Italiano.......

I was able to attend my first ever live opera this weekend. The opera was Elixir of Love by Donizetti.

The Elixir of Love
Synopsis

ACT One
Scene 1

Nemorino, a shy and simple young farmer is in love with Adina, a wealthy country girl. But Adina is willful, and his offers of love are constantly rejected. Adina is seated apart from a group of harvesters, reading, and Nemorino wonders how he could possibly win her love since she is so wonderful and much better than him. She has just come across the legend of the potion which bound Tristan and Isolde with undying love and reads it aloud to amuse the others.

At this point a drum is heard, and a platoon of soldiers enters, headed by the dashing and bombastic Sergeant Belcore. Belcore at once begins to woo Adina, and in spite of his self-assurance and arrogance, she is flattered; however, to his hasty proposal of marriage she answers that she would like a little time to think it over. Nemorino, naturally, is very jealous and when everyone else leaves, he begs Adina to return his love, but in vain; she prefers to remain fancy free.

Scene 2

Dr. Dulcamara, a picturesque and loquacious quack, arrives on the village square, and, before the assembled villagers, he sings the praises of his wonderful remedy, guaranteed to cure all ills. The naive Nemorino is impressed and asks whether he also sells the love potion of Queen Isolde. Naturally Dulcamara obliges him, but warns him that the potion will take effect only after twenty-four hours -- which will give him enough time to leave the village -- and that no one must know about it. Nemorino is now so pleased and sure of himself that Adina is surprised to find him in a cheerful and confident mood; he assures her that his heart will be cured within one day. In a fit of pique, she then tells Belcore that she will marry him in six days' time. Nemorino is not worried; he knows that tomorrow she will fall at his feet. But a message reached Belcore with an order to leave the village in the morning, so Adina agrees to marry him that very day. Nemorino is now desperate, but his entreaties to Adina to postpone the wedding for just one day are all in vain. She invites everyone to the marriage feast, and they all mock the distraught Nemorino.

ACT Two
Scene 1

The marriage feast in anticipation of the wedding is in progress at Adina's farm and Dulcamara is among the guests. When the notary arrives, Adina hesitates to sign the marriage contract, as Nemorino is not there and her vengeance would not be complete without him. As the company goes off elsewhere, he enters and finding Dulcamara alone, asks for help. Dulcamara prescribes another dose of his remedy, but Nemorino has no more money. The doctor gives him a quarter of an hour to find it. Belcore now enters and persuades Nemorino to enlist in his platoon if he wants money, commenting to himself with glee that to enlist one's own rival is quite a clever stroke. Nemorino accepts in the hope of winning Adina's love before having to leave.

Scene 2

The news is spreading throughout the village that Nemorino's rich uncle has died, leaving him sole heir. All the village girls surround with attention the unwitting youth, who, in his simplicity, believes this to be the effect of the potion. Adina is astonished at his popularity, and so is Dulcamara, who tells her about the potion. She is deeply moved, especially when she hears that Nemorino has sold his freedom for her. She realizes that she is, in fact, in love with him. Nemorino notices that she is weakening and is delighted. When Adina comes back with the enlistment papers, which she has just bought from Belcore, she admits to Nemorino that she loves him; and when Dulcamara lets slip the news he has just heard about the legacy, Nemorino's happiness is complete. Dulcamara, of course, attributes all his fortune to his own magic elixir, and the villagers rush to buy it. Finally everyone except Belcore blesses him as he triumphantly leaves the village.

It was very well done, and had subtitles going throughout. I am not wholly up on Italian so I appreciated this very much. The opera music was performed by the Helena Symphony. The conductor Allan R. Scott makes it look easy. He delicately manipulated his musicians into playing absolutely amazing. I went with my wife, her cousin, and a good friend of mine. All of us are looking forward to "The Symphony Under the Stars" out at Carroll. It is July 19th, and that happens to be my son's birthday. I tip my cup to a great weekend amongst friends and family. Monday sure looks a lot worse when you have such a great weekend.
Till next time........Pavarotti - Una Furtiva Lagrima


and a personal favorite......Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma

To plastic or not to plastic?......

So plastics have been in the news a lot lately. Chemical leaching, links to cancer, child defects, hormonal issues, etc.... I personally have tossed my Nalgene bottle. It was a blue one with a couple of stickers on it: The Clintons band and Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Beat to heck and back twice. Has seen many a mile in my hands, strapped to a back pack, or rolling around in the floorboard of my jeep. It has been with me for 4 yrs+ and I had to off my old friend today. R.I.P. Mr. Little Nalgene Bottle.
Do I believe in all this plastic "nonsense" you ask. I say yes. We live in a world where parents are on the verge of bringing back diseases we know as 99.9% extinct due to some ravings about vaccinations in children. What I have to say about the vaccine issue is repeat the first study's findings and lets call it a day. I believe that we will see more and more of these reports coming out: http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN0425071020080107 . I think it takes one person running down the hall to yell fire and partially evacuate a building.
"Partially" due to the fact that all of us are not set to flight before fight. We hear someone yell "FIRE!". We become alarmed. We look around at people running away, jumping out of windows, and starting to yell "FIRE!" themselves. We then notice no smoke. No burning smell. Where the heck is the campfire? No fire alarms. No sprinklers going off. WTH? Why would people be running and yelling if there was no fire? I think it is due to the fact some people are truly that naive in their beliefs that everyone is honest and true. The other fact is a lot of people want to be the "man in charge". The person in the know. The "important" one. Self-importance is a trait found regularly in people that strain for reassurance in what ever they do. I am guilty of lapsing into vicious cycles of self-importance from time to time. "S" will look at me and tell me that I do not know all that the world does not, and that I need to be a little more humble in my "opinions" on certain subject matters. I of course argue that she does not know what she is talking about, and reserve myself to act more tolerable.
Back to plastics.... I think they make a great bumper to a car, mud fenders for a mountain bike, and Aglet on a pair of shoelaces. At the same time, most things man made are dangerous to some point or extent. We are HUMAN for Pete's sake. That is why we use that excuse all the time. "It is okay man, you cannot win every time, I mean you are human!" I love it. The irony of it all. Long blog short though, I will go through my plastics this week and do some filing into file "13r"(recyclable garbage) of a lot I am afraid. I think that the person responsible for bringing this to light should be awarded their own 90% plastic American made automobile to drive around.....
Until next time, be well, be swell, and don't be afraid to say What the hell?.........

4:00 A.M. ......

That is right. It is 4 am where I sit right now. I just was able to watch the Helena Bighorns win the Cascade Cup. This is the 3rd cup in 4 years for the Bighorns. That is definitely props to Coach Scott Cunningham and the owners of the Bighorns. I would also love to give a huge shout out to Thee Pat Sassano! He is prolly the most overworked bastage of them all. He is a great guy. What happened over this season you ask? You didn't.?. C'mon now you wanna hear....

• I introduced a friend to live hockey and the sport has a new fanatic. Love havin' you at the games Tech. So does "S", "P", and "H". Thanks for the whiskey, beer, and what not.
  
• I enjoy being around sports and sporting events. These kids are trying to make it somewhere. That is more than most are doing. Keep setting those goals and going after them guys.
• Never judge the book by its cover. So many times I thought FTW towards some of these kids. Yet they ALL seem to impress you at some time or another.
• P loves being in and around the guys. He yearns for it. That is better than video games I guess.
  
• Give people the benefit of the doubt and never expect more than you should from people.
• If you cannot do something.....don't. The attempt is only disappointing in the end. Do what you can when you can. What else can someone expect.
• Who cares what people think or act like. You cannot control someone else. Do what YOU enjoy. F**K them people. They know who they are. That is why they act that way.
• Go to bed before 4:20 a.m.
• It is 4:15 a.m...........I am flippin the switch.....
  

Spring is around the corner.

As I sit here at my newly purchased "titanic" of a desk, I anxiously await spring to finally arrive. We here in Helena have been teased and beaten into submission by good ol' Mom Natural. She recently gave us a tantalizing few days 45+ degree weather. T-SHIRTS ANYBODY? What happened today you ask? I look up from a computer and notice a bright, sun filled, snow shower getting in the way of my views of spring. Welcome to Montana. A place where the weather can change faster then Gov. Spitzer's job title.....sorry bad joke. Speaking of the Governor.....another time maybe. Back to Spring.
I think Mother dearest has locked Spring in a closet and gave the key to the ever mischievous Winter. Where is big brother Summer at? Spring needs freed! I have a yard to clean, flower beds to plant, garden spots to build, hikes to go on, barbeque's to cook, friends to hang with, a mountain bike to ride, daylight needing burned dammit! I like spending my time in the back yard with my little guy. Cramped in an office building is where I am imprisoned for 9 hrs a day. I need Spring to rejuvenate.....to play. Poetic isn't it? I see my life moving forward for my family and I. A good friend is having a great time. My decision to stay with the afore mentioned company panned out. Classes to become more learned are on the way. Relatives may be moving closer. Others moving farther away. Is this a bad thing? No not really. I just had my first Margarita of the season. Yummmmm! I sit here enthralled.
I am enthralled for my friends. I am optimistic in my job setting. I am definitely what my title says right now: 1 wife. 2 kids. Lovin' Life.
Only you can let yourself have a bad day. Go out there and make it a great one!