Leonard Bernstein: From Mahler to the Beatles:

There is a similar effect [to Mahler's trio movement of the 6th symphony] that we find in the appearance of a children’s song (Yellow Submarine) on Revolver. In itself it’s a glorious sing-along, a beautiful pastiche of the kind of nonsense verse that Edward Lear wrote for children, with the improbable craft updated from a sieve to a submarine. But in the context of an album marked with so much ‘bitter sweet cynicism’ it sets off different resonances.

This was reinforced when the Beatles came to release a single from the album, and chose Eleanor Rigby, a song of hopeless love, loneliness, old age and death (’no one was saved…’), backed with Yellow Submarine, a song of youth, togetherness and hope (’we all live…’). Here are the two polarities between which life is lived.

From My Twitter page

17:24 It is STILL snowing!! #

10:36 Holiday cooking is much more ambitious this year. Makes me nervous! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

For everyone, but especially to those who own/drive SUVs, vans, pick-up trucks, and other tall vehicles:

When it snows, please please please take the time to at least attempt to get the ice/snow off your vehicle before you drive it. On the highways it has a bad tendency to break off and fall off the back into the traffic behind you, which might do nothing but could also it/damage the car behind you. If you're another sedan it'll probably at worst hit the front of my car, but if you're a truck or something else that's tall it may very well come flying at my windshield at 60+ MPH and conceivably crack it. And that would not only suck but possibly cause an accident as my line of sight would be blocked.

So please at least try to get most of the ice/snow off your roof.

Thank you.

Love,

The lady in the sedan driving behind you on the freeway.

Two years ago today, my friend Blythe died in Suriname.

Last year, we volunteers, scattered all over the country, lifted a glass in her memory at 8:00. I plan on doing so again, tonight.

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021101.html

Little girl to mother: Look, mommy! The squirrels are black, like the people are!
Mother: Be quiet! That's rude! (to bystanders) She just learned colors in pre-school.

--Bronx Zoo

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021100.html

Drunk girl to another: There's like 7 miles of cock out there and I can't even get 7 inches.
Friend: I'd be happy with 4 inches.

--Chaos Club

My Twitter tweets for the day.

Read them or not at your leisure. There may be some new stuff in there, so if interested, check ( behind the LJ cut. )

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021099.html

Hobo to college kid: Buy me a fish sandwich?
College kid, walking past: Sorry.
Hobo, as kid walks away: I'm Jesus Christ!

--125th St & Broadway

Overheard by: Will T

Today was good. Played a terrific D&D game with meiczyslaw, valenthe, steampower, and chuckie_b. Only thing that would have made it better would have been if workingamer had managed to make it too. There was pizza, including GF pizza. There was dinner at China Fun and then over to chuckie_b's house for Beatles Rock Band and regular Rock Band, which was great fun as well.

Yesterday after insane amounts of running around, meiczyslaw and I went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which was fantastic as well.

Tomorrow, I am making Christmas cookies with Mom and Rachel. (: No hockey this weekend -- too much other stuff going on. But it is good other stuff. I am happy. o/`

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021098.html

Professional 20-something girl: Julia Stiles came into the office today.
Guy friend: Did you fuck her?

--Starbucks

Overheard by: Fi

When Countess Katerine found the Northshield Cookie Caper idea and passed it on to Her Highness, who then passed it on to me, I thought it was brilliant, but I also knew I had a commitment for today, so I could not run it at Bergental/BBM Yle because I had a commitment here in Glens Falls.

Up goes evilnicola's hand. "I'll do it," she says.

Thanks to dozens and dozens of people baking, as well as HRH's husband working the table, the project Baroness Leonete agreed to coordinate brought in $875 for the Royal Travel Fund today.

Huzzah, I say. Huzzah!

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/2009/12/sunday-secrets.html

You may find the brave voices captured in this short film haunting, shocking and humorous. In some of their faces you'll see joy, anguish and grace as they trust you with their confession.

Today only, $2.00 will be donated to HopeLine for every PostSecret book purchased using the link below. Thanks for spreading the word.

PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God

Order Your Copy Today



PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people
mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.












-----Email Message-----
When I went to my first gynecologist appointment at age 18, it was with a female.  Since she was part of a family practice, she had also recently examined my mom, and when she tried to make girl talk, she told me, "Wow! Deep vaginas must run in the family".  

Then, she sang "come out, come out wherever you are" to my cervix.  I'm 26 now, and I have only been to male gynecologists since then.  Whew.













-----Email Message-----
About 3 hours ago I wanted to do just that, skip Christmas for once, but my best friend just talked to me, and I do not think she knows the impact she just had on my perspective...












-----Email Message-----
I am going home for Christmas. I'm scared my family will realize I'm addicted to cocaine again.  

Even if you don't post this secret Frank, please post a trusted drug help hotline on your site. It's so hard for us to go home at this time, because even if we want to get better, we often just can't do it in time.  We just remember what we used to be like, and how Christmas used to be.   

Christmas is the hardest time to be an addict.


-----Email Message-----
1-800-662-HELP, which provides referrals to substance abuse treatment 24/7/365. It's run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Good luck - the holidays can be tough, but they are also a time of forgiveness.





See More Secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter.




-----Email Message-----
Whenever I am wearing clothing and shopping in the store I got it from, I secretly hope they will give me a discount.






The secret above was originally posted 360 days ago.
The postcard below arrived this past Thursday.



-----Email Message-----
Dear Frank,

Last year I mailed you two postcards, "Next year, I want to get my tree with you" and "I will not wear mistletoe to work," both referring to the same crush.

I was bowled over just now to see that someone had wondered how my first secret turned out.

This year, I will celebrate the holiday with someone wonderful . . . but he's not the guy I wrote those secrets about. Even if I hadn't fallen in love this year, this Christmas would find me fairly indifferent to the person I mentioned in that postcard.

Time work wonders.












PostSecret on NPR's Interfaith Voices and Here and Now




Use the link below to buy PostSecret books for yourself, or as gifts, and $2.00 (for each book purchased) will be donated to HopeLine 1(800)SUICIDE. Thanks for spreading the word.

PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God
</p>

So, I can still hear. That's nice.

Created by Oatmeal

A happier tale.



Today, the wonderful Mistress cantigajoy surprised me with the gift of a recorder. Hooray! :-)

I had just written in my LJ about being inspired to learn the recorder. And so today, at the Barony of Three Rivers Winter Court (our annual holiday celebration / feast), Mistress cantigajoy gifted me a brand new recorder of my own. Hooray hooray hooray! :-)





My next thirty hour shift on the Pediatric ICU begins in a few hours.

But tonight, an evening of music and singing, feasting and dancing, laughter and hugs.

And as I celebrated with friends here in Three Rivers, I thought of my friends in Cynnabar, whose Baronial arms I wore on my left. Of silmaril and texas_tiger and fortuna_juvat, whose hand-woven favors hung on my right. Of _constantine, who first gave me the belt everything else was hung on, and thette, who had gifted me with the silver drop cross around my neck. And so many, so many others, friends with whom I've celebrated these past few weeks; friends whom I've celebrated with these many happy years.

Wassail to you all, this holiday season. Thinking of you all.

Taking a moment of condolence for a friend who lost his sister to (probable) H1N1 today.

Would there be this outcry over the treatment of Amanda Knox if she was not a conventionally attractive young white woman? I think not. There certainly isn't a similar outcry over the differences in the quality of "justice" found in US courts, if you're poor/a person of color.

I read today at Daisy's Dead Air that there has never once been a millionaire sentenced to death in US courts. Unsurprising. This quote is SO relevant here:

"Nationally, studies consistently demonstrate that, everything else being equal, a defendant is approximately four times more likely to get the death penalty for killing a white person than for a black person. The racial configuration by far the more likely to result in a death sentence is a black defendant and a white victim."

If I see one more person write in *that voice* just how HORRIBLE and UNFAIR the Italian justice system is compared to ours, I will scream.

The whole thing also reminds me of JonBenet Ramsay. The media outcry around her death was HUGE, and so incredibly hurtful to the families and friends of the hundreds of killed/missing kids of color whose tragedies have never made national news. In Atlanta, GA, from 1979-1981, there was a string of child murders that never made it to national news, and the media silence around the killings was part of what made it easy for them to happen.

There wasn't this kind of emotion, this kind of personal feeling that someone AMERICAN could be treated this way, when Laura Ling and Euna Lee were captured by North Korea, that's for damn sure. In fact, I remember reading plenty of comments to blog posts talking about how they were stupid to have gotten so close to North Korean soil. Comparing comment numbers on Jezebel, the posts about Ling and Lee being released received roughly 1/5 to 1/10 as many comments as have the last couple on Amanda Knox.

It's interesting and enraging and completely predictable.

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021097.html

Guy: Nathan's the only one that's never lied to me.
Ditzy girl: Oh, yeah? What about me? I've never lied to you!
Guy: You did lie to me. That one time you told me you had Aids/cancer. I looked that up. It doesn't exist!

--Bobst Library, NYU

Overheard by: Krys

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021096.html

Little girl: Mommy, my tummy hurts!
Mom: That's what happens when you only eat nachos and Shirley Temples.

--74th & Columbus