While the east coast of the U.S. digs itself out from the snow, Chicago remains blissfully snowless. Let’s hope I get out of here when I fly to London in 11 days. On this day in history, the famous Lisbon Earthquake took place in 1531, killing 30,000 and making some doubt the beneficence of God. On this day in 1911, Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier debuted in Dresden, and, in 1998, Bill Clinton (the next First Gentleman) announced on t.v. that he did not have sex with Monica Lewinsky. On January 26, 1944, Angela Davis was born (remember her?), and football coach Bear Bryant died in 1983. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, the beasts vie for Andrzej’s attention, and today’s dialogue even has a title. (Malgorzata doesn’t know what Hili was going to say because Cyrus interrupted her.)
RIVALRY
Hili: As a matter of fact, we could…Cyrus: Don’t listen to her.
RYWALIZACJAHili: Właściwie moglibyśmy….
Cyrus: Nie słuchaj jej.
Leon the Dark Tabby is still on his “hiking trip” to the mountains, but so far has done precious little hiking. I’m not sure whether the monologue below reflects the fact that he did do a bit of walking.
Leon: I feel the thaw in my bones.
As even more lagniappe, here is Gus (“earless but fearless”) reader Taskin’s cat. He’s had enough of the snow (he lost his ears through frostbite when he was live-trapped in the snow two years ago).
Surely the earthquake was a judgement upon Lisbonians… for not choosing a more stable geology!
😉
I’m sure that a convenience priest would point out that it was their fault, not god’s. They chose the wrong planet to live on.
FWIW, the locus of the 1531 quake was probably on the irregular margin between African and European plates, about 1/3 to 1/2 way from the Gibralter straits to the Azores. But we’re still not highly confident on that which makes it hard to assess the likelihood of recurrence in any set time period.
It was the Great Lisbon Earthquake on November 1, 1755 that caused people to doubt god. The quake of 1531 caused people to blame the Jews for God’s wrath.
Voltaire connection I seem to recall…? Is the 1755 one in Candide?
Yes, note the 1755 quake happened on All Saints day so many people were already in the churches. Note that the tsunami after probably killed most of the people and most people weren’t killed in the churches.
Finally Cyrus is jealous.
The only first gentleman!! What a bargain: two presidents for the price of one!!
I understand the people ran into Lisbon’s churches for god’s protection, which collapsed killing them. Thinking people drew conclusions.
Have you not got Logie Baird’s TV demonstration from 1926 on Google Doodle today?
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?hl=en&ei=43SnVpuDOYSisAHuroaICw
I am an occasional opera goer and saw Der Rosenkalier at the Lyric Opera about ten years ago. Susan Graham played Octavian (the pants role, i.e. a female playing a male character) and was great. The most famous recent duo who played the two leads was Renee Fleming and Graham. After her divorce, Fleming when asked about her love life cracked that she kissed Graham more than anyone else.
Glad to find another opera lover on this site. Rosenkavalier is one of my favorites and I saw the Met HD theater telecast with Graham and Fleming a few years back. Excellent production.
For Halloween, Gus could go as a Snowy Owl.
😀
Also on this day…
My father died. And his father was born.
I told Dad in parting to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to Grandpa.
I don’t believe in g*d, so not sure why. But I did.
Given the difficulty of finding things to say at a time like that, I think that was very sweet.