The beef of it all

is the, oh so, 'nuisancy' spam we get daily on our email accounts.
Or don't you? I sure do. Why? That IS the question.
Some examples here:
Hot males? Even hot black males!
Hot females? These dates are waiting for you!
Does this mean they think I swing both ways!

Canadian Viagra cheap! Now why would I want that?

Hose by Hanes. THE wonder wrinkle remover!
Buy this or that now.
Regret later maybe? (teehee)
And so much more.

I spend (seemingly) more time deleting these unwanted (and uncalled for) want ads.
Plus the scams that purport to come from 'friends' - usually starting with Hello or Hi.
Sometimes with my name added, sort of like an afterthought.
Delete Delete Delete!

Now that I got this off my chest, let's move on to dreams.

I dream, you dream, I'm sure we all dream.
Do we dream in technicolor, or black and white, or 3 D?
I know I dream. Although rarely I can actually remember it, THE dream.
I might dream in even Japanese (well, I did see Sayonara, The Seven Samurai, and Rashomon).
And there is always some music, all kinds of music :-)!
Mostly I dream in color 3 D.
And why not, life IS in 3 D, at least.
Although a forth dimension seems to creep in sometimes.
No really.
Especially after viewing Dali!
Or listening to a piece by Tan Dun!
Lately dreams have been much less exciting,  less... more hohum!. 
It could just mean that with encroaching age comes wisdom, ahem - boredom?
But maybe it endemic?
Because..... are these the causes?

One has seen, read stuff, lived through enough experiences.
So that the current world shaking events seem not quite so -  ahem - world shaking!
Just a rerun of an earlier world shaking event ;-)!
Unless it's an earthquake. But even those have been before.
History tends to repeat itself. And every generation thinks IT has invented it! :-)!
This is a clip  of Network of the 76's and just as apropos - methinks - nowadays.

The news come out faster and in gorier details thanks to ubiquitous cell phones.
That is the difference.
And we seem to have become immune to it all.
Too much, too gory, too ...well, just too much!
And sensibilities are anesthetized. Sadly.
Now I don't quite know why that thought leads me to "Bread and Circuses"...
even the ancients knew the value of diversion.
Let them see blood and guts with lots of booze, and the daily horrors are in abeyance.
Yes.
I feel under that category fall: Soccer games, Los Toros,  and such.
Also the annual Tomato Festival (in where else but Spain- how apropos Spain which IS full of frustration, not to forget Greece, but but where there is no tomato festival). 

It's all a diversion and, oh, so good for working off frustrations. 

I've rambled on enough! Right

True, False or All of the Above... update

As I just read this
I am not really shocked.
Disappointed, deeply disappointed - yes!
Shocked - No.
Lately we have been reading about the smear campaign about Bain, which comes straight down to the masses from the capitol. So why would it surprise me that the MET leadership does the same!
Muzzle the Media IF the printed word displeases.
Prescient ?

Enuf said.

OPERA NEWS has printed a retraction and WILL continue to publish THE MET's reviews...undoubtedly due to the outcry and outrage about 'implied censorship' from Gelb on social media.

Thunder on Stage

It sure felt that way.
Listening to a selection from the Solo Suite for Cello Nr. 3 by Bach, JS that is, I was amazed at the thunderous sounds that burst forth under the nimble fingers of Cellist Pia Eva Greiner.

That a cello could sound that way was an eye opener for this listener, more used to cellos within an orchestral setting.

Actually went in support of Pianist Ana Maria Otamendi, a HGO Studio artist.

Her first solo piece was also by JS Bach, Sinfonia from the Partita Nr. 2 in C minor BWV 1026.  And that too, was beautifully played with feeling.

The Rachmaninoff pieces, Vocalise, Op 34 Nr. 14 for piano and cello, and later on the impressive Sonata Op 19 in G Minor, where the sounds of the well played piano blended beautifully with those of the suave sounds of  cello, although each had their own little solo pieces as well.
T'was exciting music to the ears, for sure :-)!

A most successful evening followed by small reception, hosted by the Buddies of HGO Studio artists.

Which, with strange foreboding, I left early, made it to my car parked, seemingly at the end of the earth on the U of H parking lot, while blue lightening lit up the sky, and sonorous thunder rolled above, to step into the car literally a second before the deluge.

Driving through the lashings of rain with which the wipers could hardly keep up, following a zig zag route (of course there was construction narrowing lanes), almost glued to the taillights of the invisible cars in front was stressful. Crossing over the bridge in preparation to take the ramp onto 288 and then later 610, I peeked down and saw, what looked like an unmoving endless chain of headlamps, in both directions.
No, not that way, no way Jose!

I kept inching westward on Elgin to Westheimer, only having to ford two spots when BOTH lanes seemed a pond, a bit west of Kirby, and onwards to Chimney Rock. Turning south, between Westheimer and a bit past Richmond, the street seemed a lake, with no idea where the curbs were, the lots in front of stores started, or  side streets began. 
Where, even worse that this, a big truck barreled out from the Woodrow parking lot and forced its way between the cars onto the flooded street, throwing water every which way. Wouldn't you just know it! Damn idiot! Trying to drown smaller cars, methinks!

I stopped even the creeping inch by inch though high water, while HE or HER in that truck threw up sheets of water over all the cars in front, literally covering them. And some where not even such little ones like my Nissan.
Ah, do we, really, have to accept these carelessly, unthinking idiots on the road?

But I did make safely to a snug home, to watch the tail end of Charlie Rose's Series on the Mind.
Which was so engrossing, I forgot the stress aches from the clasping, and hunching over, the wheel, while trying to get home through that driving storm past barrelling trucks driving by idiots.

German or English

which IS the better language for reading?

After mumble years of ONLY reading English I have immersed myself into German books, since I have 'inherited' more than a dozen  from a German friend moving back.

Interesting as they are, I must admit the German language seemingly is more enigmatic and forces me to more concentration to absorb what the authors are saying, truly.
Never thought I'd say that!

Now I know there are several chers readers out there who are fluent in both languages.
I really would like to know how they feel about the GERMAN versus the ENGLISH novel!

So have at it.. and describe your experiences!

Immigrants make music, enliven the arts in USA!

As I am listening to a CD of Mozart's Kleine Nachtmusik conducted by Bruno Walter, nee Schlesinger, Pianist and Conductor, I pay homage to a huge talent.
50 years ago, in February to be exact, Bruno Walter died in Beverly Hills.
Below Walter conducts Mozart's Requiem.

Born in Berlin 1879, he developed early on his talent of piano but switched to conducting and was one of the youngest Hofkapellmeisters in Vienna, at 24 - engaged by Gustav Mahler, who recognized his large talent.
Below Walter conducts Mahler!

But ...as with many others Bruno Walter was forced into emigration. He joined a slew of European Musicians and others who left for USA, and many more for other places, during the Hitler regime.  
Among those emigres were such notables as Albert Einstein, Arnold Schoenberg, Walter Gropius, Alma Schindler-Mahler-Werfel, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Hans Bethe, Thomas Mann, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Weil, Billy Wilder, Hannah Arendt, and Hans Morgenthau, Hedy Lamarr, Otto Preminger, Franz Werfel and others.By the end of World War II, there were some 130,000 of these German and Austrian refugees living in America.
Which leads me to really want to dip into the stories about these others.
Actors, authors, architects, artists, magnates, musicians ...

But to keep it short:
For example, Albert Einstein wrote his seminal work about Mozart as emigrant in Massachusetts, about which he said "I cannot thank my Fuehrer enough" ...:-)!  With this remark Einstein showed a great sense of satirical humor!

And did you know that Hedy Lamarr wasn't just a pretty face?
We will celebrate the 100. anniversary of  her birth in Austria in 2013!

Several ended up in Hollywood.. writing film music - such as Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

This music, written for the silver screen in which Errol Flynn and others ride/sail forever young, remains even today THE Hollywood sound. Above from Robin Hood, below from The Seahawk

There can be no doubt that Korngold's music has been influenced by the genius of Wagner and Mahler.
Others became leading directors, actors and scriptwriters.
But mentioning them all would take too much of your time, chers readers.
Want to find out about them, go on ...  google ...  LOL!

A words

Last night thousands of A words just kept crawling and creeping, caterwauling and crashing,  around my brain with intermittent intensity.
A...as in
Aeros (lol), Auftakt, Aversion, Anfang, Accustaion, Awareness, Ambassy, Art, Artisan, Amigos, Amis, Afghanistan, Argentina,( you don't have to cry..lol), Appendix, Amusant, Ambiente,
Allegory, Abominable, Alegria, Allusion, Assignment, Alienation, Absolution, Ambulance, Abbatoir, Abash, Abbolish, Allegiance, Allocation, America, Amtrak, Ambrosia, Allowance, Affluence, Asteroid, Arse (as they say in the UK), Arrogance, Availabilty, Affection, Absence, Abode, Aborigine, Abhorrend, Abnormal, Anschlag, Absatz, Ansatz, Anzug, Aufgabe, AuRevoir, Amore, Amour, Abscheu, Anspielung, Amsterdam, Abbotsford, Arsch (auf gut Deutsch), Ass, that too - and, and, and..

Au secours, zu Hilfe, SOS

Why this nightmare filled with A and A and A and A... I have no clue.
They just popped up, those A words. And still reverberate and it is hours later.

Just like that ghostly song that I cannot get out of my head..
yes, that  one from La Strada on which I have blogged many a time. Lest you all forget...

So what next will occupy (not Wallstreet) but my mind?

I've had goats on my mind before, now it's As.

Next ?????

Just you wait!

It will come out of the blue, as these things usually do.

Somewhere I  hear a word or see something

and bingo....

 a knightmare - WEEELLL.

Delayed reaction to the death of favorite author of my childhood

What with all the hoopla over Aeros Hockey, and HGO operas I totally lost tract of the anniversary of the demise of my childhood's hero writer KARL MAY (1842-30.Marz 1912). Yes, the prolific "Penner" (not to be confused with Aeros Jeff Penner absent for many games due to injuries as reported) of adventure novels for children of a certain age (lol) which - in my case - did include girls (double lol).
His life reads like a novel itself. Being a child of very poor parents, he went to work early (child labor laws not yet in place in Germany). Nonetheless he did finish school and gained entry to a teacher's academy. After fruitless search for employment he turned swindler and cheat. That career brought him time, off and on, in jail (1865-74) .
Amazingly, after that he found work as journalist and Editor. In 1880 his path to fame begins as author of Travel novels which he proclaims fraudulently (guess once a fraud always a fraud - tee hee) as personal experiences without having actually done so. Having become wealthy through his books, he finally does travel extensively during 1899-1900 with less than exceptional success.
Now he starts to write philosophical novels which gain him little success. He continues to fight at court against accusations of being a swindler.
Finally on 30. March 1912 he dies at his estate Shatterhand in Radebeul.
Naming his estate after the hero of many a novel shows  his ego and claim to fame.
A fame built on fraud fueled by a superlative imagination. May read and (perhaps copied), looked up geography, and used that found knowledge as the base for all his novels, set anywhere but Europe. His Hero Old Shatterhand with his side kick Winnetou, an Apache hero who appears as embodiment of the nobel red savage.

His Kara Ben Nemsi - a proponent of German technological superiority and his, too, amiable sidekick Hadji Halef Omar lives through events in which we, perhaps, already may recognize seeds of the Islamic extremism of nowadays!

But May's enormous outpouring of inventive imagery garners him entry to noble houses and  recognition as speaker of the hour leads to a lecture "Empor ins Reich der Edelmenschen" on March 22 in Vienna which, it is said, was attended by the unemployed Hitler who may have been inspired by it to create HIS interpretation of the German Superman, but who surely missed May's appeal for peace and enlightenment. Which must have been the reason that Noble Price recipient Bertha von Suttner was also present at that lecture.

May may have been a fraud. But a charismatic fraud for sure.
Writing novels about a foreign world as if he had been there without actually having been there, is an achievement few have done. Parodied and copied even in his own lifetime and more recently, such as in the 2001 film 'Der Schuh de Manitou' by Michael Herbig,  a parody on the Karl May Films of the 1960s and spoofs extensively the characters and motives of May's Winnetou trilogy. And made into a musical as well.


It was precisely that facility of a born wordsmith that inspired the voracious reading of his novels.
By adults as well not only kids with an abundance of imagination.
And the huge success of a series of films in the 60's. (see clips above)
And let us not forget admirers such as Winifred Wagner and Hitler, who read May for inspiration and solace.

Now I must admit, I did gobble them all down with great relish as an 11 year old without questioning a single word or the intent behind it. All the 'Noble Savage Winnetou', the 'German Tourist in the Sand of Araby' (lol) and the single pirate novel "An der Tiger Bruecke"- playing out in Sumatra's Padang- all were read fervently and all fueled my wish for adventures in foreign lands. Which lead  to my emigrating to the USA (Land of Winnetou ;-0), travels to Oklahoma (Trail of Tears etc,) and New Mexico (Pueblo cultures) and perhaps, my fascination with the turquoise.
Perhaps - although delighting in and collecting of (in a very small way) silver Indian jewellery and dolls needs no excuse. Right!

Some time ago on a trip over there I found and bought a couple paperbacks representative of the Winnetou as well as the Kara Ben Nemsi series and - to some small horror - found them somewhat indigestible. Could it be that I haven't read much in German lately?  And that those convoluted sentences so inherent to the German language have become out of favor with me after being so used to simple English prose?

However, I still think the novels worth reading as truly vivid samples of a fertile gone-wild imagination!  Or viewing on DVD...LOL.  HAVE FUN!

BTW the scenes in Winnetou films were actually shot in Croatia, NOT the USA.. and that seems to me so appropriate for May, the inveterate dissembler ....lol!!

Killing Fields of Hockey

Sure feels that way.
What these teams do to gain the upper hand in the race for the Cup(s) borders on "mission impossible"!
Or so it looks. Give or take dirty tricks.
Yes, those so lately in the news.

Hockey is never boring, right? If you accept dirty tricks or not.
From all I've heard and read the NEW hockey without a designated enforcer, opens up skilled players
to be injured.  Of course, being a player of fame will ensure that the BIG Brother in the NHL takes note and assigns penalties commensurate with the injuries inflicted, or so they think.

The fans do not always agree.
As to the length and severity of penalties given.
Sometimes not even that a penalty is the right thing to do.

Another thing that kinda bothers me.. the 'hate' that some fans spout versus some players.
A 'hate'  that includes but is not limited to aspersions on that player's talent and/or sexual preference.
Why do they have to do this?
Why not just admit that this players is more talented than others.
One player has more brain that brawn.
One player seems (I say SEEMS) less macho.
Or another player more (TOO perhaps?) macho.
 Yes, they are 'public figures' and so exposed but do we really have to be so vindictive to be insulting?

I personally could care less as long as player show talent and have a proven record.
Let them be whatever they want after hours!
Of course, anyone who goes public via Twitter etc. IS inviting comments which he may not want to hear or read.
That's his choice and he should be aware of the consequences.
And that's all for today's issue... LOL.

A little Mozart to send you on your way

Ecstasy, Agony and - Relief!

After the agonizing last games I have to admit I feel relief.
Relief that the nailbiting is over for fans.
Relief for the player that they can finally hang up their skates.
Relief that the injured players will be able to heal 100% and- perhaps- get a fresh start here or Elsewhere, for that matter.
Kinda like one feels relief that the long drawn out agony of suffering is over!
I have posted often in the past, that the absence of certain keyplayers sucked into the vortex up North was a true negative.
On top of that the -  IMO - very untimely trading of Casey Wellman for an admittedly somewhat active player up North, BUT NOT here, made a big dent in the scoring phalanx of the Aeros.

diSalvatore, Fredheim and Brodeur

Yes, Di Salvatore skated like a man possessed many times, seemed single handedly dragging his team forward.

Victory at home

Yes, the addition of the hotties Bulmer and Palmieri in tandem with Almond worked out rather well towards the - alas - bitter end.

From the good old days: shorthanded goal by Almond

Yes, injuries and call ups hampered the flow of smooth teamwork.
And let us NOT forget the less than stellar officiating which plagued the AHL all season long, either too little control, or too much ego among the zebras on ice!
And the list could go on.

Now it is time to relax, regroup, brush up, rekindle the flame, wait,
AND HOPE, for the next season of Aeros Hockey! 
Maybe this unfinished business will see a resolve then!
We can only hope!

Go Aeros!

Biting myTongue?



Goaler Bulmer, the Hero of Game 3 - 2012!

Palmieri Nr. 44 (assist 2)

Brodeur - Shut out Winner Game 3- 2012

After the truly surprising win 1-0 (shut out for Brodeur) at Oklahoma City Barons' home ice, with a measly 2900 plus fans in the house -
with THE goal by the
HOT LINE (:-) of Bulmer, Almond, Palmieri -
I may have to eat crow,
bite my tongue
or otherwise backtrack humbly! 

Almond (assist 1 in game 3), and Bulmer in action earlier

So here I am.
Backtracking humbly, that is.

Briefly, I was not present, but heard and read about what went down.
2 PP oppos for Aeros with 0 goal,
7 for OKC with 0.
Brodeur shut out OKC by stopping all 31 sog.
While Danis stopped 20 of 21.


Aeros did a magnificent job in penalty kills of a 5 on 3, and almost immediately after another.
Now they guys face OKC again at their home tomorrow Tuesday and I am otherwise occupied.

Who said Hockey is predictable?
Last year's winners washed out.
In AHL and NHL.
And so the fight continues.
May the team with the biggest luck win this year!
At least we all can watch more Hockey.
BTW lots of ex-Aeros are doing good things elsewhere, alas.
Sightings of Kolanos, Wellman, Pouliot, Khudobin, etc.

BTW should your summer blahs get too strong, there is always table hockey, which seems to be making a huge come back with young, old  players of both sexes.
And there are the 'beer leaguers' playing for fun and beer through the summer everywhere.
One CAN get to watch or play hockey year round, sunshine or not!

IN the twilight zone of AHL hockey

The AHL Season is, almost, over. And is, in essence,  for our home team, I regret to say.
Miracles just do not happen .

Now we look to the battles between the other teams of the West:
Abbotsford and Milwaukie (Krys Kolanos fans can rejoice he did get 2 goals in game one to lead The Heat to a 6-2 win);
San Antonio over Wolves, a 5-2 win in OT;
Toronto barely wins over Rochester 4-3;
 all in Round 1 Game 1.
A bit early to predict the winners among these teams, yet.

Aeros play 1 more game (if they loose), 2 or 3  more (if they win on Sunday) against the Champs OKC on Sunday on their home turf, ahem ice, and it does not portend well,  that Hackett is injured.
And the way he made his painful way off ice into the locker room last night, looked very bad to us in the arena.

Hackett being ministered to by Jody Greeen 4/20/12

Brodeur has done well, all things considered but can he hold up opposite Yanis and against the high scoring OKC Barons in the next game(s)? Not, methinks.

 Brodeur

Between the headache started during the bad thunderstorms and other aches that kind of weather causes, I have truly felt as if  'been through the wringer'.


 The bigger and better guy wins!

The display, rather the horrible slaughter, by the visiting OKC Barons of a diminished but gamely battling Aeros surely did not help. I don't say that there were not a few players who gave their all and perhaps, more than their all; and that the coaches did not try hard to coach, but the ups and downs, the injuries, and sadly, lack of real talent showed; and the streak of bad mojo plus a somewhat less than stellar officiating took their tolls.
2011/12 just wasn't an Aeros nor a Wild year!

The last 2 games I have felt more like praying "Let this be done, this painful dragging out of the inevitable". Never has a 'mercy death', seem more appropriate.
Oh, I know, one ought never to give up hope.
BUT - when it's so painfully evident that the last gasps are imminent, why drag it out even more.
The team suffers, the staff suffers, the fans suffer.
Only the "Schadenfreudige" can enjoy such slow, tortured death of a once promising team!

Remember those days in early season before Calamity Jane aka The Wild happened?

Wellman Goal 1

  @Houston Game in October 2011...Aeros 4 - Wolves 1.. in the days of Ortmeyer and Wellman etc.


Wellman Goal 2