frost is in the air

newest earworm song by mancunian liam frost, dueting with martha wainwright, called your hand in mine. it's been in my head all week. and inside my head, i'm bopping up and down and side to side in swirling brilliance to the sounds of the ‘ba-ba-ba-ba-da-ba-das’ on my hardwood floors.

opera props: valencia opera house

photo credit: JP holecka

today launches our newest feature, opera props, in which the VO community share with everybody their thoughts on what's hip, what's hot and what's what.

JP holecka, creative director of powershift media and friend of VO, travelled to spain last year and of course, had to stop off at the valencia opera house (queen sofia palace of the arts)

how could one not?

resembling "a giant spartan war helmet", this architectural marvel is on JP's must-see list.

"...simply amazing and will dazzle and delight all those of any age."

we couldn't agree more!

to hear more about JP's thoughts on the valencia opera house, click here.

so if you have opera-related items you'd like to give a thumbs up to, drop me a line at lchan@vancouveropera.ca and we'll get you featured!

xmas extravaganza

this weekend was our xmas re-do extravaganza!

sean and i were both sick from xmas eve to just before new years eve, so we put the kibosh on spending our first xmas together all miserable-like: sniffly, snotty, hacky, sweaty and grumpy we both were.

so after deadlines were met and work load lightened, we had xmas eve, xmas day and boxing day proper.

started on thursday night, when we went to watch beyond eden, a musical at vancouver playhouse.

friday night was our xmas eve. we cooked dinner at home, watched elf and the classic santa claus is coming to town and opened up stocking stuffers. jonesy went ape with her little prezzies.


it was the first time jonesy ate wet food too. kitty went to town


jonesy LOVED the teddy bear sean gave me as a stocking stuffer


she did things to teddy that i can't even bring myself to type. the next morning, teddy was found laying face down in the middle of the living floor. defiled and discarded.

xmas day saturday, as we drove downtown, we imagined that the streets were quiet, what with everyone spending time with family at home (it wasn't. it was your typical busy saturday out) headed to the cinema to watch daybreakers which was great fun. a different kind of a vampire movie not seen before, with lots of blood, gore and exploding body parts. movie was wicked. i'll definitely be picking that up when it comes out on dvd.



saturday night was dinner with sean's family from out of town at mongolie grill. how great that it worked out that we were visiting with family on "xmas day".

on sunday/boxing day, we had pannekoeks at de dutch. a favourite sunday treat. a couple of BSG episodes as we waited for our breakfast to digest before hitting the pool. (to work off all that chocolate and candy that i had indulged in all weekend)

by sunday night, i could hardly believe that our xmas was over, *snap* just like that. i wished with eyes closed and hands balled up that it could've gone on for longer.

and although xmas was postponed by almost a month, i wouldn't have changed it for anything. this weekend was OUR xmas. everybody else can celebrate on the same day. we like to stand apart.

that being said, next up: st patrick's day in february, valentines day in june and april fools day in september.

button up

VO have pieces of flair to give away!

we're giving away a set of 3 nixon in china buttons:


nixon in china


vote mao


nixon's the one

so how can i get my hands on these awesome buttons, you may be wondering? simple.

we'll be handing them out on the street (follow @operaninja on twitter for times and locations)

buttons will also be available at most VO community engagement events

or you can get your set by dropping by at the VO office monday-friday 9:00am-5:00pm

the city will soon be awashed with vancouver opera buttons. get yours before they're gone.

wear one at a time or wear them all at once. i guarantee they look good with everything. i'll leave it up to you if you want to decorate your suspenders with them.

seal of approval

this past weekend, the guardian UK asked david bowie what was on his iPod playlist. guess what was one of his song choices?

soldiers of heaven hold the sky from act 1, scene 1 of the nixon in china opera by john adams.

asked why this selection was on his playlist, bowie replied "adams's minimalism disguises the rich romanticism of his melodies. ever ascending, rising through the clouds."

the thin white duke is liking the nixon in china! can we say that's SO cool?!

and it just so happens that vancouver opera will be performing nixon in china in march!

for a preview of soldiers of heaven hold the sky, click here.

see what the buzz is all about! call 604-683-0222 to get your tickets now.

shaped like a heart

this song sounds so interpol / joy division / new order / cure-ish, how could i resist? sure, it could've gone the way of, "what a silly knock off" and given it the boot, but i'm really digging on the xx's heart skips a beat. this song sounds like peter hook or carlos d. was playing on it. at first play (and several afterwards), i wasn't even hearing the singing, just the background music of bass, synths and drum machine. heavenly pop purr-ection.

love it.

thanks to christopher for the tip.

tick tock mao

this is tres cool. our communications manager, selina, is sporting a new accessory around the office. and it happens to go very well with the upcoming nixon in china opera!

bought in the back alleys of shanghai with a lot of haggling by a "fixer" for a non-speaking foreigner, this nifty little "chairman mao" wind-up watch not only keeps time, BUT has the added feature of the chairman's arm waving at you with every passing second!

what a great way to be reminded that we're a mere 7 weeks away from the nixon in china opening (March 13, 16, 18, 20).

this show is going to be HOT! vancouver opera will be performing John Adams' masterpiece in march. toronto's canadian opera company will be performing nixon in china february 2011, followed by san francisco opera summer 2012.

want to get your hands on tickets? speak to the good people at our box office at 604-683-0222. before time runs out.

your first time

do you remember your first time? of course you do. the first time will always be special and something you won't easily forget for the rest of your life. so on this sunny and beautiful day in vancouver, we ask:

so, how old were you...when you watched your first opera? what was it? and where did you do the deed?

here's our facebook friends reminiscing:

jo thomas - barber of seville. i was 18 and it was at the queen elizabeth theater in vancouver.

sunny shams - rigoletto. i was 17 and it was the pacific opera victoria production in the royal theater.

james mcquillen - die walküre at dallas opera. i was 16 and was blown out of my seat.

diana maureen sandberg - mme. butterfly, 9yo, san francisco opera house. i was horrified by the final scene; can still clearly see the blindfolded little boy sitting placidly, waving a flag, as his mama collapses on the stage. my experience of live theatre was quite limited up to then; it was quite a revelation.

marc van bree - parsifal at the wiener staatsoper with placido domingo. had to wait in line for 5 hours to buy the standing room tickets for a couple of euro, then had to stand another 5 hours for the actual opera. but I loved it.

i think it was the second or third date with the girl that's now my wife. i remember when i told my mother i went to the opera, she asked: "who's the girl?"

luis bernhardt - 1971, war memorial opera house, SF. i was a 20-yr-old music student in oakland, and they let us see the opera for free in exchange for serving as ushers. that night it was the legendary leontyne price as giorgetta in il tabarro. i was too much a newbie to really appreciate her performance, darn! the other half of the evening was carmina burana done... as a stunning scenic oratorio complete with dancers and a huge chorus costumed in monks' hooded robes. it was the most stunning thing i had ever seen...

i also saw a production of butterfly in the early 70's, but at the oakland auditorium. i think in those days it was standard practice that the child be blindfolded and handed an american flag. i thought this was very relevant and touching, especially in those viet nam war days. i wonder why they stopped doing this?

diana maureen sandberg - (responding to luis bernhardt)- apparently it was also the custom in 1957

jarod smith - pagliacci/suor angelica, COC @ o'keefe center - 1990 (i think)

jennifer lee - madama butterfly. 17 years old. queen elizabeth theatre!

dan hannomansingh - salome at QE theatre last year, 15 y/o

sabrina martini - la traviata. 24 years at vienna state opera house in balcony seats!

andre prevost - pagliacci. 11 y/o b/w CBC broadcast with jon vickers...i date myself!

max ipinza - aida in BC place when i was 4 years old

and not to forget our twitter friends:

@musicbizkid - (a) turandot (b) 19 (c) UNH's johnson theater

@operatuck - boheme. 9. vancouver opera. still here!!

@operaincinema - la boheme (only the first act!), six, at austin opera!

@jamesrodgersNZ - simon boccenegra, 18, new zealand international arts festival. great production and amazing cast.

@jazz2midnight - flying dutchman, seattle Oopera, 17

thanks again for playing lunchtime poll and taking a stroll together down memory lane!

roller girl

do you know what rocks more than glow in the dark disco bowling? why, that would be roller disco.

roller skating. the very word conjures up such great childhood/pre-adolescent memories. birthday parties at stardust. elementary school field trips.


me at age 10 rollerskating at my dad's nightclub

*sigh* such good times! maybe i'm feeling a tad nostalgic tonight, but i wish i could go roller skating at stardust again. stardust rinks still exists, but unfortunately stardust hasn't been available for skating since 2005. (no public skating. no birthday parties. no private rentals) instead, they teach inline skating. vancouver sucks. booooo.

don't vancouverites feel the need to don on the quad skates and go round and round at a rink, listening to disco-early 80s era music?



i mean, other places in the world have it going on:

london with the renaissance rooms and the O2 arena.

ireland with spin roller disco

coney island with dreamland roller rink

brooklyn with down and derby



but all may not be lost. rumour has it that north surrey rec centre will host an old skate school sometime this year.

please let that be true. then i can finally bust out the rollerskates that i bought a few years ago. i couldn't bear the thought of skating in them on rough pavement. they're not inline skates, for pete's sake.



while i'm waiting for that to happen, i can always go back in time with some skatetastic tunes.

compliments from back east part deux

crew mantle at command opera has made my face go all shades of rosé again. crew blogged very positively about his experience at our norma opera last fall. and has since become a good friend of VO.

when i got my promotion, he took to his blog again to give me some shout-outs.

thank you crew for the blush-inducing words! see you at lucia di lammermoor!

Theatres from the very top tier to the more provincial houses simply refuse to understand the power of the new media and therefore would not begin to know how to harness it properly. In some cases, the refusal to merely acknowledge its very existence has become so ludicrously ingrained, it can only be adequately compared to an ostrich with its head in the sand. COMMANDOpera who has direct contact with many opera houses globally, certainly can attest to the legitimacy of this. Not the case with the way edgy Vancouver Opera. Do you ever wonder why ALL top tier artists make a point of appearing with this company at some point in their career? COMMANDOpera would suggest it is the easygoing laid back atmosphere within the inner org., and the fact it remains eternally young in spirit of devotion to doing the art form justice. This level of ultra cool velvet glove thinking, is pervasive in every aspect of the company.

When COMMANDOpera was invited (with a certain amount of arm twisting) to attend the season opening prima of Norma, even I was taken aback by how well thought out, and forward thrusted the marketing was. Heading this entire movement at the time was the executive assistant to the Director General, Miss Ling Chan. I was so impressed with my initial understandings of how deep the company was utilising bloggers, COMMANDOpera devoted a post to it found here. The Vancouver Opera, thanks to Miss Chan has its own blog which details events on just about everything found here. Ahhh, but did you think this was the end of it? Indeed not. They have a devoted blog for the upcoming Nixon in China found here , a Facebook page found here, a location on Flicker where they post all kinds of photographs found here, a Twitter account to tweet all things Vancouver Opera found here, and a YouTube page found here (I HIGHLY advise all opera company personnel who are reading this to watch the Norma opening night video to fully grasp how successful this multi faceted effort is reeling in a new audience). If this were not enough go here, click read and voila! Manga on the operas which are being mounted! I kid you not… indoctrinate the young now. This is a hardcore attack on all centers involved within the realm of the new media, and have not missed. And it is brilliantly magnificent in our eyes.

Naturally while in Vancouver I had the opportunity to meet the extraordinary Miss Chan. All you will get to see of her is the photograph above. Figure this must be a full time job? The Vancouver Opera has more than a few people on it. Oh and Miss Chan? She now holds the title Social Media Manager. Congratulations Milady! Brava!

~ commandopera

want in on the opera ninja army?

Photo credit: Liquid Paper

want to get ALL the skinny on the behind the scenes shenanigans at VO? be the first to hear super secret special announcements about our upcoming productions? get exclusive deals and promos offers?

then follow @operaninja on twitter!

getting pricked

nothing like a little trip to the doctor to really hit home the fact that i am not physically purr-fect. really? you mean i'm not invincible?

after months of being on the waitlist, i got to be a human pincushion today. never been to an allergy specialist before, so i viewed this as an experiment. i suppose i should've seen one by now; having blown up in hives in my early teens more times than i'd care to remember. and we're talking about full on head to toe hives. yes, me and the calamine were best friends during the hot summer months when i was 14 and 15. and i'm no stranger to antihistamines although taking benedryl zonks me out.

luckily, my body doesn't react so violently now, gifting me with a full bodysuit of hives. however, i still have sensitive skin and on occasion will experience contact dermatitis; my skin swelling up due to contact with irritating chemicals or preservatives in certain facial cleansers, toners, cosmetics and moisturizers.

i can't even use OTC hydrocortisone cream as it makes any rash or weals worse with its added preservatives. instead, i have to use doctor prescribed, pharmacist issued 1% pure hydrocortisone. i wash my face with cetaphil and for my body i use glaxal base, a non-medicated, non-greasy, hypo-allergenic moisturizer. this is the same moisturizer hospitals use on burn patients. sensitive like a baby's bottom.

so after a series of questions on my medical history and a physical from my allergist, it was time for the skin prick test. get ready to be pricked 45 times!

the nurse marked up both forearms and eye-droppered an extract of allergen solution onto my skin. she then used a lancet to prick my skin so that the allergen gets right in there. and i swear, nursie definitely got more stabby on my right forearm.

well, it didn't take long. within a couple of minutes of being pricked, there was some definite left forearm action going on. the familiar prickly sensation, the redness, the heat, the throb and the appearance of weals. three in fact. i know by now, that my body was making antibodies due to the presence of allergens.


top left: something is starting to happen. splotchy pinkness appearing
top right: getting red and irritated
bottom left: more than one marker showing signs
bottom right: my forearm is definitely angry. appearance of weals


my doctor was a sport by indulging me and taking a picture of my forearms. right side fine. (food allergies) left side not so good. (inhalants)

so what am i allergic to?



grass and trees?! you're kidding me, right? i never even had hayfever before in my life. and because i have an allergy to grass pollen, that helps explain why i would react to mosquito bites more.

dr starck said the allergic reaction was considered moderate to sensitive. by how fast the weals appeared, it was a 3 on a scale of 1-4 (4 being uber-sensitive) and although i haven't experienced an allergic reaction to grass or tree pollen yet, it doesn't mean that i won't. i may as i get older, because i obviously have the markers for it.

how awesome for me. balls.

indeed the first thing that across my mind was that scene from the hideously gawd-awful m. night shymalan movie, the happening. will i have to barricade myself futilely in a basement, hoping against hope to avoid the wind as it wafts this airborne threat to my nostrils.

does nature hate me?

course, me being me and needing to research this further, i turned to an authoritative source - the internet. a couple of well regarded websites put my mind at ease a bit, saying that people may react positively to a substance during a test, but not have any problems with the substance in everyday life.

good enough for me! spring remains my favourite season of the year!

yes, denial may be a river in egypt, but i'm not going to live like "the girl in the plastic bubble." i'm going to shuffle my feet in freshly mowed grass and wander amongst the forest until i get that first allergy attack. and when and IF i do, i'll deal. but no sense worrying about it now.

what the fac? (-totum)

there is a celeb-reality show airing in the UK right now. it's called popstar to operastar and its premise is to take established pop singers and try to coach them into becoming a passable opera singer, for the sake of entertainment of course. (as with anything, it takes years and intensive training to become a professional opera singer)

one of the contestants is alex james, the bass player of blur. now, i LOVE blur. and all the years that i followed their musical career, watched their music videos and go to their concerts, not once have i ever witnessed alex james singing. or even singing back-up. nope. dude always has a lit cigarette dangling in his mouth, swinging his head from side to side, moving his body to the beat.

but he's cute. and he looks good playing his bass. and i thought him and damon albarn were the cat's meow back in the halcyon days of 90s britpop.

however, a spade is still a spade.

on the very first episode out, alex james got voted off the island. sure, largo al factotum, the aria from the barber of seville, is considered one of the most difficult song for even a trained baritone to tackle, due to the constant singing of triplets in 6/8 meter. you know the tempo. (everyone's grown up with bugs bunny cartoons) not to mention the tongue-twisting nature of some of the lines.

perhaps alex james never stood a chance. i mean, he's not even a singer. but boy, was he entertaining to watch. he obviously was having a grand ole' time and not taking himself too seriously. the crowd lapped it all up, of course.

and he was so gracious when it came time to face the judges. although he was voted off by the public cuz the judges were split down the middle about sending him home, the show should've just kept him on; just for sheer entertainment value.

twenty years after blur first came onto the music scene and at the age 41, alex james has lost none of his boyish charm. if blur ever tours again, i wonder if he would bestow his fans with a smidge of opera.

jonathan darlington's new website

it's official! VO's music director jonathan darlington's new website is now online!

and if you want to practice your european languages, jonathan also has a german version of his website.

but wait, there's more...

you can also connect with jonathan on his blogsite at posterous.

and now for a personal message from le maestro -

Jonathan Darlington | Website (engl.) from Christoph Müller-Girod on Vimeo.

talk about being accessible!

if you happen to be in duisburg, you can find jonathan and duisburg philharmonic orchestra performing the first concert of the henze-project as a part of the programme for the european capital of culture 2010.

additionally, on february 4, jonathan and duisburg philharmonic orchestra will receive the prestigous annual prize from the german music publisher's association for the best concert programme of the current season, 2009/10.

congratulations Jonathan! what a way to kick off the new year!

let freedom ring

"our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" - martin luther king, jr

the one for me

stereophonics has a new song out. and it's music to my ears. the jangly guitars, kelly jones whiskey tinged-vocals and the fact that this band can REALLY play live. i've seen them twice in concert now and they always bring the wow.

and they'll be bringing the wow to vancouver again during the olympics as one of the nightly performers of the victory ceremonies. each night will feature entertainment from a particular canadian province/territory, the medals presentation and a one hour concert finale by a musical talent.

stereophonics will be performing in vancouver's bc place on february 20 (yukon night)

i hate crowds with a passion, but for stereophonics, i may put up with the hordes of tens of thousands of people. gotta get into the olympics spirit somehow.

front and centre

photo credit: dan brady

news of my promotion has spread. and i've been delightfully surprised by the overwhelming support that i've received. not just in vancouver, but also across canada and the US, by both opera fans and my esteemed counterparts at other opera houses.

i'm very thankful for the opportunities that i have at VO, as well as thrilled to know that what i do makes people happy and excited about opera. and you can betcha bottom dollar that i will do my darndest so that that remains so for a good, long time.

a couple of more blush-inducing props came across my desk today:

"VO has come up with some pretty great ideas over the last couple of years: Magna/cartoons, Blogger Night at the Opera, their video contest, and more. If fact, they've been one of my favourite companies to write about because they always seem to be doing something new.

Well they've just announced today that they're going to try to stay on the cutting edge of things by appointing Ling Chan (who came up with the Blogger nights, as well as being the person in charge of their Twitter feed and their lead blogger on their site,) to the newly created position of Social Media Manager. From what I gather, this means that she'll be continuing to create new ways to market VO as well as making her already active social media stuff a full time job.

I like it. I'm not a huge fan of "Social Media" as a concept general, (oh, the irony, it pains me,) but only because of the way that it's been abused by corporations as they try to stay"hip." Chan and VO have been doing a great job so far of staying on top of things without looking like my dad trying to pull of skinny jeans just because GQ says so. I think that they've picked the right person for the job - it's a tough one to pull off but she's done well so far. Here's to more great ideas coming soon!" - Canadian Opera

"Theatres from the very top tier to the more provincial houses simply refuse to understand the power of the new media and therefore would not begin to know how to harness it properly. In some cases, the refusal to merely acknowledge its very existence has become so ludicrously ingrained, it can only be adequately compared to an ostrich with its head in the sand. COMMANDOpera who has direct contact with many opera houses globally, certainly can attest to the legitimacy of this. Not the case with the way edgy Vancouver Opera. Do you ever wonder why ALL top tier artists make a point of appearing with this company at some point in their career? COMMANDOpera would suggest it is the easygoing laid back atmosphere within the inner org., and the fact it remains eternally young in spirit of devotion to doing the art form justice. This level of ultra cool velvet glove thinking, is pervasive in every aspect of the company.

When COMMANDOpera was invited (with a certain amount of arm twisting) to attend the season opening prima of Norma, even I was taken aback by how well thought out, and forward thrusted the marketing was. Heading this entire movement at the time was the executive assistant to the Director General, Miss Ling Chan. I was so impressed with my initial understandings of how deep the company was utilising bloggers, COMMANDOpera devoted a post to it found here. The Vancouver Opera, thanks to Miss Chan has its own blog which details events on just about everything found here. Ahhh, but did you think this was the end of it? Indeed not. They have a devoted blog for the upcoming Nixon in China found here , a Facebook page found here, a location on Flicker where they post all kinds of photographs found here, a Twitter account to tweet all things Vancouver Opera found here, and a YouTube page found here (I HIGHLY advise all opera company personnel who are reading this to watch the Norma opening night video to fully grasp how successful this multi faceted effort is reeling in a new audience). If this were not enough go here, click read and voila! Manga on the operas which are being mounted! I kid you not… indoctrinate the young now. This is a hardcore attack on all centers involved within the realm of the new media, and have not missed. And it is brilliantly magnificent in our eyes.

Naturally while in Vancouver I had the opportunity to meet the extraordinary Miss Chan. All you will get to see of her is the photograph above. Figure this must be a full time job? The Vancouver Opera has more than a few people on it. Oh and Miss Chan? She now holds the title Social Media Manager. Congratulations Milady! Brava!" - CommandOpera

these lovely and wonderful and kind accolades reminds me of what my public speaking teacher had taught in class. when you finish a speech, before leaving the stage, you must learn to stand there and accept the applause that the audience will give you. (even if all you want to do is present and walk off that stage toute de suite) she wanted everyone to learn how to bask in the glory.

well i find myself standing on the stage. and i am learning to be comfortable in standing still.

chemistry at VO

how much fun is it to be in caroline hay's shoes? VO's special event coordinator gets to plan all our fab fundraising events. she's done everything from wrangling up salvatore ferragamo and roberto cavalli purses for PURSEsuasion auction and luncheon to working with the top bakeries in vancouver to come up with custom cakes for our golden anniversary gala.

most of the time, the magic is unveiled for us at the events. but not this time.

for the upcoming passions & potions event at lumiere on january 25, caroline and the director of production, terry harper got up to all kinds of alchemistic shenanigans.

the VO staff room was converted to a chemistry lab on tuesday afternoon, which piqued the interest of some of the science geeks working at the opera. (myself included) although there weren't any bunsen burners, test tubes or erlenmeyer flasks, there were dry ice, food colouring and tongs involved.

did I mention a cauldron, as well?

caroline was on a mission to conjure up some magic potions for the upcoming event and make sure the glass containing these "potions" wouldn't shatter. safety first, people.

a 45L cauldron was filled up with warm water. terry then carefully dropped a 10lb block of dry ice into the cauldron. the result was a really awesome fog that lasted for a couple of hours. i think it's fair to say that some of us stood around, entranced.





small pellets of dry ice were dropped into the beakers and apothecary jars. the effect was fun even if the fog lasted only 5 minutes.


why do i have a sudden craving for jello now?


oops! must remember to film holding my camera horizontally

this little science experiment proved successful because, not only did it work, but we didn't blow up our staff room in the process. we're all ready to rock now.

vancouver opera...not just a place for music.

feelin' the love

looks like VO made a new friend! and we LOVE making new friends.

opera and music blogger purity cccall of se vuoi pace gave us a shout out and some really fantastic kudos on her blog.

...The new media age is one of great challenges for traditional live entertainment. The challenges are likely to be even greater for a part of that entertainment world that has in many cases forgotten that it is entertainment and imagined itself something akin to medicine – ‘it might not taste or feel good but it will do you good so bend over and be an obedient patient there’s a dear!’. Consequently, I love it when an opera singer has gone that extra mile with their website, or hear of folks in the business working really hard to figure out how to make opera more accessible to people like me, or (most especially) opera companies that are really pushing the boundaries.

Given how often I end up in Seattle or San Francisco it’s irritating that I never seem to have time to get to Vancouver, as the opera company there has been on my radar for a while. I love what they have been doing to ease the stick out of the opera arse (to get Euro-trashy for a minute). And they seem to be really rising to the challenge of the new media/post-crunch era, speculating to accumulate recently with the appointment of a social media manager. I’ve seen too many companies who play around amateurishly with social media and then announce that it’s all a con and won’t work. Vancouver are bucking the trend and taking this seriously, creating posts to tackle the area professionally. And they’ve been consistently working at this for a couple of years now. They have blogs coming out of their ears, a fun and frequently updated Facebook page, and innovative ideas erupting faster than latex clad super-numeries in a Calixto Bieito production (speaking of people trying to shift that stick!). So PAMs (potential audience members) can stumble into their ambit from lots of different parts of cyberspace, and once there the impression is of a decidedly fun, newbie-friendly gang who love opera and want you to love it too. So congratulations Vancouver Opera for striding out on to the cutting edge – and reminding me that I really need to engineer a work trip to Vancouver one of the these days! And good luck VO social media manager Ling Chan – not that I think you need it judging by things so far.

aw. shucks.

through the looking glass

sometimes i've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. ~ lewis carroll

little thirteen

elliott smith memorial wall, sunset blvd, LA



i'm torn here. i love big star's song, thirteen, but i can't help that i've always favoured elliott smith's cover version more. it's just something in the way he sings it.

so you think you can sing (opera)?

photo credit: ryan mcvay / getty images

this week i learned about a new celeb-reality show that's going to be airing in the UK. it's called popstar to opera star. the premise is to see if 8 established pop artists can be coached to sing arias and hit those high notes, just like an opera singer. should be interesting. anyone have satellite TV that can pick up ITV in england?

this week's lunchtime poll asks: what popstar would you like to see try their hand at singing opera?

from our twitter camp:

@palmbeachopera - christina aguilera

@theatlantaopera - christina aguilera for sure. she has such a big voice

@theblkdragon - christina aguilera. i agree :)

@ppe324 - i had one friend say kanye west, another mariah carey...interesting coloratura for sure.

@calgaryopera - beyonce. more hip-hopera please.

@npbradshaw - i'd rather see kelly clarkson or pink

@jordansean - i would love to see lady gaga do opera!

and now over to our facebook friends:

carson crandall - ellen de generes

michelle hempstock - adam lambert

jim peers - thom yorke

claudio arato - ewan mcgregor

caprice borrowman - marilyn manson

jo thomas - steve perry

michael van lane - pink

marlene johnson - jann arden

alex mathieson - celine dion

diana maureen sandberg - rod stewart

selina inajar - meatloaf!

thanks for the fab suggestions everyone! it's quite the thought to take these artists out of their comfort zone! get rid of any amplification and mixing of vocals.

although these singers all have the confidence and experience at performing in front of tens of thousands of fans, i wonder how many of them have the chops to do it unmic'd? with no bells, whistles or crutches, but just themselves on the big ole' stage? the thought alone is enough to give anyone stage fright!

operamania 101: planes, trains & automobiles

who here likes the amazing race? i don't know about you, but i used to watch that show religiously.

in the 10th leg of last season's the amazing race (installment #15), you would've seen the final four teams (including a pair of harlem globetrotters) come to a roadblock at the estates theatre in prague, czech republic. it was here that one member of each team had to search the whole of the historic theatre for a teeny tiny mandolin.

and while the teams were searching furiously for the miniature instrument, there was an opera singer onstage singing the role of don giovanni. it was, after all, at the estates theatre that mozart premiered don giovanni in 1787.

once the mandolin was located, the teams would then bring it to the opera singer who would then hand them the next clue to the route marker.


fast forward to 3:00 for the start of the treasure hunt


press play for the continued shenanigans

so who is don giovanni?

don giovanni is an opera about a heartless cad who life revolves around wine and amorous conquests. he views donna elvira, donna anna and zerlina as sport, seducing and manipulating them. the wronged women all want to seek vengeance on don giovanni. in the end, don giovanni's comeuppance comes in supernatural form, dragging him to an eternity of hellfire. the closing line of the opera?

"such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life" (questo è il fin)

this was not the first time opera was featured in this around the world race.

in season 14, teams made their way to a pit stop at the novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre, which is the largest theatre in russia. (even larger than the bolshoi theatre) as it was just a pit stop, no tasks were required but to just be the first team to arrive there.

however, later on in the race, on the 10th leg, teams were faced with choosing a detour in beijing, china. unlike a roadblock where only one member of the team would carry out tasks, a detour is a choice between tasks that the team would decide to perform.

in this leg's detour, the teams had to choose between chinese waiter or beijing opera. chinese waiter had the teams go to a designated chinese restaurant and take down four customer orders (spoken in mandarin) and pronounce it correctly back to the chef. (in mandarin, of course)

if the team chose beijing opera, they would go to hguang huiguan opera house and apply chinese opera make up on each other, to go with the traditional costumes. but it had to look identical to the 2 opera singers in front of them them. only after the make up pass muster with the opera master were they able to get their next clue.


fast forward to 9:20 for the detour challenge


fast forward to 2:50 to see how the teams fared

if you produce a show about a race around the globe, you're bound to feature opera sometime; be it landmarks, costumes or singing. that's because one can find opera in almost every big city in the world. opera is truly international.

and because there wasn't any chinese opera singing featured in the amazing race (darn it!), i shall leave you operamaniacs with il mio tesoro, the don giovanni aria which greeted the teams in novosibirsk.

see you at the next route marker.

to be faithfull

double shot of ms faithfull for a sunday afternoon.





enjoy.

bathtime with jonesy

if i hadn't seen it for myself, i may not have believed it. jonesy LOVES taking a bath. in fact, she'll come sprinting into the bathroom whenever she hears the water being turned on. even if i'm just brushing my teeth at the sink.

so adorable. jonesy will peer over the side of the tub while it's filling up. and when she's in, she'll just wade back and forth in the chest high lukewarm water.



the first time she discovered bathtime, jonesy stayed in the water for almost 25 minutes. the water was getting cool before she was even ready to come out!


playing with her rubber ducky


rubber ducky, you're the one. you make bathtime lots of fun - ernie



but i'm not ready to come out yet

and just like a person after a nice luxurious bath, she gets all kinds of sleepy while we towel her dry.



i love how she goes all rag doll after being dried off.



such a little sleepy bear.

for more bathtime with jonesy, see my flickr.

high jumpin' with jonesy

jonesy is only 4 months old but is already jumping like a champ. although she can't quite make it from floor to kitchen counter yet, she's having fun practicing.

here she is playing catch with her huggo.



so cute. you can totally see her shaved belly from when she got spayed. the fur is just starting to grow back.

and seriously, i have my doubt she's just a regular cat. i mean, just look at those laser eyes.

intergalactic new years eve

my new years eve turned out to be spacey and out of this world. and by that, i mean space-themed.

thinking that everyone would be in the throes of getting ready to boogie down for whatever new years eve party people go to, dustin, sean and i went to watch avatar at the langley colossus, which in itself looks like a UFO shaped cineplex. to our astonishment, the place was packed. we weren't the only nerds out, it seems.



all the avatar IMAX screenings were sold out for the entire day, but we were able to score tix to the 330pm 3D version. the last time i saw a 3D movie was friday the 13th and the glasses were the cardboard kind with the blue and red filters. so i was surprised that avatar's 3D glasses were kinda like a children's version of plastic ray-bans. and they fit over my glasses too.

i've dodged every write up or review on the web about the story of avatar. i wanted to go into the movie, completely clueless about what was to unfold before me. there's nothing new in the storyline of avatar; we've all seen the narratives before in other movies, with its theme on environmentalism, colonialism, genocide and humanity.

the magic of avatar was in the mindblowing visuals - 3D camera system called 3D fusion, as well as the backdrop of pandora with its wild ecosystems of vistas and jungles, majestic waterfalls, flora and fauna.

avatar is an orgy for the eyes. a mind-boggling and stunning dreamworld. and the 3D immersion experience was fantastic, once your eyes adjust to taking in the 3D. (remember trying to relax your eyes with those magic eye 3D posters that were all the rage years ago?)

but once they do, you'll be swept away by the:


helicoradian, plants that responds to touch by coiling up and retracting to the ground


glowing jellyfishlike spores that float about the jungle landscape


woodsprites which are the seeds of the tree of souls


bioluminescene and colourations of the ecosystem, including the forest floor at night. it's as if everything were lit with ultraviolet lights or fiber optic ends


bioluminescent waters to swim in


irridescent dots and lines running all over the na'vi's nervous or circulatory system, glowing like fireflies in the dark


floating hallelujah mountains. like islands among the clouds


hometrees where the na'vi make their homes


tree of souls, a giant willow like tree where the na'vi can communicate with eywa their deity


and yes! the na'vi shoot bows and arrows!

fantastical creatures that inhabit pandora include the the rhino like hammerhead titanothere, the king predator thanator, six-legged direhorses and flying reptilian banshees with butterfly colours. the na’vis would bond with various animals by interweaving hair tendrils or tentacles together to form a neural interface, directly plugging into the animal's nervous system and exchanging sensory and motor input. thus becoming an extension of each other. can you imagine feeling what other living things are feeling?

the na'vi co-exist in perfect balance with the living and sentient beings around them, while at the same time being connected to the spirit world. i wanted to explore the ecology and world of pandora after seeing this movie.

james cameron has outdone himself. i've been a long time fan, ever since watching terminator and aliens when i was little, but this visual spectacle blew me away. the man is a film pioneer and with avatar, he proves that he is indeed peerless.

i was worried when the credits were rolling of taking off my 3D glasses, thinking my astigmatic eyes would be all squirrely, trying to adjust back to normalcy. but there was no eye strain, no funky depth perception problems. i read later on that james cameron's crew worked for years to eliminate "brain sheer" so that there wouldn't be any eye strains or headaches.

since sean and i are still recovering from flu/cold, we just wanted to mellow together for the rest of the evening. the evening was rounded out with take out dinner, playtime with jonesy and 2010: the year we make contact.



you know, because it's 2010. that and i haven't ever watched it, having been scarred and thoroughly confused to this day why my elementary school teachers made us watch 2001 when we were 12-13 years old. really, how do you expect pre-teens to "get", much less sit through kubrick's 2001?!

we could've also watched the omen blu-ray disc that sean just picked up but as much as i appreciate the omen to be a really scary horror movie, i did not want that to be the movie i watch into the new decade. nor could i bear having jerry goldsmith's chilling score in my head either.

and so with 2010 running in the background and us counting down the very last minute before midnight, we asked each other what would be our last words of 2009? and with mere seconds to go, i decided mine was going be "it's been swell."

and then of course our first words of 2010: happy new year.