Happy 1st Birthday Knut!

Baby polar bear Knut was born at the Berlin Zoo a year ago today, along with a brother who died within four days of birth. The mother bear was missing the nurturing instinct and abandoned the cub, who was reared by humans. Knut has become a celebrity in Germany, where Knut mania reigns. I can see why:

Luciano Pavarotti Dies at Age 71. Farewell.

Luciano Pavarotti passed away this morning at 5 am Modena time at age 71. He had been suffering with pancreatic cancer for a long time and had been ailing for the past months. Pavarotti had an illustrious opera career, the majority of his colleagues recognizing him as a technical genius. This news filled me with sadness. Here is an aria by Pavarotti from Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" (Elixir of Love), with lyrics in Italian and in translation.



Plot: Nemorino has fallen in love with Adina, a girl from a wealthy family, who will have not pay any heed to a poor young man. He spends all of his money on a love potion which is, in reality, nothing but cheap wine. Nemorino believes that the elixir will work, and when he sees her tears, he knows at last that she loves him in return.

Una furtiva lágrima Una furtiva lágrima Negl'occhi suoi spuntò: Quelle festose giovani Invidiar sembrò. Che piu cercando io vo? Che piu cercando io vo? M'ama, si m'ama, lo vedo, lo vedo. Un solo istante i palpiti Del suo bel cor sentir! I miei sospir, confondere Per poco a' suoi sospir! I palpiti, i palpiti sentir, Confondere i miei co' suoi sospir Cielo, si può morir! Di più non chiedo, non chiedo. Ah! Cielo, si può, si può morir, Di più non chiedo, non chiedo. Si può morir, si può morir d'amor.

A Secret Tear One secret tear From her eyes has sprung: It seemed to envy Those happy youths. I need to seek no further, I need to seek no further! She loves me, yes, she loves me, I see it, I see it! For a single moment, to feel The beating of her sweet heart! My sighs mingling For a while with her sighs! To feel the heartbeats, To mingle my sighs with hers, Heaven, that I could die! I ask for nothing more, nothing more. Oh! Heaven, if I could, if I could die, I'd ask for nothing more, nothing more. If I could die, if I could die of love.

(translation by A. Jokinen)
 

The Divine Mark Rylance in Pittsburgh, 2008

I got an email from Christiane in Germany (thank you!!!), who alerted me to the latest news on Mark Rylance. Next year, he will be International Guest Artist in Residence at Carnegie Mellon University, working with senior acting students to develop a play about Andrew Carnegie. How appropriate that it will be called "The Divine Comedy of Carnegie, Frick and Goldman Incorporated."

I hope those actors understand what kind of an insanely fabulous opportunity this is for them. It is equivalent to having Sir Laurence Olivier come hang at your school 40 years ago. I'm so green with envy right now I could pop!

Mark Rylance Carnegie Mellon News Release
Blog article on the same

*update* Apparently, DMR will be doing Peer Gynt at the Guthrie in Minneapolis in March of next year (!) Thank you again, Christine!

"I felt I had a bomb under me": Street Sense Wins the Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby — The Oscars of horseracing.

20 stunning, powerful horses roaring out of the gate toward the finish line. The Queen of England in the stands, along with 156,635 screaming commoners. The race favorite, Street Sense, is all the way in the back in the 19th position, while the runner-up favorite, Hard Spun, is holding a strong lead far ahead.

Is something wrong with Street Sense? What happened? Finally, in the last 1/8 mile, the announcer is shouting: "Here come's Street Sense!" And come he did. From 19th to third, second, neck and neck with Hard Spun for an instant, then thundering past at an unbelievable speed. Jockey Calvin Borel began waving his whip around before he even crossed the finish line, while Street Sense barrelled on. We were screaming our heads off, along with the people in the stands and the announcers. Street Sense had done it!



The Jockey was simultaneously weeping and whooping, waving his helmet in the air, standing high in the stirrups, while Street Sense looked as if he thought, "I knew I was going to win, what's the big deal?"  One of the announcers asked Borel, "When you came around, did it feel like you had a lot of horse under you?"  Borel answered,
"I felt like I had a bomb under me!"*



It was amazing. All hope seemed lost and then, out of nowhere, flies Street Sense like a rider in the sky — from the aerial playback, you would swear while all the rest were horses, he was a different animal!  He won by 2.5 horse lengths.

Street Sense's victory at the Kentucky Derby breaks "the 23-year jinx."  In 23 years, no horse who just won the Breeder's Cup in Santa Anita has followed that victory up with the Derby crown. What's more, he was the first 2 yr-old champion horse to win since 1979.

It was an awe-inspiring race. What noble creatures! Congratulations, Street Sense!

 
* Citing from memory, most likely not entirely verbatim.

Blog Day of Silence

What a bad place this world can be. I'm taking a blog day of silence due to the shootings at Virginia Tech.
 

NEWS: Kurt Vonnegut Dies at Age 84

Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors, has passed away at age 84 — I cannot link to a news article, because the news is too young. I saw the news both on Mark's Hyperliterature and on the CNN "Breaking News." Remember his short story "A Long Walk to Forever"? Vonnegut wrote his own epitaph:

If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC.

His voice will be missed.

 

BASTARDS

When these people are caught, I suggest we GIVE THEM A TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE until they die a slow, painful death.

I vote Hammurabi.
 

Stake Through the Heart : Milosevic Will Not Retun

In the news: Associated Press (AP) reports that a Serbian man has run a wooden stake through the grave of Serbian former President and War Criminal Slobodan Milosevic, in an attempt to run a stake through his heart. As you see, vampire beliefs still run strong in Serbia. The Socialist party is screaming for revenge. My feeling on this is A) no harm done and B) better safe than sorry....