Pause to Enjoy Random Acts of Culture

Hi, Everyone,

Thanks to Pearl's husband, we have performances of the Opera Company of Philadelphia to enjoy.  Relax during this hectic time and let the music wash over you for a few quiet minutes.

Pearl writes, "I thought you might enjoy two pieces David found from Philadelphia YouTubelore -- the Opera Company of Philadelphia has a grant from the Knight Foundation to commit "random acts of culture". 

They've done the Brindisi chorus from La Traviata in Reading Terminal (on Italian festival Day), and just recently did the Hallelujah Chorus (650 voices) in Macy's Great Hall (the old Wanamaker Organ as accompaniment). .

The Messiah piece has nearly 6,000,000 hits."

The links are below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zmwRitYO3w&feature=player_profilepage


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU&feature=player_embedded

ENJOY!

Thanks, Pearl and David too!

Reminders of the Season

Take time to enjoy the season by viewing the beautiful Christmas card forwarded to us by Barb R. and created by Jacquie Lawson.

Your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, family and friends should find it rewarding.


Click on this link:


http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=2007134554829&source=jl999

Thanks, Barb!  It's well worth the 'click'.

For more ecards by Jacquie Lawson, go to http://www.jacquilawson.com/ and join.







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Put a Good Novel on Your Holiday Gift List

Many of you may have read Girl With A Pearl Earring or seen the Oscar-nominated  film based on Tracy Chevalier's historical novel (Dutton, 1999).

Chevalier has written a total of 6 historical novels with Remarkable Creatures (Harper Collins 2009) the most recent.

Thanks to Pearl, we have a review of Remarkable Creatures to share.

Pearl recounts her recent attendance at a talk given by Chevalier.

She says, "I had the pleasure of hearing Tracy Chevalier talk about the research she does for her books. Besides the library research on Mary Anning ,she went fossil hunting multiple times to gain an awareness of the coast, the cold and the concentration fossil hunting took. There actually exists a small museum of Mary Anning's finds.

The book is about poor and uneducated Mary Anning, who really did exist, and her ability to find fossils on the English coast.

Of course the male academic community did not recognize her. The fictionalized character, Elizabeth Pilpot, from the middle-class brings notice of Mary to the London academic community.

The book has wonderful descriptions of the class structure in Britain and the fear of finding evidence of new creatures. It is a quick and enjoyable read.
Hope you enjoy the book,"

(Thanks, Pearl.  for sending us this review.)

For those who have enjoyed one of Tracy Chevalier's historical novels or who are choosing one for the first time, there are 4 others among of her literary achievements:

The Virgin Blue(Plume, 1997)
Falling Angels (Dutton, 2001)
The Lady and the Unicorn(Dutton Adult,  2003)
 Burning Bright (Harper Collins,2007)