Vacation Plans -- United Kingdom

Have seen this evening on the television a programme of the "Last Night of the Proms", an annual musical concert from the Albert Hall, London; and suffering from a surfeit of zeal and patriotic sentiment, have decided to invite you all to join me in a sing-song, of one of the big numbers. Are you ready?

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet.
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet.

You sing divinely.

"Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is the best." - Frank V. Zappa

You should hear him playing exceptionally gifted various instruments, piffka! :wink:

I wish I could. Can you give me an example?

We watched the football and listened to the LNOTP. I don't know what it is exactly about seeing all those promenaders bobbing up and down and tooting beepers during the sea shanties, that gets to me but I find it exruciatingly embarrassing. If they need to express their patriotic fervour why don't they do so in a manner we can all relate to, such as football...er perhaps not.

Actually it might be an education for some of our most ardent followers of the beautiful game if they attended a Promenade concert. Their contribution to communal singing would be most interesting

Land of Hope and Glory
Your gonna get your ****ing ed kicked in
.....

Wider still and wider
You're not singing any more!

I don't find it too embarrassing, even though there evidently are some professionally eccentric promenaders who should not be allowed out without their keepers. There is some good music played too, interspersed with the silly bits. Just like an A2K thread, in fact.

On the fusion theme, what about

Wider still and wider
Who ate all the pies?

-We already have a musical/football song in
"You'll never walk again".

agree with that!

'Who's the conductor in the black?"

I am ashamed to admit I do not know this song or understand what the promenades are about. It is becoming even more mysterious.

There, I've said it. <sadly hanging head>

The last few posts have been jokes - football (soccer) crowd chants hybridised with classical music.

Steve or McTag can probably advise about the 'actual' proms. I'm 27 and have never quite worked out what they are yet! <also sadly hanging head!>

Piffka - the Proms are a series of classical music concerts, aimed, I think, at young people, but which are hugely popular with all ages, at the Albert Hall, in London. The Last Night of the Proms has a huge traditional component, probably better explained by some of the resident Brits. I've never been to the LNotP. I spoke to a friend earlier this week who went the other night and had a ball!

I've been in London twice in September, and have gone to Proms concerts each time. Almost 20 years ago I saw Krystiaan Zimmerman, who was wonderful. 2 years ago I saw that great Australian, Sir Charles Mackerras, conducting Alfred Brendel (and numerous others) in some Beethoven. Just brilliant!

Alfred Brendel is the business.

The Proms? A national institution now: I'll get a link for you in a minute.
They are basically a special series of classical concerts, and the audience is partly seated, and partly standing (standing room only in the "promenade" area now). I think the promenade area was originally an idea for cheap tickets, to let the less wealthy have access to quality music, and where they could walk around if they felt like it; creating a very un-stuffy atmosphere. Now, of course, tickets sell out early, and they could basically charge what they like.

Here you go:

http://www.whatsonwhen.com/events/~25966.jml

We organised almost our entire trip through England last time around that concert!

Well it was a promenade in the park for Utd tonight.

To translate the above with the poetic words of BBC-online:

Indeed they did mon ami et Stuffed-gart?

Rangers is no English but a Scottish team - I could discuss that with McTag ... if I were a Swabian, since Stuttgart is situated there :wink:

Rangers Scottish? Thats almost as strange as Stuffed gart being Swabian...I thought they were German

Piff and Mr. Piff leaving soon, I'm exhilarated for them.

Also, need to go back and look at that amazing menu. I may need to print the whole thing out....

And, should I not get back here in time, I want you there meeting with Gautam to have an aperitif on me, literally. (Well, no, don't pour it o'er my head...) Maybe Piff can charge it, and nail me for it back in the states.

Thanks all (!) for the clearer explanation of the proms... and I understand this quote from Steve, what we'd call in baseball "a walk in the park," right? Did my favorite, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, get a goal?

The proms we had in high school, approximately an eon and a half ago, were fancy dances where the girls wore long dresses and the boys tried to look presentable in borrowed suits. The music was usually canned.