...Izee's Thread

[MageNathaniel1]

I saw that article too and think it is insane at best. I have no idea how they think they can pay for it.

[Izee]

...I have to say that this clip kinda shows how men, with their greater physical strength, can play the cello with more dramatic expression than a woman can...

Take it from me...who has TWO nice cellos...and has easily accumulated thousands of hours playing the chunks of lumber...the cello is physically challenging to play.  It is large, and you are sitting there holding it between your thighs, and the upper part is resting against your chest.  I had an ugly callous on my left breast that wasn't fun for my H to fondle.  I tried various types of padded things that would hang over the shoulder of the cello, but I felt that the thick ones affected the tone of the instrument, so I just draped a thick piece of cloth over the left shoulder of the cello, and tried not to clutch the cello too hard, or pull it against my body.  But, when playing...I would forget about my concerns and just grip and hold the cello as I needed to in order to express the sound I was trying to put out.

Here is Bloch's 'Schelomo', a work for cello and orchestra.  I studied this, and did perform it, but with just a piano accompanying me, not an orchestra.  This performer does show the difficulty in playing the cello.  You have a fingerboard that is about 3 feet long, and you have to run your fingers all over it.  Plus, you are working your right bowing  arm very hard.  I had a physical in College, and the MD asked me what I did.  I asked why he wanted to know, and he said "Your right shoulder is much more developed than your left shoulder."  I got very self-concious after that, and didn't like to wear spaghetti strap gowns, or a bikini, because I thought that my body was lopsided.  (It was, but not by very much... )  Please enjoy...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schelomo

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=schelomo+cello&docid=608029316560081710&mid=BA921EABB40E75A246C9BA921EABB40E75A246C9&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

[MageNathaniel1]

I would suspect, given the size and complexity of the cello, it is difficult for either gender to play. I only learned piano and a little about guitar and know better than to try the cello which takes a person dedicated to the instrument to play, which I admire.

[Izee]

I ran a fairly relaxed Law Office when I was the Manager.  I did insist on working hard and being busy during the day, we had a LOT of clients to watch over, and in litigation, you never know what might happen.  During my decades of practice, I thought that I had seen it all...but...a few times a month...my jaw would drop when I was working a file over just WHAT my client or the other side had done.  I would have weekly 'lunch meetings' for my staff, we would send out for nice sandwiches and fixings, and spend a couple hours eating and just talking about what was going on.  It helped the new attorneys, they could present a new challenge in a relaxed setting, and get advice from everyone in an informal way.  I did tell everyone to not charge any time to their clients during such a meeting.

Attorneys can be total IDIOTS and be borderline honest when it comes to charging time.  A client once YELLED at me for charging him an hour and a half for a half hour meeting.  I was confused, and said I would fix it, and went to the bookkeeper and looked at the accounts.  Turned out that the SENIOR PARTNER had added an hour of HIS TIME to the account, although he had NEVER met the client.  Boy, was I PISSED!!!  I got the partner to remove the hour, he said that he had just made a mistake.  I didn't call him out, but I suspected that he did that to all accounts...bumping up the hours spent so the client would be charged more and the firm would make more money.

Anyway, I enjoyed teasing my staff at times.  We got a new receptionist, and she was one of those 'politically correct' fascistic people.  We all began walking on eggs, because she would threaten to call M.O. if she thought we weren't being 'proper'.  We ALL hated that.  So, we would push her as much as we could without actually doing anything improper.  I did a fun thing...

I bought one of those 'Singing Bowls', yanno, those lovely large brass bowls that emit a marvelous tone when you strike them with a soft wood striker.  She asked why I got it, and I said that I was starting a new system, I didn't like calling out someones name when I needed to speak to them, and so I would ring the bowl when I needed someone. She stared at me, and I rang it twice, and my Secretary poked her head in my office and said, "Yes, P-------, you need something?"  I requested a file and she brought it to me.  I looked at the receptionist, and rang the bell four times, and said, "That is your call, you hear four rings, just come into my office."  She GLARED AT ME...and I started laughing, and explained that it was just a joke.  She stomped out, not laughing, but the other people in my office were cracking up.

[MageNathaniel1]

I love the lunch meetings to discuss cases and share or debate waus of handling it. Apart from the lunch part it is sort of like the weekly meetings we had during my internship and residency with the supervisor. We would present a case and toss out ideas on how to help the client and debate them. Two one year internships and a two year residency of such meetings.

I have heard of some odd things happening in the legal system and with or between lawyers.

I love the prank with the singing bowl on the receptionist lol.

[Izee]

...I CAN'T WAIT to get the HELL out of CA.     These Progressives (Democrats) have fully taken over the State and are running it into the ground.  We pay the highest taxes of any State, and our roads and such are falling apart, and the education our Public Schools give our children is PATHETIC!!!  The Educators are actually getting young children in Kindergarten to question their gender.  A boy has a doll, they tell him..."You may really be a girl"...and then they counsel him and actually cut off his genitals while he is still a child!!!  I have read, and believe, that our rains aren't really functional until age 24 or such, and so a child that age does not have the wisdom to decide what gender they want to be.  And, you read all the time of people who wish they hadn't gotten the gender reassignment surgery.  As a young child, I liked to run and play sports, so they may have tried to turn me into a boy!!!

So many rich people and businesses are leaving CA now, that Newsom wants to TAX THEM even after they leave the state.  He argues, "You made your fortune here, so it is only fair that we can tax you after you leave."  I guess CA reality is getting to become like that Eagles song, "Hotel California"...

..."You can check out any time you like...but you can NEVER leave."

I have read that thousands of people are moving out of CA, but so far, I haven't heard that they are trying to turn the Civilized States into CA.

I will move when my personal commitments to my family have been satisfied, and will make NO ATTEMPT to change the State I move to.  I might move to Las Vegas, the air would be good for my asthma and allergies, and my Fathers Family had a diary there, and a large road is named for our Family.  It might be fun to live on a Street that has my last name and is named for a grandfather.

[MageNathaniel1]

I do not blame you for wanting to leave lala land one bit. The liberals have gone way over the line and keep pushing it further. I quite agree with you on the gender with young children as well it is crazy at best.

[Izee]

I just LUV the San Francisco Board of Supervisors!!!!!   

One has suggested that paying $5 million to EACH black resident in reparations as has been proposed just can't be done, their budget isn't large enough.  So, they're trying to figure out how to raise the money.  Obviously, they want to solve the challenge by raising taxes, and they have even proposed re-instating a Cannabis Tax that they used to have, but that would only raise $10.75 million, enough for TWO people, so they need more.  So, on the table is...(Bet you can't guess...)...

...DEFUND THE POLICE!!!!   

Gee.  Crime is increasing in the Bay Area because of the elimination of cash bail. After all, it just isn't FAIR that some people have to stay in jail because they can't afford to post bail...(How 'bought they just DON'T COMMIT A CRIME?)..so, just getting rid of the Police Department will certainly not affect anything, right?

Man, I've heard the term "that person has shit for brains"...I think I know where we can find a lot of fertilizer.  And not to mention the a-holes who vote them in.  Well, S.F. Liberals, you will have a nice experience with very little police.  They just won't bother to show up when your home is invaded.  But, and it IS HAPPENING...the rich hire their own police, with automatic weapons, to patrol their neighborhoods.  Many businesses are doing the same.

And to think, when I was young, I could walk from my Office on the interior of S.F. to the Embarcadero or Fishermans' wharf and feel safe.  A few times, at night, I even walked from the Wharf to Market Street to get to BART.  (That was probably stupid, even back then.  I had to walk by Polk Street and a few 'Establishments'.  *Blush*  The Doormen at the Establishments would quickly open the door as I approached, and invite me in.  I probably wouldn't have been able to get out for a few days if I had accepted their offer.  They would call out that I would get free shrimp and lobster and drink... )

[MageNathaniel1]

I think all of ca as far as their "leaders" go have lost their minds. Happy not to live there. Hope you can move out soon.

[Izee]

The "Woke" Politicians are now saying that the $5,000,000 "Reparations" will not be paid to ALL black people, but only to those who are descended from slaves.  (Although CA wants to include ALL black people, in order to make up for the years of discrimination in housing and such that occurred after the Civil War.  So, I guess the people who have recently moved in from foreign countries don't have to worry.)  Although, there has been an interesting debate over just who is a 'descendant' of a slave?  I am sure that there are plenty of people living now who appear to be white, hispanic, or asian, who do have a black slave in their ancestry.  I have read that in the past in certain parts of the Country that you were considered to be 'Black' if you were 1/16th Black.  My mind isn't processing math very well right now, but I guess that means if you had a great-great grandparent who was Black, then you were Black even if you had a fair complexion.  So, I predict that we will have a HUGE Industry devoted to finding a Black Ancestor for people who do not appear to be Black. 

So, what about the Irish and other Ethnicities who were discriminated against?

I am loving what is happening to Biden and the Top Secret Documents.     The Dems and the MSM went after Trump, because they raided his house and found some sensitive documents.  They were actually publishing articles that Trump had committed a crime, and would even end up in jail.  Now, they found EVEN MORE in Hunter Bidens and Joes possession, and the FBI is SEARCHING THE HOME OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE US!!!!  (Of course, they informed him that they were going to search and let him have the weekend to clear things out before they went in).  I just LOVE that film clip of Biden driving his classic Vette into his garage, and there are cardboard boxes along the wall that we are being told had Top Secret Documents in them.  I have read that real Top Secret Documents can't be removed from the room that they are kept in, so the U.S. Nuclear Missile Codes are probably not in Bidens garage, that is a relief.

So, of course, the MSM is saying that the documents that Hunter and Joe had were really 'not all that secret', or simply 'used to be secret'.  And they are claiming that the Gov't marks simple stuff as "Top Secret".   And, the MSM isn't talking about the documents any more.  (But, the Docs must have been considered 'Secret' when Joe and Hunter first saw them.)

Part of the problem is that they went after Trump, and thought that he would behave as a 'Politician', and profusely apologize and drop out of the public eye.  But, Trump behaves as a 'Businessman', and doesn't give a damn of what people think of him.  He just got pissed, and gave it back to them, and has a lot more in store, I am sure. 

[MageNathaniel1]

Many ethnicities were discriminated against, enslaved, or outright murdered in the US such as native americans, chinese, japanese, irish, etc., in addition to the african americans so where is their compensation? Would also add, ca was not one of the states that allowed slavery to begin with.
 The gop has formed a committee to investigate the weaponization of the dept of justice against conservatives citing disparate treatment in how trump's case vs biden's was handled, and pta parents being treated like criminals for speaking out at school board meetings etc.
 Will see what happens.

[Izee]

https://youtu.be/evNi4_2qHPY

When the Tuchuk begin R/P again, Izee' will introduce this 'sport' to them.  (I cracked up, r/t)   

[Izee]

...I am up late...(Or out of bed REAL EARLY)...just couldn't sleep.  I am watching "Exodus".  Man, they really knew how to make impressive films back then.  An Epic Storyline, great Actors, and imposing music.  The main theme is so compelling, thoughtful, and Heroic. 

We had an arrangement of the music from the Movie in H.S., and me and a few of the other Principal players 'persuaded' the Teacher to have us play the work at a Concert.  I was a bit apprehensive, there was a long cello solo in the most dramatic and sensitive movements...and...for some reason...it GOT to me!  I would be erratic in how I played it in rehearsals, and in the Dress Rehearsal...I actually BOMBED!!!  I messed up a lot, and just sat in my chair after I finished and tried not to cry.

I am a Performer who expects 'perfection' when I play the cello, or the piano, and I am devastated if I miss a note, or don't phrase a passage as I think it should go. 

On the drive to the concert, I kept wishing that I would get into a minor auto accident, so I wouldn't have to play the concert...I had a HUGE case of the 'nerves'.

As we started the work, my nerves settled down a bit...they usually did...but began to rise again as the solo approached.  I got scared stiff and was having trouble holding the bow and placing the fingers of my left hand on the right place on the fingerboard.      But, the music settled down as we got to my solo...and I started it...

...AND PLAYED THE ENTIRE PASSAGE AS I HAD ENVISIONED IT!!!...People later complimented me on it, saying that it really moved them...

I was thrilled as I got into it...my nerves steadied...and my hands relaxed and I shaped the notes better than I had ever done before.  Here is an arrangement of the music...

https://youtu.be/NNjtieGQzRw

[MageNathaniel1]

You worked all the bugs out in rehearsal which is what rhearsals are for. If one practices enough regardless what it is, one can perform through nerves or other problems. Smiles

[Izee]

...Seeing all of the news about UFOs, and Biden sending the USAF jets up to fire four $450,000 missiles to shoot down balloons reminded me of a fun event in H.S.

We were outside, in P.E., the guys were playing soccer, and we girls were playing volleyball, and a large hot air balloon appeared.  The County Fair was going on, and someone was giving balloon rides.  I looked up, saw the balloon, and was INSPIRED!!!!   

There were reruns of a comedy Western on TV called "F-Troop".  As I recall, Larry Storch was in it, and it was about a Fort of US Cavalry that was stationed near an Apache Village.  It was mostly slapstick comedy, of the type that the poor sensitive clay-footed thin-skinned humorless Liberals would protest these days.  The actors playing the Indians spoke incomplete English, and at times were bewildered over the Soldiers technology.  It really was amusing, it made fun of both sides.

Anyway, one episode had an Easterner who brought in a hot air balloon to the Fort, and when the Indians saw it flying in the air, they went berserk and kept chasing it and shooting arrows and shouting "IT IS BALLOON!"  But, the way the actors pronounced it was "EEET TIS BALLLOOOON!!!"   

So, that episode of F-Troop had just been broadcast that week, and it was a very popular program, EVERYONE watched it.  So, when I saw the balloon, I started jumping up and down, waving my arms, and pointing, and SCREAMING..."EEET TIS BALLLOOOON!!!"...over and over again.  The other girls picked up on it, and soon about 47 young women were jumping up and down, screaming "EEET TIS BALLLOOON!!!  and pointing. The Coaches, male and female, came running over to see just what the Hell was going on, and even the guys stopped playing soccer.   

The adults calmed we females down, having NO understanding of what had happened...they hadn't watched F-Troop...and we got back to volleyball...but we kept laughing