Song saturday; La diva

Was looking for something a little different……………..and found this……….
I find it strangely compelling.

Opera Babes - Casta Diva

Opera Babes - Casta Diva

From the Bellini Opera Norma

"Casta diva" was one of the most familiar arias of the nineteenth century, I love the way these ladies bring the vaguely Gothic  back into opera.

PIANO TUNERS & OPERA SINGERS 1930 ANIMATION CARTOON

PIANO TUNERS & OPERA SINGERS 1930 ANIMATION CARTOON

couldn't resist.............

Avatar; the flower Duet..............fantastic film and beautiful music.

Another weekend comes to a close, its late and I should be in bed…………..Love this film and love this music………wonderful combination, Night every one

Garden 2012 no2

Garden 2012 no2

The day was cold, about minus 2, the earth was frozen but the sun shone in the clear blue sky. I wanted to sow radish seeds and plant onion sets but the earth was solid.

The compost in the potato barrels was frozen to about a depth of 2cm, I broke up the frozen crust and beneath that was soft compost ready to receive my seed potatoes.

There was enough unfrozen compost to fill another pot and sow the new mint seeds. My mint is a few years old now and I thought it was time to start growing new plants to replace any that become too old and woody to use. I remembered to put the seed and fat balls out for the birds and right on queue, as a thank you, the robin appeared.

The snow drops are up and the first daffodil has appeared today. I wanted to do more, its very frustrating having seeds ready to go into the ground and not being able to do any thing because the garden is frozen solid.

Its especially frustrating when the sun is shining and it looks so inviting out there.. I think maybe I should start covering the ground to try to keep it a bit warmer.

The picture at the top is another shot of the reflected light in the windows across the back yards from me……….the light is quite something this time of year.

Song Saturday; Vivaldi & Roberta Flack

A few hours late for a real 'Song Saturday'..........but whats a couple of hours between friends?
 
I’ve had a great day. The weather is cold, wet and horrible, snow, sleet, rain and temperatures just high enough to turn every thing into a grey slushy mess. I spent one and a half hours on a bus and at the end of the day, when it was dark as well as cold wet and horrible, I did the journey in reverse. But, it was a really good day because, for the first time in ages, I got to see a very dear friend who’s health is failing, she is almost housebound now. We spent the afternoon reminiscing, chatting and generally enjoying pleasant conversation. When ever I manage to see her I know it could be the last time, we don’t say so……….but we know……….so we make the most of it…………..yep a great day, I hope we have more days like that.

The music just reflects the way I’m feeling right now.


Vivaldi, Four Seasons, Winter.


The first time I ever saw your face

Art Sunday; Lu Cong; Chinese/ American portrait painter.

http://www.escapeintolife.com/artist-watch/lu-cong/
http://lucong.tumblr.com/profile
http://lucong.com/blog/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lucong/19287857479

Lu Cong; contemporary American portrait artist

Lu Cong was born in Shanghai, in February 1978.  He immigrated to the United States in 1989 at the age of 11.  He graduated from University of Iowa with degrees in Biology and Art in 2000, but he chose portrait painting  over medicine and hasn’t looked back since.

These portraits look like people I know. For every portrait, I can recognize a work colleague, or a friend, or a pupil from the school where I work. I can recognize different eye shades, different complexions, skin tones and different facial expressions. Each and every one of these portraits, although painted in exactly the same style, is an individual person, with their own personality

They ALL look like someone I know. It’s like coming face to face with someone, in a way these portraits are quite unsettling. They have a delicate almost spiritual quality……………..I love them.

In the artists own words from
http://artofday.com/wordpress/?p=4178

My family lineage contains no artists that I am aware of. My fathers father was a ginseng dealer and my mothers father came from a long line of bankers. Both my parents are engineers many of my cousins are computer programmers. There are businessmen, teachers, bureaucrats and professional of all sorts among my aunts and uncles, but not a single artist of any discipline. However I know very little about my grandmothes.

I was born in Shanghai , China 1978. During the decades prior, the peoples revolution had been secured. The culture was cleansed for our own good, every thing that was considered retrograde, pornographic and bourgeois was wiped out. The benefits were obvious, for my parents let productive lives as well functioning comrades in a well functioning society.

I wasn’t so lucky; I had a natural propensity for things that would lead a pure soul astray.  By the time I was born influences from the outside world started to trickle through. My childhood curiosity fixated on all things foreign, things of strange beauty and anything that held traces of the past.

I drew constantly and obsessively. My family did not care for my talent, and only tolerated it as long as I kept up my school work.

Even as a little child I felt I was heading down a dark path with no redemption; no prospect for good jobs and no respect from family, and no useful contribution to the motherland.

As if fate knew that I’m of zero use to the Peoples republic, my family emigrated to the US in 1989………………..continued here

http://artofday.com/wordpress/?p=4178