if you haven't seen this yet...

Jay Leno's 10@10 Segment with Barney Frank



they could be a comic duo that would rival Abbott & Costello...

amazing...

and very beautiful...

Lorenzo : the Flying French Man...
Uploaded by alatebo

Texas primary election/causus disaster...

A lot of people are saying that the comples procedures used in Texas could be a disaster. As much as I can tell, and it is very confusing, anyone who votes in the regular primary then is allowed to join a caucus in the evening to vote again, so to speak. These caucuses choose ⅓ of the delegates to the convention.

The anticipated problems come from the planning that has gone on to navigate this bizarre system. Mayhill Fowler over at Huffpost calls it the 'Primacaucus'.

The Texas Two-Step is not a primary and a caucus. It is a primary and a "precinct convention." This terminology, alone, has Texans scratching their heads. As a questioner from Dallas TV said in a conference call with the Obama Campaign Friday, "we are getting calls into the station; people are confused. Is there going to be anything else on election night?" You'd think Texans would know by now. But ask anybody with the Iowa and Nevada Democratic parties, and they will tell you that voters have to be given instructions over and over again.

Beside the amount of time it takes to train the people running the caucuses, it will take time tonight to train the people involved in the actual voting.

In addition, there are reports that the sites of the actual caucuses have many problems. One report has a caucus located at a senior center that will only hold 350 when the district incorporates a university that has 10,000 eligible voters. Oh, and there are only 35 parking spaces at the senior center.

well, now. what can one say? this is Texas after all. the state that gave us you know who...

we just might have fun with this. it could go on well into the night, giving MSNBC's Chris Matthews enough fodder that he'll continuously have orgasm after orgasm...

one thing i can - i'm not going to stay up to watch the festivities. i can wait until morning for the instant replays...

RSC in London, England...

now, here's something that would have been a big help in high school when studying Romeo and Juliet. It's not from the Royal Shakespeare Company of England. it's from the Reduced Shakespeare Company



this was Part 1. here is Part 2. it's even greater.



romeo, romeo. whereforth art thou romeo?

did you look down? huh?

if you have a theatre, symphony, sports, dance or opera subscription...

you may not know the name Danny Newman but he had a direct bearing on your life, especially with the 10% discount you usually receive from having that subscription.

Danny Newman wrote the book on subscriptions, Subscribe Now!, that is still used today as the bible for most organization in the arts and other areas. One could say that he single-handedly help save the arts in the world.

He was also the co-founder of the Lyric Opera of Chicago along with Carol Fox and a few others, not only one of the premier opera companies in the world but also one of the most successful.

Danny died this weekend at the age of 88. He was a marvel.

I met Danny a number of times over the years, with the restaurant at which I worked and through friends. He could not be easily forgotten. He had a story about everything in the arts and everyone in the opera world. Yet, I never heard a disparaging word from him on anyone. Heaven knows, in my life, I have heard some hair-raising stories about some very famous people. [AND no, i won't tell.] You can read some of the stories in a book he wrote last year - Tales of a Theatrical Guru. There are stories in it from Luciano Pavarotti to Jimmy Durante to Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy to Maria Callas.

Danny also was famous at the Lyric as the bearer of bad news. If Danny walked out on stage before a performance, you would hear 3,2000 people groan all at once. He was there to announce that one of the singers had cancelled tonight's production. If you were lucky, he was announcing that "though indisposed by a cold, ________ has graciously decided to sing tonight and begs your understanding and forgiveness." John Von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune portrayed it best in today's obit:

"La-dies and gen-tle-men ... " he would begin, his voice ringing with clarion fervor, like a latter-day Moses delivering the 10 Commandments.

Before he retired, he was also the voice that you heard asking you to turn off your pagers and cellphones. No one ever booed..., they usually applauded.

It was always a warm and pleasant feeling when you saw Danny and you always ended up laughing. Appropriately, the Lyric named its Box Office after him when he retired. Talk about a fitting gift to the man who gave to so many others...

it does take a queen for the right perspective...

Mario Cantone:

"There is nothing stranger than seeing a 45-year-old woman in a baby doll dress"

about Marie Osmond's ragdoll get-up on Dancing with the Stars

i love Mario Cantone, especially the stories about his family and his aunt. being from an Italian family, i can really identify with it.....

45-year-old babydoll?

if you read this quickly, hopefully, you didn't get a mental picture... oops, to late!

sorry...

you are in luck though. i couldn't find a photo of her in it. only the video

- i mean, if you're up to it or if you haven't seen it or... if you liked it?







UPDATE: 2:20 pm - for those of you in the Chicagoland area, i just saw this in today's paper. Marie will be here NEXT week on Friday with her Magic of Christmas show. you're in luck.

[i don't believe that i typed the word lust initially instead of luck. is my Freudian slip showing? you always have to let a girl know when she can't see behind herself.... oops, i think i just had a nellie attack. lord, i haven't had one of those in years! forgot how good they can feel...]

busy week(s)...

Posting is kind of limited for me the past and current week. I'm working a couple of days. [I love working only 4-5 days a month!] There are also a lot of social type engagements planned.

Last Friday I went to what probably is the second best opera performance/production I've ever seen - Handel's Giulio Cesare. Great, great, great! You can read the reviews here, here and here.

On Sunday I went to a discussion with David Daniels, the star of the opera and spoke briefly with him at the reception after. Fascinating. The #1 countertenor in the world, highly sought after by all the big opera houses, considered one of the biggest opera stars of the day, and totally out as a proud gay man.

Last night, friends took me to see "Jersey Boys". Great music. I didn't know much about the history of the group. If what they presented is true, it wasn't very pretty. The second act was heartbreaking.

Thursday I'm going to the opening night gala and screening of the movie "Shelter" at

The Chicago Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival is in its 26th year. I've read a lot about Shelter and can't wait to see it. It sounds great. Actor Brad Rowe from the movie is going to be there.

The week ends with dinner at friends' home on Saturday that is always a great meal.




i gotta tell ya. i highly recommend this retirement thing to everyone. i'm glad i didn't wait until i would be too old and feeble to enjoy it and took early retirement. anyone who worries about not knowing what they'll do if they retire has nothing to worry about. i'm always busy, even if i'm not doing anything! that sounds weird, but it's true!

one thing i know for sure - i'll need next week to recuperate. fat chance! next week there's another opera, more films at the festival, and on and on and on...

here's a video of the Tony Awards show with a medley from the Broadway cast of Jersey Boys. enjoy...

hammer king...

there is absolutely no point to this post except to share something really cool, a neat trick with a hammer. a good friend sent it to me. [thank you, Thelma!] it's in German, but you don't have to understand German to know what's going on. watch closely. it took me a couple of seconds to catch on...

Hammer King

neat, huh?

NBC pulls out of iTunes...

NBC pulled out of the iTunes agreement with Apple over pricing. They want more charged for their shows! So what else is new?

So today they announce an agreement with Amazon.com's Unbox service -NBC in Deal With Amazon to Sell Shows on the Web.

HELLO!

I just looked at the Amazon.com Unbox website for NBC shows. THEY'RE CHARGING $1.99!

AND... instead of the $9.99 for movies, Unbox charges $14.99! Oh, yeah, you can rent the movie for $3.99, but what are the requirements? You can only use a PC; you have to download the Unbox video player; you have 30 days to begin viewing it and once you start 24 hours before it is erased automatically. Netflix is easier. Not to mention cheaper starting at $4.99 a month and you can keep the movie as long as you want and take as long as you want to watch it.

sheesh... maybe NBC is getting a bigger cut from Amazon.com but what are consumers getting from this? the shaft...

the everything test...

I've always liked these silly things on the internet - What Color Are You?, What martini are you [Sapphire, twist, blue cheese olive], etc. They are all kind of fun and can make you think about things sometimes.

Well this one is supposed to be the daddy of them all - The Everything Test. This one purports that all the questions affect all the results....

Here are my results. It actually gets a lot of things correct. The only one that is totally wrong is my being more lazy than workaholic. Of course, that may be from my answering the work questions being retired rather than actually having a job right now [and even that may change in the near future]. As far as being more engineering mind than artistic mind, it makes no sense. As a learner I am what is known as an abstract random, meaning that anything that is in highly sequential order totally throws me for a loop. Blast me with everything all at once and I can almost instantly make heads and tails of it. I hated math until I was forced to teach it.

The Everything Test

There are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all.

Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-)

Personality You are more logical than emotional, more concerned about others than concerned about self, more atheist than religious, more loner than dependent, more lazy than workaholic, more rebel than traditional, more engineering mind than artistic mind, more cynical than idealist, more leader than follower, and more extroverted than introverted. As for specific personality traits, you are outgoing (100%), innovative (86%), intellectual (81%), adventurous (69%).

Stereotypes Old Geezer 83% Punk Rock 80% Prep 77%

Life Experience Sex 31% Substances 19% Travel 56%

Politics Your political views would best be described as Liberal, whom you agree with around 86% of the time.

Socioeconomic Your attitude toward life best associates you with Upper Class. You make more than 91% of those who have taken this test, and 28% more than the U.S. average.

If your life was a movie, it would be rated PG-13. By the way, your hottness rank is 57%, hotter than 37% of other test takers.

TAKE THE TEST
brought to you by thatsurveysite

The thing I agree with more than anything else with my results? cynical. Through and through. Though I much prefer the word sardonic: grimly mocking or cynical; trenchant.

The sex part is interesting. Though we all like to think of ourselves as adventuresome, romantic and kinky, I think we not only tend to exaggerate but are really quite conservative for the most part.

try the test. have fun...

Jerry Hadley...

died this past Wednesday after shooting himself in the head on July 12th. Suicide is always a sad thing when someone takes the ultimate hopeless escape. It's especially unfortunate when it's someone who creates beauty and enjoyment.

I had the privilege of seeing Mr. Hadley many times on stage live. He was always a pleasure and gave great performance. He performed all over the world including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. He was a staple at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and a native of Illinois.

The video below is of Leonard Bernstein's operetta Candide. It was the last performance that Bernstein conducted before his death. It is especially poignant because the maestro hand-picked the entire cast, especially Mr. Hadley and soprano June Anderson who is singing with him. Mr. Hadley was 55 years-old.



p.s. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you will understand that I am particularly fond of the last line of the work:

"Any questions?"

the lion sleeps tonight...

Hank Medress is the voice on one of the most popular songs written, the title of this post. He died at the age of 68 this past week. Below is what probably has become the most well-liked version produced:



brings a smile to my face every time I watch it...

the lion is asleep...

because sometimes...

I just wanna @#$@% dance!


Thanks, Bob, aka Little Voice.

You made me laugh, bounce and smile making my day better...

back...

poorer, but back. What stays in Las Vegas is your money. If you go there realizing that it's what happens, you'll have fun. and we did.

My friends and I finished off my month-long birthday/retirement festival with a little jaunt to Las Vegas and it was great. We all had a ball.

The start was a little auspicious for me: couldn't find the laptop power cord, found it but forgot the computer (hence, no posts for the entire week!); forgot about rush hour traffic; barely made the flight (5 minutes); the luggage didn't make the flight (it got there 2½ hours later); forgot the iPod's earbuds; forgot my book to read on the plane; sat between one guy who hacked and coughed all the way there and another one who spilled a full cup of coffee everywhere; and I had to take the most enormous dump of my life and couldn't do anything about it until we reached 36,000 feet. It was 78℉ when we left Chicago at 7:30 am. When we got to Las Vegas at 9:40 am, it was 43℉ and very windy! The descent was really rough because of the wind.

It was a real adventure.

We stayed at New York New York. It's a fun hotel/casino. The slot machines are a ripoff though. We didn't see anyone win any big jackpots the entire time.

They taught me a new compulsive game - three-card poker. It's more addictive than the roulette wheel.

The Wynn is an experience. It's beautiful and very welcoming. I noticed that the dealers and the pit-bosses aren't really like those at other casinos. They're actually friendly and helpful. When they were teaching me three-card even the pit-boss was helping. She looked at my second hand and said, "Ohhh. The curse of the queen-nine!" She then proceeded to explain the game in more detail and what things to look for while playing. The other places are poker-face [pun intended] and give no reaction. They'll even tell you that they'll get into trouble if they don't follow the rules exactly. The Wynn will be the next place we stay, I'm sure.

The best part of the trip was the new Cirque du Soleil's The Beatle's "LOVE". Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and the Octopus's Garden were my favorite parts. I forgot how great their druggie, druggie music really is.

I've seen a number of their productions, and though each one seems to outdo the previous, this one is by far the best one! Here's a little video I found on youtube.



If you're going to go to Las Vegas, I highly recommend LOVE.

Now, I have to decide what my life is going to be like from here on out. Well, at least for the immediate future. Time for me is #1 on the agenda for at least 6 months...

whattaya think...?

reality...

Can we be seeing the result of all those faux-reality shows playing a part in western culture?

WHEN confronted with the prickly question of whether to disclose their illnesses, Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy divined a simple strategy, historians say. They dissembled. They lied. They covered up or simply kept their mouths shut to keep Americans in the dark. Revealing All Before Anyone Else Can, New York Times, March 25, 2007

Thrity-five years ago, Sen. Thomas Eagleton, then Democratic vice-presidential candidate, admitted that he had been treated for depression. He was forced to withdraw his candidacy.

Now, Sen. John Edwards and his wife call a press conference to announce that her cancer is back and is malignant. They are going to continue with his campaign for president.

V. P. Al Gore talks about his bouts with depression and no one really bats an eye. Hell, with the tragic death of his son and the stupid loss of the presidency in 2001, who wouldn't be depressed.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy goes into rehab. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announces that his father committed suicide and he had to deal with it for many years. The top three Republican presidential candidates have been married 8 times between them and if Newt decides to run it will be more - not to mention the adultery going along with it. So what's with the change in Americans' acceptance?

As much as I prefer him over the yahoo in the office now, I think that Bill Clinton directly had a lot to do with this phenomenon, rather than those reality shows. Bill Clinton had excapades in a little closet off of the Oval Office and the Republicans impeached him. It was no-holds barred in the news coverage because the right wing-nut christianists delighted in their hatred of the man and used every opportunity to impugn him. To this day, I am not really certain where their hatred comes from and it is stealthly being transferred to his wife and her bid for the office, in addition to the reasons they have to hate Hillary herself. Real or imagined.

I think that most everyone, at least those with any common sense, has come to the awareness that the reality shows they are bombarded with are, in fact, orchestrated and scripted. I don't watch American Idol, but I have seen Sanjaya's last performance on Olbermann and the internet and I can't imagine [what am I saying? Yes, I can] a worse onslaught to my ears. Sadly, I can hear perfect pitch and he was worse than, than... Andrea Bocelli could ever be. [Now, that statement can cause me a lot of trouble.]

So, maybe what is happening is a blurring of what reality actually is. I think that Robin Williams in one of his best bits said it best...

reality. what a concept...

in a world of dreams...

...we are motes of dust in the eye of imagination.

I seldom watch movies with messages. I like escapist stories that take me away from the concept of reality. I've seen Clear and Present Danger only a couple of times less than The Bourne Supremacy. If I'm flipping channels and come across either one of these movies, I'm hooked again. Usually for the gazillionth time.

The The Dust Factory caught my eye early Sunday morning and, luckily, it was right at the opening credits. I found it to be absolutely charming. I think I also identified with it because I'm going through a grieving process since I decided to take an early retirement in March.

The trailer:



Many people may think that grief is experienced only when someone dies [I hate the term "passes"]. I think life is a series of not only joys but also of griefs. They are a movement forward and away from something, a line of little deaths that we go through daily. Most of them are minor and usually go unnoticed while others are major - retiring, moving to a new home, marriage, divorce, leaving a job....

mission impossible music assignment...

CrooksandLiars.com posts music videos each day. Ones that he calls "Late Night Music Club." They are always great. His latest is Bare Naked Ladies' "Call and Answer." Check out his site for the link here: crooksandliars.com.

He gave everyone an assignment last night:

So your mission tonight–if you choose to accept it–is to post music with lyrics that really resonate with you. Please don't post lyrics to whole songs, but just the little snippets that grab you.

I had to think a bit because music is always in my head. I wake up with a song in my head every day. I've never looked at the meaning of this, either in the fact or with what it might mean about my dreams or in how the day is going to be.

I started this post at 9:24 am this morning. I thought it would be an easy task. It's not.

I have a strangest favorite song - MacArthur Park - but there are no lyrics from the song that actually resonate for me. It's more of a existential thing.

I thought and thought and searched all day [in between making some Italian Christmas cookies] and the more I pondered the more remote it all seemed.

There are moments in my life when songs take on very meaningful perspectives. Donna Summer's There will always be a you instantly reminds me of Ronald; Gloria Gayor's I will survive got me through a bad break-up; Celine Dion's Vole helped with my sister's funeral; and Sandy Denny's Who knows where the time goes sung by Judy Collins will always tell me if I'm depressed the minute I play it.

When I remembered Judy Collins, I instantly recognized that there was one song that resonates with my life.

I first became familiar with Judy Collins in the early 60's. She has gotten me through thick and thin, highs and lows, happy and sad. I've seen her in concert many, many times. I've read her books. I mourned her son's death along with her. With it all, there is the beauty of life. So, I had no doubt that her version of the Joni Mitchell song Both Sides Now instantly resonated for me.

I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its life's illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all

and in that lies the mystery...

what resonates for you?

just asking...

what's going on here (part XI)...

Scientist Fights Church Effort to Hide Museum's Pre-Human Fossils

Famed paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey is giving no quarter to powerful evangelical church leaders who are pressing Kenya's national museum to relegate to a back room its world-famous collection of hominid fossils showing the evolution of humans' early ancestors

Faith, in one definition, is having a strong belief in god or religion based on spiritual apprehension. Apprehension is anxiety or fear. To apprehend means to understand or perceive. What is it that evangelical/fundamentalists fear understanding? just asking...

Iran Reacts Favorably to the Baker-Hamilton Plan

Responding to the Baker-Hamilton report's proposal that Washington move quickly to engage Iran on talks over stabilizing Iraq, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki dangled an offer of cooperation in a statement published by an Iranian news agency. "Iran will support any policies returning security, stability and territorial integrity to Iraq," he said, "and considers withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and leaving security to the Iraqi government as the most suitable option." In an interview on Al Jazeera, Mottaki added that if the U.S. needs an "honorable way out of Iraq," and Iran "is in a position to help."

At face value this reads as "Of course Iran would, they want to say the opposite of what W. says." You have to take a second look. At the moment, the radical President Ahmadinejad is facing some internal questions. There are two elections coming up and the outcomes may not be in his favor. The Supreme Council makes all election decisions and it is signalling a spiral back to some moderation. They have disallowed quite a number of Ahmadinejad's choices. Of course, they did the same to moderate candidates as well, but you have to look at the fact that they reinfranchised quite a number of voters. Ahmadinejad's support comes from the uneducated base outside of the cities. Consequently, if the vote is kept low, he would succeed. The Supreme Council's decisions will allow more citizen's to vote. What do you think they have up their collective sleeve? just asking...

Drag goes mainstream

"We're not adult use," said Jim Flint, owner of the Baton Show Lounge, where drag queens have performed for nearly 38 years. "We have no profanity, no lewdness. We have 80-year-olds who come with their families. I don't want to be lumped in with strip bars and places that offer lap dancing."

Felicia [oops, I knew Mr. Flint in a previous life] thinks drag should be considered respectable. I agree. I have never done drag and have no desire to at this point in my life, but I have known some of the performers [Chili Pepper told me I was a bitch once. She was right.] and can attest to the fact that they make real women jealous because they look so good. I can also verify that they are just as normal and boring in everyday life as everyone else; some are even more than boring. I've seen some of the 80-year old ladies at the performances and they, like the impersonators, know how to have a good time. I say, if no one is getting hurt by it, why make a big deal out of it? just asking...



Sources: LiveScience.com, TIME.com, Chicago Tribune