Daily Archives: February 15, 2002

9756311

Tom Allen of CBC Radio 2�s Music and Company is insidious. He remarked that the show-stopping tenor aria La donna � mobile sounded tricky to sing because you could so easily slip into It�s Howdy Doody Time.

AAAGH!

Now, I dislike Verdi’s La donna � mobile to begin with. Apart from being derogatory towards over half the planet’s population, it ranks up there with the opening movement to Beethoven�s 5th Symphony, Mozart�s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, and Mendelssohn�s Wedding March from A Midsummer Night�s Dream. They�re all overplayed, and as a result I can�t stand them. I can appreciate their genius, the mastery over the medium and all that, but the fact that people never get past them to discover other wonderful examples of symphonic or chamber triumph bothers me. What also rots my socks is that it�s a closed loop � people like them so the music gets played a lot, and because it gets played a lot people assume it�s good and like it.

Sigh.

So now, whenever I hear La donna � mobile, on top of gritting my teeth, I�ll have to think of Howdy Doody. Brr.

9755740

A huge hug all around to everyone who came out to honour the birthday boys last night – I know they both appreciated it. Now that the husband’s gone off to work, I get to dig through his presents to see what everyone gave him. I assume you all got the usual, “You didn’t have to get me anything – the only gift I ever ask for is your presence” speech when you passed him his loot? As for the brief preview of The Gondoliers in the form of After Sailing To This Island as performed by the Sisters in Misfortune, myself and Tara; the missing line no one could remember is “Is the populace exacting?”. You’re welcome. I know you were tossing and turning, sleepless all night with the suspense.

Seems that dreadful Valentine’s Day interview might not have aired yesterday. I might have been bumped in favour of some knowledgeable Olympic persons. No great loss. In fact, I’d be thrilled beyond belief if they’ve axed it. Next time, they get told that if one topic is prepped and another replaces it in the interview, they get corrected – on the air.

Now, because I am certain that you’re all squiggly with excitement, the latest curling news! The Canadian team lost to Sweden 6-5, spoiling their perfect undefeated record in the round-robin. Apparently the ice was tricky, and the Swedes picked it up before the Canadians did. It happens. Despite that, it was a really good, tight game. The Canadian women’s team is still 4-0 going into their next game with England.

Seems this blog is getting attention! The Grand Poohbah is scrounging around for a comment function so he can, well, comment, because apparently he’s bursting at the seams. In the interests of his health, I hope he finds one soon.