A number of people have remarked about "that email from Vienna" that described my (mis)-adventures in a musical museum there. I thought I’d share it here as well:

From: RAUFER, Roger
Sent: 22 August 2005 10:19
To: UN colleagues
Subject: Musical misadventures

Hello folks,

Life here in Vienna has been going very nicely, although time is passing much too fast...... Jess & Mike (my middle daughter & her husband) were here for ten days, & just left yesterday.

We got to see lots of the sights, including one of the museums here that has lots of info about Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc. The really interesting part was near the end, where you get to be a musical conductor, with an (infrared-beaming, computerized) musical baton. You stand in front of a huge orchestra on screen, & they follow your musical directions. Unfortunately, I followed a young Japanese girl who looked to be about 12 years old, & she did the damn Beethoven piece to perfection!! At the end of her performance, the orchestra on screen stood up & gave her a standing ovation.... as did the audience in the room!

I was next, and I had a bit of trouble getting the thing started quite right..... & so the orchestra was quickly going into overdrive like maniacs, fiddling violins like they were trying to use the bow to set their instruments on fire..... & then they would come to a complete stop. Then they would start up again real, real fast, & then slow..... slow... slow down. Needless to say, Beethoven was starting to sound like some kind of cat being tortured, & just when I thought I was beginning to get the hang of it, one of the violinists on the screen threw down his bow & started yelling at me in German. I have no idea what he was saying, but then the rest of them all started yelling at me too & then they all stood up to leave & then the screen went blank.

The Japanese girl seemed to think this was all pretty funny, but I was thinking that all of my musical training really should have left me in much better shape for such an exercise.

But other than that, I've really been enjoying Vienna... it's a beautiful place, & they're taking real good care of me here.

best,

Roger