The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[KenveeB]

Is it becoming less common for the audience to stand during the Hallelujah Chorus?
I was watching Howard Goodall's History of Music last week on BBC4. He was illustrating one point showing a performance of the Chorus. You couldn't see the audience very well, but it seemed about half weren't standing. I've never known that before.

Definitely.
Its not something everyone just knows, so if people aren't specifically told to do it they aren't going to. 

My stepmom sings in a chorus and they perform Hallelujah every year and the conductor introduces it with the story of the king standing and how its become tradition, etc.  So the audience stands... but I have to say I think its a silly tradition, rooted in silliness and I don't particularly care for it.  Evening knowing its what is done, if I were at a performance where the audience wasn't told about standing, I would certainly choose to sit.

...Well, I'm a reasonably well-educated person and singer who has heard and performed the Hallelujah Chorus on many occasions, and I've never in my life heard of a tradition for people standing during it. So it's not like it's something that people are just going to divine on their own, and it's obviously not being taught everywhere even among the musically inclined. I wouldn't be surprised at ordinary concert-goers not knowing about it unless they're told.

[Barney girl]

Perhaps it's more UK based. We perform the Messiah every couple of years (partly because we know people will turn out for that so we can refill our coffers). I've never known people not to stand and I suppose when you have several hundred people suddenly getting to their feet those who aren't in the know will stand as well. That's why I was surprised not to see it in this programme, but it's possible that the performance he was using extracts from wasn't filmed in the UK.

[Luci45]

Perhaps it's more UK based. We perform the Messiah every couple of years (partly because we know people will turn out for that so we can refill our coffers). I've never known people not to stand and I suppose when you have several hundred people suddenly getting to their feet those who aren't in the know will stand as well. That's why I was surprised not to see it in this programme, but it's possible that the performance he was using extracts from wasn't filmed in the UK.

Nope; not more UK based. I grew up standing for it,  in central US all of my life. I've never been to a performance when we didn't stand, even if that was the only part of 'The Messiah' performed.

There was a U-Tube of a mall crash in the food food court and the diners stood.

[jpcher]

Okay, stupid question regarding the Messiah/Hallelujah chorus and standing -- why do people stand up? What is the reasoning behind the protocol?

This question can be applied to the (US) national anthem . . . or the recitation of the pledge to the flag.

Is standing up more respectful? Why?

[hobish]

This is my stupid question and i wouldn't be able to ask this anywhere else. I work with a black guy in his mid 20's or who has a widow's peak kind of thing going on with his hair. In between the hair on the side of his head and the hair on his forehead is skin that is black - not African American black, not caramel, not brown, just black. It isn't a birthmark, the line is too straight. What is that?

As a girl....my first thoughts are...

Hair dye line? or little messy with using Grecian Formula?

That is what i am thinking, too.

Thanks, y'all, for answering. It's so completely none of my business what is going on with his head and it doesn't bother me any (except repressing the urge to stare at it  ) ... i debated for a week over being too embarrassed to ask. EHellions rock.

[GreenHall]

So based on the number of bounce backs in my in-box, plus my copy for each of my email addresses, because I'm in my address book, I think one of my yahoo accounts sent out a spam today.   I was able to get into my account, so it's not completely hijacked. 

Is there anything I need to do? Should I change my password?

Email seemed to be a link, that I was not willing to try, even with my cat killing curiousity level.  I guess I should be happy I'm not destitute in a foreign country, or needing emergency medical care (as seen in the scam thread...)

[JoW]

Definately change your password.  Make it very complicated.  Make it so complicated you have to write it on scrap paper and hide it under your monitor.  If you are feeling ambitious change the passwords for all of your accounts. 

[WillyNilly]

Okay, stupid question regarding the Messiah/Hallelujah chorus and standing -- why do people stand up? What is the reasoning behind the protocol?

This question can be applied to the (US) national anthem . . . or the recitation of the pledge to the flag.

Is standing up more respectful? Why?

During Hellelujah - because supposedly the first time King George heard it performed he stood.  No one knows why though - some say its because its about Christ so it was out of respect, while some say its because he thought it was intermission and he had to pee, but either way, when the King stands, everyone stands.  And so it became a tradition to stand.  Prior to that story though, no one stood.

As for the anthem or pledge, I think its just a respect thing, much like standing to greet someone, or standing attention, etc - its just more formal to stand.

[Mental Magpie]

Definately change your password.  Make it very complicated.  Make it so complicated you have to write it on scrap paper and hide it under your monitor.  If you are feeling ambitious change the passwords for all of your accounts.

Do not write it down and store it under your monitor; that's a good way for it to get hacked if anyone breaks into your house.

One of the best ways to create a complicated password is to choose a phrase and make it a password.

"Sally saw seashells by the seashore" could be "Sscsbtsc"; substitute phonetic spellings to make it more complicated (like I did the the Cs) or numbers if you can remember the connection.

Yes, definitely change your passwords.

[Luci45]

We have about 8 different passwords, then we hear the advice not to use the same one for everything, and sometimes a password won't be accepted because it doesn't meet the criteria the site has set up. I have 53 passworded accounts - credit cards, teachers' union, financial institutions, magazines, etc. No way could I remember which goes with which.

I have a method to print them on a spreadsheet with the numbers coded, and I want my kids to be sure to be able to get into my accounts when the time comes.

I know there is a program called Onepassword, but I don't know if I can trust it.

How do others keep track of all this stuff?

[amandaelizabeth]

Wallet from the itunes store.

[Betelnut]

We have about 8 different passwords, then we hear the advice not to use the same one for everything, and sometimes a password won't be accepted because it doesn't meet the criteria the site has set up. I have 53 passworded accounts - credit cards, teachers' union, financial institutions, magazines, etc. No way could I remember which goes with which.

I have a method to print them on a spreadsheet with the numbers coded, and I want my kids to be sure to be able to get into my accounts when the time comes.

I know there is a program called Onepassword, but I don't know if I can trust it.

How do others keep track of all this stuff?

I use an Excel spreadsheet.  But, I'll admit, I use the same 2-3 passwords in various forms so I'm not very safe.

[clio917]

So based on the number of bounce backs in my in-box, plus my copy for each of my email addresses, because I'm in my address book, I think one of my yahoo accounts sent out a spam today.   I was able to get into my account, so it's not completely hijacked. 

Is there anything I need to do? Should I change my password?

Email seemed to be a link, that I was not willing to try, even with my cat killing curiousity level.  I guess I should be happy I'm not destitute in a foreign country, or needing emergency medical care (as seen in the scam thread...)

Change your password, and also go to your Yahoo account info (mouse over your name in the top right when you are logged into your mail), click on View Recent Sign-in Activity to see if there is anything weird there (like you signed in from China when you live in St. Louis...).

Then go back to the account info and click on Manage Apps and Website Connections. When my Yahoo mail was hacked, they managed to get in through some security flaw in a mobile email app, so if you have anything strange in your list of app permissions, delete them.

[Tea Drinker]

If the system will allow long passwords without special characters, there's the xkcd method of picking a password, which is to run together four English words, such as "correcthorsebatterystaple" and make up a little story connecting them. (http://xkcd.com/936/) This kind of password is actually harder password cracking software to find randomly, than the 8-12 characters with numbers or random punctuation would be. (The difficulty of guessing is the number of characters times the possible number of choices for each, and you have the advantage that the password cracking program doesn't know you've done something xkcd-style, so it has to try all the things with numbers and capital letters and percent signs too.)

[Elfmama]

We have about 8 different passwords, then we hear the advice not to use the same one for everything, and sometimes a password won't be accepted because it doesn't meet the criteria the site has set up. I have 53 passworded accounts - credit cards, teachers' union, financial institutions, magazines, etc. No way could I remember which goes with which.

I have a method to print them on a spreadsheet with the numbers coded, and I want my kids to be sure to be able to get into my accounts when the time comes.

I know there is a program called Onepassword, but I don't know if I can trust it.

How do others keep track of all this stuff?

I have a text file on my computer marked "passwords."  Clever, no?   It has its own unique password, completely unrelated to anything else: it's a historical event and a date related to that event.  If some hacker gets into that, the passwords inside are coded; "household name" or "M*R*4877" mean something to me or to DH, but not to anyone outside the family.