Singing at the valencian moon

Finished Badges!

Sun, 24 Jul 2005 06:22:07 GMT

There we go :)

Badges For MFM 2005

Sat, 23 Jul 2005 20:40:49 GMT

More coming soon.

Singing like Harlequim!+

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 02:15:32 GMT

http://merryjest.furtopia.org/Arlequin.mp3 here's a little recording of the vocal progress I've made :P
As for the high note.. well, it's part of the progress I'm making with Konstantin. I'm losing my fear of just letting it go. And you'll probably notice I haver a greater volume.

This is the ending of Harlequim's aria, from the opera "Li Pagliacci", and I know a certain friend of my mate will love it ;)

Missives to my Wolf: Monday

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 19:47:39 GMT

My dear wolfie, today is another short day: After Friday, I've given my voice a rest. My first class with Maestro Simonian at the conservatory will be on Thursday, so that gives me two extra days to prepare what arias I want to sing for him. I think "Un'aura amorosa" is a good first... no Rossini yet, though. Well, maybe, but only if he asks for it... I don't feel confident doing the whole aria just yet, there is one section where the colorattura gets very.. specific and the intervals have to be just perfect, which means spending at least an hour on each module until they're right-o perfect. At least by my standards.

Today I'm also going to give my voice a break: I didn't sleep well last night- had too much on my mind, as I was writing. But tonight I shall go to bed early, despite my dislike for such practices (too much to do, too much to do) as you well know.

Well, that's not true. I'll practice. A little. It's hard to contain myself , though, I usually turn a little practice into a full-fledged one which can be bad if I haven't slept well-- because my voice doesn't have that much stamina on a sleep-deprived schedule, as you know.

There aren't any good movies down here-- we've seen all of them so far. Saturday at the beach we were completely desperate, so we went to see... MR and MRS. Smith.

I have to say, it wasn't nearly AS bad as I thought it would be. It just wasn't good. Or passable.

But hey, scantily-clad Brad Pitt can make any bad movie at least partially worthwile. To make it entirely worthwhile he'd have to do away with the underwear.

I'm kidding, of course. I just had to switch my brain off during the whole thing. Although I couldn't help but notice that there were scenes in which Jolie The Lip had freshly injected collagen into those two clappers of hers and she looked like she had been punched by a brick, whereas in other scenes they had deflated. I wonder why women must ruin their perfectly fine lips to look like their mouths have been ravaged by a brick wall? I mean... she looked like she french-kissed bees!

Oh, I managed to refine Maus-- I'm refining the sketches in order, and I did a lot of sketches on Maus' new look.. unfortunately all on paper and I dont have a scanner, but I may be able to solve the problem soon and show it to you. After Maus I'm moving over to Gmork, then to Lynn and finally Softpaw.

I have to go, I'm sorry I had to log on so early today when you were out, but I didn't have much time to do it in the afternoon, as I have a doctor's appointment. But I'll be around tomorrow!

I love you, fuzzy. Thank you for everything you do,
Take good care of yourself, and I will see you online soon!
Your Tiger!

Any Help?

Sun, 22 May 2005 09:19:04 GMT

I'm looking for an online version of the medieval text by Andreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love- originally called "DE ARTE HONESTE AMANDI". I can't seem to find the full version of the book anywhere, and I am sure there MUST be. I had the texts for my research on Eleonor of Aquitany back in college... but it's gone and I can't find it anywhere.

Just because Dat was curious...

Sat, 21 May 2005 17:36:28 GMT

[1] Total number of films I own on DVD/video:
About 20

[2] The last film I bought:
"Matilda"

[3] The last film I watched:
"Solitaire", my wolf acted in it!

[4] Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
That mean a lot... sheesh...
- Amelie
- Antonia's Line
- Into the woods, because Sondheim is ten times better than Webber
- A very long engagement
- Restoration

[5] Finally, tag five people to do this meme:

-Karol ;)
-Shale
-Xander
-Softpaw
- VERO!!!!

WTF?

Sat, 21 May 2005 08:39:36 GMT

I can no longer play MS-DOS programs because every time I try to, i get :

16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem
path to the program that you are trying to start or install
C:\Windows\System32\Autoexec.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.
Although you may be prompted to quit the program or ignore the error message, either selection makes the program quit.

The problem solution is found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324767#kb2

I tried it yesterday and it did work. But today... it has happened again. Did the newly-modified autoexec and config get overwritten, AGAIN? and if so, what the hell is doing this every time the machine is booted up?

Here's the even more interesting thing: It only works with NEW MS-DOS based games that I am trying to install (such as Gemfire, a recent addition to www.abandonia.com).. all my old ones such as Princess Maker 2, Master of Magic, Albion or Alter Ego work just fine.

Puzzling.

Incidentally: Windows XP Pro.

Sights from ACEN

Fri, 20 May 2005 08:37:02 GMT

I saw this at ACEN:

(From Agius' gallery)

It's Pepsiman!

And apparently, he doesn't wear any underwear >_>

Chrono and Lucca also showed up. I forgot to ask Chrono just how much Vidal Sassoon was required to keep the bouncy-yet-spikey look.

... I think this whole YATTA thing has gone too far...

The worst singer. ever.

Fri, 20 May 2005 07:16:54 GMT

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you...

Natalia Andrade, the WORST singer who ever lived.

Whenever I need to feel good about my singing, I just listen to this woman and realize that, no matter how bad a day it is... it can never get as bad as that.

We bring money, apparently!

Thu, 19 May 2005 09:45:17 GMT

As California lawmakers prepare to consider the financial ramifications of legalizing same-sex marriage, a new study claims the state can expect to gain up to $30 million a year by changing the law.

While there will be a drop in income tax revenues, California will see a tourism boom if same-sex couples are allowed to marry, according to findings published in the current issue of the Stanford Law & Policy Review.

The study, which was co-authored by the Williams Project think tank at UCLA School of Law and the Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies (IGLSS) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, based its conclusions on what happened when San Francisco allowed couples to marry for one month last year. According to researchers, couples flew in from 46 states and eight countries.

Researches believe if California permanently offered marriage rights to same-sex couples, the state would reap over $100 million in increased business revenues, generating over $7 million in sales tax revenues for the state. The researchers behind the study also mentioned a report in Forbes magazine, which estimated that if same-sex marriage were legalized across the country, gay and lesbian weddings would generate $16.8 billion in spending during the first several years.

"I think the main conclusion to draw from a study like ours is that the state really doesn't have any legitimate reason to keep same-sex couples from getting married," said economist and study co-author, Dr. M.V. Lee Badgett of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in a conversation with the PlanetOut Network. "It's not going to be more expensive. In fact it may help the state make some money."

Badgett believes extending marriage to gay couples will mean that the income of a person's same-sex married partner will be included when determining eligibility for programs such as Medi-Cal and CalWORKs.

"Even if only a small percentage of individuals living with partners marry and become ineligible for public benefits, California is likely to reduce its expenditures on these programs by tens of millions of dollars each year," she said.

Brad Sears, co-author of the study and executive director of UCLA School of Law's Williams Project, added, "This study re-confirms the findings of at least nine studies that have been done during the past decade." He pointed out similar analyses have been done by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Comptroller of New York, the Office of Legislative Research of the Connecticut General Assembly and the Vermont Civil Union Review Commission.

Sears had planned on sharing the results of his study on Wednesday before the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee. The committee is considering the fiscal impact of AB 19, the bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples. However, the scheduled hearing has been moved to either May 25 or 26, according to the office of Assemblyman Mark Leno, the sponsor of the bill.
========

So this means we're like those little golden fortune cats?

Closed-door session to reinstate Patriot Act. Call your representatives

Wed, 18 May 2005 23:08:11 GMT

Tomorrow (May 19) the Senate Intelligence Committee will conduct a "mark up" of legislation that would re-authorize the PATRIOT Act, including Section 215, during a CLOSED session. Section 215 eliminated the safeguards for the privacy of bookstore and library records.

The sponsors of the Campaign for Reader Privacy-the American
Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, the
Association of American Publishers and PEN American Center-believe that the Intelligence Committee should OPEN its session to allow the public to hear discussion of legislation that vitally concerns the civil liberties of American citizens, including their First Amendment right to purchase and borrow books and other material without fear that the government is looking over their shoulder.

We urge people to call the members of the Senate intelligence Committee immediately and request that tomorrow's session be open to the public. Calls to committee members from people in their states are particularly important.

Senate Committee on Intelligence,
http://intelligence.senate.gov/members.htm
REPUBLICANS
Pat Roberts (KS), Chair 202-224-4774
Orrin Hatch (UT) 202-224-5251
Mike DeWine (OH) 202-224-2315
Christopher Bond (MO) 202-224-5721
Trent Lott (MS) 202-224-6253
Olympia Snowe (ME) 202-224-5344
Chuck Hagel (NE) 202-224-4224
Saxby Chambliss (GA) 202-224-3521
John Warner (VA) 202-224-2023
DEMOCRATS
John Rockefeller (WV) 202-224-6472
Carl Levin (MI) 202-224-6221
Dianne Feinstein (CA) 202-224-3841
Ron Wyden (OR) 202-224-5244
Evan Bayh (IN) 202-224-5623
Barbara Mikulski (MD) 202-224-4654
Jon Corzine (NJ) 202-224-4744

ACEN fuzzy report.

Wed, 18 May 2005 10:50:28 GMT

Well, it was certainly an adventure. After seventeen hours of driving, my poor wolf was ready to crash. We arrived at the hotel on Friday Night without a lot of complications... inside, however, it would be different. The hotel lobby was swamped by fanboys and fangirls of all colors, sizes and fashion senses. It was like falling down the rabbit hole and finding out that Fierruci's waiting for you at the end, it was that surreal.

Our first thought was to register for the con, of course, and so we headed to the convention center. But considering we were sleep deprived and all we wanted to do was crash... and that the line for registration was three hours, Asher and I said 'fuck it' and we headed back to the hotel.

We were some six hours behind schedule, so we didn't really expect Neiako to be waiting for us. A little sleuthing around had us arrive at a certain room with the easily-recognizeable Napping Cat on the door. I introduced Asher to everyone, and I met some dreamers for the first time. Namely Scythe, Silverfox, Bar Gamer, Timothy Pine, Mischa, Cherry, Quinch, Vis, Neiako and her fiance, Arc Nova, Doctor K, Sesah and Almerane. Icefox and Gal'ish I had met before on separate occasions. Some chatting ensued, and the ordering of pizza- a dish which we welcomed with open arms.

A while later who would make her appearance but Karol herself, followed by a very lively Pitchfox (through the virtue, I understand, of apple martinis), and later Oni and Andrea and Dat. The Pitchfox needed to crash and thus the gathering was moved over to Neiako's room. The rest of the night is somewhat of a blur, which means we must have defintely gone to bed a few hours later after a bit more of conversation. Karol remained behind, so we made arrangements for breakfast after registration- which we optimistically placed at around 9:30AM. Before we headed to Neiako's room, Cherry sent a message with... someone (tired brain, memory gone), that Karaoke was starting up. However, since I did not register, I could not go down there and thoroughly humilliate my competition. Ah, well, there is always next year.

The very next morning , Saturday, Asher and I had intended to wake up at 7:30 AM... but of course, we managed to get up at 8:20 instead. We did the whole registration thing... and let me tell you, ACEN's registration line absolutely sucks. I don't know who designed the system, but they could take a few hints from Anthrocon and Mephit Furmeet. It was an excercise on how NOT to run a registration line.

I wonder if they had a civil engineer design the whole thing ;)

Anyways, we were through with the bloody thing at 11:20AM, and we went off to fetch Karol, Gal'Ish, Neiako and her fiance for a delicious breafkast at the local IHOP. Picking them up, I got to meet Noelle, who manages to make anything she wears look absolutely fetching.
Breakfast was followed by shopping at the Target next door, for Karol was looking for a knee brace and Asher needed to buy stuff to shave with. After that, we returned to the hotel.

At this time Asher and I headed over to the conference center with two CDs in hand: the CDs I had promised Andrea and Denise a long time ago, but that several inconvenient contratemps prevented from being mailed. I perused their prints but didn't spend much time there, as Andrea, Oni and Denise were swamped with commissions and striking up a conversation while they worked stuck me as rude, since it would be an unwelcomed distraction. Nezumi was nowhere to be seen, however.. Andrea did welcome Asher "into the fold", hehe, when I mentioned I had introduced him to the Dream.

Time was running quite short, and it was almost time for the 5 O'clock meeting to go to Chinatown. We assembled in the lobby and Asher and I took a cab with Neiako and John. We arrived at the restaurant quite early---- which allowed us to nibble on the spicy cabbage before the subsequent horde could devour it ;) Half an hour later, the top floor of the restaurant was crawling with Dreamers. Thirty-seven or so dreamers crammed into four tables. The Pitchfox and Oni arrived after everyone else, and so everyone sat down and The Ordering and the Devouring began.

Much has been said of the Fish Incident, so I need not add more... except, perhaps, that there was great overreacting over the consequences of the ill-thought offering. Quite frankly, the Triads have better things to do than to enact revenge on people offering fishes to them, no matter how insulting the gesture. And also, not every well-dressed chinese family is connected to the Chinese mafia, you know? Later in the hotel, people were basically putting together a Quentin Tarantino script about what "they" would do... over fish, no less.

After a positively delicious dinner, we set to explore the streets of chinatown in two or three groups, and SHOP! SHOP! SHOP! Many goodies were acquired, including an unholy bag of chocolate fortune cookies. Mmmmmmmm.

Afterwards we took the metro back to the Hotel. At one point Asher and I were sitting on a hallway with Silverfox, Scythe, Vis and Gal'Ish just being totally silly. Andrea and the Pitchfox joined briefly before going back on their way. Eventually our little gathering was broken up by the Con staff who told us that we couldn't be in the hallways because we were a Fire Hazard. Silverfox pointedly mentioned that, while they were looking out for fire hazards, they should do something about the con attendees who were chain smoking in the lobby -the main reason why we weren't down there. The staff members washed their hands off and said that it was the hotel's responsibility, not theirs.
So let me get this straight... it is their responsibility to enforce fire code in the hallways, but it's the hotel's to enforce it in the lobby? Can you tell I wasn't very impressed with Con Staff?

Well, we gravitated towards Neiako's room again, where there was much conversation, as well as coming in-and-out of people... and eventually fading into the world of sleep once more.

Sunday Morning dawned... and we were sleeping. We eventually woke up at around 11AM or so, and headed over to the artist's alley. Our logic was that dreamers would eventually gravitate there. Of course, we didn't go there right away, we took the scenic route through the con. Arriving at the table, I finally met Nezumi face to face... and a few seconds later the Dreamer magnet worked, because Karol showed up and Sesah's brother also showed up... and then Sesah , Icefox and Almerane. It was at this point that Karol told me about the origin of the fluffy ruff around her hat. Nezumi, it seems, had sacrificed a white plushie horse ("It was sick" she said) to make the ruff. And, in a stroke of italian genius, apparently left the severed horsie head right next to Karol's pillow as she slept. This heinous crime happened last year... so let it be known the price some pay to adorn Karol's headgear.

Around this point, the general hunger of those in our vicinity was made manifest. Karol is an enthusiastic connoisseur of Chipotle, and pines for it since they have no such delicatessen in Canada. So, we arranged for a little Chipotle-escapade... but, just as we were heading in its general direction, the Pitchfox appeared with Dat and Oni and Mischa in tow. They were heading to Chili's, and asked if we would like to join them. Why not? The more the merrier--- The Karol was appeased after we promised that she would partake of the food of the aztec gods on Monday.

Dinner was very entertaining (I really should go into more detail... but I'm too exhausted and there's bound to be more than enough detail floating around), and then we headed back to the hotel. Asher found where they had hidden the piano, and we seized the chance to play some mozart.. and sing some, too. Afterwards we joined the ongoing conversation (I learned that the Pitchfox likes Stephen Sondheim, and that we share the same predilection for "Into the Woods"). We eventually moved to the Con suite where we took advantage of the free food and veberages, and after a little while we headed our own ways-- the Pitchfox to sleep (5am plane, ouch!), and the rest of us wherever--- though we did end up relaxing at Neiako's room and watching DVDs: Gal'Ish brought "Great Teacher Onizuka" with him, and I am a fan of it now. (Though Karol spent that time snoring on our cot. She has a very slight snore, unlike Gal'ish's "Telluric Movement of the Apocalypse" snore ;) ). After the mouse went to bed (again, early plane), Icefox, Arc, Asher, yours truly, Neiako and John settled down to watch "Robin Williams: Live On Broadway".

I remember passing out somewhere around the viagra skit.

Monday Morning came in a most unusual way. I opened my eyes and Karol's face was there, trying to wake me up, which ended up startling me. After a bit of waking up and organizing, those five of us that remained went out into the windy city itself for a bit of a shopping spree. The Karol did feed upon the food of the aztec gods, and saw it was good. Afterwards, through much mis-navigation and mis-direction, we arrived at Borders...and what Borders. Three floors.
I found a Barbara CD therein, as well as "The Mammoth Book of King Arthur", which compiles all the historical material and analyses how the myth emerged as an amalgam of fix or six different historical "Arthurs".

After our brief shopping heaven, we had to head back to the hotel so that Karol could catch her plane. After hugs, we sent the Karol on her way -and Asher and I had to go back to the parking garage in Chicago, because my wolf had forgotten the books there. Fortunately, they were still there...

We came back to the hotel and crashed in Neiako's room. I adviced Asher to take a nap before driving back, and we both did so. And then, at 11PM on Sunday night, we started the long and arduous trek back to Colorado. Which concluded a few hours ago.

Exhaustion.

Conclusion

The trip was worth it, Oh so definitely worth it. It was great meeting everybody, and I hope I'll get to spend more time with more dreamers next time around. It was great fun... although the con itself needs a lot of work (I can just see Tyger Cowboy putting things in order there, hehe). Of course, now I miss seeing everybody ^_^ Well, here's to next year.

And, meanwhile, here's to the bed, which is calling me.

And that makes me....

Thu, 12 May 2005 16:36:08 GMT

Your Political Profile

Overall: 35% Conservative, 65% Liberal

Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

Thu, 12 May 2005 14:58:05 GMT

I don't care what makes you rise,
I don't care what your issues are,
Whether your momma instilled some of that old-time guilt with her eyes
Or whether you think you have to drive Satan down and far.

I don't care if you can't get a date
Because bald girls with wigs are rare
I don't give a damn about your sitcom wives and your picket fence
But I do care when you use your God to get a stiffy from hate.

I do care when you blind the Truth
To line with corpses your backyard
I do care when you kill like Judith and grin like Ruth
And say there's no other way, that God's way is ruthless and hard.

I care when you push your brimstone,
Born out of the guilt of man and the sadism of religion,
When the culmination of both beauty and love cannot thus be
Because you twist scripture to ugly the world in your image.

I see you waving your arms to chase away the world,
To scatter us whence we came from
The imperfect, the unusual, the bold, the daring, the shy, the meek
We remind you too much of you.

Away!
Let nobody stray into your perfect world,
with cookie-cutter people and picket-fence homes.
Let nobody stray from the crucifix on the wall,
The altar in the hall
And the skeleton in the closet.

And if tears have to be shed,
what of it?

And the bold, the meek, the imperfect, the unusual,
they see all this, all your miracles of fog,
your Via Crucis, your laws
And they refuse to back into the night...
Because...
Nobody should have to move to the back of the bus.

Found mah ring

Wed, 11 May 2005 23:31:42 GMT

http://merryjest.furtopia.org/Ottavio.mp3

A class with Nancy, and the ring issue is solved.

For the, oh, one or two people of my list that listen to anything I record >_>

A reply to my concern

Tue, 10 May 2005 18:56:23 GMT

Me: " Dear John, thank you for your imput and the class, it was very helpful.

I am thinking of other shortcomings... when I let my singing be easy
and devoid of tension, I find myself with the quandary that, upon
hearing my recordings, my voice seems to lack the punch, ring or
resonance that it has when I push- but when I do, obviously, I end up
suffering from fatigue. I don't know how much market there is for my
kind of voice, but it feels as if it's at a disadvantage when
compared to leggieros like Flores et al. Would you consider that my
voice by itself stands a chance at all in the operatic world?"

Him:"I think you have a very fine voice, and I understand your concerns about
the ring. The ring in a good tenor's voice comes from (a) a comfortably
low larynx position and (b) vocal folds that are closing pretty firmly
each cycle of vibration. These are things that can be worked on. The
exercise where you started in falsetto, then flipped over on the 5th
note on /u/ is a good one for the larynx position; and staccato
exercises are good for the fold closure issue. The plus of a
comfortably low larynx (NOT DEPRESSED!) is your palate goes up as your
larynx goes down, in most people, once all extraneous tensions are
removed. This isn't an overnight fix, but 6 months of good work on
these exercises, including remembering and transferring that feeling to
all your singing will probably work wonders (i.e., sing the exercise,
then sing a phrase from an aria, compare the feeling, repeat).

As for career things, there's a lot to it besides voice; it is a package
thing - how you look, how you market yourself, your musicianship, how
well you can audition, deal with nerves. Voice has to be a given,
though, to be sure.

I hope this is helpful!

John"

All of you Haendel fans

Mon, 09 May 2005 23:50:16 GMT

You're getting a treat today:

http://merryjest.furtopia.org/Handel1.mp3

http://merryjest.furtopia.org/Handel2.mp3

http://merryjest.furtopia.org/Handel3.mp3

These are recordings of me playing some of the movements for Haendel's sonatas for recorder and harpsichord continuo. Enjoy!

Typical

Fri, 06 May 2005 06:41:50 GMT

"NEW YORK -- To the dismay of gay-rights activists, the Food and Drug Administration is about to implement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor.

"The FDA has rejected calls to scrap the provision, insisting that gay men collectively pose a higher-than-average risk of carrying the AIDS virus. Critics accuse the FDA of stigmatizing all gay men rather than adopting a screening process that focuses on high-risk sexual behavior by any would-be donor, gay or straight.

"Under these rules, a heterosexual man who had unprotected sex with HIV-positive prostitutes would be OK as a donor one year later, but a gay man in a monogamous, safe-sex relationship is not OK unless he's been celibate for five years," said Leland Traiman, director of a clinic in Alameda, Calif., that seeks gay sperm donors.

"The part I find most offensive -- and a little frightening -- is that it isn't based on good science," Cathcart said. "There's a steadily increasing trend of heterosexual transmission of HIV, and yet the FDA still has this notion that you protect people by putting gay men out of the pool."

In a letter to the FDA, Lambda Legal has suggested a screening procedure based on sexual behavior, not sexual orientation. Prospective donors -- gay or straight -- would be rejected if they had engaged in unprotected sex in the previous 12 months with an HIV-positive person, an illegal drug user, or "an individual of unknown HIV status outside of a monogamous relationship."

But an FDA spokeswoman cited FDA documents suggesting that officials felt the broader exclusion was prudent even if it affected gay men who practice safe sex.

"The FDA is very much aware that strict exclusion policies eliminate some safe donors," said one document."
"Dr. Deborah Cohan, an obstetrics and gynecology instructor at the University of California, San Francisco, said some lesbians prefer to receive sperm from a gay donor because they feel such a man would be more receptive to the concept of a family headed by a same-sex couple.

"This rule will make things legally more difficult for them," she said. "I can't think of a scientifically valid reason -- it has to be an issue of discrimination.""

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

Oh no, we're not being treated like the blacks did during the 50s, no siree. No second class citizen. No, it's all part of our Gay Agenda for trying to take over the world.

Welcome to the Dark AGes of the Bush Administration. Be careful out there, make sure you've got a Jesus fish on your car, or you might just get stoned.

I say all gay men go into strike. See how the entertainment, fashion, computer and other industries feel about that.

Of course, I have gay friends who voted for Bush, and now they're bitching about this particular development.
I told them "Shut up, fuckwad. This is his government at work. You voted for him. you live with it"

One thing to be thankful of, is that Bush's second election demonstrates the zenith of the Religious Right movement. After this, they'll be going downhill.

Think about it: We have a full republican house, and a republican president. And what is the state of our economy? and what is the size of our debt? How much do you pay in college per unit now? What are your hopes of social security? How much do you pay per gallon of fuel now? It's no coincidence that his daddy's big election-loser was the economy. The guy couldn't run a baseball team, and we trusted him to run a nation? The fault is ours.

His name is Lancelot, and in tight pants a lot....

Fri, 06 May 2005 05:55:13 GMT

Asher got me the soundtrack for "Spamalot", the new musical by the Monty Pythons, on broadway.

*Listens to the musical...and...*

~Lancelot you might as well just fess up
Reall you're a different kind of guy
Move aside your scabbard
For underneath your tabard
there is waiting to escape a butterfly!~

( And then... a disco tune begins.)

His name is Lancelot
And in tight pants a lot
He likes do dance a lot
You know you do
Lancelot: (I do?)
So just say thanks a lot
And try romance- it's hot
Let's find out who's really you!

His name is lancelot
He visits france a lot
he likes to dance a lot
and dreeeeam
No-one would ever note
That this outrageous bloke
Bats for the other team

You're a knight who really likes his nightlife
And by day you really like to play
You can all find him pumping at the gym
At camelot's Y-M-C-A

His name is lancelot
Just watch him dance a lot
He doesn't care what people say
Lancelot: *Snap* No way!
For when he starts dance
Just grab your underpants
He can finally come out and say that he is G-A-Y-M-C-A!
He's gay!
Lancelot: Okay!

*falls over laughing.* This musical is a work of genius. A response to the Broadway musical’s overproduced and overfreighted attempts at significance, the show is literally a slap in the face with a wet fish.

When the Lady of the Lake brings in the Laker Girls to help the King recruit Dennis to the “very, very, very round table,” the cheer turns hip-hop.

...ROTFL!!!!!!! And King Arthur has a spot near the end where he sings "I'm all alone! all by myself! no-one here beside me..."... only to be joined by a 10 voice chorus saying "He's all alone, no-one is here..."

Curry, with a trim goatee and deep-set spaniel eyes, strolls in front of the gaudy cheerleaders with a rapper’s swagger. He knows that it’s a hilarious sight, and it’s all the more amusing because he doesn’t push it. “Who de King!” he crows.
Tim Curry is King Arthur in the Broadway production.

Although the show includes a medley of Idle’s hit, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” from “The Life of Brian,” “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway,” gleefully sung by Pierce, is the only really first-rate musical number here. “You may bring on a piano / But they will not give a damn-o / If you don’t have any Jews,” he sings, as dancers reproduce the famous squatting-and-kicking stool dance from “Fiddler on the Roof,” only here they slide toward us with chalices, not bottles, balanced on their heads.

“There’s a very small percentile / Who enjoy a dancing Gentile,” Pierce adds. The audience howls. Python humor is skepticism in cap and bells, so it’s only natural that Idle has no time for the romantic bombast of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, which he skewers neatly in “The Song That Goes Like This”:

A sentimental song
That casts a magic spell
They all will hum along
We’ll overact like hell . . .
I’ll sing it in your face
While we both embrace
And then we change the key!
Now we’re into E
That’s awfully high for me
But everyone can see
We should have stayed in D.

There are a few moments when hilarity and history collide and we smile at the stage with cold teeth. In order to annihilate the Killer Rabbit, the knights have to drop the Big One—the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch—on the furry, fanged thing. As Brother Maynard, Pierce reads with sidesplitting earnestness from the Book of Armaments: “And the Lord spake, saying: ‘First, shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shalt be three.’ ”

No living American theatrical knows more about the making of joy than Mike Nichols. As the leader of this jesters’ jamboree, he is all cunning and control. At the show’s last beat, he lets confetti rain down like blessings upon us. Comic endeavor is not an easy one, and we should not receive it lightly. The vulgarity, the noise, the glorious, gossamer folderol are all a bold and fierce declaration of life. As the poet Jack Gilbert writes:

We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world.

GO SEE THIS! BUY THE SOUNDTRACK!

Thu, 05 May 2005 21:05:49 GMT

Ray Bradbury attending the kickoff for Disneyland's 50th anniversary. Note to self: If I get a job this year, I must save to at least visit the D-land parks once during the anniversary celebrations.

I love Ray Bradbury, the man writes like a god. And seeing him with a pair of gold ears on just makes me giggle ^_^

From that website: "The most interesting event of the "gold carpet" arrivals involved Michael Eisner. As you'll see in the photo below he was carrying a set of gold Mickey ears. Many of the celebrities wore theirs, while others just carried them. However, when asked by a photographer to put his Mickey ears on, Eisner's attending publicist responded with "not a chance." Read into that what you will."

Oh, we read alright. We read he's a bloody W#$&@#!

Finished!

Thu, 05 May 2005 18:58:15 GMT

It Is Done!

The Stars on 45 keep on turning in your mind...

Thu, 05 May 2005 18:17:56 GMT

I am probably the only one in my age bracket that remembers the Stars on 45 phenomenon.
\
Disco project, Stars On 45, was a very successful brainchild of producer Jaap Eggermont (earlier produced Livin' Blues). The formula was simple: put together a medley of famous Top 40 pop covers from the past and present to a disco rhythm, American style. It sold like hot cakes both in The Netherlands and abroad. In England, they were dubbed Star Sound; in America - just Stars On. Their records featured, amongst others, Albert West, Bas Muys (Beatles medley), Tony Sherman (Stevie Wonder medley),ABBA, Jody Pijper, Arnie Treffers (Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers).

The scary thing? I still have the LPs somewhere back in Ecuador.

Voila

Thu, 05 May 2005 16:00:21 GMT

Voila, my in-progress Illustrator final, a reproduction of Magritte's "The Human Condition"
It still needs some shading and detail, but it's almost there.

The King

Thu, 05 May 2005 15:41:32 GMT

Ladies and gentlemen, the King of High Cs, Luciano Pavarotti:

http://merryjest.furtopia.org/Luciano.mp3

But not only of high Cs. At exactly 3 minutes 17 seconds he hits a HIGH C SHARP, the absolute limit of a tenor's voice, a range that one in a million tenors has.

And the bloody bastard pulls it off as easily as falling from a log.

When singers grow old...

Thu, 05 May 2005 15:06:29 GMT

http://www.casaverdi.org/

Casa Verdi: A retirement house for old opera singers, founded by Giuseppe Verdi.

I find it moving that Verdi so loved opera and its singers that he created a resting home for them in their old age.
Of it, Verdi said: "L'opera mia piu bella", which translates to "My most beautiful work", doing a play on the word 'opera' which actually means 'work'.