he's done it only once on a roof but several times safely
in an orchestra pit. I have heard of other productions
where an image of someone playing on a roof was projected,
but that seems kind of hokey.

In the movie version, there is a spot where you do see a fiddler
fiddling from atop the roof.... Dunno as I ever have seen a stage

In the movies, they can do anything. In the play, the
fiddler is more along the lines of a dream or hallucination.
I'm not sure, but I think he's symbolic of the character's
mental anguish or the breakdown of society, much in the
same way that boomboxes were when they came out.

production of Fiddler... though I did see Zorba the Greek on the stage
(in Syracuse) once... :)

I never had anything to do with the theater in Syracuse but
did see The Menaechmi once.

... A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and my Blue Wave reader.

I read "and my Blue Shield Blue Cross," more appropriate
to me nowadays. I've also seen ... "and Occupant."

+

The one time that I actually charged for my counseling, a client
referred to me by my massage therapist friend Deb, I was told how much
to charge, too... I think I might have charged less, but Deb said I was easily worth that much and not to worry about whether or not the client could afford it.... :)

We also seem to have a more vexed relationship with
the dollar than most.

It does seem so... :)

Someday I will be guaranteed to have enough money
for the rest of my life. With my luck, I'll die the
next day.

Eh, it probably is better for your psyche not to
have to rush rush and scramble scramble.

Probably... I didn't have to make a living at it... which was a good thing... ;)

And there's that too.

Might have had to scramble a lot more if I had....

Sometimes I forget that corporations have their uses.

Yeah... they can be useful to employ some people... at least until they
lay them off.... ;)

Spoken from bitter experience. I've had similar but not
at the hands of the faceless corporations.

+

No; I am an accomplished violinist. He was a great one,
though no Paganini, nor a Heifetz. When he heard the
latter, he turned to his friends and said, well, we all
might as well pack up and go home.

OK... helpful clarification....

When you see in someone's obituary that they
had been an accomplished musician, that can mean
anything from could carry a tune in a bucket to
someone like me who could carry two tunes in a
bucket at the same time. Beyond that level are
respected, eminent, renowned. I'd say Kreisler
was in his day those things, but calling him
accomplished is like calling Ralph Terry
merely accomplished because he wasn't Whitey Ford.

showed up a bit out of breath and rather anxiously opened
the violin case. Ormandy, a violinist himself, said, just
enough time to warm up and get on stage, and Kreisler replied,
oh, no, I haven't touched the instrument in two weeks and
wanted to make sure there were still four strings on it.

Nice story.... :)

Ormandy told that in an interview that was recorded
by RCA.

Believable, as the pieces, though unimportant in the
larger scheme of musical things, have eclipsed their
composer largely because of their range, from the
Rondino, which young students play, to that Sicilienne,
a pleasing and uncomplicated thing that often appears
on concert programs, to the Praeludium and Allegro,
which the most virtuosic performers trot out as a
particularly splashy encore after a major recital.

That is a wide range.... :) And they are enjoyable pieces, besides... :)

Most of them I could play immediately, if I could
find the music, but a few would take work, and the
Praeludium and Allegro would require substantial
woodshedding (I did perform it about 40 years ago).

And in fact one can consolidate things in a more
coherent way with a tiny expense of effort. It may
produce a less natural conversational flow, but on
the other hand, this genre in itself requires a less
natural conversational flow.

There is that.... :)

alcoholic beverage, that's the rule. It's not so much for
my benefit but to advertise to others what one can get
with higher status:
- Why does he get free stuff?
- If you were one of United's best customers, you
could get free food, too.
- Oh.

And how often does it actually entice someone to try for higher status,
I wonder... ;)

Probably a lot more than it should or than we know.
It tugs at people's sense of self-worth - a sort of
multilevel consuming if you will.

It also serves as a consolation prize when I'm not
getting upgraded, which is more and more frequent.

That's somewhat of a benefit... ;)

The free food and booze helps a lot, even though
it's (by the rules) one drink only. That's a little
skimpy (a drink an hour is a sensible allowance), but
the crew tend to bend the rules a bit. American is
more generous with the alcohol but not the food.

Luckily I fit nicely into a skinny coach seat,
and in fact first class seats I slide around in
too much for real comfort. It's the legroom that
I most covet (though as you know I'm not tall).

... If I were here more often, I wouldn't be gone so much.

If you were here more often, you'd hear more.

Mixed Vegetables with Peanut Sauce I (Petjil)
cat: Indonesian, United Airlines
servings: 6

1 c sliced cabbage
1 c diced beans
1 c bean sprouts
1 lb spinach
1 cucumber sliced thin
3 Tb peanut butter salt to taste
1 1/2 c water
1 ts shrimp paste
1 clove garlic
1 Tb brown sugar
1 Tb ground hot red pepper
1 Tb lemon juice

Make the peanut sauce by mixing peanut butter,
salt, water, garlic, shrimp paste, sugar, red
pepper and lemon juice. Bring to a boil,
reduce heath and let simmer for 2 min. Cool.

Boil cabbage and beans in water for 20 min,
add the bean sprouts and spinach and let
simmer for 1 min longer then drain. Arrange
the vegetables on a large serving plate,
pour sauce over, and serve with shrimp puffs.

after Frank Rugebregt - frankrug at jps.net
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