Open Thread July 12 2026

 Posted by at 6:02 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 122026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was The Makropulos Affair, based on a 1922 play of the same name by Karel Čapek – the same guy who populized the word “robot.” The opera is about immortality – and why it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’ll just stop there and go off to visit Virgil. And check in upon return (which may take a while – it’s supposed to be quite warm.)

I’m always interested in, and often excited by, medical good news. At 80, I don’t expect to benefit personally from this news, but, having empathy, I can appreciate its life changing nature. And – if this can be done with stem cells (and stem cells can be made from other cells), what else will be possible?

This was recorded a day or two before she arrived. So I can tell you she made it – and broke records – by a lot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelsey_Pfendler

You don’t often see much good news from The Root – and when you do, it’s likely to be bittersweet, as is this one. But I am always inspired by a celebrity stepping in to console and encourage a child.

Short and sweet. And don’t mess with Bella.

I think this is just as sweet as when both are in the military, and they are reuniting.

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Open Thread June 28 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 282026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera (should I be saying “the on line opera” until December? Naah.) was Ariodante by Handel, composed in the early 1700s. It’s based on two (out of 46) cantos of the epic chivalric romance Orlando Furioso (Orlando is the Italian form of Roland – yes, that Roland), which dates to the early 1500s, and was itself based on the Chanson de Roland, which dates back to the 11th sentury, and was inspired by the (presumed historical) death of Roland, who was a knight of Charlemagne, who, IIRC, became Emperor in 800, so, the 9th century. Roland is not a character in the opera, which is set in Scotland(!), has minimal chorus, but does have a dance in each of its three acts, includes a mad scene for the prima donna, and is generally melodramatic. Anyone who has ever heard “Messiah” or any excerpts from it knows that the man could write music. Heck, he could paint pictures with the notes he wrote. But I’m off to see Virgil now – will check in when home. Meanwhile, let’s jump into the pool.

https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-sun-confesses
I have shared JoJo before purely for the excellence of her writing, and now I am again. Last time it was a rant. This time it is – I’m not quite sure – maybe an allegory. But if it doesn’t make you smile at least once – take a a deep breath, leave the computer and do something else that revitalizes you.

https://abcnews.com/video/134102842/
I hope this is visible and audible. It happened om Father’s Day.

https://joycevance.substack.com/p/five-questions-with-the-chickens
To be frank, this is not exactly good news. What it does have is a lot of cute photos illustrating good advice for staying sane. (Today’s not-a-cartoon is from it.)

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Open Thread June 21 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 212026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Shostakovich’s “Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk.” It was quite popular, including internationally, until Stalin saw it and didn’t like it, and officially condemned it. After Stalin’s death, Schostakovich revised it under the title of “Katerina Izmailova.” The protagoniste isn’t much like Lady MacBeth. She does kill – two people by herself and one with assistance -but she has no remorse, and at least Lady MacBeth had a marriage where they apparently cared about each other. Katerina is in one kind of prison or another through the entire opera. A husband with zero libido, an abusive live-in father in law, then a lover who treats women like beer cans (why keep one around when the beer is gone?), and who, when they are in a group of other convicts doing a forced march to Siberia, tricks her into helping him seduce another woman. Normally, life has its ups and downs – but this is a story with no ups at all. It is supposed to have satirical aspects, but I don’t hear them. Maybe you need to understand Russian. Or maybe you need to be male and privileged. I just hear cringe. Which is not to denigrate the brilliance of the music. In the scene in which the jerk lover comes to her room, where she intends to flirt, but he rapes her, one criic described the music as “pornophony.” And I certainly cannot dispute that.

I may not follow any sports – but I’m not so distanced from those who do as not to recognize a rare achievement when I see one. As is generally true of the American ABC, it’s a video on loop, and may need to be unmuted.

For a change, an ABC (US) video that’s not on loop. But if you want to play it again, refreshing the page will do the trick.

When I was in high school and college, I did a little baby sitting on the side. This kind of sitting doesn’t compensate the siters monetarily, but I’ll bet it’s also a lot less work. And very rewarding emotionally.

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Open Thread June 7 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 072026
 

Yesterday, the Met season was over, but WFMT’s summer season was just beginning, with “The Bartered Bride” by Smetena, from Vienna. It was perfomed in German, as opposed to the original Czech, which I thought might give me a fighting chance to ubderstand some dialogue as it was sung. But individual words like “I”. “My”, “your,” “no”, “yes”, even “love” (hey, it’s a rom com) don’t give much to go on. But the plot is simple, based on concealed identity, and there’s a lot of great dance music (which must have come in handy for Paris), so it wasn’t hard to follow. Also, John Pavlovitz had a thought for so-called Christians who want to turn Pride Month into Niclear Family Month – they should celevrate Mind Your Own Damn Business Month instead.

Another short ABC video on loop. It speaks for itself. ABC is pretty good at this.

This, referred by The Smile, is closer to politics than I usually try to get on Sunday. But it is very good indeed.

From National Public Radio. This is limited to melanoma – for now – but it’s progress. (My mother had a melanoma, but she was lucky. It was very visible even when very small, and even with just outpatient surgery with local, it never returned. Not everyone can be that fortunate.


Animals, Dogs, Cats, Personal Profiles,

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Open Thread May 31 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 312026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was a new one – not a premiere, but new enough to not be in Wikipedia yet. It was the El Ultimo Sueño de Frida y Diego by Pulitzer Prize winning Gabriela Lena Frank. The premise is that on the Day of the Dead, Diego Rivera is about to die. He reaches out to his late wife Frida Kahlo (who, though 20 years younger, predeceased him) to return from the land of the dead and help him transition. (You may have noticed that this premise is kind of a mirror image of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth.) Their marriage was one of those stormy ones where the couple fights a lot, at least in part because making up feels so good. It’s not my idea of a relationship, but it works for dome couples – and it makes for great opera. Other characters include Catrina, the goddess of the underworld, who is a trickster goddess; Leonardo, the souls of a Grets Garbo impersonator (a counter-tenor); and various spirits. I wouldn’t call it a comedy. but there is a lot of humor in it,both in the libretto and in the orchestration. Frank has an unusual heritage – her father was Ashkenazi Jewish and her mother was half Peruvian and half Chinese, and all of those musical traditions were in her childhood home. The opera is not terribly long – an hour and 55 minutes of music in two acts is pretty short – and it seemed to fly by – which means it’s very easy to listen to. “Viva la vida!” Off to see Virgil now- will chwck in upon return

If you thought that all the firsts for women (except, of course, US President) had been accomplished by now – Mikala would like you to hold her beer.

This is not you average pet rescue story. (It’s also not a video

Try to avoid looking around the web page on this one – stick to the story.

Carrie B found a second Raging Granny group – this one is in California, near Yosemite. The song in this video is a rough Diamond for sure,

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Open Thread May 24 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 242026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Puccini’s “Turandot.” It was his last opera – and it’s not a pretty story. It has a happy ebding, in that the tenor and the lead soprano end up in love against all odds. But the road to that ending is covered with blood, and I have trouble with that. The big aria, which all tenors love, and which is often associated with Pavarotti (although every tenor who has ever recorded anything has recorded it – even Sarah Brightman recorded it, replacing “la principessa” with “il principe”) is “Nessun dorma” – None shall sleep – which makes sense in context, though out of context, not so much. Also – I can answer Randy’s quesiion. Congress is completely dominated by Republicans who are so terrified of the Saffron Sauron that they wouldn’t vote their conscience (those who have one) even if the sky fell. Let’s put a Democratic majority into the House and Senate and see what happens. We have a lot of people running who are real fighters, not DINOs, but many still need to win their primaries.

This from ABC news (ours) is on loop, but you will likely  need to unmute it. It’s still a work in progress, but, even so far, it’s pretty amazing.

From the Associated Press – This is good news for two states. Now we need the same for 48 more, two territories, and one district.

I assume Lona is well aware of this (from Good News Network), but thought the rest of us might also like to hear about it.

Also from our ABC News, Malcolm Nance often says “Coincidence takes a lot of planning.” (He calls that “Nance’s Law.”) And so do surprises.

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Open Thread May 17 2026

 Posted by at 5:50 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 172026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Verdi’s “Don Carlo” in an archival recording from 1950. Most of the characters in it were real people, although they weren’t much like the way they they are portrayed in it. It’s true that the real Carlos was opposed to the Pope and the Inquisition, and sympathetic to the Protestants in Flanders which was then under Spanish rule, and that his father, King Philip, felt the opposite. It’s also true that Elizabeth of Valois was engaged to Carlos before the politics changed and she married his father instead, And his father may have wanted to kill him, but instead just locked him up. It is almost certainly not true that he and Elzabeth were in love – that was not a thing in royal marriages – and he was physically and mentally deformed – he was one of the last Habsburgs – the most inbred royals since ancient Egypt. The one character who was made up (not by Verdi, but by the playwright from whom Schiller borrowed for his plat “Don Karlos”) is Rodrigo – who gets the best music.

If you ever get a chance to attend one of these, don’t hesitate. Be there. Even just reding about one is revitalizing. Being there is a whole other level.

Even in Florida, there are still good people. (Even in law enforcement.)

And this is another reason why, though I no longer have any furbabies, I always look at Chewy first when I need something for myself that might be useful for an animal – like a white noise generator, or a broom that basically picks up hair, or a high powered laundry additive. Chewy is not your normal corporation. Chewy actually cares.

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Open Thread May 10 2026

 Posted by at 6:10 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 102026
 

the radio opera was “La Fille du Regiment” by Donizetti – the opera which includes Luciano pavarotti’s signature aria – the one with nine high Cs. Lawrence Brownlee did one of the best renditions I have ever heard, and received a worthy ovation. I don’t know whether it was a standing one, but it lasted long enough for him to give an encore (which we sadly didn’t hear in this recording.) Hard to believe that an agent he spoke with before he was famous told him he had no future in opera for two reasons: he was short and he was black. Well, he still is both and opera audiences appear to have no issue with either. But I digress. Sandra Oh played the role once played b Ruth Bader Ginsburg ((Brownlee was in that production also.) Ah, well. Happier times. Off to see Virgil now and will of course check in upon return.

This one‘s on loop so you won’t miss anything.

Kudos to Rita Seibenaler – and thanks to National Public Radio for publicizing this.

An extra (non-video) rescue story from Good News Network.

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