Knowledge is power

Europe, Italy, pizza, ice cream and Harry's Bar will have to wait.

Wanted: Three weeks of sun

There is an unusual habit I have had for a number years. When I encounter a topic where my knowledge ranges from slim to none, I talk to people who have experience and I read books which offer facts. I say the habit is unusual because it seems so few people actually do this, politicians in particular, and simply try to pretend they know all things about all things. Sorry. I could not resist.

I thought I would be out of the country around October 1, in Europe, with Italy among the primary stops, however, my journey was postponed to mid-November. Now, it appears the trip has been delayed once again. Florence and Venice will just have to do without me for a while longer.

Therefore, bound and determined to avoid as much of a northern winter as possible (I am very, very bored with snow and cold), I wish to spend December in a warmer clime. My thoughts have centered upon somewhere along the Gulf Coast in Florida, maybe Texas or Old Mexico, or Baja might be an ideal location.

Any suggestions? No islands, please. I prefer to have land in at least one direction from me at all times. Unless I decide to go deep into Old Mexico, I probably will drive. I am wide open to ideas, and thinking it would be fun to rent a place on the water for about three weeks. Wind, water and sun are desperately needed by me. I definitely want a tan out of this excursion.

Odds & Ends from Friday ....

The temperature reached at least 67 degrees Fahrenheit today. I took advantage of it, and sat outside for a while observing the neighborhood. Through the back yard and across a street, an elderly man was hand-washing his garage door. I do not recall ever washing a garage door. I guess I am not the domestic type.

Down a street to the right of me walked a young, rather plump girl/woman pushing a double (dual ??) stroller which held two very small children, each tucked within a "personal" compartment. Twins, no doubt. Life goes on, sometimes in a beautiful way.

I noticed a "headline" from one of my posts last July. It read, "Never again, a winter alone." Time is getting short.

While I was enjoying the warm, autumn air, I wished I had a cigar to smoke. I miss them. In one more month, it will be twelve years since I last had a cigar, cigarette or a pipe in my mouth. Possibly, it is time to start again. I always enjoyed smoking, and it seems idiotic to deprive oneself of small pleasures. Does it not?

Friday evening, I received a telephone call from a boy/man who had looked at my Ford Mustang a few days ago. It is a GT 5.0, a car built for running fast and holding tightly to the road. He will buy it. Now, I am down to my Audi, a car built for running fast and holding tightly to the road. Hmmm, who needs two such vehicles, anyway? If only someone would buy this damn house. Oh, well. The albatrosses in my life definitely are lessening.

Music & the magic it envelopes

Put on the costume & no one sleeps

If you had been in Florence, Italy, in May of 1971, you would have had the opportunity to hear this voice and this tenor aria in person. Well, I was not there, either, but I heard recordings of this voice singing one song or another two or three or four times a week for a few years when I was a teenager.

There have been a few times when I have mentioned that I had a step-father who had lived on Long Island in New York for a decade and, when he returned to his hometown in Minnesota, brought with him an acquired love of opera, Broadway musicals and classical music in general. When he and my mother married, I became the beneficiary of hearing these forms of music. As you might imagine, few, if any, of my small town contemporaries were exposed to these types of music.

My step-father's favorite singer was Richard Tucker, an American who reportedly was more Italian in voice, demeanor and talent than any native-born Italian of his time. So, for the fun of it, here is an audio of Tucker singing "Vesti la Giubba" from Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci." This excerpt is from a live, May 1971, performance at Florence's May Festival. Riccardo Muti is conducting the orchestra. I picked this one to offer a taste of Tucker because everyone knows Florence is a mystical city, and because no one knows where he might find himself next May.

Following next is a clip of Tucker performing the sensually beautiful aria, "Nessum Dorma," from Puccini's "Turandot." The clip is from an "ancient" Ed Sullivan Show recorded in 1961. Too bad they did not permit Tucker to carry on the final note another five or six seconds. By the way, Turandot is one young lady a young man definitely does not want to lose his head over. Rock on, baby, and roll away ....

Song No. 1 -- Richard Tucker
Vesti la guibba = Put on the costume
Florence, Italy 1971

Song No. 2 -- Richard Tucker
Nessum dorma = No one sleeps
Ed Sullivan Show 1961





Will the real Fram please stand up

Just to make certain no one walks away from here thinking Fram is flipping his cookies (well, actually, he might be), here is a taste of the music more likely to be identified with him. David Coverdale is a fairly typical, fairly average (I think) singer who generally is identified with the bands Deep Purple or Whitesnake. Jimmy Page might be typical, but is hardly average. His name will forever be linked to the band Led Zeppelin, and he is among the premier guitar players of his era.

Coverdale and Page tied in together for a while in the 1990s. This is an amateur video from a performance in 1993 in Japan. Page is playing his "famous" two-neck, Gibson guitar for this piece, which is, "Take Me for a Little While." Too, bad the video is not better quality, but, alas, nothing is perfect.

David Coverdale & Jimmy Page
Take Me for a Little While
Osaka, Japan 1993