Author: opoudjis

What are your favourite pieces by Dimitri Shostakovich and why?

By: | Post date: July 12, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Music

Impressed by Jeremy Shatan’s answer, to have included the Fourth Symphony! So Mahler, so anxious, so my favourite, and not often heard. The Cello Concerto #1 speaks well to Jeremy’s taste as well, but that piece is better known. So, skipping those two: Ninth Symphony. Jolly, quirky, Haydn on steroids, alternating with genuine lamentation in […]

Is it true that Americans don’t learn Old Greek, Latin, or German?

By: | Post date: July 11, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, Language

Ugh to many of these answers. The traditional European language curriculum was oriented to an elite, and had to do with instilling the cultural values of the West, which privileged Latin and Greek. Latin was still the lingua franca for European intellectuals up until the 18th century, but that does not explain Greek. I’ve written […]

What are the good and bad neighborhoods of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia?

By: | Post date: July 5, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Australia

Kim Daniels’ answer sounds the most accurate to me, as does Sherï Hussain’s answer to Are there really rough neighborhoods to avoid in Melbourne Australia? The question is clearly vexed, and if you’re paying close attention, there’s several things going on (which Stacey Johnston’s answer alludes to). The social dynamic in Melbourne is in flux; […]

Did Da Vinci say something like, “If you ever tried flying, you will look at the sky when walking and think that is your home”?

By: | Post date: July 5, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture

Googling finds: “When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return” Refuted in Wikiquote Talk: Talk:Leonardo da Vinci So to summarize what we know, based largely on the research of KHirsch above, the quote […]

As a teacher, what is the weirdest thing you have seen in your school or classroom?

By: | Post date: July 4, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Personal

Back when I was lecturing, I made a consistent effort to be the weirdest thing in the room. If I was running late, I would boom the opening words of my lecture while walking down the corridor into the theatre. I would walk into lecture drinking a Slurpee, and remind students that no eating or […]

What movie, or movie scene, scared you the most as a kid?

By: | Post date: July 3, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Personal

This is kind of lame (and TV rather than movie), but I guess I had a sheltered upbringing, and I was just six. 1977 was the heyday of Alice Cooper. As a sophisticated adult, I can now appreciate the antics of Alice for what they were, and even stifle a yawn at them. But as […]

What do you think about “Naked Attraction”?

By: | Post date: July 3, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/naked-attraction/on-demand/63570-001 I caught a glimpse of it while channel-surfing. My thoughts: Most of these reality shows are better in the original American: Dating Naked. I find something very trashy and mean about UK Reality TV in general, and this did not appear to be an exception. Once again, the contrast between the American and the […]

Did anyone from your high school become famous?

By: | Post date: July 3, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Personal

Nicole Livingstone: Nicole Dawn Livingstone, OAM (born 24 June 1971) is an Australian former competitive swimmer, Olympic silver medallist, and a television sports commentator and radio presenter. Livingstone competed for Australia in three summer Olympics – 1988, 1992, and 1996 – winning both individual and team medals. NICOLE LIVINGSTONE O.A.M. Nicole Livingstone, or, as we […]

6 am

By: | Post date: June 19, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Poetry

  Give to her joy, you callused world, give peace, this lady who should never, ever cry. Let it have air to bloom, roots to release, this beauty which should never, ever die. This smile, which neither coin nor bonds can buy, let it be sheltered from the bondsman’s blame. This heart so generous, this […]

What would be your choice for a Love song? See details.

By: | Post date: June 19, 2017 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Music, Quora

https://www.quora.com/profile/Michael-Masiello-1 Oh, shut up, QCR. Masiello and Gwin. Others applaud them. I panic for them. I want it to work out, they are both good souls who have earned respite, and find it in each other; I worry that they may not work out, because the world is a cruel place. Yes, nothing ventured nothing […]

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