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Went to see Wagner's opera Lohengrin last night at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. This was the final part of my awesome series of birthday presents - this one from my wife, long planned and two months afterwards. It was bloody awesome. Everything was perfect - the setting, the set and lighting, and an Internationally renowned top flight cast of singers. https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/lohengrin-by-david-alden-details With various courses of an excellent meal in the intervals. Carole was not a Wagner fan initially - but I've converted her. She was in tears of emotion by the end of the overture to Act 1 (honestly - so was I!). Now Wagner the man was a loathsome individual. Anti semitic, hateful towards his contemporary composers, and impossible to work with - a micromanager from hell. He described Brahms as "That bastard, Brahms", and put it about that Brahms' music was inspired by shooting birds from his balcony with a "Tyrolean bow" (there is actually no such thing) and listening to their dying cries. His dreadful reputation was not helped by Hitler being a Wagner fan, and it representing the pinnacle of music for Nazi National Socialism. Putting the awfulness of Wagner to one side - he was one hell of a composer! You just have to divorce the man from the music.

Arrived yesterday and it really opens up every electrostatic headphone that I own. I was looking for an amp that can bring more bass out of my HE90 than HEV90 so I drained my pocket to bid on this and now I am very satisfied. The hev90 has a romantic sound but the t2 amplifies every piece of detail, expand the soundstage to what ever possible with extreme fineness and sweetness. Buying any head-fi gear at this price is ridiculous but considering the previous closing bid I think I got a fair deal. And it is so rare to have T2 being sold alone. I do not need another pair of omega so this deal saves me a lot of money. But this amp's functionality in long run is questionable. I hope my handful of obsolete FETs stock will save me some pain when I need to fix this in the future.

Finished up the week at Milo & Otis siding, screen & vent repair, in preparation for what may be an epic paintjob on Mayberry Manor.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis all morning. La Panthère Des Neiges/Carnage/Ghosteen.

Counting down to the mornings excitement… https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/science/black-hole-photo.html?referringSource=articleShare EDIT: Okay, maybe not the most exciting presentation. Better feed:

We have a cat named Jellybean It's also the name of Craig's cat on Malcolm in the Middle. and Marshmallow is the name of Dewey's dog

Piper started calling her Jelly Bean and it seems to have stuck. Integration is going pretty well. Nutella seems wary of another female, but Marshmallow seems to have accepted her quickly. They play together a lot and Lauren sent me this earlier today. I’m happy to call that a win. And even though she’s still getting settled, there clearly isn’t too much drama. from yesterday…

Is Putin Sick – Or Are We Meant to Think He Is? An oligarch close to the Kremlin was recorded on a tape saying the president is ‘very ill with blood cancer.’ Is this true, idle speculation or disinformation designed to make an erratic and paranoid dictator vulnerable? https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/is-putin-sick-or-are-we-meant-to-think-he-is/

Thanks Ric - I was not up for the live event. But also in my feed was a good veritasium vid.

Finished Severance over the weekend. Really enjoyed the mind-fuck of it all. I didn't do a lot of theorizing, so a lot of the reveals in the final episodes hit plenty hard, even if there were some bread crumbs leading up. Finished Slow Horses last night. Really enjoyed that too. I forgot how much I like the British 6-episode season. The story flew by, and never felt bloated like some of the "we have to get to 10" Netflix series can. And Gary Oldman is amazing. Looking forward to second seasons of both. Need to get back on The Great.

Omega Epica 2021 https://album.link/i/1531439598 Example:

I wouldn't say that was a mistake. He couldn't go elsewhere having Leclerc breaking right in front and Max close enough so he couldn't get the outside.

Pussy Riot band member Maria Alyokhina escapes Russia dressed as food courier after criticising Putin. 🤣

They are a bit more relaxed sounding and neutral to me. It's not a huge difference but the L500Mk2 gave a wow feeling for the first time in a long while when I first put them on. I just got them for the bloody cable... 😉

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert