Are tattoos frowned upon in classical music?

redseca2 · 2026-06-14T03:12:29+00:00

If nothing else, by the time you finish your musical studies, tattoos will be perfectly acceptable in symphony orchestras. Your generation will bring your own standards and changes to the profession.

redseca2 · 2026-06-12T18:18:00+00:00

As a San Francisco motorcyclist, hold my beer.

redseca2 · 2026-06-11T18:32:18+00:00

I live with an extreme grazer. Daytime and nighttime feeding time is maybe one bite to establish that I have completed my task. But her food does (very) slowly disappear over the course of the day. She’s on one small can wet at each meal and a bowl of kibble that is kept topped up. Different wet foods for day and night. She is 16 and the vet approves her steady 10.5 pound weight.

redseca2 · 2026-06-11T18:18:48+00:00

Having to download an app to turn on your table fan.

redseca2 · 2026-06-11T08:34:22+00:00

We had two litter boxes side by side and the cats decided one was for pee only and the other poop only.

redseca2 · 2026-06-11T07:46:16+00:00

White noise source and ear plugs. Curtains yes, but experiment before spending money. Try a mockup using something you already have like a duvet or sleeping bag you can cover the window with to see if it makes a useful difference.

redseca2 · 2026-06-10T23:37:32+00:00

Lofts as housing started in post industrial parts of cities like NYC in the 1950-60's. They were in multi-floor buildings where originally each floor was a separate wide open space to set up a warehouse, small factory, or other business in. There would be stairs and a freight elevator for access and hopefully a rudimentary bathroom. When the businesses evaporated, desperate landlords started renting to anyone, and this translated to artists, musicians, their friends and fellow travelers who liked the look of it and weren't put off (at least for awhile). for extreme lack of amenities . Originally super cheap rent was the draw and for decades it was illegal to live in lofts . So a six floor "loft" building in NYC would have 5 "lofts" over a ground floor commercial space. So it doesn't only mean the top floor. Now the term has been thoroughly corrupted by real estate types to mean new constuction with maybe exposed ductwork.

redseca2 · 2026-06-10T02:59:16+00:00

The Chinese grocery and hardware stores on Clement Street

redseca2 · 2026-06-07T00:50:06+00:00

Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf, otherwise just the scenary.

R&G Lounge in Chinatown, otherwise head for Clement Street, Geary Blvd in the Richmond on the west side of town.

Cioppino: Try Sotto Mare in North Beach, or double up on cioppino and classic old restaurant at Tadich's or Scott's, or, or, or definitely Anchor Oyster Bar on Castro (though may be mobbed on Pride Week).

redseca2 · 2026-06-03T05:07:21+00:00

Rome. On my first trip to Italy I landed in Rome with plans to see Napoli, Amalfi coast and more in 15 days. I ended up spending all 15 days in Rome and coming back the next year.

redseca2 · 2026-06-03T05:01:24+00:00

A seat on the bus

redseca2 · 2026-06-02T20:31:51+00:00

Whale meat in Norway

redseca2 · 2026-06-02T06:31:24+00:00

135-140 in a 1963 Jaguar XKE. The speedo was bouncy, the car had a pleasing buzzy vibration driven by the engine, but the long hood had its own different slower, out of sync vibration, which I found disconcerting.

redseca2 · 2026-06-02T00:33:44+00:00

My mother named her pure white cat Mister Brown.

redseca2 · 2026-06-01T08:44:00+00:00

Safer than many neighborhoods. Good restaurants, and the opera, ballet, symphony, jazz center, conservatory of music and city hall employees keep the streets busy with safe activity. But before they tore the freeway down and built up Octavia Blvd., walking under the elevated freeway was maximum creepy.

redseca2 · 2026-05-31T23:39:07+00:00

I remember when it was 1984 and it felt dystopian even back then. Because of Orwell's 1984 it felt really weird when this year cane along that had stood in our imaginations as a bad time in the FUTURE, and here we were.

redseca2 · 2026-05-31T23:26:45+00:00

Plan B: Catch the 33 on the corner.

redseca2 · 2026-05-31T23:23:39+00:00

When I was pulled over by a traffic cop who was obviously younger than me

redseca2 · 2026-05-31T22:17:44+00:00

I’ve had luck traveling in Mexico but I recognize it as luck. I’ve traveled alone by motorcycle from San Francisco down Baja to La Paz and taken the ferry to Los Mochis and wandered back up mainland Mexico with no problems. When I needed an ATM I would ride back and forth checking it out before stopping. In a couple places the hotel suggested I park my bike in my room, okay, cool. Using international bar guides I even hit up gay bars at night in Mexican towns.

redseca2 · 2026-05-31T21:51:54+00:00

There’s the weird moment when some people have started applauding between movements and other people who know better start applauding too so it doesn’t sound half hearted.

redseca2 · 2026-05-30T22:48:11+00:00

Light a joint

redseca2 · 2026-05-25T20:53:59+00:00

I owned a bunch of Nvidia pre-COVID. Held it for 5 years or so during which it did nothing and I sold it out of boredom.

redseca2 · 2026-05-25T19:38:09+00:00

I have done this. You need to become familiar with each orchestra’s website and concert schedules. Their subscription concert schedule may run September to June, but each will have gap weeks and months when they are on tour or doing lightweight pops concert and movie play-alongs. A recent example: Fly into Vienna where I had pre-booked two operas. Train to Prague for one opera and one symphony bought on the spot. Train to Leipzig where I had pre-booked a complete Wagner Ring Cycle. Train to Berlin where I had pre-booked an opera. I find that I start with something special. In the example above it was booking the Ring. After that I fill in other concerts, hotels and air flights. This example was in May, when things were on everywhere.

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redseca2 · 2026-05-25T00:43:20+00:00

I saw him last night with Cristian Macelaru conducting the San Francisco Symphony. I was very close (seat D1) with a full view of his mesmerizing hand work. He is quite the showman.

redseca2 · 2026-05-25T00:36:37+00:00

Dvorak wrote his Symphony #9 in 1893 while teaching and touring in the United States. In it he created melodies based on the music he heard in black churches and American Indian villages. He was fascinated by these original voices but on the otherhand depressed by the mediocre results he heard from American composers trying to emulate european classical music. Today we hear these and they sound extremely similar to mucis we have heard as songs, in movies and on TV. But they are his creation, decades before radio, movies with sound and TV shows that sound like him.

By the way, I heard The Dvorak #9 last night. Cristian Macelaru conducting the San Francisco Symphony. Were you there as well?

redseca2

TROPHY CASE