Split personality. Liking the arts, especially opera, and hockey and Los Toros. I know, I know THAT one is non pc currently. But I can't help it saw some in Spain and got hooked, but good.
But on the other hand right now opera and hockey are in the forefront!
and it is time to reflect - if one wants - on the past year 2013. A year filled with momentous events, deaths of the famous and not so famous, good news and bad, fun times, pain,
and so much more.
As my chers readers know, we spent 2 months in the OLD home country..
Wien, the church spire at right is where I grew up!
QM2
sailing to and from.
Followed by THE PIB and 2 sets of injections which - finally - worked.
Some great operatic experiences, some not so great.
Some fun hockey times...
Everblades vs Eagles
Fall pods in Hill country
even if one had to travel to have them!
But, as they say, travel broadens one's mind.
The joys of looking at fall pods interspersed with late blooming flowers.
Pelican grooming
The beauty of birds at rest,
and
in flight,and while diving for food - that one was too fast for my finger on the button -
thus this
Sunset at Bonita Springs
Sunrise in the Hill country
Sun's Reflection on the Gulf
The changing light over water and land.
Admiring the architecture of the Old countries............
Prague
and the New ....
Bridge over (untroubled) waters
Museum experiences in Florida and Germany
Dali in St. Petersburg
The Ishtar gate in Berlin Museum
And so it went.....
2103
Full of fun and excitement.
But also pain and , finally, relieve!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
Lately I have been thinking weird thoughts.
Well, weird in the way that they are disjointed and disconnected from my daily life!
Rummaging around my CD library seeking out symphonies by Mahler, Schubert, Dvorak, Beethoven, who all died before completing a tenth symphony.
Then pulling out recordings by Callas, then Piaf.
And then it hit me:
Piaf's voice, to me, is possibly the only voice that can beat Callas's .
Both singers have that rare raw, heart wrenching deeply felt sound.
And when it comes to concert music, I’ve always enjoyed listening to recordings more than live performances, and I have attended live performances in St. Louis, Houston and elsewhere. But at home I can close my eyes and just enjoy. Or I can listen to it with my ears, while reading a book. Or I can sit with legs up, glass of the bubbly beside me and enjoy it all in my own personal space!
I can get up if I have to, twist around if I must, and not worry I may disturb neighbors at a concert! Sure, CD's are polished and edited to create that perfect sound balance. But when it comes to concerts I say why not! Perhaps, because I do not play an instrument and so am not mesmerized by what players do on stage!
Now when it comes to opera. I am of the other opinion.
Opera, as Theater, MUST be experienced live. Flaws and all.
The voice is not a perfect instrument, the voice varies with age, experience, health.. and yet can produce sounds that awe, stun and transport. Nothing, IMO, beats a LIVE performance.
And soon I will have them at the OH and HGO. I may then blog on the performance I have seen!
In a dire emergency, I can watch a DVD, if I must just, that I not suffer withdrawal symptoms ;-).
And as I also enjoy hockey, I say the same for that. LIVE is better than on Television, but if that's all there is, I will condescend to watching on the tube, as long as it is a very BIG one, lol!
And that is now again possible, albeit by a drive to San Antonio
Rampage vs Icehogs
, or elsewhere, since our Houston team was moved north.
Now, I do admit, that I may travel to see opera in Santa Fe
Loretto chapel, mystery staircase
,
Boston
Boston
and other cities.
But would not as readily do so for hockey.
Well, I have been an opera fan longer than an hockey fan :-).
Of course, going somewhere where I can have both,
plus musea... that to me is the perfect holiday!
Which is coming up in December!
Better Half and I are trying a new/old thing.
We are going back in time BEFORE personal computers and smart phones. Even social media!
Not sure how we shall manage :-)?
I have been told there still are Cybercafes over the big pond, somewhere -
many have passed on due to I-pads, and the ubiquitous smart phones!
But look at it this way:
no portable electronics of value, thieves will not be lead into temptation by us :-)!
***************************************************************************************** Now after reading and hearing about another dismal night for the so recently 'lost' team on ice, we shall not - really - miss Aeros Hockey.
Kuemps, from a better game!
Hockey of any kind, yes. Good grief... they lost 5-2 even with Kuemps (maybe he was a bit rusty from warming benches with the Wild).
McCollum from 29.3 and again last night
So, I read that the morale in the locker room was baaad!
Because of the wearing of the green=envy that some are called up and others are not. Guys, you play in the AHL! And guys will be called up, and other be sent back, that's life in the AHL. You know that, or ought to know that from the start! While you skate for a team, you ought to give a 100% to the success of that team, unless you are sick. So, get over it already - and play Hockey! Primadonne you are not-not yet anyways! And maybe never!
Look at AHL players like Di Salvatore, Ortmeyer and - as much as I hate to admit it, my personal Soft Spot, Beaudoin. These are good players for the team they play for, and are respected for the effort they keep putting out! And fans DO appreciate that! Sadly, IMO, some never will be Stars at an NHL level! ************************************************************************************************ And on the Opera front: I shall miss Tristan and Isolde, and Il Trovatore at HGO, and Falstaff at The OH! But I shall experience Verdi's Oberto at La Scala, Wagner's The Flying Dutchman at Staatsoper and Ligeti's Le Danse Macabre at Komische Oper-Berlin. So that makes up for it, partially anyway! Our schedule is filling up with meetings, parties, and tours to places never visited before. And the array of offerings on the ships seems endless... lectures, musical interludes, plays, shows, dances, and ...shopping at Hermes and others... a bit too rich for our taste - plus the suitcase is crammed already. Stuff for cold, hot and in-between weather, for casual and dressy. No, we are not hauling along long evening gowns and tuxedos... those events will just have to occur without our presence! Maps, vouchers and other information re apartments, transfers, streetcar tickets, pharmacopeia as well. Prepared, you bet we are! Including Italian and German Dictionaries for Better Half - I will have to resort to the Italian one as well. Because, really, just going to Italian Operas a lot, does not really prepare one! How many operas deal with calling for taxis, interpreting the menu, shopping for items??? Asking directions?
Mangia and Piangi.. is all very well to know but I don't expect having anyone over for dinner to ask them to Mangia; and I sure don't want to piangi - especially NOT over a missed train connection ;-). It all may become a maledizione!
Better to think "non fa niente" and enjoy it all-one way or another! And in this vein I wish all my chers readers, if listed as followers, or just passing by at times,
For hockey fans in Houston it was a very good start. The Aeros played well, after an initially sluggish first period, to win over OKC by 2. Hackett, often grumbled about because he was seen as having 'an attitude', must have made New Year's Resolution to be more flexible, react faster and in general keep his eyes on the puck when it counts.
Larsson, Hackett
And we salute that! Don't we? The young contingent (Zucker, Granlund, Medvec, Larsson, etal) proved their value, and some of the more 'veteran', even though still under 25, players seemingly caught fire from them. Coach Torchettis' patience is starting to pay off, his 'system' seems to have been absorbed by the guys and - voila - the team is raking in more wins. The Absence of the NHL with its demands on shipping up players to warm their benches spur of the moment, is palpable as in improved competion..all AHL teams seem stuffed with so much talent! AHL teams still need to ship up players from the lower levels who may or not be adequate as replacements for injured players. They, do however, really work hard BECAUSE they too want to move up! In any case it IS more fun to watch hockey right now. Do we really miss the overpriced NHL games? http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-labor-talks-expected-resume-100833081--nhl.html
Will this, not exactly 'Superglued', saver-patch hold for the next 4 years?
Some hope so, I don't, really. Maybe, barely, until the next president 'inherits the wind', and I don't really mean wind power subsidies ;-)!
Who said that being elected turns one into a sage immediately?
Maybe it is past time to limit how often a politician can seek re-election!
Some have been, and still are, serving (and that begs the question whom they truly serve???) decades for 'us'. They've settled into a life of plushness, security with excellent benefits and the, ah yes, so neat feeling of being in power and inviolate.
Now I can accept two terms. The first year is adjustment, the next are - maybe - actually active, the last will be spent in running for re-election.
And if re-elected, the first year of the second term will have to be spent appeasing and empowering those that helped the re-election! FINALLY the full next years can be productively given to governing.
And that is it.
No more 'dying in harness' on the job at the venerable ages when fossilisation sets in, when past achievements (however minute) take on the looks of
permanency! When they feel entitled to being kow-towed to and placed on pedestals!
When they think they are invincible and never wrong!
Of course, it is so comfortable up there, with good pay, great benefits and all the security of being protected. And even afterwards, the 'pensions' are nothing to be sneezed at. Although...some seem a bit paltry as gleaned from the article cited below:
"For example, according to the Congressional Research Service, 290 members of
congress who had retired under the Civil Service Retirement System as of October
2006 receive an average annual pension of $60,972. Not bad, but five-figure
annuity is chump change compared with what some civil servants make each year.
One California fire chief collects $436,691 a year -- a combination of his
padded pension and school consulting income, while a former Congressman
convicted of embezzlement collected $100,000 a year." Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/09/01/8-Outrageously-Cushy-Government-Pensions.aspx#rzkZyhwwGrYfzIbF.99
Having - I hope - giving my chers readers plenty to discuss with the above quotes, DO enjoy a good 2013, whatever it may bring including rain, snow and other things Mother Nature will throw at us! Such as meteor showers January 3, 2013 in the wee hours before dawn When we say January 3, we mean in the wee hours before dawn, in northerly latitudes all around the globe. Face the general direction of north-northeast, but take in as wide an expanse of sky as possible. Watch from about 2 a.m. until dawn. And annularsolar eclipse on May 10, 2013!
Waehrend wir auf das naechste Hockeymatch warten (eh schon heute Abend), schreibe ich mal wieder fuer meine Deutschsprachigen Leser(innen). War gestern abend lange am Telefon mit einer 'alten', ahem, langjaehrigen Freundin. Sie lebt im Westen der USA und ich im Suedwesten. Da gibts natuerlich gleich einen Unterschied, wie wir das Leben und seine Erfahrungen betrachten. Sie ist 'emotionell' sehr empfindlich. Ich eher weniger. Sie spricht auf das seelische Empfinden an. Bei mir ist - so nehme ich an - alles mehr auf grosse geistige Vorstellungskraft zurueckzufuehren.
Als Beispiel: In Sedona gibt es dieses Kapellchen, wie ein Schwalbennest in die roten Felsen gebaut. Sie fand spirituale Einsichten bei ihrem Besuch. Ich empfang es als Gebaeude aufregend, fand die Aussicht auf diese rote Felsenlandschaft ueberwaeltigend, aber hatte keine 'religioese/spirituale' Eindrucke. Wer hat da besser abgeschnitten? Ist ja auch egal. Auf allen Faelle ist ein Besuch dieser Kapelle ein sehr interessantes Erlebnis.
Sie ist mehr auf "New Age/Traditional Native American" Musik eingestellt.
Ich halt, wie Sie, chers Leser(innen) eh schon wissen, auf Opern. Und damit unten ein paar Ausschnitte. Es ist ja bekannt, das ich maennliche Stimmen bevorzuge :-D, so wird NUR ein Duell der Weiber dabei sein... just so! Das Erste, da singen ein paar Tenoere von Weltrang die selbe Arie: "Di quella pira" aus"Il Trovatore" (Verdi) auch von dort, ein Match zwischen Mezzosopranistinnen mit "Stride la Vampa":
Und fuer Hockeyfans noch ein paar Photos vom (mit neuer artandhockey Camera - bis zu 7 zoom) San Antonio Rampage/Grand Rapids Griffins Match Up.
For Hockey fans.... especially those who like watching on tiny screens LOL:
4 Horsemen of Hockey Apocalypse
"Fox Sports Net, which holds the rights to 13 teams, including the Carolina Hurricanes, is the one closest to agreeing on a deal allowing in-market live streaming to broadband and mobile devices, sources said. Comcast SportsNet, which holds the rights to four teams, also is talking to the league.
FSN holds the rights to five teams that are streaming preseason games live this year: the Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators. Comcast holds the rights to one team that plans to stream a preseason game: the San Jose Sharks.
Broadband and wireless broadcasts wouldn’t cost the team a lot of extra money because video broadcasts for the games are already being produced. During this preseason, the Hurricanes have used their in-house video feed combined with audio from the radio broadcast to produce a broadband broadcast. And during the regular season, FSN already is slated to produce 65 television broadcasts of Hurricanes games".
Per Russo's early morning rant:
Wellman Matt Kassian, Justin Falk, Marco Scandella and Drew Bagnall noved up!
Robbie Earl, has to "get back on the saddle and start from ground zero," aand what better place than Texas where cowboys are still ridfing the range.
Confirmed Aeros for the season are: Cody Almond, Colton Gillies, Carson McMillan and Chad Rau, Prosser, Tyler Cuma, Maxim Noreau and Jared Spurgeon and goalie Matt Hackett.
"Earl, Petr Kalus, Warren Peters and Jon DiSalvatore were placed on waivers and will be demoted Tuesday if unclaimed. Defenseman Jamie Fraser cleared waivers Monday".
Anton Khudobin's future still hangs in balance, but indications point to a new hire to replace Harding!
For Opera fans: the biggest news is that the 'seemingly indestructible' Placido Domingo steps down as Director for National Opera in Washington
now that the NHL and AHL schedules are out, the Aeros team is in place plus or minus a few last minute free agent signings, if any, the team's system established, we, the fans, can just sit back, choose our games, if we do not buy the whole season ticket package and wait for day one!
Or we can start planning our trips to
a) coincide with OUR team's away schedule, or
b) compare the hockey and the opera schedules and arrange trips around both.
Which is what I'd rather do, so San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Estero, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Sarasota and more, are definitely on our agenda.
Plus some scheduled surgery for Better Half which will restrict his movements for about 2-3 weeks, but after THAT we are free to go again.
It would be a neat and different thing to see OUR team in Minnesota, plus the Motherteam's face off with our OLD team, the St. Louis Blues... alas, there is NO opera playing at that exact time we'd like to see (the week before, some time after that February 12th) but nothing the night before or a night after, BIG SIGH.
And as much as I like Hockey, an expensive trip without an opera or two is not quite the thing when we can have that and more in Florida...Tampa (Tampa Bay Lightening), Estero (Everblades), Ft.Lauderdale (Panthers), Sarasota (2 Operas - The Crucible AND I Lombardi!) etc. plus lolling in Bonita Springs ;-0!
Meanwhile, Opera in the Heights artists are arriving for a Zarzuela Evening, and start rehearsals for The Tales of Hoffmann, while at HGO, Madame Butterfly and Peter Grimes are the first operas in its repertory plus a much touted Mariachi Opera with favorites, like Octavio Moreno (Baritone) David Guzman (Tenor) and Mariachi Vargas, one of the best known and much traveled group, sample clip below.
the coming hockey season IS waiting for spectacular skating, scoring, few injuries, lots of old faces, and plenty new ones to raise our hopes for a CUP...be it Kelly, Calder or Stanley-the competition is THE thing and the edge of seat, nailbiter games are exhilarating - ALWAYS.
Hockey here! SOON.OCTOBER!
a vacation trip is the planning and the dreaming.
What to do, see, smell, feel, and best of all, to remember after.
The first stop the annual pilgrimage to Santa Fe and Opera !
A new opera and a rarely performed one.
And the enchantment that, to me, is New Mexico
The second stop:
really new territory-in Arizona.
The Red Rocks of Sedona-in a pink jeep?
Grand Canyon-via rail and bus ... the comfortable way there!
Feeling the ghostly presence of people past.
Petroglyphs, adobe houses, kivas...
Why did they abandon them?
Why did they move?
Die out?
Why? When?
Theories abound, none are 100% proven.
And their voices whisper in the wind-you still can hear them! From an earlier trip: cliff dwellings at Manitou Springs Colorado: Anazasi?)
