The recent reposting of "the dreary plains of toil" (via the outside world) and the link to the old thread in the comments there made me realise just how much great stuff there is sitting in the old discussions on this website. Not having the time to trawl through looking for old gems, I wondered if people might like to post their own favourite threads from the past. Whether funny, informative or memorable for some other reason, what old discussions would you recommend for someone looking through the archives, and why?
Cool!
BTW, That Cape Breton related thread reminds me to ask:
*is* this site really supposed devoted entirely to
ITM stuff? I don't play in an Irish style, and I guess
I'm only here 'cos I'm into playing in sessions
and the home page doesn't seem to say it's
necessarily about *Irish* sessions (apart from perhaps
obliquely). Also, from the "extremely unlikely, but just possible, dept.": Zina, is it possible I met you in Boston in Sept 2001?
Zina - I spend hours trolling thru the archives, how do you know where it all is?? Cannot go to bed now cos I'm going to have to look up the links above. Cream cheese danish? can't wait.
feed the search function with user names of some thesession seniors and youŽll get pretty good reading stuff for a whole week ... and really some enlightning brain food and knowledge.
first I tried it (honisoiquimalypense) with my own user name ... some good points, some forgotten gems and a lot of stupid stuff (partly good for a laugh anyway) ...
Zina, Tina, Zina, Tina... hmm, yes i think you're
probably right, it was probably Tina. How confusing,
two chinese-american Irish-style fiddlers with such
similar names! Yes, she was an excellent fiddler.
In fact Boston seemed chock full of 'em.
Would have been depressing, if it wasn't so exhilarating...
BTW Zina - a splash of water (up to about one part in three, I believe) is perfectly acceptable in yer whiskey (don't all contradict me at once). I know a few whiskey "heads" who insist that you can't taste it properly unless you've wet it a little. Sorry to have taken so long to contradict you on that one, but I wasn't hangin' around these pages in August 2001!
Rog, Tina Lech is terrific! She plays a lot with George Keith and Shannon and Matt Heaton; Shannon was my teacher. They're part of the "young hotshot crowd" in Boston last I checked. ;)
Karen, I suppose it depends on the water you add. Round here, it's a great way to taste an awful lot besides whiskey. Heh.
Zina: yes, that sounds right. I'd been over in Boston
for a conference, and brought the fiddle "just in case".
The first night I found a pub where there was a wee
session going on; they were very kind and let me
join in, despite my obvious ignorance of Irish style
Not only that, a third person had failed to turn up,
and they insisted I have their portion of the "take" (it
seems paid sessions are the norm in Boston)...
a very welcome turn of events! The folks playing were
George Keith and Dan Isaacson, and through them
I found all kinds of interesting people and sessions
during the course of the week, and had a fascinating
insight into the Boston Irish community too.
Wonderful the places a fiddle gets you.
I have a total crush on George Keith! (Or so Brad tells me.) He's great, isn't he? I wanna play like George....!
Last heard Tina playing on the Aniar album with Todd Denham. Interesting stuff, including a Hammond Organ, not my thing, but it was interesting enough. Tina plays a nice slow and bluesey sort of Lads of Laois on it, if I remember correctly.
Oh that's right, you're east, not west, of me. It was actually 4:00 am here when I read that... and I couldn't figure out what *i* was doing up, either.
Is one permitted to add a banjo player joke that, surprisingly, doesn't appear on either of those old threads?
(Well, it's another one of those *insert your least favourite instrument here* jokes, but I heard it as a banjo joke...)
After a gig, *Bela Fleck/Other Famous Banjo Player Of Your Choice* and the rest of the band head out for hamburgers, and one of the players notices BF/OFBPOYC carefully collecting the seeds that fell off the bread roll onto the plate. Intrigued, he asks, "what on earth are you doing that for?", and BF/OFBP answers, "I want to grow some buns."
great threads of the past
great threads of the past
The recent reposting of "the dreary plains of toil" (via the outside world) and the link to the old thread in the comments there made me realise just how much great stuff there is sitting in the old discussions on this website. Not having the time to trawl through looking for old gems, I wondered if people might like to post their own favourite threads from the past. Whether funny, informative or memorable for some other reason, what old discussions would you recommend for someone looking through the archives, and why?
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by rog
Re: great threads of the past
Well, as you're a fiddler, two fiddler threads, and one for fun.
One of my favorite "Kerri" threads:
http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/66
And then the famous cream cheese danish roll discussion:
http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/226
And here's some of the best tune titles ever:
http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/136
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
Cool! BTW, That Cape Breton related thread reminds me to ask: *is* this site really supposed devoted entirely to ITM stuff? I don't play in an Irish style, and I guess I'm only here 'cos I'm into playing in sessions and the home page doesn't seem to say it's necessarily about *Irish* sessions (apart from perhaps obliquely). Also, from the "extremely unlikely, but just possible, dept.": Zina, is it possible I met you in Boston in Sept 2001?
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by rog
Re: great threads of the past
Boston, 2001, Boston, 2001...maybe, but are you sure that wasn't Tina Lech, not me? ;) (She's a much better fiddler than me, too.)
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Zina Lee
P.S.
Yup, the site is devoted entirely to ITM stuff.
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
Zina - I spend hours trolling thru the archives, how do you know where it all is?? Cannot go to bed now cos I'm going to have to look up the links above. Cream cheese danish? can't wait.
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by clunk999
Re: great threads of the past
Oh, I just remember the threads, clunk, and then I use the search function to find the phrases I remember from the conversation. Cheating.
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
If Jeremy is thesession.org's Benevolent Dictator, Zina is the Lovely But Seriously Fixated Librarian of the Threads....
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Miss Lonelyhearts
Re: great threads of the past
YOU oughta talk about fixation, Sensei? *snort*
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
Fantastic - great to just sit and read thru all that knowledge, given with such grace and humour.
I thank thee O librarian of the threads, may your memory never fade.
All I've got to do now is to force myself away from the search button and go to bed.
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by clunk999
Re: great threads of the past
Oh, my *memory*...that's been gone since the senility set in, Clunk. ;)
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
And by the way, you may address me as "Fixatrix". *snort*
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
Just read through that first thread you listed Zina--it was very good!
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Andee
Re: great threads of the past
What on earth are you doing up at 3 am, Andee?
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
feed the search function with user names of some thesession seniors and youŽll get pretty good reading stuff for a whole week ... and really some enlightning brain food and knowledge.
first I tried it (honisoiquimalypense) with my own user name ... some good points, some forgotten gems and a lot of stupid stuff (partly good for a laugh anyway) ...
go on try it yourself.
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by crannog
Re: great threads of the past
Zina, Tina, Zina, Tina... hmm, yes i think you're probably right, it was probably Tina. How confusing, two chinese-american Irish-style fiddlers with such similar names! Yes, she was an excellent fiddler. In fact Boston seemed chock full of 'em. Would have been depressing, if it wasn't so exhilarating...
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by rog
Re: great threads of the past
This is a great idea for a thread.
BTW Zina - a splash of water (up to about one part in three, I believe) is perfectly acceptable in yer whiskey (don't all contradict me at once). I know a few whiskey "heads" who insist that you can't taste it properly unless you've wet it a little. Sorry to have taken so long to contradict you on that one, but I wasn't hangin' around these pages in August 2001!
# Posted on October 9th 2003 by nastyweegirl
Re: great threads of the past
Rog, Tina Lech is terrific! She plays a lot with George Keith and Shannon and Matt Heaton; Shannon was my teacher. They're part of the "young hotshot crowd" in Boston last I checked. ;)
Karen, I suppose it depends on the water you add. Round here, it's a great way to taste an awful lot besides whiskey. Heh.
zls
# Posted on October 10th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
Oh, and a couple more threads worth checking out if you'd like to know more about people besides what's in their bios:
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/71
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/294
# Posted on October 10th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
Zina: yes, that sounds right. I'd been over in Boston for a conference, and brought the fiddle "just in case". The first night I found a pub where there was a wee session going on; they were very kind and let me join in, despite my obvious ignorance of Irish style
Not only that, a third person had failed to turn up,
and they insisted I have their portion of the "take" (it
seems paid sessions are the norm in Boston)...
a very welcome turn of events! The folks playing were
George Keith and Dan Isaacson, and through them
I found all kinds of interesting people and sessions
during the course of the week, and had a fascinating
insight into the Boston Irish community too.
Wonderful the places a fiddle gets you.
# Posted on October 10th 2003 by rog
Re: great threads of the past
I have a total crush on George Keith! (Or so Brad tells me.) He's great, isn't he? I wanna play like George....!
Last heard Tina playing on the Aniar album with Todd Denham. Interesting stuff, including a Hammond Organ, not my thing, but it was interesting enough. Tina plays a nice slow and bluesey sort of Lads of Laois on it, if I remember correctly.
# Posted on October 10th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
The humour threads have been my favorites and the best were -
tune names - "My darlings a sheep" and "She begs for more" being the best
making whale noises/curtain rods from low whistles
the sealed (oink) knot women with faecial hair
bodhrans on Startrek joke - in fact, all bodhran jokes
# Posted on October 10th 2003 by geoffwright
Re: great threads of the past
Sorry, I didn't include any thread links to these - its a bit like telling jokes by their number in the book or just telling punch lines
# Posted on October 10th 2003 by geoffwright
Re: great threads of the past
I think it was more like 5:30 when I was reading and posting, Zina. Early, but not as early as 3:00!
# Posted on October 10th 2003 by Andee
Re: great threads of the past
Oh that's right, you're east, not west, of me.
It was actually 4:00 am here when I read that... and I couldn't figure out what *i* was doing up, either.
# Posted on October 10th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
I agree with geoff - the whale noise one was hilarious!
# Posted on October 12th 2003 by shoddy fiddle player
Re: great threads of the past
Yes, that was Conal O'Grada with the whale noises crack...the musician/instrument joke thread was a pretty good one, too:
http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/1300
# Posted on October 12th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
Oh, and http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/868 -- we've had a few of those joke threads from time to time...
# Posted on October 12th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: great threads of the past
Is one permitted to add a banjo player joke that, surprisingly, doesn't appear on either of those old threads?
(Well, it's another one of those *insert your least favourite instrument here* jokes, but I heard it as a banjo joke...)
After a gig, *Bela Fleck/Other Famous Banjo Player Of Your Choice* and the rest of the band head out for hamburgers, and one of the players notices BF/OFBPOYC carefully collecting the seeds that fell off the bread roll onto the plate. Intrigued, he asks, "what on earth are you doing that for?", and BF/OFBP answers, "I want to grow some buns."
# Posted on October 12th 2003 by Tish