Sunday: Hili dialogue

November 13, 2016 • 6:30 am

by Grania

Good morning!

Today we wish Ayaan Hirsi Ali a happy birthday. She is still a figure of controversy to some, but she remains a tireless fighter for the right to equality for Muslim women. If you’ve never read anything by her, I encourage you to try Infidel or Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now.

Today has also been a musical day in the annals of Disney. Fantasia was released in 1940 and in 1997 The Lion King opened on Broadway.

People did not know what to make to Fantasia when it was initially released being as it was a feature-length series of animated sequences set to classical music, and was seen by some as a masterpiece while others complained bitterly about the musical arrangement, the sound quality, the price and the “grotesque” animation of some sequences. It has not been without its controversies too, although is now largely seen as groundbreaking.

The Broadway version of The Lion King is probably not nearly as widely known as the cartoon, which is understandable given the limitations of theatre as opposed to film, but it is superior in almost every way.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, it has snowed for the first time. Hili doesn’t like it one bit, and will soon be looking for the Door to Summer:

Hili: Is this the whole winter?
A: No, just an introduction.
Look at that face!
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In Polish:
Hili: Czy to już jest cała zima?
Ja: Nie, to tylko zapowiedź.

Anne-Marie sent us a photo of Linux Bernie, here with Ariel to the left.

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Look at those faces!

And Jerry (this has to be a first!) sent in a picture of a d*g. Yes, you read that correctly.

A cute d*g–honorary cat–in Stanley, Hong Kong. It was TINY, as you can see from the first photo. I’m not sure what breed–owners said it was a Papillon–but it was furry and very catlike. It is full grown–ten years old–and the owners told us that when it was a puppy it was HALF the size of their palm. Everyone gave it a lot of attention.

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41 thoughts on “Sunday: Hili dialogue”

  2. Apropos Disney’s “Fantasia”, may I recommend “Allegro non Troppo”, a very funny and subversive spoof which was created in 1976 by the Italian director Bruno Bozzetto. One of the sequences, set to Sibelius’s “Valse Triste”, depicts a cat wandering among the ruins of a house, remembering the good times when she lived there.

  3. Sorry about that snow Hili. We had a first hard freeze yesterday so it’s time to move on.

    1. Definitely. Papillons are more slender, have fine silky hair, and “butterfly ears.” Hence the name!

    1. Agree that the dog is most likely a Pomeranian, with a haircut like internet-famous Boo the Dog. Both look like the “Teddy Bear” variety, with a shorter snout. I have two Pom mixes, and it’s definitely worth having their coats clipped short like that during the warmer months.

  7. from Ms Atwood’s p33 of her y1998 The Handmaid’s Tale: “Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time, it will. … … It will become ordinary.”

    Only one year ago today, thus … … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_2015_Paris_attacks.

    And, as well, my work week starts not renewed at all … … as, this morning, comes this news re m’Darlin’ Leon: http://www.tennessean.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/music/2016/11/13/leon-russell-dies-at-74/93763018 … …

    I don’t, and won’t, get used at all to these pieces of my waking – up news. Never.

    Blue

    1. Oh no. Leon Russell was an amazing musician and songwriter, one of my favorites. I once heard him perform with Freddie King. A concert I’ll never forget

  8. I was saddened to wake up to the news that one of my all time favorite musicians had died. RIP Leon Russell. If it was a circus game, you played it well.

  9. Fantasia was popular in the 60s and 70s as a film to see while stoned, sometimes on a double bill with Reefer Madness.

  11. Hope things are OK for Heather Hastie and Improb, though I think Heather lives closer to affected area. I just heard there has been big earthquake at South Island, epicentre 59 miles from Christchurch and near Cheviot town. Thinking of you and hope things are alright.

    2. Thanks for the kind thoughts. I felt the main earthquake very strongly, which went on for ages – at least 2 minutes, plus the four biggest aftershocks. I’m several hundred kilometres away though, so it wasn’t bad for me.

      Two people have been killed, but I don’t know any details.

      My brother and his family live in Christchurch, which is the city at the centre of the affected area, but they are okay.

      1. Certainly good to hear from you. Understand quake was formally rated 7.8 and there were some small tsunamis. One lady’s report said it was the big rolling kind of quake and it lasted for 3 minutes. She almost was seasick from it.

        2. Yeah, there’s a lot of mess in places that are closer. I’m about 750 kms away. There’s a lot of info here: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/earthquake-special-live-stream-rolling-coverage-nz-rattled-dozens-quakes

          My brother is 130 km down the road and there was no damage to their home or business. We’re used to earthquakes and have pretty strong building regulations because of them.

          There were quite a few killed in the Christchurch quake c. 3 years ago, which was much smaller, but most were in the same building, and that building didn’t meet building regs. The engineer/architect who designed it has skipped the country to escape prosecution.

          1. Here in the US he’d be nominated for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and be confirmed in a party-line vote.

          3. So glad to hear from you and know you’re OK! Thanks for the link–such a disaster; so many lives are going to be disrupted for so long!

          4. To tell the truth, I feel a bit guilty anyone’s even worried about me. Beyond my recliner wobbling its way through a series of minor aftershocks, nothing has happened to me. A lot of people are going to have their lives disrupted for some time. Even some of their aftershocks have been big enough to be felt where I am.

            (There were initial earthquakes all over the country, but the biggest near me was only 4.5. Several of the aftershocks in the Canterbury region have been bigger than our main quake.)

          5. Well, you & infinite are about the only NZ-ers many of us know, I guess. 😉 And wow, those were some aftershocks.

            (People are funny; even here in the much bigger US [had you noticed?], when I first went to NY and told people I was from Oregon, a not insignificant number would reply, “oh, do you know [so and so]?” Guys, it’s not *that* small. 😀 )

  13. I was recently hearing an interview of people involved in the Lion King play (maybe interviewed on NPR). They described how hard it is for many of the actors to perform in the animal costumes, causing injuries and so on. They have to rotate the actors pretty frequently.

  14. I remember hearing years ago that the reason the sound quality of Fantasia is so execrable was that at some stage of the proceedings somebody was in a BIG hurry, and to save time had the sound track transmitted to them over the telephone.

  15. Having watched Fantasia a zillion times on VHS, with young ‘uns around, I cannot hear any of those scores without the movie imagery coming to mind.

    1. Exactly. It was my introduction to classical music as a child, and I remember being amazed to learn that the animations had been drawn to fit the music, rather than the other way around. Beethoven’s Pastoral is still one of my favourites. I still have the VHS, but no longer have a player!

  16. “And Jerry (this has to be a first!) sent in a picture of a d*g.”

    Picture of Jerry holding it or it’s fake! 🙂

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