The Banal Chew

Affable YouTube Monday

Oh, alright. 

Keane, Hamburg song

Fritz Wunderlich, O wie ängstlich

Affable YouTube Monday (on a Tuesday)

What a swell, relaxing holiday weekend. 

After Zane was deposited in his mom's arms for his fortnightly weekend in Canberra, Mark and I finally had the chance to hang out, just the two of us, fairly unencumbered by the necessity to go shopping, do laundry, supervise homework, give the ubiquitous clarinet or German lesson, or simply to be somewhere at every moment.  We even tucked away our mobile phones now and again to focus even more on the two of us...a big step, especially for Mark. 

Mostly we did a big lot of nothing, enjoying the warmth and dryness of our humble abode.  We did venture out in the rain once or twice.

Rainy Sydney 

Brad's Sunday lamb roast hit the spot, as did the copious amounts of Shiraz.  Gabe and Christian were there, too, adding a somewhat Ethan-Morddenesque aura to the evening.  Friends, pets, food, wine, music, Balderdash.  Heaps of fun, as always.

Mark, YT, Gabe, Christian, Dean, Brad (l to r)

Six-month-old puppies are always a hit, especially Ralph.

Reassuring Roger that he is everyone's favorite, too.

Yesterday, Mark and I even went to Wollongong for a family event.  Nothing like living on the edge.

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Now for some affability.

Babs gets Lazy

Sand Art

Affable YouTube Monday

Kathleen Battle, Over My Head
Rufus Wainwright, Going to a Town

Affable YouTube Monday

It was a tiring one.

Saturday I was hungover. I don't tie one on very often, but I did Friday night. We went to Trinity Hotel to celebrate Matty's birthday. Good fun, good beer...bad, bad headache. 

That night, dinner with Jase & Kev and then a late showing of Sunshine at my favorite Sydney cinema. Great company, average movie, diminishing headache.

Sunday was beeeezzy. Site visits all over the greater Sydney area to scope out the shooting locations for  the short film Mark is making. Then off to retrieve Zane from Sutton Forest. (He'd been staying with his mum in Canberra for the last week of his Easter school holiday.) Then down to Wollongong to visit with the sisters and talk about whether or not we all want to go in together to buy the townhouse Mark and I currently live in. Then back to Sydney. Poor Roger. That was about as long as we've ever left him alone, and because we were visiting so many places, it wasn't possible to take him along. But he's such a great dog. No accidents and all was forgiven as soon as we snuggled with him in bed.

Okay, here it is...Affable YouTube Monday. 

Philippe Jaroussky sings Vivaldi.

Affable YouTube Monday

We're getting kicked out of our townhouse. The owners are selling. It sux like an Electrolux. To take my mind off it, I've watched these.

Les Plaisirs de Versailles by M.A. Charpentier / Sophie Karthäuser, sop., Les Folies Françoises

The groovy 5th Dimension singing music of the incredible Laura Nyro, as well as a couple of their hits by other songwriters.

Nyro sings her own.  She is missed.

Affable YouTube Monday

A day late...  (What's Affable YouTube Monday? Click here to find out.)

Enjoy!  (Apologies to readers with dial-up.)

Third duet from David Dawson's ballet, The Grey Area (Sofiane Sylve and Raphael Coumes Marquet, dancers):

Jean Seberg was an amazing actor who succumbed to poor mental health. Here is someone's tribute to her:

Ms Price's 1985 farewell to opera: "O patria mia" from Verdi's Aida at the Met:

And, finally, something not quite so morose.  Rossini's "Cat Duet":

Affable YouTube Monday

It seems we focus a great deal on the droll and frightful side of YouTube, which can be great fun (zum Beispiel). In reality, YouTube also houses some fairly artful stuff, too.  Therefore, I decided to begin a weekly posting that will share some of the more beautiful YouTube options available for viewing.  (No, I'm not being sarcastic this time...really, I'm not.)   

And so, at the risk of breaching copyright in some small corner of the globe, here's the first installment of Affable YouTube Monday. Two selections will be offered each time.  Undoubtedly the focus will be on classical music, mainly because that's what I do, but I will try my best to vary it somewhat.

(You'll see a lot of the incredible Ms Price on here.)