Scriabin mitigated structure per se, as dreaming is more unstructured. Although a short work, it is not in ternary form.  Instead Scriabin inserted an episode after the first appearance of the main theme, and a different one following the reprise of the theme.  There are two climaxes, the first in the rubato section and a secondary one focusing on the highest note of the piece in the second episode prior to the coda. The coda itself is initially dissonant but resolves into tranquil beauty. I hope you’ll enjoy hearing this prelude.

David

Comments welcome.

Piano: Baldwin Model L Artist Grand (6’3”) with lid fully open.
Recorder: Korg MR-1000
Mics: Matched pair of Earthworks TC-20 small diaphragm, omni-directional condenser mics in A-B configuration

[emill]

hi David!!

Your piece profile-info has once again put meaning to the piece from the standpoint of a non-pianist. I hope most of those who post will do the same.  THanks for expanding my appreciation of pieces from the viewpoint of the pianist.

emill

[rachfan]

Hi Emill,

Thanks so much for listening.  I'm pleased that my "liner notes" were helpful in giving you some insights into to the music.  I hope you enjoyed the music as well.

David

[goldentone]

Very beautiful, David.  You've found some real gems in Scriabin's output, and I like this one.

[quantum]

David,

Thanks for sharing yet another gem! 

I was sight reading through the preludes book a few months ago and came across this one as well.

[rachfan]

Hi Goldentone,

Glad you enjoyed this wonderful prelude.  It's quickly become one of my favorites too.  And thanks for the compliment as well.

David

[rachfan]

Hi quantum,

Thanks for listening and commenting.  Yes, for me this prelude is one of Scriabin's finest.  I really enjoyed playing it. 

David

[ted]

Listening to this sort of music really needs a decent hi-fi, a computer or iPad won't do, as I initially found out. Playing it from a memory stick through the big speakers I soon heard the message. Is the asynchronous way you play right and left hand standard for music of that time or is that purely personal to you ? Either way, I cannot imagine it otherwise having once heard it like that. I was struck by the penultimate chord, unusual, isn't it ? So much so I had a look at the score. You know when it has resolved though, that's for sure. I'm having a few more listens now, and I think the piece as a whole is growing on me. Very well played in any case.

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

The asynchronous playing directly results from the polyrhythms, which is one of the hallmarks of late romantic music.  They all used it including--Scriabin, Liadov, Rachmaninoff, Bortkiewicz, Glazunov, Catoire, etc.  That's not to say that Brahms, Chopin, Liszt or Schumann never used them, they often did so.  But beyond their era, the polyrhythms seem to become even more pervasive in late romanticism.  At least that's the way I sense it.

Regarding the penultimate chord (actually two of them), what I did was to play the preceding five dissonant chords very quietly.  Then for the penultimate chord, I voiced the top note, a D# in the right hand and the bottom note, a B in the left hand.  Aurally it gives the sense of an interval of a third which I think sounds quite nice in the coda.  I also made the second sounding of the chord even more quiet.  Finally the soft contra B in the left hand reaffirms the tonic key of the piece and brings it to a  close.

This prelude is one of Scriabin's best in my opinion.  I'm delighted that you enjoyed it so much.

Thanks, Ted, for listening and commenting on it.

David

[alessandro]

Very beautiful.   As always.  The one or two of your posts that I only find beautiful and not very beautiful were just a matter of taste in music.   But again, that is really neglectible compared to all the others that are sublime.   I'm talking about beauty that I cannot describe.  A thing that could contribute to this joy one can experience when listening to your recordings is the - well, devotion is maybe a too strong word - but the work, study, that you put into your performance.   But, when it's beautiful, it's beautiful.

Listening to this sort of music really needs a decent hi-fi, a computer or iPad won't do, as I initially found out. Playing it from a memory stick through the big speakers I soon heard the message. Is the asynchronous way you play right and left hand standard for music of that time or is that purely personal to you ? Either way, I cannot imagine it otherwise having once heard it like that. I was struck by the penultimate chord, unusual, isn't it ? So much so I had a look at the score. You know when it has resolved though, that's for sure. I'm having a few more listens now, and I think the piece as a whole is growing on me. Very well played in any case.

Dear rachfan, in addition to what Ted said, I would like to add, and frankly, believe every word that I will say here : I'm quite sure that beauty happens in the margin of (society) humanity.    A somewhat unhandy comparison : when I go to a restaurant, I leave the restaurant somewhat unhappy ; I mean, disappointed, with a feeling of imposture.   Call me romantic, but I truly prefer  one of your recordings to two commercial ones.   I am deeply convinced, that the most beautiful things in life happen in the margin, freely, unexpectedly.   When one you post something in this Audition Room, it is something like a chocolate toffee.   I can see that there is something new from you, but I don't want to look at it closer right away.   "Je fais durer le plaisir".  Then I look at what I can expect by reading your always well-groomed introductions of the recordings.  But again, I don't click straight to 'play'.  A day can pass, easily, to unwrap the toffee.   And than Rachfan, comes that beautiful piano of yours, and that beautiful, unique playing.
If some contributors to this forum deserve the beauty-prize, there should be a special one for you.   Frankly, and I don't think that I'm the only one to think this way, your posts are world-distinction, beauty.

Thanks a lot and hurray.

 

[fnork]

You've done a good job with this little gem, and you're doing your very best to make music with every note, paying close attention to layerings and voices most of the time. (only a few times did I notice some notes sticking out strongly where they shouldn't - usually a note that is a 'melody' note but immidiately after is re-struck as a part of an inner triplet accompaniement) The main advice I'd offer you is a very general one - try making it yet more reverie-like, more floating and more dreamy. The legato slurs are very long from what I recall, so, avoid at all costs to accent beats. Also! Don't make any overly rhythmically "clear" distinction between 8th-notes and 8th triplets in the melody! It can be more strict in the left hand, but the last thing one wants to hear in a piece like this is this sort of 2-against-3 thing where it's made over-clear.

I hope this makes sense! Keep playing beautifully.

[gvans]

Bravo, David. I listened to it twice. You make that Baldwin sing. Yeah, after reading fnork's comments, I could find a few phrases that started off a bit strong, maybe needed some more shaping, but that's a quibble. What beautiful music. Scriabin really was something, wasn't he?

[ted]

The asynchronous playing directly results from the polyrhythms, which is one of the hallmarks of late romantic music.  They all used it including--Scriabin, Liadov, Rachmaninoff, Bortkiewicz, Glazunov, Catoire, etc.  That's not to say that Brahms, Chopin, Liszt or Schumann never used them, they often did so.  But beyond their era, the polyrhythms seem to become even more pervasive in late romanticism.  At least that's the way I sense it.

No, I didn't mean the polyrhythms, but the playing of the bass note slightly before the treble note at many points of coincidence. Unless I'm hearing it peculiarly, or it results from acoustics or some property of the recording. Might be wrong, I'll have another listen.

Had another listen. It isn't my imagination. I actually like it, I cannot imagine the piece without it.

[rachfan]

Hi allessandro,

I enjoyed reading your review.   I'm so glad that you enjoy my renditions so much and took time to comment.  It enables me to feel a connection with my listeners.  

When I search the piano literature, I try to find pieces of ravishing beauty given my own personal sense of aesthetics. If a particular piece does not have quality, then I won't touch it.  In my youth I was the typical "well-rounded pianist".  But I'm much older now.  I'm reminded of the  saying, "The piano literature is vast, and life is too short."  So now I more or less specialize in the late romantic  repertoire.  

I would have to agree with your belief that beauty happens in the margin.  I see myself as an accomplished pianist, but it has always been a hobby, not my vocation.  So if I can share my recordings here and please my "audience", (I've been here at Piano Street since 2003), then this is my virtual "Carnegie Hall" in the margin.    I like nothing more than bringing pleasure to all my listeners.      

Your chocolate toffee analogy made for wonderful reading.  Thanks for sharing that.  

And very importantly, thank you so much for your compliments on my playing.  Whenever I'm practicing and recording, I tend to be my own worst critic. So the only way that my recordings get posted here is if they meet my own high standards of performance.

Thanks again.

David

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

I just went in, listened and heard a couple of those nonalignments between the right and left hands.  In the 19th century they used to call that "anticipation" where the LH would play a bass note a tiny bit before the RH sounded rather than together.  The theory was that it would better establish the rich harmony notes.  Come the 20th century it was decided that "anticipation" was an anachronism that was undesirable and didn't comport with modern performance practice, thus should be best avoided.  

Had I noticed those two, I would probably have done another recording. But everyone seems to like this rendition, so I'll let it be.  

David

[rachfan]

Hi gvans,

Yes, Scriabin was an amazing composer.  He never fails to inspire me.  I should have been playing Scriabin years ago, but I only started learning and recording a number of his pieces fairly recently.

In all cases I've drawn music from his early and middle periods.  Everyone is different, however for me there is a forbidding gateway at about Op. 50 in his piano ouvre.  From there on one enters Scriabin's mystical period.  As much as I love his earlier music, the mystical pieces always leave me cold.  So for me there is that self-imposed limitation, although some others would readily agree with me.  But there are still other pianists who much prefer the mystical pieces, especially the late opus sonatas.  I guess it's all a matter of personal taste.

Thanks for taking a moment to hear this prelude.  I appreciate it.

David

[ted]

I say keep the unaligned notes. Notation is only a crude visual approximation at the best of times anyway, especially in this sort of rhapsodic stuff. It's fine just the way you played it.

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

You're probably right.  If any of us were perfect, we wouldn't be here. So I'll leave it be.

David

[rachfan]

Hi fnork,

Thanks for taking time to listen and comment.  I appreciate all of your compliments and suggestions, and yes, they certainly make sense.  For such a short piece there is a lot going on in there! Nonetheless, I really enjoyed playing it.

Thanks again.

David

[costicina]

Thank you so much, David, for introducing me to this marvelous piece! Your interpretation is outstanding as usual perhaps more outstanding  than usual.
Again and again, thank you, and BRAVO!!!!

[rachfan]

Hi Marg,

Thanks for taking time to hear this prelude.  I'm delighted that you enjoyed it so much, and thanks for that great compliment on my playing.  I very much appreciate it!

David

[carl_h]

Hello,

Very nice to hear some Scriabin, you played it wonderfully!
As yourself I like his earlier works a lot more than his later, mystical/obscure, works.

Have you, by chance, played his prelude op. 11 no. 5 in D or op. 16 no. 3 in Gb? I just started learning them the other day and would like your thought or tips

Oh btw, I'd like to hear you play his sonata-fantasy!

Grts,

[rachfan]

Hi Carl,

I'm glad that you enjoyed hearing this prelude, and thank you for the nice compliment on my playing.  I appreciate it.

I've not played the two preludes you mentioned (he wrote a ton of them!); however, I have posted seven other Scriabin recordings here.  If you go to the top of the list here, you'll see Index of Audition Room.  If you click on that, it'll bring up the composers in alphabetical order.  So you can scroll down to Scriabin, then look for Rachfan.  You'll find my other Scriabin recordings there. 

I believe you're referring to the big Fantasy, Op. 28.  That's a wonderful middle period piece, but very difficult to play.  There's an anecdote about that piece.  One day Scriabin was out for a walk with a friend, and they were discussing some of his music.  His friend happened to mention the Fantasy.  Scriabin abruptly stopped walking, and with a look of shock on his face said, "What? I wrote a fantasy?"

Thanks for taking time to listen to the prelude.

David

[klaviertraum]

Your clean dynamic enables to set a link between your music and us, I could not resist to feel enchanted by the chords at the crecendo at the end of the first section. Congratulations.

[rachfan]

Hi klaviertraum,

Welcome to Piano Street!

Thank you so much for your kind words of praise for my playing of this Scriabin piece.  I greatly appreciate it!

David

 

[awesom_o]

I thought this was rather poignant!

Some beautiful use of the pedal and calm, clear, expressive tone.

I'm trying to remember....there might have been one or two small place where the use of the pedal wasn't quite as beautiful as in other places... but it was only ever for a slight moment, and that's a personal thing anyway.

Good work!

[rachfan]

Hi awesome_o,

Thanks for the kudos on my playing! I appreciate your taking time to listen and comment. 

Regarding pedaling, I used a many half-pedal releases in this piece to minimize the buildup of overtones.  Overall I believe there is very good clarity of line.

Thanks!

David

[awesom_o]

Regarding pedaling, I used a many half-pedal releases in this piece to minimize the buildup of overtones.  Overall I believe there is very good clarity of line.

David

This is the foundation of good pedaling! It can become very subtle indeed, the amount of pedal we can use or not use.

I thought you had wonderful clarity of line throughout!

I'd love to hear you play earlier repertoire! Something classical or baroque.

[rachfan]

Hi awsome_o,

Long ago I was the "well-rounded piano student" playing an annual program of Baroque, Viennese Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, and Modern music.  Now I'm old (but young at heart).  The fact is that the piano literature is vast, but life is way too short deal with it.  We barely even scratch the surface.  So at this stage of my life I specialize in Late Romanticism--only.  In other words, I play music that I really love rather than the other styles out of a sense of duty.  Been there, done that!  This is the best way that I can focus my efforts in planning recordings and expressing myself.  It's a great feeling when you can channel your time into music that you truly enjoy playing!  

David  

[awesom_o]

Hi awsome_o,

It's a great feeling when you can channel your time into music that you truly enjoy playing!  
  

I agree 100%.... I ONLY play the styles and composers I love to play.

It's a great feeling when you can specialize in anything that you love when you can love anything from any time.

How is it you can find no joy in playing the French Baroque? How is it that studying Mozart requires any sense of duty? What about Chopin? Have you abandoned him too?

Please forgive me for asking such forthright questions. You are an exceptional player!

But in music, there are obviously no hard lines between Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, etc. There is only a vast continuum of fantastic music spanning 500 years.

Of course, we can only scratch the surface.... but surely we must scratch the entire surface, no?

[rachfan]

Hi awesom_o,

To answer your question: When it comes to Baroque and Viennese Classical music, frankly I believe I paid my dues.  From 1953-1963 I participated in the adjudicated National Piano Playing Auditions under the auspices of the National Guild of Piano Teachers.  Annually I had to prepare a minimum of 10 memorized pieces from ALL styles being "the well-rounded student". Although that included Bach, Clementi, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, I felt that their music was not for me even though others enjoyed hearing me play those pieces. Yes, the greats Schnabel, Fischer and Backhaus--all superb artists--lived with the masterworks of Schubert and Beethoven, pleasing countless audiences, and I applaud that. Gould played mostly J. S. Bach, J. S. Bach and J.S. Bach. I cannot criticize that--he played what he wanted to play. That sense of freedom inspires me.  The bottom line is that musical tastes vary.  I'd much rather spend time in the other styles that bring me enjoyment. Of course I like playing the music of the Romantic and Impressionistic styles a lot--but I love the music of the Late Romantics even more. This all comes down to personal preferences in my opinion.

As one example, here is my recording of Debussy "La Soiree dans Grenade".  I believe you'll hear how very much I love his music, although I am more centered in the music of the Late Romantic Age. (Of course, Debussy was a late romantic in his early works.)

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,34553.0.html

I do understand that some people will wonder why I don't spend time with Couperin or Rameau. Again, everyone has different notions of aesthetics.  Some love the music of the French clavacinists, and I absolutely respect that.  But I'm most attracted to the lush, poetic music with the big romantic surges as found in the music of Bortkiewicz, Catoire, Faure, Glazunov, Liadov, Medtner, Rachmininoff, Scriabin, etc. So my musical aesthetic is different, no doubt, but that freedom is a welcome change at this stage of my life. And playing the forgotten but extraordinary music of Catoire (I recorded three sets here) was an incredible experience!  Again, yes I do like playing Chopin, Liszt and Brahms, but I simply appreciate the Late Romantics even more.  When pianists get older, I think that many, like me, prefer to spend their hours in what they truly love.  If an artist deeply loves what he is playing, then he can easily put the music across to the listener. And ultimately that's what it's all about.

David  

[awesom_o]

I agree with everything you have said so far, and I do not wish to cause you the feeling that your sense of taste or musical aesthetics is coming under attack.

I too, play only the works I am interested in, musically.

Gould played much, much more than Bach, by the way-for some reason his Bach recordings are what made him the most famous. But he had a very wide repertoire ranging from Byrd to Prokofiev.

I love the late Russian Romantics, and study them as often as I can!

I know what you mean about the classical repertoire... I used to feel much of it wasn't for me. Even today, there are plenty of Haydn Sonatas I just don't think I'll ever play or work on at all.

Have you ever tried getting into the Classical repertoire through piano-Four-Hands?
To me, it's usually more enjoyable than solo Classical.

Mozart Symphonies, Beethoven Symphonies, Schubert Symphonies! All of these are available for four hands!
Later 4 hands repertoire is also amazing.... Ma Vlast by Smetana, Brahms Symphonies, Dvorak Slavonic Dances....

[rachfan]

Hi awesom_o,

I think you and I are substantially in agreement on repertoire.

To characterize my feeling about the Baroque, Rococo, and Viennese Classical eras, the reason that I felt that "they were not for me" is that they always seemed more like a chore than a joy.  I guess that's how I would best explain it.  Of course some pianists can never get enough of that music to play.  But then again, they might not be crazy about playing Rachmaninoff.  I think even 4-hands music from those early periods would still feel like a a chore to me. The truth is that I've always been addicted to the piano solo literature.  As I say, everyone is different which, fortunately, makes it all the more interesting.  Thanks for your understanding.

David

[ted]

This is pretty interesting, and important too. I am a good deal musically hairier than either of you two, having never felt the slightest need to "pay dues" to any music at all, great or otherwise. This is why I realised when young that I had not the remotest chance of being a professional musician of any sort, I was too strange, and went against my teacher's wishes. I have always found it quite easy, however, to appreciate the skills of those who do follow such paths without actually liking their sounds. For example Waller's Blue Black Bottom moves me far more profoundly than the last Beethoven sonata, and that is just an immutable fact of my psyche. There is absolutely no use therefore in falsely acquiescing to some external magisterium of quality and taste. The tricky part is to avoid being misinterpreted as iconoclastic, which I most definitely am not. On some forums, and in some social circles, I just keep quiet altogether, but this forum is reasonably broadminded.

Like David, I have spent a large part of my earlier life in earning my living in regions not at all compatible with my deepest nature, and once past middle-age, the desire to please myself in my art became quite ineluctable, I assure you.  

[awesom_o]

Just as long as you realize that Baroque and Classical are the musical equivalent of fruits and veggies. They contain lots of musical fiber which helps to keep us healthy.

Lots of people get older and only want to eat the foods that they want to eat.

'I ate plenty of fruits and veggies as a child...... now I can just eat all the white bread I want'

It's true.... you can just eat white bread for the rest of your life... nobody will stop you.

Nobody but diabetes.

 

[rachfan]

Hi awesom_o,

I really like fruits and veggies!  Many swear that Bach is the "bible" for developing technique. That could be true.  However, I also find that in the late romantic literature there are endless possibilities for honing one's technique given the many difficulties to be surmounted there. I would venture to say that a pianist who plays late romantic works can attain as fine a pianism as one who prefers to play mostly Baroque or Viennese Classical music.  For example, Gieseking was most famous for his renditions of Impressionistic music, and yet it seemed that his technique was every bit as formidable as Backhaus' technique while playing Viennese Classical music.  I never heard Horowitz play Bach's WTC, yet he had amazing abilities at the piano until the end of his life.

David

[awesom_o]

David,

As long as you are absolutely certain that you are not at risk of developing diabetes, I'm happy. I just wanted to make sure you were aware that the disease is out there,  and that it is largely controllable by dietary choices-restrictions on certain types of foods and the inclusion of healthy substitutions.  

Your technique strikes me as being good! I don't advocate the use of the WTC for technical development. I use it for sight-reading practice from time-to-time and not much else. But I play quite a bit of Bach on the cello, and, save the Italian Concerto and a few other classics which I do love to play, his keyboard works have never called out to me in the same way as Chopin....


The most important thing for pianists to do is just the thing that you do..... go out and find music by lesser-known composers and play it well in order to bring it to a larger audience.

Still, the main argument I always heard from teachers who made me play stuff I didn't want to play, much of it earlier than the Romantic stuff I mostly wanted to play at the time, was that studying those earlier periods would deepen my perspective and improve my playing of all styles.

It's not about getting your chores done early.... it's about having a fun conversation while washing the dishes, so it doesn't feel like a chore!

[ted]

I have always eaten my musical greens, but they are all grown in my own garden from seeds I have genetically engineered myself. Admittedly though, an academically brilliant, professional musician once told me, "Ted, you are the first example I have encountered of a genuine musical pervert." Now there's a thought. Personally, I tend to think I am simply going funny with age, and my music is rather like Louis Wain's later cat paintings.

[j_menz]

I have always eaten my musical greens, but they are all grown in my own garden from seeds I have genetically engineered myself. Admittedly though, an academically brilliant, professional musician once told me, "Ted, you are the first example I have encountered of a genuine musical pervert." Now there's a thought. Personally, I tend to think I am simply going funny with age, and my music is rather like Louis Wain's later cat paintings.

I had to google the cats:



Are you sure what you're genetically engineering into your veges is quite legal? 

[rachfan]

Hi awesom_o,

I agree, diabetes is a scourge.  I always have an annual wellness exam and at 68 one is supposed take the blood test for the diabetes which I did.  It came back negative.  There's also no family history of the disease fortunately.  But everyone of that age should take advantage of the test--I highly recommend that precaution.  I'm careful about what I eat too.  I'm 6' tall and have been the same 165 lbs. for decades--just a very few pounds more than when I was a kid in college.  So I do very well in that department.  As the old saying goes, "you are what you eat". I believe that's true.

I can see why you like Bach on the cello.  The sustained notes of a stringed instrument are often closer to his concepts than what is possible on the percussive piano.  I think it's more listenable, whereas Bach on the piano sometimes, not always, comes off as notey contrapuntal chatter.

The most important thing for pianists to do is just the thing that you do..... go out and find music by lesser-known composers and play it well in order to bring it to a larger audience.

Yes!  It was the same when I recorded and posted a lot of Bortkiewicz here.  People thought it was new music!  Or if they had heard of him, they wanted to know where his music had been for the last 80 years. When I was playing Catoire and Bortkiewicz, I felt a weighty responsibility.  In both cases the performance practices had disappeared a very long time ago.  It all had to be reinterpreted.  It was a fascinating and rewarding experience.  I thought that members here would overlook my recordings in favor of the standard repertoire pieces.  Some of them wrote saying quite the contrary, informing me that it was the unknown, obscure or forgotten composers who they most wanted find on the list and to hear them! So those recordings got a lot of play which made my effort all the more worthwhile. It was the same when I presented the Dutra "Preludio" which I notice is back here on page 1 again. There is nothing more exciting and satisfying as giving an extraordinary but overlooked composer a well-deserved boost.

David

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

I think we all get a little funny with age ha-ha!  Probably along the way of studying piano you were a bit nonconforming; however, you've since established quite a niche for yourself with both your compositions and improvisations too.  And no need to worry, you're not iconoclastic probably because you keep it all in perspective.  You have acquired quite an audience, so you should just continue doing what you like to do best.  You know, in the end we pianists all play for ourselves.

David

[ted]

Are you sure what you're genetically engineering into your veges is quite legal?  

I don't engineer my real veges, just my musical ones of rhythm, form, harmony and so on, developed over a lifetime. My real diet, like David's, is probably quite good. Indeed, I find physical fitness is essential to play lengthy, intense improvisations of the type I enjoy. Even then I feel like a limp rag after some of them.

Hi Ted,

I think we all get a little funny with age ha-ha!  Probably along the way of studying piano you were a bit nonconforming; however, you've since established quite a niche for yourself with both your compositions and improvisations too.  And no need to worry, you're not iconoclastic probably because you keep it all in perspective.  You have acquired quite an audience, so you should just continue doing what you like to do best.  You know, in the end we pianists all play for ourselves.

David

Thanks David. Truth be told I don't know enough about classical music or jazz to seriously argue about either on forums. I stay to hear and post recordings, and to help improvisers if asked. I am very aware of my limitations and they don't bother me.

It's way off topic, but it is obvious that a tsunami of diabetes will hit the developed world over the next couple of decades. The fast food industry is encouraging it, governments are doing nothing to prevent it, and the obesity percentages are soaring well into double figures in developed countries. The food court at our local mall looks like feeding time for the hippos on the Zambezi. Health systems will be crippled by masses of complicated procedures for the advanced consequences of diabetes. At the individual level an alarming number of people seem heedless of the warnings, and those with diabetes just take their medicine and carry on as before, eating mountains of sugar, salt and fat, and taking no exercise. It is an unspectacular but pernicious disease which kills by stealth.

[awesom_o]

6' and 165 lb is what I'd like to be, but in reality I'm more like 5'11 and 185

How do you do it, David? Regular mealtimes but no snacking? Low-carb and plenty of exercise?


I know what you mean, Ted, about fitness and improvisation. I was once a hippo of Zambezi food court myself. Back in those days I could barely improvise two sentences together without reeling from the mental and physical effort which it took.

Now I'll go for hours if I am feeling particularly close to Apollo or Dionysus that day....

Which is why I'd really like to get down to that 165 mark. I'm thinking my chops could  just be on yet a whole 'nother level still.

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

Yes, the obesity tsunami has hit the U.S. hard as well.  It may even be worldwide now.  My wife and I like to go to a seafood restaurant on Saturdays.  I look around and there a high percentage of obesity.  But here's the thing: Almost invariably they have their plates piled high with fried seafood (who doesn't love that?), while I'm sitting there with a broiled or baked fillet of fish with rice.  It doesn't seem that will power is winning out, which is discouraging. I feel bad for those people.  I hope that the ending isn't as bleak as you describe it, but I fear your vision could be accurate if something doesn't change quickly.  

David