Other interests

[happyguy2]

Hey

 

I have always found that Rogers imitate the sound of a pipe organ better than absolutely any other electronic organ around.... I admire you having one....

 

I merely rely on my friends (those I made while studying) to allow me to use the pipe organs they have access to, usually in churches or more rarely, concert halls, where they are titular organists....

 

hg

[noviceny]

Much much much much after...

 

 

Here is a Descartres joke that my 1st year prof. told us :

 

Descartres was at a party and a hostess came up to him and said, "Would you like a drink ?" Descartres replied, "I think not." Then he disappeared...

 

When I first heard that I thought my prof was a big loser...now I just think its funny :-) :-)

[Boston Guy]

I think it's funny, too. :-) Thanks for sharing.

 

BG

[happyguy2]

When I was studying philosophy, my absolute favorite was DIOGENES....

 

Why you might ask....

 

Because, to protest against the absence of morals in his time, he walked around in protest wearing nothing but a barrell.....

 

 

 

go figure...,

 

hg

[OneFinger]

VDN, thanks for the kind words. I'm really amazed at how many Hoovillians are interested in classical organ. I thought I'd be the only one.

[OneFinger]

EBG, the picture I posted is a Rodgers 950 (which is what I have). But mine is a little different because it has a combination of both light and dark oak. That really gives it a unique look.

 

But I'm the one that is jealous of your Wurlitzer! I was trained in classical organ but would really like to take lessons for theater organ playing. There is an excellent teacher in Salt Lake and I plan to contact him in the next few months after things settle down with my job.

 

You might be interested in the following newspaper article about a Wurlitzer organ in a theater about 15 miles from my house. Believe it or not, there are 3 working Wurlitzers in theaters in the Salt Lake City area.

 

http://166.70.46.216/2004/Jul/07142004/utah/183326.asp

 

The organ in the article is located in one of the few remaining Egyptian-style theaters. The whole theater went through a massive restoration and is one of the venues for the Sundance Film Festival.

 

Perhaps one of the oddest organ locations in Utah is nick-named the "Hoopernacle". An old farmer in the rural town of Hooper has built a pipe organ in his barn! He has several free concerts a year and is really a very good organist.

[HotdadENYC]

RE: My other hobbies and interests

 

Thanks, BG, I thought I was alone. Glad to know that there are others who enjoy taking pics but don't always have the expertise to ultimately brag about it.

 

 

Thanks,

 

hd NYC

[Guest jeffOH]

>When I was studying philosophy, my absolute favorite was

>DIOGENES....

Diogenes rocks!

http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/tmdow/2005/tmdow050221.gif

[happyguy2]

It has been wonderful to read about all these interests that people have. VDN and One Finger, it is great to read of your interest and experiences in classical organ. I was fortunate to have studied with some spectacularly talented people - it was never going to be a career for me, but it was for them.

 

Nonetheless, I had lots of fun experiences, and one of the most memorable was when the great Maurice Durufle and Madame roared into town for a variety of performances. One of my friends was the page turner for Madame and as an encore, I will never forget the rousing improvisation on the hymn tune "the Old One Hndredth". I was seated just a few spots from my friend, and there she was in yards of chiffon and stilletto heals, barking: "Recit au pedale" ...

well, I've never gorgotten it!

 

thanks for stirring up some memories.

 

hg

[happyguy2]

thanks, this is great, and I agree, Diogenes rocks!

 

hg

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

A welcome change in topic. Very cool~

 

Aside from escorting, some of my favorite sideline activities are soccer (been playing for 10 years), theatre (musicals & plays), Golden Girls reruns on Lifetime (Blanche was always my favorite, with Rose a close second) and NBA basketball.

 

I'm an avid Consumer Reports junkie as well. It's a magazine i couldn't live without One of my favorite websites to visit daily is FlyerTalk.com, a website dedicated to helping out frequent flyers and those interested in the flight industry. Very addictive (much like this site) and has tons of useful info.

 

I also have an obscene collection of fridge magnets: It's getting to a point where i can no longer see any of my cold contraption. I may need to move on to sticking any new mags to my oven and microwave. It's an interesting look to say the least.

 

 

Warmest Always,

 

 

 

Benjamin Nicholas

[KY_TOP]

>>I also have an obscene collection of fridge magnets: It's

>getting to a point where i can no longer see any of my cold

>contraption. I may need to move on to sticking any new mags

>to my oven and microwave. It's an interesting look to say the

>least.

 

This is also my mother's hobby. At 48 I must still bring her a fridge magnet from anyplace new I travel. She is almost 70, just think what your fridge will look like when you are her age. :+

Of course you can also just imagine what you will look like when you are her age. :*

[jackhammer91406]

I'm really amazed at how many

Hoovillians are interested in classical organ.

 

Me too, I am particularly fond of the classic statue of David.

 

I did take 8 years of keyboards, the last two on an organ. I enjoyed it and use what rusty skills remain from that prehistoric period to relax.

[AdamSmith]

>I use to climb into

>one of the oldest tracker organs in the Northeast.

 

VDN, which one is that?

 

One of my favorite undergraduate courses was a history of the organ and its literature, taught by Fenner Douglass. We were privileged to do an organ crawl up the back of the Flentrop in the Duke Chapel...

 

http://www.chapel.duke.edu/chapel/images/photo_flentrop.jpg

 

...and also through the guts of the chapel's old Æolian, powered by this monster:

 

http://www.chapel.duke.edu/chapel/images/pagephoto_organ_blower1.jpg

 

...the wind trunk was a 4-foot-diameter concrete pipe.

 

P.S. A nice source of news and gossip is The Diapason, http://www.thediapason.com

[+ Charlie]

My favorite activities are biking and hiking in the great outdoors, bird watching, walking a dog (any dog!), wandering around European cities, going to museums, listening to opera and classical music (better yet: going to performances of them), learning languages, playing my Clavinova, eating out rather than cooking, writing letters to friends, and socializing.

 

My favorite non-activity is sitting in the sun by my pool, reading a good book (right now I'm reading a wonderful biography of Lord Byron--now there was one sick puppy!).

[noviceny]

OK, now I will have to be serious since you hit on a hobby of mine that I never even considered a hobby ...fridge magnets !!!!!

 

Since I was about 20 (15 years ago), I have gotten a magnet (or magnets) from every country I have been to...and every state also. I always thought that I was an old women for doing this but am glad to know others do it to.

 

I have an anti-hobby that used to be a hobby of mine. I can not stand to watch the Golden Girls !!!! I dont know what happened...used to watch them...now I wont watch them. Maybe I got molested during the opening credits or something, but nevertheless, I dont like them any more...perhaps its because I fear becoming them :-)

 

Other hobbies :

 

1) TKD/JKD (martial arts styles) : competed until 2004 ; now I have so many fractures that I am sidelined, but it did so much to make me who I am today

 

2) Any and all sci-fi movie/program and any and all vampire, devil, Dracula, monster type shit....love ut !!!

 

3) Big Brothers program - always done shit like this, on and off, throughout my adult years

 

4) Major geek-ness hobby - love journals on clinical social work

 

5) Major dweeb hobby - I love, buy and read spiritual autobiographies and theological works...all of you can shut up !!:-)

 

6) Travel...think I might have said that in another post...loved working, living and traveling in other countries...the people were always the best part

 

7) Being a shit disturber...love to fuck with people...never want to really bother anybody, but I can be very playful and have often heard my friends say, "Yo...you play too much !!"

 

8) Driving - I love driving...no desire for nice cars or speed...I just love driving...by myself...in my Honda...cell phone off...music on...loving life and all the road has to offer

 

9) People - I have always loved people...have a very difficult time hating them...if I had to say one thing that is my hobby, I would say people...love to be with them, love to help them, love to learn from them, love to enjoy them, love to love them and be loved by them.

 

I also love to be alone...sometimes people get to be to much :-)

 

I guess Im just a complicated man...so deep...so mysterious...wanted by all, attained by a few :-)

[Bilbo]

>

> 2. I collect first edition memoirs of Brits who were

>serving in

> India during the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58.

>

 

Fascinating. Just how many of these do you reckon there are, totally? And what percentage of them do you have so far? And what, then, would be the next Holy Grail of your collection and how hard do you think it will be to find it?

[Bilbo]

Maverick and I do the magnet thing, too. Front of the refrigerator is liberally sprinkled down to about knee level, nearly all usable parts of the side is covered, and the more boring ones, along with a few fun ones to spice them up, are relagated to the file cabinet.

Other habits, too, but had to respond to this one.

[Rick Munroe]

>Golden Girls reruns on Lifetime

 

They're edited! x( If you want to see the complete episodes anytime you choose, buy the DVD's (Season Two is coming very soon).

[OneFinger]

>Aside from escorting, some of my favorite sideline activities ...theatre (musicals & plays)

 

Benj,

 

Did you see where "Jerry Springer - The Opera" is being kept off Broadway?

 

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=615201

 

I'd list the reason but then we'd have to move this thread to the Political forum. x(

[KY_TOP]

> One of my favorite websites to

>visit daily is FlyerTalk.com, a website dedicated to helping

>out frequent flyers and those interested in the flight

>industry.

 

BTW...Thanks for the useful website. I've spent some time there today

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Yes, i did see the thread about Springer and it's a real shame...

 

I feel fortunate to have seen it when it was running and have a friend who's sending me a copy of the show on tape from it's British broadcast a few weeks ago.

 

What a shame that the US remains puritanical to the point of not letting this silly (but hilarious) new musical onto Broadway.

 

BN

[BobbyThompson]

What a fun topic! I've really enjoyed reading everyone's responses, so even though no one reads these things passed page three, I feel I should reply as well.

 

I have plenty of hobbies and interests that keep me occupied. When I'm home, I play piano about three hours a day. The piece that I'm working on right now is Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op2No1, which is pretty easy to sight read. I play a lot of Tori Amos as well. She's a blast.

 

I read quite a bit, mostly non-fiction. I have tons of books on shadow theory, but stopped reading much about it once Oprah made it more palatable for bored housewives. Lots of early Christianity, gnostic texts, and Mary Magdalene lore, though I backed off when the whole Dan Brown phenomenon hit. I can't get into fiction much because my attention span is narrow and I can't muster up any feeling for the characters. For the last year I've only been reading college French textbooks. I love the language and am teaching myself as much as I can.

 

I try and see one live event a week. This is very easy to do in Los Angeles. Mostly I see small venue concerts, but I catch a show at the Pantages or a live comedian at the Laugh Factory whenever there's something interesting.

 

I take advantage of my ability to work from any location by traveling whenever I have time between school. I have a beautiful white-haired blue-eyed Devon Rex cat that comes with me whenever possible. My favorite destination is Montreal, though I suspect Paris will replace that this summer.

 

Anyway, that's a start.

[BobbyB]

>Perhaps one of the oddest organ locations in Utah is nick-named the "Hoopernacle". An >old farmer in the rural town of Hooper has built a pipe organ in his barn! He has several >free concerts a year and is really a very good organist.

 

Hey Onefinger,

 

You no doubt already know this, but at one time the Grand Master of the Wurlitzer was a fellow by the name of George Wright. In his lifetime he recorded something like 60 albums (my father had several) some of which were recorded at the old San Francisco Fox Theater, a magnificent palace that got torn down in a travesty of 'redevelopement' and graft back in the 60's that still burns my ass to this day. I remember reading at the time that a San Francisco resident had bought the Fox's Wurlitzer (which if memory serves me correctly was the 2nd largest in the world) to put in his living room. "Egads," I remember thinking, "that must be some living room!" Well, fast forward to the mid 90's when I was living in San Francisco and was taking the Muni streetcar home one afternoon (the "N/Church Street"). We came to a stop, I happened to look up, and there she was - "The Mighty Wurlitzer"! (With emphasis on M-M-MIGHTY!) So while the Hoopernacle may be he oddest location for a Wurlitzer, at least Farmer John can play his. Because while the house was indeed large, I can't fathom the guy in San Francisco playing his Wurlitzer without blowing out all of his windows AND pissing off everybody on that side of town!

 

-BobbyB

 

http://theatreorgans.com/cds/fastweb.html

http://www.sfcall.com/issues%202000/5.22.00/one_night_at_the_fox.htm

http://www.spaceagepop.com/wright.htm

[NASAguy]

Great topic! My hobbies are

 

1. Listening to Opera and Musical Comedy. Ever since a child I have been an avid fan.

 

2. Traveling. So far my travels have been confined to North America and Western Europe but I can't wait to expand my horizons.

 

3. Cooking. I love to cook, both plain and fancy dishes, and enjoying watching the Food Channel on cable.

 

4. Collecting interesting steins and art (the biggest problem is that I have run out of places to display my collections years ago).