Ransen's Blog

 My Mum used to sing in a choir in Bigglewade. At one time the leader of the choir said that Handel lived on in his music. And my Mum said: "Well, he doesn't really." The reply was: "His music is alive for him." And my Mum said: "But he doesn't know that does he?" I don't know how the conversation finished, she didn't tell me or I have forgotten. But I was reminded of it when I was watching Ricky Gervais in his Armageddon show. He said that people talk about what he wants to leave behind, his "legacy". He said that he didn't care about his "legacy" because he would be dead and not be there to see it. I suppose the only way someone can enjoy their legacy is by dreaming or fantasizing about it while they are alive. But there is no guarantee your legacy will be as you imagine it.  

 I was brought up with the glottal stop, or I learned it from my friends.  Wikipedia says: The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʔ⟩ In English it often replaces a "t" sound and was considered an error. So I used to have the glo ʔ al stop. And when I hear it it takes me back in time and it does not irritate me. But when I hear people say "anythink" I want to scream at them. " There's a g at the end of anything, not a k ! " And even friends in their 60s who used to say "anything" have learned to say "anythink". Even Radio 3 and Radio 4 guests have been heard to use it. Hence the twisted snobbery of mine. I don't mind my own "mistake" in pronunciation, but I'm extremely irritated by this new ...

 I listened to Bryan Ferry's Frantic... ...I'd forgotten how good it was.  Then, right after, I listened to Beethoven's Eroica... ...and apart from two or three really "inspiring" parts it seems to me clunky in the extreme. I put Frantic back on... ... that's better!

 Sometimes things feel simple and impossible at the same time. Simplicity and Impossibility