stephen

Bizet: Carmen (1875) (Metropolitan Opera 1987)

Agnes Baltsa is apparently a great singer, though I wouldn’t know since this is the first opera I’ve ever audited, but what I do know, without a doubt, is that she’s too old for the role of Carmen. To be sure, all four of the leads in the 1987 Met version of Carmen are vastlyContinue reading “Bizet: Carmen (1875) (Metropolitan Opera 1987)”

Ballroom #3

“Now, when you close it’s a pet peeve of mine that your shoes…hm…” he crouched in front of me, “your knees don’t touch. Well, I suppose that can’t be helped now, can it. It’s just how you’re built. So…well, don’t lose any sleep over the fact that your knees don’t touch, there’s nothing we canContinue reading “Ballroom #3”

film: Godard: Pierrot le Fou (1965)

Dear Meg, I really am trying to write. Actually, the truth is that I haven’t begun writing at all. I have all the materials I need to begin writing, but there’s this present lack of something in me that leads me to a persistent inability not only to finding my words, but also to havingContinue reading “film: Godard: Pierrot le Fou (1965)”

China

Note: I don’t know anything about Communism, Socialism, China, or Russia. Seriously. Certainly I fell in love at once with the poetry of Li Po and of Tu Fu, but aside from that very little has struck me in Chinese history as memorable, just the endless succession of names and dynasties, it struck me quiteContinue reading “China”

Byron – Occasional Pieces (1813)

1813 has been the most strenuous to get through so far, because by this point I don’t even feel like he’s trying, and perhaps he isn’t, these may very well be the ones he’s writing from the shitter or when he can’t sleep. I mean, there’s nothing I can say about these except that they’reContinue reading “Byron – Occasional Pieces (1813)”

novel: Lawrence: The Trespasser (1912)

Lawrence is one of these authors whose books I’ve always collected, but whose work I’ve never really found the courage to read. Where does one begin? It was my mother who handed me a copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover when I was still a teenager, which was all I ever really received as far asContinue reading “novel: Lawrence: The Trespasser (1912)”

drama: Moliere: Tartuffe (1664)

Although I’m looking at Moliere through a translator, I haven’t been quite impressed by what I have read, which, I suppose is ignoring language altogether in favor of meaning. Tartuffe is a story of a prominent and wealthy man duped by a con-man, Tartuffe, who pretends to be excessively pious in such a way thatContinue reading “drama: Moliere: Tartuffe (1664)”

George Michael vs. Beyonce

Let me preface this by saying that I’m a little bit in love with George Michael right now. I began voice lessons this week–what’s difficult about it all is the difference between ‘proper’ and what really works for me. For example, I’m learning to breathe through my nose. But I love the sound of inContinue reading “George Michael vs. Beyonce”

Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You

Some days are easier than others, this past week has been the easiest so far. Michael and I are in hell trying to to find something in the music world that we can really obsess over for more than a few weeks. I spent nearly three months all about the Strokes, replaced them with NerinaContinue reading “Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You”

film: Resnais: Night and Fog (1955)

When it comes to this subject I’m not sure anyone can really say much of anything now. I find myself smeared with the same confusion that I face on a thousand other subjects, when some fact very obvious to me is left to wander away from truth and is entirely out of my control, that’sContinue reading “film: Resnais: Night and Fog (1955)”