george carlin: baseball vs. football

'in a year that has been sooo improbable,...the impossible has happened'

nobody like vinnie -- in a class by himself

i was directed to this video, in an e-mail list, in which the quiz question was...how many seconds does vinnie stay quiet, after gibbie's homer

and look at all those old-timers -- and former indians, too -- davey,...in his usual spot -- hassey, behind the plate -- i didn't know that -- and joe garagiola keeps putting his name, first -- scioscia,...in the dugout, next to orel -- another manager-to-be,...in the oakland dugout -- don baylor -- i think that's steve henderson, in the home-plate celebration -- and, for sure, that's bill buckner, there, too

and, oh my god -- i forgot eck

nice story

the last segment of hugh hewitt's hour-long interview with actor davis gaines, who was the phantom in 'phantom of the opera,' 2000 times

[music in background] HH: What a wonderful show that must have been, Davis Gaines, and thank you for coming into the studio.
DG: My pleasure.
HH: You’ve performed for 5 Presidents?
DG: I have. I’ve sung for 5 Presidents. Yes. Let’s see, the Clintons, the Fords,
HH: the Herbert Walker Bush’s?
DG: Both the Bushes.
HH: Both Bushes?
DG: And there has to one more in there, the Reagan’s.
HH: Oh, yeah. Nervous? Is that as nervous as any other night or is that—
DG: No.
HH: Kind of nervous?
DG: No, it was fun. The Bush’s were interesting because H.W. invited me to sing at Barbara Bush’s 75th surprise birthday party in Kennebunkport so I got, he brought me there and I got to do that which was an amazing experience in itself to be at her birthday and, and, ah, he invited me to the house the next morning for coffee and donuts and walking in, the first person I saw was Collin Powell, and like good job last night David.
HH: [laughing]
DG: So it was incredibly, I kept pinching myself the whole time and then, of course, George W. walks in, I was in the dining room, and he walks in and he goes, good morning Governor, how you doing? He says I’m feeling fine, feeling fine, ran for a couple hours after church. I’m feeling good. I said well, that’s great and then we talked for a while and he says is there a question, can I ask you a question? And I said, of course. And he does can you learn how to sing or is it something that you are born with? And I said well, one can learn to sing, but you have to have a little musicality, I think, but one could learn to sing. There was a long pause and he goes, I don’t know [bleep] about singing, but you probably got the best voice in America.
HH: [laughing]
DG: And I said, well, thank you so much and so we bonded there and then I looked around and all the out of town guests were gone except for me and them and so he goes, you stay for lunch and I said, oh, no, I couldn’t possibly do that. I’ve overstayed my welcome, I got to go. No, no, no. If you’re going to pick a day to eat here, this is the day because we’re having tacos. And I said, well, I love tacos, I’d love to stay, if you insisted I would love to stay, but you should go ask your mom if I can stay.  You’re right, wait right here. So, I waited in the dining room, he goes in the kitchen to ask Mrs. Bush if I could stay.
HH: [laughing hard]
DG: And he comes out and two thumbs up, you’re in.
HH: You’re in!
DG: You’re in. So, I was his little buddy all day long.
HH: Oh, what a great story and a great way to end. I’ve got to ask you one more question.
DG: Yeah.
HH: What is the physically most demanding song that you have had to sing. I asked Julie Andrews that and it was I Hate You Henry Higgins because she had to do it 8 times a week for many, many times a months.
DG: I would say the music of the Night from Phantom because you, you have to be, it has to be, everyone knows that song and you have to be so, very exposed out there, it’s just you and the orchestra and you have to be so pure and perfect.
HH: We’ll go out with that. Davis Gaines, thank you so much
DG: Thank you, Mr. Hewitt.
HH: a real treat for our audience and everyone, Laguna Beach Playhouse through August 11th. Again, go get your tickets on the website and use the promo code “Phantom” and you can thank The Hugh Hewitt show for telling you about that. We’ll be right back. Hour number 3 when we return to the Hugh Hewitt Show.

the birds

the corey kluber show

proud mamma's tweet

other fun reactions

the corey kluber show -- his biggest hits of the year

thanks to my play-by-play partner, howard, i found out that sports time ohio is broadcasting several of cy kluber's games, starting saturday, at noon (when he beat tampa, 1-0, in his last game of the year) -- sunday night, at nine, they're showing the pre-match...of the top two cy-young contenders, when our cy...outpitched seattle's cy, 2-0 (july 30) -- early this morning, they showed one of corey's 14-strikeout performances -- that one in houston, september 16

vin, at the reagan foundation

birdie num-num

as kids, we loved this movie,...especially the 'birdie num-num' line -- we'd use it, with each other

more scenes, from this movie -- had me, roaring...with laughter, yesterday

interview with sellers

tito: gotta love this guy

baseball, a la bourn

very nice interview with indians centerfielder michael bourn, on the basics of baseball -- the long haul -- the grind

new documentary about opera lovers' hangout in l.a.

a new friend, lisa dibenedictis, whom i met, a few months ago, after susan graham's concert in akron -- she (lisa) was with her neighbor's lovely granddaughter, miss haily -- well, lisa told me about her friend anne davis o'neal's documentary about a group of opera lovers, who have been gathering in a los angeles restaurant for 50 years

'hard day's night'

a couple of fridays ago, i went to the capitol theater, to see jonas kaufmann and kristine opolais, in 'manon lescaut,' from covent garden -- wasn't showing -- was so looking forward to it -- promised to be one for the ages -- i've since missed all the other showings of it

good thing, 'hard days' night' was showing

fun stuff

here are two of my favorite songs

vinny, on the history of 'home plate': 'kind of interesting'

vinnie, on a brawl

vinnie's...classy blow-by-blow, of the zack greinke-carlos quentin brawl

everybody loves vinny

feel the love

and one year before -- lovely touch, his first pitch

friday the 13th, by vin scully

mary poppins

i had a great time, yesterday afternoon, taking my niece...and a cousin's son (both, eight), to see 'mary poppins' in the movie theater

two of my favorite songs

here's the movie-clip -- french version -- that's the verion my friend rima told me, today, she first heard -- i think, when she was a child -- presumably, in baghdad -- i'll ask her [just found out -- not, while in baghdad]

rima's taking her son, soon, to the play, in vienna -- probably, in deutsch

'feed the birds'

came across a maygar version -- maygar subtitles, that is -- amazing,...the worldwide appeal of this

jeter's last at-bat in cleveland

i love this guy

Post by KALB News Channel 5.

vinnie's indians stories

from tonight's broadcast -- actually,...just from the first three innings

vin scully went over the various names the cleveland baseball team has been called -- spiders, blues, forest cities, then, finally, in 1901, they were a charter member of the new american league, and they were called the indians, and they've been called that, ever since

hey, wait a minute, i said -- what about the naps

then he added, there was another name -- it was a sarcastic name -- there was a great second baseman, named napoleon lajoie -- he was player-manager for the team -- well, people started calling 'em the naps, because they 'folded' -- like a napkin

the next inning, he continued -- speaking of that sarcastic name, one of my favorite lines is from frank robinson, who said that a pennant-fever in cleveland usually turns out to be a forty-eight-hour virus

the season after the indians won their last championship, they were eliminated -- bill veeck wasn't going to take that, lying down -- so he organized a funeral ceremony -- they played the funeral dirge -- he called out all the players, coaches, fans -- they went out to the flag-pole and brought down the championship flag -- they folded it, put it into a casket -- pine, i think -- they brought out a hearse -- put the casket in the hearse -- veeck rode atop the hearse, like he was leading a funeral procession,...with everybody following the hearse -- they went out to center-field -- it was a big center-field -- maybe this was beyond the fence -- and they buried the flag

then there's one of my favorite indians stories -- the best baseball player i've ever seen...played with the indians -- his name was jackie price -- he only played in seven games

i saw him in 1946 -- in yankee stadium -- i think it was bob feller against...i forgot the name of the yankees pitcher -- a pretty famous one

jackie price would stand on his head and play catch

then they brought out this rig -- and jackie price was hung, upside down, from the rig -- his head was three feet above home plate -- they gave him a bat -- and then they threw pitches to him -- he hit ropes, all over the place

he went out to the mound -- he had two balls, and he threw them both -- one pitch was a fastball; the other, a curve

then they brought out a jeep -- jackie price drove the jeep in the outfield -- a guy working with him...hit balls from home plate -- jackie patrolled the outfield, in the jeep -- he would drive around, and catch the ball -- with one hand on the steering wheel, driving the jeep, and, with the other hand, he caught the ball

i'm not making this up -- i swear to you

he continued, the next inning -- one more thing about jackie price, and then i'll shut up

jackie price never wore a belt -- instead, he wore a snake

one time on the train with the indians, he let the snake loose -- they asked who did it -- price said, boudreau

too bad i couldn't hear vinnie, when the indians pulled off a...7-2-4 triple-play in the fourth -- with two replay challenges -- maybe, after the cleveland broadcast

fouad ajami

a great man is gone

the wall street journal, today, published excerpts from his writings for the paper -- what a great writer he was -- elegant, insightful, wise, gentle -- there are...so many more, and there should have been...so many, many, many more

tony gwynn

great hitter -- great man

one of my favorites -- i'll miss him

happy birthday, fred

fred astaire, dancing,...at the 1970 academy awards

always...lovely

and...what a difference, a couple of decades make

they actually gave an award,...for a documentary on 'the prague spring,' and the winners speak of liberty

here's fred, with ginger, dancing to...and singing...'isn't this a lovely day' -- yes, indeed -- and...so cute, when he gets her...to join him

gruberova: qui la voce....

listening to the puritani from the met, i remembered this amazing 'qui la voce' by edita gruberova

favorite movie, cinema paradiso

just got this back -- painting that my then-wife, laura, made for me, some...15 years ago -- our favorite movie

baseball pranks: frenchie & swish

gotta love these guys -- gotta love frenchie

then there's swish -- swish-a-licious

kristine opolais: let's play two

what a tour de force, by kristine opolais

she sang butterfly, friday night -- her first time, singing the role at the met -- she would say,...i lived it

then unwound, had a late dinner -- goes to bed, around five

seven-thirty, the phone rings -- peter gelb's on the phone -- anita hartig's sick -- can you sing mimi, in five hours

what are you talking about -- impossible

five minutes later, she...has second thoughts -- why not

they go through the whirlwind of costumes, makeup, hair, steps, staging, all that -- bob's your uncle -- she makes her met debut as mimi

first time that's ever happened -- in met history -- 131 years -- two met debuts, in 24 hours -- more like...15 hours

she was incredible -- what a rich...and husky voice -- full...deep

great acting, too

[april 14: i just came across this detailed analysis of the show]

there was a beautiful shot of rodolfo (grigolo) and mimi (opolais), from below -- he's on the ground; she's on the upper level -- act three, just inside the paris gate -- i didn't get my camera out, to capture it -- it's just before they come together,...here

she,...and her duet with rodolfo, in that scene,...were spine-tingling

she must have had a good sleep, last night

[april 10: saw it again, this evening -- even more powerful, the second time -- maybe, because of what i've learned, since -- or...the effects of it, sinking in -- well, i thought it was one...for the ages -- she is...something else -- i'll be following her -- during the intermissions, i listened to her, on my phone, as butterfly, live from the met -- from the movie screen, i got this picture, from act three]

then, in this great interview, she says she's going to sing both soprano roles...in boito's mefistofele -- this girl...likes to play -- and...that's not enough

Often when I finish an opera I always say that I would like to sing more.

she's got some interesting takes...on magda,...tosca,...and mimi -- she likes to shake things up -- desdemona too -- and carmen

her husband says...she is...tosca

she's also going to be manon lescaut, with jonas kaufmann -- covent garden, in july -- that one...should be special -- super-special -- he's a teacher and mentor, for her -- idol, too -- will be broadcast in movie theaters

this 2008 butterfly, in covent garden, was conducted by her husband, andris nelsons

looking for a mimi clip, there's a boheme, with villazon -- wow -- i've gotta see that one

the last scene

part of 'addio, senza rancor'

soave fanciulla

here's an 'addio,'...that was added, today -- so, maybe, it's from yesterday

she's got a 'quando m'en vo' -- in concert

all right -- that's enough

now i've gotta figure out,...where i saw her, before

reading on in the interview, i think i might have seen a video of her, singing, with her husband, conducting -- he's the incoming music director of the boston symphony -- they'll open next season, together

bard's b'day

a little premature, but...it was at the kickoff event, for the....cleveland public library's festivities -- a talk, march 22, by diana price, author of the book 'shakespeare's unorthodox shakespeare' -- i thought it was a poor use of time, but....

fun bunch

nice article, about the continuing...positive 'vibe'...in the wigwam

look what mike & brandon can do

it tastes even better than it looks -- i don't know what that fork is doing there -- i just grab and eat

only at farkas bakery, in cleveland -- and they make a chocolate kremes too

behind the scenes of baden-baden concert

great documentary, behind the scenes of the spectacular concert in baden-baden, in 2007

there's a part seven, which doesn't have a number...after the title

can't include it here -- here's a link to the video

turns out, the director of this documentary, robert dornhelm, is the person who directed the boheme movie starring netrebko and villazon

what i didn't understand, was what they were reviewing, in the studio -- was it, a post-mortem

netrebko-villazon boheme film

i just finished this film version of boheme -- beautiful -- fantastic -- how come nobody told me about it

the leads...are in full voice -- and splendid acting -- perfectly shot...set

they do add a sex scene...in act one -- not explicit -- i also miss the...pum-pum,...the last two notes of act three

the volume, here, is low

seems better, in the below version -- although the subtitles get in the way...of the movie -- the full...movie effect

tosca film, with domingo & milnes

looks like a must-see -- 1976 film version of 'tosca,' with raina kabaivanska, placido domingo and sherril milnes, filmed...in situ -- in rome

i can't wait to see her vissi d'arte -- she's got a gorgeous voice

the a's of opera

i'm reading the companion-book to the cd-set 'the a to z of opera' -- and it's really...a book -- 760 pages

well, i just got into 'c,' but...a couple of interesting things, from 'a'

seemed like half the operas...in the 'a' section...were by handel -- what the heck -- either the guy...wanted to hog the front of the alphabet (in opera catalogues),...wrote a million operas,...or...was going through the book of myths and legends...in alphabetical order -- the library...of great figures...and stories -- and...exhausted himself...before he got to the end...or very far...or something

turns out, he wrote 46 operas, 12 of them...begin with the letter 'a'

all his operas...were opera seria -- all, in three acts -- i guess the guy was serious

other oddity...from the book -- from the 'a' section -- there are 23 operas...about alexander the great -- all of them,...written in the 18th century

made me wonder, what was going on, in the 18th century,...for there to be such a fascination with alexander -- on the popular...and high-art...levels

of course, we've got, in the renaissance, the 'rediscovery' of the classics -- of the greeks and the romans -- but....

the earliest of the operas listed...about alexander...is by handel -- 1726 -- 'alessandro' -- based on the libretto by paolo antonio rolli -- based on ortensio mauro's 'la superbia d'alessandro'

in the opera, the great rival sopranos faustina bordoni and francesca cuzzoni...got to play out their jealous enmity...on stage, vying for alessandro's affections -- in india

the other 22 operas about alexander are based on the libretto 'alessandro nell'indie,' by pietro metastasio

so,...the particular focus of the fascination with alexander...was his time in india -- specifically, his encounter with king porus -- east meets west -- vice versa, i guess -- west, meet east -- east, meet west -- how do you do -- nice to meet you

this painting, 'alexander and porus,' was done by charles le brun, in 1673 -- maybe it had a big effect

i'm sure there were a lot of writings too -- exhibitions?... -- talks...discussions...tours...the whole thing

handel composed the second of those 22 operas (based on metastasio's libretto 'alessandro nell'indie') -- 'poro' -- in 1731

the first one...appeared the year before -- composed by leonardo vinci -- relation? coincidence?

no mention, on the wikipedia page for vinci, of any relationship -- he was born in strongoli, near the ball of the foot, and was educated in naples -- higher up..., in the shin

the artist/inventor/...everything...was born...much higher up -- near the knee -- i think -- whatever it is,...way up there...in the boot...leg -- in vinci, of course, 44 kilometers west of florence

on our day in rome (the penultimate stop in the cruise for my father's 80th), our tour guide paolo took us to an exhibit of his machines -- da vinci's, not paolo's

a tank

a music machine, being played by my niece

the composer...was prolific -- and well regarded -- churned out 37 operas, in less than 12 years

he died at 40 -- apparently poisoned by a man...whose wife may have been having an affair with vinci

february -- the puccini month

i just realized, that boheme, butterfly and tosca...all debuted in february -- i wonder why

for the record, boheme debuted in 1896, with arturo toscanini, wielding the baton, in turin; butterfly, in 1904 -- milan; and tosca, in 1900, in turin

well, it's obvious, from the dates, that he's an olympian -- belongs with the gods...on mount olympus

community theater rigoletto

look what a little...moonlight can do

old friend jason budd...directed this rigoletto, for valley lyric opera, in sharpsville, pennsylvania

leonard warren,...and the curse of 'forze'

i just read that leonard warren, who sang that incredible rigoletto i was listening to, a couple of days ago, died, on stage -- he was 48

as a result -- or, maybe,...from even before -- 'la forze del destino' was considered a cursed opera -- pavarotti wouldn't touch it -- an opera director of 30 years, who provided sets and costumes to houses across italy, wouldn't touch those for 'forze'

la maledizione

movie about the signs of umpires

'gilda'

i didn't find leonard warren's cry of 'gilda,' when he finds out that roberta peters has been kidnapped, but i did find one, when his daughter from 14 years before, bidu sayao, was

jussi bjorling...was sayao's...amoroso

how would you like to see that...triangle...in action

leonard warren & roberta peters's rigoletto, 1959

this evening, on sirius radio, they were broadcasting the rigoletto from 1959, starring leonard warren and roberto peters -- fantastic

here are a few clips (just the audio), from that...same...show -- march 28

oops -- can't...include the videos, in this post

then,...the links

his 'pari siamo!'

then, again,...some...i can

figlia! mio padre!... quanto dolor

o veglia, o donna, questo fiore

they just...sing...together

his 'gilda,' after he discovers she's been kidnapped, is...blood-curdling...shiver...inducing -- i haven't found an audio,...on youtube

cortigiani, vil razza dannata

mio padre.. parla... siam soli... tutte le feste... piangi, fanciulla

chi è mai, chi è qui in sua vece? v`hotmail.com ingannato

look at gheorghiu & kaufmann, in action

too bad...it gets cut off, at the end

i think he and villazon are the two top tenors, today

what the heck -- here,...with her 'ex' -- before he was...'ex'

she's a powerhouse

i forgot florez

thomas hampson's art song project

thomas hampson, who was iago,...in the 'otello' i saw at the met, a year ago

and whom i saw sing american songs in akron, a little while before that

that's him, showing how to...'shake your sillies out'

actually, it was a technique...to get ready to sing -- straightening yourself up, i think -- maybe, grounding yourself -- creating...that straight...pipe

well,...he has a web-site (for his hampsong foundation), which is connected to the library of congress, and serves as a warehouse for songs from around the world, and, he said, it puts the songs in the context of their society and time

i just found out, he has a radio show, too -- of american songs

more importantly, though, he...begged me...to take a picture with him -- i succumbed

bjorling & de los angeles, in love -- in puccini love

maybe the best boheme...on record

then, from act 3

their butterfly...together

bartoli: qui la voce

wilhelmenia fernandez

i watched the movie 'diva,' last night -- for the first time in decades -- it became an instant cult-classic, when it came out, in '81, '82

the movie brought wilhelmenia wiggins fernandez to the attention of the world, with her great rendition of 'ebben? ne andro lontana' -- at the start of the movie

here are two more great performances

a very slow take...on 'patria mia' -- in luxor

a 'vissi d'arte'...that just floors you

she was musetta, in a 'boheme' with kiri te kanawa and placido domingo

some great soave fanciullas

what a great concert that was

what a great voice -- beautiful high note she finishes on

the cover image, below, is not right -- the voices, though,....

what a gorgeous voice elizabeth holleque has

what a concert that must have been

there they are again -- before

he's such a cutie

she gets around,...that mimi -- very popular

he gets around too

a bucharest duo

all we need now, is a bohemian boheme

gheorghiu & sutherland: vissi d'arte

another great vissi d'arte

and another

rex harrison's voice

another great voice

this clip is preceded, immediately, by harrison...laughing...an identical laugh..., at the ball, when he hears that count zoltan karpathy, 'that harry hound from budapest -- never have i ever known a ruder pest,' has uncovered eliza as a...frrrawwwd -- that she...was...booorrrn...hun'gay'rian -- and of royal blood, to boot

the thing about harrison -- as they say about ginger rogers -- that she did everything fred astaire did, but, backwards, and in high heels -- is that he...'sang'...in speak-voice -- didn't sing, but...spoke...the song

audrey hepburn, on the other hand, didn't sing...at all -- well,...i'm sure she did, in the shower, but...not...in the movies -- except, i think, 'moon river,' in 'breakfast at tiffany's'

here, now, is another example...of harrison's 'singing'

after the movie, ben mankiewicz, t.c.m.'s host, said that hepburn had a fine singing voice, but didn't possess the range...required

my niece, cinderella, vivica genaux, cenerentola

in honor of my second-grade niece, who just starred in cinderella -- as one of the mice

vivica genaux was cenerentola in pittsburgh, last spring

her voice seems perfectly suited...for this part -- boy, does she do some amazing things with it