Digital Digressions v2.0: The Return of the Living Silly Web Quizes

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February 19, 2006

The Return of the Living Silly Web Quizes

So... the ole blog's been pretty quiet. Except for the spam, of course. Spam never sleeps.

But there's so much to blog about that I feel compelled to resume the good times here at Digital Digressions. However, to prevent painful (and embarassing!) injuries, I think it best that we start slowly.

So, I present to you the slowest and easiest of all blog post topics -- The Silly Web Quiz Meme (SWQM)!!!

Today's SWQM comes from the pages of Anbruch -- "If you were in an orchestra, what instrument would match your personality?"

Shockingly enough... I am an oboe.*

Now, I don't know Jimbo Anbruch that well. I mean, I feel that I know "him" pretty well, as I've read all of his posts. (And that's a topic for another post -- how different is blog archive-reading from stalking? What about when it's a photoblog? See, I told you there was a lot to blog about!)

But here's where it gets weird -- Jimbo's an oboe, too. And so I'm left wondering whether this is a sign of our sympatico natures (which I know all about because I've read "his" entries, surely the clearest and most foolproof way to get to the essential core of someone else), a sign that academics tend to be oboes, or a glitch in the quiz software.

That's where you come in, lovely readers. I guess I can leave "readers" in the plural there. There must be at least 2 of you who will read this. Oh wait, I forgot. Of course I should leave "readers" in the plural. There will be thousands of spam-bots reading over this post voraciously, just waiting for their chance to ask me:

I've managed to save up roughly $60738 in my bank account, but I'm not sure if I should buy a house or not. Do you think the market is stable or do you think that home prices will decrease by a lot?

Isn't that sweet? The "Courtney Gidts-bot" is troubled by recent market fluctuations and chatter of a real estate bubble. By the time you read this, hopefully I will have gotten around to deleting this particular piece of spam. Courtney-bot had already used her life-line, and wasn't entitled to anymore help with this difficult decision.

Anyway. Readers -- it's now up to you. Take the test. Report back on your results. This is especially interesting for those of you who play or who have played instruments in the past. We're all counting on you.

* -- I find the oboe result shocking because I've never played musical instruments, really. In college I was a vocalist. As part of my music education coursework I had to learn to play scores of instruments (a little musician humor there), but none so well that I would consider myself attached in any way. But beyond this, what is the personality of an oboe? Does it even have one? It's not one of the sexy, brassy, or just-plain-loud instruments in the orchestra. It's one of those bland fillers. Is that what I'm supposed to take away from this little exercise? BLECH!!!

Posted by reparent at February 19, 2006 4:11 PM

Comments

uh-oh...I too am an oboe. Of course, being a former music major myself, I knew the trumpet questions right off the bat. I too was a vocalist in undergrad and have a music degree...and now getting a Ph.D. in English....perhaps there is more to this oboe thing as you suggested....

Posted by: jmj at February 20, 2006 7:50 AM

Two things you need to know about the oboe --

1. The full orchestra tunes to the oboe.

2. The oboe has the personality of a duck (reference "Peter and the Wolf").

Posted by: coeurlion at February 20, 2006 2:37 PM

i am apparently a cello... i don't know anything about the cello except that it's approximately my height. i played the french horn for about seven years. the french horn has strings that keep the keys tight (except for the thumb key) but i was never very good at rethreading them when they came loose. i play the piano a little too, and that has strings.

i don't know much about the oboe either.

Posted by: sharon at February 20, 2006 6:28 PM

I'm 92% bassoon.

Oddly, I'm 0% violin, which is the instrument I played for about 15 years -- thanks, Mom!

Posted by: coeurlion at February 21, 2006 2:14 PM

Hooray -- comments!

But let me get this right -- I'm too "dependable" (i.e., BORING) to go out of tune, and I have the personality of a duck.

Well, I guess there are worse instruments to be.

Although I can't think of any.

Posted by: Richard at February 21, 2006 5:55 PM

No! Not dependable and boring, but singularly clear of throat, note, vision, and temperament.

Those who do not worship the oboe emulate it.

Or, at the very least, they tune to it.

Posted by: coerlion at February 21, 2006 7:05 PM

Kind words, but you're never going to see a flaming oboe solo.

There are no oboe rock stars.

There isn't even a Yo-Yo-Ma of the oboe world.

- * - * - * - * -

Hmm... so, if you could be any orchestral instrument, which would you WANT to be?

Cello has some obvious prurient interest... but I think I'd prefer to be in the percussion section. Either vibraphone (not exactly prurient, but not far from it, I guess) or chimes. I *really* liked playing (and orchestrating for) the chimes.

Posted by: Richard at February 21, 2006 7:18 PM