Dmitri Hvorostovsky

If you haven't heard of this Russian baritone, you need to fix that.  I first heard him when I was 15-years-old and dating.  Eugene Onegin was the first opera that wasn't Carmen that I heard front to back.  It was broadcast over the radio, however, so I didn't quite grasp who this singer was at first.

Now it has been four years since I first heard Dmitri Hvorostovsky(*) sing.  When I realized just who the heck he was, that's when I really began to enjoy him. 

Dmitri Hvorostovsky is unmistakable; his hair is prematurely white (started of black apparently, then began graying when he was in his twenties), and he has a buff physique.  His voice has a very rich, very velvety tone, which makes him perfect for roles like Onegin (Eugene Onegin), the Count di Luna (Il Trovatore), and Prince Yeletsky (The Queen of Spades).  Since 2007 (when I first heard him), I have heard him sing in War and Peace (at least I think it was that), Il Trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, and have seen various videos of him in all sorts of operas.  I have also heard him sing Russian folk songs and romances.

There is a website dedicated to this singer.   He will be performing in the Metropolitan Opera HD simulcasts next season, singing in both Ernani, and La Traviata.  Dmitri Hvorostovsky is one of the best singers in the world.  Actually (and here I'm going to steal part of a line from Kung Fu Panda), if his voice were a weapon, his enemies would go deaf from over-exposure to pure awesomeness.  Check it out.
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(*)Pronounced VOH-roh-STOHV-skee

What Are They Thinking?

If I hear one more thing from my instructor about how we are merely socialized to think that women operate differently from men, I will go nuts.  If I may quote Ken Davis directly, "MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT!".
I tried to mention that a woman's brain is wired differently from a man's brain.  I even mentioned the studies done on the subject.  All I got was the response from one guy, "How do you know the studies were not conducted by men?".   Not only is that sexist, it also implies that gender roles are artificial.  How can I get it across to these people that a lot of the inequalities in society have everything to do with nature?

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

I played a computer game back in March and April called LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4.  It's a fun game don't get me wrong, but it loses it's zing after a while.  I've been planning on doing a review on it, but haven't gotten around to it.  I also can't do a real formal review, so I'll do an informal one instead.

You begin with the first chapter of Year 1, namely The Philosopher's Stone.  This being LEGO, there's no actual dialogue, just mumblings that sound like speech.  You start off with the Hover Charm for your first spell.  When you get to Hogwarts, you learn the Light spell, and you basically build up skills from there.  As you go through the story (Quiditch games, the fights with Voldemort/his minions, encounters with magical creatures, etc.), you gain new spells/skills, learn about Hogwarts and end with the final battle from Goblet of Fire.  My favorite level has to be "Dobby's Plan".  Here, Dobby is messing with Harry's broom and you have to stop the obnoxious house elf from causing any more damage.

And then there are the classrooms where you learn/gain your new magical abilities.  I think the one I like the best is the boggart scene where you learn cast "Riddikulus" on the boggart, which hilarious results.  Every time you gain a new spell, it gets added to a circle of spells in the top-left corner of the screen.

Along the way, you pick up studs which are tiny LEGO blocks that are used as cash/points.  These you can use to unlock prank spells, cheat codes, etc..  My personal favorite is the spell that makes its victim fly up the air and hit the ground while spinning. 

There are some major drawbacks, however, and these I find to be very annoying.  While a new level/scene loads, you have to wait while watching this spinning cauldron in lower right hand corner.  I've seen walkthroughs of the game on YouTube, and they take minutes to load.  This gets irritating.  Also, there is a serious glitch on Level 6 of Prisoner of Azkaban.  The game just hangs after you cast your spell on one of the statues.  The only way to get around this is to stop the game and monkey with the graphics. Oh, and once you finish the story and just start looking for extra gold bricks (big points in the game), the game just loses its point.

All in all, it is a fun game, but after you finish Year 4 on the game, either go back and redo the story, or else put it away for a while and come back to it later.  In fact, get it out of the library instead of buying your own copy.  It'll help ease boredom after you finish the story.

Trouble With Distractions

My mother has told me many times not to leave the kitchen while cooking.  It turns out she's right.  I made a mistake while cooking lasagna tonight.  I added the cheeses to the sauce rather than making them their own mixture.  I left the room and hadn't read the steps right.  The lasagna turned out okay---but next time, I have to read the recipe correctly, and stay within earshot of the kitchen door.

Method Books and Sheet Music Downloads

I'm assuming that given the fact that there are not very many women who can sing Donizetti's music, there won't be very many available copies of the music to download from online unless you a) have the software to do so, or b) download the score to whole opera. 

I've also run into trouble finding a method book on how to sing the form of music I want to sing.  I've tried looking in the library system.  I'll try again. 

The Past Three Months

It ever been a tough past three months.  I finished second semester at college, turned twenty-years-old in April, worked for long hours, and had numerous fights with my sisters. 

But enough of that.  I have also hung out with a friend from high school (this particular guy shall be known as Enrico just because I'm a Lucia di Lammermoor fan).  He is now twenty-years-old like me.  I first knew him my Freshmen year of high school. 

I finished a choir class and a communications class, and I am currently taking a Sociology class.  Sociology is waste of time and money.