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Tatiana Troyanos *IX 12 1938 — The Life You Give
The dynamic mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos was born into a singing family; her Greek father was a tenor, and her German mother a soprano. Born in New York, Troyanos studied at the Juilliard School with Hans J. Heinz, while singing occasionally in the New York area (she was a member of the original chorus for the…
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Neil Peart *IX 12 1952 — The Life You Give
Ask just about any rock drummer who their influences are and chances are Rush’s Neil Peart will be high on the list. With his technically demanding, precise, and deeply complex rhythmic style, few rock drummers scaled the heights that Peart did both on record and on-stage as part of the renowned Canadian prog rock trio…
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The Life You Give: Arvo Pärt *IX 11 1935
Arvo Pärt, born September 11, 1935, in Paide, Estonia, is the composer who developed a style based on the slow modulation of sounds such as those produced by bells and pure voice tones, a technique reminiscent of the medieval Notre-Dame school and the sacred music of Eastern Orthodoxy; Pärt was a devout Orthodox Christian. His…
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Medicine with a mild Blueberry sweetness added
Avocado is an elegant base. Elegant in taste, nothing explosive to the palate. It is specific in flavor, yet mild. Beyond matters of flavor, it is understood as nutritionally rich, with healthy fats, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. All this gets a boost with garlic. This aggressive natural compound of flavor and medicinal properties has…
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The Life You Give: Theodor Adorno *IX 11 1903
Theodor Adorno, born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund, on Sept. 11, 1903, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is the philosopher who also wrote on sociology, psychology, and musicology. Adorno obtained a degree in philosophy from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt in 1924. His early writings, which emphasize aesthetic development as important to historical evolution, reflect the influence…
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Listening to “On Intelligence: Is Reward Enough?” — a conversation on Clubhouse; watching a Yankee game, as well as Alcaraz vs. Tiafoe at the US Open semifinals, while investigating the vanilla flavor according to Häagen-Dazs
My life has never been easy. Neither has it included boredom. And it is not even my lifestyle to absorb so much at once — I am actually against it. However, yesterday and today do include multitasking.
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The Life You Give: Antonin Dvořák *IX 8 1841
Antonín Dvořák, born Antonín Leopold Dvořák, September 8, 1841, in Nelahozeves, Bohemia, Austrian Empire [now in Czech Republic], is the first Bohemian composer to have achieved worldwide recognition, noted for turning folk material into 19th-century Romantic music. Dvořák was born, the first of nine children, in Nelahozeves, a Bohemian village on the Vltava River north…
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“Do not judge me”
Delivering such a phrase equates to judgement towards oneself in the first place. One may indeed wonder about a fine risotto —- finer by containing fine threads of saffron —- topped with a polish sausage, of all things. But taste trumps culture.
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The Life You Give: Angela Gheorghiu *IX 7 1965
Angela Gheorghiu, born Angela Burlacu on September 7, 1965, in Adjud, Romania, is an operatic lyric soprano noted for her powerful voice and commanding stage presence. Gheorghiu early realized her love of singing, and she was supported by her family in working toward a career in opera. She left home at age 14 to study…
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Happy Birthday, Roger Waters! (IX 6 1943)
Roger Waters is Pink Floyd’s grand conceptualist, the driving force behind such albums as Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. In the wake of Syd Barrett’s departure, Waters emerged as a formidable songwriter, but it’s this stretch of ’70s albums — each one nearly symphonic in its reach —…
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The Life You Give: John Cage *IX 5 1912
John Cage, born John Milton Cage, Jr., September 5, 1912, in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., is the avant-garde composer whose inventive compositions and unorthodox ideas profoundly influenced mid-20th-century music. The son of an inventor, Cage briefly attended Pomona College and then traveled in Europe for a time. Returning to the United States in 1931, he…














