Monthly Archives: May 2010
The Matador
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th May 2010The Matador is a 75 minute documentary released in 2008. It chronicles the ultimately successful attempt by Spanish matador David Fandila who performs under the cognomen of El Fandi to appear in 100 bullfights in a single Spanish season. Only 12 matadors had achieved the feat prior to El Fandi’s attempt, though the great torero…
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La vita è inferno all’infelice…O tu che seno agli angeli
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th May 2010Verdi’s apotheosis to misery and self pity is one of opera’s greatest arias. The recitative which starts the scena is better than most composers’ best arias. The aria itself is sublime. It requires an extraordinary tenor to bring it off. For no reason other than I like it so much here are three performances of…
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Diabetes and Blood Pressure Control
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th May 2010It’s been standard clinical practice for some time to aim for a lower blood pressure in diabetic patients with hypertension compared to hypertensive patients with normal glucose metabolism. Like so much in medicine this approach was based on surmise rather than evidence. The thinking went along these lines. Diabetics are at greatly increased risk for…
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La Traviata in the Market
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd May 2010I’m on vacation – regular posts will resume when I return home the end of the week. In the meantime have a look at this: The video was recorded in the central market in Valencia. Why I don’t know; it’s so good that a reason is superfluous.
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