I was happy to hear the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions this afternoon. The singers were from Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, the youngest aged 22, the eldest 30. They came with nerves aplenty to perform in a packed Spivey Hall. Each contestant sang an opening number of their choice and then the judges, two from the Chicago Lyric Opera and one retired from the Metropolitan, chose a second aria from a list of five that each contestant had provided. Mozart was most often the second choice for it seemed that the judges thought the clarity of tone needed to negotiate Mozart would expose any weakness and quite often it did so. I large instrument just bulling it's way one has difficulty tripping through the classic period. I do love singing of course, but what called me to be on hand in this instance was that one of my former students had recently won the district audition and was one of three Georgia representatives in the Regions. Winners here go on to perform at the Met in NYC. Kaitlyn entered the district competition last year and was given an encouragement award (an honorable mention). Here she was the youngest competitor and once again won the encouragement award. If this pattern continues, she should win the regions next year! We'll hope so. She sang fabulously and I was pleased that I taught her the technique that she sings with still. It made me feel good about my teaching. Oddly the judges asked Kaitlyn to a third aria. She was the only singer asked to sing three. She nailed the third one, seeming to be better on it than the first. She sang Bellini, Mozart, and Strauss. The judges declared two winners, a tenor with 10 high C's in his first aria, and a six foot tall soprano with a voice like a canon. Those two will be singing at the Met next month.

I'm becoming quite a grocery shopper. By watching the newspaper ads and clipping cupons I'm getting savings that I have never gotten before. On Friday I spent $40.xx and saved $28.xx with coupons and other discounts. Not bad, huh? This is a little better than average but I'm saving 20% to 25% routinely. I should have done this sooner. Twenty-five dollars a week is $1500 a year!!

Okay, enough with the cold weather. As a professional dog walker, three times a day, I can tell you that it has been brutal out there. Patches doesn't seem to notice. The snow didn't even bother her.

We went to Dillard's today were I took advantage of the sales and bought some warm shirts.

Barack Obama has made a surprising showing in South Carolina. At least there, a shift has taken place in the democratic support.

Barack Hussein OBama? Actually Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. His name makes news all the time. So what are some of the other candidates names? Would you believe?

Willard Mitt Romney

John Sidney McCain, III

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton

Rudolph William Louis Giuliani

So if we have to hear Hussein any more, could we please hear Willard, Sidney, and Rudolph William Louis a little bit. Diane may actually be an improvement on Hillary.

The war in Iraq costs $720,000,000.00 a day.
From the Washington Post:
Even today, Iraqi electrical generation meets barely half the daily national requirements. Baghdad households now receive power an average of 12 hours each day -- six hours fewer than when Saddam Hussein ruled. Oil production still has not returned to pre-invasion levels. Reports of widespread fraud, waste and sheer ineptitude in the administration of U.S. aid have become so commonplace that they barely last a news cycle. (Recall, for example, the 110,000 AK-47s, 80,000 pistols, 135,000 items of body armor and 115,000 helmets intended for Iraqi security forces that, according to the Government Accountability Office, the Pentagon cannot account for.) U.S. officials repeatedly complain, to little avail, about the paralyzing squabbling inside the Iraqi parliament and the rampant corruption within Iraqi ministries. If a primary function of government is to provide services, then the government of Iraq can hardly be said to exist.

Two very interesting news items this week. One of my former students won the District Metropolitan Opera Auditions last week. Yesterday I found out that another former student, Anne-Carolyn Bird, began singing with the Metropolitan Opera last year. I've had two sing on Broadway, but this is the first at the Met. It makes me smile.

If you haven't seen "Juno" already, try to slip over and catch it. It is a small movie about a serious subject. Regardless of how you feel about the overall treatment of the subject (teenage prenancy), the character development is believeable in most cases and the actors deliver their lines with punch. Ellen Page is striking. You'd think she'd be overmatched in some of the scenes, but she can hold her own. The entire cast is pretty strong. Hopefully we'll see her soon against some of the greats in the industry.

It is clear that nothing in the world will deter the preznit from his mantra of tax cuts for the rich. His newly proposed economic stimulus is a tax rebate. He wants to give money only to those who are well off and don't really need the money. If as expected, his plan deposits $1600 in my household budget, we will promptly put the money into savings. We don't need it. We won't spend it. There will be no economic stimulus from money given to us. The money must go to people who need it and will spend it. The preznit can't vary from his tax cuts for the rich idea. That's what we need.

Mike Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister. So am I. He believes in creationism. He thinks it is fine to wave the Confederate States of America battle flag. Those are appeals to radical rightwing Christians and segregationists. Sad. Not Baptist.

The AJC endorsed Obama as the democratic nominee today.

What sense influences us the most strongly? I have made my living by appealing to the ear, but I am overwhelmed by the eye. Is abstract art abstract or is there something somewhere that actually looks like that and the abstract art is merely a representation of it? I'm trying to load two photos on this issue of the blog that were taken from seven miles above the earth. It was a fairly clear day and we could see to the horizon, where the earth curved out of sight. Isn't that an amazing thought. Flying to San Francisco in business class was something special, but I was not prepared for the beauty of what lay beneath me. I had no idea where we were, but I think we were over Brice Canyon when I saw this slash in the earth that ran from north to south as far as the eye could see. The other shot was of farmland admidst the mountains. Every flat area was cultivated. The circles, I've been told are a square mile. They look like abstract art to me.

A new CBS poll shows the preznit's approval rating at 29%. Nevertheless, 66% of Republicans approve of his handling of the presidency. Talk about two different Americas, there you have it. 75% of the country thinks America is on the wrong track. 3% of respondents thought the economy was going very well.

Well the economy seems to be nearing a crisis. American stock markets are plunging to places that they were at the beginning of this preznit's administration in 2001. Sad. Even with the Federal Reserve promising to be proactive to keep the economy afloat things are spinning downward.

This week in DeKalb County there was a job fair for the opening of a new Wal-Mart at the old Avondale Mall. Hopefully that will be a good thing for that community. There were 400 jobs being offered. 10,000 people came to apply for those jobs. I don't see Wal-mart as a great job but ten thousand people wanted those jobs. The bad thing to realise is that 9,600 of them will not get a job.

What is George Bush doing to help the economy? Oh sorry, he's now into the foreign policy phase of his presidency and has stopped noticing the economy. Besides the filthy rich are doing well. But to tell the truth, there aren't that many countries where our preznit is welcome as a visitor, so he'll be back soon.

I've got to say that I'm mystified by the mortgage crisis that has arisen across the country. It seems when we have tried to get a mortgage we have been scrutinized every which way. Although we've always had flawless credit reports, we've still had to furnish tax returns, been subject to appraisals of the property, confirmed our employment status, and had to fill out numerous forms, asking hundreds of questions. How did all these people get undocumented loans? It is a mystery. Country Wide holds our mortgage and they were purchased by Bank of America this week to keep them afloat. I'm doing my part to keep them afloat too, making those payments.

We visited our past today and saw old friends. We had and excuse so we visited a church that we moved away from a decade ago. Our friends were still there, their faces shining, glad to see us. That was a nice thing. Their children, like ours, are grown and making their was as adults. The staff has turned over and the ministers did not notice us nor know who we were, but our friends surrounded us after worship for hugs and warm wishes. We should visit them more often.

In the New York Times today.

How to Rig an Election, by a former republican operative. He tells how the New Hampshire Election was rigged for Sen. Sununu.

Goodbye to the fourth estate. This policy change by the preznit allows the republican media to assault you a city by print media, radio, and television in an effort to completely control the news going to that city's people. Orwellian tactics and a break from previous policies. The quote follows.

"Just a week before Christmas," the preznit "gave corporate America two big presents. On Tuesday, his Federal Communications Commission changed the rules to allow the nation's giant conglomerates to further consolidate their grip on the media by permitting them to purchase TV and radio stations in the same local markets where they already own daily newspapers."