April is the cruelest blog.
March come in like lion, stays lion-ish at end.
Braving the nonstop rain last month, and thanks to her working for the San Francisco Symphony, the Designated Spouse and I were privileged to see Elvis Costello perform with that fine group of musicians last week.
The first half was a piece he wrote for a Spanish ballet version of MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, and it was quite lovely. The second half was him in concert, reworking some old tunes with a symphonic arrangement, and premiering some new songs – one of which, “She Handed Me the Mirror,” was commissioned by the Royal Danish Opera, for a proposed opera about Hans Christian Andersen. It was a real stunner. Just beautiful.
Who knew Elvis C. could be such a crooner? The high points (for me) were “Allison” and “Watching the Detectives.” The latter was given a kind of “Peter Gunn” hard-boiled arrangements, which echoed some of the original song – with the violin section aping the little organ fill from the end of the chorus.
He also explained the song in an introduction, clearing up some confusion on my part. I always thought the song was merely opaque and bitter, about some cold-hearted femme fatale with whom he was involved: “I don't know how much more of this I can take. She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake.”
Well, it turns out it’s really about a girlfriend watching some cop show on television and not paying enough attention to him. How oddly disappointing!
He also said that most of the songs he wrote as a young man were thinly veiled fantasies about wanting to kill somebody. I can relate!
In other personal news…
A friend of the Child Bride was part of a recital today, and after attending same, the Wee Wife and I decided to duck into a cheap diner for some greasy spoon eats. Sitting across from us was a very angry security guard having what looked like Swiss Steak. He was muttering to himself under his breath, and a vein was throbbing on his forehead. The Child Bride could read his name tag: “Troy Copeland.” Watch for this name in the news! Could be today, could be tomorrow, could be a week… but he WILL snap.
The dead are the lucky ones?
From a report to TCS Daily from one Forrest M. Mims III.
“… I watched in amazement as a few hundred members of the Texas Academy of Science rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to a speech that enthusiastically advocated the elimination of 90 percent of Earth's population by airborne Ebola. The speech was given by Dr. Eric R. Pianka, the University of Texas evolutionary ecologist and lizard expert who the Academy named the 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist.”
…
“Professor Pianka said the Earth as we know it will not survive without drastic measures . Then, and without presenting any data to justify this number, he asserted that the only feasible solution to saving the Earth is to reduce the population to 10 percent of the present number.
“He then showed solutions for reducing the world's population in the form of a slide depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . War and famine would not do, he explained. Instead, disease offered the most efficient and fastest way to kill the billions that must soon die if the population crisis is to be solved.
“Pianka then displayed a slide showing rows of human skulls, one of which had red lights flashing from its eye sockets.”
Mr. Mimms III was alarmed by this speech, as was Matt Drudge, and many rightwing bloggers. I’d be alarmed too, except this has the unmistakable whiff of prankery. Jonathan Swift, anybody?
Well, that settles it then.
From UPI:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says golf fairways would suffer if illegal immigrants were returned to their native country.
"You and I are beneficiaries of these jobs," Bloomberg told his WABC-AM radio co-host, John Gambling. "You and I both play golf; who takes care of the greens and the fairways in your golf course?"
And another problem solved!
If the abortion ban stands in South Dakota, the Oglala Sioux tribe will open a women’s clinic on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
With casino attached?
Braving the nonstop rain last month, and thanks to her working for the San Francisco Symphony, the Designated Spouse and I were privileged to see Elvis Costello perform with that fine group of musicians last week.
The first half was a piece he wrote for a Spanish ballet version of MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, and it was quite lovely. The second half was him in concert, reworking some old tunes with a symphonic arrangement, and premiering some new songs – one of which, “She Handed Me the Mirror,” was commissioned by the Royal Danish Opera, for a proposed opera about Hans Christian Andersen. It was a real stunner. Just beautiful.
Who knew Elvis C. could be such a crooner? The high points (for me) were “Allison” and “Watching the Detectives.” The latter was given a kind of “Peter Gunn” hard-boiled arrangements, which echoed some of the original song – with the violin section aping the little organ fill from the end of the chorus.
He also explained the song in an introduction, clearing up some confusion on my part. I always thought the song was merely opaque and bitter, about some cold-hearted femme fatale with whom he was involved: “I don't know how much more of this I can take. She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake.”
Well, it turns out it’s really about a girlfriend watching some cop show on television and not paying enough attention to him. How oddly disappointing!
He also said that most of the songs he wrote as a young man were thinly veiled fantasies about wanting to kill somebody. I can relate!
In other personal news…
A friend of the Child Bride was part of a recital today, and after attending same, the Wee Wife and I decided to duck into a cheap diner for some greasy spoon eats. Sitting across from us was a very angry security guard having what looked like Swiss Steak. He was muttering to himself under his breath, and a vein was throbbing on his forehead. The Child Bride could read his name tag: “Troy Copeland.” Watch for this name in the news! Could be today, could be tomorrow, could be a week… but he WILL snap.
The dead are the lucky ones?
From a report to TCS Daily from one Forrest M. Mims III.
“… I watched in amazement as a few hundred members of the Texas Academy of Science rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to a speech that enthusiastically advocated the elimination of 90 percent of Earth's population by airborne Ebola. The speech was given by Dr. Eric R. Pianka, the University of Texas evolutionary ecologist and lizard expert who the Academy named the 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist.”
…
“Professor Pianka said the Earth as we know it will not survive without drastic measures . Then, and without presenting any data to justify this number, he asserted that the only feasible solution to saving the Earth is to reduce the population to 10 percent of the present number.
“He then showed solutions for reducing the world's population in the form of a slide depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . War and famine would not do, he explained. Instead, disease offered the most efficient and fastest way to kill the billions that must soon die if the population crisis is to be solved.
“Pianka then displayed a slide showing rows of human skulls, one of which had red lights flashing from its eye sockets.”
Mr. Mimms III was alarmed by this speech, as was Matt Drudge, and many rightwing bloggers. I’d be alarmed too, except this has the unmistakable whiff of prankery. Jonathan Swift, anybody?
Well, that settles it then.
From UPI:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says golf fairways would suffer if illegal immigrants were returned to their native country.
"You and I are beneficiaries of these jobs," Bloomberg told his WABC-AM radio co-host, John Gambling. "You and I both play golf; who takes care of the greens and the fairways in your golf course?"
And another problem solved!
If the abortion ban stands in South Dakota, the Oglala Sioux tribe will open a women’s clinic on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
With casino attached?
posted by Merle Kessler at 7:24 PM
1 Comments:
We can only wonder what Troy thought, if you had happened to leave on a
☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
Hi! I'm
MERLE KESSLER
☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
nametag from the recital.
-D.E.
(thrilled to discover that a unicode
smiley character exists. Who knew?)
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