Day by day by day by day by day in an eclectic and unpredictable fashion

I read recently that a blog is a kind of online diary. Maybe some blogs are, perhaps even most are, but mine isn't. Mine is a conglomeration, a hodgepodge of things that interest me or have caught my attention, things that bubble up to the surface from my unbelievably deep and fertile mind (it is to laugh), and yes, I suppose it does even serve as an online diary occasionally.

In the Wikipedia article entitled 'Diary' there is this amazing sentence:

The word "journal" may be sometimes used for "diary," but generally a diary has (or intends to have) daily entries, whereas journal-writing can be less frequent.

That is just preposterous. The "di" in diary is the Latin word for day, as in dies irae (day of wrath), and the "jour" in journal is the French word for day, as in Bon jour. A little poking around and we discover that our English word journal originated around 1325-75 as Middle English and was derived from the Old French journal (daily) which came from Late Latin diurnalis (diurnal). And we know that diurnal means during the day and nocturnal means during the night. So to say that a journal differs from a diary in that a diary has (or intends to have) daily entries, whereas journal-writing can be less frequent, is simply not true.

(It is interesting to note that the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly, which is written in Italian, includes the soprano aria 'Un bel di' which is usually translated as 'One fine day' so 'di' seems to be the Italian word for day as well, except that when I put the phrase 'one fine day' into Google Translate and asked that it be translated into Italian the result was 'un bel giorno', not 'un bel di', which fact reminds us that the Italian Buon giorno and the French Bon jour are related. But I digress.)

But what about The Ladies' Home Journal?, you may be asking. LHJ is a periodical that was launched in 1883 and published monthly for a very long time, even twice a month for a while, though now it is published quarterly. It's a journal, isn't it? It says so right there in the title.

I simply disregard your Ladies' Home Journal example by citing the ever-popular The Wall Street Journal, a daily newspaper. Also, do not try to confuse me with the facts as my mind is made up.

Is there no end to this bickering? Can't we all just get along?

For those of you who think I just quoted something Rodney King of 1991 police brutality fame said in 1992, I did not.

Rodney said, "Can we all get along? Can we get along?" and I said, "Can't we all just get along?"

They are not the same thing. Not at all. They are differnt.

You may have gathered that I have nothing of import to say today, but here's an interesting little treatise to read while you're figuring out what to do with your day. You really should read it; you might read something Frederick Douglass or even Ghandi said.

Getting back to our original topic, a blog is neither a diary nor a journal. It is a log. The word blog is short for Weblog. If more people used apostrophes (note that I did not say apostrophe's) correctly I would call it a 'blog, much in the same way my English friend Doug B. always wrote 'bus instead of bus because it is short for omnibus. You read it here first.

Before you go, listen to soprano Anna Netrebko sing 'Un bel di' from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (4:57) to a whole stadium full of music lovers. I like to watch Anna Netrebko. She is, how you say, zoftig, which is neither French nor Italian.

Now run along and play, and don't be negative.

Two great talents, three if you count conductor Seiji Ozawa

In my continuing effort to bring culture to the masses, here for your musical edification and listening enjoyment are two versions of the same song.

1. Here's Kathleen Battle singing the aria 'O mio bambino cara' from the opera Gianni Schicchi by Puccini (2:09).

2, Here's a chicken playing the aria 'O mio bambino cara' from the opera Gianni Schicchi by Puccini on the piano (2:02).

Which did you enjoy more?

Please note that Miss Battle sang completely from memory and did not require visual promptings of any kind.

Kudos to her. Also to the chicken.

To prove that time definitely marches on, which someone said recently, here are the artists when they were younger:

I have been young, and now I am old....

Here is a young Kathleen Battle singing Johann Strauss’s “Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring)” (with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra).

And here is a not-quite-as-young Kathleen Battle singing Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro” (with Seiji Ozawa conducting the China National Symphony Orchestra).

My post title refers, of course, to conductors Herbert von Karajan and Seiji Ozawa, not to Kathleen Battle, who remains exquisite.



And if listening to Kathleen Battle is not your cup of tea, there is always Anna Netrebko.

A legend remembered

Exactly one year ago today, one of the great tenor voices of our time, perhaps of all time, died. I’m speaking, of course, of Luciano Pavarotti, Italy’s gift to the world.

In case you don’t follow opera, one of Pavarotti’s signature arias was “Nessun Dorma” from the opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini (or as his friends called him, Jim. I’m kidding, I’m kidding! But another Italian composer of grand opera, Giuseppe Verdi, is actually Joe Green in English).

Since Pavarotti’s death, he is all over YouTube. In case you never heard his magnificent voice, here is a younger, trimmer Luciano Pavarotti singing "Nessun Dorma" in 1990 with Zubin Mehta directing the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and here is Luciano Pavarotti singing “Nessun Dorma” in 1994 with Zubin Mehta directing the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. For some strange reason, this version has Spanish subtitles..

Here is Pavarotti singing “Granada” at an Eiffel Tower concert in Paris in 1998. Zubin Mehta is nowhere in sight. This time the maestro is American conductor James Levine. And here, later that same evening, from that same Eiffel Tower concert in Paris in 1998, is Pavarotti singing “Nessun Dorma“ in one of his most emotional renditions.

One of Luciano Pavarotti’s last public performances was at the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, in 2006, but there was a catch. It was revealed later that he was lip-synching. The entire orchestra and the conductor were just pretending. At first, Pavarotti had turned down the invitation to sing at the games because he felt he would not be able to sing well in the cold, outdoor, night air. But the organizers of the opening ceremonies persuaded him to record his performance in the studio a few days earlier so that he could represent Italy and Italian culture at the games’ opening ceremonies.

Happy listening!