Laurie Stras
@lauriestras.bsky.social
4.3K followers 760 following 3.1K posts
Feminist, musicologist, musician, extreme knitter, gardener. Not necessarily in that order. Girl groups from Ferrara to Motown; all the nuns, all the time; disability studies Prof Emerita of Music, Uni of Southampton; director @musicasecreta.bsky.social
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
lauriestras.bsky.social
Hello to all my new followers. Want to know what I do? Here's the long version (recorded in 2020, hello Long Covid). Curtis the OG #MedRenPet makes an extended appearance halfway through #caturday #earlymodern

tl;dr in next skeet

youtu.be/5ojRaQA2b08?...
What Does It Mean When A Woman Sings? Keynote lecture, MedRen Music Conference 2020
YouTube video by MusicaSecreta
youtu.be
Reposted by Laurie Stras
patrickjmb.bsky.social
Georgia Mann on #BBCradio3 has @musicasecreta.bsky.social new album as Album of the Week. Yesterday she quoted from the @lauriestras.bsky.social article about the source www.gramophone.co.uk/blogs/articl...
lauriestras.bsky.social
I’m back to packing. If there are two lessons my mother (who did six transcontinental moves before I was ten) taught me, they are that the capacity of a duffel bag is unlimited; and that if you’re doing a tedious job, you can remind yourself of your worth with a tiara. She kept one by the sink.
A middle-age woman wearing round glasses looks at the camera. She’s wearing a black shirt and black dungarees, her hair is tied back. She looks very tired. Behind her, you can see a removal company box leaning up against a window.
lauriestras.bsky.social
It’s been a really full day that started at 4:30. We really enjoyed our time at #Radio4. It was also very nice to meet Hope Reese. Buy her book! And buy our album!
Four women standing in front of microphones in a radio studio lit with purple and salmon lights. The floor is a polished wood parquet. There are music stands and a couple of cities in the background. There is a monitor screen just above their heads. A tiny knitted amigurumi nun sits on a curved wooden desk with microphones. Just visible in the background is the screen that reads Woman’s Hour. Six women stand when I decide of a screen that is lit and reads Woman’s Hour. The studio is lit in purple and salmon. The floor is a wooden parquet flooring. Six women in a selfie. They are smiling and staring up at the camera.
lauriestras.bsky.social
Thank you for listening in!
lauriestras.bsky.social
It’s a great ray. Mr Ray!!!
lauriestras.bsky.social
And y’know, creatives who *have no choice* but to use social media to self-promote because social media algorithms killed even the internet-only review sites, local news etc have to commit our stuff to free use for “re-mixing” if we want to post at all. And then we have to pay to beat the algorithm.
alexvont.bsky.social
I agree with every word Zelda Williams says. And this at the end from OpenAI makes me want to go full Ned Ludd. Creators can’t have a blanket opt-out on copyright infringement of their work and have to fill out a form appealing to OpenAI’s mercy every time? Fuck off into the sun
OpenAI told the Guardian that content owners can flag copyright infringement using a “copyright disputes form” but that individual artists or studios cannot have a blanket opt-out. Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships, said: “We’ll work with rights holders to block characters from Sora at their request and respond to takedown requests.”
Reposted by Laurie Stras
alexvont.bsky.social
I agree with every word Zelda Williams says. And this at the end from OpenAI makes me want to go full Ned Ludd. Creators can’t have a blanket opt-out on copyright infringement of their work and have to fill out a form appealing to OpenAI’s mercy every time? Fuck off into the sun
OpenAI told the Guardian that content owners can flag copyright infringement using a “copyright disputes form” but that individual artists or studios cannot have a blanket opt-out. Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships, said: “We’ll work with rights holders to block characters from Sora at their request and respond to takedown requests.”
Reposted by Laurie Stras
carolinepennock.bsky.social
THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.
alexvont.bsky.social
I agree with every word Zelda Williams says. And this at the end from OpenAI makes me want to go full Ned Ludd. Creators can’t have a blanket opt-out on copyright infringement of their work and have to fill out a form appealing to OpenAI’s mercy every time? Fuck off into the sun
OpenAI told the Guardian that content owners can flag copyright infringement using a “copyright disputes form” but that individual artists or studios cannot have a blanket opt-out. Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships, said: “We’ll work with rights holders to block characters from Sora at their request and respond to takedown requests.”
lauriestras.bsky.social
Up to London (last early am SWR?) to do Woman’s Hour. I have Deborah the Nano-Nun to give me courage. Who knew I could find new depths of performance anxiety at my age 🤣🤣🤣
(We named her Deborah because she looks like she’s flipping the bird, and it made us all laugh and remember our dear friend)
A pair of legs in black jeans, and red flowery boots. A leopard print rucksack with a sunflower lanyard is to the right. On the knees is a tiny knitted amiguri nun.
lauriestras.bsky.social
Don’t forget to listen into Essential Classics right now and every morning this week to hear a different track from Ricordanze every day! Album of the Week!
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...
BBC Sounds - Essential Classics - Available Episodes
Listen to the latest episodes of Essential Classics on BBC Sounds.
www.bbc.co.uk
lauriestras.bsky.social
Back home to South London. >50% reduction in sqm for exactly the same house price but it’s where family and old friends are. Will miss some things about Soton, and def some people, but need to be closer to the next generations.
lauriestras.bsky.social
SitRep 😱😱😱😱😱. From waiting weeks to exchange to moving in 10 days. OF COURSE the universe dictated this should coincide with the album launch. But I have @quietriotpod.bsky.social today, and we’re Album of the Week on R3 from tomorrow so at least my listening is sorted.
A dining room with a black-and-white checked floor full of packing boxes, bits of newspaper and bubble wrap a ladder and various types of tape. It’s a mess. So am I.
lauriestras.bsky.social
Things I found while packing, pt 3564397: my AP French poetry textbook (I had tiny writing when I was 14) and my dad’s Book of Common Prayer, given to him in 1946, so I guess for his confirmation.
A page from a book of French poetry. It shows “Poème à la mystérieuse” by Robert Desnos. It is annotated in French and very small writing in pencil. A small leather bound book. The cover is torn and the bottom left-hand corner is missing. The words James Campbell are embossed in gold at the bottom. An S is just visible before the tear has removed the rest of the surname. An inscription inside a small book the page is yellowed with age. It reads “to my godson Jim Christmas 1946. With my love always Rose”.
lauriestras.bsky.social
There's a state sixth-form in Winchester where the students' car park is full of cars that are WAY more expensive and new than the one in the lecturers' car park.
Reposted by Laurie Stras
musicasecreta.bsky.social
Hey hey it's #BandcampFriday everyone and our new album is just right here, right now, celebrating women and music, and you just KNOW you want to order it today!!

musicasecreta.bandcamp.com/album/ricord...
Ricordanze: a record of love, by Musica Secreta
31 track album
musicasecreta.bandcamp.com