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Below are the 14 most recent journal entries recorded in
phthisical's LiveJournal:
| Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 | | 4:26 pm |
| | Monday, February 11th, 2008 | | 2:25 am |
Winter: Okay, enough already!
I usually consider myself to be a "winter person". I look forward to winter every year. I love the sight and smell of falling snow. That said, this may be the first winter when the weather is starting to get on my nerves. Niagara is scheduled to get another snow storm tomorrow, which will make the second in about four days. I am tired of shovelling my driveway, teeth clenched with resentment! It's been one of the snowiest and coldest winters in years. I had many projects planned for this winter, most of which involved driving to distant libraries, museums, and registry offices. Driving is now pretty much out of the question, except for purely practical reasons. I feel trapped and isolated. It does not help that I picked up an incredibly stubborn cold which simply will not leave, no matter how many pills I take, or how much orange juice I drink. My fear is that it is going to turn into bronchitis. I have only finished one book this year: Anne Somerset's Unnatural Murder: Poison at the Court of James I. The book is an interesting retelling of the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower of London, and the subsequent trial of his killers, who included the glamourous Earl and Countess of Somerset. The author's approach is sensible and objective. Must read something else before my brain turns to apple sauce. About all I've been doing to lift my spirits is cooking. I had a delicious tomato and fennel soup over the weekend. One of the most pleasant culinary surprises is an easy Greek dish called: MELITZANTOMATI Ingredients: 1 medium eggplant (ends removed and diced into cubes), 1 14 oz can of any tomato sauce, 1 large sweet onion (chopped), 1 garlic clove (minced), 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon crushed basil, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 Celsius) Step 2: Place eggplant cubes into a well-buttered dish (somewhere between 1-2 quarts should suffice). Step 3: Mix tomato sauce, onion, garlic, olive oil, and basil. Step 4: Pour mixture over eggplant and bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Step 5: After 30 minutes, stir, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Step 6: Bake for another 15 minutes or so. The above dish is incredibly easy to prepare, and is not overpowering to people leary of eggplant (philistines!). | | Sunday, October 14th, 2007 | | 9:31 pm |
Doors Open Niagara
Over the weekend I attended several of the historic sites which were open as part of "Doors Open", which consist of a number of historic sites which are open free to the public. I visited Loretto Academy, formerly a 19th century private school for girls run by an order of nuns. The views from the many, many rooms were amazing, particularly as they looked right over Niagara Falls. A highlight of the particular tour was visiting the "Bishop's Room", the room where Archbishop Lynch stayed when he visited the Academy. One of the volunteers escorted me out on the grounds and showed me the exact spot where Loretto's founder, Mother Teresa Dease, rested for over a century (her remains were moved to Fairview Cemetery last year). I visited several other sites including historic Holy Trinity Anglican Church, the Willoughby Museum, and after a long drive to Port Colborne, the former Humberstone Township Hall (a real dud of a site I'm afraid), and the Port Colborne Museum, which is really a series of small buildings from around the township where were rescued from destruction and moved to the site. Here I visited an impossibly snug cabin, which though charming in appearance, was no doubt cramped for the couple who raised nine children there! The following day I drove to Welland to tour the Courthouse. The tour was fascinating, though the tour group was so large that the touring the old prison was even more claustrophobic than usual. A gruesome highlight was the gallows, where a number of people met their deaths, whether justly or unjustly. It was here that that last couple to be hanged in Ontario, Mr. and Mrs. Popowich, met their deaths only an hour apart. A tour of the courtroom was conducted by a current Crown Prosecutor. Some pictures from the cemetery of Holy Trinity, including the stone of Jane (Long)Macklem, niece of Jefferson Davis.
| | Friday, October 5th, 2007 | | 8:03 pm |
In Memoriam: Luciano Pavarotti
Following his death on September 6th of this year, many of the countless tributes to the tenor Luciano Pavarotti compared him to the legends of Opera. One tribute compared his widespread public appeal to singers of the 19th century and early 20th century. One writer went so far to compare the audience of his live opera performances to those of the very-long-dead soprano Jenny Lind. I myself am a member of this now-finite number, those who saw Pavarotti sing opera live. I attended a performance of "Tosca" on the evening of November 7, 1992 at the Metropolitan Opera in which Pavarotti sang the role of Cavarodossi to Ghena Dimitrova's Tosca. (Dimitrova herself died last year.) I recall two things in particular about his performance. Firstly, I noticed that having sung the role so many times, Pavarotti had honed his performance down to a bare minimum. He appeared to make no emotional investment in the role or the music, and moved on stage awkwardly and unconvincingly. Perhaps the most important thing I noticed was the incredibly intense love which the audience showered upon him, one which appeared not even to take in what was at best a workman-like performance. He seemed to bask in this love, and received it with a wide, warm smile which seemed to light up the stage. I have only witnessed a tiny handful of singers to have this kind of relationship with an audience, and none compared to applause which rained down on a singer no longer at his best, physically or vocally. (What an ungrateful evening it must have been for his fellow singers. I can only imagine the frustration percolating between the gracious smile of the frumpy Dimitrova!) As someone who saw Pavarotti sing opera live, I found it strange to be compared to those long-dead audience members who sat through a performance by the long-dead Lind. I can imagine many of them thought the same thoughts I did, and wished they had heard and seen this particular singer at their prime. The music critic was obviously right about one thing: the voice being forever stilled, there would be no further performances and no further audiences to enjoy them. Those who did hear/see the singer would slowly die off during the next generation or so while the legend would continue to grow. Pavarotti did leave a legacy of incredible recordings, mostly recorded on the Decca label, which captured his voice at his best. I can't even speculate how well the recordings will survive. Will technology change at such a pace that the quality will fade and future listeners will wonder what all the fuss was about? I've listened to Caruso's recordings and personally wondered whether they accurately captured his voice. Claudia "La Divina" Muzio's recordings forged a passionate following for her, long after her uneven career and sad life were over. Either way, I won't be around to see what happens to the mystique of Pavarotti. What really happens to an artist when their audience, and the artist himself, is gone? | | Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 | | 3:26 pm |
Apologies to Bacchuslives
Sorry about all the aborted replies to your last posting on "Mourning Souls". I am not sure what is happening, but the text of my message disappears somewhere between my computer and the journal. Sorry if LJ is giving the impression that I am a crazy stalker. | | Saturday, March 31st, 2007 | | 11:39 pm |
For Mary
A few days ago I received a phone call from a friend with whom I maintain irregular contact at best. He informed me that a lady with both knew, whom I shall call "Mary", died at Thanksgiving. She apparently suffered from a very aggressive cancer which killed her in a matter of weeks. Though never a close friend, Mary was someone with whom I shared a special bond, based I think on our similar sense of humour and unwillingness to take ourselves, or others for that matter, too seriously. She was someone who occasionally flitted through my thoughts. Apparently I had been imagining her alive all this time, when in fact she died in October. I experienced a lot of feelings upon learning that Mary had died, none of them particularly noble nor uplifting. I am not sure just who to be angry at for not informing me that she was ill, nor even when she died. I suppose her family did not notice my absence, but given the chance I certainly would have gone to her funeral. I am also angry at myself for not keeping in touch with her. I had so many chances to see her or to call her. The last time I saw her, she was getting into a friend's car in the parking lot of a local grocery store. I was in a hurry, "too busy" to call out to her, though she was driving away at the time so she probably wouldn't have seen me. This last time I actually spoke with her was at my grandmother's funeral in 2003. In spite of her zest for life, Mary had experienced a number of serious health problems and was a bit frail. I wasn't surprised to hear that she had passed, just pained that I didn't get to be among the circle of friends allowed to mourn her. I am feeling an unpleasant mixture of sadness, guilt and anger. And so it goes. Life closes its circles, and the list of the lost grows every year. Every death is a reminder that time isn't infinite. | | Saturday, March 24th, 2007 | | 2:54 pm |
Sweet Potato Soup cures the blues
Outdoor plans for the day cancelled due to unrelenting rain. I succeeded in lifting my spirits by making the following easy soup: Ingredients: 7 cups of chicken stock, 3 large sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped), 2 jalapeno peppers (remove seeds before chopping!), 1 large onion (chopped), 1/4 cup butter, salt and pepper. Bring stock to boil. Add potatoes, peppers, onion, and butter. Reduce heat and simmer for about twenty minutes to half-hour. Cool slightly. Puree soup in batches in processor or blender. Return to saucepan and add salt and pepper to taste. Good served with a dollop of sour cream, or (my favourite) a few drops of hot sauce. | | Monday, March 19th, 2007 | | 9:00 pm |
| | 8:36 pm |
Fairview Cemetery, Sunday afternoon
I have been wanting to experiment with black & white, and sepia images on my digital camera. Hard to believe that I have had the camera so long, and have never bothered to figure out how to do this. I went to Fairview Cemetery. The snow, which had fallen on Friday, was beginning to melt. One exceptionally bold squirrel pestered me for food. I took a number of pictures, though with mixed results. I found that with black and white, the amount of sunlight is the deciding factor in whether a picture is successful or not. B&W pictures taken with little sun came out murky. The pictures taken with when the sun was shining were much more successful. Good contrast in shades and textures. Obviously another example of me finally figuring out something every other amateur photography buff has known for years. Below are pictures of Old Section B, the Catholic Benevolent society graves in the singles section, and "the Concrete Jesus".
| | Thursday, November 16th, 2006 | | 1:27 am |
| | Saturday, November 11th, 2006 | | 10:34 pm |
| | Friday, November 10th, 2006 | | 2:59 am |
| | 2:06 am |
| | Monday, September 25th, 2006 | | 9:02 pm |
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