Monthly Archives: February 2013
Life Expectancy in the US and Social Awareness
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th February 2013Medical care in the United States is often compared unfavorably to that of other developed countries. It’s commonly stated that life expectancy in the US is much lower than in other countries and that this is due, at least in part, to poor medical care in the US. Life expectancy, of course, is affected by many things other things…
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Rigoletto at the Met – 1945
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th February 2013Rigoletto was just broadcast by the Met. It was a nice performance, but check this one out. Its the broadcast of Dec 29, 1945. The cast is impossible to duplicate today. The difference between then and now is wider than the Grand Canyon. Warren and Björling seem another species; It’s on Youtube so I can’t…
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Rigoletto in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th February 2013The Metropolitan Opera’s 847th performance of Verdi’s masterpiece was telecast in HD yesterday. It’s 6th on the company’s list of most frequently staged operas. Though Verdi was only 37 when he wrote Rigoletto it was his 17th opera. Over the remaining half century of his life he would write only 11 more. Rigoletto was based on Victor Hugo’s play…
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Dr Ben Carson’s Speech at the National Prayer Breakast
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th February 2013Benjamin Carson is the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. On February 7 he spoke to the National Prayer Breakfast with the President and the First Lady in attendance. The affair displays the usual insensitivity to non-Christian faiths typical of such events which stems from inadvertence not malice. Carson’s speech is in his own words not politically correct; it…
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What Makes a Great Tenor
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th February 2013That’s the title of a 2010 BBC program narrated by Rolando Villazon. I don’t know how long it will stay on Youtube, but here it is. It’s almost an hour long and leaves out a lot of great tenors; but it’s worth watching.
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Time Through a Buffet Line is Inversely Proportional to IQ
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th February 2013Recently, I was looking at some reviews of local restaurants posted by their customers. After a short time I noticed a pattern among them. Those who had patronized restaurants that required it’s customers to go through a buffet line or to order their food from a person behind the counter commonly complained of slow service. I then went to one…
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