Over the weekend.... I visited Tee-vee's netherworld

Which consists of Sunday and Monday chez RenB, I decided to delve into the nether world of tee-vee offered on my subscription channel, which seems to be expanding at the most amazing rate.

They are so ambitious! And I guess I got in on the ground floor of their enterprise. New series keep popping up, things I've read negative things about, and never really wanted to see. But it rained and I was bored, and although a few of them have been up there a while.... I wasn't really tempted to waste my time, and didn't click. As in CSI, the entire crap spinoffs, the Kardashians, whoever they might be, and all the Real Housewives... uh-uh. Not willing to go there.

However, the pseudo prude Mika Brzezinski of morning Joe was moaning and complaining about her twelve year old daughter who just HAD to see the final season's episode of Jersey Shore, and how terrible it is.

This piqued my curiosity, and I entered a world of such bizarre dimensions, I was spitless. What I watched was an hour's worth of a 'Big Brother' style show and it seems that all these people on it DO are to be half-way ok with one another during the day, and then go out and get shit-faced drunk in the evenings, and copulate or get in one another's faces so they can express their real distaste for one another, and yell Fuck You at one another a lot.

And the way Willie Geist always goes ON about 'Snookie' in his 'news you can't use' segments.... Well.... I didn't expect a sawed-off dwarf with weird hair and so much make-up, it looked like she put it on with a trowel... and with a potty mouth that reminded me of the troll lady in Merlin in Season Two. The only thing missing was the farts, and they made up for that with the cast cheering on the misshaped doggie who kept messing on their living room carpet.

The guys on the show have tortured themselves into misshapened nightmares of what Arnold Schwarzenegger visualised for himself in his idiocy for body-building, and have a vocabulary of maybe four thousand words. And are jerks.

So why did I watch one full episode? I wanted to know whereof I speak. But I have two questions. Why would Mika Brzezinski let her twelve year old daughter watch that piece of shit, and why would it be so popular? She, who prides herself on being a strict Mom?

Ohhhh, yeah, right. It's the 'elitist' thing. Let's face it, the kids are gonna hear it on the street, and it's 'in' with the other kids in her children's private upper-crust school, so she's gonna be good with peer pressure, so the kids will be 'in' or something like that? And the media is gonna drive disgusting behaviour, because it sells, and the demographics demand it, or something, I don't friggin' know. I swear, the next time she goes ON about being a responsible parent, I will send an e-mail.

I'm surprised at what passes for 'entertainment', nowadays, and the sort of neanderthal behaviour which is deemed 'cool'. All I see is exploited young people who are probably being egged on to act as outrageously as possible and selling it as 'cool. 'To the detriment of young people who are impressionable and think that is the way to be successful and popular.

And the people who produce that crap think all is perfectly ok. It's a good thing my Mom isn't around to see that. To think I got grounded for being caught reading 'GoneWith the Wind' .... 'because it told all about life'.

And yes, we knew ALL the vulgar words, wouldn't have dared use them in front of our families... and dosed them out where it was DESERVED, not as your regular way of expressing yourself. There are far more scathing ways to use other words to cut right to the bone, believe me.

After gasping for air, and going out for a Döner, which is the turkish version of a submarine 'samwich', I felt fortified, and ready to face a new adventure in US media horror: 'Dancing With The Stars'. Twelfth (!!!) season, first episode.

This I've heard of as well and seen some clips from people who watch this shit, and post ones of people who fail miserably. It's a BBC franchise, and they are so fake and perverse, it defies description. First time I saw a full episode. My Döner wasn't sitting well from the beginning to the end of this. Thirty-two tooth salutes are de rigeur... Eeeew. There was some vulgar, overweight, absolutely disgusting person called Wendy Williams on it. The whole thing was tired, a couple of pairs who were actually good, and I AM TOO OLD, I don't get it. Kirstie Allie was at least funny and proficient. And after several You Tube videos.... I want to punch Piers Morgan in the nose. And I don't know who that screamer third judge is, but he is NOT funny. Or amusing. Or of any value in watching him on tee-vee of any sort. If he really took over Larry King's spot, well, call out the Titanic Orchestra, because that man is going to sink.

So it rained and rained, and I ended up more or less in shock and billious. And found they put up 'Nurse Jackie', which I'd heard about. Edie Falco formerly of the Sopranos, hey. Two episodes from the new season. Too early to say anything about it.

And they put up some UK soaps. Coronation Street, which I've always heard of. I couldn't understand a single word. Seemingly they offer subtitles for the rest of the UK, so it wasn't me. And 'East Enders', which might turn out to be interesting, and 'Emmerdale', which immediately gained my interest. I still don't know what they are ABOUT, but I could at least understand them.

But then I found they are posting 'Shit My Dad Says'. PAYDIRT! I found it so funny. I'd heard about that too. Some guy in reality got sandbagged, moved in with his 74 year old father, and started a blog of the same name, which is very funny, have read some of it. The guy is so non-pc and hilarious.

It gained so much attention, it got turned into a tee-vee series, with William Shattner as the father. I told Peter to look out for it on the phone today, he says he'd seen the title somewhere so will try to watch it if he can find it, although he couldn't picture William Shattner being funny. And I said, 'believe me, he is'. There are so many gay jokes of the good kind in it, not denigrating, but genuinely funny.

My favorite so far was the fifth episode, season one. He going on about respecting one another's property, but borrows his son's jacket to a friend, which ends up on a dead man, and he has to get it back to prove he doesn't break his code of honor, crashes the wake, the corpse is wearing it, the family thinks he was the 'secret' Ed who was never to be revealed, and haul him up to give a eulogy. Ed thinks the guy had an affair, really blows it referring to his 'gay' relationship--which shocks the family, because they thought their father was an alcoholic, and that the real Ed was his sponsor, and .... well... I laughed myself sick. It ended well... but is very funny. Not all of them, but enough to keep you going.

SO, I guess if you want to be entertained, 'Shit My Dad Says' is lots of fun, just for a half hour of merriment, and well-made comedy. And the blog is worth looking at too. Reality-based.

By that time, I decided to go into hibernation, and the latter show was a remedy for a severe shock to the system.

But wouldn't you know.... I got up today, and of COURSE I had to watch my very favourite Soap, One Life To Live. That show is Soaps on steroids, SO WHAT DID MY TIRED EYES SEE this morning?

Wendy Williams as a gossip newscaster, and one of the non-descript, ugly, make-up applied-with-a-trowel Kardashian sisters who can read a line, but can't act her way out of a paper bag. I recognised Wendy from that blowsy number she did on Dancing With The Stars, but the other?

The comments board lit up with indignation, and they want both of them OFF the show, like yesterday. Some of them said the show had brought them on to boost ratings. And reach a new demographic. Well, that's lame. When General Hospital was in trouble, they brought in Liz Taylor. Now they at least have James Franco, who can ACT... Not some spoiled little Princess who got her own reality show to stick it to her own generation to show how excessively she can SHOP, and screw around. The sooner she gets out of there, the better. Wendy Williams was at least faintly amusing.

Faintly.

After all that.... I just felt dirty. And disgusted. That's 'Murkin culture? I'd rather go to New Yawk and see 'The Book of Mormon', which has gotten super reviews. From the makers of South Park. Really.

Lombardi....

This is for the Ven. I'm fairly sure you don't watch the show. As you love the Packers, thought it would interest you.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Just an intermission...

Opera... Haven't been in years, but at the time, I witnessed something remarkable.

Anna Bolena... Donizetti. And I thought I had fallen 'in-love'. And this 'person', took me for the first time. With his clique. I liked the guy, hated the clique.

And we were in a loge in the opera. How classy. Except.... the audience wasn't. And it ended with a viennese claque coming down to boo her, and the Graz people defending her... (It was a lovely show, sets from the Met in NY, and she made up for acting in what her upper register was lacking....)... and from my perch in the loge, I saw people bitch-slapping one another. Good we have gun laws, it would have been pistols at dawn.

People here have other reasons to be vitriolic.

It used to be fun. But the Opera was... and some of you have been there.

Time sort of marches on, and sound quality isn't durable

But here is another favourite of mine that invariably comes up in the New Year's concert. It's a wonder the musicians don't get bloody fingers.



.

what I forgot today....

For the first time in 38 years, I missed the New Year's Concert from the Golden Hall of the Vienna Music Association. It's always stunning, and it always ends the same way.... a da capo, then the sneakret national anthem, 'The Blue Danube Waltz'... they usually have world-renowned conductors, and the music is from the Strauss Dynasty. 99% of it, at least. It is shown all over the world, and it is a showcase of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. You can see it on PBS, if you have it on your system, I believe. It's been a staple of many a New Year lunch at my house, when things were good, and juggled the traditional Bratwurst, Sauerkraut, and fried potatoes for lunch. They were supposed to bring luck, or something. Maybe they did.... (shrug).

This year, they chose an Austrian conducter. He is 'cute', but can't judge from the clip... which someone took off a Czech tee-vee channel. The flowers in the hall are from San Remo, as always, and very beautiful, and it always ends with the 'Radetzky Marsch', which requires audience participation. This year's was ok. They kept cutting to a lady in red and a sort of Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot guy, and turns out it was the Sheikh of Quatar. The two people next to him were the President of Austria and his wife. The President has limited powers, but a check in the balance of power. The Chancellor is the person who would be equal to a US president. (It's confusing, I know, but the President is a mediator, and we have a good one.)

Judging from the ovations, I can assume the concert was very successful. So let's ring in the year with a march, hey.... right click for a full YouTube screen.

I 'Lost It at the Movies' as well....

With humble apologies to the late Pauline Kael, movie reviewer of the NY Times. She had a book out with that title in the 60's, and I remember liking it very much.

I was up most of the night... one of the ones that make you mind-surf, and was writing 'The Venerable'. At first it had to do with my soap, and how Todd was getting back to form, torturing Marty, and how he had had her gang-raped in his frat house ages ago.

It rang a bell, as we say. Long story short? I was twelve or so, and ran errands to get my 35 cents' admission price for the double features on Saturdays. On this one Saturday, there was an over-long one, 'The Devil At Four O'clock', and all the kiddies left, mostly, and the second one was 'Town Without Pity'. Which begins with a rape, US occupying forces in Germany brutalising Christine Kaufmann. And the townspeople make HER the villain, and Kirk Douglas had to defend the rapist. I got that much of the story, and the luminous clock inside was telling me, 'You have to be HOME, youngster'. And I kept thinking, 'Oh, just another ten minutes, just another ten minutes...'

Well Da Ven came in of a sudden, and marched me home. It was a SIN not to be home for meals, back then, and actually, I was very punctual, so they were worried.

And I was sort of preoccupied with what I had seen and thinking out loud, which is a bad habit of mine, and said, 'Well, at least I now know what rape means.'

He doesn't remember that, but I'll never forget the expression on my parents' faces. I wouldn't say shocked, more like... 'How do we DEAL with this?'

Well, it was certainly a discussion we never had, but I was ok with it. Took me forty years to see the end of the movie, in Graz, of all places. It was actually good.

So he said he couldn't remember that theater showing films, it was a variety show place. But they did when I was twelve. I never went there much on Saturdays, but sure got some defining moments there.

Like Billy Wilder's 'One Two Three'. I saw that one twice, which meant I really really loved it. It flopped back then. It was filmed in Berlin, and the East Germans put up the Wall just as it was released. James Cagney played a Pepsi Cola magnate, and gave a scathingly funny performance. It was hilarious, but vicious, even I figured it out as a kid. And farce of the best sort. His daughter falls in love with a Communist (Horst Buchholz) and he weens him away from that with capitalist goodies, it was amazing, and so funny, I got cramps... from laughing. And the absolute highlight was the incredible Lilo (Liselotte) Pulver doing a wacky number on a table to the Fire Sable Dance. (For me, at the time, I guess.)

A few years ago, the film got rehabilitated, and became a hit forty some odd years after the fact. Which made me realise I had some sort of taste... just sayin'

So yeah, I guess 'I Lost It at the Movies', all right. I don't think those two influenced me in any way to make the decisions I made... but I remember those two with fondness. They were just two films among literally thousands I've seen. They just stuck out.

I guess I could do a blog just on that... except someone already is. It's called 'Tired Old Queen At The Movies.' Once you get past the histrionics, and all, he's a wealth of information of 'news you can't use, but like very much'. You can take a look HERE but sort of fasten your seat-belts. Steve Hayes is just outlandish. And very knowledgeable.

Except.... I'm glad I didn't lose it at the movies the way he did....

Have some Gene Pitney to sweeten up your Sunday.




And you can see the trailer HERE. I got two things wrong in my memory. Kirk Douglas was defending the rapist, but he knew what he was putting Christine Kaufmann through and hated it. And I always thought they filmed it in Germany. It was filmed in Austria.

And adding a trailer from Wilder's hilarious One Two Three. I'd forgotten how funny Arlene Francis was. Lilo Pulver floored me, she was so funny. She is still alive, and a VERY respected actress and entertainer, lives in Switzerland, and am a fan.



So have a fun Sunday. I'm going back to bed. The most productive part of my day. But just found a trailer. Kirk Douglas was very handsome. And Christine Kaufmann is still absolutely beautiful.

Errm... this place is going downhill... and the best laid plans, and all that rigamarole...

I mean REALLY... it's the weekend. And getting public transport to where I wanna go is next to impossible. I can get NEAR, but I don't have the funds for a taxi. If I can get one there. Some of you will remember the weird one we got after visiting some caves. If you're in the boonies, it's better if you know someone. It didn't used to BE like that.

I know, I know... it's the summer break, school isn't in session, so I am going to have to wait until Monday.

Which, thank whomever, isn't Labour Day weekend here. Ours is on May first.

Sooooo.... Stuck in the City again. Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

And spreading moroseness instead of joy all around me.... and having to break a promise yet again. Except it isn't my fault this time. I have no options.... which angers me and makes me wanna growl.

Whatever, da 'V' and I had a fun week with our Soap contest. I still have to find the Friday episode of his. His link didn't work, because ABC doesn't let people abroad look at them. Copyright infringements, or something. And the fan who posts them anyway is always two days behind.

I did get the Thursday episode, and had to stop the first part and shoot him a mail. 'Good Lord, how many times is Sammi gonna shoot EJ??? She makes my Blair look like a wuss... as she only shot him once, but at least she burned the house down...'

Yup... it's sort of sick, I know.... I 'get' the attraction, however. Soaps are sorta fun. Trying to outguess the writers and the plot lines as to what happens next. The 'Venerable' has a good track record, but I think he is cheating, reading fan stuff of what is to come, and looking at spoilers. I just take it as it comes...

We have our 'favourites', but on his show, oh wow.... the women are really mean. I LURV me some Vivian, whoever plays her is a terrific and funny actress... but I wouldn't wanna meet her in person. She's specialised in poisoning people and burying them alive, and is about to do it again.

Yeah, I know.... it's just deflecting, spending the weekend with NO decent access to where I want to go, but it DOES take my mind off things. I hate 'morose'.

And then I watch the news I can get and get all.... angry.

Par for the course.

Just a note... the kindness of strangers.....

I was on the way back from Gamlitz to Ehrenhausen yesterday. And normally, I'm fired up and make him laugh, because normally, I'm the only person on the bus, so I do my Ren shuffle to cheer him up, so to speak. It HAS to be depressing to have only one passenger on your bus, after all. He's sort of a Hippie at heart, I guess.... And I was quiet, not really in the mood for talking....

And he wanted to cheer ME up all of a sudden. He had been to see a concert John Fogarty gave in Graz. And flipped out. Big CCR fan, turns out. 'Man, what he DOES with a guitar, it was fantastic!' Well, we went from that to the idea that all the musicians MUST have been Americans, and I said, 'That's not true. When I was working, we had many groups in, and they were on tour, and the musicians were from all over the world, they just had to be good.' And he asked, 'How can they DO that?' And I said, 'Music is an international language, hey. It always works.'

You give a bit, and you get. I had to smile. I lurves me some wild-assed Austrians....

Found it hard to believe during the first reports on Sunday

That one of my all-time favourite books was celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its' first publication. An older cousin of mine set it on the table, and said, 'you HAVE to read this.' She knew that I was a book fiend, had one wherever I went. And so I must have been twelve or thirteen years old, as it was paperback.

This novel just rocked my little world. I think it will go down in history as one of the greatest American masterpieces ever written to date. And am not being hyperbolic when I say that. At the beginning, there was so much I found hilarious, I literally laughed tears.

And it got darker, even though some things made me smile back then, for humorous. Doesn't have a happy end, the end was tragic, and the real ending was a surprise.

It was set in the South in the 30's, and has to be one of the most perfect novels I have ever read, the style is exqusite. The themes are so many, and so perfectly woven, it is sort of half a miracle.

It won the Puliter prize at a time when it was still prestigious, and not a lot of in-group glad-handing as it can be today in that category.

So you have probably guessed it by now. 'To Kill A Mockingbird', by Harper Lee. As a young kid, I found it thrilling and funny and perceptive. Later, in my adult years, have read it three times in different decades of my life, and it always blew me away. It is a book everyone should have, to return to and find the most important underlying message, having respect for everyone's humanity.

And yeah, everyone's dissected it to death, it is a very complex piece of work, and a masterpiece.

And it turns out that the strange little kid Dill was actually Truman Capote, and in reality, he spent summers in her town, and they were friends for a long time.

The film came out in my region in the summer of 64, and we saw it at a drive-in. Have seen it elsewhere many times, and it is classic. By then I had known the novel inside-out, was somewhat disappointed when my favourite scenes weren' t there due to the time limits imposed on how long a film could be, but the essentials were. And they were great.

So.... to celebrate... here is the vocal from the defense by Atticus Finch with just still pictures from the electrifying trial scene. It wasn't the real end, but it was emotionally wrenching, and the script stayed almost letter perfect to the novel.

And I find it upsetting that today, there are the most crazy Repubs I ever heard in my life wishing to turn the clock back. So just LISTEN. Gregory Peck DESERVED that Oscar. And there was no moralising in the book or the film, actually. The message was clear. Enjoy.

Ummm Queens as in the NY borough....

Ok, you know I like musicals. And one of the hottest Broadway stars of the past few years is Kirsten Chenowitz. And I ran across a video clip of her on the tee-vee. This is a phenomenon that can really freak me out to the max. She sings like an angel. Really. When she talks... it hurts your ears, am not kidding. Queens, I would guess, from the clip below.

We had a fading opera star in our ho-tel. Incredible in her time, you could melt. She was a formidable diva, but her speaking voice? I had the shudders for weeks. What is up with that?

Ok... am really finished with the Eurovision Song Contest for the moment....

You can google it and go through all the stuff... You will not like it.

I still to not know WHY people with even bother with it.

We don't, mostly....

Some people in America do. And I cannot figure out why...

But it is a window on your world, which is why I even posted it, so.... take a look if you will, and are interested,

It has become commerical, and sort of creepy.

I have been meaning to say this for weeks now...

Kentucky Fried Chicken folded in my city. They lasted about four months...

Starbucks had to pull out of Austria last year....

I was fucking thrilled.

To the CEO's of both companies: what the hell were you thinking?

You come into the country that INVENTED 'coffee house culture' and think you will corner the market, or invade the one place that is famed for fresh fried baked chicken, and think you are gonna corner the market? And when people go by, they know that the frying oil is old, and stinks, or rumple their noses at the idea of vanilla in coffee? And drinking it out of plastic cups?

Well, buh-bye... And before the door hits you in the arse beforehand... to quote the most wonderful chancellor we ever had, 'Learn some history'.

Now... if we can only get MacDonald's to leave and go down the drain. Yeah, I have an issue with them. The only kids with acne hang out there. That should tell you something, if you have eyes in your head....

Tja.

I just took a wild time trip.... in my mind...

The New York Times had a piece up about videos on the HAIR website, with after-show dancing. I seemingly clicked the wrong link, and ended up on the main page of the 2009 Tony award winning revival site, with lots of clips and reports about the show.

The revival was after FORTY YEARS, which sort of freaks me out... where the hell did the time go???

But I realised I still love that show, and the music and the message. I guess I was too disciplined to be a dirty fuckin' hippie back then, don't know. Wanted to be... Did a few things with an activist group that wanted to get an alternative to our town's local rag, used my free time to do some fun things....

My favourite was asking people to sign a petition on 'Main Street'. And everybody said, 'This is Communist! No WAY I am gonna sign this.' And I said, 'Excuse me???' It was the Declaration of Independence, re-framed into modern language as it was spoken in the Nawth.... The ensuing article in the alternate paper... had the all-powerful one run them out of town, and they are lucky to be alive.... if they are...

I was very sorry to see them have to go. They were way cool...

That show embodied the spirit of an era, looking back.

However... the show went viral, and I guess that is like viral YouTube videos today. A global hit.

I never saw it in the US, although they toured... no money at the time...

I saw it in Graz, a touring company about 17 years ago. (I had seen the film, and liked it well enough.)

But that night, that little theater was filled with young people, and what was on stage had little to do with the film, other than the music. What left me spitless was that the audience was mostly all mid-twenty, and off the charts for enthusiastic. They knew ALL the lyrics, sang along, made out with each other in every form, I was ..... errm... more than surprised. Delighted, but surprised. Thinking, 'how do you KNOW all this, you weren't even a spark in your parent's eyes when this all came out.' It was excellent, by the way.... and libidos were up to the explosion point by the end.

Saw it again when they did a limited edition in the Raimund Theater in Vienna with Peter. It was terrific.

And so... some things follow you through your life, and affect you, I guess. HAIR is one of them, and I still love that music.

And OH... my tracking site tells me that I got called up by the House of Representatives, and wanted to see what I had about Alan Grayson. I am so proud.....

Flash mobs... I love the concept....

This got taken off from below, for some reason, so trying another....



And then there was this weird one in Antwerp, Belgium at their train station....



I mean, really, 'The Sound of Music'??? Hokay...

But it took the inimitable John Aravosis to show us how things like this happen. He is currently in Paris, cat-sitting, and had a very interesting video, following it. The link is here. I kept wondering how these things happen... And I love the concept. A mess of people turning up and amazing an unsuspecting public, and then just disappearing after a few minutes.

If you look for flash mob on YouTube, it takes on all sorts of fun variations. At the moment, it is more musical, and seemingly, those people work hard just to delight people. Just fully cool, if you ask me...

What a very strange Sunday, hey....

It is Peter's name day, so you do something like on a birthday. Make them something they like, in this case Wiener Schnitzeln, and potatoe salad, and have a glass of sparkling wine and drink their health. It is a tradition, you know?

Nothing spectacular, in other words, just the regular....

BUT.... Today is the finals of the European soccer championships. Germany vs. Spain. (Ja, the ASSHOLES beat the Turks and got into the finals.... Spew alert.) But there is hope, hey. The bloody 'calf of the nation' went and did it again, oh joy. The team captain, not an animal, even if I'm not so sure about that.... His leg, the calf. He got damaged two years ago and everyone in the media was talking about the calf of the nation. So now we get the re-run. And oh BOY, you wanna talk about a nation of whiney assed titty babies, as Atrios calls them, you have to see the German media in action, hey. Waschlappen, hey. (Wet dish towels.) We in Austria go off the charts for Schadenfreude when they go bonkers.

It sort of reinforces our fratricidal instincts, yup. Whine sob, it's gonna ruin their 'Sommermärchen' their fairy tale happy ending. Well hell's bells, that's the way the fucking cookie crumbles, and they should just get a grip. And no, I don't want them to win. It would make them even more insufferable than they already are.

The other thing was that we watched a live concert from Vienna that took place a couple of weeks ago. Right on that huge square in front of City Hall. The place was PACKED. It was a competition of young virtuoso musicians from all over Europe, between 15 and 19 years old. Accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. They freaked me out, really. Such talent, and such very difficult pieces. There was an eighteen year old young man from Corfu who did a clarinet piece for orchestra. I know a little about clarinet, because I got one as a kid. (I wanted to learn piano, but tja, that was all my 'rents could afford....) So I KNOW what a difficult instrument it can be.

And this KID comes out, and from the first phrases, my mouth dropped, and I didn't get it closed again. And by about the fourth phrase, I said to Peter, 'MY GAWWD! I had no IDEA it could sound like that! Every note so clear... knock me over with a feather, hey.!' It was just honest admiration. The piece was so difficult, and none of them had notes to look at, they fucking played. I was just spitless.

And I wish you could have seen the audience, they went nuts. The kid with the clarinet won, and he was so stunned, you could tell he was nearly crying for joy. And the others were hardly less good, but that was so stunning, he earned it.

While the jury was out deliberating, opera singer Angelika Kirchshläger did some numbers. Kurt Weill, for instance. She is the daughter of one of our former presidents, a good one. I last saw her in the Vienna opera about fifteen years ago. Like good wine, her voice has improved with age. And then they got the entire Vienna Boy's Choir out with her, and noooo.... nothing kitschy. They did this astounding thing with different languages, from Latin to god knows what, and it was about friendship, and the rhythms kept changing from Oriental to Latin to Austrian traditional, but it made up a whole somehow.... Blew the audience away.


Tja, I guess that sort of sums up the difference between Austrians and Germans. The lattter have the big lip. We seem to get off on good music.

Whatever....