Making Opera Relevant

My sister got a Groupon coupon to see Die Fledermaus -- a comedic opera -- for this weekend. The performance was by Center Stage Opera, at the Madrid Theatre in Canoga Park, California. I was excited because one of the arias I'm learning right now is in this opera. Other than that, we had no idea what to expect; we have never seen any performance at this theatre.

The performance we saw last night was quite enjoyable, and I thought a way to make operas engaging for today's audience. The entire opera was in English. Recitatives were not sung -- only major arias were sung. Dialogues and lyrics were changed for more modern setting (like reference to TV show). In short, the opera was fun and engaging. My sister who doesn't like classical music and opera was laughing throughout the opera and thought it was well done to engage audience to the opera.

The quality of musicianship was a bit uneven -- orchestra needed more practice. The two lead ladies singing sopranos -- Katharine Gunnink and Jennie Lister were absolutely amazing. When Ms. Gunnink was singing, unfortunately, male singers seemed as if they weren't singing. And Ms. Lister's high D's (that's above high C above staff!) shimmered brilliantly and effortlessly.

If operas could be changed to such format, I can see younger generation (kids and young adults) could find operas actually fun and not see it as just as "culture." Who knows? Young people may even choose it over movies, video games, or .. Farmville! The point is, opera, should be a living art. And I thought Center Stage Opera found a way to make a favorite opera relevant to today's world... and hope it continues to find new ways to make operas relevant.

Functioning Democracy

So if you have been paying attention to the news lately, our federal government has not yet passed a budget. There's some talk of government shut-down come March 4 if Congress fails to pass the budget. Why? Because we are going to run out of money. What that means is not quite clear. But we can make some educated guesses. Those who receive social security checks may be affected. Those waiting for the government to process something in general (passport, visa, etc.) may be affected. And those working for the federal government? If you are not "essential," you will not be working (no paycheck) until the government passes the budget.

Half-way around the world, people are dying -- protesting, demanding, dying for democratic governments. These people want to shut down autocratic governments so that democratic governments, that represent people's voices, can be in place. And function.

We already have a democratic government -- our founding fathers fought that war for us. So that today, we are not the ones shedding blood and giving up our lives. Now, it must remember to function, instead of coming to a standstill... and be a shining example, instead of tragic mockery, of what democracy is AND can be.

Use of Recycle Bags

For the last few years, to go green, a movement has begun encouraging using own bags for grocery stores. You have seen them -- grocery stores even sell those bags. The thinking is that plastic bags are being wasted.

But for me, I actually use plastic bags. I use them as trash bags, instead of buying trash bags. Plus, paper bags from Trader Joe's are used to recycle newspapers (along with the paper bags). So, I decided to use the recycle bags for grocery shopping at Zion's -- Korean grocery store. Why? Because it tends to give me 20 plastic bags (seriously!) for buying only a handful of grocery. The cashier there tends to throw few things in a plastic bag and give you lots of bags. And while I do use plastic bags, I don't have that many trash cans.

It's been a little weird using my recycle bags, because I don't see any other patrons at the Korean grocery store bringing their own bag. At Trader Joe's, though, where I really can use a little more paper bags, I don't get enough. And I see everyone else in there with their own recycle bags. Kinda ironic to me.

Tunisia and Sudan

So after following the Tunisian revolution, now it seems most news media is focused on following what's going on in Egypt... and only Egypt. It's sort of the typical pattern of the media where one subject seems to dominate and then the topic is dropped without much follow-up.

Remember just a few weeks ago, we were talking about the revolution in Tunisia? Don't you wonder what's going on? After all, with revolution, things must still be going on there. Even Twitter search doesn't reveal much. Well, it turns out there has been an arrest of the previous interior minister according to this article. The ex-president's asset is frozen according to this article. But as this Economist article points out, it appears that the interim government may be viewed by some as occupied by same old authority figures.

In the meantime, there has been another historic, international event -- Sudan will be two different countries as 99% of South Sudan voted to break away. And the result of that vote is recognized and honored by the North Sudan. The break will also end their civil war. I may not be a historian, but that seems pretty historic to me. You can read a little blurb in this article.

In case you were wondering what's going on, like me, that may not be covered by the mainstream media right now.