Culture – Page 32 – Silence and Voice

Macbeth at the Met

I saw the new production of Verdi’s Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera, and have to confess that I was blown away by Maria Gugleghina, the soprano who dominated the opera as Lady Macbeth. She sand standing still, walking, laying down in bed, and even nearly face-down on stage–all without any decrease in vocal delivery or richness of sound. As I have only recently started to attend the opera, I have not seen more than a handful of performances over the past three years, but last night was the first time I heard a performer fill the full house with her voice. The Met’s blog has some great pictures of the opening night, and I am eager to read about what the NY Times will say tomorrow about this.

Technorati Tags: Macbeth, Maria Gugleghina, Met Opera, Metropolitan Opera

Philosophy and Popular Culture

The Chronicle had an interesting article on the increasing number of books that are written by philosophers for ordinary folks. While this is anathema in the discipline that often focuses so inwardly that those outside it have no idea what they are talking about (who else considers if perception and emotion can be cognitive attributes?), it is refreshing to see ery smart people writing about cultural phenomena that are often more complex than at first noticed. I hope Bill Irwin continues with his almost all-consuming commitment to this.

After writing about the Matrix and Philosophy, how about George / Rudy / Hillary / Barack and Philosophy? What, not enough substance for takers?

Hiking in the Catskills

I went hiking last week for the first time. Bought new Merrell hiking boots and even rented Leki trekking poles. Had a wonderful time. Great changes in scenery over the 3.2 miles, which gave me a workout in nature without filtered air nor with an iPod. What a nifty idea. I loaded some other pictures on Flickr.

Keep this up, and I just may lose weight and get into shape. Once again, what a nifty idea!

On the other hand, there is no better place to clean the mind while studying Kant’s Third Critique. Where better place to see art than in the woods? Not quite like Thoreau, but I did come out of them.

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day, which I learned about from Beth and Andy and Tom and Howard and Wendy and Darren and Stephen (I read some really interesting blogs!). I know, a little late in the day to learn about this, but that is just part of how technology seems to be changing how we operate and work.

What does this have to do with the environment, which is the point of Blog Action Day? Technology should help us be more efficient, but when we are not using it, there hardly seems any efficiency to keeping all of it on and using the electricity when we leave the office. To this end, I will begin turning off my monitor at work at the end of the day, rather than leaving it on as I was always taught to do with the old, large monitors. Mind you, my monitor at work is still large and thus uses a lot of power, and while I do turn my computer off, I never touched my monitor.

Furthermore, I will look into saving power from a corporate social responsibility perspective, and will look at work for whomever directs this initiative about saving power when computers and monitors are not in use.

How is that for a simple piece of action that can have large possible effects?

Al Gore, Nobel Laureate

Congratulations to Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to raise awareness about the issues surrounding global warming, or what I like to refer to as Global Climactic Change.

In the company of Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Yunus, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, and Mother Teresa, Al Gore seems to have accomplished more after his “official” role in the government than while he was vice president. I wonder if that is at all significant?