response 1 of 29:

Sep 2 05:08 UTC 1997

I hope the references aren't to Princess Di-- I'm getting saturated enough.

response 3 of 29:

Sep 3 12:19 UTC 1997

Isn't Richard Clayderman the guy with the mail order albums you see on 
cable TV?

response 5 of 29:

Sep 6 14:16 UTC 1997

Hi, here is the lyric of the famous song at her funeral:
"Goodbye England's rose,
may you ever grow in our hearts.
You were the grace that placed itself
where lives were torn apart.
You called out to our country,
and you whispered to those in pain.
Now you belong to heaven,
and the stars spell out your name.
And it seems to me you lived your life
like a candle in the wind:
never fading with the sunset
when the rain set in.
And your footsteps will always fall here,
along England's greenest hills;
your candle's burned out long before
your legend ever will.
Loveliness we've lost;
these empty days without your smile.
This torch we'll always carry
for our nation's golden child.
And even though we try,
the truth brings us to tears;
all our words cannot express
the joy you brought us through the years.
Goodbye England's rose,
from a country lost without your soul,
who'll miss the wings of your compassion
more than you'll ever know."

response 7 of 29:

Sep 6 15:08 UTC 1997

That is really lovely..  Myself I dont like classicaall that much...
have fun folks.
**

response 9 of 29:

Sep 7 18:23 UTC 1997

"Eww...classical cooties!"  :)

response 11 of 29:

Sep 8 12:22 UTC 1997

But I confess I am the classical cootie man.  My goal is to spread
classical cooties -- to cootify things, so to speak -- until
everyone's infected.  

response 13 of 29:

Sep 9 03:13 UTC 1997

As long as you don't *barf* infect us with the elitism of the classical
culture, I won't mind.

response 15 of 29:

Sep 13 00:26 UTC 1997

Hey, me love classical! and damn roud of my latest possesion... The David
Oistrahk 5 cd collection... i think i spelled his name wrong... its
Oistrakh.... not bad... actually QUITE FABULIOUS!

response 17 of 29:

Sep 13 12:55 UTC 1997

Check out Frank Zappa's autobiographical "The Real Frank Zappa Book" for his
analysis of the orchestra subcultures... very funny, and not flattering.

response 19 of 29:

Sep 14 04:58 UTC 1997

I will concede that MTV has been a driving force of elitism in the pop music
culture.  However, I was talking about culture of its players.  Pop stars tend
to be defiant in their elitism, while classical players are snobbish and
sometimes even haughty.  Overall, I perceive that pop groups are more
egalitarian that symphonies.  In a typical rock setup, any group of serious
players will admit that each member makes a contribution and is therefore
important, save perhaps for a lead singer that never learns to play.  I found
violinists to be snobby, and sometimes 'cellists more so.  As a tuba player,
and fitting the quieter profile, I usually found better company with the bass
players and sometimes the viola players (as they can tend to be a rare breed).

I have had mixed reactions from trombonists, who tend to be clowns, and I
found trumpet players to have swelled egos.  I found french horn players to
be just plain odd.  Clarinetists and flutists were usually mousy. 
Saxophonists were concerned with being cool, baritone horn and euphonium
players tended to be as clowny as their closest octave-range neighbors, the
trombones, and percussionists had swelled egos, too.  Their egos were usually
inflated to the "bad-ass" range, however.   But-- there was always exceptions
to every instrument.  It only seems that players of certain instruments fit
certain profiles.

response 21 of 29:

Sep 15 06:05 UTC 1997

The lead singer of a pop band is almost always the trademark of it.  Other
bandmembers make contributions, but the singer is what people *hear*.  There
isn't Pearl Jam without Eddie Vedder, Nirvana would never survive without Kurt
Cobain (and didn't, despite the vocal talents of Grohl).  Three of the four
members of Stone Temple Pilots have adopted a new singer and put out an album,
but they're not the same band.  However, other members can be fired or dropped
without too much of an effect.  Many drummers have come and gone, and even
guitarists and bassists ahve been known to get the axe.  But the singer is
there.

Okay, that was totally off base.  anyone else think I"m messed in the head
right now?

response 23 of 29:

Sep 15 14:41 UTC 1997

re #21:  Although you're correct that as the most immediately obvious
person the vocalist usually gets the lion's share of the exposure in a
band that's not universally true..  I can think of plenty of acts that
are counterexamples to your theory (such as King Crimson, which has had
a large turnover throughout the years, with vocalists cycling more 
rapidly than the instrumentalists, or Van Halen, who don't seem to have
suffered all that much from losing David Lee Roth..)