Philippe Jaroussky has done it again! The great French countertenor has been exploring the by-ways of 18th century opera in search of buried treasure and has come up with another winner. After earlier scoring big with a wonderful disc of castrato arias by Johann Christian Bach, composed in mid-18th century London, he has gone to Vienna a few decades earlier for "Forgotten Castrato Arias" from the operas of Antonio Caldara, a Venetian musical polymath who ended … <Read More>
Texas Appeals Court Rejects Gay Man’s Challenge to “Dating Relationship” Felony Assault Statute
A Texas appeals court has rejected a gay man's argument that his felony conviction and 25-year-sentence for beating up his boyfriend under a "dating relationship" anti-violence statute violates the federal constitution. Ruling unanimously in Ochoa v. State of Texas, 2010 WL 1910900 (Tex.App.-Hous., 1st Dist., Dec. 2, 2010), the court found that the statute unambiguously applied to same-sex dating relationships, and that the concept of a dating relationship was sufficiently described in the statute to … <Read More>
Recent Concert Journal
Two concerts I attended recently were very different but both really excellent in their own ways.
On Thursday, December 2, I attended the New York Festival of Song's presentation titled "Queering the Canon" at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. Although I've been reading about their programs for years, and have some recordings that seem to have emanated from their activities, this was my first time actually attending a NYFOS presentation, and I was … <Read More>
The Proposition 8 Argument in the 9th Circuit on December 6
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, heard oral arguments on Monday, December 6, on an attempt by the Proponents of California Proposition 8 and the Deputy Clerk of Imperial County, California, to appeal U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker
Italian Keyboard Series at Columbia’s Italian Academy
A friend invited me to accompany him to the final of three concerts in the series Italian Hapsichord Music presented at Columbia University's Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America. Despite the title of the series, this last concert on December 1 did not involve a harpsichord! Rather, the excellent keyboard performer Andrew Appel played a fortepiano, a copy of the kind of piano that Mozart preferred to play and a most appropriate choice for … <Read More>
Perry v. Schwarzenegger 9th Circuit Panel Assigned; Arguments to Be Broadcast on December 6
Oral argument in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case challenging the constitutionality of California Proposition 8, which was enacted in 2008 and then declared unconstitutional earlier this year by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, see 704 F.Supp.2d 921 (N.D.Cal., Aug. 4, 2010), will be held in San Francisco on December 6, beginning at 10 am local (Pacific Coast) time. The three-judge panel announced for the argument consists of Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Michael Daly Hawkins, and N. … <Read More>
127 Hours – A Superb Film
As soon as I read about it, I knew I had to see "127 Hours," the new film by Danny Boyle based on Aron Ralston's memoir of his bizarre accident while mountaineering, titled "Between a Rock and a Hard Place." Even though I'm going to be talking about the plot, I didn't put "plot spoiler" in my title for this posting because anybody reading this probably already knows a fair amount about the plot. One reason … <Read More>
Morning Glory – The Movie (plot spoilers)
Behind the scenes at a network morning news show…. Rachel McAdams plays a producer at a local morning news show in New Jersey who is fired when top management wants to put somebody they are grooming for corporate leadership into that position. She sends her resume everywhere and gets hired to try to revive a tired network morning show that is facing cancellation if the ratings don't go up. She immediately fires the obnoxious male … <Read More>
Love & Other Drugs – The Film (plot spoilers)
Thanksgiving… 'tis the season to go to the movies if one is not a football fan, so Mom and I went off to see a late afternoon matinee of "Love & Other Drugs." She emerged puzzled by the plot… which is normal for her these days, but evidently not such an odd reaction to this film. I was not puzzled by the plot, but a little puzzled by the film. It was unclear whether this … <Read More>
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part I
Visiting family in Ormond Beach, Florida, for Thanksgiving, and we all went out to see this tonight. (It was a second time for my brother Dave, who saw the midnight showing a week ago with his daughter Cari.) I've been seeing the films in this series as they are released, but stopped reading after about the 3rd or 4th book in the series, so I was not prepared for any of the plot in this … <Read More>