I went on a bunch of manually operated rides at a renaissance festival today :) http://www.larf.org/sites/default/fi...go%20hiRes.JPG

There are two videos series on youtube with the conductor Michael Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony explaining Shostakovitch's 5th Symphony (his most famous) and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, sorta as a documentary! It definitely made me appreciate Shostakovitch more as a composer, all the stress and pressure he was having at the time. I can't think of a single moment being bored watching the videos with him and the symphony members talking about and explaining the pieces. Michael Thomas is a absolute genius narrating. :)

Keeping Score - Shostakovich Symphony 5 (1/6) - YouTube

Keeping Score: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring - YouTube

Then there's also one about Beethoven's 3rd symphony, but it's done at the concert like you guys were saying. Not entirely as interesting as the other two, but still worth my time. :)

Cool!! Did you find it fun?
There are Medieval fairs here to, only they are further out from the city. :S

Awesome, thanks for posting those links! I know Michael Thomas a little bit - when I took my university class on Aaron Copland I saw a lot of his Keeping Score videos in lectures. Definitely good stuff to watch.

Saw Manowar yesterday \m/ :D \m/

I haven't worn socks for ages, maybe 3 times in 6 months.
Shoes are overrated too.

Socks are the worst. I wear holes into all my socks after one day.

What are you people, hobbits? How do you survive outside where it is cold?

They don't... :stare:

...You don't have second breakfast? :shock:

Yeah, it's a long running one I go to every year, six weeks. It's about an hour outside New Orleans, but entirely worth the trip. I can't believe I've never tried the manually operated rides before! I love themepark rides in general, don't know why it never occurred to me. They were pretty great, especially this one with a platform tied to a column by several ropes. A guy would twist it up the column and then let go, and it spun really fast :awesome: When I go back, I'll be sure to take some pictures.

I'm my own medieval fair.

Personally, no, but it doesn't sound nearly as detrimental to one's well-being as going outside without shoes or socks at this time of the year, not to mention proper winter.

Elevensies? Lunch? Afternoon tea?

A couple of days ago, I had about a litre of frozen yogurt before breakfast. And I'm completely the right weight. Imagine that.

@ Midevil Festivals/Fairs-Society for Creative Anachronism...the manliest midevil fairs ever.