Sunday, February 06, 2005

Music in My Kitchen

There’s a little meme going around. If you follow food blogs you couldn’t have missed it – it’s been popping up everywhere. I was hoping it would somehow bypass me, but Zarah tagged me earlier today. So here goes…

What is the total amount of music files on your computer?

Less then 3MB – not counting the sample music files that were on the PC when I got it. There are just three songs: the Amateur Gourmet’s “Meow Mix” to the tune of Memory (which is hysterical and makes me laugh out loud – but perhaps you have to be a cat owner to fully appreciate it), the music for the Maine state song, and (ahem) me singing the Maine state song (it’s a long story).

The CD you last bought?

I haven’t bought any for myself in years. I filled up my CD rack and stopped. Since my interests are primarily in classical and opera, it doesn’t really seem necessary to keep buying more. The last CDs I bought were for my mom for Christmas – they were Josh Groban and Cobalt Blue (Paul Spaeth).

What was the last song you listened to before reading this message?

Gosh, I don’t remember. Sadly, music is not a big a part of my life these days, though it was at one time. Maybe I need to do something about that!

Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.

  1. L’improvviso from Andrea Chenier – (Umberto Giordano, sung by José Carreras) this and the rest of the Three Tenors concert turned me on to opera back in 1990. It was a gradual thing, but over the course of the next couple of years I became immersed in it. I subscribed to and also became a volunteer at the Washington Opera. There I got to work in the costume studio, assist with auditions, work in the business office, and get a fantastic behind-the-scenes view of the opera world.
  2. Ride On, King Jesus – (Traditional, sung by Denyce Graves) I attended a vocal competition in the early 1990’s in which Denyce Graves was competing. In an early round of the competition I had a seat just a couple rows from the stage and Ms. Graves sang this spiritual. It was a performance I’ll never forget.
  3. Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Samuel Barber, sung by Dawn Upshaw) – this is somewhat arbitrary. I wanted to include something sung by Dawn Upshaw since she is another performer that made a huge impression on me when I saw her in recital. She has a beautiful, clear voice and an extremely warm presence. She sang mostly German lieder in the recital in which I saw her, but this song is on a CD I have and is one I’ve always liked. The text (from James Agee’s writing) and music go so well together and both are incredibly beautiful…“…it has become that time of evening when people sit on their porches, rocking gently and talking gently…
  4. West Side Story – (Leonard Bernstein) I know, this isn’t a song, but I can’t pick just one.
  5. Yesterday – (The Beatles) I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved this song.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

The first person that came to mind was Renee, since I miss her so badly at Shiokadelicious, but Alberto has already asked her. So begging their forgiveness in advance, here’s my list…

  1. Alice – because she was one of my first friends in the food blogging world and I’d love to hear her answers.
  2. Adam – because he’s so funny and I really enjoy his blog and he was such a good sport when it took me forever to get to his IMBB entry. I’m sure he will put an amusing spin on this.
  3. Laura – because she leads such an interesting life – I expect her answers will be fascinating (either that or she has no time for music!)

7 comments:

cucina testa rossa said...

Cathy - you crack me up! my roommate Pierre is laughing hysterically because I am the biggest music nerd on the planet. He just burned a CD of music for me today and 75% of the music on my computer is from him and the rest from another chef I worked with last summer in Brittany who was also appalled at my abject stupidity of all things music. this will take some thinking and as it is 2am here and i have to be up in 5 hours (UGH!), do you mind terribly if I answer this tomorrow when the effects of too much lamb stew and red wine have worn off? merci et a bientot! :-) and thanks for thikning of me! :-)

Cerebrum said...

Well done Cathy! That wasn't so bad was it? As OsloFoodie commented on my blog, it really is interesting seeing the answers other foodies has, especially because it often turns out to be either something you never heard of, or something you would never have imagined! So you're an opera-fan, see, I'd never known hadn't I asked! I should do more about my opera-listening, what with the Dad being an almost-expert... And my Mom's a huge Josh Groban fan too!

Now I'll get on with cleaning my kitchen cupboards (Lord knows they need it!) humming "I feel pretty - oh so pretty - I feel pretty and witty and bright... hum-hum-hum..."!

Cathy said...

Laura - don't worry, you're in good company. In fact, I'm certain you know more about it than me, just by virture of the fact that you do have some music you've downloaded! I know nothing about pop music and I think there was only a very brief period in my life when I did. These days I know next to nothing about any music since I've neglected my musical life terribly!

Zarah - sounds like you're having fun during your break! No, this wasn't as bad as I expected. Regarding opera - if you start with the easy stuff (La Boheme, La Traviata, Carmen...) you can't help but like opera - it isn't that far removed from other musical theatre. After a while your curiousity will take you other places that are maybe a little harder to love, but interesting none the less.

cucina testa rossa said...

Hi Cathy -- Ta da! My music meme... finally... :-) Thanks so much, this was fun! Brought back a lot of great memories... Laura http://cucinatestarossa.blogs.com/
weblog/2005/02/musique_dans_ma.html

Kelli said...

Oh, come on -- you absolutely MUST tell the Mainer why the Maine State Song (The Maine Stein Song, I can only assume) is on your computer! =)

Cathy said...

Hi Laura - I enjoyed reading your post - glad you had fun!

Hi Kelli - actually, the Maine state song and the stein song are different. Here's a link to the state song: http://www.50states.com/songs/maine.htm

The reason I have it is that the summer before last I spent a week with Bob and Chuck in Maine and I made a silly CD to surprise them on the car trip up there. It included the state song and some Maine trivia. I'm not sure what became of the CD, but the makings of it live on in my computer!

Kelli said...

Well... there's something I never learned in school! But have you heard of The Wicked Good Band? =)