Capsule (Full commentary found immediately below Lead Picture):
Can we agree Lexapro, Xanax and Valium are masks
for women who can’t walk down a street
without being preyed on?
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Lead Picture (Story below in Thumbnail section)Saturday, August 10, 2019
This picture is the title page of the first edition vocal score of Béatrice et Bénédict, published in 1863, with an illustration by French illustrator Antoine Barbizet.
Illustration credit: Antoine Barbizet; restored by Adam Cuerden
Read more on the blog www.existentialautotrip.com
The blog? A daily three to four-minute excursion into photos and short texts to regale the curious with an ever-changing and diverting view of a world rich in gastronomy, visual art, ideas, chuckles, stories, people, diversions, science, homespun, and enlightenment.
Observing with wit and wisdom, Dom Capossela, an experienced leader, guides his team of contributors and followers through that world, an amusing and edifying conversation to join.
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Commentary,
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Wish me well.
This is the launch: The first of the ‘Hey Dom!’ series of very short videos.
Would love your comments.
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Commentary, Kali L
Saturday, August 10, 2019
You whom I could not help,
Listen closely.
Was there a time I ever was unburdened
from the depression? I was six when Sunday
blues came with sunsets.
Those were easier times.
Can we agree Lexapro, Xanax and Valium are masks
for women who can’t walk down a street
without being preyed on?
Our suits of armor are made with frowns
and long sleeves on hot summer days.
We are pecked to death with, smile, it looks good
on you.
Instead, I wince.
It doesn’t stop them from body
slamming me into a car. He has photos
of me sleeping. I have hands burning my skin
awake where the no dies on my lips.
I’m sorry I cannot keep you safe in this world
even when you are sleeping.
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Tracking Postings – Tracking Time
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Our 491st consecutive posting, committed to 5,000.
After 491 posts we’re at the 9.82 percentile of our commitment, that commitment a different way of marking the passage of time.
Note how quickly we are approaching the 10% mark.
Feels like we’re just getting started, but we are close to 10% done.
10 xs 10 and then what?
Wow!
By the way, our posts are always done by 6.00am the day of, but are usually available by 6.00pm of the night before.
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Thursday’s Dinner posted on
Saturday, August 10, 2019
We enjoyed a simple sirloin roast.
Our focus was on making the videos and eating was an afterthought.
Very rare.
Food as afterthought. The sirloin was rare.
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Weather
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Today in Boston will be 81* and a feels-like of 81*. Sunny with a chance of rain.
Rain mars several of the next few days, but the temperatures stay around eighty.
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Chuckle of the Day:
Saturday, August 10, 2019
An Irish daughter had not been home for five years.
Upon her return, her father attacks:
“Where have ye been all this time? Why did ye not write to us, not even a line? Why didn't ye call? Can ye not understand what ye put yer old mum thru?”
The girl, crying, replied, "Sniff, sniff....dad....I became a prostitute...."
"Ye what!!? Out of here, ye shameless harlot! Sinner! You're a disgrace to this family."
"OK, dad-- as ye wish. I just came back to give mum this fur coat, the deed to a ten bedroom home, and a savings certificate for a million dollars.
"And for me little brother, this gold Rolex. And for ye daddy, the new Mercedes limited edition convertible that's parked outside, plus a membership to the country club....(takes a breath)....and an invitation for ye all to spend New Years' Eve on board my new yacht in the Riviera, and...."
“Now what was it ye said ye had become?" interrupts dad.
Girl, crying again, "Sniff, sniff....a prostitute dad! Sniff, sniff."
"Oh! Be Jesus! Ye scared me half to death, girl! I thought ye said a Protestant. Come here and give yer old man a hug.
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Today’s Thumbnail
Saturday, August 10, 2019
The lead picture of today’s blog is the title page of the first edition vocal score of Béatrice et Bénédict, published in 1863, with an illustration by French illustrator Antoine Barbizet.
Illustration credit: Antoine Barbizet; restored by Adam Cuerden
Béatrice et Bénédict is an opéra comique in two acts by French composer Hector Berlioz.
Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based closely on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
He had been interested in setting Shakespeare's comedy since his return from Italy in 1833, but only composed the score of the opera following the completion of Les Troyens in 1858.
It was first performed at the opening of the Theater Baden-Baden on 9 August 1862. Berlioz conducted the first two performances of a German version in Weimar in 1863, where, as he wrote in his memoirs, he was "overwhelmed by all sorts of kind attention".
Ackouis-Hector Berlioz (December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer. His output includes orchestral works such as the Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy, choral pieces including the Requiem and L'Enfance du Christ, his three operas Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens and Béatrice et Bénédict, and works of hybrid genres such as the "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette and the "dramatic legend" La Damnation de Faust.
Berlioz by August Prinzhofer, 1845
August Prinzhofer (1816–1885) - Hector Berlioz, sa vie et ses oeuvres'
His independence of mind and refusal to follow traditional rules and formulas put him at odds with the conservative musical establishment of Paris.
He briefly moderated his style sufficiently to win France's premier music prize, the Prix de Rome, in 1830 but he learned little from the academics of the Paris Conservatoire.
Opinion was divided for many years between those who thought him an original genius and those who viewed his music as lacking in form and coherence.
Acknowledgements
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Thanks to Kali L for her submission.
Always thanks to the Microsoft team at the Prudential Center for their unflagging availability to help with a constant flow of technological problems.
And to 61+ jokes for providing the material for today’s chuckle.
Always thanks to Wikipedia, the Lead and the Thumbnail sections of the Blog very often shaped from stories taken from that amazing website. They are truly worthy of public support.
A tip o' the hat (U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, 1924
tip of the hat
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Good Morning on this Saturday, the tenth day of August, 2019
I have a bit of a sirloin sandwich I made from the leftovers.
Our lead picture, the title page of a Berlioz libretto.
Our commentary, a piece by Kali L.
We posted a Boston weather report and the ‘ticking calendar’ as illustrated by the growing number of posts as calendar markers.
Our dinner was a roast sirloin.
Our Thumbnail gave us a bit of biography of Berlioz.
Our chuckle was over a single word.
And we thanked appropriate people.
And now? Gotta go.
Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?
See you soon.
Your love.