June 12 is the night we have tickets for L.A. Opera. It's the last Opera in our subscription and I have been waiting all season for this particular one.

I have never seen Verdi's Il Trovotore, but I have heard some of the music, as I'm sure you have as well (Bet you have already heard The Anvil Chorus) . There are scads of films that have been procuced, that incorporate the music of Opera into the fabric of the stories. Some examples are Apocalypse Now(Wagner's "Ride of the Walkeries"-- I am sure if you heard it, you would remember!). Others that I can recall include Moonstruck and The Shawshank Redemption. There are many more, but I can't remember all of them.

Giuseppe Verdi has spun incredible music with strong narrative and had written probably the most popular and beloved Operas of all. Among the most staged Operas would include Rigoletto (it was recently modernized from a Medieval castle to local Mafia--It was a great production!); La Traviata (made into a couple films) and Aida.

The word Opera may conjure up a bit of apathy and 'change the channel' thinking, but it has also been a source of complete surprise for many people who have discovered it, and former sceptics who have become converts experience Opera to the Nth degree. Everyone of those individuals have been transformed by Mozart, Rossini or possibly Verdi, the dramatic music and story teller. By the confessions of these individuals, you get a sense of a part of their lives that was missing pre-Opera.

Opera music is powerful, dramatic and passionate. Just as film can shock us out of our seats, and touch our emotions, Opera music can do the same and pierce our souls as well. I fell for Opera a long time ago. It's a rousing ride and one that I hope you will have an opportunity to experience one day......keep an open mind and you may just like it.

Last night we headed over to the Apple Pan for a late dinner. It's one of those 'really old' L.A. establishments that go way back to the 1940's. In Eastern cities, this piece of geography would be a baby compared to structures on the East Coast that go back over 300 years. But aside from the Missions and possibly Olvera Street, anything just before World War II is really ancient in California.

If you want more info on the Apple Pan, go Here

Anyway, if you click on the link you'll find out how this eatery is self seating by order of who gets in first. Luigi walked in ahead of me while I parked the car. When I got to the entrance, a couple walked in ahead of me. They did not look around, they did not check out who came before them. Do not pass GO. They walked immediately to a couple of empty stools. I sauntered over to them, and stated very nicely that my husband had been waiting by the door. The guy practically pounced on me, asking me if I was "going by the rules". It turned out that there was only one seat and they went back to standing against the wall and waiting.

As I passed him, I said I was sorry for 'offending' him. Would you believe Mr.Rude said I had!. Ironically 4 seats eventually opened up next to each other. I turned to them as the seats became available and said "now we can all sit down." And sit down together we did. Except that he hesitated a minute or so before sitting down. Guess he couldn't take sitting down next to the 'Grave Offender'.

As they were only having pie and coffee, they left before us. Over our famos Steakburgers and fries and Apple Pie, I ranted about the rudest couple (his girlfriend was no Ms. Charming either), I had ever encountered there, and I've been going there for over 100 years. Most of the patrons of the Apple Pan know about waiting for their turn at the counter. I mean, doesn't that apply in most scenarios of any kind of queing.........movies, restaurants, Theme Parks etc.? ENOUGH!! Hey, they may be standing in line right now, over at the AMC in Century City, not "going by the rules" to get tickets for " The Day After Tomorrow."

Be aware.............Mr. and Mrs. Rude may be coming to a theater near you.......

Monday night I witnessed Tom Clancy and General Anthony Zinni perform a miraculous service to the American Public. They 'tobaccoed' Sean Hannity on his show, and 'chawed' him around a bit into a big wad and spat him out.

I couldn't believe my eyes. It was so fantabulous and loverly and.......well, it was just like seeing the bully of the playground get his comeuppance. What a team!

Tom Clancy, the well known author, and General Zinni, who served under President Clinton, are both Conservatives They collaborated on a book entitled "Battle Ready", that has just been released. Being Bush supporters in the past, they have emphatically denounced his Adminstration's and the Pentagon's decisions of the handling of the War in Iraq.

The point is that Sean never friggin' shuts up. It doesn't matter who is on his show, he eternally interrupts without allowing his guest a chance for completed explanations. He is so frustrating, that Richard Holbrooke, American Ambassador to the UN, who was on the same show as well, made a reference to the fact, that if he hadn't been interrupted, the point he was trying to make would have been revealed. Sean could have saved his excessive wagging tongue from blurting out unnecessary questions that would have been answered if he had just shut up!!

Chewing someone up and spitting him out is demeaning enough, but when it is your own show....there is Hell to be paid. After a commercial break, the Clancy/Zinni team did not return.(Very short Interview--they were suppose to continue after the break). I guess the Producers figured it wasn't so cool to see their star spinner get his ass burned and they did so want to save his butt.

Last Saturday I attended my Elementary School's 50 Year Anniversary. It was basically a Reunion for anyone who had ever attended Clover Ave. Elementary School.

Class Pictures were put up all along the back fence. Some people were there only because their kids were current students. Some groups clustered around the PIzza booth or went to the Main Stage to hear Oldies Music or listen to Children perform. Others bought and collected Memoriabilia a la Clover.....Beanie Bag Teddy Bears, Memory Books and sweatshirts and tee-shirts.

I spent most of the time there, congregating with one of a few groups who were hanging out at the back fence. We were all from different classes but started to talk about old times, families , friends from the old neighorhood (Did you know Bob's younger sister Staci?") and Teachers we had known

It was a good opportunity for me to experiment with my new Digital Canon Camera. It would have helped if I had read the Manual. (as Luigi says:"RTFM!"--Geek acronym for 'read the f......manual'!) As I hadn't read it, I didn't have the resolution on the highest it was capable of shooting. So it was set on 640x480. However the pictures came out pretty good considering, and the next few posts will feature some of my 'experimental shots'.

Hellos! and Welcomes to the people I met that day and to my fellow classmate whom I recognized at Sav-on one day and asked if he had gone to Elementary School with me. I even remembered his full name. He was initially shocked that someone would remember him from so far back.....He just stood there not knowing at first who I was!

So Hello to y'all that hung out at the back SE corner of the School to chat and exchange memories:

Phil
Victor
Steve
Bruce Blake
Hans Schieder
Peach
(The other Steve not pictured)

and
Denyce, (not pictured)whose child was attending Clover, Victor,
Ron(my sister Marsha's classmate) and his wife Nisan and sister Theresa(not pictured)
and.......Peach, and Hans, who I recognized at Sav-On......

Yesterday morning I went into the kitchen to discover a spider sitting on the drain cover on the garbage disposal side of the sink. When Luigi came in to make his coffee, I asked him to try to capture the spider and put him out on the balcony.

He tried to get that little sink inhabitant out of there with a tablespoon. Luigi chased after him with the spoon, but the spider's fast little legs kept running over the bowl of the spoon and falling off. Eventually he fell through the open drain(I don't know how the cover came off) into the garbage disposal. I forgot a couple of times, and turned on the faucet in that sink, forgetting to use the other side. I guess I thought by some miracle, he could crawl up out of there. But at that point he was probably already drowned. I didn't turn that garbage disposal on all day. Eventually late that night, I just had to run it. I don't know why I was so concerned about that spider.

As Luigi was making his coffee, he asked me if I heard the latest news about the Terrorists in Iraq. When I told him I hadn't , he started telling me a story he had read about on the Drudge Report, and how he and probably many other Internet cruisers were trying to search for photos of this story.

Some American Contractor had been captured. A Video had been released, showing him sitting in a chair with some masked Terrorists behind him. Luigi said that they had made some demands of releasing some Iraqui Prisoners. Then he went on to tell me that they, then, took a sword and cut off his head , and held it up to the still recording Video Camera. I couldn't believe what he had just told me. I think I said something like "Oh my God!".

I stared at the hole in the sink where the spider had fallen down. "You shouldn't tell me those things, Luigi. I can't even see violent movies................this is real." Luigi said that the man screamed. I stared at Luigi and cringed. I told him that I didn't understand. How could this man scream........I mean it's like a Guillotine. It is instant. I thought that it would be over in a millisecond and that he would not have known anything. "No", Luigi corrected me. "It takes a while to cut off the head like that."

Luigi immediately apologized to me when he saw me start sobbing. It was really awful to hear it the way he described it. I couldn't see the disposal anymore where the spider fell into because my eyes were cloudy with tears.

The rest of the day was kind of strange for me. And I really didn't feel like I was all there. I remember telling Luigi that it was so hard for me to understand, how there were people, in this world who could be so evil and yet think that their God had condoned the violence to rid the world of infidels.

The world is a strange place. I sometimes wonder, with all the Media and Political spinning junk going on in this election year, of how difficult and complicated the situation is and continues to engulf us. And how there are no easy answers. Iraq is a dangerous place now for Americans. So is Columbia, Venezuela, Indonesia, parts of Africa, etc.etc.etc. The Al Qaeda Cells are still growing.

But I am confident about one thing. In this Election Year I am voting for the smartest person. I am voting for the man who will not alienate us from other countries, and therefore unable to get help with World problems.

I am paranoid, and continue to think about Terrorists whenever I am in a large building downtown, in a Mall, or when I hear about a local Bomb scare. 9/11 has changed the soul of this country. It is not as it once was. But I still believe that the Candidate who runs against Bush ,ESPECIALLY, that he has fought in a War, will ultimately make the right decisions concerning the health and wellbeing and safety of this country. He will know World Diplomacy; think things through carefully and also help us domestically.

I did not start out in this post to make a Political statement. But it 'morphed' into one. I have other problems with the current Adminstration, one of which is very important to me. And that is the Environment. We will continue to (literally) lose more 'ground' if the present President continues hacking away at the inforce environmental laws already in place.

A spider is just a spider. A Man is a Man. Whatever other atrocities continue to make the Headlines and humble us with the cold reality of it all, we must still be aware of an important issue. We MUST give the chance of running this country to someone else; to a much more enlightened, much smarter , much more aware man. The fly in my soup is Bush.(just a shrub that needs to be removed from the garden)........ "Be gone, faithless one!!................(if this is not Shakespeare, please correct me!)

I have decided I will enlist in the Army. If you have any notions about this blogger being a little insane, let me explain the 'method' first.

I have a 'hidden' agenda. I wish to join in the War in Iraq and volunteer immediately for manning an Envoy to Fallouja. I am hoping that I will be wounded. If in the event I am not wounded I will purposefully 'stick my neck out' to 'TRY' and get hit by some mortar and gunfire shells. I really hope that I am not killed because then my purpose for all of this would be in vain.

In any case I will do my utmost to endeavor only to get wounded and not get killed. Then after recovery, I would go in again to volunteer for another Envoy. Possibly one heading for a major Suni Front. By this time I plan on receiving at least 3 or 4 Purple Hearts.

Once I have reached my goal of acquiring 3 or 4 Purple Hearts and other Bravery Ribbons, I will complete my purpose. And that is to return to the US and protest the War in Iraq by showing off the many Honors I have received for all of my wounds. Thus signifying how wrong this involvement in Iraq is.

Sounds like a brilliant idea, doesn't it. My hats go off to dear Rush Limbaugh who gave me the idea on his Radio Program.............you are so smart Rush, I am eternally grateful to you and your incredible intelligence.............

By the way David Letterman wants to talk to me.