O wow thanks ! I needed to hear that!  :-)

I saw Akhnaten on Saturday thanks to the Metropolitan opera broadcasts live in theaters.
The opera is scheduled to be broadcast on radio in a couple of weeks . I don't know how well that would go over, as the visual in this is very important.
It's VERY much steeped in ritual, which I am very used to and understand (helps to have gone to those long Catholic Easter eve services as a kid lol). Some of the audience around me didn't get it , why everything went very slowly.
The guy playing Akhnaten was interviewed during the second Intermission . He had to have his entire body waxed to remove all hair from his body (ouch). He also had to get in shape so that he could effectively make those very slow movements.
A hallmark of the production is all the juggling taking place throughout . The jugglers have to make sure to stay in time with the music, the tempo switching from 5 to 7.
The highlight is the Hymn to the Sun which is sung during the latter part of Act II. A beautiful hymn praising the Sun and all creation.
A rebroadcast of this opera will take place in a lot of theaters tomorrow . Didn't realize that these operas can be seen in 70 countries .

I make monthly donations to a local cat group (SpayMart) and a local dog group (Villalobos - yes, the organization featured  on TV). I'll try to make donation to this in the next couple of weeks.

Ha, oh my, I meant BOY soprano! Crazy autocorrect! 

Yes!
To hear Pie Jesu - for me it must be sung by a big soprano to get the clear tone .

In Paradisum - I agree, that would be great music to hear when leaving this world for the next. It's like angels singing , don't be afraid...

It's hard for me to concentrate to post much right now. My youngest sister took ill a couple of days ago and will have major surgery tomorrow. Shocked all of us. After things settle down a bit I will try to post more.

Wonderful! Only wish I could have heard more from Carl.

I've never seen Wozzeck. It's on the Metropolitan Opera schedule - live performance to be seen in theaters nationwide in U.S. in February. Will do my best to catch it.

Oh wow, thanks!! I'll finally get to be able to see the whole thing lol.

I don't recall who was leading it back then, but it was an absolutely spectacular production. I was quite upset for falling asleep - it surely wasn't because it wasn't wonderful.
St Petersburg was a great place and everyone was quite friendly. All the places were properly heated except that hostel we stayed at.
It was a time of flux - there had been an attempted coup earlier that month. Lots of rumors going on, and I was glad to have brought my little shortwave radio with me so that I could pick up BBC World Service. It was exciting as well. We arrived in Leningrad at night and the next day it once again became St Petersburg.

I saw Boris Godunov at that theater back in September 1991.
I remember it as a wonderful opera - what I saw of it. We were staying at a hostel that was unheated . It was so cold that I pretty much had to wear everything I had to get warm, and got very little sleep.
The theater was very comfortable temperature wise, and I fell into a half sleep about half way through the opera. I could hear the music but the plot in my half dream was quite different from the actual plot. Just hope I didn't snore! 

Two books read recently:
Finally finished The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. It took a long time not because it wasn't a good book (it was great) but because it was so sad to read. It was the story of the "Great Migration " of African Americans from the Southern to Northern or Western US, to escape Jim Crow laws that discriminated against them. In some cases they had to sneak out. The bad thing was that the areas they migrated to had their own prejudices. The book shows how several people were able to somehow overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles .

The other book I read rather quickly - The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral.History of 9/11 , compiled by Garrett Graff. I learned a lot of things about 9/11 that I didn't know, and I have read and viewed countless documentaries about it.
The obsession is a result of wondering how would I have fared if I had been in one of the Towers? I've come to the conclusion that I would have died. I would have possibly gotten down from the immediate danger but would have probably conked out about half way down.  I mean, what was the hurry? I would never have thought that the buildings would collapse. 

I've always wondered about this as well.
If not this, could it have been the remake of Help Me Rhonda (guitar solo at end of instrumental break)

RR you do realize that there's a big time difference between you and many of us? Your post came out at 2145 my time. I was getting ready to go to bed and made a quick folk music related post on another Board - didn't see your post until now.

I have to leave in a few minutes to attend a talk out of town. But I see nothing wrong in saying that cats are "making biscuits." Sure looks like they are happily kneading dough.

For the Billy Joel fans with satellite radio, just got announcement from Joel's FB page that the Billy Joel channel is back on Channel 30 for a limited time.

I'm a sentimental fool right now. Would have loved to have been at that Pandora's Box show in 1962 to see Brian spill the cocoa on Marilyn.

Haven't forgotten Zasu Pitts. I haven't been able to sit down and concentrate on a movie. Tried to watch a movie I had taped and kept falling asleep, so gave up.

Thank you so much, John.

Mari, I had moved in with my Mother at her house. This was the house we all grew up in.
It's a fairly big house and too big for one person. Also the taxes are supposed to be going up a lot (The taxes had been lower because my Mother was elderly and her taxes hadn't gone up). And the flood insurance cost is crazy. So the bottom line is that I can't afford to live there. So we will start the process of cleaning out the house.
I will start moving my stuff (including LOTS of books) to the house in the woods . That house was left to me. At some point I'll bring the dog and cats.
My oldest sister, husband and 2 horses live next door in a house down the hill. One other sister who is ill might move in with me. She has lots of cats  (too many cats for her to care for but she won't part with any of them). So I will be close to family.

Love that mouth wiping gizmo, and Chaplin's facial expressions when it's used. 

I recall that in the early/mid 1970s, all of Chaplin's features were released in the US. Other than The Gold Rush (which by the mistake of not renewing the copyright passed into public domain ), the other features had been pulled out of circulation when Chaplin went into exile in Switzerland in the early 1950s. Interestingly, since the movie Limelight had not been shown in Los Angeles upon its release in 1952, it became eligible for the Oscars when it finally was shown in the early '70s. Its  theme song which I remember hearing on the radio back then, was nominated for an Oscar.
I didn't see the films at that time but my older sister did. And I remember seeing the movie posters when they came out and thought they were cool (still do).

Today (October 15) was the anniversary of the world premiere of The Great Dictator in 1940.
 I love Chaplin's films.
This past year there have been showings of his silent films accompanied by an orchestra.
They had pretty much all been in Europe, but now I'm getting some announcement s of showings in the US, including one in North Carolina in a couple of weeks. I'd love to see Chaplin on the Big screen again - last time was over 30 years ago at a Chaplin festival in Houston.

Thank you for your kind words.
Cancer thank goodness doesn't run in my family. (knock on wood!) My Mother died partly because her heart was starting to have problems, and her lungs were really messed up, making it difficult to breathe. Strange - both of my parents died from lung disease, and neither one of them smoked.

Yes, having a pet is a huge commitment that shouldn't be started without thinking it through . If one is adopting a cat from a shelter it might have been abused in some way by the previous owner. The cat is probably not "bad" but actually afraid :-(
That's why I haven't adopted any more cats after some of my older cats passed away. with the craziness at home I wouldn't have been able to take care of another pet.

I'll be sure to watch this in the next few days. It's been kind of stressful on my end these past couple of weeks. My Mother passed away, funeral was a couple of days ago. I feel a little "adrift"

My cat Tanner has been especially affectionate lately, lying down next to me. Pets are such a comfort. 

Have you seen "Duel?" That was a movie ( think his first feature) from 1971.
Stars Dennis Hopper. Very suspenseful film about Hopper and his car being pursued by a big, bad truck.

Yes, an amazing city. The Hermitage was incredible!

I'm really not familiar with Weruva. Chewy is actually a company that ships dog and cat food and other products. I think the shipping doesn't cost anything if enough products are ordered. I am tempted to start using this. I have a bad back, lots of pain, and it would be so much better to have heavy bags of food and cat litter delivered instead of having to carry them inside.

I sometimes use Friskies wet cat food. The dry made one of my cats sick. For dry I use Purina for Indoor Cats. I've heard of Whiskas but haven't used it. Not familiar with the other brands.