Marina/Esther – “Dare” pt. 10 – delayed, for a change.

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Dear “Dare” readers, if you see this note pop up at 9 p.m., it means that I am still stuck at a conference bash that my supervisor is throwing and that I have found no way to escape through the back door. Since the event involves champagne, pompous speeches and forced smiles, it is possible that we will have to imbibe quite a bit of the former to survive the latter.

Which in turn would mean that the new chapter of “Dare” would be finished and  online sometime tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 14th). Sorry about the renewed delay.

…make that Sunday, Nov. 15th. (I survived the champagne – some of it was decent – but got stuck repairing bikes today. Ah, a dyke’s gotta do what a dyke’s gotta do!)

250,000 hits and many, many search terms

Eye Bags has made it to a quarter million of hits. Time for my favorite pastime in absence of mezzos: another look at the most popular search terms and the phrases that make people end up on this site.

Marina/Esther – “Dare” pt. 9

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Music for St. Cecilia

St. Cecilia isn’t until Nov. 22nd (a fact known to all those of us who are sharing their life with a Catholic musician), but this can’t wait: French/German TV Channel ARTE aired a documentary by Philippe Béziat this past Sunday, Nov. 1^st. It’s called “Music for St. Cecilia” and follows Marc Minkowski and his Musiciens de Louvre through their 2009 program of music dedicated to the Saint of Music by Purcell, Handel and Haydn.

It’s amazing music, amazingly performed, and Béziat makes this amazement visible.

Mezzo Christmas (who cares that it’s early?)

German buy-by-catalog (or website, or selected stores) company Zweitausendeins (2001) sent out their edition for November/December 09. The December issue tends to be heavy on gift suggestions for Christmas (Hanukkah/Kwanza/Solstice/politically correct festivity of choice), but this year, Christmas already arrived on the cover.

From Anik’s Kitchen: Salmon Steaks

November weather has taken a turn for the nefariously ugly this week, with foggy chill and constant rain freezing my fingers to the keyboard in the latest mezzo entry (and that long-overdue work on Assyrian Pottery).

Time to use the last remains of balcony parsley for this year and load up on some omega-3 fatty acids with a salmon steak baked in the oven, peeled tomato on the side for a splash of fresh color and egg-based pasta to round off the palate.

CGMP: White Shirt Monday

[Photo Credit: Jörg Landsberg, Bremer Theater. Sybille Specht as Stéphano in Goundod's "Romeo et Juliette". Season 2003/04]