It's been such a long time.....

I know it's been such a great awhile, as my summer was overwhelmingly busy, but now I'm back and will try to catch up a bit.

Been traveling here and there, Denmark, Sweden, London, Paris to name a few. Squeezed in a visit to Bastille Opera House in Paris and saw the rarely performed "Il Trittico" by Puccini.

Nice To Meet You; Pass the Purell

Read an article on USA TODAY and couldn't help to comment on it.

Nice to meet you; Pass the Purell is the headline and not far fetched and it's something that I will do without hesitation. Or better yet, shouldn't we incorporate the "bow" rather than the typical "handshake"? I lived in Asia for 3 years and would not be awkward in reverting to the bow, it comes natural for me (I must say, I'm doing it now, and of course, been looked at "funny"). Could we blame "them"?

Now, let's be frank here, H1N1 hasn't killed any more (so far) than the typical Influenza Type A for instance, so, is it the possibility of a "pandemic" in question and feared here? Nevertheless, none of us have stopped going on with our lives, though some establishments (mostly medical facilities, I think) have taken precautions, some doctor's offices have pulled their magazines and toys from the waiting room (actually I am glad they have done that and would be even happier if they discontinue for good), I never liked the idea of touching items in the waiting room that other people (who could possibly be contagious) anyways.

Something that really bothers me and I don't seem to ever understand: Why do "early learning centers" where toddlers, teachers and parents walk about the classroom floors with their "street shoes" on, the same floor these toddlers play on. What's wrong with that picture? I think everyone should remove their shoes when inside the classroom where activities are on the floor, i.e., playing with toys, sitting on the floor to read and laying on the floor, though in a mat, I've seen kids with their faces on the floor while sleeping. They do it in certain Asian cultures!

Yes, pass the sanitizer, sneeze into your elbow and remove your shoes! Oh yes, wash your hands!!!

Basic Hindi

I've decided to learn Hindi! Don't be shocked, but I am at the moment fascinated with the idea! I have learned so far (and likely the only phrases I'll ever be able to retain) a few simple phrases that surprises a Hindi speaker, every single time, I attempt to "show of"! I have learned with "Caminho das Indias" a telenovela from Brazil. It's remarkably done, the details of the culture of Rajasthan is very close to it's original principles. Check it here and see it for yourself, of course the protagonists are all beautiful as it's in Bollywood. http://caminhodasindias.globo.com/

My review after a comment from a German visitor at a University in Pernambuco, Brazil

Não muito animador o comentário de Boris Goger, que trabalha com desenvolvimento de software em Munique, a respeito da sua visita a uma Universidade brasileira. ( the original post translation from English to Portuguese was done by Adriana Beal from Desafios em IT http://2wtx.com/adriana/blog/)

Comment by Boris Geler:

Last week I visited UFRPE- Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, an incredible place. It's possible to feel the energy of the place and immediately understand that the people in this university is really wanting to study. But in the other hand, I was also chocked. The ambiance is bad. The buildings don't have the appearance of an university, and the computers that you find in the labs are super old. But...obviously that doesn't prompt the people to be unhappy studying there. If you've seen that, you would never think that the conditions in Germany are not sufficient. Cool!

Translated to Portuguese by Adriana Beal:

Semana passada visitei a UFRPE – Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, em Recife. Um lugar incrível. É possível sentir a energia do lugar e entender imediatamente que as pessoas nessa universidade realmente querem estudar.
Mas por outro lado, eu também fiquei chocado. O ambiente é ruim. Os prédios não parecem com uma universidade, e os computadores que se vê nos laboratórios são super antigos. Mas… obviamente isso não faz as pessoas deixarem de estar felizes por estudar. Se você visse aquilo, você não iria nunca pensar que não tem condições de estudo boas o suficiente na Alemanha. Legal!

My reply:

Though I don't think the German visitor really meant any harm...

Brazil seems to always have the feel of "Love and Hate" relationship with foreigners. I write in English with the hope that the Germans or any other nations get to read this. I agree, Brazil is a lovely country (the love relationship) and a third world country (the hate relationship), but the majority of these foreigners who which tend to define Brazil as lovely are the ones who comes with the view of easy women and beautiful beaches and forget really that Brazilians are very talented and resourceful, after all, they accomplish so much with so little (of course, not talking about the corrupted politicians) who does give Brazil a "bad rep". Do "they" forget that Brazil has been self-sustained for fossil fuels for decades? Do they know that Brazilian, Dr. Eduardo do Couto e Silva is a particle physicist and Deputy Manager of Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope's (GLAST) (who's born and raised in Brazil) to being the Vice-director of the famous telescope lab at Stanford University? Perhaps we could go on and on...the fact of the matter is that the politicians in Brazil need to have the audacity of becoming a honest servant for a change (stop using the people's money to pay for your lavish lifestyles) and who knows, we may catch up with having "finally" what the people deserve, BASIC NEEDS, and yes, current hardware/software and I bet, it will be money left over for a little building remodeling to please the eyes of these "foreigners".

Peace!

'Timberbrit': Opera Tackles The Trials Of Britney

Mellissa Hughes — pictured on a recent music-video shoot in Brooklyn, N.Y. — plays Britney Spears in Timberbrit, an experimental opera by composer Jacob Cooper.

What a relief to know that "THIS" is not on our Colorado Opera upcoming season (thanks Greg), or EVER season. Listening to this gave me chills, no, not the chills we are accustomed to in Lucia, Rigoletto, Tosca, etc. it was a chill of disgust! Composer Jacob Cooper I suppose is following his dream (and maybe a crush on the pop singer), but if he needs content for the next composition, please Jacob, give me a ring, I have plenty of material for you. The only prolonged death scene I could see here, would me my own.
By Paula Kechichian

The article below is by Claire Happel:

August 4, 2009 - Opera has a long history of over-the-top spectacle and melodramatic plots. Composer Jacob Cooper decided to embrace that excess, creating a contemporary opera that imagines the tragic end of one particularly tempestuous pop diva.
The work is called Timberbrit — as in Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. It's a tragic tale that imagines Spears' last concert, in the final hours of her life. Timberlake returns after a long absence to win back Spears' love, but in the end she chooses the audience's love above all else.
Cooper began work on the opera by experimenting with a technique called time-stretching. Using digital audio software, he slowed down Spears' songs — and suddenly the light pop tunes seemed hauntingly tragic. Phrases like "Hit me baby one more time" took on an entirely different and more weighted meaning.
Cooper then collaborated with his performers to create new pieces of music inspired by those slowed-down hits, and writer Yuka Igarashi crafted fresh lyrics using the vernacular of Spears' songs — tears, love, dreams, innocence.
As a doctoral student at Yale, Cooper has looked at the psychological aspects of how traditional operas stretch time during death scenes — the way a dying character in Rigoletto or Boris Godunov, say, will pause to sing a 10-minute aria. Not realistic perhaps, but it packs a punch.
Cooper has expanded on that distinctive musical tradition by creating an entire opera enveloped by a fatal slowness of action. The idea is that in Timberbrit, Spears' prolonged destruction amplifies the tragedy of her downfall.
The opera premiered in New York City as a semistaged production in 2008 and is currently being developed into a fully staged version.
Meanwhile, the cast and crew of Timberbrit recently shot a music video of Cooper's song "Worst Fantasy," inspired by Spears' "Toxic." In keeping with the opera's process, the videographers started with a slowed-down, stretched-out recording of the original, then manipulated it and built on it to create something new.
The result: a distillation of Spears' music videos and public meltdowns that forces viewers to take a second look at both pop-star lives and the way the public devours them.
This piece was originally produced for NPR's Intern Edition by Claire Happel and Sarah Metcalf.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111495732

Sushi Fix!!! We all need them sometimes, I certainly know I do!

By MARCIA DUNN

Space Shuttle Endeavour lands at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Friday July 31, 2009. Endeavour's seven member crew are returning from a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, Pool)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts returned to Earth on Friday, completing a long but successful construction job that boosted the size and power of the international space station.
They ended up swamped with sushi.
Endeavour's smooth and punctual arrival, after more than two weeks in orbit, set off a steady stream of congratulations and an ecstatic welcoming reception for Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to return from a long space journey. His station mission lasted 4 1/2 months.
At his request, sushi awaited him. But it was more than Wakata had anticipated. He was overloaded with sushi as Kennedy Space Center workers dropped off the delicacy at crew quarters.
Looking remarkably fit for someone still getting used to gravity, Wakata said four hours after touchdown that he had yet to eat any sushi because of all the medical testing. But he was going to splurge as soon as the crew news conference ended.
"I feel great," he told journalists who jammed an auditorium, most of them Japanese. "When the hatch opened, I really smelled the grass of the ground, and just glad to be back home."
The president of the Japanese Space Agency, among the first to greet Wakata, said the astronaut would be accommodated properly when he returns to Japan in a few months.
"He said he did his best," said President Keiji Tachikawa. The official said he was surprised to see Wakata walking so soon after landing.
The astronauts left behind on the space station said they missed Wakata, even though they were happy with his replacement.
"We certainly miss being there, but there's no place like home," said shuttle commander Mark Polansky. He looked thrilled as he shook hands with senior managers and walked around his spaceship. "What a fantastic mission," he said.
While visiting the space station, Polansky and his crew put on a new addition to Japan's $1 billion lab, installed fresh batteries, and stockpiled some big spare parts. They accomplished all of their major objectives and were part of the biggest gathering ever in space: Counting the six station residents, the crowd totaled 13.
The shuttle flight lasted 16 days and spanned 6.5 million miles, one of NASA's longest. It wrapped up a 138-day trip for Wakata, who moved into the space station in March. He swapped places with American Timothy Kopra, who rode up on Endeavour.
Before leaving orbit, Wakata said he was yearning for some sushi for his first meal back on the planet and a soak in a hot spring once he's back in Japan. At the top of his list, though, was reuniting with his German wife and their 11-year-old son, who were on hand at the space center for the homecoming. About 50 Japanese, in all, gathered at the landing site.
Wakata made it back just in time for his 46th birthday on Saturday. He said he was looking forward to lots of sushi and good birthday cake, to which Polansky asked, "And you've invited your whole crew, right?"
"Yes - can you handle raw fish?" Wakata said, laughing.
It is Japanese custom to bring souvenirs back from a long trip. When asked by journalists if Wakata did, Tachikawa said the astronaut returned with new ideas and impressions about space.
Endeavour's other astronauts carried out five spacewalks - tying a record for a single flight - and helped their station colleagues when a toilet flooded and an air purifier overheated. The commode, one of three on the linked shuttle and station, was fixed in a day. But the air-cleansing system remained out of order Friday.
Another highlight: The astronauts got to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing with their own spacewalk.
Japan's Kibo lab - which means Hope - received a front porch for outdoor experiments during Endeavour's visit. An X-ray telescope and space environment monitor were installed on the porch, along with communication equipment.
The mission concluded work on the lab - the largest one at the orbiting outpost - that took more than a year and three shuttle flights. Wakata said seeing Kibo completed was the highlight of his mission.
Next up for the Japanese will be the debut launch in September of an unmanned cargo ship.
As for NASA, seven shuttle flights remain to finish the space station, now 83 percent complete with nearly 700,000 pounds of mass. The next launch, by Discovery, is targeted for the end of August.
___
On the Net:
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Mulher sob medida

Colunistas > Danuza Leão

Mulher sob medida

As mulheres são capazes de fazer loucuras para emagrecer. Quantas eu já fiz para ficar um palito... Mas tem sentido? O primeiro dos meus sacrifícios foi óbvio: deixar de comer as delícias deste mundo. Resisti bravamente a todos os pasteizinhos fritos na hora com uma cervejinha, a uma empada quentinha, saindo do forno, a um brigadeiro derretendo na boca. Quando penso, vejo o absurdo.Dá para, em nome de uma magreza – que inventaram que é obrigação –, abrir mão do enorme prazer que é comer? Aliás, quando foi que começou essa mania? Se você for a qualquer museu do mundo, os quadros exibem mulheres gordas, e não conheço um homem – fora os que trabalham com moda – que não dê valor a um bumbum grande, para passar a mão com ar de dono, ou a uns peitos fartos (mas que sejam obra da natureza). E nem estamos falando das telas de Botero.De onde veio essa invenção? Acho que os costureiros fizeram uma reunião secreta para decretar como devem ser as mulheres só para infernizar nossa vida. Pessoalmente, não conheço nenhum homem que deseje levar Kate Moss para a cama; em compensação, pergunte a qualquer um o que acha da Jennifer Lopez.Houve um tempo em que eu quase desmaiava na rua de tanta fome. Bebia só água o dia inteiro, à noite tomava uma sopa de alface sem sal e era muito infeliz. Depois de várias semanas de jejum quase absoluto, botei na boca metade de uma bolacha de água e sal. Pensei que fosse morrer de tanta felicidade. Mantinha uma balança no quarto e me pesava três vezes por dia. Que tempos aqueles!O pior é que mulher não tem personalidade. É para ficar magra? Então vamos lá. Ponha quatro almoçando juntas e elas só têm três assuntos: dieta, ginástica e homem (falta de). Isso comendo uma salada temperada com limão. Assim passei vários anos, mas numa bela manhã acordei pensando que a vida podia ser um pouco melhor. Fui a uma confeitaria, pedi um chocolate quente com creme, bolo de laranja, torradas com queijo ralado e vi que a felicidade existia. Decidi que ia ser gordinha, porém feliz. E os quilos foram chegando.

Durex recruit Mozart for their latest TV ad

Heather Buck as The Queen Of The Night in ENO's The Magic Flute. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Something for the weekend (well, Tuesday) - and a hilarious advertising misprision of classical music: the current TV ad for Durex's Play O lubricant for women. There are 30 seconds of perfectly groomed young women in the back-arching, pupils-dilating throes of carnal abandon - either in flagrante delicto with a partner, or in the bath, or pressed against a window, that sort of thing - and the music Durex have chosen to accompany it is the Queen of the Night's Act Two aria from Mozart's Magic Flute. The people at Durex judiciously repeat the very highest part of the phrase five times, where Mozart originally has it twice, amplifying the sensual excess of the moment and the women's pleasure, thanks, presumably, to judicious use of Play O.
It sort of makes sense in terms of the deliberate extremity of the vocal acrobatics Mozart demands from his soprano - top Fs in the outer regions of leger-line land above the treble clef. But dramatically, I'm not so sure. Far from erotomania, the aria is actually about a mother trying to turn her daughter into a murderess, as the Queen of the Night bribes Pamina with disownment if she doesn't agree to kill Sarastro. "You will no longer be my daughter" is the phrase that accompanies Durex's advert. Not quite the "I want to get my rocks off" that probably would have worked better, from the adman's point of view.
No matter though: the reason the ad works is the unwritten equation between high-pitched operatic excess and physical or emotional extremity, above all in women. Feminist theorists have had a field day with male composers' treatment of women in operatic plots, and one interpretation of the Queen of the Night is as Exhibit A in the prosecution's case against operatic misogyny. Mozart's character is an evil, hysterical woman, on the side of unknowable but ineluctable darkness, who is defeated by the male world of goodness, light, and wisdom, symbolised by Sarastro and his kingdom. Durex and Play O would presumably rather be on the side of female emancipation ('it's all you need' coos the voiceover), but they're unwittingly tapping into cultural stereotypes of feminine sexuality oppressed by patriarchal hegemony. Or, well, maybe it's just an advert …

King Tut's daughters

Archaeologist Howard Carter made King Tut a star in 1922 when he opened the pharaoh's tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Soon, scientists may make Tut a parent. DNA tests will show if he fathered two fetuses found in the tomb with him.


No public results yet, but this week a noted anthropologist told conference-goers at the University of Manchester that the babies are likely twins, even though they're different ages (one's about three months in gestational age, the other five). And they probably belonged to Tut.

Web search digs up more details on the pharaoh, his mummy and his probable daughters:

His life: It's not easy piecing together such an ancient past. Tutankhamun ruled during Egypt's 18th dynasty (1550-1292 B.C.). Known as the Boy King, he became pharaoh when still a child and died around age 19. Young, but still old enough to be a dad.

His death: The new DNA tests aren't the first experiments done on Tut's mummy. CT scans show injuries that might point to his murder. Could his wife or adviser have plotted his death?

His girls: Tut's death left Egypt's rule in the hands of his adviser because Tut had no surviving children — scientists suspect the two daughters in his tomb were stillborn.

His legacy: He had no living heirs, but related searches for Tut reveal what he did leave behind: ivory canopic jars, lavishly decorated furniture and his famous golden death mask.

Oh, and inspiration for a Steve Martin song.