IrishOboe

Here is some random Swissness for you that I encountered today.  Carrying around a big quilted package in the shape of a harp helps the Swiss come out of their state of shy seriousness.  The title of this post I saw on an advertisement and you probably figured out that it means “Stay cool, man!”  I found it funny.  Also today I had the privilege of having my tram pass checked for the very first time!  If it weren’t strange enough that the Swiss trust its public so much that it took them two months to check my legitimacy, when I told my teacher the story she was surprised that I’d be check so soon!  In case you’re terribly confused I should say that the trams run on the honor system.  Occasionally authorities dressed as civilians will board the train and then while the tram is moving reveal their ID and demand (politely of course) so see your pass.  This was a peaceful check, but I’ve heard woe is it unto the man who has no a pass!

I played harp a lot today, but I mostly used the time to work out a piece that I love by ear.  I went to check it with the original, but I couldn't find it!  I thought for sure it was on one CD, but it's not.  Now I'm left with a mystery and I'm hoping you can help.  The piece is not ready to be performed, but I'm posting it anyway in hopes that someone can tell me what it is!!

 2007-03-29 mystery piece.mpg

UPDATE:

The tune is "Damoiselle, je fus" and it's on my Perceval CD by the group La Nef that Kathy Lewis gave me.  I think she's the reason why I love early music so much.  Christmas and birthday presents were (almost) always early music CDs.  Here is a much better version than my first try, but I still don't do it the way they do on the CD and had to improvise an ending, but I just couldn't leave the old one up alone.  Hope you enjoy it!  (Otherwise don't click on the link)

Damoiselle, je fus.MPG

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s more of the same: concerts, lessons, discovery, joy, and not a shred of time to straighten my head out before bed.  Who can complain?  Maybe my parents since I don’t have their trip planned out yet . . .

Here is a video of my new harp.  I'm playing the piece I was assigned at my first lesson last Wednesday.  Playing for the camera is not nerve-wracking unless I know it will be public.  If I don't start performing now I'll never be good enough to, so you get to watch the beginning stages!  Remember, "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all."  I'll let you know when I'm ready for criticisim.  Right now, I'm just learning.

Open the Door Softly.mpg

I overheard a comment the other day that made me shudder.  Without further comment, I leave you this food for thought.

“I had a vivid, crazy dream the other night.  I was walking along a very narrow path by a sharp, deep drop and I was so afraid I was going to die.  It looked so real.  Where do we get those images for our dreams?  It must be TV!”

Today I went with my ‘twin sister’ from BCF (Basel Christian Fellowship) and her brother to the Alsace region of France.  Catharine has been dubbed my twin because we look very much alike and often people at church have mistaken me for her.  We’re finding out we have much more in common than our looks so it made for a lovely trip.

This has been the busiest week yet of being out all day running for event to event.  I’d complain about being tired, but who could have pity on someone with a schedule full of dancing, playing, concerts, and meetings with incredible people?

Tonight was the Tanz-abend.  It’s midnight and I should go straight to bed, but my blood is still pumping from the fun.  About 150 merrymakers gathered in a room a bit too small for five hours of watching, listening, dancing, eating, laughing and playing.  The evening started off unpleasant for me because of confusion over just who was playing what and with whom and when and some people were not happy about it and I really couldn’t take the bull by the horns because I’m still figured out the system.  I felt irresponsible, yet unable to take action.  Yuck!  I’m happy to report the story has a happy ending.

There is no way I can do justice to all the incredible things that have happened this week.  I can’t remember what I’ve told whom, and don’t have time since I can’t even really figure out what all is in my schedule for this week!  Suffice it to say it’s been busy, but good.  Wednesday is my busiest day with classes.  I had “instrumental workshop” with Ken Zuckerman, which was great!  I’m not sure why that’s the title, but he worked with one student, teaching her a medieval tune by ear then playing around with the tune.  They happened to be in E-minor, so I joined in on my whistle.  That’s the way to teach a music class!  I watched some of the advanced modal improvisation, but since I know little about Indian music I didn’t get too much out of it.

I had planned to hit an Irish pub or two, but I had to practice Baroque oboe and didn’t want a repeat of being a single gal in a Swiss-Irish pub.  Besides, I have no green and feared for my life.  Does eating steamed broccoli for dinner count?

I’ve heard Christians present the work Jesus did on the cross as follows.  Imagine you’ve been convicted of some crime, let’s say rape.  You go to court and the Judge finds you guilty and gives you life in prison.  Then all of a sudden, this person (who happens to be God) named Jesus jumps into the room and says, “I’ll serve the time for this guilty man.  Let him go free.”  Jesus pays the price, and the guilty man goes away with his guilt wiped away and he is supposed to be so grateful for what Jesus has done for him that he follows him with joy for the rest of his life, never raping again.  Of course, if he does happen to rape again (which we’re told is likely to happen), Jesus will be there again to pay the penalty.

I find this a perfectly horrific picture of a God.  To be fair, I don’t think the people who use this “paid the price” analogy really mean exactly this, but that’s what it appears to me to boil down to.

What good has this done?  Is the rapist any better off?  Is the judge satisfied?  What about the girl he raped?

I’ve finally had the time to read the two articles Jon linked to in the comment section of God’s Blessings.  Thanks for the contribution.  I’ll jealously request that next time anyone links to an article I’d love to hear a sentence or two about what you think about it so I know what to look for and how to relate.  But even without such hints from Jon I found plenty to comment on.

Aber du verstehst sehr gut Deutsch.  NOT!  So, I’m doing my best not to panic but take this as one more of God’s blessings, only this time in disguise.  I’d love to write more about the terribly exciting things that have been happing, but this is consuming me for the moment: it turns out that I’m in a concert on Tuesday.  Surprise!

I'd be in big trouble if I forgot this day.  If I have time later I'll record a tune and share it with you, but here's something more important.  In St. Patrick's honor I'll post one of my family's great favorite hymns: "St. Patrick's Breastplate."  The hymn is a translation by Cecil F. Alexander of a Gaelic poem by St. Patrick. The words in this hymn make praise songs and even most hymns sound weak.  What kind of god do we serve?  Read and see the God St. Patrick believed in.

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

Hello all!  God's blessings continue to pour out in amazing ways, but never forget that God has a sense of humor as well.  Stephan was kind enough to remind me of that with this video of a nerd on wheels having fun with Mozart.

Mozart.wmv

For the curious, I borrowed the title of this post from my Mom, since I once again forgot PI day until she reminded me.  I had to counter with a nerd post of my own.