canned cocktail wiener found in walter hall

today, walter hall was hosting a special event for violists: heidi castleman masterclass. she teaches at juilliard and yes, i think it is quite exciting to play for a different teacher- you can take away so much with you, the inspiration, technical knowledge, a new emotional dimension, you name it. and i was confronted by a special person as well, just not as helpful, however impressive.

walter hall is a busy place. and it's only a natural thing that students want to get in there to practice- it sounds good, it feels good and yes, there is shortage of space at busy times of the day in school. however, it is a performance hall and not a practice room, especially regarding the pianos. the piano technicians work very hard to keep the instruments to meet the heavy demands.  they come way before the students, to yield to the kiddies who want to practice. and yes, they do go home after a day's work.  and because many musical events take place in late evenings, it is important to 'guard' the pianos so that they will be ready for the events.

situation one: an undergrad comes in to the hall, have a whirl, playing schumann.
monkey: hey, do you have this place booked for a dress rehearsal?
kiddie: ur, no?
monkey: we have castleman masterclass this evening for viola students. the piano has been worked on this morning to accommodate for that. would you please refrain from using the piano?
kiddie: ur, ok (packs and leaves)

situation two: 5 sec later, another pair comes in and gets ready to have a violin-piano duo rehearsal.
monkey: would you please leave the hall if you have not booked the hall through the performance office?
kiddie: but im going to be here for only 5 minutes.
m: if you havent booked it, you should not be here. and no, this is not a practice room.
k: what's the problem?
m: there's a viola masterclass this evening and the piano has been conditioned for that event. they should have a well-cared instrument for their event.
k: but i practice here all the time. there was another kid just here playing piano.

yeah, i know who you are. i see you often in the hall. nothing to do with your playing, but if you arent supposed to be there and no one asked you to leave, that's a bonus, not a right. anyways.

m: yes. well, sometimes one is lucky. i did ask him to leave. and you came. so i am asking you to not to have a rehearsal here in the hall with your pianist.
k: it wont damage the piano to play for 5 min.

what part of 'unintentional damage' is incomprehensible? i hope no one plans to damage things like concert pianos.  but it does happen. and yes, technicians do go home. what happens if someone breaks something and just leaves without notifying anyone? what if there's nothing to be done? who would take the responsibility? would you want that for your own recital? haha, i bet not.

m: ... so to eliminate such possibility, students are not to practice here.
k: then why dont you put locks on the pianos?

are you serious? 

because you intend to not to respect anyone and you cannot be trusted, you think everyone should not be trusted? ridiculous.  well, there is a reason why both pianos arent locked.

m: ...for instance, it is student's responsibility to arrange to get the piano key for one of the steinways.  but often, students havent read the policy and they may arrive to the hall with no keys in after-hour. there is no one in the office to open it for them. they would be left in the dust. pretty big loss if that was supposed to be THE dress rehearsal.  so rather than leaving one in the dust, one piano will not have a lock on it, it's a grace room.
k: well-
m: if you have more variants of same protest, please bring it up to the performance office please.
k: do you work here?

why does it matter?
what you are doing isnt right and youve been confronted and perhaps feeling a bit small-penis-ish. (sorry that it is so visible. how weird such small thing can be so visible, i wonder)

your arguments are self-centered and illogical. there is no actual argument but only of selfish complains and immature reasons... and im not your mother, which makes this highly inappropriate. 

you dont respect yourself and you expect no one else to respect anything (though you seem to think you should be respected by this 'unknown stranger' who is asking you to leave).

you think and say things should be just locked (alarming). it would be the same mentality that in shops without security guards, you should be allowed to shoplift. or that if you see a score you want from the library, you should rip it out and take it because they dont do bag checks in the library.  

this is a hall and no, it is not a practice room. these rules are set for everyone's benefit. but of course, being young and bull-headed, you want to 'argue' about rules that you arent even aware- have you even checked out the use-of-hall policy? i bet not. if you did, you would not have started what you thought was discussion and what i thought was series of nonsensical yet spectacular display of immaturity. 


however, after all has been explained to you reason-by-reason, your only come back is: 
if ( i ) work here? 

i wish you would realize how ridiculously silly you are. if it did not seem too cruel, i would have had no qualms about using your real name as you were obviously proud, stubborn and 'smart.' haha. geez. what would happened if i dont work here? would that make your statements 'right'? but... how?

m: yes i work here.

im sure i will see that kiddie again in the hall. and i am sure kiddie will think that stinker is here again to 'disturb' my practice in the hall. i will have to think once again about the simple difference in english words 'performance hall' vs. 'practice room' and the fact that if one cannot distinguish the difference, perhaps this is not the biggest challenge in their lives, oh dear. 

im so grateful that st. lawrence quartet was just here the other night in the same hall. without 'real' music, sometimes 'music school lives' vignettes can be quite tragicomical.

Comments

  1. i admire your clarity... it really is a matter of perspective and the ability to see the situation from each angle... so hard for most of us! thank you for defending the pianos so bravely

    ReplyDelete
  2. ah thanks lady. the most difficult thing for me is to not to completely ridicule them, as that's not my intention... i just want them to understand... GRUNT.

    ReplyDelete
  3. update: the kid returns with a pianist again today. my colleague asked him to leave. he says '(we) are all nazis.'

    please, there is no need you to display your spectacatular ignorance on top of your wieiner routine... it's getting embarrassing to watch.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Monkey...I wish I had you here defending my pianos for me. I as a piano technician bow to your bravery and stubbornness. Hugs!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well I hope you feel good about yourself, venting on the internet. What if one of these allegedly awful kids were to read this? Even if they were in the wrong, this is hurtful language and it's just inappropriate in the extreme. I think you go a bit too far, venting to feel good about yourself paragraph after paragraph. It's totally unnecessary and ultimately only serves to make you look like an idiot.

    Your language and demeanor is downright offensive, and I should hope the person that you've written about never has to endure reading this "blog" (it seems more like a public hate-mail box for you). I'm sorry you feel like your precious castle and your keep was invaded, but Jesus Christ almighty I think you should seriously take it down a notch.

    It's unfortunate that we have situations in which people feel the need to do hide behind the internet. Did you really feel the need to tell everybody about this, or did you do it so people might comment and tell you that you're right and that kid is such a loser?

    For the record, I honestly thought the kid's suggestion to put a lock on the piano was a pretty logical one. Maybe you ought to stop complaining about how kids are always using the hall and their not supposed to. News flash: If the hall appears to be open, or free, somebody will use it. Guaranteed. So instead of acting like some insane fucking watch-dog, just lock the pianos, or the hall, problem solved. Then you won't HAVE to come on the internet to bitch about somebody like an insane sociopath. But it seems to me you'd rather come here and bitch so people will validate you, then actually fix the damn problem.

    So next time you're worried about your precious little walter hall getting used by some snot-nosed arrogant punk-ass kid, do something logical about it. For the record this does not include bitching at some random kid, or posting about it on the internet.

    Just think before you do this next time, you could really hurt somebody's feelings. This, to me, is little better than writing hate mail. While I understand your frustrations with people breaking the rules, it doesn't give you the right to come on the internet and be a nasty person about the whole thing. So I hope for your sake, not mine, that you use your brain before you do this. Because it makes you look damn foolish. Maybe your friends would disagree but you know what, I don't even know who the hell you are and I don't really want to after reading this.

    I didn't want to write this but this is pretty disgusting to me. I am not a bad person, I'm just giving you my two cents, whether you like it or not. It needs doing and nobody has bothered yet it seems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *i really hope you are not the person i was conversing with at walter hall, just in off chance. because if so, it would really make the whole thing even more tragicomical, i mean the reply itself gave me good chuckles in long afternoon :)

      Delete
    2. this is great, it's like a good wordsearch! i just found another gem: on your fourth paragraph, it says: 'But it seems to me you'd rather come here and bitch so people will validate you, then actually fix the damn problem.'

      did you mean 'than' instead of 'then'? if so, what's the prize? :D

      Delete
  6. dear anonymous,

    perhaps your reading comprehension needs to be improved. i did explain the reason why one piano is not locked. so if the kid reads this, i think kid would now really get it, though you haven't- may be have a second read? but then you cannot yet distinguish 'they are' vs. 'their' *please refer to your fourth paragraph.

    however, no one can convince anyone of anything, and once again, you have not understood the disclaimer that you must click to agree before my blog uploads, perhaps you should re-read the disclaimer if you think this is a personal rant. yes, it is.

    i wish we could have a civilized discourse, however, your use of language tells me that it would be a difficult achievement- refer to fourth paragraph: '-insane f*&$ing watch-dog.'

    shall i go on your 'newsflash' as well? your idea that if things appear to be open and free, 'someone will use it, guaranteed' would indicate that you are yet to develop any respect for others' space/property unless you would be barred explicitly. and that was the main issue of this post (which is yet to be comprehended by you, once again)...

    i think it is quite touching that you 'did not want to write this,' but you had to. well, i think you may as well be honest and say you did want to write this (especially with your lovely use of language). let's not hide behind a sainthood.

    and may be think about this: you say you are not a bad person. i never said the kid was a bad person- however the kid is mistaken and entitled. i am not to judge who is good and who is bad, unlike you, who is confident enough to make your judgement apply to others, yet coward enough to stay anonymous.

    the blog holds no personal id of the kid except for the fact kid plays the violin- did you catch that as well?

    so i hope you now feel validated that your reply has been read and reflected upon. do let me know if there is any other concerns or issues, as 'your language and demeanour is downright offensive' (thanks for writing it out for me on your second paragrph, couldnt have put it better myself) (though i would leave jesus alone, he didnt die for such bickering)

    i wish you a great improvement in english comprehension- seems that you are fine with writing skills, if bit limited in expressions, but i think with comprehension improvement, it will get better, i believe. it's one of those skills one can constant improve, which is awesome.

    additionally, perhaps you should give me a chance to get to know you as you come across as slightly reactionary. however, it would be a pity as you are already angry at me, who you dont even claim to know : 'i dont even know who the hell you are and i dont really want to after reading this.' oh how anger extinguishes chance for a fruitful discussion.

    good day! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. To anonymous;

    I read your anonymous hate mail. Perhaps if you read it back to yourself, you will find much helpful advice.

    funny thing, life.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

someone quick, help poor ophelia.. wait, you mean she was 'help' herself? i guess she'll have to stay drawned then..

homo spiritualis > homo politicus