25 replies to this topic

[BalletNut]

I've always been fond of painting, and my favorite things to paint, shockingly enough, are ballerinas. I've tried to do danseurs, but they usually wind up looking so effeminate that I just say the heck with it and turn them into ballerinas.  

Books? Most of my favorites are mindless reads of the drugstore variety, but I am quite fond of Catcher in the Rye and anything by Tom Robbins, as well as Maya Angelou. I also like to write myself, but seldom complete what I've started, unless it's for a school project, creative writing workshop, etc.

[ 08-15-2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

[vagansmom]

I'm back to playing Baroque recorders. Have played lots of Palestrina/Tallis/Byrd in a consort over the years.

Also transposing music from classical guitar (can no longer play due to arthritis) to the fretted dulcimer. I've been trying to play Baroque pieces on it.

We own an Irish step dance school. I spent a long time on the phone yesterday with an 82 year old woman who's offering us a free dance hall if we'll teach her and her friends step-dancing. They're all over 75-I love it! And they'll bring dessert, she tells me.

Finally, I spend as much time in the garden as I can. It's mostly a rocky hill but is now shaping into some semblance of my dreams for it. I've been delighted to have hummingbirds visiting it daily now.The season is too short.

[samba38]

Alas, I have no talents like you folks above. My garden looks as if our house was abandoned last year and I have no musical or artistic abilities. Even so, packing kiddo off to SIs creates some rare playtime for me and if you count the culinary arts among "other arts" I might qualify. I spent much of July working on a peanut-butter chocolate pie recipe (with my secret crust!)I want to enter in the Virginia State Fair this fall. Wish me luck! Otherwise, I'm a words gal. Writing is what I do and reading is how I relax. Best of summer so far is a novel that seems to be screaming from the headlines: "Martyr's Crossing" set on the checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah (not exactly light stuff but this is the only time of year I can do the heavy reading -- few interruptions!)also a strange work of non-fiction about my favorite game -- SCRABBLE. The book is called "Word Freak" by Stefan Fatsis and it's a glimpse into the weird, wonderful world of tournament SCRABBLE. Once upon a time I loved theater and opera but there's no moola left after ballet for those indulgences. Alas, at 52 my idea of a musical blast is driving with the windows down playing George Thorogood and the Destroyers ("One Whiskey, One Scotch, One Beer"). Kiddo cringes at this.

[dirac]

As far the arts are concerned, I'm a consumer as opposed to a practitioner, I regret to say. During the summer I usually head for the movies.  There are a few art house cinemas fairly close by so I have an alternative to Multiplex Hell, and there's also a theatre that specializes in very old films, sometimes bringing back real rarities like Ruth Chatterton flicks, Robert Montgomery and Norma Shearer in "Private Lives," and so on.   I do, however, grace the multiplex with my presence as well.  This summer I checked out "Moulin Rouge," which I quite liked without thinking it very good, and "A.I.," a mess, as Alexandra noted, but a very interesting one, and I was fascinated by the slightly ghoulish spectacle of Spielberg channeling Kubrick.  And it's always a pleasure to see a film shot by a director who really knows where the camera should go. (Also, I do not care for child actors, or let us say I don't care to the uses to which they're usually put, but Haley Joel Osment is amazing.)  I suppose I must also confess to breaking down and going to see "Planet of the Apes."  Nice makeup, but Wahlberg is such a lump.....

[Estelle]

I'm mostly interested in books, films and classical music. I started being interested in classical music only after being interested in ballet- listening to ballet music first, and then to works by composers who had done some ballet music... Now I'm more interested in chamber music (especially by Dvorak, Janacek, Schubert...) but still love Tchaikovsky's scores.

One thing I really like in Paris (unlike in Marseille) is that even in summer, there always is a large choice of good (old and recent) movies to see, with all the festivals at the Cinematheque and in the small independant cinemas of the Quartier Latin. The last two movies I saw were Preminger's "Laura" and Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice"- very different, but both enjoyable... I liked "Crouching tiger, hidden dragon" (but probably would have enjoyed it more if the cinema audience hadn't been the worst I've ever seen- a bunch of idiotic vulgar teen-agers shouting at each other, yelling silly jokes, etc), even if sometimes it looked a little bit too artificial to me.
The films which striked me the most in the last year both were from Asia: Edward Yang's "Yi-yi" (Taiwan), and Wong Kar Wai's "In the mood for love" (Hong-Kong).

Presently I'm re-reading Jane Austen's "Emma". Recently I especially enjoyed "Quoi de neuf sur la guerre" (What's up about the war?), the first novel of the film maker Robert Bober, dealing with life in a Jewish tailor's workshop in Paris just after WWII.

[Ellis]

I live on the beach in Florida, so I love to surf, water ski etc. I'm on the swim team at school, as well as the girls football team (not THAT great for a dancer,but I LOVE it) I'm an avid photographer, and just found out yesterday I have the lead in the first school play of the year   Obviously, I like to keep busy, and can't sit still for very long LOL  

[dirac]

mod-squad: Our interest in your opinions is unrelated to the frequency of your posting or lack thereof.  It's always nice to hear from you!

Re: your Republicanism.  I hope I speak for all of us when I say that a board like this acts in part as a forum for people to voice their opinions, and every once in awhile opinions of a political stripe will creep in.  We need to hear from everyone in order for discussions to be truly rounded and interesting.  Otherwise, we may find ourselves sounding like T.H. White's ant colony, all voicing the same opinions over and over "Oh-I-do-like-that-ballet-it-is-so-very-Done."

That's my speech for the day.    

[ 09-05-2001: Message edited by: dirac ]

[beckster]

I'm a reader.  I read avidly, anything and everything, and if I enjoy a book I will read it about a million times over.  At the moment I'm revisiting Jane Austen.  I wish I didn't read so quickly - if I enjoy a book I can read the whole thing in a couple of hours and then I'm cross because it didn't last long enough!
I also love music - I really want to join an ensemble of some kind with my flute but unfortunately all the ones I want to join rehearse on the same night as ballet class ... priorities ...

[dirac]

Your mention of Jane Austen makes me think of a conversation I had with someone at my office when Roger Machell's version of "Persuasion" came out.  She hadn't actually read the book, but was eager to see the movie, and it occurred to me that in the time it took to drive to the theatre, wait in line, buy tickets, etc., she could actually read the book (it's not very long) and have a far more satisfactory aesthetic experience.

[bobsey]

I got a set of Bongo Drums and am working away with Latino CD's. Call me to Ancient Percussionist