So what's next?

We hear of parents having their children trained in "travel ball" for sport and competition dance, along with music lessons to aim for the best and brightest in music, along with science fairs and other wonderful events, hoping to earn that prestigious scholarship for colleges. I remember hearing of piano lessons in second grade for students, though I only took my first piano lesson as part of a collegiate degree requirement, and my first voice lesson at 26.

Now we're hearing of the latest trend. Parents are now paying $20 per hour to video gamers to teach their child the latest competition video game that the publisher recently offered $100 million in prize money. The rash of video gaming as a trend caught my attention because the two pay-television channels that control collegiate sports -- Disney and American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T, which airs men's college basketball) -- have have organised video game tournaments that air on those channels. The idea ESPN now airs video game tournaments, as does the AT&T channels, featuring the latest video game of the day, is something that I never would have imagined. But today, colleges are offering video game scholarships (no restrictions on gender), and the professional video gaming industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. It is just as bad as ESPN when they began airing hot dog eating. But today, hot dog eating is pushed on ESPN every Independence Day with a new broadcast crew this year leading the call as Adam Amin, best known for his call of Notre Dame's big wins in Columbus at the Final Four, taking the helm. When you're running a 10km road race that morning in Atlanta, how can 35 people eating hot dogs be more glorified than 60,000 runners on Peachtree Street?

With fans souring on legitimate sport, the younger generation has decided to enter the video gaming industry and prefer watching others play video games over playing sport. Forget the golf clubs, the cleats, ballet slippers, jazz boots, and the rest when your fingers do all the work in video gaming -- it is excessively lazy yet is now glorified thanks to the AT&T, ESPN, and a generation that prefers video games over activities requiring us to go outside. Has our digital addiction now been solidified and glorified?

Never have I imagined the popularity of these various video games and the "varsity gaming teams" now existing along with ESPN and AT&T coverage of these events.

Clean up on Aisle Five: Trump, groceries, and missing the point

At a recent campaign rally in Florida, President Donald Trump was defending his preference for stricter voter ID laws.

“If you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID," Trump said. "You go out and you want to buy anything, you need ID and you need your picture.”

The response to his statement was swift and predictable. The legions that despise the president unleashed a torrent of cartoons and memes and jokes, once again ridiculing the mendacity and cluelessness of the man they love to hate.

His supporters, meanwhile, kind of looked down and shuffled their feet, opting to let this latest tempest dissipate without comment. But they knew what he meant, and they agreed with the point, even if it was not eloquently expressed.

How many times have we been here? I’ve lost count.

But as the wave of ridicule crests, the fact remains that Trump was right. If you buy alcohol or tobacco at a grocery store, you need a photo ID. If you buy certain cold medicines that contain ingredients that could be cooked into illegal narcotics, you may need to show a picture ID. If you pay for your groceries with a debit or credit card, or if you still write checks much to the consternation of the people waiting behind you, you may need to show a photo ID.

Even the people who were fastest to mock Trump knew what he meant. But the actual issue being discussed was superfluous – all that mattered was they now had another clumsy phrase that could be spun into high comedy.

Meanwhile, those who support the President got it. We all carry picture IDs and are often called upon to show them for a host of mundane tasks, from getting a driver’s license to entering a government building to showing proof of age to get the senior discount at the movie theater. We accept this and are not offended or outraged by it. So we wonder why something as important as voting for the leaders of our country should not also require, at the very least, the same scrutiny. And we don’t understand why anyone should find this unfair or intolerant.

President Trump is not a career statesman accustomed to clearing every public statement through focus groups. He is a gifted public speaker but not a precise one. He speaks in superlatives and forges arguments with sledge hammers, where in politics we’ve become accustomed to points being parsed and events being choreographed with fanatical precision, so as not to risk offending any demographic or special interest group. Too often, this results in speeches that sound eloquent but say nothing, and are rife with platitudes that in their own way are as ludicrous as any hyperbolic oratory of the Commander in Chief.

The response to the President’s groceries comment is one of many reasons he’ll likely be re-elected in 2020. I say this not as his defender or with the terror of those who are certain he will be the death of this great nation. I say it because I know what happens when someone is attacked with the ferocity that this president is attacked, not on a daily basis but on an hourly basis, by those infused with a smug superiority that plays well on the coasts and on some cable channels but not as well in churches and taverns and VFW halls.

If you find the prospect of four more years of Trump to be as painful as a root canal without anesthesia, my advice is to do that which you’ve consistently berated this president for not doing: take the high road. Or just keep laughing – and losing.

Regietheater on television!

Three cases of nasty "regietheater" came to our attention this week, and sadly, most Americans are unaware of the attempt to push the wicked agenda on television with classics is rampant the way operagoers are aware of this problem.

First, we have the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is taxpayer-funded, similar to Public Broadcasting System, National Public Radio, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the United States.  They partnered with notorious X-rated television outlet Netflix to produce "Anne with an E," a television series supposedly based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's book franchise based on the life of Anne Shirley, which in all consisted of ten novels and short stories.  Now it has come to attention that the Justin Trudeau-controlled organisation has decided, with the King of X-Rated Television and the producers, Moira Walley-Becket, has decided to make a character a sexual deviant, much against what the characters Mrs. Montgomery wrote over a century ago.  Of course, this attempt to appease the "quotas" that Hollywood elites and leftist activists such as the Prime Minister are pushing is nothing more than a repeat of regietheater.

Second, Mark Millar is now concocting with Netflix (them again, note the coincidence?) for a series that is more Buddhist thinking than Christian in its nature.  The series features a twelve-year old boy that, according to official releases, claims he is "reincarnated" as Jesus Christ, with the full Bibliospeak of "turning turn water into wine, make the crippled walk, and, perhaps, even raise the dead."  Just reading those statements has me thinking there is too much Hindu influence in "reincarnation" and even in Tibetian Buddhism, which has not seen this practice for over 78 years as the current Dalai Lama was "discovered" by an elaborate clique that selects the person as the new Lama in question.  This "American Jesus" Netflix is advancing has all the signs of Tibetian Buddhism's elaborate scheme to discover a new Lama.  I cannot see the sense in this except for regietheater.

Third, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company's DC Comics brand has decided the fourth season of Supergirl, as it has continued since its move to The CW, pushes the perversion agenda further.  One character was made a sexual deviant, and now a new character will be a man who claims to be a woman.  Just how much more regietheater can this Supergirl be considering none of these perversions would have been acceptable in a DC Comic strip when the brand was first revealed?  Even television you expect children to watch is being perverted to advance this evil agenda.  What gives?

Those of us with opera appreciation have learned of the problem on the live stage.  Now television is being rapidly infested with this that they demand not only tolerance but celebration from every segment of culture, despite being demolished at the ballot box, they use elite institutions to force their agenda down, reminiscent of the King of England's attack on the Colonies in the 1770's that led to a founding document of this very nation.  What will AT&T and Netflix push down next?

--------------

WORKS CITED

Tess Frarand, "Season Two of (CBC's) and Netflix's Anne of Green Gables Show Surprises Families by Making a Character a Lesbian," Movie Guide.

Jennifer Maas, "Mark Millar’s First Slate of Netflix TV Series and Films Includes Superheroes – and Reincarnated Jesus", The Wrap, July 17, 2018.

"Supergirl TV Show To Introduce First Transgender Superhero," Movie Guide.

Looking back when I see this

This promotional video for a recent concert in Moscow by Collegium Musicum may sound innocent and for most would not be of interest.  But I noted something after reading social media posts this week in my world that I had to "welcome to it" something that had me looking back at my ten years of college-level singing each summer (which I'm continuing my second half season with more spectacular works that have made it evident ditching the church choir's Top 40 hits in favour of singing real material is worth it).


Now much of this in in Cyrillic, of course, but I saw one peculiar reference in the promos, after observing a recent poster.

22 июля / воскресенье 19.00 Американская классика: Ритм и Госпел Вокальный ансамбль Ex Oriente Lux римско-католического кафедрального собора Непорочного зачатия девы Марии под управлением Дэвида Кокрейна (США). При участии Сьюзан Келли (сопрано, США) и Алана Бейкера (баритон, США). лауреат международных конкурсов Анна Орлова, орган.

Whoa!  Note the part in bold italics.  Next to it is her husband.  But who is listed in the starring role?

Сьюзан Келли

That name does sound familar.  Ah it does for a good reason.  As a doctoral candidate in conducting, she conducted a Summer Chorus that I sang in which we did a piece we called one of the greatest compositions in the Western musical canon.  As Mitchell eloquently wrote years ago, "There's always a section in the Dias Irae, the Lacrimosa (Ah! that day of tears and mourning!/From the dust of earth returning/man for judgment must prepare him;/Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!), that makes me stop whatever I'm doing and just listen."

Yes, she conducted a 2011 performance of Mozart's Requiem.  That name just piqued me when I saw it in the promotions.

Retro TV Friday

On a recent episode of ABC's To Tell The Truth 2016, Alex Trebek became the second former regular host of the Goodson-Todman franchise to serve as a panelist; previously, Bill Cullen, who hosted the 1969-78 version of the show on occasion when Garry Moore was absent, and hosted much of the 1976-77 season after Moore's retirement, was moved back to panelist for the final season. Trebek was the third host of the 1990-91 NBC series that was short-lived because it faced a notorious CBS ratings juggernaut in daytime that still holds its own today.

When I learned Mr. Trebek was appearing on the 2016 version of the classic, ABC made a slight blunder because they did not want to viewer to know the history of the show; the 1969 version's theme song, complete with vocals, was to have been used in the 1990 version. In fact, Score Productions went to Nashville for Take 6 (a black gospel group originally) to record the vocals of the 1969 theme for use in 1990. For some reason, NBC did not approve of Take 6's vocals, and for the broadcast version, it was removed. The 1969-78 theme would have been a nice touch for Mr. Trebek's appearance. Let's enjoy the Take 6 version of the 1969-78 To Tell the Truth theme, and note how that version also used many principles of the classic logo and an updated version of the crossed-finger logo.

And just like that...

That sign of our "absence" reminded me of some interesting things that caught my attention,

What You See at a Fishing Magnate's Golf Course.  When I saw the "Gone Fishing" sign, the last thing most would expect to see at a fishing magnate's resort was a PGA Tour Champions golf tournament, and to make it even more absurd, it is a 67-hole tournament over "five" rounds.  Two of the courses are par-three only courses, with one being a nine-hole course, and the other a thirteen-hole course.  The nine-hole course, Top of the Rock, is played four times (three for over-65 teams), and has the oddest flag you would see flying above the clubhouse, the flag symbolising a friend of course owner Johnny Morris, whose Bass Pro Shops is the tournament sponsor.  To top it all off, the man (and his grandson) whom a former Pennsylvania newsman calls "Hizzoner" associated with that person whose flag flies above that clubhouse participated in the Sunday shootout between players over 65 and celebrities in a "skins" format.  It doesn't hurt that the pro-am features morning golf and afternoon fishing, shooting, or archery.  Can you spot the flag you'd least likely to see on a PGA Tour event that Johnny Morris hangs on his clubhouse?

They're Taking Our Churches Away.  The state and federal courts have ruled against the Anglican Church in North America in their efforts to keep the property belong to the Diocese of South Carolina, primarily consisting of the 24 eastern counties, that the Episcopal Church has the right to seize 29 parishes' properties from the Anglican Church in North America diocese in question and hand them over to a newly created diocese of The Episcopal Church, which claims, has all the makings of the Soviet boycott of the 1959 FIBA Basketball World Cup in a political stunt during the medal round that had FIBA punishing the Soviets.  (The Soviets refused to play the Formosan Team because fellow Communist nation the People's Republic of China claims Ihla Formosa belongs to them, so they refused to recognise Chiang's government.  The Soviets eventually won the dispute by 1980.)  With the decline of the liberal Protestant congregation, they could sell the buildings and convert them to mosques, malls, or other types of buildings as an in your face attack on opponents, while leaving numerous congregations without any buildings because of the courts.  Worse yet, it was discovered one member of the state court system that ruled in favour of the heresy group (The Episcopal Church) is involved with the Episcopal Church herself along with her husband, which should mean automatic recusal.

A few years ago, I drew the ire of church members for a written statement I submitted during the vote for a minister when I stated my inability to vote on this election was a byproduct of my association with the candidate's sister through Sanctity of Human Life groups.  Now the courts are saying they ignore the conflict of interest in order to force one group that lost control of its denomination and faces expulsion from the Anglican Communion to seize the churches that have sided with its bishop and moving to the Anglican Church in North America, which is not facing trouble because it still stands on principles, as the Lariseys wrote years ago.

It's All About Me.  I have grown tired of seeing an excessive amount of sexual perversion marketing campaigns by the major athletic companies and businesses everywhere this month.  This seems to be an in your face slap at the majority of Americans, forced on us by an Executive Order and pushed by elite courts because they believe nobody has rights except themselves to make the law.  Isn't this why we rose up against the King of England in 1776?  So it's OK to throw Christians to the lions, but it's not permissible to read the Bible and cite that area in question.  What type of dictatorship have we become?  Look at Hollywood and even "Auntie Maxine," as our County Council calls her, wanting physical attacks against the President and his types.  The Left is trying to win a debate over anything with force.  But emotionalism is their calling card, and a sob story always works.  On every issue they have an entire playbook, Marshall Kirk's After the Ball.

Hisense Has No Sense.  We are in the middle of football, and the one thing that caught my attention, and forced me to report it to the clerk at the store.  The Hisense packing for television has images and sponsorship of the now-defunct United States National Men's Football Team.  That team disbanded in October and we are in June, why are those boxes being sold with pictures of that failure that forced us to disown our own country?  In the true spirit of the other blog, the secretary will disavow the United States, disown the country, and we must renounce our citizenship in a nation that does not exist.   The consequence, as Wells Fargo is showing in ads, is similar to that of NBCSN's Grudge Race, where the loser is shamed.  "Captain America" is waving a Mexican flag.  And I've made it clear of the consequences.  Fox is relegating the World Cup to just two broadcast teams, with other games being done in a Los Angeles studio, while the two teams in Russia are the established Dellacamera and Meola as the number one, and Strong and Holden as the number two.  John Strong has told the media that the classic Vin Scully storytelling style influenced him, as as the video games of John Motson being involved, as he is only 33.  Like the NFL and MLB when they started, Fox has decided to bring in a young voice and you can see he has been trained in the "rules" of broadcasting where goals are to be silent, and you celebrate by letting the player's celebration take charge without any wild "GOL" screaming.  It's the old "let the action do the talking" adage.

Meanwhile, NBC is adding simulcast of Telemundo games on the NBC Sports Network.  Says much about fans wanting the screaming and shouting, and Telemundo's coverage is now being expanded by its parent.  Seems the Spanish calls are now the most popular this year, and they want emotion, not the style of US sports broadcasting that gave us Vin Scully, Verne Lundquist, and Pat Summerall where you can take a book and think over an entire game.

Missing in action

Yes, it does seem as if I’ve been away for awhile, doesn’t it? Long enough, perhaps, that you wouldn’t be blamed if you thought the blog had closed up shop for good.

Well, that may yet happen, one of these days, but not yet. An explanation is in order, however, for those of you wondering about the silence.

If you’ve been reading the TV blog, which is alive and well, you know I’m in the process of putting the finishing touches on my newest book, The Electronic Eye: An Opinionated Look at How Classic TV Explains Who We Were and Who We Are (and Everything In-Between!). The due date is by the end of August, which explains the sense of urgency accompanying my work; a man has only so many hours in the day, you know. And even at It’s About TV!, I’ve been forced to resort to the occasional repeat when the time crunch gets the better of me. I’ll also be making a presentation at September’s Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, and while it doesn’t take as much time to prepare a 35-minute presentation as it does to write a book, it’s still something that takes a fair amount of time if I’m going to look and sound as if I know what I’m talking about.

In addition to The Electronic Eye, I have another book in the process of being wrapped up: The Car, the second novel from the Hadley stable. You can also expect that to appear in the next couple of months, although that’s much closer to completion.

The end result of all this has been that, with the exception of my TV writing, everything else has had to take a back seat. Even Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday, easy as they may seem, consume time that is best used elsewhere. I feel bad enough about this that I’ve finally forced myself to take a few minutes to write this, so that you’ll have at least something that’s new.

That’s not to say everyone’s gone. Bobby, bless his soul, continues to bail us out with his occasional contributions, and David and Drew stop by from time to time. Come October, I’d expect us to be fully back to normal, at least until I start on my next project, overseeing a short documentary film. No, I’m not kidding. Yes, I am crazy. However, you only live life once, right?

At any rate, I hope this explanation – apology, really – will suffice until we’re either going full steam ahead or have decided to wrap it up, concentrate on the TV side, and make this available through the archives with only the occasional new content.

I promise I’ll try and be back between now and September 15 with something new. I can guarantee Bobby will be back before then. And in the meantime, keep the faith and thanks for your patience!

Wish I'd written that

In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away”

- T.S. Eliot, The Family Reunion

Opera Wednesday

This week it's a quick look at soprano Marilyn Horne, one of opera's all-time greats, in one of her signature roles: Rossini's charming comedy L'italiana in Algeri  (The Italian Girl in Algiers) This is from a 1986 performance at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by James Levine.

A friend's time in Afghanistan with the Prince

A local attorney and friend of mine served in Afghanistan with Prince Harry. Some of Bill Connor's stories of being in the battle fields with the prince are found here for your reading through the Royal Wedding:

Stories of Prince Harry in the Afghan war zone.

The Prince Harry video: Perspective on his videotaped words

Christmas in Helmand with Prince Harry

Throwback Thursday: Wish I'd written that

Whenever you read a good book, it's like the author is right there, in the room, talking to you - which is why I don't like to read good books.

- Jack Handey

Not really - I read good books all the time.  I just like the smartass way it sounds.

Originally published April 17, 2015

Opera Wednesday

Here's the great American baritone Robert Merrill in one of his signature roles, the charming schemer Figaro from Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) singing "Largo al Factorum." No credit given, but my best guess is that this is from NBC's Bell Telephone Hour in the late 50s or early 60s.

What gear is that sportscar in, Mr. Clarkson?

Fans of a very popular British motoring programme in its best known form will be excited to hear he is back on terrestrial television in the UK fronting the revival of a very well-known Sony Pictures Television programme.  ITV and Sony had this video released for this legendary hit's return to the UK airwaves.

More races on air at the Kentucky Derby

As we looked through our television blog, we noticed how early Derby broadcasts were simply 45 minutes to 90 minutes prior to NBC taking over in 2001.  Whereas the Derby would start around 4:30 PM (see Faulkner's 1955 report) and many times the race would start at 5:30 PM, since NBC took over and Churchill Downs added lights, the start time is creeping closer to primetime hours.

The 2018 Derby post time is 6:50 PM EDT, meaning with the loading, the race could finish at 7 PM EDT. NBC's coverage starts at 2 PM for a two-minute event.  The schedule for the NBC broadcast includes five races (all times Eastern):

2:45 PM Churchill Downs Stakes (4 and up, dirt, 7F)
3:37 PM American Turf Stakes (3 and up, turf, 1 1/16 miles)
4:28 PM Pat Day Mile (f/k/a Derby Trial) (3, dirt, 1 mile)
5:25 PM Old Forester Turf Stakes (4 and up, turf, 1 1/16 miles)
6:50 PM Kentucky Derby (3, dirt, 1 1/4 miles)

And for those fans who are still at Churchill Downs, there are two more races to be run with lights, a 1 1/16 mile allowance and a one-mile maiden race that will start at 8:20 PM, which is less than 18 minutes from legal sunset, guaranteeing that lights will be used at Derby Day.  For the record, the Stephen Foster Handicap, an older horse race inaugurated in 1982 and has provided three Breeders' Cup Classic winners, is now run as a night race in June.  The Foster is when the Kentucky Derby winner officially receives his trophy.

Opera Wednesday

Over the years, I've developed a greater, if still narrow, appreciation for contemporary classical music. One modern conductor I've always enjoyed, however, is Stravinsky. The Rake's Progress is arguably the best-known of his operas, and it's certainly one of the more accessible. Here's the opening of the opera, with the late Jerry Hadley (no relation) and Dawn Upshaw in a rather modern adaptation from the 1996 Salzburg Festival, with Sylvain Cambreling conducting.

How Renée Fleming's "Carousel" and the WWE's "Greatest Royal Rumble" have a common denominator in Richard Rodgers

R
enée Fleming's appearance at a Broadway production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's Carousel has been in the news recently, but Mr. Rodgers, a legendary composer of musicals, was in my head as news discussed a pay-per-view in the pseudosport of "professional wrestling" with the intercalated Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, similar to the Olympic Games of 1906.  How fake wrestling associates itself with Richard Rodgers comes through a writing partner of his prior to his association with Mr. Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart.

In the Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms (1937), Billie, a woman who visits the leading male character (Val), sings the song in question, which thanks to the popular music circuit, has lost most of its lyrics and its original intent (yes, Mr. Sinatra is guilty of removing the lyric and reference!).  Billie, played by Mitzi Green when it debuted, is from the coast, and sings what we call the aria in question, "The Lady is a Tramp," which over the years and even a "sanitised" version of the entire musical was produced, which sadly has taken away toe references in the song.  Even Steafani Germanotta's version, like Frank Sinatra's and Ella Fitzgerald's versions, alter the lyrics away from the original (Derek Jeter, who is referenced in the Germanotta and Bennett version, was not even thought when Rodgers and Hart wrote the song!), but there's one part of the song that easily catches the adage "professional wrestling is fake".

The lyric in question of "The Lady is a Tramp" that though written in 1937 could easily refer to professional wrestling and how it is losing the pay-per-view battle to mixed martial arts today states, "I like a prizefight that isn't a fake."  Since a professional wrestling match is predetermined, and the players know who is to win ("go over"), that legally means the match is fixed, and legally it's a fake.  Would Billie want to see a WWE match or a UFC match, if you listen to the song with that lyric?

Here is the song, as it is from a production of "Babes in Arms" that allows us to see the original song (not the Sinatra or Germanotta versions) in its historic New York references.

Saving Alfie

"T
he Alfie Evans story is a horrifying example of what ensues when the state denies parental rights." -- Albert Mohler.

This from Mario Diaz:

"How does a nation reach a point where it will essentially kidnap a child from a loving, functioning family, yank that same child off life support, deny him care as he unexpectedly fights to stay alive, and then block attempts by a foreign government to rescue him and provide him top-notch care free of charge? How does a great civilization sink to such barbarism and tyranny?" -- David French.

This from The Federalist.

In these columns, we see what happens when children are a ward of the state, and not controlled by their parents.  The state can impose what they want at any time to advance their agenda.

Throwback Thursday: The sacredness of life

With the tragic events now occurring in England regarding the life of Alfie Evans, it seems like a good time to look back at an opera and its pointed message about the importance of human life.

There are a few operas that, in an oblique way, make reference to contemporary issues even though they were written decades, or centuries, ago.  One such example is Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow), the magnificent 1919 opera written by Richard Strauss, with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal.  The crux of the story centers around an Emperor and Empress who are unable to conceive; this is symbolized by the fact that she is without a shadow. The King of the Spirit World decrees that unless she gains a shadow before the end of the twelfth moon, "she will be reclaimed by her father and the Emperor will turn to stone."

As the story progresses, a scheme unfolds to obtain the shadow by stealing it from a peasant woman, thus depriving this woman of motherhood.  The peasant woman is urged to "sell her expectations of motherhood, dissolve her marriage [to a husband who desires children] and pursue a life of individual self-fulfillment."  As this article indicates, the notes accompanying productions of this opera generally relate the moral of the story as being "one person's happiness cannot be bought at the price of another's," yet it is clear that a major component of the story - and its moral - concerns the ability of a woman to conceive, the glories of motherhood, and the existence of the souls of unborn children

[Spoiler alert!] The opera concludes happily, odd enough for an opera; the Empress decides to reject the stolen shadow ("I will not rob humanity from someone else"), the peasant woman's shadow is returned to her, and for her act of generosity, the Empress too receives a shadow.  Both couples  - the Emperor and Empress and the peasant couple - sing of their joy and humanity, and praise their unborn children.  On occasion, the chorus assumes the guise of unborn children, making the analogy even stronger.

Ten or so years ago, the Los Angeles Times, one of the worst newspapers in the United States, committed a hilarious error by changing a review of the opera, which the critic had described as "an incomparably glorious and goofy pro-life paean," replacing the term "pro-life" with "anti-abortion." One hardly knows where to begin with this comedy of errors; the mindless policy in the paper's style sheet, which apparently dictates that all references to pro-life should be changed to emphasize the negative; the blatant inaccuracy of the edit, since the abortion message in Frau is inferred when transposed to today's times and there is in fact no discussion whatsoever of abortion in the libretto; or the idea that being pro-life should be assumed to refer to abortion only and exclusively. You can read more about it here.  Idiots.

The point is, Die Frau ohne Schatten does not deal with abortion directly; it deals with the sacredness of human life and the importance of being open to its creation.  And while it is not an anti-abortion screed, as some might think, is explains one of the fundamental reasons why the sacredness of human life is important and why, among other reasons, abortion is wrong.

Anyway, enough with the politics.  Regardless of what you think, there is glorious music in this opera, a sample of which can be heard in the 2014 excerpt below, with Valery Gergiev and the World Orchestra for Peace, although you can get other videos that include subtitles, through which the power of the story becomes even more apparent.

Originally published October 14, 2015

Flashback Friday: Here comes de judge

SAMMY DAVIS JR. IN ONE OF HIS CLASSIC COMEDY ROLES

I realize we're constantly being admonished nowadays to be non-judgmental; "who am I to judge?" should strike a familiar tone. But what exactly does that mean, and how does it fit in to our modern culture and lifestyles

You could write a book on that question alone, and probably more than one person has by now, but I'll simply remark that I've always understood the Biblical injunction against judging to be aimed more at one's soul than at their actions. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get." (Matthew 7:1-2)

In other parts of the Bible, we're told not to worry about what others think of us as long as we act in righteousness for the Kingdom of God.* The suggestion behind it all is that the only opinion that really counts is God's, and He will judge each and every one of us based on what is inside us and how that has manifested itself in our thoughts, words and actions. As humans lack the ability of divination when it comes to reading a man's soul (with the exception of some extraordinary saints), I read this as telling us we should not judge one's character, one's soul, one's state of sin.

*Though we're also reminded not to engage in scandalous behavior which can cast aspersions upon our sincerity, or that of Christians in general. We may see this come into play in the next few paragraphs.

At the same time, however, we're also told to admonish our brothers and sisters who have fallen into sin (first making sure, of course, that we are not guilty of the same thing). For that to happen, it follows that we have some authority to draw conclusions about what a person does, based on that person's external behavior. We don't know for sure whether or not a person is in a state of grace, for example, or if they're possessed by truly evil thoughts and desires, but if they go around acting like a jerk, being impolite, doing nasty things to people, I think we could quite rightly infer from that behavior that this person, regardless of the condition of their soul, has some problems. And if we're that jerk, behaving that way with other people, we should expect that those kinds of conclusions are drawn. If we're a professing Christian, then this becomes cause for scandal, because by our own faults we encourage people to draw such conclusions. Again, being a jerk doesn't mean you're going straight to Hell (do not pass Purgatory, do not collect 500 indulgences). We don't know that.

But when we say someone is loathsome, when we deplore their actions and call into question the sincerity of their expressed values, what we're most often speaking of is this process of making a conclusion based on observed behavior. I think most of us are aware of that, and we aren't literally pronouncing judgment on someone's soul by saying something like that. "I find him grotesque, repulsive, etc." may be an inelegant use of language, it may be intemperate, but most reasonable people know what they mean when they say it, and most reasonable people know (or used to, anyway) what it means when they hear it. It means, "I find this person's actions to be [insert adjective of your choice]."

What I'm getting at with all this is that there's a lot of nasty behavior going on in social media, and in the circles which I frequent much of it is coming from the internecine conflict which our beloved Holy Father seems to have instigated, or at least brought to a head. Austin Ruse wrote about this very well in a recent article with reference to several Catholic bloggers who like to make grand pronouncements about people with whom they disagree. The question arises: how should one behave when finding themselves faced with such a person? Well, perhaps the best thing is not to find yourself in that position in the first place, which is why long ago I deserted the Catholic blogosphere in favor of the much more civilized world of classic television. I still run across these people, though; one can hardly keep up-to-date with current Church events without doing so. The political blogosphere is even worse. And as far as Catholics talking about politics - don't get me started.

It is not an exaggeration for me to say that I do, indeed, find the behavior of such people to be loathsome. In doing so, they transform themselves into loathsome individuals, and to draw such a conclusion based on what they've said is, in many cases, fairly temperate when compared to what these people themselves say and do. But am I judging them? Am I consigning them to the nether regions, where it's very hot even in wintertime? Of course not, and when they use the typical rhetorical tactic of attempting to turn the tables on anyone who disagrees with them by saying, in effect, "So's your old man!" they should be resisted.

What do I mean by that? Well, in fact, there often is no moral equivalence involved; calling someone loathsome is not the same as saying they're going to Hell. These people often are passing judgment on others, accusing them outright of sin, of not being true Catholics or even Christians. If they want to call someone names, then that's their right, and I'm not going to stress over it - except, as I suggested earlier, to advise them to by a thesaurus or something else that can help them expand their vocabulary. Their behavior certainly can be described as scandalous, and to the extent that they provoke intemperate responses in others, they deserve the lion's share of the blame. If one voices a negative opinion of this person's behavior - well, what other conclusion can you draw?

In the end, I don't know if I've accomplished anything with this. I vowed to write a certain number of words at this site this month, and this is part of it. I haven't engaged in any of these verbal fisticuffs, nor do I intend to, but I get highly put out when I read it, and I do think the people who do this are - here's that word again - loathsome. Am I judging them? No, and I'd thank you not to accuse me of that if you're tempted to. Am I drawing conclusions based on what I've seen, heard or read? You bet I have - and as long as such people continue to act that way, I'm going to continue to draw those kinds of conclusions.

For those of you out there who are like these people - don't you have anything better to do? For all that we moan about social justice warriors and how everyone's too sensitive and the world is filled with rage, it really is difficult to drive most people to anger. Mainly, they want to be happy and to be left alone. If these people worked half as hard at doing something good (or at least something benign), they might find their own world to be a much nicer place.

Originally published August 10, 2016

Golf Channel Redux: What's airing and weather hurry-ups

It caught my attention when an NBC Sports presser appeared regarding coverage of the Séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley regarding the annual flipping around every Comcast channel.  As I noted which channel carried two games on a recent night, an old Brent Bozell column on television was ringing its truth again.

Cable channels such as Discovery, Learning, History, Arts & Entertainment, and Bravo have replaced their entire programming from the themes they were intended to becoming another brand of reality television channels, which Americans seemingly chew up.  The channel once called American Movie Classics has given up on that classic ideal and gone to original TV-MA programming and shows that may not reach that level of "classic" that most believe, movies produced during the Production Code (which TV-MA programming would violate under the classic code).  And of course, Viacom's Paramount Network has its own story that's a disaster that the World of Outlaws despises that channel to this day.

NBC's "air everything on every different NBC Channel" during this round of Coupe Stanley usually means NBC Sports Network, USA, Consumer News and Business Channel.  This year, they've added the one channel you'd least expect the Série éliminatoires to air -- Golf Channel.  What in the world was the Golf Channel being replaced with two Séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley matches "going through" as the scoreboard says before returning to normal programming Thursday morning.

But that's one of two cases of issues over that channel.

The second relates to the controversy when the local newspaper announced the winner of the Royal Bank of Canada Heritage at Hilton Head's Sea Pines Harbor Town.  Because of weather issues, organisers rushed the start to threesomes at 7 AM with the final group starting at 9 AM, hoping to finish before 2 PM to beat the storms expected around 3 PM.  In order to do the hurry-up start, the Golf Channel's final round coverage, and later CBS's coverage of the final hours, went on tape, with the winner already announced on The Island Packet before the CBS part of the broadcast was to begin.  Golf's coverage of Jon Rahm winning the European Tour Open de España ran to noon.  After a one-hour pre-game show, coverage proceeded to taped coverage of the early rounds on Golf, then on CBS.  CBS had only taped coverage of the previous night's Professional Bull Riders 15/15 Bucking Battle airing in the early afternoon.

By the time viewers were watching the golfers on the front nine in the early half coverage on Golf, 小平智応援団 was battling 김시우 for the plaid jacket in sudden death (it was 2 PM).  小平智応援団 defeated 김시우 around 2:30 PM, when the news was released -- and the Golf coverage had not reached the turn for the leaders (Poulter and 김시우).  By the time CBS coverage began, it was over.  This was the second time in four years (2015) that the same situation had happened where a rushed start meant taped coverage for the Hilton head stop.

Should the PGA Tour work with NBC (Golf Channel) and CBS to adopt NASCAR's 2017 rule change for television?  During the 2017 season, NASCAR made a rule change stating if weather forces the issue, they reserve the right to start a race up to one hour (from 2 PM to 1 PM, for example) earlier than the scheduled time.  If the PGA Tour, NBC, and CBS agree (remember the U.S. Open, on Fox, the Masters, on CBS, and The Open, on NBC, are not PGA Tour sanctioned events), then the networks should be available to swap blocks so network golf coverage can start at 12 Noon to 3 PM if necessary on the network where live coverage of the final 6-8 holes can be done on network television instead of being pushed to tape on both sides?  In this case, Golf would move early coverage to USA or CNBC from 9 to noon, and then the CBS or NBC coverage starts at noon only if there is active play.  The Premier League used to be on CNBC often when NBCSN had Formula One, but when Formula One moved to Sky Sports F1 (which despite it being commercial-free, viewers are noticing Friday practice is no longer broadcast on television), that opened up NBCSN to having Premier League coverage on just the one channel.  Golf overrun for either the PGA Tour or European and Asian Tours can easily be used in a beat the weather situation.  The PGA Tour and its broadcast partners need to be able to move golf coverage starting with the Florida swing to have that flexibility to beat the weather just like NASCAR has done to allow the networks to use 12-3 ET instead of 3-6 ET in weather situations.