Our friends Pico and Don have just came back from a glorious three weeks in Italy. A good deal of their time was spent in Rome and their adventures had be nostalgic for our time there. I began looking over old posts from this time of year and came across this walk through a rione close to our house in early May 2009.
Memes for a Monday
Well it’s been almost three weeks since Spring arrived and we’re still using the flannel sheets. This seasons thing is becoming a joke. Speaking of jokes here’s a few memes for the 19th day of Spring!
A touch of misandry to start the week.
Always ask for the Senior’s discount.
Well as long as all you do is sleep.
Need I say more.
A marriage hack – thank you.
And what’s your sign?
Well I learned a lot in our church choir.
Plus ca change ….
Vanity or warning plates?
Does pink make me look fat?
Satan’s spawn for sure.
Presentation is everything.
And they call themselves a book store???
Handcrafts can be so rewarding.
The word for May 6th is:
Spawn /spôn/: [1. noun 2. verb]
1.1 The eggs of aquatic animals such as bivalve mollusks, fishes, and amphibians.
1.2 Offspring, especially when occurring in large numbers.
1.3 A product or an outcome.
2.1 To deposit eggs.
2.2 To produce offspring in large numbers.
2.3 To produce or deposit (spawn).
2.4 To produce (offspring).
2.5 To produce or give rise to.
Recorded since 1413; from Middle English spawne, spawnen, from Anglo-Norman espaundre, from Old French espandre, from Latin expandere (“stretch out”, “spread out”).
Throwback Thursday
Last evening I was watching Tasting History on YouTube – I’m addicted to the show and Max, the very charming host. Max’s shtick is to feature a dish from a particular time or event in history, cook it, and give you the story surrounding it. Last evening he made Victoria Pudding, a desert that would have been served at lunch on May 7, 1915 on the RMS Lusitania. At 1410, an hour after the last lunch service, she was hit by a torpedo and by 1428 was at the bottom of the sea. That’s 18 minutes and of the 1960 people on board only 763 survived.
It reminded me of an exhibition I visited on two occasions at the Canadian Museum of History back in 2014. It was devoted to the worst marine accident in Canadian history – the sinking of the Empress of Ireland on May 29, 1914. She collided with another ship at 0156 that morning and by 0211 had sank to the bottom of the St Lawrence river taking with it the lives of 1032 of the 1477 people on board.
I thought I’d revisit the post I wrote about that exhibition for today’s Throwback Thursday. (Note links to exterior sites are no longer valid.)
Mercoledi Musicale
Last Sunday was a special day for classical music here on the Island. We were given the opportunity to hear one of the great pieces of the classical choral repertoire: Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem. Margot Rejskind, a conductor, performer and teacher here on the Island, made the bold decision to programme the work with her Luminos Ensemble, Luminos Chamber Orchestra, and the Island Choral Society. The work itself is monumental in scale and normally demands monumental forces, however using four soloists, a choir of 60 and orchestra of 15 Dr Rejskind conducted a remarkable performance that was as moving as any I have heard.
I will admit that this was a piece I struggled with the first few times I heard it. It wasn’t the style of music I expected. I had the same problem when first encountering the composer’s Falstaff. However they were both works that I have come to love – Falstaff is one of my Desert Island operas. What turned the corner for me with the Requiem was one particular track on a recording that a dear friend gave me as a birthday gift.
The Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) is perhaps the most tender and loving moment in the canon of any Mass but more so in a Requiem where the last line becomes a gentle request for the peaceful rest of the departed. That is reflected in so many settings – Mozart, Haydn, Faure, even Andrew Lloyd Webber. In the Verdi the twinning of the two voices and the hushed echo from the choir are assurance, after the often frightful thunder of Judgment Day, of that eternal rest.*
In this performance by Montserrat Caballé and Fiorenza Cossotto I found the two voices became almost as one. It was my turning point in appreciating the piece.
and Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli – Emi Records
Archive.org
Though I have acquired other recordings in my library this particular performance has a special place in my heart. It led me to explore the piece more closely and to come to love it.
When we lived in Italy I heard five performance that made me more aware of the emotional connection that can only come through experiencing a live performance. That was part of the experience that moved so many of us last Sunday – the emotional connection between dedicated performers and an audience eager to experience the Requiem live.
*This is a personal emotional reaction to the passage not based on any theological interpretation or religious tenet.
The word for May 1st is:
Mercy /mûr′sē/: [noun]
1.1 Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one’s power; clemency.
1.2 A disposition to be kind and forgiving.
1.3 Something for which to be thankful; a blessing.
12c from Old French mercit, merci (9c.) “reward, gift; kindness, grace, pity,” from Latin mercedem “reward, wages, pay, hire” (in Vulgar Latin “favor, pity;” in Medieval Latin “thanks; grace”), from merx (genitive mercis) “wares, merchandise”. In Church Latin (6c.) it was given a specific application to the heavenly reward earned by those who show kindness to the helpless and those from whom no requital can be expected.
What’s Cooking
We eat a fair amount of fish – particularly cod, haddock, halibut, and salmon – in our house. The one thing I discovered with most fish is that the simpler the recipe the better. Grilling or bake yields the best results. My friend Shelia shared this simple recipe for Lemon Sauce which is a great accompaniment to grilled or baked fish. It also works a treat with shrimp or, should it be available and affordable, lobster.
Lemon Sauce for Fish
Luscious Recipes
Serves 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
Melt the unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Add minced garlic and cook stirring until fragrant – about 1 minute.
Stir in broth, fresh lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Stir in chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Serve the warm sauce over cooked fish or seafood.
The word for April 30th is:
Fish /fĭsh/: [1. noun 2. verb]
1.1 Any of numerous cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates characteristically having fins, gills, and a streamlined body and including the bony fishes, such as catfishes and tunas, and the cartilaginous fishes, such as sharks and rays.
1.2 Any of various jawless aquatic craniates, including the lampreys and hagfishes.
1.3 The flesh of such animals used as food.
1.4 A person, especially one considered deficient in something – particularly emotion or empathy.
2.1 To attempt to capture fish for either food or sport.
2.2 To attempt to find out information by sly or nefarious means.
From Middle English, from Old English fisc, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (compare West Frisian/Swedish fisk, Dutch vis, German Fisch), from Proto-Indo-European *pik̑sk̑os.
Willy Or Won't He 