| Won't be around too much |
[Nov. 18th, 2009|06:12 pm] |
My elder cat, Tonio, is six years old. He's never been the healthiest of cats, ever since we got him at five months old, so thin and wasted that the first vet mis-diagnosed his sex. He's also very traumatised and neurotic towards strangers, sudden noises etc, which doesn't stop him from being an absolute darling evil feline mastermind who demands cuddles and thinks way too much.
Coming back from my trip, I noticed he'd suddenly lost weight. I was also told he hadn't been eating dry food, and it was unlike him to go to sleep so soon after greeting us.
I had him at the vet's this morning for a blood test. By this afternoon, he's been seen by one of the best feline nephrologists in town, and he's had an ultrasound test.
Tonio has chronic renal failure. His kidney function is at 25%. He's apparently one of the cats that are just born with it: his kidneys have been quietly deteriorating all his life, it's just that this week, he tipped over the threshold and became symptomatic.
He's on twice-daily IVs, special food and special treatment. We won't know the prognosis until much later, depending on how he takes to treatment. But he's not going to be around for the decade or more I thought I had left with him.
It's been four and a half years since losing Lady P, and I still think about her. I want my cats to live until they're twenty-five.
(People I owe stuff to, especially packages: it'll be a few days.) |
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| Roman impressions |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|08:15 pm] |
I've been getting home at about 7-8PM each day, but I'm literally too tired to write. There is so much to see here that it occupies all of my brain. What little is left is taken up with the images of the cloaked cavaliers that should be striding about the place. I didn't think it was possible for there to be so much history in one place, not preserved this way, one upon another. I remain in love with Italian museums and their habit of just shoving interesting things in a room. "Is that-!!!" is a running theme, from Caravaggio to Leonardo to random Dali and Van Gogh and Tintoretto and Rafael O.o
Oh gods, Rafael. I remain in utter awe and admiration ♥ He's the only painter to reduce me to this state, where I can just sit and stare happily, melting into a puddle.
I am also taking way too many photos. Especially of angels. There are angels everywhere.
( This example in Santa Maria del Popolo is the current favourite )
Tomorrow, I hope to improve the count of people-in-my-icons-whom-I-have-seen-live by one *points up* Then Trastevere, then on Monday frantic running around filling in the sightseeing gaps, and by Tuesday evening I should be home. |
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| Review: Benefiz-Gala in Oberhausen |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|10:43 pm] |
After three days of Roman angelic overload, I'm finally up to a review of Tuesday's gala.
To get bad things out of the way first: the concert was advertised with posters and annoucements featuring only Jan Ammann and Kevin Tarte, leading me to assume that they'd feature in at least half the concert. Instead, in a three-hour concert Kevin got one solo, Jan two, and there were two duets between the two of them, out of thirty-seven songs. I think that if the poster for a concert features only two stars, one can reasonably expect them to take up more than 13.5% of its duration. (One can also expect, say, drama musicals rather than crossdressing and Disney. One can be wrong.)
( But there was still crack. And Jakub! My favourite Herbert and Phantom is all grown up and playing to audiences of thousands! )
Audio bonus
And to save you from the wall of text up there:
Jan Ammann - Nature Boy
Jan Ammann and Kevin Tarte - Stars (demonic version)
Jakub Wocial, Jan Ammann - Phantom / Rockstar Phantom
Kevin Tarte and Jan Ammann - The Winner Takes It All |
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| Ded of Krolock |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|11:27 pm] |
In Oberhausen. Just saw the git (no, not that git. The other other git. I have a lot of them) play Krolock, finally.
Review upcoming. For now, let it suffice to say that my lifelong ambition to see a Krolock fall into the orchestra pit has finally been realised, at least for values of Krolock-leg, Krolock-cloak, and frantic clutching at the ledge ♥ |
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| Dear Yuletide Santa |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|10:10 am] |
To start off, I'm not terribly picky. Optional details are optional, and I'll be happy with just about any story featuring my indicated fandoms and characters. I've tried to divide the request descriptions into my take on the fandom, my firm squicks (often based on somewhat rambling explanations), and very optional story ideas in case you're the sort of person who likes prompts; I've also tried to vary these prompts from single-word to detailed. Length, plottiness, level of detail, type of narration and rating - it's all up to you.
( General request )
( Elisabeth, Death )
( RPF - Takarazuka Revue, Nagina Ruumi and Sena Jun )
( Babylon 5, Susan Ivanova )
( Fairy tales, Cinderella )
I hope this suffices while not overwhelming, but should you want to know more, you can ask ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fyrie to relay your questions :) |
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| Yayuletide! |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|08:58 pm] |
Yuletide signups are open. Information here, if you wish to give yourself a crazy challenge ♥
(And this year, fandoms include RPF - Takarazuka with a crazy long list of characters, and Babylon 5. How could I resist?)
Dear Santa letter upcoming once I have two braincells to rub together. There will have to be some... diplomatical phrasing. |
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| Nanowrimo |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|08:16 pm] |
1,669 words, and my old writing pace of two hours per installment, despite chatting to fyrie in the meantime = not bad :)
Now, if it only were better words... |
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| 30s musicals |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|11:09 am] |
Found this for the grandparents, but oh, why don't they make movies like this anymore? :)
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| Fiddler on the Roof (Gdynia, Poland) |
[Oct. 25th, 2009|01:49 pm] |
Since the Gdynia musical theatre obligingly rotates their shows every week or so, I ended up catching Fiddler on the Roof.
It was my first time seeing it live, and I was rather ticked off that a Certain Someone was supposed to be playing Perchik, but ended up being a random ensemble member instead, at the last moment - to the point where the ushers were all "What? He's supposed to be on as Perchik tonight!" and the night's cast list had him as well. I suspect a sudden sore throat, because he was inaudible as well, where he usually drowns everyone out. Still, I got to see him prancing about in amusing ways :)
My two other quiet favourites from this theatre's stable cast were in it as well, Bernaciak playing the Rabbi's son (flaming prancing gay, which I've come to expect from him...) and Michalski as Fiedya - dammit, the guy has a show-stopping voice ♥ I saw him as Beast a year ago, but he's been working on it since.
The show was good - good staging, great sets (simple black shapes with projections of Chagal paintings) and very nice choreography. There was also an energetic vibe in the ensemble, and I had great fun people-watching. The mute Fiddler in particular was used in ways that reminded me a lot of Mozart. And the accents! I know all those accents both from movies and from real life, and it was all authentic Jewish and Russian accents. So much love for the voice coaches.
My problem with it is that the musical isn't particularly good. It's all a one-man show revolving around Tevye, with other characters barely sketched. The music's brilliant, but it doesn't always fit the action - the most striking example is the celebratory L'Chaim (IMHO the best song in the show along with Sunrise, Sunset) being the celebration of an engagement that gets tossed aside the next day. I think I'm spoiled for good musicals, but dear heavens, this book could use a rewrite.
(This staging did attempt to lead the emotional arc a bit more, but it was haphazard. I wasn't particularly fond of the way they dressed the Fiddler in an Auschwitz striped outfit at the end.)
Still, a good show, and a good cast :) And my machine didn't give out for once, which is a joy - I'm not fond of the cast recordings available for it, and the voices and music were stellar. Good times.
Bonus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OZLoyY8PiQ - second section of L'Chaim. The guy who defies human lungs at 0:55 would be Michalski. |
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| Winter approaching |
[Oct. 14th, 2009|01:51 pm] |
The single most effective reminder that it'll be winter soon is the bloody snow outside my window. The snow-storm started at 7AM and shows no signs of slowing - power failures, airport failures, car failures abound.
The other reminder is that ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) yuletide fandom nominations are open. I am having very strange ideas, but I am hoping to recover my sanity by sign-up time. |
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| Spamalot wonder |
[Oct. 11th, 2009|01:02 pm] |
So, my favourite joke about a certain Herbert von Krolock is that he could sing Phantom of the Opera as a duet with himself, ending included.
This is him doing The Song That Goes Like This, both sides of it:
( Read more... )
No words. |
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| Takarazuka quiz from galynthia |
[Oct. 4th, 2009|09:23 am] |
Because I was shopping until 1AM yesterday and am currently falling over ~_~
( Takarazuka survey ) |
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| November craziness |
[Oct. 2nd, 2009|12:44 pm] |
I did Nanowrimo before - in 2003 and 2005, winning both times. Both contributed a lot to my momentum for writing for the years after that, and I think after the past two years (which were mostly due to work-stress), I'm due for another boost.
This time my project is science-fiction (trust me, I'm just as surprised). I won't bore people with the whole unedited lot, but I may end up posting some lj-cut excerpts if I'm proud of them.
And the characters may seem... familiar to some people.
(Musumeyaku. I need suggestions for musumeyaku with strong personalities, because my chosen brand of fighting style calls for equal numbers of otokoyaku and musumeyaku, and I suck at ogling recalling musumeyaku. It's been on my to-do list for ages, but now I need it for the plot.)
Working title: Starfall, Moonfall. |
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| Twitter question |
[Sep. 29th, 2009|08:56 am] |
I've decided that all in all, a passive usage of Twitter may be not that bad. Has anyone got suggestions of interesting people to follow, in the fandom/musicals/writers sense? I've already got @NeilHimself. |
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| Merlin ♥ |
[Sep. 20th, 2009|05:49 pm] |
As fyrie is fond of reminding me, even though I mainlined Merlin last autumn (I believe it took me less than a week to catch up all 11 episodes then aired), I never mentioned it in my journal. So unless you're icon-stalking and caught my Lancelot icon, there's no notice of how much I adore the show.
The thing is, I know my Arthurian legends. Intimately so: I've read Morte d'Arthur cover to cover, attempted Chretien de Troyes in the original old French, browsed through large sections of the Vulgate cycle, and read far too many critical essays. In my childhood, I read both Arthurian stories and the Welsh legends that they referenced. When I was preparing for the exams for Interdisciplinary Human Sciences, my presentation was to be on the evoluton of the Grail.
And yes, Merlin takes all this and puts it through a meat grinder. But they get it, they get the spirit of the idealism of power and the grounding of strength in old myth.
Also, they have some damn good writers for the dialogue and characterisation. I'm a sucker for character-driven shows, and between the script and the wonderful (and crazy, natch) actors, this show presents a compelling cast. I think it's telling that AU is so present in the Merlin fanfiction: with the dynamics they have, these people can work in any setting and remain themselves.
I can't really name a favourite. Merlin has the snark and the goofiness and the ability to make you want to both hug him and box his ears. Arthur's prattiness and idealism mesh seamlessly, he is that much larger than life. Morgana is the type I adore - so very female and so very much not yielding (though nurturing when she wants to be). Gwen - I can't wait to see what they do with her. Uther is another box-his-ears type, but also falls in the category of people you'd love to have dinner with just to argue with him. And Gaius is Gaius, and awesome enough in himself.
But yeah. Icon. Okay, it's a little because it's Santiago Cabrera, and a little because I love Lancelot and his foibles in all incarnations, but the combination of Idealism and Determination and Tousled was irresistible. I was overjoyed to hear he's returning to the show :D
( Now for reactions to the first episode of series two ) |
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| Musical wisdom from Michal Kunze |
[Sep. 17th, 2009|10:57 am] |
A lot of scriptwriters should follow this ♥
In my translation:
Seven deadly sins of writers of musicals:
1. The story is predictable
2. The audience feels no empathy with the protagonist
3. The protagonist learns nothing from the story and remains unchanged
4. The theme isn't explored/analysed
5. Songs tell the audience what they already know
6. All characters act and sing in the same way
7. Ten minutes in, you still don't know what's going on |
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| Cookery edition - Huguenot torte |
[Sep. 15th, 2009|10:33 pm] |
Continuing my baking experiments, I declare the updated, healthified and Europeanised edition of the Huguenot Torte a success :> Apples, walnuts and brown sugar are never a bad combination
( Recipe for a comfort cake )
In other cooking news, on Friday I'm making okonomiyaki for a large group. I've already successfuly Europeanised the recipe by substituting potato starch for taro root. And a new Korean restaurant/grocery near my work has tonkatsu sauce - score one for semi-authentic toppings.
I wonder if I should practice flipping them again. I tend to end up with very small okonomiyaki ;) |
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| Icon meme |
[Sep. 14th, 2009|01:51 pm] |
THE RULES
01; Comment to this entry saying 'ICONS!' and I will pick 6 of your icons.
02; Make an entry in your own journal and talk about the icons I picked!
Stolen from givemeyourwings, so here are her picks :)
( Includes one of my new slew of icons )
In other news, today's edition of the second-largest national broadsheet published an article of mine, with this photo. Now to see if it has any effect on business ;) |
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| This day in history (70 years ago) |
[Sep. 1st, 2009|11:00 am] |
1st of September is the day school begins. Twenty years ago I first put on a navy skirt and white shirt, with my hair in braids for the first day in school. (The principal mispronounced my family name and I stood up in a crowd of over a hundred first-years to correct him. He still says hi to me when we meet in the street.)
Seventy years ago, at 4.45 AM, shots were fired that meant school wouldn't begin that day. Something else was beginning.
There had been fighting in Asia already, but these were the shots that began the war that swept the world. At the end, 15% of my country's people were dead. Often the best of them - the ones that fought, the ones that were a danger. Anielewicz and Baczynski and Fieldorf. It took us half a century to dig our way back to freedom.
Memo to world powers: this is what warmongering leads to.
Attention! Attention! It passed by!
Comma three!
Somebody runs on the stairs,
Door slammed somewhere,
One sound of the tumult and uproar
Bursts out, timidly rolls, grows,
Sound of sirens - in octave
Subsides - and rises the moan:
"Announcing alarm for the city of Warsaw!"
And silence.
Somewhere from above
Buzzes, buzzes, hums and quivers
And bursts
Deafly in the deeps.
One, two three,
Series of bombs.
It's somewhere farther. No fear.
Possibly Praga.
But now closer, still closer.
Close by, close by.
Shout like a bloody rag.
And silence, silence, which grows stronger
"Attention! Attention!
Recalling the alarm for the city of Warsaw!"
No. This alarm nobody can recall.
This alarm lasts.
Wail, sirens!
Beat, drums!
Cry, the church bells!
Let the orchestra play march
From Wagram, From Jena.
Grab this moan, regiments,
Battalions, guns, tanks,
Let it burst forth,
Let it persist
In fiery, sacred "Marseillaise!"
When people leave the church at noon,
When in the sky wind the clouds is chasing,
When a dark sleep on Paris falls,
Who makes me continually listen?
Who is that wakes and calls me?
I hear the hum of the night air raids
Floating over the city. Not the planes these are.
Demolished churches are floating,
The gardens changed into graveyards,
The ruins, the rubble, the wreckage,
From the childhood known streets and houses,
Trauguta and Swietokrzyska
Niecala and Nowy Swiat.
And the city floats on the wings of glory
And falls like a rock to the bottom of the heart.
"Announcing alarm for the city of Warsaw!"
Let it last!
(Alarm, Antoni Slonimski, translated by Stefan Golston
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| Notice of absence |
[Aug. 7th, 2009|09:25 am] |
Off to the lakeside for nine days. Back on Monday the 17th, but mail will definitely get checked and answered, and web access may happen if I can get the mobile phones to behave long enough to let me connect. GSM coverage holes are annoying :P
( In the meantime, have a deer ) |
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| Meme on account of tiredness |
[Jul. 25th, 2009|07:52 am] |
I wrapped up last week at a party, as if I hadn't been tired enough. Hence, meme swiped from galynthia, because brain isn't up to more.
Look up your birthday in Wikipedia. Pick 4 events, 3 births, 2 deaths, and 1 holiday.
July 7
EVENTS:BIRTHS:
DEATHS:
HOLIDAY:
( And speaking of Tanabata ) |
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| Raindrops fall on Roses / Amour, it's something like... (Cosmos, July 2nd 2009, evening performance) |
[Jul. 22nd, 2009|10:10 am] |
We got toujitsuken (same-day tickets) to see this show, and I was surprised to find them still available when we arrived at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater at 10 AM, since it was only a few days before the end of the run and the joint graduation/retirement of both Top Stars and eight other performers. The same-day tickets are the very back row of the balcony, and I can confirm that even from there, the view is stellar - binoculars helped, of course.
( And here I thought it wasn't possible for me to be impressed by a Cosmos show )
Out of all we saw during our stay in Japan, this was the show for which I had the least expectations. I'm happy to report I was very pleasantly surprised. |
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