Stuff I like

I saw someone was doing a “challenge” to not buy any new clothes for 40 days.

what: rossini's 1828 comedy/farce "le comte ory", at the glyndebourne festival in 1997

when: saturday 25 april, 21:00 EEST/18:00 UTC (check your local time)

where: kosmi

language: french with english subs

duration: 2h 20min

cast: Marc Laho, Annick Massis, Diana Montague, Ludovic Tézier, Jane Shaulis, Julien Robbins. Conducted by Andrew Davis, directed by Jerome Savary.

plot:

the music is the real highlight, not the story, but the gist is this:

notorious libertine and spoiled brat Count Ory wants to seduce the hopelessly depressed Countess Adèle

figures that the best way to do this is to first give her therapy to awaken her repressed sexuality, and then dress up as a woman to awaken her repressed bisexuality

in true Rossini fashion, there is a thunderstorm and everyone is really scared

in true Rossini fashion, half the music was borrowed from one of his own earlier operas

it's almost easter so you know what that means: time to celebrate leporello being trapped in the fucking Horrors for his birthday!

Pardon

Thank you, Pierre and Lorenzo, for even more homoerotic shenanigans than we usually see!

I just read Da Ponte's Wikipedia article -- what a rollercoaster -- and you should too. And while currently bogged down in 80 pages of academic Introduction, I will finish the Figaro plays eventually.

Tennessean Charlotte McLeod, 28, was the 2nd US trans woman to obtain gender-affirming surgery in Denmark after Christine Jorgensen. I love this 1954 photo with her father. You clearly see the love and support in his eyes. He adored his daughter and celebrated her for who she was.

At first, Charlotte McLeod's father didn't support her medical transition. However, after her surgery, he explained, "now that it’s over, I’m ready to accept Charlotte as my daughter[...] It's a little hard to get used to after all these years, but I will, you can bet on that."