Pull Tight

Was in one of the big box stores shortly before Halloween and observed a little girl about 5 or 6 years old looking at a Santa Claus ornament display.  Got to thinking about the length of time until Christmas and how much longer it is now than when I was a child. When many of us were children, you very rarely saw any decorations, store displays, etc for Christmas until sometime after Thanksgiving and probably not until early December.  And, it still seemed like forever until Santa showed up.  Can you just imagine how long it must seem to the children today?

The illustration above is of   Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi conducting the Paris premier in 1880. Below is Latonia Moore who starred as Aida.  It actually premiered in Cairo, Egypt.  Story of how it came to be written is interesting.  You can read it about on the web. Due to a work conflict, I ended up going alone to see Verdi's Aida Friday night.  Really enjoyed. The performance, set, sound and costumes were all very impressive.  And the new opera house (Windspear) in Dallas is a very nice facility for a production such as this.  Not being the biggest opera fan, I was surprised that so much of the music was familiar. Walking through the parking lot, it occurred to me I was probably the only opera patron to arrive in an 18 year old pick up truck.  Even country boys need a little culture.

DALLAS - 'Chad Deity' scores a knockout at the Wyly | Star-Telegram.com Saw this production last night; fun, thought provoking and a little unsettling. It was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for best drama.  As reviewed by the New York times "..... “Chad Deity” plumbs a United States that wallows in ready-made myths it doesn’t even believe in." Seeing this play about professional wrestling brought to mind Saturday afternoons watching television wrestling in the early 60s with  Grand Dad    Some of you may remember him (Clint McIntire).  He was janitor at the school in Tolar for a while and active in the Tolar Baptist Church for many years.   He would probably have preferred missing a train than missing the Saturday wrestling matches.   He knew it was all fake and theatrics, but I think this just made it all the more appealing and even more fun for him.   He would have enjoyed the play almost as much as I did.