tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67681109682621064102024-03-10T00:36:01.976-08:00SmorgZoneThe musing outlet of Smorg the cycling opera fan in Southern California. Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.comBlogger396125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-12498554070128489092024-03-03T14:11:00.000-08:002024-03-03T14:11:56.597-08:00Doing the little things is better than just saying a lot of things Ordinary people becoming extraordinary by doing their work well.Ordinary people doing what they can to improve things for their community. No hero need apply. Just ordinary people resolving to do the little things that they can to improve their community and surrounding. Little things like cleaning up after themselves, resisting the urge to jump to conclusions, opting for compassion Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-43860740951426227692022-09-08T13:16:00.004-07:002022-09-08T13:16:32.496-07:00The torch is passed to a new era Queen Elizabeth II had been the Queen of England well before I was born. Many people have lived a decent length and died with her on the throne. It's pretty darn amazing for someone to be in the spotlight for so long and maintained a nearly impeccable record. There have been many scandals in her family, and yet she sailed through them all with such dignity, a true rock for the Brits and Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-48089056506932102272022-07-25T19:50:00.001-07:002022-07-25T19:50:06.390-07:00From the good old golfing daysBack in fall of 1993, the last semester of my studies at Professional Golfers Career College in Murrieta (the college have long since moved to a bigger and more modern campus in Temecula), I spent every Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the driving range of either Menifee Country Club, Sun City Golf Club, or the newly opened Red Hawk Golf Club, giving free swing lessons as the practical part of Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-43708073838913000332022-07-04T07:05:00.002-07:002022-07-04T07:26:41.410-07:00Happy Independence DayIt's 4th of July. The founders of this country was nothing if not resilient in the face of division and a whole lot of tribulations. 13 different states stuck together despite of their differences to form a new nation... One that definitely has not lived happily ever after. Even familial siblings fight and think differently about things, but they still love each other and their parents (Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-5396417751662958582022-07-01T11:41:00.000-07:002022-07-01T11:41:04.009-07:00Halfway thru 2022... I've been very neglectful of this blog... So much has happened since I last regularly posted, and I'm proving to be quite the stellar procrastinator! Well... It is July 2022, and where I live in Coastal Southern California you could walk around thinking that the COVID19 pandemic is long over with. Masking isn't even required on public transportation (buses and trains) anymore. I've hadSmorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-40988689284767323122021-06-29T14:20:00.002-07:002022-07-04T07:30:14.386-07:00San Diego Opera's 2021-2022 Season AnnouncementSorry, folks, no time to properly write, so I'll just paste below the San Diego Opera's latest press release.San Diego Opera Announces 2021-2022 Season· Fall Concert Series Featuring Stephanie Blythe, Michelle Bradley, and Arturo Chacón-Cruz· Return to indoor mainstage performances at the San Diego Civic Theatre with productions of Così fan tutte and Roméo et Juliette· Beth Morrison Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-29771563482468391072020-04-24T13:10:00.001-07:002020-04-24T13:10:09.516-07:00April 2020: Month Two of COVID19 in Southern CaliforniaJust dropping off some photos from my various essential trips out of the house (we are still under 'Shelter In Place' order, and so are to stay home except for short essential errands or to exercise in the immediate neighborhood).
The last week of March and the first week of April saw us hit with a series of soaking rain. Our road ways have gone quite holey, and the bike lanes full of gravel andSmorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-22063035713666346162020-04-09T16:27:00.001-07:002020-04-09T16:27:15.589-07:00COVID19 time - Southern CaliforniaIt's been raining on and off the last few days, a late season storm that somehow arrived to town just as I finally stopped coughing after 3 weeks of quarantine.
We are in the middle of the COVID19 pandemic, of course, so when I started having sore throat - the usual first-sign-of-the-flu for me - back on March 20th, I went to the doctor and tested positive for influenza B. COVID19 test wasn'tSmorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-23542867790686314912020-03-17T17:03:00.004-07:002020-03-17T17:03:45.243-07:00Not Coveting the COVID
Well, folks, even if you are super macho, have an impenetrable immune system, and don't care about spreading an infectious disease that can kill others (either because they have compromised immune system, or because they can't get access to life-saving medical procedure because all the ICUs are full and all the ventilators are already being used by critical patients) you still should practice Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-1062164780829323562019-11-28T10:28:00.000-08:002019-11-28T10:32:23.881-08:00Happy Thanksgiving 2019It's the last Thursday in November, and the one holiday I really quite like in the USA - Thanksgiving Day. Being grateful for what one's got should be a daily rather than an annual thing, of course, but it is nice to have a full day off work to really reflect on how not so empty my glass is, even without comparing it with ones belonging to others.
It wasn't so many years ago that good health wasSmorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-75524937860646301222019-11-25T08:02:00.000-08:002019-11-25T08:02:00.094-08:00Real life fairiesA couple of weeks ago my roommate's dog and I ran into a mom and daughter pair of local artists out painting an electrical box nearby on our morning walk.
We stopped to say hello and admired their work a bit before resuming our search for more hills to burn some energy off.
I didn't see them last week, but passed by again yesterday, and here is the finished work.
It's amazing Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-91843459073116626022019-08-04T15:44:00.002-07:002019-08-22T08:32:32.600-07:00Another day, another mass shooting in the USAConsider this, Americans had worked up enough political will to repeal a constitution amendment once... so that they can legally drink
alcohols again.
How many innocent people have died from gun violence compared to mob hits?
Shootings in malls, in theaters, in school, college, daycare,
festivals, concerts, workplace, night clubs, restaurants, etc. But, no,
no amount of innocent deaths Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-89518148557046972282019-08-02T14:52:00.001-07:002019-08-04T10:35:31.035-07:00Hiking localI consider myself lucky to have grown up before the age of the smart phones. It's amazing how many people I know here would sit indoor and stare at pictures like these on their smart phone screen, when the place the photos are from is only a mile and a bit away.
My friend Cornelia and I have been hiking all over the preserve once a week for the past year or so. It's a cherished active Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-34851451170933111372018-07-31T08:09:00.001-07:002018-07-31T08:09:13.137-07:00San Diego Opera 2018-2019 Season Opener: Le nozze di Figaro
This is a truncated press release from the San Diego Opera
San Diego Opera’s 2018-2019 Season Opens with Mozart’s Beloved
The Marriage of Figaro
Bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee makes anticipated Company debut as Figaro
Mezzo-sopranos Emily Fons (Cherubino) and Susanne Mentzer (Marcellina) make welcome returns to the Company
New production to San Diego Opera Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-40300721536653819272018-06-28T21:42:00.005-07:002018-06-28T21:42:49.120-07:00The boons of going on neighborhood walks/bike ridesIt's amazing how you can live in a neighborhood for a long while and still haven't discovered all it has hiding behind its most boring facades. Sometimes all it takes is a good long stroll or not-that-long bike ride in the right directions for you to run into things like a hidden BMX-ish oak-covered dunes, lovely boulder formations, a secret private lake, a hugely scary-looking rottweiler that Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-32733528137960362852017-12-24T16:42:00.004-08:002017-12-24T16:42:44.226-08:00Happy Holidays 2017Oh boy, the holidays sure crept up on me (again). It's hard to believe 2017 is almost over already!
It's been almost a full year since I moved to Vista/Oceanside area last January. I didn't expect much, to be honest, but it has been some kind of wonderful after the horrible year up in Riverside. I've been enjoying stable works, an extremely easy-to-live with roommate (and her endlessly cute Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-18834747059651650812017-09-05T18:55:00.000-07:002017-09-05T18:55:02.147-07:00San Diego rest stopSan Diego is not a pedestrian-friendly place. We are apparently supposed to drive everywhere. Our sidewalks come and go (and when there is one, it is usually not well kept), there are hardly any trash bin around (ergo the third-world-like proliferation of trash everywhere), and only once in a while do you come upon public benches outside of the touristy waterfront. So, when I ran into one while Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-9449451309523051412017-06-02T23:05:00.000-07:002017-06-02T23:05:21.446-07:00Guest Review: VESSELINA KASAROVA AT THE KONZERTHAUS IN BERLIN ON 28TH MAY 2017Written by, and posted courtesy of Mr John Carnegie. Thank you, John!
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Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-51318284911599415802017-03-01T10:53:00.001-08:002017-03-01T10:53:13.040-08:00Greetings from San Diego North CountyIt's nice and peaceful at the new Smorghaus this morning. The California towhee wanted a piece of my breakfast bagel, and the Anna's hummingbirds think I'm a slowpoke at refilling the birdfeeder. They are probably right, too, seeing as the Nuttal's woodpecker is taking his frustration out on the little tree just beyond the fence!
I've better get a move on it...
Hope everyone is having a Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-80416675973583393452016-11-06T11:48:00.000-08:002016-11-06T11:48:18.266-08:00Enjoying a day off and a lovely new Youtube clip of Alcina from Paris Opera 2004Finally a day off! It's been a brutal week with me catching the 4th flu of the year (I really have got to get out of Riverside, CA before too long. I had gone 3 yrs without a flu before I moved up here last December. This place is really bad for me!), but still having to go back to work the first day after the fever finally broke. It seemed the whole town of Redlands knew the Thai resto I've beenSmorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-15405284201310144712016-08-11T20:39:00.001-07:002016-08-11T20:39:18.638-07:00Innsbruck, of all places!By now most of my fellow fans of the Bulgarian - Swiss operatic mezzo soprano Vesselina Kasarova would probably have heard of her run in, a few days ago, with a couple of muggers in Innsbruck ahead of her scheduled performances as Fidalma in Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto. Frau Kasarova is one tough cookie and operatically screamed off her attackers, but not before getting roughed up enough to Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-83439738150739823182016-05-02T21:58:00.000-07:002016-05-02T21:58:05.742-07:00Guest Review: Vesselina Kasarova in Verdi's Rigoletto at Opera BastilleThe following review of the current run of Verdi's Rigoletto (with particular attention on our mutual favorite singer, Vesselina Kasarova) in Paris is guest-posted here courtesy of John Carnegie of Scotland. Thanks very much, John!
VESSELINA KASAROVA IN “RIGOLETTO” AT THE OPÉRA BASTILLE IN PARIS ON 14TH APRIL 2016
Through shuffling round work assignments, I managed to attend the second Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-78708441469144565902016-03-15T10:16:00.000-07:002016-03-15T10:16:03.512-07:00Guest Announcement: San Diego Opera Listening Tour Series
San Diego Opera Announces Listening Tour Series
Tour will see San Diego Opera’s General Director, David Bennett, engaging the community to explore how the Company can best
serve San Diegans
San
Diego, CA – San Diego Opera is proud to announce a listening tour
series that will bring the Company’s General Director, David Bennett,
out into the community to explore
how the Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-89437797752092412502016-01-07T15:17:00.003-08:002016-01-12T15:32:25.133-08:00Happy New Year (a bit late)I'm afraid this past holiday season was rather hellish for yours truly, and really isn't something to talk about. I finally made it back home on Tuesday, though, and spent a lot of time since reacquainting myself with my own bed while trying to excise a nasty strand of virus and a whole lot of tracheal lining... and sort of scaring my roommate to death with the associated noises.
Anyhow, I thinkSmorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768110968262106410.post-43986022297664283462015-11-22T09:24:00.000-08:002015-11-22T09:28:56.403-08:00Je voudrais des frites francaise, s'il vous plait...Sometimes I wish I'm French...
France had the moral backbone to say no when we (the USA) tried to bully her into joining us to invade Iraq for the WMD that Iraq didn't have (tho, to be honest, it wasn't really about the WMD, was it? It was W's misguided notion of revenge... and still aimed at the wrong party). We know, of course, how that invasion ended and what ill was released from that Smorghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01604438508775705758noreply@blogger.com2