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Deborah Voigt's Year of Birth
Online searches come up empty if you want to know when Deborah Voigt was born. I found this a little unusual because, being a highly respected public figure, that kind of information should be readily available to everyone online. Recently, the year of her birth has been made known to me by very reliable sources, and it is now published on the sopranos section of my Wagner website. I am sure that Ms. Voigt would not mind a bit if we find out when she came into this world. At one point, she might have had a problem with us knowing her age, but now that she is looking (and sounding) better than ever, that should not be a concern.
The New Butterfly at the MET
Madama Butterfly is the one opera that never fails to please, even when the cast is not ideal, the production questionable, and the orchestra not playing up to par. Last night at Peter Gelb's new Met Opera (from here on in this article, and in every one of my articles called the MET) none of the above was in order. The new production by Anthony Minghella, which opened the new Met season, and had already been seen recently at the English National Opera, is a memorable production that successfully updates the work without changing its locale, harming its intentions, or otherwise changing the intentions of its creators. The operas of Giacomo Puccini do not lend themselves to new interpretations as easily as the works of other composers. Tosca, for instance, one of the pivotal works of this composer, has to be staged as taking place in 1800, otherwise references to socio-political events that are alluded to in the libretto would not make sense if the locale and time is changed.
Anthony Minguella's staging is successful at conveying the delicacy of the story, as well as the fragility of the title character. The setting, with its mirror-like floors and over-head covering shows us a reflection of Japanese society (which is exactly what Puccini achieved in his Western melodies with hints of Japanese sounds) seen through the eyes of a European. The setting is decidedly Western in its look, but it successfully achieves a distant world. The mirrored surfaces of the stage allow us a distant look at the events. We are looking at two sides of the same issue, so to speak, though we are distant observants, depending, of course, on your seat in the house. From my seat in the rear orchestra (Row Z) I felt a little removed. I can't imagine this production from the Family Circle. It is definitely a production that was conceived for a smaller house: the London Coliseum where the ENO performs is perfect for this version of Butterfly.
The bunraku puppets that are used in the production are quite interesting, especially Sorrow, Butterfly's child. All you've heard about it is true: one forgets that it is a puppet and begins to think of it as a real child; and yes, the puppeteers do get an incredible response out of their creation. No child actor in my memory has ever given such a heart-breaking performance as this little puppet. Of course, most of what I heard from the very conservative crowd in the orchestra was negative when it came to the puppet. The one aspect that most members of the audience object to are the very visible puppeteers. A little reading about Bunraku theater traditions, and a little suspension of disbelief might solve the problems of these audience members.
Vocally, things were not that rosy last night. I found Cristina Gallardo Domas thin and wobbly in her interpretation of the title role. Her acting is first-rate, however, and she manages to convey the fragility of this Butterfly quite well. Marcello Giordani was a credible Pinkerton, so much so, that he was booed during his curtain calls, not for his singing, which at times sounded force, but for his great interpretation of a heartless Yankee vagabond. If the leads left something to be desired, the roles of Sharpless, Suzuki, and Goro were ably sung by Dwayne Croft, Maria Zifchak, and Greg Fedderly respectively.
The orchestra played well under Ascher Fisch, although I would have liked to have heard what James Levine did with the score on Opening Night. I will have to listen to my Sirius recording of the event to compare.
This production should be experienced for its visual beauty. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Thomas Stewart Dies
The great American bass-baritone Thomas Stewart died this week. He passed away after making par on a golf course. He had turned 78 last month.
Here is the obituary, written by Tim Page, from The Washington Post.
Thomas Stewart died just the way many of us would choose to go -- instantly, in the company of the woman he loved, and on the golf course, immediately after making par.
The great American bass-baritone, who had turned 78 last month, was on the links near his home in Rockville late Sunday afternoon. "He had had heart surgery earlier this year and had not been feeling well for some time, but he was getting along, still active, cheerful and doing things," soprano Evelyn Lear, Stewart's wife of more than half a century, said yesterday. "We went out to the course, played for a while, he made par, and then suddenly turned around and fell backwards. I tried to resuscitate him, but he didn't respond."
Stewart was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a massive heart attack.
Onstage, Stewart was a booming, magisterial and frankly awe-inspiring presence (he was, for example, the first American in history to sing the Norse god Wotan in Wagner's complete "Ring" cycle at Bayreuth). Offstage, he was friendly, kind, self-effacing and absolutely unpretentious.
Will Rogers used to say that he never met a man he didn't like; in a similar spirit, I can affirm that I never knew anybody who didn't like Tom Stewart. Yesterday was a day of mourning in the music community -- hours on the telephone, shocked and saddened e-mails floating through cyberspace.
Matthew Epstein, the director of the worldwide vocal divisions at Columbia Artists Management, who knew Stewart for 40 years, called him "just about the most marvelous person in the world, and you'd get agreement with me from everybody from the legendary singers he worked with early in his career, such as Birgit Nilsson and Jon Vickers, to the young people he nurtured as part of the Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program."
This last endeavor was especially dear to both Lear and Stewart. In company with the Wagner Society of Washington, the two provided musical guidance for more than 70 aspiring Wagner singers since 2000, presenting two concerts each year.
"Why were the works of Wagner so important to me as an artist?" Stewart asked in an essay he wrote to accompany a recording. "It's because of the marriage of word and music, something every composer seeks to achieve but few accomplish with such perfection. Being a singer who becomes completely absorbed in the text he is singing, I naturally felt an affinity for this aspect of Wagner's art."
Epstein called Stewart a perfect example of what an American singer should be -- "deeply musical, able to sing in many different styles and languages, a wonderful actor with a fabulous vocal technique. He could sing Wotan, and then he could turn right around and sing a comic Italian part such as Verdi's Falstaff. Every director he ever worked with thought he was a great actor. And every musician he ever worked with knew he was a great singer."
Stewart was born Aug. 29, 1928 in San Saba, Tex. After some early studies in electrical engineering in Waco, he moved to New York, where he studied with Mack Harrell at the Juilliard School. After graduation, he sang with the New York City Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he took on the bass role of Raimondo in Maria Callas's American debut in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor."
He married Evelyn in 1955. The two moved to Berlin, where they sang at the State Opera and then throughout Europe, before returning home to the United States for long and distinguished careers with the Metropolitan Opera. For more than a decade, Lear and Stewart have divided their time between Rockville and Florida.
They made many recordings together, a number of which are available on the VAI label; a five-CD retrospective was recently issued on Deutsche Grammophon. Stewart's own favorite disc was one that he made of Wagner's complete "Die Meistersinger von Nuernburg" with the conductor Rafael Kubelik and the soprano Gundula Janowitz that was taped in the late 1960s but, for contractual reasons, never issued until the 1990s.
Tom and Evelyn came over for dinner at my home in Baltimore in early August. He was clearly tired but was grand company throughout the evening, touching on several favorite subjects -- his interest in alternative medicine, his amused skepticism toward any form of religion, news of mutual friends in New York and Washington. After considerable prodding, he favored us with an impromptu, heartfelt and achingly beautiful a cappella rendition of the old folk song "Shenandoah," which rings through my ears as I write this.
It was a performance of depth, strength, courage, love -- all qualities exemplified by Thomas Stewart. The gratitude felt by his friends and admirers is immense.
Madama Butterfly opens new MET season
The Metropolitan Opera's new season opened with a production of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly. This is the first new production of the first year under the new regime headed by Peter Gelb, who promises to bring back to the MET that long lost spark of theatrical excitement and critical praise that has been absent for many a season in America's most important opera house. I will be attending this production on October 21st and will be writing my own review of this production, directed by Anthony Minguella, at that time. For now, here are excerpts from Anthony Tommasini's review in the New York Times.
In the aisles and lobbies during the second intermission of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," which opened the season on Monday night before a star-studded audience, patrons could be overheard heatedly debating the puppet used to portray Butterfly's little boy.
This nonspeaking minor character is typically played by a cute child in a sailor suit. In this production the director Anthony Minguella has introduced a small puppet boy manipulated by three puppeteers cloaked in black who stand behind him. The child moves with eerily human gestures, and his baldish head has a wizened, hopeful yet anxious look.
Some people thought it was "more real than any real child they could have had," as one patron put it. Others thought it was intriguing but very strange. Somewhere in the house, Peter Gelb, the new general manager of the Met, must have been beaming.
This is exactly what he had hoped for in bringing to the Met the "Butterfly" production that Mr. Minghella, the Oscar-winning film director, originated at the English National Opera in London. It was a major statement for Mr. Gelb to inaugurate his tenure with this production at a time of diminishing audiences at the house and great challenges to the art form. The Met, of all companies, should present innovative, risk-taking work that challenges audiences, generates interest, gets people talking and, most important, keeps people coming.
ou cannot call Mr. Minghella's concept a modernized staging because the elaborate costumes by Han Feng, filled with stylized flourishes, are meant to evoke the opera's setting, Nagasaki at the beginning of the 20th century. The sets by Michael Levine have an abstract look, with dull black side walls and glossy black steps, rectangular shapes of radiant reds and greens, sliding panels deftly used to make characters disappear, and a slanted overhead mirror that hauntingly reflects the action onstage.
The captivating imagery of the production is sure to be its least controversial element. At the end of Act I, for example, during the wedding-night love duet between Butterfly and Pinkerton, black-clad dancers form trellises of white lanterns to shield the couple as flower petals fall from on high, and curtains made from strings of petals descend. The use of puppets may be the production's most debated element. But the image of this puppet child, with his fixed stare and need to know, will stay with me.
Mr. Minghella's courageous Butterfly was the Chilean soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs. A slight-framed and intense woman, she had a riveting presence. She does not have a conventionally lovely voice; her sound is earthy and sometimes a touch strident. To shape supple phrases, she thins her sound and sings with impressive delicacy, though with some loss of richness. And she has a wobbly vibrato in full-voiced top notes. Yet she gave a vulnerable, utterly honest and, in its way, elegant performance.
Pinkerton was played by the Italian tenor Marcello Giordani, who looked a little beefy to play the dashing American Naval officer. Still, he sang with full-bodied Italianate passion; warm, rich tone; and clarion top notes. And I have never seen him act with more involvement and subtlety. As Sharpless, the robust baritone Dwayne Croft was powerless to stop Pinkerton from his callous courtship of the trusting geisha Butterfly. The fine mezzo-soprano Maria Zifchak was an unusually impassioned Suzuki, Butterfly's devoted servant.
James Levine, in his first performance at the Met since having lost four months of work to a shoulder injury, received a tumultuous ovation when he arrived in the pit. If Mr. Gelb is going to take creative chances and lure directors from the film and theater to the Met, he will need more than ever the solid musical grounding Mr. Levine has long brought to the house.
Conducting his first complete "Butterfly" there, Mr. Levine had this familiar score sounding vigorous, lean and intricate. He was attuned to the modernistic touches of Puccini's harmonies and to the arching lyricism of Puccini's lines.
Whatever your take on this production, it is sure to be a hot ticket. Everyone will be talking about the Met. When was the last time you could say that?
Muslim Anger Halts Opera
The following appeared on the CNN website today.
BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- A leading opera house called off a production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" that features the severed head of the Prophet Mohammed, setting off a furious debate Tuesday over Islam, freedom of speech and the role of art.
The furor is the latest in Europe over religious sensitivities -- following cartoons of the prophet first published in a Danish newspaper and recent remarks by Pope Benedict XVI decrying holy war.
Kirsten Harms, director of Berlin's Deutsche Oper, (pictured here) announced "with great regret" that she had decided to cancel the three year old production after state security officials warned it could provoke dangerous reactions in the current politically charged climate.
After its premiere in 2003, the production by Hans Neuenfels drew widespread criticism over a scene in which King Idomeneo presents the severed heads not only of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon, but also of Mohammed, Jesus and Buddha.
The severed heads are an addition by director Neuenfels to the 225-year-old opera, which was last performed by the company in March 2004.
Harms defended her decision, which she described as "weighing artistic freedom and freedom of a theater ... against the question of security for people's lives."
But the move immediately provoked strong reactions across Germany.
Outraged politicians called the decision to pull the production "crazy" and "a fatal signal" of caving into extremism. Response from Germany's Islamic community was mixed, with some praising the decision and others calling on Muslims to accept the role of provocation in art.
The leader of Germany's Islamic Council welcomed the move, saying a depiction of Mohammed with a severed head "could certainly offend Muslims."
But in an interview with German radio, Ali Kizilkaya added: "I think it is horrible that one has to be afraid ... That is not the right way to open dialogue."
The leader of Germany's Turkish community said it was time Muslims accepted freedom of expression in art.
"This is about art, not about politics," Kenan Kolat told Bavarian Radio. "We should not make art dependent on religion -- then we are back in the Middle Ages."
Neuenfels has insisted his staging not be altered, saying the scene where the king presents the severed heads represents his protest against "any form of organized religion or its founders."
"I stand behind my production and will not change it," Neuenfels told the Berliner Morgenpost in its Tuesday edition.
The opera house's decision comes after the German-born pope infuriated Muslims by quoting the words of a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."
Earlier this year, violent protests erupted across the Muslim world after a Danish newspaper published 12 cartoons depicting Muhammad. The caricatures were reprinted by dozens of newspapers and Web sites in Europe and elsewhere, often in the name of freedom of expression.
Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of Mohammed for fear it could lead to idolatry.
"We know the consequences of the conflict over the (Mohammed) caricatures," Deutsche Oper said in a statement. "We believe that needs to be taken very seriously and hope for your support."
Berlin security officials had warned Harms that staging the opera could "in its originally produced form .... pose an incalculable security risk to the public and employees."
But Germany's interior minister condemned the cancellation.
"That is crazy," said Wolfgang Schaeuble, the country's top security official, speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. "This is unacceptable."
It is not only Muslims who have been offended by depictions of religion in art.
Last month Madonna sparked criticism from some Roman Catholics in Germany for a show that staged a mock crucifixion. Mel Gibson's 2004 movie, "The Passion of Christ" met with disapproval from some Catholics and some Jews. In 2004, a Birmingham, England, theater canceled its run of "Behzti" after a violent protest by members of the Sikh community.
Still, many in normally open and tolerant Berlin, which has become a home for cutting edge and often contentious artistic productions, cautioned against compromising on issues of freedom of speech and art.
"Our ideas about openness, tolerance and freedom must be lived on the offensive. Voluntary self-limitation gives those who fight against our values a confirmation in advance that we will not stand behind them," said Mayor Klaus Wowereit.
Bernd Neumann, the federal government's top cultural official, said that "problems cannot be solved by keeping silent."
"When the concern over possible protests leads to self-censorship, then the democratic culture of free speech becomes endangered."
Bayreuth 2006: Siegfried
Any new production of Wagner's Siegfried ultimately has to be judged based on the merits of the heldentenor singing the young title role. It is one of the longest roles in opera, and also one of the most difficult. Like Bellini's bel-canto masterpiece, Norma, Siegfried only works if the singer is able to present the public with a credible portrayal of the role by making them aware that the notes on the staff only present the kind of challenge that the singer is able to conquer. Thankfully, this is what happened two days ago when American heldentenor Stephen Gould stepped up to his first Siegfried at Bayreuth. He was an amazing Tannhäuser last year, but during this festival he has proven that he has the right stuff to tackle the really big role. Right from the start his Siegfried rang true with a clean top and secured notes that one rarely hears. Mr. Gould did not warm up to the role, right from his first entrance he came prepared. The worse one can say about his performance is that as the evening progressed, one started hearing a bit of tiredness in his voice, but given the length of the part that is normal. He managed to complete the role without any vocal misshaps whatsoever. These days, that is a really rare event when it comes to the two last operas of Wagner's Ring.
Every evening of this year's Ring production has offered a welcomed surprise. Das Rheingold offered good ensemble singing and wonderfully evocative conducting from Christian Thielemann. Die Walküre revealed the wonders of Adrianne Pieczonka's incredibly beautiful interpretation of Sieglinde. (Clearly she wins the prize for surprise of the summer!) As I write this blog during the intermission between Acts II and III of Götterdämmerung, I am incredibly excited to report that the Hagen (Hans-Peter König) is absolutely out of this world. His call to arms of his vassals in Act II was one of the highlights of this entire Ring. Wow!
Don't forget to catch the rebroadcasts of these performances if you have missed them. They will be playing on Internet radio, and you can get an entire schedule of the upcoming performances by going here.
Bayreuth 2006: Die Walküre
Die Walküre is, and will continue to be, the audience favorite in any complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Audiences will sit through its interminable, but musically exquisite second act (not the favorite act of Walküre lovers) as long as they get an opportunity to listen to the great stormy prelude that opens the opera, the love duet the closes the first act, the familiar "Ride of the Valkyries" at the beginning of the third, and the poignant "Wotan's Farewell" and "Magic Fire Music" that end the work. It is the opera towards which most people gravitate when it comes to the Ring. Not just because it has some of Wagner's most inspired music, but as a result of having the most human elements in the entire cycle. Die Walküre will tug at your heart strings, nevermind that it also does a good job on your intellect.
I have listened to this years's performance of this work from the Bayreuth Festival twice now, and the first thoughts that come to mind is what an amazing job Christian Thielemann is doing with the orchestra. Right before our ears, he is becoming one of the great Wagnerian conductors of our times. This Ring Cycle is exciting, lush, and it promises wonders by the time that it eventually reaches Götterdämmerung.
The other great surprise is the Sieglinde. I must confess that I had not heard of Adrianne Pieczonka before, but now I want to hear her live. Her Sieglinde was focused and touching, and her pretty, lyrical and secured voice made a great impression on me, Her ovation at the Festspielhaus was deafening.
I have also been very impressed by the quality of voice of Falk Struckmann, an artist that I have seen live at the MET, and consider an accomplished singing actor ( I have seen him a number of times in Alban Berg's Wozzeck.) He does have a tendency to push beyond his limits, though, and sometimes he makes some rather less than beautiful sounds. Also, after a long afternoon of singing, he lost his concentration because unfortunately he temporarily lagged behind the beat right at the beginning of the "Leb' wohl, du kühnes." A shame because the rest of his performance was truly first rate.
Linda Watson got through the role of Brünnhilde, but I can't say that her singing pleased me very much. She has a powerful instrument, and she knows what to do with it when it comes to strength. I do wish that she would control the steely edge that it has and bring out the poetry that the role possesses. Likewise, Endrik Wottrich as Siegmund sounded overwhelmed by the role. He has been singing beyond his talents for a few years now, and I wish he would go back to lighter repertory. He was to have sung the role of Erik at the opening night The Flying Dutchman but was replaced at the last moment by Alfons Eberz. It seems that every time Wottrich cancels, Eberz takes over for him. When Wottrich and director Christoph Schlingensief traded insults, and the tenor swore that he would not sing in the current staging of Parsifal, it was Eberz who replaced him, and who will sing the role again this season.
I am very much looking forward to hear how the rest of this Ring turns out.
Bayreuth 2006 has finally arrived!
Thus far there have been three performances at the Bayreuth Festival. The whole thing started on July 25 with a revival of the Freudian staging of Der fliegende Holländer, and by now, half of the new Production of the Ring has been revelaed with a performance of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. Check out my website to see pictures of this new Ring production, and while you are there you can also check out the schedule for webcasts for the festival (so you can hear the operas right from the comfort of your own home or office). On my website you can also read reviews of the productions. Go to www.wagneroperas.com and click on the Bayreuth tab. By the way, this little picture is a thumbnail of the CD cover that I have designed for Das Rheingold when I record and burn the performance.
Bayreuth 2006 approaches
We are now just days away from the opening of the Bayreuth Festival 2006. This year's edition of the festival opens on July 25 with a revival of Bayreuth's current production of Die fliegende Holländer. However, the focus of this year's festival will be the new production of the Ring directed by Tankred Horst and conducted by Christian Thielemann. Click here for information and rehearsal photos of this new Ring. The festival will also feature revivals of last year's Christoph Marthaler production of Tristan und Isolde, as well as the infamous Christoph Schliengensief production of Parsifal. As usual, performances of this year's festival will be broadcast on the radio and on the Internet. Click here for a schedule of these broadcasts.
Grendel at the Lincoln Center Festival
I saw Grendel, Transcendence of the Great Big Bad last Saturday at the Lincoln Center Festival 2006, and I must say that Elliot Goldenthal's music left very little of an impression on me. Also, can anybody tell me what "Transcendence of the Great Big Bad" means? The only "Big Bad" that I know is Little Red-Riding Hood's wolf, and there is nothing great about him. Last I check, Grendel was not a wolf, but rather a monster, and a rather nasty one too. He is, of course, one of the featured players in Beowulf, one of English literature's most maligned works. At one point or another every English-speaking student has to read some part of the epic, and most people detest the experience. Woody Allen in his film Annie Hall advises Diane Keaton's character, who is thinking of taking an English Lit adult education course at NYU, not to take anything where they make you read Beowulf.
This opera is based less on the epic (although portions of the work are sung in Old English) and more on John Gardner's book of the same name, where the story is told from the monster's point of view. Although this was considered terribly original when the book was published, most American critics were ignorant of the fact that this kind of approach had already been done, many years earlier, by author Jorge Luis Borges in his great short story "The House of Asterión." In this brilliant work, the Argentinean writer retells the story of the Minotaur, approaching it from the point of view of the half-man, half-bull creature that lives in the labyrinth of Crete.
What I did find totally fascinating and fun was Julie Taymor's staging of this work. What an incredible visionary talent she is! Using her trademark puppets and marionettes, she creates a make-believe world that is both remote and familiar. The most memorable part, from the point of view of staging, is the dragon scene. You could feel what every Wagner fan in the house was thinking: A Taymor Ring! She would be the perfect person to stage a Ring that people will actually like, and try to understand, but that is perhaps the topic of another post.
Commanding the stage for the entire evening (he's in almost every scene) was bass-baritone Eric Owens in the title role, who earned a well-deserved standing ovation. He was an excellent monster with a booming voice to match. Denyse Graves also got a big hand for her sultry role as a sexy Dragon. Too bad that Goldenthal was not able to write music for her that truly soared. Only towards the end of her single scene, did the vocal straight-jacket come off, and she was able to sing some rather exciting music above the staff. The fact that this dragon has a tail which ends in a backup trio of "dragonettes" made the scene a popular favorite, but not only did they have very little singing to do, this device was used in another opera, namely John Adams' 1987 work Nixon in China, where Chairman Mao's lines are echoed by a trio of secretaries that follow him around.
Though the lack of originality is clearly evident, I'm glad that I had a chance to see this work. For one thing, I got to see Ms. Taymor at her visually best, and it's a once in a lifetime chance to experience it. I simply don't think that in its current state this opera will see the light of day anytime soon.
Oh yeah -- the wall was great! This massive set, that had caused the work to be postponed in its world premiere, worked without a hitch on Saturday and, as I understand it, throughout the run at Lincoln Center. It was a great thing to behold. Bravo Taymor!
Shanties and Shabeens
The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Martin McDonagh's play at the Lyceum Theater, is a delightful monstrosity. The work about the mindless vicious cycle of violence by members of an IRA splinter group in a remote island in County Galway resonates with the voices, rebel songs, and the cries of Ireland; and it does so with what has to be the most graphic violence ever depicted on a Broadway stage. Last season McDonagh offered us The Pillowman, his first and only play not set in Ireland, and it was a macabre tale where the chills and thrills made you jump right out of your seat, as in a scary movie: a kind of theatrical homage to John Carpenter, if you will. The Lieutenant of Inishmore tips its hat to the violent posturing of Quentin Tarantino, and it borrows buckets of blood and gore from George Romero. All that McDonagh needs are Romero's zombies, but then again, the characters in this play seem to be sleepwalking through life, all of them transfixed on a personal idée fixe that goes from hair narcissism, to blinding cows, to an unnatural devotion to a pet cat and to the cause of Irish freedom. If you have a strong stomach go to see it, just don't expect this old sod to resemble John Ford's The Quiet Man. The absurd situations that put the plot in motion, bring to mind the theatrical world of Samuel Beckett. Indeed, McDonagh's characters are the grown-up, dysfunctional grandchildren of Vladimir and Estragon.
As in Waiting for Godot, and the other works of Beckett, the language of The Lieutenant of Inishmore is truly enchanting. One of McDonagh's great gifts is his way about the English tongue. He can write the most vulgar sentence and let it give off the smell of roses. His words can elevate the shanty to the level of white linen.
Don't miss this production. It is an unforgettable night in the theater. It's the perfect play to see for Halloween, mind you, but don't wait that long, it may not be around come October. See it now!
You Catching?
The sea. Has there been a greater source of inspiration for composers than the enormous expanse of saline water that makes up the majority of our planet? Maurice Ravel (Une barque sur l'océan) Claude Debussy (La Mer) and Richard Wagner (Der fliegende Holländer) were fascinated by it, were fearful of it, and their music depicting the sounds and the furies of the ocean probably ranks among their most evocative.
Raymond Lustig, the young American composer and doctoral student at The Juilliard School is following this watery tradition. His You Catching? is a tone poem with narration which has as its central theme the depiction of the sea, and the eternal but fleeting hope of one day catching the big one -- or at least, lots of little ones. It was performed at a New York space called The Stone as part of a CD pre-release concert.
Structurally written so that it reminds this listener of Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait, Lustig's work, like Copland's, is totally American in its subject matter and, also like Copland's, it celebrates democratic ideals that are inately American. The text, adapted by Ana Berlin, from weekly reports from a Montauk fishing maven, speaks to anyone who has ever cast a line and hoped and prayed for something to bite. At the same time, it should also speak to anyone who has ever attempted the impossible. It is a very romantic work in this respect, although its musical language is decidedly post-romantic, clearly rooted in late 19th and early 20th century chromaticism, but also in tune with the contemporary language of composition. In You Catching? Ray Lustig, as a composer, is definitely ready to take you on a journey to the edge, but don't worry, unlike many of his peers, he knows how to find the way back. Oh, and by the way: you are going to have fun doing it.
You can hear You Catching? on Avian Music. For more information about this composition you can visit avianmusic.com.
In the Faust legend, the aged philosopher yearns to regain youth, discover love, and seek supreme knowledge. In his quest, he sells his soul to Mephistopheles, who transforms him into a young man and grants him all that he asks, but at the price of his immortal soul. In The Devil Wears Prada, the new movie based on Lauren Weisberger's novel, young Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) sells her soul to fashion magazine Runway for a shot at eventual literary success in New York City. When we first meet her, Andy is oblivious of the bitchy ways of the fashion game and its rules -- her goal, after all, is to become a great writer. But before long, she finds herself under the spell of the magazine's demanding Mephistophelian editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). In order to survive, Anne dashes away her polyester sweaters, and transforms herself into a stunning beauty. It's a pretty nifty reworking of the Faust story as Miranda shows Andy the beautiful world of haute couture, while Andy develops into a glamorous rising star, but at the price of becoming increasingly alienated from her friends, and in peril of losing herself to the Valentino/Prada powers that be of her new circle.
When Meryl Streep delivers one of her bravura performances, it stays with you; her celluloid image is haunting. She has, in previous occasions, achieved this phenomenon namely in The Deer Hunter and in Sophie's Choice, which to my mind, is one of the great performances in American cinema. Here she does it again, this time in a featured comedic role, which is even harder to pull off successfully. The result is one of the most satisfying performances of the summer months. Although her character never speaks above a whisper, Streep manages to command the film. Her Miranda Priestly rules Runway by fear and intimidation, not by histrionics. Her subtle performance draws you in, and within it you will find treasured moments.
Equally priceless are the performances of Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci as two of Andy's co-workers at Runway. They are perfectly cast as underlings who equally adore and despise Miranda and the life that they have scratched and clawed for themselves. Ms. Blunt may not be a household name, but she is an accomplished actress, and she proves to be a fine foil. The well-known Mr. Tucci, sporting the biggest ring in the history of the movies, is delightful as a Yoda-like mentor, pulling $800 shoes off the rack and transforming Ms. Hathaway's character into a stunning beauty.
Anne Hathaway is wonderful in this movie. Her transformation from fashion victim to promising star at the magazine isn't exactly on the same level as Eliza Doolittle learning to talk more "genteel-like" but it is in the same cinematic league. The chemistry between Streep and Hathaway is really what makes the film work. In one of the most memorable scenes, Miranda tells Andy that she sees a lot of herself in the young assistant. Somehow, the audience can see this confession coming. It's the kind of candid reflection which is rare in characters that usually populate summer movies.
In the best stories, characters go through incredible life-changing transformations which catapult them into experiences which they never thought they would live through. This is what all the great stories deliver, and this is what draws us to them. The Devil Wears Prada is one of these great stories, and cinematically it is told in such a likeable way, that I am sure that you will enjoy it very much.
Bayreuth 2006 Casts and Production Teams
The Festival Management of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus has announced the following cast lists for the Bayreuth Festival 2006. These lists are, of course, subject to alteration.
New production.
Conductor: Christian Thielemann
Producer: Tankred Dorst
Stage design: Frank Philipp Schlössmann
Costumes: Bernd Skodzig
Wotan: Falk Struckmann
Donner: Ralf Lukas
Froh: Clemens Bieber
Loge: Arnold Bezuyen
Fasolt: Kwangchul Youn
Fafner: Jyrki Korhonen
Alberich: Andrew Shore
Mime: Gerhard Siegel
Fricka: Michelle Breedt
Freia: Satu Vihavainen
Erda: Mihoko Fujimara
Woglinde: Fionnuala McCarthy
Wellgunde: Ulrike Helzel
Flosshilde: Marina Prudenskaja
Siegmund: Endrik Wottrich
Hunding: Kwangchul Youn
Sieglinde: Adrianne Pieczonka
Brünnhilde: Linda Watson
Gerhilde: Satu Vihavainen
Ortlinde: Amanda Mace
Waltraute: Martina Dike
Schwertleite: Janet Collins
Helwige: Iréne Theorin
Siegrune: Wilke te Brummelstroete
Grimgerde: Annette Küttenbaum
Rossweise: Alexandra Petersamer
Siegfried: Stephen Gould
Wanderer: Falk Struckmann
Woodbird: Robin Johannsen
Gunther: Alexander Marco-Buhrmester
Hagen: Hans-Peter König
Gutrune: Gabrielle Fontana
Waltraute: Mihoko Fujimara
First Norn: Janet Collins
Second Norn: Martina Dike
Third Norn: Iréne Theorin
Tristan: Robert Dean-Smith
Isolde: Nina Stemme
King Mark: Kwangchul Youn
Kurwenal: Hartmut Welker
Melot: Ralf Lukas
Brangäne: Petra Lang
Young Sailor: Clemens Bieber
Shepherd: Arnold Bezuyen
Steerman: Martin Snell
Conductor: Peter Schneider
Producer: Christoph Marthaler
Costume and stage design: Anna Viebrock
The Dutchman: John Tomlinson
Daland: Jaako Ryhänen
Senta: Adrienne Dugger
Erik: Endrik Wottrich
Mary: Uta Priew
Steerman: Norbert Ernst
Conductor: Marc Albrecht
Producer: Claus Guth
Costume and stage design: Christian Schmidt
Parsifal: Alfons Erberz
Amfortas: Alexander Marco-Buhrmester
Titurel: Jyrki Korhonen
Gurnemanz: Robert Holl
Klingsor: John Wegner
Kundry: Evelyn Herlitzius
Squires: Clemens Bieber, Samuel Youn
Grail Knights: Julia Borchert, Atala Schöck, Norbert Ernst, Helmut Pampuch
Flowermaidens: Julia Borchert, Martina Rüping, Carola Guber, Anna Korondi,
Jutta Maria Böhnert, Atala Schöck
Alto soloist: Simone Schröder
Conductor: Adam Fischer
Producer: Christoph Schlingenschief
Stage design: Daniel Angermayr, Thomas Goerge
Costumes: Tabea Braun
Chorus master: Eberhard Friedrich
Posted by Vincent Vargas at 5:16 AM 4 comments:
The Joseph Volpe Gala at the MET
It started at 5:30 pm in the house, and it ended about six hours later. On the radio, WQXR started at 8:00 pm in the East Coast and the broadcast ended around 12:30 am. I am not sure what was on tape and what, if anything, was heard live, but I do know that it was a very special event at the Metropolitan Opera.
Not everybody that was due to appear did, but at this kind of event that's to be expected. It would have been fun to have had Luciano Pavarotti serenade the General Director, but he didn't even show up, unlike Mirella Freni, to bid adieu to his former boss.
Plácido Domingo was there conducting and singing. His conducting was secure and pleasant, his singing was not. It was the first time that I have ever heard Domingo give a mediocre performance at a gala like this. Time waits for no man, and Domingo seems to have held its march well. It might have caught with him that evening. His zarzuela aria "No Puede Ser" sounded tight, and the staple "Granada" even tighter. He didn't even attempt to hit the climactic high B flat. However, I still think that Domingo is the operatic man of steel. I can totally see him rebounding and singing a great performance of something (operatic, I hope) in the near future.
Over the radio, the singer that came off sounding the best was baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Posa's aria from the last act of Verdi's Don Carlo. And while we are at it, the second best singer of the evening was bass René Pape, who sang an amazing rendition of "Ella Giammai M'amo" from the same opera. I can't wait for Pape to sing the role of King Philip after hearing this aria, and I can't wait to hear Dmitri in the role of Posa again. Their fresh young voices made veterans like Domingo, James Morris, and Samuel Ramey sound really old.
By the way, where was Bryn Terfel? I would have loved to have heard some Wagner or Mozart from him.
I hope that there are plans to issue highlights from the evening in DVD. The show will be broadcast on PBS June 1st, so I am sure that the DVD can't be far behind.
When Sir Rudolf Bing retired from the MET in 1972, DG issued an LP of the event featuring the greatest stars of that era. In some ways, the Volpe Gala tried to mimic that incredible event, even to the extend of having a funny song composed just for the occasion (and sung by Deborah Voigt) in the same vein as when Regina Resnik serenaded Sir Rudolf with new words to "Chacon a Son Gout," from Die Fledermaus. Needless to say, the new song just could not compare to the re-worded Strauss composition.
It was a memorable event, but not a perfect one, not by a long shot. Still, I would like to see the video, and I will most likely purchase the DVD of the event when it is issued.
Happy 193rd Birthday!
See George Fall!
See George fall, pick him up, or knock him about. Just use your mouse. Click here
The Da Vinci Code Film Opens Worldwide
It seems to me that if you have a product to sell these days that has something to do, even vaguely, with the Holy Grail, that your numbers have been pretty much in the black for a while, and will continue to remain on that side of the ledger. Just yesterday, for instance, I picked up Piers Paul Read's book The Templars in preparation for the onslaught of Grail talk that will continue to engulf us for a while. The publication of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code in 2003 has sparked an interest in this medieval topic, and has already propelled at least one successful legitimate spoof (Monty Python's Spamalot) that lends a welcome respite from all the serious medieval and conspiratorial plots and subplots that we currently seems to crave. Now with the worldwide release of the film The Da Vinci Code, which opened on May 19, we are back on track, once again submerged in the thick of all things conspiratorial and ecclesiastical, getting lost in both, and not being able to tell one thing from the other, which is the main goal of this new movie.
It is the first blockbuster of the summer, and it will do marvelously at the box-office. Most certainly, every other film this summer will have to compare itself to this one in box-office receipts, and I think that they will all fall short. This bonanza will be further sparked by all the talk-show banter about what the film is advocating, by the recent ruling in favor of Dan Brown in the British courts, and by the recent attacks against the movie by The Vatican, who is spending as much money to denigrate the film as Columbia Pictures is shelling out bucks to promote it.
Now to divulge some deep-seeded secrets that will no doubt stand your hair on end: If I told you that Jesus married Mary Magdalene would you believe me? If I told you that I saw this movie in sleepy Danbury Connecticut and that actor Harvey Fierstein was sitting right in front of me (with a woman!) would you think I had some kind of hidden agenda to report? "There are things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio..." let's just leave it at that.
What director Ron Howard has managed to do in his adaptation of the novel is to turn a juggernaut page-turner into a 148 minute boring day at the museum. Novel adaptations are always fun. The masterful ones (A Clockwork Orange, The Godfather) show us hidden potential that the work merely hinted at on the printed page. The truly awful ones like The Bonfire of the Vanities (also starring Tom Hanks) magnify the original work's deficiencies to the point where the once faithful public now begins to question the integrity of the original source.
Tom Hanks with his long locks, which don't look too bad on him, goes through the film with the same quizzical smirk on his face. Also, early on in the film, Mr. Hanks delivers a line from the script that contains a factual mistake concerning the garb penitents (not priests) wear during Holy Week in Spain, and this destroys for me the cinematic character of Robert Langdon right from the outset. A Harvard professor would not make this kind of error. Audrey Tautou plays it much too quiet and insignificant considering the secret that she carries, and Paul Bettany is much too pretty and not threatening enough physically as the deranged monk Silas. This is Paul's second film for Ron Howard where he plays a ghost either literally or figuratively. Jean Reno is not too effective as a French policeman. He was a lot more successful playing Gendarme Gilbert Ponton in this year's The Pink Panther than playing a legitimate cop in this film. The only one who survives this movie is Ian McKellen. That twinkle in his eye, and the way he caresses every line assures us that he knows exactly that all of this is Hollywood dribble. By not approaching it with any kind of seriousness at all, he makes us believe that he is the most serious performer in the entire cast. Bravo Sir Ian for making the two hours plus duration of this film bearable!
It's not that I hated The Da Vinci Code, it's just that I think it could have been trimmed down, speeded up, and it would have made a better film. This is the kind of story that needs Hollywood's smoke and mirrors in order to work. You need to fool the people into believing your side of the story. If you go slowly into it, you end up possibly exposing all the tricks, and the illusion is lost. This is the problem with Ron Howard's movie: it takes the subject matter way too seriously, and approaches it the same way you would a ponderous medieval tome. It's just a novel! It's just a movie! Entertain, don't preach!


A new version of the board file for the Zybo board may be necessary. Follow these instructions to obtain new board files for Vivado.
Follow steps 1 and 2 in the instructions on this page to get the demo project open in Vivado. Use the Vivado method, not the SDK hardware handoff.
You may get a message that says some of your ip blocks should be updated. If so, select "Show IP Status" and then in the IP status tab select all out of date IP and click "Upgrade Selected". When it finishes and a window pops up asking if you want to generate output product, go ahead and click "Generate". If you get a critical warning message, ignore it.
Switch from the design to the sources tab in Vivado to see the source files. Right-click the block design "design_1" and select "Create HDL Wrapper". When prompted select "copy generated wrapper to allow user edits". A wrapper file for the project will be generated.
Now that those critical steps that were somehow left out in the other tutorial are completed, you can return to the tutorial previously linked and continue from step 4 to the end and make sure that the demo project runs correctly. If you don't have a way to input audio for it to record then just record with your headphones in and listen for a 5-10 second fuzzy sound when you press the playback button. As long as something comes out of the headphone jack when you press the playback button, it's probably working correctly.
So now you've got Digilent's DMA audio demo working, but that's not at all the end goal here. So we've got to go back to Vivado and make some changes so that our sensors can be plugged into the PMOD headers and we can use their value on the software side.
Create a GPIO block by right-clicking in empty space in the block diagram and selecting "Add IP" from the menu. Find and select "AXI GPIO".
Double click the new IP block and in the re-customize IP window go to the IP configuration tab. Select all inputs and set the width to twelve, since we will have 12 "strings" on our harp and therefore need 12 sensors. If you want to use fewer or more sensors then adjust this number appropriately. Also set enable interrupt.
Right click the new GPIO IP block and select "run connection automation". Check the AXI box and hit okay. This should connect the AXI interface automatically, but leave the outputs of the block unconnected.
In order to make room for the extra interrupt, double click on the xlconcat_0 IP block and change the number of ports from 4 to 5. Then you can connect the ip2intc_irpt pin from the new GPIO block to the new unused port on the xlconcat block.
Right click on the "GPIO" output of the new GPIO IP block and select "make external". Find where the line goes to and click on the little sideways pentagon and on the left a window should open where you can change the name. Change the name to "SENSORS". It is important to use the same name if you want the constraints file we provide to work, otherwise you will have to change the name in the constraints file.
Back in the sources tab, find the constraints file and replace it with the one we provide. You can choose to either replace the file or just copy the contents of our constraints file and paste it over the contents of the old one. One of the important things our constraints file does is enable the pullup resistors on the PMOD headers. This is necessary for the particular sensors we used, however not all sensors are the same. If your sensors require pulldown resistors you can change every instance of "set_property PULLUP true" with "set_property PULLDOWN true". If they require a different resistor value than the one on the board, then you can remove these lines and use external resistors.The pin names are in the comments in the constraints file, and they correspond to the labels in first diagram in the Zybo Schematics page which can be found here. If you want to use different pmod pins just match the names in the constraint file to the labels in schematic. We use PMOD header JE and JD, and use six data pins on each, omitting pins 1 and 7. This information is important when hooking up your sensors. As shown in the schematic, pins 6 and 12 on the PMODS are VCC and pins 5 and 11 are ground.
Regenerate the HDL wrapper as before, and copy and overwrite the old one. When that's done, generate bitstream and export hardware like before, and relaunch the SDK. If you get asked whether you want to replace the old hardware file, the answer is yes. It's probably best to have the SDK closed when you export hardware so that it gets properly replaced.
The next step is to get FreeRTOS running on the Zybo board.
If you don't already have a copy, download FreeRTOS here and extract the files.
Import the FreeRTOS Zynq demo located at FreeRTOSv9.0.0\FreeRTOS\Demo\CORTEX_A9_Zynq_ZC702\RTOSDemo. The import process is pretty much the same as it was for the other demo project, however because the FreeRTOS Zynq demo relies on other files in the FreeRTOS folder, you should not copy the files into your workspace. Instead, you should place the whole FreeRTOS folder inside your project folder.
Create a new board support package by going to "file" -> "new" -> "board support package". Make sure standalone is selected and click finish. After a moment a window will pop up, check the box next to lwip141 (this stops one of the FreeRTOS demos from failing to compile) and hit OK. After that completes right click on the RTOSdemo project and go to "properties", go to the "project references" tab, and check the box next to the new bsp you created. Hopefully it will be recognized but sometimes the Xilinx SDK can be weird about this sort of thing. If you still get an error after this step that xparameters.h is missing or something like that then try repeating this step and maybe exiting and relaunching the SDK.
Create a new folder under the src folder in the FreeRTOS demo and copy and paste all of the provided c files except for main.c into this folder.
Replace the RTOSDemo main.c with the provided main.c.
If everything is done correctly, you should be able to run the laser harp code at this point. For testing purposes, the button input that was used in the DMA demo project is now used to play sounds without sensors attached (any of the four main buttons will work). It will play a string each time you press it and cycle through all the strings in the system over multiple presses. Plug in some headphones or speakers to the headphone jack on the Zybo board and make sure you can hear the sounds of the strings coming through when you press a button.
Many of you reading this tutorial are likely here to learn how to set up audio or use DMA to do something different, or to create a different musical instrument. For that reason the next few sections are dedicating to describing how the provided code works in conjunction with the hardware previously described to get a working audio output using DMA. If you understand why the code pieces are there then you should be able to adjust them for whatever it is that you want to create.
First I'll mention how interrupts are created in this project. The way we did it was by first creating an interrupt vector table structure which keeps track of the ID, interrupt handler, and a reference to the device for each interrupt. The interrupt IDs come from xparameters.h. The interrupt handler is a function we wrote for the DMA and GPIO, and the I2C interrupt comes from the Xlic I2C driver. The device reference points to instances of each device which we initialize elsewhere. Near the end of the _init_audio function a loop goes through each item in the interrupt vector table and calls two functions, XScuGic_Connect() and XScuGic_Enable() to connect and enable the interrupts. They reference xInterruptController, which is an interrupt controller created in the FreeRTOS main.c by default. So basically we attach each of our interrupts to this interrupt controller which was already created for us by FreeRTOS.
The DMA initialization code starts in lh_main.c. First a static instance of a XAxiDma structure is declared. Then in the _init_audio() function it gets configured. First the configure function from the demo project gets called, which is in dma.c. It's pretty well documented and comes straight from the demo. Then the interrupt gets connected and enabled. For this project only the master-to-slave interrupt is required, because all data is being sent by the DMA to the I2S controller. If you wish to record audio, you will also need the slave-to-master interrupt. The master-to-slave interrupt gets called when the DMA finishes sending out whatever data you told it to send. This interrupt is incredibly important for our project because every time the DMA finishes sending out one buffer of audio samples it must immediately begin sending out the next buffer, or else an audible delay would occur between sends. Inside the dma_mm2s_ISR() function you can see how we handle the interrupt. The important part is near the end where we use xSemaphoreGiveFromISR() and portYIELD_FROM_ISR() to notify _audio_task() that it can initiate the next DMA transfer. The way we send constant audio data is by alternating between two buffers. When one buffer is being transmitted to the I2C block the other buffer is having its values calculated and stored. Then when the interrupt comes from the DMA the active buffer switches and the more recently written buffer starts being transferred while the previously transferred buffer starts getting overwritten with new data. The key part of the _audio_task function is where fnAudioPlay() gets called. fnAudioPlay() takes in the DMA instance, the length of the buffer, and a pointer to the buffer from which data will be transferred. A few values are sent to I2S registers to let it know more samples are coming. Then XAxiDma_SimpleTransfer() gets called to initiate the transfer.
audio.c and audio.h are where the I2S initialization takes place. I2S initialization code is a pretty common chunk of code that's floating around in a number of places, you might find slight variations from other sources but this one should work. It's pretty well documented and not much needed to be changed for the harp project. The DMA audio demo which it came from has functions for switching to the mic or line inputs so you can use those if you need that functionality.
To describe how the sound synthesis works, I am going to list each of the sound models used in development that led to the final method, as it will give you a sense of why it is done the way it is done.
Method 1: One period of sine values is calculated for each string at the corresponding frequency for that string's musical note and stored in an array. For example, the length of the array will be the period of the sine wave in samples, which equals # of samples / cycle. If the sampling rate is 48kHz and the note frequency is 100Hz, then there are 48,000 samples/second and 100 cycles/second leading to 4800 samples per cycle, and the array length will be 4800 samples and will contain the values of one complete sine wave period. When the string is played, the audio sample buffer is filled by taking a value from the sine wave array and putting it into the audio buffer as a sample, then incrementing the index into the sine wave array so that using our previous example over the course of 4800 samples one sine wave cycle is put into the audio buffer. A modulo operation is used on the array index so that it always falls between 0 and the length, and when the array index goes over a certain threshold (like maybe 2 seconds worth of samples) the string is turned off. To play multiple strings at the same time, keep track of each strings' array index separately and add the value from each strings' sine wave together to get each sample.
Method 2: To create a more musical tone, we start with the previous model and add harmonics to each fundamental frequency. Harmonic frequencies are frequencies which are integer multiples of the fundamental frequency. Unlike when two unrelated frequencies are summed together, which results in two distinct sounds being played simultaneously, when harmonics are added together it continues to sound like just one sound, but with a different tone. To accomplish this, each time we add the value of the sine wave at location (array index % array length) to the audio sample, we also add (2 * array index % array length), and (3 * array index % array length), and so on for however many harmonics are desired. These multiplied indices will traverse the sine wave at frequencies which are integer multiples of the original frequency. To allow for more control of tone, each harmonic's values are multiplied by a variable which represents the amount of that harmonic in the overall sound. For example, the fundamental sine wave might have it's values all multiplied by 6 to make it more of a factor in the overall sound, while the 5th harmonic might have a multiplier of 1, meaning its values contribute much less to the overall sound.
Method 3: Okay, so now we've got very nice tone on the notes, but there's still a pretty crucial problem: they play at a fixed volume for a fixed duration. To sound at all like a real instrument the volume of a string being played should decay smoothly over time. In order to accomplish this, an array is filled with the values of an exponentially decaying function. Now when the audio samples are being created, the sound coming from each string is calculated like in the previous method but before it gets added to the audio sample it gets multiplied by the value at that strings' array index in the exponential decay function array. This makes the sound smoothly dissipate over time. When the array index reaches the end of the decay array, the string is stopped.
Method 4: This last step is what really gives the string sounds their realistic string sound. Before they sounded pleasant but clearly synthesized. To try to better emulate a real-world harp string, a different decay rate is assigned to each harmonic. In real strings, when the string is first struck there is a high content of high frequency harmonics that creates the sort of plucking sound we expect from a string. These high frequency harmonics are very briefly the main part of the sound, the sound of the string being struck, but they decay very quickly as the slower harmonics take over. A decay array is created for each harmonic number used in sound synthesis each with its own decay rate. Now each harmonic can be independently multiplied by the value its corresponding decay array at the array index of the string and added to the sound.
Overall the sound synthesis is intuitive but calculation heavy. Storing the entire string sound in memory at once would take too much memory, but calculating the sine wave and the exponential function between every frame would take way too long to keep up with the rate of audio playback. A number of tricks are used in the code to speed the calculation up. All math except in the initial creation of the sine and exponential decay tables is done in integer format, which requires spreading out the available numerical space in the 24 bit audio output. For example, the sine table is of amplitude 150 so that it is smooth but not so large that many strings played together can add to be over 24 bits. Likewise, the exponential table values are multiplied by 80 before being rounded to integers and stored. The harmonic weights can take on discrete values between 0 and 10. Also all samples are actually doubled and the sine waves are indexed by 2's, effectively halving the sampling rate. This limits the maximum frequency that can be played, but was necessary for the current number of strings and harmonics to be calculated quickly enough.
Creating this sound model and getting it to work took considerable effort on the processor side, and it would've been incredibly difficult to get it working on the fpga side from scratch in the time frame of this project (imagine having to recreate the bitstream every time a piece of verilog was changed to test the sound). However, doing it on the fpga could likely be a better way of doing it, possibly eliminating the issue of not being able to calculate samples quickly enough and allow for more strings, harmonics, and even audio effects or other tasks to be run on the processor side.
To create the strings we used IR break beam sensors that will detect when the string is being played. We ordered our sensors from the following link. The sensors have a power, ground, and data wire while the emitters only have a power and ground wire. We used the 3.3 V and ground pins from the PMOD headers to power both the emitters and sensors. To power all the sensors and emitters it is necessary to connect all the sensors and emitter in parallel. The data wires from the sensors will each need to go to their own pmod pin.
In order to create the shape of the harp the three pieces are used as a skeleton to place the sensors and emitters on. On one of the two 18 inch pieces of PVC pipe align the sensors and emitters in alternating order 1.5 inches from each other and then tape them down to the pipe. On the other 18 inch PVC pipe align the sensors and emitters in alternating order but make sure to offset the order (i.e. if the first pipe had a sensor first the second should have an emitter first and vice versa). It will be necessary to solder longer wires on the data, power, and ground wires to ensure they will be able to reach the board.
This step is optional but it highly recommended. The wood exterior not only makes the harp look nice it also protects the sensors and wires from damage. The wood frame can be created by a hallow rectangular ring from wood. The inside of the rectangle needs to have an opening of at least 1-1/2 inches to fit the pipe and sensor skeleton. Once the frame is constructed drill two holes that will allow the wires from the sensor and emitters out in order to connect them with the board.
*Note: It is recommended to add access points to be able to remove and insert the pipe skeleton in case repairs need to be made or slight adjustments need to be made.
Once all the previous steps are finished it is time to construct the harp. First place the pipe skeleton inside the wooden exterior. Then plug in the wires for the sensors and emitters into the correct location on the board. Then open the SDK and click the debug button to program the board. Once the board is programmed plug in a pair of headphones or a speaker. Depending on which sensor ends up in which pmod port your harp's strings will probably be out of order to begin with. Because it can be difficult to tell which wire goes to which sensor when so many wires are involved, we included a way to map string numbers to interrupt bit positions in software. Find "static int sensor_map[NUM_STRINGS]" and adjust the values in the array until the strings play from lowest to highest in order.
The menu can be used by opening a serial terminal (e.g. RealTerm) and set the baud rate to 115200 and the display to ANSI. The menu can be navigated by using the w and s keys to move up and down and the a and d keys to change the values.
Once the harp is fully functional. Master the harp and listen to the sweet sound of your own music!
That looks really cool. Do you have any video of it in action?


text:
HomeCase CommentsShafin Jahan v. KM Ashokan & Ors. (AIR 2018 SC 357) – Hadiya Marriage Case
Shafin Jahan v. KM Ashokan & Ors. (AIR 2018 SC 357) – Hadiya Marriage Case
By LegalDivine Case Comments 0 Comments
Court: In Supreme Court of India
Citation: 2018 (4) Scale 404
Equivalent Citation: AIR 2018 SC 357
Judges: Dipak Misra, D.Y. Chandrachud & Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar
Case No: Crl.A 366/2018 (arising out of SLP (Crl.) 5777/2017)
Appellant: Shafin Jahan
Respondent: K.M. Ashokan & Ors
Date of Judgement: 08/03/2018
Image Source – Google | Image by – The NEWS minute
BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE:
ISSUES OF THE CASE:
PROVISIONS:
Appellant Contention:
Respondent's Contention:
Bench: (CJ) Deepak Mishra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
PRECEDENTS:
Ms. Akhila alias Hadiya the only child of Sh. Asokan K.M., and Smt. Ponnamma, had completed a degree in Homeopathic Medicine, BHMS (Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery) from Shivaraj Homeopathic Medical College, Salem in Tamil Nadu. Hadiya alias Akhila converted to Islam during her medical studies in Homeopathy (BHMS).
On 6th January 2016, Mr. K. M. Asokan filed a complaint before S. P. Malapuram District, but there was no progress made by the police in the investigation of the matter, Mr. K. M. Asokan filed a Writ Petition of Habeas Corpus before the division bench of High Court of Kerala alleging that Hadiya alias Akhila went missing.
During the course of the proceedings, Hadiya alias Akhila appeared before the Kerala High Court and asserted that she had accepted Islam as a faith of choice not by force.
From 7th January 2016, she resided at the establishment of Sathyasarani Education Charitable Trust at Malappuram. On 19th January 2016, the High of Kerala permitted her to reside at the Sathyasarani Trust premises based on the interaction with her, that she was not under illegal confinement.
Seven months later, Mr. K. M. Asokan filed another Habeas Corpus petition alleging that Hadiya had been subjected to forced conversion and was likely to be taken out of the country.
Later Hadiya alias Akhila appeared before the court and declined to accompany her parents and expressed her desire reside at Sathyasarani. She also stated that allegation that she was likely to be taken out of the country was incorrect and contented that she don't even have passport.
On 21 December 2016, the High Court was informed that Hadiya and Shafin Jahan had entered into a marriage on 19 December 2016. The High Court recorded it as "absolute dissatisfaction at the manner in which the marriage if at all one has been performed has been conducted".
On 24th May 2017, High Court of Kerala annulled the marriage of Shafin Jahan and Hadiya and stated that marriage is only a 'sham' and no consequence in the eyes of law. The court exercising its Parens Patriae Jurisdiction and concerning the welfare of the girl stated that 'A girl aged of 24 years is weak and vulnerable and capable of being exploited in many ways'.
Further the High Court stated that it is the duty cast on the court to ensure safety of the girls who are brought before it and it can be ensured by only ensuring that Ms. Akhila alias Hadiya is in safe hands. The High Court further allowed her to complete her House Surgeoncy Course at a college where she was a student, in Salem.
The court granted Mr. K. M. Ashokan custody over Hadiya alias Akhila by ignoring the actual fact that Hadiya, a legal adult and mentally stable, did not consent to parental custody. Subsequently, Hadiya's husband Shafin Jahan approached the Supreme Court challenging High Court decision.
Whether the High Court has the power to annul the marriage of an adult under Article 226 of Indian Constitution?
Writ of Habeas Corpus
Doctrine of Parens Patriae
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The appeal filed by Shafin Jahan against the order of the Kerala High Court and Hadiya is a party to these proceedings.
Appellant contended that since Hadiya is a major (above the age of 18 years), she has a full right to take her own decision in matters related to marriage. According to the prescribed law in India she has full filled all the conditions prescribed under the law.
According to the Article 226 of the Indian Constitution, High Court can exercise the parens patriae doctrine when the person belongs to the vulnerable adult for reasons such as constraint, undue influence, coercion, or other vitiating factors incapable of making any relevant decision, or if a person disabled from making a free choice, or incapacitated or expressing a real and genuine consent.
A vulnerable kind of the people which even though they do not suffer from any kind of mental incapacity may nonetheless be entitled to the protection of the inherent jurisdiction.
The Bench of three judges pronounced the operative part of its order on 8 March 2018 by considering the arguments advanced on both side, Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the order passed by the High Court of Kerala and also stated that Akhila alias Hadiya is at the liberty to pursue her future endeavors according to law.
Further Supreme Court clarified that the investigation by the NIA (National Investigation Agency) in respect of any matter of criminality may continue in accordance with the law.
State of Orissa v Ram Chandra Dev and Mohan Prasad Singh Deo[i], in this case the court held that under Article 226 of the Constitution, the Jurisdiction of the High Court is very wide, clearly indicates that before a writ an appropriate order can be issued in favour of a party, the party must have the right and the said right is illegally invaded.
In Justice K S Puttaswamy v Union of India[ii], In this case the Court held that the ability to make decisions on matters close to one's life is an inviolable aspect of the human personality ans the court further contented that the family, marriage, sexual orientation and procreation are all intergalactic to the dignity of the individual.
Soni Gerry v Gerry Douglas[iii], in this case held that daughter of the appellant and respondent is major and expressed her desire to reside in Kuwait and she is entitled to exercise her choice and freedom. As long as the choice remains, the courts cannot assume the role of Parens Patriae.
A Regd. Society v Union of India[iv], the court held that Our autonomy as persons is founded on the ability to decide, on the matters what to wear and how to dress, on when to speak and what we speak, on what to eat and on the food that we share, on the right to believe or not to believe, on whom to love and partner, and to freely decide on matters of consequence and detail to our daily lives."
In this case Heller v. Doe[v] High Court exercised the Parens Patriae Powers, while Justice Kennedy speaking for the U.S. Supreme Court observed that the State has a legitimate interest under its Parens Patriae powers in providing care to its citizens who are unable to care for themselves.
In Lata Singh v State of UP[vi], judges took judicial notice of the harassment, threat and violence meted out to young women and men who marry outside their caste or faith. In this case the court observed that India is a free and democratic country, once a person become major he or she can marry whosoever he/she likes. If the parents of the boy or girl do not approve such marriage they can cut-off social relations, but they cannot give threats or commit or instigate acts of daughter.
Hadiya and Shafin Jahan are adults. Under Muslim law, marriage or Nikah is a contract, it recognizes the right of adults to marry by their own free will. Marital status is conferred through legislation and custom but deprivation of marriage must be strictly in accordance with the law.
In this case, the court observes that the High Court of Kerala has committed an error of jurisdiction and order. The State, rather than to facilitate the legal right of the citizen, has supported the cause of a father who is not allowing his daughter to make her own choice. The High Court of Kerala based on some kind of assumption, in the exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution and Parens Patriae power has annulled the marriage.
High Court annulled the marriage on the view that Hadiya alias Akhila is of twenty-four years old and she is weak and vulnerable and capable of being exploited in many ways, in spite of she is major, sound mind, capable of taking her own decisions and also entitled to the rights recognized by the Constitution. In the case of Heller v. Doe, it was clearly stated that State can exercise Parens Patriae powers in providing care to its citizens who are unable to care for themselves but in this case, Hadiya alias Akhila is major and of sound mind, who is capable of taking her own decisions.
The Writ of Habeas Corpus has always been considered as a great constitutional privilege. The purpose writ is meant to provide an effective remedy against the illegal detention that affects the rights or freedom of the persons who is confinement and to obtain the production of an individual. The exercise of the jurisdiction to declare the marriage null and void, while entertaining a petition for habeas corpus, is plainly in excess of judicial power.
The High Court has transgressed the limits on its jurisdiction in a habeas corpus petition. In the process, there has been a serious transgression of constitutional rights.
The view of the High Court have encroached into a private space reserved for men and women, Neither the state nor the law can dictate a choice of partners or limit the free ability of each person to decide upon these matters.
The Constitution recognises the liberty and autonomy in each individual, this include the ability to take decisions which was clearly delivered in the case A Regd. Society v Union of India. Right to marriage of her own choice and Right to practice any religion is an integralpartof Fundamental Rights which is enshrined in Article 21 and Article 25 of the Indian Constitution and also Article 16 of the universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) stated the fundamental importance of marriage as an incident of human liberty, here Hadiya alias Akhila has converted into other religion and married the person of her own choice.
So, she is at the liberty to pursue her future endeavors according to law and the Supreme Court has set aside the order passed by the High Court and safeguard the freedom of the citizen.
Image Source – Google | Image by – VICKY NANJAPPA
As per the eyes of Indian law, a girl above the age of 18 years has the right to choose the person of her own choice. Neither the state nor society can intrude into that domain. The strength of our Constitution lies in its acceptance of the diversity of our culture. Intimacies of marriage, including the choices which individuals make on whether or not to marry a person and on whom to marry, lies outside the control of the state. Courts as upholders of constitutional freedoms must safeguard these freedoms and rights of the citizens.
[i] AIR 1954 Original 97
[ii] WP (C) 494/2012
[iii] (Crl.) No. 6237/ 2017
[iv] (CIVIL) NO. 215 OF 2005
[v] 509 U.S. 312 (1993)
[vi] Writ Petition (Crl.) 208 of 2004
AUTHOR: S. JEEVITHA | COLLEGE : SAVEETHA SCHOOL OF LAW
If you have any query regarding this post , feel free to ASK US ...
Tags:Case comment, Hadiya Marriage Case, Shafin Jahan v. KM Ashokan & Ors
Sabarimala Case- Indian Young Lawyers Assn. v. State of Kerala,2019
LILY THOMAS v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS 2013 (7) SCC 653
"Olga Tellis Case"- Olga Tellis Vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation, 1985 [2020]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Miss Universe Romania 2020 is Bianca Tirsin
Bianca Lorena Tirsin was officially named Miss Universe Romania 2020 on Tuesday, December 1 in a special announcement that aired on Romanian TV channel Antena Stars.
The 21-year-old model and business administration student from Arad will represent her country at the 69th Miss Universe pageant to be held next year possibly in the USA.
Miruna Alexandra Doldor, Pălimariu Diana Nicole, and Ada-Maria Ileana were the runners-up while Cristina Brudiu was named Miss Popularity Romania 2020.
The new Miss Universe Romania is no stranger to pageantry. She placed second runner-up at Miss Supranational 2017 in Poland and third runner-up at Miss International 2018 in Japan.
Romania is yet to have its first placement at Miss Universe. The country debuted at the international competition in 1991 with Daniela Nane.
Photos: Miss Universe Romania
Nuestra Belleza Puerto Rico 2020: Natalia Colón Figueroa to represent Puerto Rico at Miss International 2021
Miss France 2021: Meet the 29 official candidates


text:
arXiv.org > gr-qc > arXiv:1412.3249
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
arXiv:1412.3249 (gr-qc)
[Submitted on 10 Dec 2014 (v1), last revised 19 Jan 2015 (this version, v3)]
Title:Renormalization, averaging, conservation laws and AdS (in)stability
Authors:Ben Craps, Oleg Evnin, Joris Vanhoof
Abstract: We continue our analytic investigations of non-linear spherically symmetric perturbations around the anti-de Sitter background in gravity-scalar field systems, and focus on conservation laws restricting the (perturbatively) slow drift of energy between the different normal modes due to non-linearities. We discover two conservation laws in addition to the energy conservation previously discussed in relation to AdS instability. A similar set of three conservation laws was previously noted for a self-interacting scalar field in a non-dynamical AdS background, and we highlight the similarities of this system to the fully dynamical case of gravitational instability. The nature of these conservation laws is best understood through an appeal to averaging methods which allow one to derive an effective Lagrangian or Hamiltonian description of the slow energy transfer between the normal modes. The conservation laws in question then follow from explicit symmetries of this averaged effective theory.
Comments: v3: 28 pages, minor improvements, JHEP version
Subjects: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc); High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD)
Journal reference: JHEP 01 (2015) 108
Cite as: arXiv:1412.3249 [gr-qc]
(or arXiv:1412.3249v3 [gr-qc] for this version)
From: Oleg Evnin [view email]
[v1] Wed, 10 Dec 2014 10:36:16 UTC (25 KB)
[v2] Mon, 15 Dec 2014 17:21:00 UTC (25 KB)
[v3] Mon, 19 Jan 2015 22:47:33 UTC (25 KB)


NFU Mutual, the UK's leading rural insurer is urging business owners to make fire safety a priority after it revealed that it paid out over £43 million in claims for commercial fires in 2012.
Topping the list of claims with identified causes were fires caused by arson, electrical faults, electrical equipment and fires in commercial vehicles.
Commenting on the issue, Georgina Farndon, Commercial Development Manager at NFU Mutual said: "Research suggests that 80% of businesses that suffer a major incident such as a fire fail within 18 months. Firms need to have a business continuity plan and know how to deal with what happens after a fire. Many are simply not equipped to survive after a major catastrophe.
Local authority fire and rescue services attended 102,000 fires in England between April and September 2013, and, according to a recent report by the Department for Communities and Local Government, businesses in predominantly rural areas will have to wait, on average, three minutes longer for the fire brigade to arrive than their urban counterparts.
The outbreak of fire is arguably one of the biggest risks to any business and re-building a business after a major fire can take months, if not years. In addition to the damage to physical assets, many business owners neglect to consider how the business might continue to function whilst premises are repaired or rebuilt and new stock and machinery are purchased.
In addition to fire, recent floods and storms have also hit many businesses hard and the correct insurance can help mitigate an interruption to trading and help a business to remain viable whilst it recovers from a major disaster.
Business Interruption insurance will cover a business for any periods when it cannot trade as normal because of an event resulting in damage to property on the premises, such as fire, flooding or an essential piece of equipment breaking down.
Business Interruption insurance will pay an amount to cover the shortfall in pre-tax profits and pays any increased costs of running the business as a result of the event (for example, the extra accountancy fees you may have to pay).
• Prepare and test an emergency plan, reviewing the means of escape including emergency lighting, and the testing of fire precautions and fire safety training.


Making Persian Basmati Rice with Saffron isn't as intimidating as one would think especially with these step-by-step instructions and a how-to video.
Today's theme for our Sunday Supper is comfort foods. For many this could be soup or a stew. The word "comfort" brings images of a warm hug, or a blanket to wrap yourself up in as the months start to cool.
In our house, our go-to comfort food is basmati rice served with saffron. It is the foundation food in all of our Persian dishes. From kabob to khoresht (stews), we always serve it with this long grain rice. When we are sick, when I want a no-brainer meal, whatever roast or meat I come up with, I typically serve it with basmati rice.
I have introduced to my kids brown rice, wild rice and quinoa. They've been good sports to eating new foods. But, they have all made it clear, from the kids to the hubby, we all prefer our basmati rice.
I make chello, white rice, the traditional way. I clean it, wash it, parboil it and then steam it. I was very intimidated when I first made chello, as well as any other Persian dishes, as I was a novice. I thought it was complicated. I was intimidated by saffron, too. Most people are since it's the most expensive spice in the world.
The best way to use saffron is to keep it in its thread form. Then when you are ready to use it, crush the saffron threads with a mortar and pestle. Add some hot water, like a tablespoonful, and let the saffron steep and wait for 15-20 minutes.
What you end up with is this bowl of bright orange water. But don't let that color fool you either! Because when you mix that golden orange water with rice, you end up with some beautiful yellow rice. I love saffron!
So, for this post, I decided to do something different. I suppose I'm getting a little bored with the everyday post about a recipe and picture. Today I did a video!
I have been wanting to make a video for chello for a couple years now. But, I didn't want to be in the video myself. I leave the bubbly personalities for my favorite vlogger, Average Betty. She rocks!
My technique is a little different, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It also features the music of my dear cousin, Emad Bonakdar, who is a genius on the guitar. His music transports me to another world, another time. I suppose it's my way of meditating.
Preparing basmati rice for me now is second nature. I do it without thinking, while assisting with homework or talking on the phone. I wish I could provide you with the aroma that basmati rice brings. The sweet saffron smell. It means home to me, to my husband and to my kids. It is definitely a big, bear hug – comfort food for my family.
And if you want to purchase some high grade Persian saffron, I am selling some here for you!
In a medium-sized bowl soak rice with water.
After washing the rice a third time, rinse and then cover rice with water and add 1 TBS salt.
In a small bowl combine crushed saffron with 1 TBS hot water and set aside.
In a 5-quart non-stick pot add 8 cups of water and 1 TBS salt and bring to boil.
When the water has come to boil, pour out the water in the bowl containing the soaking rice. Add the wet rice to the boiling water.
When the water comes to boil again and the rice floats to the top of the pot (approx. 6 mins), pour the contents of the pot into a fine colander. You know your rice is ready to strain if you bite a rice kernel and the center is still uncooked.
Return the pot to the burner, set heat to medium and add 1 1/2 TBS oil.
If using coriander seeds, sprinkle them on the bottom of the pot, and arrange potato slices over them.
Using a spatula, gently scoop the drained rice into the pot. Make sure you do not push the rice in together as this will result in mushy rice. Scatter the rice throughout the pot, in a pyramid shape until finished. Your pot should not be filled to the top. You will need about 3 inches between the top of your rice and the top of the pot. If you must tap the rice off of your spatula, do not tap it against the pot. This will move the rice in the pot and press them together. Tap your spatula against the colander.
Using the handle of a long wooden spoon or another utensil, gently press several holes around the rice down to the potato crust. This will allow the steam to travel freely through the pot. Pour the saffron mixture over the top of the rice.
Drizzle over the rice with 1 TBS oil. You can also cut 2 TBS butter into small pieces and dot along the top of the rice.
To serve, you can place a large round platter over the top of the pot, then carefully invert the pot and remove gently. This will create a cake-effect, with the potato crust showing on top. Or, you can use a spatula to gently remove the rice and scatter on your serving platter, creating a pyramid-effect, placing the crunchy potatoes on top or surrounding the rice.
Serving Suggestions: Rice can be served two different ways. First, you can place a large plate over the top of your pot. The plate must be large enough to cover your pot with plenty of room to spare. Grab the plate and pot handles and carefully lift the pot and flip it over so the pot is facing down on the plate. Put the plate on the table and gently wiggle and lift the pot up.This method is pictured above.
A second option is to use a spatula to gently scoop the rice out and onto the platter. On the bottom you will find the crust (called "ta-dig") and you can place the pieces along the platter (pictured below).
Cooking Tips: If you have undercooked your rice during the boiling stage and your rice isn't cooked after 45 minutes, you can add a couple teaspoons of water to the rice, cover the pot again and have the new steam help finish the cooking. If your crust is soggy, leave it in the pot and let it sit under medium-high heat until crunchy. If your crust won't come out of the pot, stick the bottom of the pot in a sink filled with a couple inches of cold water. This will help the crust come out.
What do you call comfort food in your family?
The word Persian sounds comforting with the idea of spices or dried fruits. And rice, I too think it is comfort food. I love this recipe with saffron! My brother introduced me to Persian food in Wash DC, and to this day I remember a stew with pomegranates.
I have been looking for more saffron recipes. This one would be great for my husband because he also prefers white (basmati) rice over brown rice or grains like quinoa.
That video was fascinating! And I love the guitar! All of it was beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing!
Loved the video, Laura and your recipe sounds amazing!
So pretty! Great recipe, great video. I love saffron but don't use it that much (it's partially the cost issue, I guess). But I need to make this! Really good stuff – thanks.
Oh what a great video, and recipe. Rice is one of my favorites.
Isn't it funny how we associate comfort food with cooler weather? Does anyone have a comfort food they eat in the summer? Your basmati sounds wonderfully aromatic. I can smell it from here!
This is one beautiful dish, and the video was so helpful. I can't wait to try it. Pinned.
Basmati rice is so delicious, I love the saffron here!
Love the video 🙂 ! Now, since I still have a small amount of the saffron I won on your blog left: guess where that is going to go? And I'm truly looking forward to it!
Great video! Sophisticated technique…I want this now!
Basmati rice is my favourite rice. I keep trying to eat brown rice for the health benefits but it takes ages to cook and is a bit too nutty for my liking. I will watch your video tonight after work. My boss might not appreciate me advertising that I am reading food blogs.
I think you did a great job on the video! I absolutely need to make this Persian rice. I'm used to the spanish meals containing saffron so I have a deep appreciation for the spice, but it's interesting to see other ways of infusing it into your food.
I hired an Iranian refugee in Knoxville years ago and we became great friends. She had no way to thank me for what I did for her so she cooked her traditional favorites for me. I just loved it all.
Laura, this video is absolutely beautiful! I LOVE your cousin's music! The preparation of the rice was like watching a ballet — so graceful, so artistic, with such a great rhythm. And needless to say, the dish looks so delicious — especially the potato crust! Really wonderful.
This is AMAZING! I was absolutely mesmerized from start to finish. And your cousin's music is incredible. As an avid Family Spice reader, I hereby request MORE VIDEOS!!!
Have you tried Armenian rice? We went to an Armenian restaurant and they add allspice and some of these little noodles in their version. We are basmati lovers all the way!
Laura, you did a FANTASTIC job on making this video! I've been hearing how long it takes to shoot AND edit. You did it so perfectly that I wonder if it was a lot of work? 😉 Rice is comfort food for us too. It's the most important dish in our cuisine and we really care for high quality rice. I enjoyed the music in the background too. I feel I need to eat saffron rice!
I love my Mac and iMovie made the editing pretty "easy" for a beginner. I completely muted the sounds in post-production, music is easy to import, too. There are great transitions you can choose from. My only issue was the text and the best way to show it. I might have to rework that!
Gracias por su pregunta. Las semillas que utilizo en el video son semillas de cilantro. Son opcionales, pero ofrecen un gran sabor y aroma si los agregas.


Practical care and assistance. There may come a time when your loved one can no longer talk, sit, walk, eat, or make sense of the world. Daily activities such as, bathing, feeding, toileting, dressing, and turning may require total assistance and increased physical strain on the part of the caregiver. These tasks can be supported by in-home care provided by quality, loving staff at Caring Companions.
Comfort and dignity. Even when a person's memory/dementia and cognitive functions have diminished, their capacity to feel loved or lonely, sad or secure, frightened or at peace remains.
Respite Care. Respite care can give you and your family a much needed break from the intensity of end of life caregiving. It will allow for the family caregiver to time to deal with the demands of their own personal life, meet with friends for support, watch a movie or simply have some quite time. Don't hesitate to ask your hospice care provider for volunteer support to relieve you, reach out to an in-home care agency or a brief stay in a hospice care facility for respite care.
The following are some things to consider before making the decision to take on end of life care of a loved one at home.
What is your loved one's preferences for end of life care that include remaining at home with hospice care?
Do you have trustworthy, qualified and dependable support available to ensure 24-hour care?
Will the home where your loved one will be staying accommodate a hospital bed, wheelchair, and bedside commode?
Do you have quality hospice and palliative care staff on board to help you at home?
Are you physically able to lift, turn, and move your loved one?
Can you meet your other family and work responsibilities as well as caring for your loved one's needs?
Every person's emotional needs and responses in the final stages of life are different. However, many emotions are common to many people during end of life care. Your loved one may worry about loss of control and dignity as their physical abilities decline. It's common for people to fear being a burden to their loved ones and at the same time also fear being abandoned.
Letting your loved one know they are not alone. Talk to your loved one, read to him or her, watch movies together or simply sit and hold their hand. Even when you can't be there, a professional caregiver can give much needed tender loving care to assure your loved one a peaceful environment.
Don't discuss your feelings of fear, sadness and loss with your loved one. Instead, talk to someone else about your feelings.
Allow your loved one to express their fears of death. It can be very difficult to hear a loved one talk about physically leaving family behind, but communicating their fears can help them come to terms and deal with what is happening to them.
Take time to reminiscence with your loved one about their life. Talking about the good and bad times of a person's life and the past is another way some patients gain perspective on their life and the process of dying.
Avoid withholding difficult information. If your loved one is still able to comprehend, most people prefer to be included in discussions about issues that concern them.
Honor your loved one's wishes. Even if you don't agree with your loved one's wishes, by honoring their end of life decisions about their care you are allowing them to still have control of their life. Reassure your loved one that you will honor their wishes, such as advance directives and living wills, hospice decisions, etc.


text:
Jeremy Antonisse (* 29. März 2002 in Rosmalen, Niederlande) ist ein niederländischer Fußballspieler, der aktuell bei der PSV Eindhoven und der Fußballnationalmannschaft von Curaçao spielt.

Karriere

Verein
Antonisse begann seine fußballerische Laufbahn beim OJC Rosmalen, ehe er 2010 zur PSV Eindhoven wechselte. 2017/18 spielte er die ersten Male für die B-Junioren, mit welcher er die U17-Meisterschaft gewann. In der Folgesaison machte er zehn Tore in 32 Spielen für A- und B-Junioren zusammen genommen und gewann mit der U17 die Meisterschaft. 2019/20 spielte er nur noch für die U19 und machte dort in 17 Spielen vier Tore. Am 30. November 2020 (10. Spieltag) debütierte er für Jong PSV bei einer knappen Niederlage gegen den SC Cambuur. Sein erstes Tor für Jong Ajax schoss er am 2. Januar 2021 (21. Spieltag) gegen den NAC Breda. Nach diesem Spiel gab er sein Debüt für die erste Mannschaft, als er gegen den FC Emmen in der 90. Minute für Eran Zahavi ins Spiel kam. Dies war jedoch sein einziger Saison einsatz, da er danach wieder als Stammspieler zur zweiten Mannschaft zurückkehrte. Am 23. August 2021 verlängerte er seinen Vertrag bei der PSV um drei Jahre, bis Juni 2024.

Nationalmannschaft
Antonisse spielte bislang lediglich dreimal für die U17 der Niederlande.

Nachdem er bei der Elftal keine Chance für ihn sah entschied sich der noch 18-jährige Antonisse künftig für die Fußballnationalmannschaft von Curaçao zu spielen. Sein Debüt gab er am 25. März 2021 in einem Qualifikationsspiel für die WM 2022 in Katar, als er gegen St. Vincent und die Grenadinen eingewechselt wurde und ein Tor vorlegte (5:0).

Erfolge
 Niederländischer U17-Meister: 2018
 Niederländischer Vize-Meister: 2021

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Fußballnationalspieler (Curaçao)
Fußballspieler (PSV Eindhoven)
Fußballspieler (FC Emmen)
Niederländer
Geboren 2002
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia