Happy New Year, everybody!
Hope all is well. Today, I’m writing to plug an opera I’m accompanying.
Wait! Don’t leave!
It’s not one of the high-falutin’ foreign language things (although those can be fun, too).
This one is in English, it’s pretty short (around an hour maybe), accessible, and fun for all ages! It’s called Amahl and the Night Visitors. It was written by Gian Carlo Menotti for tv broadcast on NBC back in the 50s, and is a lovely drama/comedy.
Not convinced yet? Ok, I’ll add controversy! What if I tell you’re we’re flying in the face of the composer’s wishes by having the very talented Ruth Ernst play the main character, the boy Amahl? Take that, Menotti! We openly defy your weird/sexist/anti-Shakespearean demands of only having a boy play that boy character! (You can see the rest of the talented cast listed here - http://maritimeconcertopera.com/?page_id=7 , and see where I found out that we were being controversial here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amahl_and_the_Night_Visitors#Composition_history )
You can see the show at the Bridgewater United Church on Saturday at 3pm, or at St. John’s Anglican, Lunenburg, Sunday at 3pm.
Till next time,
Gus


South Shore – St. Margaret’s All Candidates Debate at the Days Inn
April 19th, 2011Tonight I’m going to take a whirl at a bit of live-blogging. Refresh this post for updates. I’ll post in reverse chronological order (newest at the top).
8:45pm – Closing statements. Earle (NDP) notes that Harper fell because of Contempt of Parliament, a first, and a really, really bad thing. (I wonder why the media isn’t covering this properly. I had to do my own research to figure out what this Contempt stuff was.) Wells (Liberal) also mentions the Contempt. MacLellan (Green) ignored that and talked positively about himself and the Greens.
I’m worried that these parties are going to split the vote again, though. We need to get out the vote! One of them has to beat the Conservatives!
8:34pm – Everybody here wants to up corporate taxes again, to use the money for public programs. Supporters of tax cuts say the cuts create jobs, but that’s not how things go down.
8:26pm – Question about children, and effectively the future of the Canadian population. Interesting and poignant discussion.
8:13pm – Liberals and Green also have plans to make government more accountable.
8:12pm – NDP has plans to put new restrictions on PM’s ability to get prorogation – they’d need government approval if they’re trying to do it to avoid a non-confidence vote.
8:10pm – Current question’s title: The Harper Government and its Abuse of Democracy. Had a good summary of how messed up things are right now.
8:00pm – NDP, Lib, and Green all support helping make post-secondary education more affordable (though they have different plans to go about it), and they all support Canada Post staying public.
7:35pm – All three candidates here (NDP, Lib, Green), are all for keeping the Canada Pension system working, none of this privatization nonsense. (As a book I’m reading right now – The Paradox of Choice – notes, having to figure out all the ins and outs between tons of Pension plans as an individual is yet another stressful choice that gets piled on to us in modern society.)
7:21pm – Keddy skipped a school debate earlier today, too.
7:15pm – Keddy got booed for not being here, due to ‘scheduling conflicts’.
7:07pm – They’re still setting up. Apparently the incumbent Conservative isn’t here. The heck?
Posted in Commentary, Politics | No Comments »