Courtesy of Larwyn, we have this very strange but provocative piece by Gerald Vanderleun. Illustreated with a haunting picture of Ground Zero, this is at once unsettling and strangely hopeful, or at least that is how I read it: The Wind in the Heights And then the first tower came down. […] The cloud lightened and then darkened again and the wind rose and fell away and came back. It rippled your clothing, and the smoke must have had a... Read more
I know it always puzzles my non-Catholic Christian friends when they hear us Papists talk about saints, or “praying” to saints. I’ve often made the distinction that when we talk to our saint friends – those who have gone before us and are now living in the Presence of God and comprising that cloud of witnesses (how could this not be? We believe in Eternal life!) – we really are “talking” to them just as we would talk to anyone... Read more
…we could turn on the television and watch a supremely talented and classy individual simply stand there and sing, and it was magic. No razzledazzle, no special effects, just a magnificent voice, superb musicianship and an artist’s ability to completely give herself over to a song. Watch Miss Ella Fitzgerald move effortlessly from an orchestrated ballad to a jazzy, uptempo piece supported by what sounds like a bass/drum/piano trio, and sing both of them just perfectly – perfect expression, perfect... Read more
A larger-than-life man with an outsized voice that he always said was “a gift from above,” Luciano Pavarotti is passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. I think many were surprised he lived so long, given that malady. A very great artist is gone. There will a thousand blogs posting versions of Nessun Dorma and Ave Maria, and they’re great and it will a joy to see them, but my favorite aria of his was Vesti La Giubba... Read more
Some really splendid versions of a really splendid hymn, O Sacrum Convivium, recall the words of St. Augustine, above: Poor Clares: Now the men of a church choir (I think a few women are singing tenor): The hymn is an antiphon (in the Liturgy of the Hours – prayed by monastics and many other Christians – before the chanting of a psalm) for the Feast of Corpus Cristi, and translates: O Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is consumed, the memory... Read more
It goes, “at the end of the world only two things will survive, cockroaches and Cher.” I never really got the Cher part of the joke, and I have been blessed so far in my life to have been pretty much unacquainted with cockroaches…until now… My Elder Son is doing an additional year of college but due to a long, involved mix-up you don’t really want to hear, his housing was cancelled, and this of course is information we could... Read more
Ah, I love this, one of my favorites from Bryn Terfel’s Handel Arias CD, which is a swell recording, all around, and which I first wrote about here – and which is no longer allowed in my car when my husband is driving. Yes, yes, I know you purists (like my disapproving classical composer Elder Son) it’s transposed into a lower key for the baritone, originally meant for a castrato. I say a carefree, “bite me, I like this; it... Read more
A longish, but I promise, informative and fun “round-up” of things you may or may not be seeing elsewhere. August is generally a “slow news” month, so you’d think the press would be jumping on some of these stories. You’d think. Following up on yesterday’s bit on the questionable background of one several of Hillary Clinton’s financial backers, I did update that her campaign had decided to divest themselves of $23,000 – a fraction of what it had received –... Read more
I’ve gotten a few emails from folks concerned that I’ve been laid up with another ailment. Sorry I’ve been so quiet or raised concern. I’m well…it’s just been very busy. (And of course really backed up on email, again). So, we left Buster at dorm on Friday night, came home Saturday. I gave myself Sat/Sun/Monday to cry, be depressed and eat chocolate (I can’t seem to get enough…I feel too young to be at this “next” stage – the empty... Read more
Can you believe it? The boy wasn’t even driving when I started the blog and now we’re taking him off to school, and yes, this leave-taking is tough. It was hard to leave our Elder Son a few years ago, but at least I still had “one at home…” Now…well, the house is already feeling kind of empty and we feel it keenly. Will likely post something tonight after we get him settled in. Please pray for us, especially that... Read more
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