[edited by robbie]

>  "Treue Liebe macht uns gluecklich - O, Liebe welke nie!"

 [ Robbie wrote, in MMDigest 980916: ]

> [ "True love makes us lucky-o, love never ages!"

Hey, why is it "lucky" this time, instead of "happy", as I have
been taught for "gluecklich"?

  "Glueck haben" = "be lucky"
  "gluecklich sein" = "be happy"

 [ You're right.  Let me try again (with help from Hauke, too):
 [
 [ "True love makes us happy -- Oh, love never wilts !"
 [
 [ Is that better?  :)   -- Robbie

 [ Mark Kinsler wrote: ]

> Hokay, wait a second.  _Electronically-controlled_ crank organs?
> Are these like what those old-time organ grinders used -- the guys
> with the monkey, etc.?  Somebody's still making and using these?
> And electronically-controlled ones, at that?

Nope, not the "und drinnen rinnt's Bandl" (= "and inside a cassette
is running") ones. We were talking about electronically controlled
PIPE-organs.

> I guess they must still be popular at county fairs in Belgium or
> France or somewhere.  They still have circuses there, after all.

What does organs have to do with circus?  Sure, I do know few
circuses who do own also an organ, but this is the exception.

> But I've never seen a crank organ outside of a carousel organ,
> and these are usually just recordings.  Or do they still have
> guys cranking the organ in the streets of European cities,
> hoping to make a few Groschen?

There are few doing exactly this.  These are the really poor ones,
who haven't given up and these mostly have the "cassette"-ones.
No. Those people who really play in the street of European cities,
they are playing there when there is a meeting.  They surely do _not_
hope for Groschen.  They just want to bring happiness and memories
to the people.

To have a monkey on it is just out of history, and so is a box
to put money into.  The biggest joke of it is, that -- especially
when you don't expect it -- you get the big money (on the street).

If you are keen on money, then you may try to surprise weddings.
Everyone thinks that someone else hired you.  And to show how happy
you made them, you go home with some hundred Marks/Dollars.

Well, here we are at your point: where do we play the organ?

Normally there, where we were asked to do so:  weddings, birthdays,
festivals, exhibitions, consecrations and inaugurations and a lot
more events; I can't think of all the possibilities.

Really a nice 'game' within the organ group is, "What was your most
absurd commission to play your organ?"

In television we've seen a friend of ours play for the consecration
of a office of divorce!  Now, isn't that absurd?  The instrument,
normally used for weddings, has to play for the office of divorce?

> I knew that they used to have barrel organs in Amsterdam
> (my father bought a phonograph record of them in the 1950's)
> but I sort of thought most of them would be in museums.

Well, a lot of organs are in museums.  Especially those which are
rare.  But I wonder about you mentioning Amsterdam.  I don't think
there been many small hand-cranked, nor _barrel_ organs.  Let's ask
our Dutch friends in here....  Hans?

I think you have a record of a normal Dutch organ.  (Which have been
played by hand.  At least at that time.)

> I sure didn't know they were still being manufactured,
> much less with microprocessors.

Well, now you know.  So: when are you going to buy one? ;-)

> I suppose that it's eminently clear that I haven't been to Europe.
> But I'm still, in my profound ignorance, surprised that you can buy
> a new crank organ.  Where the heck do they use these things?

Well, I gave you a list.

> Mark Kinsler -  who at least now knows what zephyr skin is.

:-)  And now you know where to play your organ.  ;-)

greetings by(e) InK - Ingmar Krause
ERlanger drehORGEL-Trio, Familie Krause, erorgelt@erlangen.franken.de

 [ Edited by Robbie. ]