Well, it’s Wednesday. This was SUPPOSED to go up on Tuesday, but this new stupid WordPress thing is made out of carob-coated horse spittle so we’ve been temporarily delayed.
Still, it’s time to find out What Miss Plumcake is:
Reading: Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment. Very good, if not excellent. Because life is too short to read books about bunnies.
Watching: David Lynch’s The Elephant Man. I’m not sure how this managed to escape my viewing for so long, but it’s beautiful and utterly heartbreaking.
Hearing: J.S. Bach’s Complete Works for Organ. In a continuing theme of Bach. Y’all have seen the Crab Canon on a Mobius Strip video, right? I’m going to try to learn this on my own on Baby (my baby grand which I’ve never actually played) and then emotionally blackmail sweet talk an organist I know into letting me give it a go on the big pipe organ.
Smelling: Orris Noir by Ormonde Jayne. One of my all-time favorite frags. One time a Big Deal Music Producer (not as rare as it sounds, this is Austin) followed me a block down Sixth Street to tell me how good I smelled.
Loving: Hirschberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. Some of my favorite people have lost THEIR favorite people from this disease. Chip in if you can.
Hating: My damn hippie neighbor’s damn hippie hand drum which she bangs –without benefit of actual rhythm– INCESSANTLY, particularly when I’m trying to sleep, or you know, actually rehearse REAL music. Because GOD FORBID I practice my Purcell without the dulcet tones of some toad-licking hemp enthusiast having epileptic fits on the world’s most maltreated bodhran.
Wanting: Carlos Falchi crocodile bag. I generally prefer smallish framed bags, but this one made me whimper. AND it comes in a screaming yellow. Honestly, if I wasn’t saving up for my Kelly, I’d snatch this up in a heartbeat.
Buying: The Macallan 18 Single Malt Scotch. Last night marked the official switch from gin to Scotch and the Macallan is my favorite readily available Speyside. I’ve heard tell that Costco will rebrand it occasionally and sell it at a huge discount. Otherwise you’re looking at about $140 for a bottle which should last an entire Scotch season with regular personal use. Mmm, there’s lovely.
So what’s tocatta-ing your fugue this week?
Ah, I also purchase a seasonal bottle of Scottish whisky! Macallan 18 is a bit rich for my blood, but I make do with a bottle of Springbank.
Comment by Alexis — September 23, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
Ha! We should all be so lucky to have to make do with a bottle of Springbank. Lovely stuff and a great bargain.
Comment by Plumcake — September 23, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
I applaud your seasonal beverage change, though I would find it impossible to give up gin for any length of time. Well, I had to give it up for three weeks in India, but that was different.
Comment by Mrs. Hendricks — September 23, 2009 @ 2:16 pm
I don’t give up gin entirely. That’s just craziness! I just bid adieu to gin and tonics as my default drink until the first blessed pour on Easter morning!
Comment by Plumcake — September 23, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
Miss J admires Miss Plumcake taking on “Elephant Man”. Miss J has seen it twice- its too sad to see again. Amazing acting, no?
Mr. J is a drummer… he cannot abide the banging without rhythm…
Comment by Miss Janey — September 23, 2009 @ 6:49 pm
The Elephant Man is one of my all-time fave films! Brilliant cast, excellent script, gorgeous atmospheric camera work…you can’t go wrong. All that and Wendy Hiller? Sign me up, pronto!
My brother the medieval historian still resents the fact that Mom and Dad didn’t get him drum lessons as a child (and really, at his age he should either man up and shut up or freaking get himself the lessons and stop blaming people who died a long, long time ago). Me? I thank them. He can’t carry a rhythm in a bucket with a cast-iron lid. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop him from pretending any handy book, shelf ledge, or personal appendage (I’m thinking hands and legs, you filthy-minded pervs!) as his own personal maltreated bodhran.
Alas! removing drums doesn’t stop determined drummers…especially the ones who are no damn good at it.
Comment by Twistie — September 23, 2009 @ 9:59 pm
Miss Janey (so glad to see you!) you’re absolutely right, it’s just too painful to watch again. And to think, Kids These Days will only ever know John Hurt as the guy who sells Harry Potter his wand.
Twistie, has your brother the medieval historian been to houseoffame.blogspot.com? It’s Geoffrey Chaucer’s blog and my absolute favorite blog of all time ever. Updates are sporadic at best, but oh, it’s so good.
Comment by Plumcake — September 23, 2009 @ 10:21 pm
I am practicing P&F #24 from the Well Tempered Clavier, Book I. In June I had an opportunity to play P&F #23 on a pipe organ and it was amazing. Plumcake, what is between you and playing your piano?! Why listen to someone else play when you can do it yourself?
Comment by Nancy — September 24, 2009 @ 10:33 am
I loved Evening in the Palace of Reason. Great, great book!
Comment by Jenny — September 24, 2009 @ 10:43 am
i see your hippie drumming neighbor and raise you a neighbor who does some kind of one-note wiccan head-singing that sounds exactly like a theremin. no words, just eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee for at least a half-hour a day: one astonishingly high-pitched dog-torturing note, then a slightly different note, then back to the first note…each held for many, many moments.
it could drive a girl to drink. GIN.
Comment by marjorie — September 24, 2009 @ 11:02 am
Nancy, the only thing holding me back from playing the piano is that I don’t actually play the piano. Never have. Voice of an angel, hands of an arthritic ox. I sort of accidentally bought it one day. In retrospect I think it might have been a spite purchase (although I really did need something for that corner) which ties neatly into the All Organists Are Trouble story, which I shall save for another day.
Marjorie, yikes. My Hippie Neighbor was blasting Maniac at full volume last night and from the thumping motions I suspect she might have been doing the superfast running bit, too.
Comment by Plumcake — September 24, 2009 @ 11:29 am
Reading: Wicked, by Gregory Maguire.
Watching: re-runs of What Not to Wear, or home decorating shows, while daydreaming about improving both my wardrobe and my home decor.
Hearing: the incessant, tinny, classical Musak from the Graco swing.
Smelling: stale spit-up, usually. Tonight was bath night, however, so I’m smelling Aveeno baby wash, and it’s lovely.
Loving: My son.
Hating: the fact that I do not have any coffee shops within walking distance.
Wanting: a massage, a haircut, and the Glenna Jean “Central Park” crib bedding set.
Buying: a grass-green cashmere sweater and some swaddling blankets off of EBay.
Comment by La Petite Acadienne — September 24, 2009 @ 9:26 pm