The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.

I got up early this morning, which was a major deal because I was kept up last night by a loud party down the street. When we’re in Santa Barbara we live about 0.4 miles from Oprah on the same street she lives on. You probably read about her big fund raiser last night for Barack Obama. Well, it was loud (especially Stevie Wonder) and mildly annoying. Anyway, I got up early and dealt with ALL the comments that have been stacking up. So, if you’ve had a comment languishing in comment Purgatory, it’s now up. Sorry for the delay, but I’ve been covered up with other projects. I’ll try to do better.

Here is a an article in the LA Times by Matt Welch, one of the bloggers I read daily. Matt writes for the Times, but he also has a quirky blog on the stuff that interests him along with insider Los Angeles info and a lot of funky music videos that I really enjoy. The times article deals with the law of unintended consequences (one of the most powerful laws in the universe that few people ever think about) as related to passports and fathers who run out on their child support.

A great YouTube video of Luciano Pavarotti singing a duet with Bryan Adams. Shows just how weak the voices of the mega rock stars are when compared to someone who really has a voice.

Read more »

Hello! This is Dr. Mike - If you're new here and you've enjoyed my posts, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Luciano Pavarotti succumbed to pancreatic cancer a couple of days ago. I posted on Mr. Pavarotti’s condition a few months ago and feared the worst. It’s difficult to come back from pancreatic cancer.

The world of opera has lost a true giant. Probably no one since Enrico Caruso has so electrified audiences the world over. He will be missed.

(Link to the LA Times obituary for a mini biography of Mr. Pavarotti.)

Read more »

I woke up this morning with my favorite Iris Dement song Sweet is the Melody rolling around in my brain. And I couldn’t (still can’t) get it out of my head.  I was humming it as I was drinking my coffee and reading the paper. Then MD picked up on it and got in her brain and we were both humming/singing it in harmony.

As you may remember from a previous post, Iris Dement is a singer/song writer from Arkansas who has made good on the folk and bluegrass music arenas with a little crossover into country and pop.

So that you can get this song in your brain, here is a YouTube of sweet-faced, sincere-sounding, crystalline-voiced Iris singing Sweet is the Melody. Enjoy.

I love the light comic operas of William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan: the melodies are infectious and the librettos are hilarious, especially if you lived in fin de siecle London. Many of the characters are spoofs of people (usually politicians) who were in power at the time. My favorite is H.M.S. Pinafore, which contains my favorite number Now Give Three Cheers. This song I have sung countless times in the shower performing not just the captain’s part but all the rest as well.

A close second to the H.M.S. Pinafore is The Pirates of Penzance and during one of those bizarre wilfings I often do late at night and unsupervised (I was searching for Linda Rondstadt; don’t ask why) I came upon a segment of this opera, which led me to the bizarre selection that follows.

Take a look at this rap video. Watch it all the way through and note the language, not necessarily the vulgar language (which seems to b e common to most rap songs), but the construction of the song, the libretto, if you will. Then imagine that William Gilbert, the librettist for the Gilbert and Sullivan operas had presented this libretto to Sullivan to set to music. This has been done by someone who is extremely creative and has a ton (no, two tons) of time on his hands.

Read more »