Before you do another thing, you gotta go to Townhall.com for the best laughing you're gonna have this week. It's the many photos of Trump working at McDonalds and a video of him applying for the job. Hilarious, and funny, and funny, love him or despise him, you're gonna laugh looking at one after another.
I don't know that one, but I can sing half the lines to Handel's "Ombra mai fu," from his "Serse" an homage to a tree for its shade. That kind of fits the a worker.
Richard Wagner was a known anti-Semite. But I don’t find any antisemitism in the Flying Dutchman opera. Bill, do you see something anti-Semitic in this piece of music?
I saw those. What a classic Trump troll. It’s obvious Kamala lied about working at McDonalds. We are the same age and I remember plenty of details about my summer jobs at Luby’s Cafeteria and Domino’s Pizza, plus she could just log into irs.gov and ask for proof. And they say Trump is a congenital liar. Her whole family life and career is one long lie
I watched the video and he as absolutely hilarious. Once you get past hating him (I mean TDS hating), you can see he's really funny. In my lifetime, I've seen so many politicians on campaign trail doing the "get their hands dirty" thing. They never come across as real. It's blatantly obvious it's a photo op and it's like even they are posing to make sure voters know that. Everyone knows they're just performing, and if not because they had to do this, the wouldn't go near the place let alone "get their hands wet" with a ten foot pole. The funny thing about Trump is you get none of that feeling from him. Firstly he's so enjoying trolling Kamala by doing this. And then he's so into it learning how to use the fryer. He comes across entirely at home and at ease talking to the real McDonalds worker training him the work process. It was like an episode of a reality TV show. I honestly can't believe this was what he did 15 days out from election day, and it was hilarious.
Not that the "Trump will be a fascist dictator" thing ever convinced anyone outside of the deranged left, but it's impossible to take that threat seriously after seeing him working at McDonalds. That's just not what a dictator would ever do. You can seriously think Putin, or Xi, or Kim, or Stalin and Hitler or Mao doing that just for kicks.
And away from the endless pollings (ie modern day tea leafs reading), Melania's book currently is sitting at No.1 on the Amazon book store. I'm quite surprised this many people want to read her book. Nonetheless, I point this out not to tout her book, which I myself have no time or interest to read, but to show a different set of real life data point that reflects where the public opinion is at. Remember, people are paying to buy the book, and the sales number isn't something that can be fudged, at least it can't without impacting all the other books on sale and on new release, so highly unlikely. But more telling, JD Vance (who is now also branded evil incarnate), his book is also still on the top of the Amazon Chart. It ever came down since his VP nomination. If the polls are saying he's unpopular, the sales figures are saying otherwise.
When, as a 10 yr. old, I lived in Cincinnati my step-mother owned a convalescent home & belonged to a group of home owners that would meet on summer evenings at one of the other homes, located on a hill above the zoo and in the summer the zoo presented operas at their outdoor theater. I remember hearing Aida and the animals roaring when the orchestras reached fortissimo passages.
In the 6th. grade, in Los Angeles, every 6th grader who wanted to attend the opera was bused by the school district to the Shrine auditorium downtown. Most of the students went to get out of school for a day.
The performance was Madame Butterfly. The first half was wonderful and during the second half the singers and orchestra caught fire and the performance soared into another realm. It was one of the most exciting musical experiences of my life and inspired me to become a musician.
The only thing better than that performance was participating in performances that reached the same heights.
Cool story. LA has a great opera company as does Houston. New Yorkers love the Met but when I saw Salome I burst out laughing when they brought in John the Baptist’s head on a plate.
Your beautifully precise illustrations remind me of the work of Chris Ware.
About Wagner I’ll only mention that I took a friend to see Lohengrin in San Diego when we were about 20, and she put her foot wrong as we made our way to our balcony seats and tumbled down the steep stairs. She wasn’t hurt, thank God.
They're especially daunting on the descent. Fortunately, Lizzie was about 90 lbs., and too light to get hurt. But her 'flight' in her white lace dress is my signature image of that afternoon -- even more so than the swan boat at the end of Lohengrin.
And a letter explaining why the proposed ban 'conversion therapy' risks criminalizing parents and therapists was delivered to No 10 Downing Street. You might recognise one or two names on the list...
I always assumed Pyrex was factory made. Btw to add to some recent discussions, I found a show called “Food Factory” that goes behind the scenes on how various (mostly unhealthy) consumables are manufactured. Weirdly compelling
It is but it is also semi-skilled and unionized. It is not simply pressing a button and hoping from what I can gather. They are moving the production to a more modern factory in Lancaster OH. To a certain extent this is about successor industries and what happens when a reasonable paying factory is replaced by one which has minimum wages. George Packer's The Unwinding makes this point about post-industrialization workforces.
Key point about Harris: “they found Harris unconvincing: a weak candidate with a weak record and weak messages, wildly over-promoted, boosted by a fawning liberal media and a sinister, duplicitous, left-wing Democratic political machine.”
The UK mainstream media never disappoints. Click on The Times “Live poll” within the Lucas article if you need a laugh. 76% of those English people subscribing to Mockingbird service actually believe Harris will win the election?!? Perhaps this concept doesn’t translate well over there, but eventually, they will come to realize that this election is too big to rig. November 6th is going to be glorious.
Thanks for the reference, I couldn't claim coming up with it on my own! I've only heard it to describe the conviction with which, even in light of oh so many failed policies, they continue to double down on more of the same.
Hate to tell you, but at last count there are "officially" 72. You can even find a list of them. You may get screamed at online for saying 24 (I was), so just giving you a heads up.
Clown world here; China's kids marching in formation and doing advanced math.
What a rousing and stimulating way to start the day. Makes me want to leap tall mountains with a single bound and sail around the world........You are such an Artist extraordinare Celia!
We were introduced to orchestral music the old fashioned way: my mother played the LP of Peter and the Wolf narrated my Peter Ustinov. Our entree to opera came in fifth grade when we went to Hartford to hear selections from Carmen. Fast foreward four plus decades when I read a piece in the WSJ by Ann Pachett extolling the delights of MetLive in cinemas. That was 15 years ago, as I’ve been going ever since. Delightful it is. Here’s the link to the season and participating cinemas.
Okay, Spoonflower is a company that will print fabric with designs you or other artists have created. You can upload a picture and have it printed on fabric (they have various kinds of fabric). Those of us who are crafty can use that fabric for all kinds of projects.
A cloth book is a book made out of fabric, intended for young children. It can be washed if it gets dirty from grubby little fingers, and since the pages are not made of paper, they can't be easily torn.
Oh Celia, it was just me trying to be funny. Thank you for your Reply, but I will watch it, from now on, not wanting to cause you extra work. You do so much for us. I think I'll go learn to crochet now. Is that how to spell it? Never mind.
I enjoyed your illustrated book more than the time I saw this opera. Diet Coke Partner had a subscription to the LA Opera and the production we saw was interrupted periodically by a shuffling old man in rags with a broom, meant to represent “The Wandering Jew”. I guess the only way they could do Wagner was to turn him PC. However, I did have some opera high points. I saw Sam Raimi play Mephistopheles twice. When we went to Vienna, she took my to see Tannhauser at the Staatsoper, which was truly transcendent. I grew to appreciate the opera, especially when they started to put the English lyrics over the stage in superscript. However, I never cottoned to the ballet; she tried to take me twice. The second time I went to the lobby and drank at the bar with the other bored husbands. I had a life goal to write a libretto but that probably won’t happen at this point. Enjoy your week
I was a terrible piano student who was fired by my private teacher in 4th grade, and a defiant violin student who was only doing it because my mother made me, ready to quit in 7th grade. Going through my parents’ record collection one day, I stumbled on a 1940 recording of Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave, Op. 31 (I believe by the Cleveland Philharmonic). It touched my soul that in ways that literally shaped who I am today. It expressed the fury and intensity and boldness and fierceness with which I attack life. I played that record on a loop for years. It also catapulted my love of violin and all music, as well as all things Russian. It’s funny - I haven’t thought about that moment in a very long time. Thanks for bringing it back to me, Celia.
I have this sorta weird theory that sometimes the things we seem to hate the most might be the very things a part of us is most drawn to and might actually be very good at. I am thinking specfically of a friend whose son could not stand music lessons which it turned out after much confusion all the way around, was because he had like perfect pitch and the teacher and other students kept making so many mistakes, it made his head hurt!
Before you do another thing, you gotta go to Townhall.com for the best laughing you're gonna have this week. It's the many photos of Trump working at McDonalds and a video of him applying for the job. Hilarious, and funny, and funny, love him or despise him, you're gonna laugh looking at one after another.
Maybe someone will write an opera about it and instead of Iphigenia in Aulis we'll have Trump in McDonalds. At least the topic will be the same.
I don't know that one, but I can sing half the lines to Handel's "Ombra mai fu," from his "Serse" an homage to a tree for its shade. That kind of fits the a worker.
So reminiscent of Herr Hitler,no?
Huh? Clarity, please clarify.
Wagner was an extreme Jew-hater, and a known favourite of Hitler's. For a long time his music was boycotted by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Yeah, who don't know that, but Clarity's post is referring to what? is all I wanted to know. And yes, Vaagner is nothing, if not startling.
TDS knows no common knowledge limitations Mr Karg
Fine, but I don't "get" this one, either. I guess I'm more dense than I thought.
I'm a firm believer in 'death of the author.' I judge works of art on their own merits, not on 'who' made them.
Hitler loved dogs, too.
I can see that. Still, there is more to the widespread objection than meets the eye initially.
"The Holocaust will always be remembered as one of the most horrific and evil events in all of history. One
question that has been so pervasive in regards to this historical event is the question of why. Why exactly
did Hitler massacre the Jewish people? Why did he come to the conclusion that the Jews were somehow
lesser than him, and that it was okay to kill them? What and who were his influences and how did they
help form Hitler’s opinions leading up to the Holocaust? Although more than one situation or person
influenced Hitler, I believe that one man in particular really helped contribute to Hitler’s ideas, especially
about the Jewish people. This man is the famous musician Richard Wagner. While musicologists admit
that Wagner was a musical genius, one aspect of his career that is hard to ignore is his strong
antisemitism. In addition to speaking about his hatred for the Jews, he also wrote about it in his music,
making it hard to glance over. Hitler had been close to the Wagner family, and had an obsessive, cult-like
infatuation with Wagner’s music beginning in his childhood. This infatuation with Wagner’s music and his
closeness to his later family helped facilitate and solidify his negative views about the Jewish people. In
this paper I will explore the antisemitism that is within Wagner’s music and writing, and then I will discuss
how Wagner’s antisemitism helped inform, influence, and shape Hitler’s ideas, indirectly assisting in the
propagation of the Holocaust.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1062&context=musicalofferings
Thank you for posting.
Richard Wagner was a known anti-Semite. But I don’t find any antisemitism in the Flying Dutchman opera. Bill, do you see something anti-Semitic in this piece of music?
I heard Adolf was vegan, too.
I think merely a vegetarian and a house-painter attempting to be a fine art "painter"! A pox upon all those houses!!
Sarcasm. Trump is called Hitler so I was missing if adolph also served pommes frites too. 😀
If you get a Hitler reference in before the sun comes up do you get the afternoon off?
I gotta give you two more "Like." That's all that can explain it.
Your name is an oxymoron
Sarcasm my friend. At least you didn't call me a threat to democracy so I can sleep more soundly tonight.
"Literally" Hitler! (who worked the Fritten machine at his local McDonalds when he was a mere lad in Linz).
I saw those. What a classic Trump troll. It’s obvious Kamala lied about working at McDonalds. We are the same age and I remember plenty of details about my summer jobs at Luby’s Cafeteria and Domino’s Pizza, plus she could just log into irs.gov and ask for proof. And they say Trump is a congenital liar. Her whole family life and career is one long lie
Unless she worked there in Montreal.
Almost certainly would have needed to speak French. She doesn’t.
I thought kids in Canada were required to study French? Or did she go to some private school that got away with not requiring that?
I watched the video and he as absolutely hilarious. Once you get past hating him (I mean TDS hating), you can see he's really funny. In my lifetime, I've seen so many politicians on campaign trail doing the "get their hands dirty" thing. They never come across as real. It's blatantly obvious it's a photo op and it's like even they are posing to make sure voters know that. Everyone knows they're just performing, and if not because they had to do this, the wouldn't go near the place let alone "get their hands wet" with a ten foot pole. The funny thing about Trump is you get none of that feeling from him. Firstly he's so enjoying trolling Kamala by doing this. And then he's so into it learning how to use the fryer. He comes across entirely at home and at ease talking to the real McDonalds worker training him the work process. It was like an episode of a reality TV show. I honestly can't believe this was what he did 15 days out from election day, and it was hilarious.
Not that the "Trump will be a fascist dictator" thing ever convinced anyone outside of the deranged left, but it's impossible to take that threat seriously after seeing him working at McDonalds. That's just not what a dictator would ever do. You can seriously think Putin, or Xi, or Kim, or Stalin and Hitler or Mao doing that just for kicks.
And away from the endless pollings (ie modern day tea leafs reading), Melania's book currently is sitting at No.1 on the Amazon book store. I'm quite surprised this many people want to read her book. Nonetheless, I point this out not to tout her book, which I myself have no time or interest to read, but to show a different set of real life data point that reflects where the public opinion is at. Remember, people are paying to buy the book, and the sales number isn't something that can be fudged, at least it can't without impacting all the other books on sale and on new release, so highly unlikely. But more telling, JD Vance (who is now also branded evil incarnate), his book is also still on the top of the Amazon Chart. It ever came down since his VP nomination. If the polls are saying he's unpopular, the sales figures are saying otherwise.
Now this is the kind of guy we'd like to be reading over on TFP.
great post Alex!!
When, as a 10 yr. old, I lived in Cincinnati my step-mother owned a convalescent home & belonged to a group of home owners that would meet on summer evenings at one of the other homes, located on a hill above the zoo and in the summer the zoo presented operas at their outdoor theater. I remember hearing Aida and the animals roaring when the orchestras reached fortissimo passages.
In the 6th. grade, in Los Angeles, every 6th grader who wanted to attend the opera was bused by the school district to the Shrine auditorium downtown. Most of the students went to get out of school for a day.
The performance was Madame Butterfly. The first half was wonderful and during the second half the singers and orchestra caught fire and the performance soared into another realm. It was one of the most exciting musical experiences of my life and inspired me to become a musician.
The only thing better than that performance was participating in performances that reached the same heights.
Cool story. LA has a great opera company as does Houston. New Yorkers love the Met but when I saw Salome I burst out laughing when they brought in John the Baptist’s head on a plate.
Was the head the original or a copy?
Your beautifully precise illustrations remind me of the work of Chris Ware.
About Wagner I’ll only mention that I took a friend to see Lohengrin in San Diego when we were about 20, and she put her foot wrong as we made our way to our balcony seats and tumbled down the steep stairs. She wasn’t hurt, thank God.
Those steps can be steep! Not even sure I could navigate them at my age
They're especially daunting on the descent. Fortunately, Lizzie was about 90 lbs., and too light to get hurt. But her 'flight' in her white lace dress is my signature image of that afternoon -- even more so than the swan boat at the end of Lohengrin.
Edward Lucas who is a Times op ed writer, normally on foreign policy, decided to volunteer to knock on doors for the Harris campaign which he said came across as weak and out of touch. He discovered that many people do not support Harris and they actually understand the issues. He was knocking on Independents' doors (so not registered Republicans. https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/why-independent-voters-are-turning-to-trump-b30ncthnj or https://archive.ph/9oIPi
The SNP still cannot get the desperately needed ferries launched and have taken to having one cannibalized to ensure that they can get at least one launched. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/20/snp-ferries-fiasco-replacement-parts-glen-rosa-glen-sannox/
In the meantime, they have declared that there are now 24 genders (just eyeroll) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/20/snp-guidance-public-bodies-24-genders/ or https://archive.ph/Q6S46
And a letter explaining why the proposed ban 'conversion therapy' risks criminalizing parents and therapists was delivered to No 10 Downing Street. You might recognise one or two names on the list...
https://x.com/jamesesses/status/1847924438303465752?s=48
This is the Telegraph's article about it: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/19/labour-gender-therapy-plans-risk-criminalising-parents/ or https://archive.ph/h3XJG
Interesting article by Lucas. I think I will pass it on to some folksI know who still cannot quite grok why so many are supporting Trump.
It is interesting to see what is being printed over here.
FOr example this article about the state of the Black male vote in GA is nothing like you would have seen in 2016 or 2020 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2024/10/21/black-men-martin-luther-king-hometown-wont-vote-kamala/ or
https://archive.ph/5W42A
I also thought this article about Haitians in CHarleroi interesting -- partly because they did not mention the problems when a semi-skilled/artisan factory like Pyrex leaves and an area and its replacement is no skill minimum wage (or less) factories where people make sandwiches. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2024/10/18/haitians-pyrex-charleroi-trump-us-election-migrants/ or https://archive.ph/wCf1M
I always assumed Pyrex was factory made. Btw to add to some recent discussions, I found a show called “Food Factory” that goes behind the scenes on how various (mostly unhealthy) consumables are manufactured. Weirdly compelling
It is but it is also semi-skilled and unionized. It is not simply pressing a button and hoping from what I can gather. They are moving the production to a more modern factory in Lancaster OH. To a certain extent this is about successor industries and what happens when a reasonable paying factory is replaced by one which has minimum wages. George Packer's The Unwinding makes this point about post-industrialization workforces.
I thought this interesting about Poland (and why it is far harder to find a Polish builder in Britain than it once was) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/10/20/poland-stunning-success-discomforting-britain/ or https://archive.ph/o3WXE
I do know about the Food Factory -- I think it is BBC. Put me off buying supermarket cakes.
My uncle was a physicist at CGW, was one of the inventors of the precursor to Pyrex.
Pyrex sold to a French company years ago, they changed the formula, now it will break if subjected to extremes (hot to cold, vice versa)
I've heard stories from friends about "new" Pyrex shattering. Probably a good idea to source Pyrex from yard sales now!
damn!!!
Key point about Harris: “they found Harris unconvincing: a weak candidate with a weak record and weak messages, wildly over-promoted, boosted by a fawning liberal media and a sinister, duplicitous, left-wing Democratic political machine.”
The UK mainstream media never disappoints. Click on The Times “Live poll” within the Lucas article if you need a laugh. 76% of those English people subscribing to Mockingbird service actually believe Harris will win the election?!? Perhaps this concept doesn’t translate well over there, but eventually, they will come to realize that this election is too big to rig. November 6th is going to be glorious.
24 genders? Baskin Robbins has 32 flavors
When you look at the provided list, it is hard not to laugh. However what you need to remember is that taxpayers' money when to support this.
No. There are now officially 72 "identities".
So f*ck3d up!
Edward should, for his next trick, do Kamala. Every leftist, often wrong, but never in doubt.
Harris' campaign doesn't just "come across as weak and out of touch"- it is weak and out of touch; mostly because she's an absolute shit candidate.
Wow! I just read that description "often wrong, but never in doubt" in a book I read a few weeks ago.... author was Robert Parker (with Mike Lupica).
I know a few people to whom this would apply.
Thanks for the reference, I couldn't claim coming up with it on my own! I've only heard it to describe the conviction with which, even in light of oh so many failed policies, they continue to double down on more of the same.
Hate to tell you, but at last count there are "officially" 72. You can even find a list of them. You may get screamed at online for saying 24 (I was), so just giving you a heads up.
Clown world here; China's kids marching in formation and doing advanced math.
I love the overture too.
What a rousing and stimulating way to start the day. Makes me want to leap tall mountains with a single bound and sail around the world........You are such an Artist extraordinare Celia!
I sang in the glee club in college and we sang Berlioz’ “Requiem” - I find myself singing that at odd times.
VERY odd times… 😜
Thank you! Great start to a Monday. :)
What an excellent introduction to classical music! : )
We were introduced to orchestral music the old fashioned way: my mother played the LP of Peter and the Wolf narrated my Peter Ustinov. Our entree to opera came in fifth grade when we went to Hartford to hear selections from Carmen. Fast foreward four plus decades when I read a piece in the WSJ by Ann Pachett extolling the delights of MetLive in cinemas. That was 15 years ago, as I’ve been going ever since. Delightful it is. Here’s the link to the season and participating cinemas.
https://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is the classical music that I love the most. Used it to study many a night while in college.
What's a "cloth book," a "Spoonflower, a "fabric?" A materially toxic male wants to know.
ROFL!
Okay, Spoonflower is a company that will print fabric with designs you or other artists have created. You can upload a picture and have it printed on fabric (they have various kinds of fabric). Those of us who are crafty can use that fabric for all kinds of projects.
A cloth book is a book made out of fabric, intended for young children. It can be washed if it gets dirty from grubby little fingers, and since the pages are not made of paper, they can't be easily torn.
Oh Celia, it was just me trying to be funny. Thank you for your Reply, but I will watch it, from now on, not wanting to cause you extra work. You do so much for us. I think I'll go learn to crochet now. Is that how to spell it? Never mind.
🤣
I enjoyed your illustrated book more than the time I saw this opera. Diet Coke Partner had a subscription to the LA Opera and the production we saw was interrupted periodically by a shuffling old man in rags with a broom, meant to represent “The Wandering Jew”. I guess the only way they could do Wagner was to turn him PC. However, I did have some opera high points. I saw Sam Raimi play Mephistopheles twice. When we went to Vienna, she took my to see Tannhauser at the Staatsoper, which was truly transcendent. I grew to appreciate the opera, especially when they started to put the English lyrics over the stage in superscript. However, I never cottoned to the ballet; she tried to take me twice. The second time I went to the lobby and drank at the bar with the other bored husbands. I had a life goal to write a libretto but that probably won’t happen at this point. Enjoy your week
I saw "Rocky, the Musical" in Hamburg about 10 years ago....that was something different.
Have some fun! You can believe the safe and effective polls, or believe the people. Easy money. https://kalshi.com/. 😂
My Dad loved this opera. He bought a Flying Dutchman, a two-man Olympic center boarder, and taught me how to sail.
How cool!
:) A flashback to the 1960s, and coastal North Carolina.
I was a terrible piano student who was fired by my private teacher in 4th grade, and a defiant violin student who was only doing it because my mother made me, ready to quit in 7th grade. Going through my parents’ record collection one day, I stumbled on a 1940 recording of Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave, Op. 31 (I believe by the Cleveland Philharmonic). It touched my soul that in ways that literally shaped who I am today. It expressed the fury and intensity and boldness and fierceness with which I attack life. I played that record on a loop for years. It also catapulted my love of violin and all music, as well as all things Russian. It’s funny - I haven’t thought about that moment in a very long time. Thanks for bringing it back to me, Celia.
I have this sorta weird theory that sometimes the things we seem to hate the most might be the very things a part of us is most drawn to and might actually be very good at. I am thinking specfically of a friend whose son could not stand music lessons which it turned out after much confusion all the way around, was because he had like perfect pitch and the teacher and other students kept making so many mistakes, it made his head hurt!