fivecats journal

Garner Sunset
October 2008 Outside Raleighwood, NC
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The local classical radio station, WCPE, (also heard online at TheClassicalStation.org) has a morning show called "Rise and Shine." At approximately 8:20am Eastern Time, host David Ballentyne, with his wonderfully crisp British accent, offers up his daily "Classical Conundrum."

I am not a great classical music aficionado. My knowledge of classical music extends to those composers I like (Telemann, Bach, and Handel for example) and makes an abrupt stop there. Ballentyne's "Classical Conundrum", however, starts the week of easy and gets progressively more difficult as the week goes on. Sometimes, in fact, his Monday questions have been "True or False" making the prospect of calling in with a correct answer more of a possibility.

(All callers "win" for answering is having their name read aloud over the airwaves and broadband wires)

Today's question had to do with a fairly obscure German/Czech composer named Stamitz. Stamitz was apparently born in Germany and went to school in Czechoslovakia where he then settled, taking on the Czech spelling of his name.

Today's question: "What was the original spelling of his name?"

While most listeners scrambled for their internet connection and Wikipedia, I continued driving down the highway on my way to work. My initial answer was dismissed by the internal filter that I've tried so hard to cultivate and encourage. A second consideration, however, overturned the first and I picked up my cellphone and dialed in.

After identifying myself David asked, "What's your answer?"

"H-i-s n-a-m-e."

"What?"

"The original spelling of 'his name' was h-i-s n-a-m-e," I said. Then, to the brief bit of silence that followed, I added, "It's supposed to be a bit of a joke. A very... tiny... bit of a joke."

He did laugh, mostly at my pie-in-the-face response, I thought.

As he was reading off the list of names for today's callers he ended with mine and even gave my spelling.

"And thank you for that example of Wit and Erudition!" he proclaimed.



One really shouldn't encourage such Sm@rt @ss behaviour on the international radio waves.


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