Diedi il canto agli astri

I was reminded Wednesday of the stunning glory of Italian opera; in particular, of the genius of Giacomo Puccini.

I’m not going to go so far as to say that his plots really hold a lot of water all the time, but the music—bellissima!

A case in point for both would be Tosca, whose title character is a woman who’s completely undone by jealousy, complicated by the (literally) rapacious lust of the local police chief. Along the way to the end of Act III, there’s more blood than a vampire reunion, or an official portrait of the sitting king of Britain.

Well, but also along the way there’s the aria “Vissi d’arte” (“I lived for arte”). And that’s what I’m giving you today.

Let’s hear Maria Callas singing it.

 

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

 

Statement

Since this is turning into a week of arts, here’s something I noticed on my Monday walk:

I mean—nice, but I hope they at least also got Mom a supermarket bouquet, or a card or something.

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

Royal blood

Well, alrighty then—King Charles III’s first official monarchical portrait since his coronation (which cost the British public way too much money) has been unveiled and it’s quite the statement.

Although Camilla has told the artist, Jonathan Yeo, “Yes, you’ve got him right,” the folks on the Interwebz beg to differ. I mean—they get the statement part, but it’s unlikely to be one the House of Windsor likes. Mostly around whether the surfeit of red is indicative of Charles being in Hell, or symbolic of the blood of empire.

(¿Por qué no los dos?)

And then there's the butterfly.

Me—I’m thinking that Yeo might just have found a lot of red paint on sale down to the local Michael’s. And climate protestors will have to find something besides tomato soup to throw on it to make their statement.

 

 

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

Going to the dogs

The sidewalk artists are back, and this time their subjects are canine:

I was a little confused by this one, though—six paws?

Upon reflection, I think there are four paws and two jowls with whiskers.

 

 

 

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

Gratitude Monday: regrowth

Last Autumn—maybe September/October—I was dismayed to see that someone had demolished the hibiscus shrubs that have the gigantic flowers. They were on a berm next to a small basketball court, which in turn is next to an apartment complex. I loved those bushes, and someone hacked them literally down to the ground.

Some time later, I came across a woman from the People’s Republic Association mulching the area, so I asked her why they’d been cut down. She replied that they do it every year (although I’d never noticed that) and that the shrubs would grow back.

I was dubious, and every time I walked past the site (which is to say: every day), my disbelief only grew, because the hibiscus certainly weren’t.

However: this past week, look what I saw:

I don’t know whether they’ll bloom this summer, but I’m so grateful to see that they are, indeed, coming back, right next to the stumps. 

 ©2024 Bas Bleu