Dmitri

Your silver hair, your ardent dark eyes,
Your suave baritone that drove women mad,
I sent you many thousand sighs.

Such beauty rare, and such a bright star;
But I never met this man of great fame.
I loved you, only from afar.

Three years have gone since you passed away.
And yet still your star continues to shine
Inspiring the singers of today.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated 4-5-10

Double Whammy 2

Two great opera singers died this past week, soprano Jessye Norman at 74, and tenor Marcello Giordani at 56. I had only seen Ms. Norman in a few clips of Die Walkure, but I remember seeing Signor Giordani in the encore simulcast of Verdi's Ernani in 2012. But they were both really awesome singers who were adored by opera lovers everywhere. 

They will be greatly missed.

 

Reenactments in the Rain

It was making down like a drizzle on and off yesterday at the Wade House.  The 10:30 cavalry skirmish was canceled, but they were able to recreate part of the Battle of South Mountain.  I haven't studied South Mountain that much, but it was one of the events leading up to Antietam in 1862.  
        One of the highlights of yesterday's fight was the one brown horse was actually being obedient this year.  In the past that horse would panic at sound of a gunshot.  This year, he was listening to his master a lot more, for which I am glad.  When I saw the horse's nervousness the first year, it was mildly understandable.  But it got annoying in the following years. 

The Medical Demonstrations are always as must.  One reenactress is actually descended from the very first woman doctor Rebecca Chisholm.  She even has some of her ancestress' original medical tools!  The stories of Civil War hospitals being complete hellholes were exaggerated to varying degrees, but then again a lot of these guys are in searing agony and doctors still didn't know much of what we do now.  But the piles of dead arms and legs were blown out of proportion after the Battle of Gettysburg (the weather had been very hot that time and there was a shortage of water for the field hospitals).  
          The reenactors show how surgeons did their jobs back in the 1860s.  Among other things they showed was an early version of the stethoscope.  Apparently it was invented because doctors had to press their ear against the patient's chest to listen to the heartbeat, and you can imagine how awkward it must have been for male doctors when they had to do it with a woman patient.  So someone made a little trumpet-like tool press against the patient's chest so as to make hearing the heartbeat easier with minimal physical contact.  
      The doctor's performed a simulated operation on a dummy whereby they try to remove a bullet from a patient's wounded leg.  If the bullet does not appear to have broken the bone, they can save the limb.  If the bone is broken, they may have to amputate the limb to save the person's life.  Sometimes they might try "sectioning", carefully removing an inch of the broken bone, which would render the limb slightly shorter than before.  The doctor's desk had an array of medical books and little bottles of medicines. 
[During the surgery simulator one little boy kept hiding his face in his mother's shirt.  No surprise there, the concept of cutting someone open is very disturbing to the majority of people.] 

Because of the drizzle it was muddy out.  It was also chilly and we had to get my boyfriend a pair of mittens because his hands got cold quickly.  It also meant that we were pressing close together to keep warm.  He and I tend to do that anyway, but the cold weather made it all the more necessary because sweaters and cardigans aren't quite enough when the temperature is less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  
          One of the stalls was selling smoking hats.  I was a little surprised because they looked exactly like the hats worn by people in Qing Dynasty China.  At the time, partly thanks to the two Opium Wars, people in China took to smoking in certain rooms.  This also took off in the U.S. and Europe, and Chinese-style smoking jackets and smoking hats were popular.  Men wore them over their regular clothes so that the tobacco did not stick to them.  I have been in a house where people were smoking all the time, and the smell of tobacco never leaves the place.

We got turned around several time going to the Kettle Moraine Visitor's Center and we got there twenty minutes before closing time.  But were able to enjoy ten minutes of the little museum and getting my boyfriend a mammoth T-Shirt.  It was too wet and chilly to go out on the observation deck, though. 



 

Double Whammy

Yesterday Carrie Fisher died, and then this evening her mother Debbie Reynolds died.  Both of them made their film debuts at the age of 19, Debbie in the role of Kathy in the musical comedy Singing in the Rain, and Carrie in the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope".  

I liked seeing both these actresses.  Carrie will always be Leia for me.  Then again, that's her most iconic role.  She was absolutely awesome as the Rebel Princess, who as we later find out, trains for thirty years to become one of the most powerful Jedi in the Galaxy.
     I only saw Singing in the Rain once many years ago, but I can still say that Debbie was just awesome as Kathy.  She had an awesome singing voice and her dancing would have put Ginger Rogers to shame.  

They are now both one with the Force.  

Alan Rickman: 1946 to 2016

Well, we lost another great this week.  Actor Alan Rickman died after battling cancer.  He was a superb actor who was very well-known for playing villains.

I personally will always remember him as Potions Master Professor Severus Snape in the film adaptations of the Harry Potter series.  He is also known for the role of Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility, and Judge Turpin in Sweeny Todd.  

 

David Bowie: 1947-2016

Yesterday, the world lost a famous rock legend.  David Bowie was one of the biggest artists from the 70's and 80's.  Among his most famous tunes are Diamond Dogs, Ziggy Stardust, and his cover of Dancing in the Street with Mick Jagger.  He is also very famous for his role as the rock star Goblin King in the movie Labyrinth in which he sings the famous Magic Dance.  

Remembering Christopher Lee

The world lost its best villain today.  To say that Sir Christopher Lee was a superb actor would not do justice the talent this man possessed.  He is most famous for his many Dracula roles.  But I remember him best as the fallen Maia Saruman, and also as the elegant Sith Lord Count Dooku.  

I also learned that he met J.R.R. Tolkien once.  Actually, Tolkien himself said that if Lord of the Rings should ever make it to the big screen, he thought Christopher Lee should be in it.  He was right; I don't think anyone could have played Saruman better than Lee.  

Also, I think Attack of the Clones would have suffered even more if it had not been Christopher Lee playing Count Dooku.  For the record, the Star Wars prequels are some of my favorite movies in the world.  And I must say, Lee's Dooku was one of the highlights of the trilogy.  

    Farewell to a splendid actor.  

And Now For Something Totally Different: Chuck Norris Edition

There are no steroids in baseball; just players Chuck Norris has breathed on.  

Chuck Norris doesn't divide by zero — Zero divides by Chuck Norris.

Before the Boogieman goes to bed, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.  

Chuck Norris doesn't churn butter; he roundhouse-kicks the cows and the butter comes straight out.

Bruce Lee was the only person in the world who could defeat Chuck Norris.  Now that Bruce is dead, Chuck Norris is invincible.*

Superman and Chuck Norris once made a bet.  The loser had to wear his undies on the outside for the rest his career.  Guess who won?  

Superman owns a set of Chuck Norris pajamas.  

They tried to put Chuck Norris on Mt. Rushmore, but the granite wasn't strong enough for his beard.  

When Chuck Norris does push-ups he doesn't push himself up; he pushes the world down.

Chuck Norris was once bitten by a viper.  After hours of searing agony, the viper died.  

Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming "Law and Order" are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*My own original Chuck Norris joke.  

Leonard Nimoy Is Dead?

*sigh* Yes, one of the world's greatest actors passed away today from a nasty lung disease, and I was quite shocked when I found out.  I didn't grow up a Trekky, but I watched quite a number of the original Star Trek episodes, my favorites being I, Mudd and The Trouble with Tribbles.  He was an icon for millions of nerds.  But would you believe that he actually made a cameo appearance in the third season of the 1950s Dragnet as a young hoodlum being arrested by Joe Friday? 

I'm not a huge fan of him, but I like Spock.  So farewell, intrepid explorer. 

Robin Williams: 1951-2014

On August 11th, 2014, the great comedian Robin Williams died at age 63, possibly by his own hand.  He had been battling depression for quite some time.  I didn't see much of him; I saw Disney's rendition of Aladdin far too long ago for me to fully appreciate Williams' role as the voice of the Genie.  I did, however, get to enjoy him as the voice of Fender in the movie Robots, and later as the Teddy Roosevelt model in Night at the Museum when I saw it back in late January of 2007.  

My mother told me the story of Williams' audition for the role of Mork in the TV show Mork and Mindy.  The casting people were asking the candidates (for lack of a better word) to show how an alien might sit down.  While the other sat down in a regular way with some little oddity here or there, Williams sat on his head.   
     He is also remembered for his serious roles, such as The Dead Poets Society.  I only saw a clip from that one, but what performance.  In particular, the way he said "Capre Diem" makes it one of the most memorable movie quotes ever.  

Robin Williams was a splendid actor and comic.  He will be greatly missed.