Comments on: “Not to the Swift” — Chapter 1 (of 6)

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:23:16 +0000

I’m going to draft you as chief proofer of Keepa and insist that you carry out your duties, willingly or not, so that you can be blamed for such things. Sorta like making the first guy who complains about the cooking the new camp cook. Step right up, Cooky!

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:16:28 +0000

Either the author or editor or, alas, the proprietor and type-setter of this blog, needs to practice her German.

There is in fact a Vienna State Opera, which would be the Wiener Staatsoper if consistency were not simply the hobgoblin of small minds.

And, there is a Staatsoper in Berlin–since 1945 its official name has been “Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin”–and its previous names included Staatsoper for a long time.

One shouldn’t go on and on about typos–but the word “statt” in German means “in place of” or “instead of” so someone with a twisted sense of humor like me could begin thinking of what the Vienna Instead-of-Opera house is (and dreaming up all sorts of possibilities).

And don’t even let me get started on “nacht” and “nackt”.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:15:54 +0000

I think being a musician in a day when recorded music in public spaces wasn’t ubiquitous and very often annoying may have lent some prestige to music as a career. And I wonder whether the relatively limited professional career paths open to women — music being one of the truly acceptable ones — might not have played a role in the frequency with which music is showing up in these old stories. Just speculating, though.

By: LAT

LAT — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:55:08 +0000

Does everyone want their child to go up to be a famous musician? And is the corollary to today a famous athlete?

By: E. Wallace

E. Wallace — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:49:56 +0000

Kareen? Is that you?