The worker must have guns but she must also have roses.

There were, just not from the usual suspects.

A Year After U.S.A.I.D.’s Death, Fired Workers Find Few Jobs and Much Loss

This is so sad. “Nights are the hardest.

“I can’t sleep because of our own situation,” Ms. Uccello, 49, said over coffee on a recent afternoon. “I can’t sleep because of what I know what’s happening around the world. I can’t sleep because my former colleagues and friends are also suffering.”

People who say this didn’t have Arab moms.

Decanonized Book Club(tm)

“I should have worn a hat.”

In my defense I forgot to bring one and it is very sunny and very hot and I am here for the rest of the week.

Maggio Musicale is selling Klinghoffer hats and I'm not saying I got one but

“I don’t know if the subaltern can speak but the subaltern can definitely fuck.”

Okay but what about a vehicle for Isabelle Huppert + Gumby

A menu item from a wine bar in Florence advertising the Otello burger, which has a black charcoal bun.

You know you’re in Italy when

A tweet from Elon Musk from November 13, 2024, saying "All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb [show more]". In response to this, tenor Michael Fabiano writes: "Before you think about arts cuts, I'd encourage you to speak with me. Culture and efficiency can go hand in hand. We need arts and culture because it defines us; without it, who the hell are we? It can be run iron clad and effectively with the right leadership." Leopards. Face.

By the way, when I said "Elon Musk doesn't know you exist" on this episode, I meant

@hazycosmicjive.bsky.social You're here!!

THANK YOU. I knew I had seen it somewhere. (But don't we all have 15 recordings of DG?)

I tried doing video for about a year, because I kept telling myself that Ways of Seeing started as a TV series. But then, John Berger never had to say "let's get into it" or "don't forget to like, follow, and share."

Okay, was it you or Sal whose Twitter bio used to read "Don't talk to me or my 15 recordings of Don Giovanni ever again"? Because I know it was one of you.

Episode 004: Don Giovanni with Sylvia Korman — Decanonized “Look, we’re all trying to find the guy who did this.”

If you love Sal Korman as I love Sal Korman you will love this episode.

Also featured:

Donna Anna as a diagnosed Horse Girl
Zerlina's high femme camp antics
Donna Elvira's revenge era
My story of getting dumped after a performance of Carmelites

Okay so when I ushered at NYCO, there was a bathroom inside the theater on the top seating level. During a performance of Fanciulla, a concerned audience member came to me bc it sounded like someone in the bathroom had gotten sick.

They were not sick. They had simply traded Fanciulla for fellatio.

The Internet's Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril As major news outlets cut off the Wayback Machine, journalists and advocacy groups are rallying to protect the Internet Archive’s vast collection of web pages.

Journalists know that losing the Wayback Machine would be a nightmare: www.wired.com/story/the-in...

Two or Three (Other) Things I Know About I Puritani The kinky and the Kinski

In case you didn't get enough of I Puritani last week, here's a bit more, featuring Edward Said, Werner Herzog, and what they cut from the source play to make the opera.

Given that Nigella has also read Gramsci in the original Italian, I think it's fair to ask her both questions.

I once worked with a dramaturg who corrected me incessantly over the pronunciation of *my own last name* (as well as the last names of many, many composers).

I still mispronounce names occasionally because of that memory, just to be an asshole.

A review of Said's Music at the Limits by Jens Rosteck that reads: "'I should say that I have never been completely convinced by Bartók.' Said's attack on the much-admired world star Vladimir Ashkenazy, an outstanding pianist and conductor, is tantamount to a critical death sentence."

Going to pretend it's 2013 and start a Tumblr called "Germans Mad at Edward Said." I'd never run out of material.

On the other hand I admire the show’s restraint for discussing this on an episode about knock-and-announce and not making a “knockers and announce” joke. Language is a high-wire act.

Disgusted that @notalawyer.bsky.social wished “all the best” to the Noem family on this week’s @fivefourpod.bsky.social. “All the breast” was right there.

And yet I'm now haunted by the question of whether the llama consented to having its ass whipped.

Also featured: A free idea for Barrie Kosky (only) resetting Puritani in MAGA world.

Counterpoint: The Medicis, Gonzagas, & co. also used the stars in the same way but got A funhouse mirror version of the best of themselves.

Episode 003: I Puritani with Aksel Tollåli — Decanonized The Fs are high, the stakes are low, and the mad scene spans all three acts. Musicologist Aksel Tollåli joins us to discuss Bellini's Hot Puritan Summer and opera's girlhood era.

"It's like the Ralph Wiggum of mad scenes where you just want to say, 'Aw, buddy, come here. I got you. Let's make you a grilled cheese.'"

Discussing I Puritani with @akseltoll.bsky.social on this week's Decanonized. www.decanonized.com/episodes/bel...