Stephen's Secure Blog #312
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 17 in this story, in Summer of year 7 of his special school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #312 "First Vienna Concert"
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Back in the Vienna music hall, I said to Dan, "I have an idea. Can I
borrow that?" He grinned and pushed it at me. I grinned back. I settled
on a chair, and with a thumb pick on, I started picking randomly. I
said, "A slice of Lime, anyone?" At first, they didn't know what I
meant, then Chad said, "I get it! 'The Third Man!' Do it!" He said to
Dan, "In the movie, they are looking for Harry Lime." He nodded. I
started playing, and everybody paid attention. I tried to make it sound
as much like the zither as possible, and I think I came very close.
There was a lot of applause when I finished. The director came over to
me, and said, "I have never heard it that way before. It is usually
played on the zither." I said "I know, but I've never played one of
those." Dan yelled, "Challenge!" The director, looking hopeful,
couldn't quite hide his grin.
Chad announced, "Anybody want Stephen to play the zither?" There were
a lot of yeses. I said in a plaintive question, "Not even one 'no'?"
Silence. I said "Even if I say please?" Silence. I said "Wait a minute
while I check on the internet to see how to make one." I did, and made
one, and ported it to me, on its own stand. I said "YouTube has a lot
of videos with people playing the zither. I just looked at all of
them." I played with the strings a little, tuning them Vienna style,
and then I started. I played the best I could, on the instrument Vienna
made famous, for them. They REALLY liked it. Then I played the
Bolero-Tango on it. They liked that a lot, too. Then I did some Strauss
things, and they almost went wild.
The director came to me and said, "You never played it before, and
you made the instrument now, and played it better than anybody ever
has. I don't know how to express what I feel about that. Please, can
you do this for the first encore for the second concert?" I said "I
don't think I should. It's your instrument. A foreigner playing it here
doesn't seem right." He said "I understand, but I am not a foreigner,
and I am requesting." I said "What song?" He said "The first?" I said
a comedy. I didn't like it. And I am not in competition in these
concerts. Please choose another." He struggled in thought. He said
"Vienna Waltz?" I said "Not appropriate for virtuoso playing on the
zither. Too simple. For that, I would use the piano, or violin
concerto." He said "I have to agree."
I said "While you are thinking, I'll try something else." I played
Pachelbel's Canon. He waited until the end to speak, his eyes bulging
further out of his head as I went along. He shouted, "I want that!"
Then, more calmly, "Please excuse my outburst. I strongly request that
you play that in one of the concerts, but it is too much for an
encore." I said "Well, what about parts of 'Tales of the Vienna
Woods'?" He said "Would you demonstrate?" I did, choosing the most
interesting parts which would work the best on the zither. He said
"Yes! That one is good. I have not heard exactly that on a zither,
before." I said "I probably should not do any more music until the
concert, or your er, comfort will be too disturbed for your
conducting." He had very conflicting emotions about that. I said "Oh, I
just caused more of that." He laughed. Then he said, "We should set up
for the concert now, anyway." I got up and bowed.
I said to Chad, "Wouldn't 'Pictures at an Exposition' play better if
there were actually pictures, a whole scene of them?" He said "Like
what you did for the ballet, yes. I was wondering when you would get to
that." I said "If you have ideas for me, wouldn't it actually be better
to actually tell them to me, so I can actually use them, actually?" He
said "I didn't want to interfere with your creative process." I said
"It doesn't. Instead, it makes my creativity better, to play off of
people and their ideas. I told you that before." He said "Oh, but not
exactly that way. I know better now. Thanks." I said to Dan, "He who
gives somebody a loaded weapon, shouldn't be surprised if he gets shot
with it." Dan went almost hysterical with laughter, with Chad and the
director not far behind. They knew I was talking about the zither
challenge.
I said to Chad, "I wonder how the Tchaikovsky piano concerto, the
whole thing, would sound on the solo harp." He said with interest, "If
you do it, it would sound fantastic." I said to the director's torn
emotions, "I did it again, didn't I." He nodded, mutely. Weakly, after
glancing at his watch, he said, "Just the first movement, now?" I
grinned and nodded, and went to the harp. I tuned it, and started. It
went very well, in my opinion. The loud applause indicated that some
others thought the same. The director said, "I did not think that could
be possible." I said brightly, "Well, I think it might be, now. I'm
sorry for giving you more problems. I've done more today than we have
time in the concerts for. I'm sorry." He said "Please don't be sorry.
There will be other times." I said "But can you survive the er,
preludes to the other concerts, added to this one?" He tried to look
serious, and said, "I don't know, but I will do my best to try." I said
"That's the spirit! Always do your best. Except at golf." We laughed
together. The director went away to tend to things. I asked Chad, "What
rights?" He said "All. Not live here, too." I said "That must have been
one tough negotiation!" He grinned and nodded. I said "What base
language should I use?" He said "English. I've told the director, and
he didn't believe me." I grinned, and said, "That will change. I've
improved, too. I won't need to ask if anybody doesn't understand me."
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's Music Director introduced me. I
walked onto the stage. I said "Greetings. I am Stephen. I will be
speaking and singing in different languages, but all of you here will
understand me, even if you don't know the language I'm using. For the
first selection, I will be singing 'The Fantasy Waltz'. I wrote the
music for an ice skating show. This is the first public performance of
it being sung." The orchestra began, and I sang. There was a lot of
applause when I finished. I said "Thank you. I am not surprised that
those of Vienna like a waltz." My big grin encouraged more applause. I
said "I could not have composed it if Vienna, and it's wonderful music,
had never existed. Thank you VERY much." A lot more applause. I said
"Next, I will play the Brahms 'Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann
in F-sharp minor', followed by the Brahms 'Sixteen Waltzes for piano.'"
I did all that, on the piano, to a lot of applause.
I said "Next, we will have another guest." I introduced him, and we
played the flute Hora Staccato. He received a standing ovation. I said,
after that, "We will be hearing more about him, and from him, in the
future, I'm sure! Next, I will play something of my own on the violin,
I call, 'Awake to Love'. This is the first time it has been played in
public." I did it, and it was sweeping and romantic, and at the same
time horribly difficult. It called out for love, and then answered it
overwhelmingly. I received a long and loud standing ovation for that.
When they were quiet enough to hear me, I said, "I have a confession to
make. If you have noticed your music director looking a little strange,
it is because he didn't know I was going to do that. He just knew I was
going to play something on the violin, but not what it was. I didn't
decide until just before I played it, what I would do, and I should
tell you it has never been played before, until just now."
The director came to me said, "Stephen, please tell them when you
composed it." I said to him, "I'm not sure I should say that. They
might not believe me." He said "I've seen you do that many times in
person. They will believe, because I, and the entire orchestra, know
and certify from our own experience, that you can do that." I bowed to
him, and I said to the audience, "I receive inspiration from many
things and situations, for my art. I could not have composed that
violin piece in the few seconds before I started playing it, if it had
not been for such wonderful people here for me to give it to. Thank
you." At first, they didn't understand, then there were some
murmurings, and then louder discussion, and then another standing
ovation. When I could be heard, I said to the director, "Did you really
have to do that?" He said, with a big grin, "Absolutely!" They laughed.
I said, "Everybody just loves to embarrass me!" More laughter.
I said "Next, I will conduct my first symphony, in its premiere here.
After I composed it, I saw that it was too difficult for an ordinary
orchestra to perform it. That's why I brought it here. Oh, I should
tell you its name, because it isn't listed with one in the program. I
call it, 'Stephen's First Symphony.' Go ahead and laugh. I can take
it." Some chuckles. I said "All the names I could think of which would
come near to describing it, were just too long. So there you have it.
We begin." I went to the podium, and motioned to check for tuning, and
all was ready. We started. 48 minutes later, we finished, and there was
a very loud standing ovation. We went through the usual bows, with me,
and the orchestra. Then I said, "I wasn't sure ANY orchestra could
perform that, even the best in the world. This orchestra did, and
magnificently!" More applause. The director came out. I said "Oh no!"
Some real laughter. He grinned and said, "Oh yes." More laughter. He
said "Before Stephen came and worked with our orchestra, we could NOT
have performed his symphony. He brought us up to a level we had not
imagined possible. We are better than we have ever been, because of
Stephen's help, myself included. We all think he is a wonderful
teacher, which is why he is called 'The Master Teacher.'" He turned to
the orchestra, and said, "Am I right?" They stood and applauded, and
the audience knew they were sincere.
lot of laughter. I said "That didn't help." More laughter, and
applause. I shook my head in exaggerated sadness. I said "For the last
scheduled selection, I will sing Schubert's 'Ave Maria'." I did, and
with another standing ovation. I made the director bow, and the
orchestra, and I bowed a lot. I walked off the stage, and they didn't
stop. I walked back, with a guitar. I sat, and so did they. I said "I
asked my friend Dan, who is with me today, if I could borrow his
guitar, while we were waiting for this concert to begin. We had arrived
here early, because, well, there were musicians here. What better
reason could there be? That they were good friends, just made it more
special. I played this song for them, and the director asked me to play
it tonight, if there was room for it, for all of you, my new friends."
I started the intro, and then sang 'Edelweiss', just like I had sung it
earlier, softly but clearly, with emotion, letting tender feelings
escape from me. When I finished, there was dead silence. I could almost
hear a pin decide not to drop. Then they all stood, and applauded, a
lot with tears in their eyes. I bowed and left the stage. They didn't
stop, so I came back with my violin. They sat right down, and I played
my usual encore, and then gave my love blessing, wrapping them with my
love, and extending that to all of Vienna, and then to all of Austria.
Then I did the usual silvery porting away, to backstage where Chad and
Dan were.
After a while, the director came back, from watching the audience. I
said "How did it go? Anything I can do better next time?" He looked
confused, and said, "Better? Impossible!" Chad poked me, and said, "I
think he means you did well." I said, brilliantly, "Oh." Dan laughed.
The flutist and his father were there, and they thanked me a lot. I
said to the father, "I just did what I thought I should do, that's all.
I view it as my good fortune and honor to do things like that. Tell me,
if you were able, wouldn't you almost kill to do what I did for him,
and any for other new gifted artist?" He was amazed, and then
thoughtful. I said "Right. I did it because I was selfish." He laughed,
and said, "We will think differently about that." I said, "Sure. Makes
life more interesting." The director said to me, "Some reporters want
to interview you." I said "Alright, IF they limit their interest to
just music, and you and my guest soloist are with me, and any of the
members of the orchestra who want to be there." He grinned, and said,
"I understand. Safety in numbers." I said with my own grin,
"Absolutely!" He went to tell them. I said to the others, "The
reporters are loudly unhappy with my conditions." Some chuckles. Chad
said, "Good move, making the director do it." I said "Yes, I thought
so." They laughed.
The director came back, and said, "They are waiting for us in the
music hall." We went, and sat. They had some pro recording cameras, and
fuzzy boom mics. I ignored their shouted questions, and said, "What do
you think of my friend's performance on the flute?" They were confused,
and that made Chad struggle not to laugh. Me too, actually. One started
to ask me something, which I silenced with a sideways look. He
swallowed it, and said, "I thought his performance was fantastic."
Another got the message, and said, "I've covered these events for
years, and I've never heard that played better. Or even as well." I
nodded. The flutist was staring back and forth at us in open wonder.
Then they started asking me questions. One said, "How long have you
been studying music?" I said "I don't know how to answer that. I've
never had a lesson in music." They were in shocked silence. I said
"Wow! I didn't know I could do that to reporters." We all laughed.
to be my own reporter? I was asked to sing when I was twelve. I found
out I could. Then I decided to play the organ. I looked at some music,
and did it. Having done it, I stopped. I few years later, I and some
friends got together to do something as a group, and we decided on
music. So we did. We needed instruments, so I made some. When I needed
to gain the public's support in order to free Tibet, I decided that
music could help me do that. Looks as if it worked. I see it doesn't
fully answer your question. I er, learn fast." He said "Please, more?"
I said "But it's embarrassing!" He said "Won't bother ME." I said,
relieved. I said "But be careful what you ask for. You might get things
you were better off not knowing. I was born with supersensitive and
accurate hearing. Physically, I am very highly trained. I'm one of the
best mathematicians in the world. I have an intelligence which is
estimated to be 24 times the average. I have total recall, which
extends to all I experience, including body movement. I can read an
entire book, by just glancing at its cover. There is much more, but I
think you now have some idea of how I can do what I do. One more thing.
I try to do my best with everything I do. Except with golf." That last
comment, tangled their minds a little, as intended.
One said "I find that all difficult to believe." I said "I hear that
a lot from people who are too lazy to ask for proof, before forming
false opinions to make themselves feel better." His mouth dropped open
in shock. Before he could close it, a fellow reported poked him so
hard, it was almost a punch. I said "If you want the people you
interview to answer your questions, you would do better to not let your
personal pride cause you to needlessly insult them. I think your fellow
reporters might have some agreement with that." They did, and let him
know it. One said "But the proof? How would you do that?" I said "There
are many ways I could prove that. For one, I have more Doctorate
Diplomas than will fit on one wall of my office. For the instant
reading, choose among you he who will allow me to describe the contents
of his pockets." They did, and I told them. I said "Do any of you of
the music hall, doubt my word about this?" They said that had good
reason to believe everything. I said "One more thing. I am unable to
lie." That shocked them, too. I said "So, any more questions actually
about music?" One said, "How many instruments can you play?" I said "To
what level?" He said "Proficient." I nodded, and said, "Any. At
virtuoso level."
The flutist said, "I have to say this. He is better than I am on the
flute." The director said, "He was challenged to play the zither today.
He had never played one before. He made one in seconds, and then played
it the best in history." Some said "Wow!" One said "How can you make an
instrument in seconds?" I said "You know I can teleport, right?" They
nodded. I said "Well, I can do that to objects, too. It doesn't have to
be ALL of an object, and I can do that down to individual atoms. So, I
find and port the atoms I want, to where I want them to be, to make the
object I want. It's a LOT more complicated than that, but that's
basically how I do it. How I knew what the instrument should be, was
easier. I can SEE the internet directly. Within seconds of my being
asked, I had seen everything the internet had on the instrument, and
how it was played." Some more wows. I said "If I had a dollar for every
wow I hear, I wouldn't know were to put them all." They laughed.
They were a lot more friendly, and asked about the music I liked
best, for playing and conducting, and other music related questions.
They asked the other people good questions, too. We all had a good
time. We went outside with them. Then we all said our farewells, and
went to go back inside. One of the reporters followed me, and asked for
a personal talk. It was the one who doubted me. I knew Chad would
monitor. Rose and Hawk, too, as usual. I went back outside with him. He
said, "Sir, I want to apologize for my stupid comment. I was wrong. I
shouldn't have said it." I said "Accepted. What have you learned from
that?" He grinned, and said, "The true Master Teacher! You were right.
I felt intimidated by you, and became protective and defensive. I
realize that I have done this before, and have earned a reputation for
it, which I had thought was one of respect for my hard investigative
work. I see now that it wasn't. I think I will be doing things a little
different now. I will still dig, but differently. I think I'm a better
man and reporter now, and I owe it all to you." I said "Not all. I just
woke you up. YOU made the changes. YOU were intelligent enough, more
than you actually realized, to recognize the need, and had the courage
and will to do it. I admire you for that. I feel privileged to have
been a part of this. Truly. Now I have to say this. You said you
shouldn't have said what you did. I think now, considering the good
which has come of that, you might want to change your opinion about
that statement."
He looked really surprised, and then thoughtful. Then he grinned, and
said, "I don't know how to thank you enough." I said "You already have,
more than I think you realize. Please accept my love." I opened my
arms, and he came to receive a hug with all my love. I helped to keep
him standing. Then I bowed to him, and went inside. Chad said in
contact, +I projected it. I let them assume that you did it.+ I said
+Please don't do that again. It was a counseling situation.+ He said +I
apologize. I didn't realize that until it was too late.+ I said +Yes. I
understand. But now we have them thinking that I violated his privacy,
and that I really am much more than a musician. That will change
things. Discom.+
Back inside, they were looking at me in awe. I said "Please ignore
the projection. It shouldn't have happened. One of my students thought
it would be useful, but was mistaken. It was a counseling session, and
so it should have remained private. Please accept my apologies, and no
further comment about it. We have only a week to prepare for the next
concert. Do you want me back for that?" They were still in shock. The
flutist said, "Absolutely. That is, if I can watch you get ready the
day of the concert. I missed too much." I said "So, if you can't be
with us then, you don't want me back?" He said "Oh. I didn't mean that,
exactly." I said to the others, "Aren't you going to defend your
friend?" They woke up and did that. They all wanted me back. We did a
lot of hugging, and then Dan, Chad, and I left. In Jeremy's living
room, Chad apologized a lot. I accepted. Dan said, "Seeing you in
action, ALL of it, was an awesome experience. You really are more than
you were. Now I know more of what enlightened means." I said "Oh, so it
wasn't about a lightbulb?" He growled, and we wrestled, and then Chad
and Jeremy joined in, and eventually, we all squirted very well. While
we were resting, Dan said, "It's not the same monster, but he who
carries it around, still knows how to use it well." Chad said,
"Actually, it was you who were using it the most." We laughed.
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Grant
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