Category Archives: social commentary

Pittsburgh Symphony Musicians Take Charge!

classical music, classical musicians, drama, musicians, performance, psychology, social commentary, sociology, , , , ,

Ahoy!

The management of the Pittsburgh Symphony has threatened its musicians with a lock out, attempting to impose a pay cut which would reduce them to a second tier orchestra, and making noise about hiring substitute players.

THE MEMBERS OF THE ORCHESTRA HAVE CHOSEN TO PERFORM, ANYWAY!

Since Friday night’s concert was to have been CMU night (Carnegie – Mellon), Carnegie-Mellon University has graciously provided their Kresge Theater as a venue, and the musicians will perform Friday, after all – FREE, to all public, including those who had already purchased tickets to hear the originally scheduled concert at Heinz Hall.

The concert begins at 8:30pm. this Friday, October 7th, at Kresge. God knows where that is, but I’ll find it.

I’m so proud of these musicians. This is just a brilliant solution – bring your audience with you!!

We are there.

SOLIDARNOSC.

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Ruth Ann Scanzillo, principal cello, ERIE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, ERIE PA

AF OF M LOCAL #17.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NO CANDIDATE.

political commentary, social commentary, sociology, , , , , ,

 

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This is my FINAL POLITICAL POST for 2016.

I, Ruth Ann Scanzillo, HAVE NO candidate in this Presidential election. I support neither Hillary nor Trump. Nor Johnson, nor Stein.

Regardless what many thought of his decision to pull out of the running, to publicly support Hillary, all of that, I chose Bernie Sanders months and months ago – and, never looked back.

THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT BERNIE.

The belief that the Democratic party, and its candidate, have adopted Bernie’s platform with full intent to carry it out meets with dubious acceptance, on my part. Talk is the only thing cheap in politics, and we cannot know how many, if any, of his policies as outlined by him will be given a second thought once the new President is installed.

The Republican party, in my view, is lost. Trump has been, for all his public bluster and buffoonery, shrewd and calculating. The fact that the Republicans did not and, apparently, could not head him off says far more about them than it ever will about him.

For those of you who see me as a simplistically minded, superficial “pseudo- intellect” (and, I had a “boyfriend” who did), you are free to feel any way you will about me. This isn’t about me. It’s about what people take from social media, and how everybody reacts to what is said here.

For most of my adult life, I have been a registered Independent. I chose that party because I learned early on to reject the two-party system, seeing it as representing a petulant, stubborn mentality that serves no real productive end. Recent developments pretty much prove all that out, to me at least.

No; I have no hard answers. All I have is a point of view, and the right to choose. And, this year, I may very well choose to have maxillofacial surgery intended to abolish lifelong migraines, in Houston, during the first week of November.

Absentee ballot, you say? In Erie, Pennsylvania? You’ve got to be kidding, right?

I am a divorced, childless woman pushing 60. We, in my demographic, are regarded by local society as among the least relevant and most powerless. So be it. I have nothing left but gratitude to express to those who both mentored and modeled sound morals and values to me, beginning with my wonderful parents and grandparents. Family may just be a memory in my life, but I am thankful and at peace with my place in the universe.

Selah, kids. Bloom where you’re planted. Life is short. Create while you can, with everything you’ve got.

Thanks.

Oh; and, anybody who posts a defense or promotion of any candidate in the thread below will just have to endure seeing their comments deleted. I’m not trying to generate that kind of discussion. This is just my final opinion, and will have to stand as it is.

To those of you who actually read the entire piece: feel only love. Thank you.

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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo  10/3/16

littlebarefeetblog.com

 

SOCIAL MEDIA: It Was Supposed To Be A Party.

brain research, commentary, dance, drama, human behavior, humor, musicians, performance, photos, prose, psychology, social commentary, sociology, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

 

Dear Social Media:

[The ones who haven’t hidden my posts.]

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It’s been 7 years. Is this the itch?

Here’s what I think of our relationship. (Like a good therapy patient, I’ve made two lists): Good Stuff and Not So Good Stuff.

Good Stuff:

  • Re-acquaintance with old friends, remote family, DNA determined ancestors, and former students;

  • New friends, some special and close;

  • Community Bulletin Board announcements, including:

          a.) “In a ‘relationship'”; b.) marriages, c.) births; d.) pet acquisitions; e.) deaths;

  • Photos and video of fine art, music, dance, soccer goals, and drama;

  • Promotion of performance based events;

Not So Good Stuff:

  • False picture of the social landscape in the real world;

  • Subconscious drive to “keep up with the Jones’s”;

  • Political proselytizing, not always fact-based;

  • Passive-aggressive verbal warfare;

  • Flat out braggadocio;

Consequently, each of us has unwittingly submitted to a cinematic characterization of ourselves that distorts public perception.

The Introvert, Extrovert and Ambivert: It’s a @#$% Party!

Introverts rarely post; they read, and draw conclusions. Extroverts enter one liners, then leave the house to actually go and be with their people. Ambiverts, caught between creating in print and communicating with intent, post excessively – leaving themselves wide open to extrapolation and interpolation, only to wonder why cliques shun them in public.

The Interpretation

We have come to interpret reactions to our persona on social media with far too much of the alternate angst, delusion, and regret. The Blocking Feature has been deadly, cutting off all hope of public reconciliation; it’s as if that 3 foot barrier in three dimensions has taken on an anti-gravity shield, distinct from any currently being employed by the alien civilization presently closest in proximity (sic) to earth.

And — how many of us knew it was just a @#$% party!?

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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo  9/30/16    – All rights those of the author. Thanks!

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