I know this has been around for a while. In fact, I may have even posted it before. (See previous post on my misplaced Christmas file.)
But it's still a wonderful video, and watching it makes me happy.
I sang in a choir when I was young, at school and at church. I'm not sure why I stopped because there is a sort of magic that happens when you are part of a group where all its disparate members join together to make something beautiful. And if it's a choir, you don't just hear the music, you feel it in your soul when everything just clicks into place. It's electric, it really is.
I joined our high school band for the same reason I sang in the choir.
It was not electrifying.
My instrument of choice was the clarinet which, like my dog Buddy, was a tricky little bugger to master. First step was retrieving a reed from the communal pot. I always gave it a good splosh in the jar of antiseptic solution (which I suspect was there more for show than efficacy, because the same cloudy solution resided in that jar all year, and the reeds were shared amongst all the students, oh the horror.) I then had to soak the reed in my mouth. (I still shudder at the memory.) And all the while I tried not to look around the room and wonder whose mouth had housed it before mine, and prayed it wouldn't split because that meant finding another one thereby increasing my chances of death by coodies.
Anyway, it was all moot because despite my best efforts and love of music, I could not conquer this instrument. I think if I had found a feral cat, wrapped it up in bagpipes and squeezed it like a wet dishcloth, it would have sounded better than the noises I produced. Try as I might, I couldn't avoid the ungodly squeaks and squeals of missed notes. The anticipation made me tense, which made my lips tighten, which produced more mistakes. The music teacher/band leader finally admitted defeat, and asked me to fake it. That's right. I was in the band but forced to "lip synch" with my clarinet. I moved my fingers and swayed in time, but produced no actual music, which was sort of the point of joining A Band. I gave it up after one year. The music teacher ended up getting fired anyway after he slapped a student. I still look at clarinets as instruments of evil.
Anyway, enjoy this choir!
And thanks to all of you who email me often to tell me you read my blog regularly and enjoy it, or in some cases, tell my husband right before he injects your Novocaine. (Yup, telling your dentist you enjoy his wife's blog is just good strategy!)
I'm not sure why so many of you email but don't leave comments. (Not that I mind emails. I love those too!) Are you shy? Is it the blogger policy of asking you to register? (It's free you know, and you can set it up so that it's anonymous.)
I love seeing the comments but mostly I love knowing you're here.
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14 comments:
I've seen the video before, and really, it's awesome. Also, yep, I'm shy. That's why I don't comment on your blog. Or maybe trolls are screwing up your comment section. Someone told me they were out and about.
Yup, me too I'm shy.
I think maybe the trolls have gone back into hiding under the bridge.
That was amazing!!!! And I think the best part about it was that they seemed to be having a ball!
Okay, I'm comin' outta the woodwork.
I discovered your blog 2 weeks ago (thanks to your link on Diana G's CompuServe forum), and I'm hooked. Not only do I enjoy it, but my 14-year-old photography-lovin' son does, too. He's in the throes of adolescence--thinks I'm annoying and hates talking to me these days. However, now that I've got your blog, we've got stuff to talk about.
He loves your photography (the Tilt-Shift post was especially cool), and we both love your humor. He actually spoke to me in full sentences regarding the "Lost and Found" postcard adventure; said today's video was "cool."
So thank you for the first blog I've become addicted to. "Fear of Flying..." had me laughing out loud, as have several other posts.
And for the record, I love your photography, too.
Diane, you have positively made my day. Thanks so much for the kind comments.
Really.
And say hi to your son. My son is twenty-one now. As for adolescence? This too shall pass.
Anne, choirs rock! Make sure you check out the new TV series on Monday called The Sing-Off. An all a cappella competition, like a cross between Glee and American Idol. Ooh, I can't wait. I'm old enough to remember going to see The Nylons live in Toronto.
I'm too shy to comment too. Which teacher slapped the student? Because that happened in my grade too. Herbie Staples punched a student while we were writing exams in the gym. He didn't get fired though - unbelievable...ah, the good old 70's...
I'm too shy to leave a daily comment, but I read you every day--or I at least check to see if you've posted something new! I love your blog and thanks for this video. More Buddy stories!
The school superintendent grabbed a kid from his chair, slammed him against the wall, held him there by his lapels, and screamed in his face. As I remember it, Marc did not do anything. He was a cut up and had made a comic remark. Not even a rude one. The superintendent was not fired for this either. I was in fifth grade.
This scene is the one that played in my head each time they sent a paper home asking for permission to use corporal punishment on my kids (a routine at the beginning of each school year, not because they needed it). Not all teachers are great. Not all teachers are even good.
Yutha, Herbie Staples was insane. He made racist remarks, called kids "stupid" and said to one "you have constipation of the brain and diarrhea of the mouth" amongst other gems. He spent more time talking about hockey games than history. I can't remember the music teacher's name, but the student's father sued him. It was before you got there.
Hey Jo, thanks! More Buddy stories to come. He's always up to something.
Debby, my son's Grade four teacher tossed my son's homework back at him and told him "this is bullsh!t" and made another sit in a garbage can during recess, and slapped another across the face. I phoned around and none of the other parents knew any of this because she told the kids what goes on in the classroom is just between us so don't tell your parents.
Of course I complained, but the union being what it is....well, the superintendent of schools put it like this. "Unless you have a teacher punching a student to the ground and there are thirty witnesses willing to back you up, you're not going to have a case to get her fired." She had complaints going back over 20 years and continued on even after my complaint. At least I was able to pull my son from her class.
(shaking head)
Yeah, Herbie was a delight. He pulled the same crap when I was there too with the comments. Just unbelievable. My music teacher was an "old spinster" Miss Matthew - she was probably 30 years old. We didn't have the communal reed washer though - that's just revolting, not to mention a breeding ground for hepatitis! It's amazing we survived our childhoods...
I'm here! I love your blog! I'm not sure why I haven't commented in the past... a bit shy, I guess. I can relate to so much of what you write about, but a lot of it is new and fascinating to me too. We share our weather ups and downs - I live in Vermont. I felt the same emotions you were feeling after you dropped your daughter off at college; I had dropped mine off a week before. Your photographs are lovely and your writing is wonderful, hysterical, touching and informative. I love the videos you post and often share them with family and friends. I found your blog through the Diana Gabaldon compuserve forum... I think it was when you were contributing bits about your squirrel wars. Thanks so much for sharing your life with us!
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