: of or relating to the god Apollo
: harmonious, ordered, or balanced in character
Julia finished three books this weekend! Christ almighty! Gabriel's home from school today, taking a "mental health" day.
The $200-million budgeted Jack the Giant Slayer finished number one this weekend at the box office, but with a weak $28 million. Identity Thief, a big hit, was number 2, with the newly-opening 21 & Over and The Last Exorcism Part II (there was a first one?) opening at a paltry # 3 and 4, respectively. Snitch, that lame-looking Rock-starrer, was #5.
Happy birthday, Vivaldi!
Born in Venice in 1678, Vivaldi was ordained a priest but eventually decided against the profession because of a physical ailment that sounds a lot like what Julia has: asthmatic bronchitis! This was Baroque-era Venice and Vivaldi was employed most of his life by the Ospedale della Pieta, a music school/convent, where he taught violin to "orphans" and other well-endowed offspring of noblemen and their mistresses. All the while, Vivaldi composed operas, concertos, and oratorios. He traveled often throughout Italy and Europe, usually with Anna Giro, a pupil who he might have had a relationship with; he did cast in several crucial roles in his operas. He is best known for his series of violin concertos known as "The Four Seasons."
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A yellow-throated warbler was seen in Bulloch County this week.
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A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time:
Anthony Hopkins
as James Stevens in The Remains of the Day (1993)
For my money, the greatest Hopkins performance. As the reserved, dignified butler of a great English home in the 1930s, the actor breaks your heart. Why? Because he's so cut off and removed, he has no idea that the new housekeeper (the great Emma Thompson) is in love with him, nor does his blind allegiance to his station allow him to consider that his Lordly boss (James Fox) might be up to his eyes in nefarious dealings with the Nazi. Body language, posture... Hopkins has it all.
Information courtesy of:
http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxvivaldi.html
Images courtesy of:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A6vt98NrssE/TfiamNrPkCI/AAAAAAAABWw/chmQLlVRg0I/s1600/Yellow-throatedWarbAMmed.jpg
http://writingderrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/the-remains-of-the-day-original.jpg
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