This has been my favorite opera aria since I heard the Met broadcast.

Sung to the a-bomb.

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Mostly because I know Jenn loves this stuff, here's a series of photos taken in Pripyat. This town on the outskirts of Chernobyl was evacuated in two days in 1986 when the fire broke out at the power plant. It's safe to visit now, but the town is still abandoned.

Take a look.

I've learned an important lesson about my notebook PC; Beth. The fans move so much hot air out to the left side that I can set my tea mug there and it will stay warm much longer. Likewise, I have to put any soda can on the right side if I want to avoid heating it up.

Over the past few months the_stalwart has been working toward the release of his newest RPG, Serial Homicide Unit. A story game in which the players follow the lives of the police chasing down a serial killer, and the final days of the soon-to-be-victims ( Read more... )

This one too, is one we tried out in high school but I didn't actually get to sing in concert until Westminster. Only years later have I noticed that my high school choir director put some pretty challenging stuff in front of us; lots of polyphonic works and old Renaissance stuff. I think it's because he was largely left to his own devices.

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In ( Read more... )

This one takes me back. I first worked with this piece in high school. Our director was feeling out the choir at the start of the semester, to see what we could handle. Though we only gave this piece a few try-outs it stuck immediately as one of my favorites. Just hearing the part at 22 seconds, when the full chorus harmony hits still gets me, even ( Read more... )

Here's another English composer rewriting an old classic. Ralph Vaughn-Williams "Wassail Song." Wassailing is one of those great old words. Carousing without the seedy undertones. Eat, drink, sing, and be merry.

That high pitched sound is crappy audio encoding. Sadly, this is the best video of the song I could find.

As a side note, I've posted a ( Read more... )

Benjamin Britten is another of my faves. His modern choral works ran throughout my school days from the first Chapel Choir class my freshman year. He was also a lover of the old tunes of medieval Europe and loved to reset texts in Middle English. Here's a choice selection from the "Ceremony of Carols."


Balulaloww.avi
by j_najyThe only thing better ( Read more... )

I think somewhere around 1950 they stopped making good Christmas music. And even then, I feel we were in decline for about 2 or 3 centuries. If there's one thing I'm a snob about it's my Christmas music. So, go listen to some modern pop diva butcher "Let it Snow" and then come back here and watch this.

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See, that's what I'm talking about! Crazy ( Read more... )

My office laid off 33 people yesterday and we've been told that until the end of the fiscal year we should expect further cutbacks and consolidation. In fact, the organization wants to cut spending by 50%. I guess I'm lucky to still be here, what with my lack of marketable skills. Today the entire building is a funeral parlor and I seem to be the ( Read more... )