Sunday, February 26, 2012

YES!

Sun Prairie's very own Kyle Ketelsen is performing at the Met!.  He's sharing the role of Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Bryn Terfel (they take turns singing the role on different nights).  While I don't think he's performing when the opera get's broadcasted in two weeks, it's still awesome that he's performing at the Met.  I mean, how often does Sun Prairie's own piece of vocal awesomeness get to perform at the Met?  It's not often, I can tell you that.

ALRIGHT, MAN!  BRING IT ON!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Bumper Stickers 2

I'm beginning to think that many of the bumper stickers I see a lot of are on people's cars not because someone has something to say, but because people think that they're cool.  And many of them are just plain weird.

For example, there's a bumper sticker similar to the "Coexist" bumper sticker labeled "Tolerance" and written in the same religious symbol font of the former.  Like the "Coexist" stickers, the "Tolerance" ones are stupid.  You're not going to get people to tolerate one another by telling them that they should.  They have to make the decision for themselves whether or not they'll accept somebody.  Granted people are not nice to each other and will judge people needlessly based on race, sex, etc., but you won't get far by telling them to accept someone's differences.

I'm also sick of seeing "Kerry/Edwards" bumper stickers because they are six years out-of-date.  The same goes for "Obama '08".  Come on.  Both of those elections are in the past, so why can't people get rid of those old stickers?

Oh, and today I saw a bumper sticker reading "I Give Evolution Two Opposite Thumbs-Up."  In other words, it's somebody who has forgotten the point of the Creation.  It's not a "how", it's a "who".  I've hated the Creation/Evolution debate since I first heard about it back in the sixth grade and I do not want to hear anymore from either Dishonest Evolutionists or Dishonest Creationists.  I can't stand either of them.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Random Question of the Day

What would PETA think if they faced a plague of frogs like the one the struck Egypt?  These folks make it their pet crusade to fight for "ethical treatment" of animals (which is silly), but how would they like having frogs jumping around in their homes and making noise all the time?  I don't doubt that they would grow weary of them quickly.  Now that would be incredibly amusing to even hear of.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Not This Again! (Why Pop Culture Celebrity Sucks)

Whoever is in charge of making clothes for children has really gone too far.  While shopping at Kohl's today, I saw an outfit for a little girl (probably in the first and second grade age-range), that had Justin Bieber of all things on the front of the shirt.  That guy has got to go.  He's just a face and a name and lacks real talent.  The lyrics of his songs are also unimaginative.   And he's a sex symbol.  Do you really  want something like that on your eight-year-old's clothes? 

That's the reason why I hate the whole celebrity business.  They are out there primarily so that their face and name can be in the paper.  Don't get me wrong; some of these folks do have good talent (Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Reba McEntire, Johnny Cash, folks like that), but most of the pop icons are just names and faces.  And most of them last only for a few years and then they get replace by new lust objects.  Also what's the point of being famous if all it means is that you have your name and face on a shirt or backpack? 

That's also why I prefer the opera singers to these pop idols.  Many of these opera singer have been going strong for decades (Juan Diego Florez and Jonas Kaufmann to name a few).  They have much more talent and the music that they do has had a lot of imagination put into it.  And they are cast into the roles they take on mainly because they can sing the music (Case in Point: Juan Diego Florez singing Cessa di piu Risistere from Rossini's The Barber of Seville which was long considered too hard for tenors to sing).  They also have had many more years training: Heck, my top seven favorite male opera singers are now in either their late thirties, mid forties, or early fifties.  They are more mature than most of the pop icons and have had more experience over the years.  That's why I prefer them.