Italian Symphony No. 4 A major Op. 90, By Felex Mendelssohn
This symphony was one of several inspired by a tour of Europe that was a gift from his parents. Mendelssohn was in his early 20’s at the time.
From the Wiki article linked above:
Below is a snippet of a letter he wrote to his father:
“This is Italy! And now has begun what I have always thought … to be the supreme joy in life. And I am loving it. Today was so rich that now, in the evening, I must collect myself a little, and so I am writing to you to thank you, dear parents, for having given me all this happiness.”
In February he wrote from Rome to his sister Fanny,
“The Italian symphony is making great progress. It will be the jolliest piece I have ever done, especially the last movement. I have not found anything for the slow movement yet, and I think that I will save that for Naples.”
He was 23 when he debuted this symphony in London.
Enjoy Jack
jack, wonderful, both the music and the enthusiasm in the letter.
i glimpse snippets of some of his “a midnight summer’s dream” piece about which wiki writes at
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn) – Wikipedia
an album cover corroborates the connection
on the woes of the day in DC
Attribution: Debt ceiling blackmail by John Darkow, Columbia Missourian
Mendelssohn is a composer I seldom think about until I hear one of his pieces and a reminded how much I like his works. Thanks Jack.
this might push some conventions, pro sports teams and other entertainment types to rethink their conferences, games and tours
NAACP issues travel warning in Florida: the state ‘has become hostile to Black Americans’ | The Hill
considering the extent of his tesla/giga factories over there, wonder how much china weighs in on elon’s non-car endeavors like twitter and spaceX and starlink.
BBC:
Officials figures released in the last week show China exported 1.07 million vehicles in the period, up 58% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
China’s exports were boosted by demand for electric cars and sales to Russia.
Last year, China overtook Germany to become the world’s second largest car exporter.
According to China’s General Administration of Customs, China exported 3.2 million vehicles in 2022, compared to Germany’s 2.6 million vehicle exports.
The shift away from fossil fuels has helped fuel the rise of China’s motor industry.
First quarter exports of new energy vehicles (NEVs), which includes electric cars, rose by more than 90%, compared to a year earlier.
Tesla’s China arm, SAIC – the owner of the MG brand – and BYD, which is backed by veteran US investor Warren Buffett, are among China’s top exporters of NEVs.
Elon Musk’s electric carmaker has a huge manufacturing plant in Shanghai which exports to regions including Japan and Europe.
Tesla’s ‘Gigafactory’ is currently capable of producing 1.25 million vehicles a year, and the company is planning to further increase capacity.
Last month, it started making Model Y sport utility vehicles for export to Canada.
China has also seen exports to Russia surge since the start of the Ukraine war, as Western countries imposed trade sanctions on Moscow.
[continues]
NAACP issues travel warning regarding Florida, pretty much do not go there. Until the legal attacks on the constitutionality of what that state and other states are doing ends, there are many states to avoid.
23 years old. these classical dudes really were the rock stars of their day.
The hypocrisy of the GOP’s sudden fret over debt is just funny.
In raw dollars and percentage of GDP it rose more under Trump than any one term in presidential history — a $7.4 trillion increase in debt, 128% as a percentage of GDP.
But Republicans didn’t say a word when raising the debt limit three times under his tenure.
on the debt back in sept. 2017
The math behind the National Debt is so complex that Reason TV decided to lean on “Cosmos” to explain it.
Rep. Steven Woodrow
@WoodrowForCO
Clinton years: GOP threatens default and shutdown.
W years: GOP triples the National debt.
Obama years: GOP threatens default and shutdowns.
Trump years: GOP adds another $7 trillion in debt.
Biden years: GOP threatens defa…
There’s something that Approaches a pattern there dontchathink, senor sturgeon?
Atta boy Jack. Such a lovely way to start of Sunday.
Mendels is definitely one of my most favorite sohns.
Five facts DO a pattern make, of that you may be sure.
This is what the guy said he wanted.
And this be what he gots. Gotta be careful what you draw sometimes.
Can’t disagree but never thought I’d see something like this…
NAACP issues travel warning in Florida: the state ‘has become hostile to Black Americans’
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4013835-naacp-issues-travel-warning-in-florida-the-state-has-become-hostile-to-black-americans/
Well, Poobah, Florida is one of the states whose guv and legislature have decided to lay its racism, misogyny and christofacism out there just in case you’d miss it if they were a little more subtle about those things.
Sports teams should boycott holding games in Florida, if their team members don’t feel safe. Same goes for all other things that draw entertainment dollars. It’s time to roll up the sidewalks in Florida. Texas is probably next.
Can we just give Florida and Texas to the white supremacists and put a fence around those states to confine them and create large, gated communities for the criminally insane?
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/19/legislature-chaplain-bill-rocky-malloy/
“Speaking to state lawmakers last month, Rocky Malloy argued that putting unlicensed religious chaplains in schools could prevent youth violence, teen suicide and teacher burnout. And he rejected concerns that school chaplains might use their access to recruit kids to Christ.”
“What Malloy didn’t mention was that, for decades, he has led another group that promotes school chaplains as a tool for evangelism. Malloy is the founder of Mission Generation, which had been open about its desire to proselytize in schools across the world until recently, when its website was changed to redirect to the school chaplain association’s home page.”
“The connection, noted this month by activists and Religion News Service, raises new questions about the aim of Senate Bill 763, which would allow local school boards to place unlicensed chaplains alongside school counselors.”
“This session, Christian lawmakers have called church-state separation “a false doctrine,” pushed to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms and challenged the Texas Constitution’s prohibitions on public financing of religious organizations, a key plank of the “school choice” movement.”
“Worse, opponents say, the bill could deepen the state’s youth mental health crisis by providing students with unproven, lightly supervised and nonscientific counseling approaches by untrained religious activists.”
“Mental health experts similarly oppose the idea, arguing that religious-based counseling can be damaging to developing brains because it often focuses on “sin” and “moral failings,” rather than diagnosable and treatable issues. Such approaches, experts say, can increase feelings of shame and isolation for common childhood problems, including ADHD and anxiety.”
“After the bill passed the House, Malloy sent a thankful email to supporters: “Texas is leading the nation putting faith and prayer back in school through chaplains!”
“Would you let a Ex-Pirate, drug-smuggling pirate teach your kindergartner? Apparently, God would…”
“So reads the broken-grammar tagline for “Pirate School,” a short documentary-style film that tracks Malloy’s story beginning decades ago…”
“According to that website, Malloy was living in Mexico when he was sentenced to life in prison for “conspiracy to over through the national government and international drug trafficking in a misguided attempt to help indigenous people” who were being persecuted for their religion. After 72 hours in prison — which Malloy notes is the same time it took Jesus to resurrect — he says he was freed by divine intervention, a sign that he had a “license from God.”
“Archived versions of the group’s website — which now sends viewers to the chaplain association’s homepage — bragged about creating a “viable approach” to getting into public schools to “influence those in education until the saving grace of Jesus becomes well-known, and students develop a personal relationship with him,” Religion News Service reported.”
“And, in a 2022 interview with the far-right True Texas Project, Malloy called “secularism” its own religion and said publicly funded school chaplains could provide much-needed “absolute truth” at a time of increasing support for transgender rights.”
“Right now, it’s all relative [truth],” he said. “They get to define what truth is. Right now, there’s a big discussion like, ‘what is a woman?’ Just a couple years ago, that was pretty straightforward.”
“Later in that interview, Malloy dismissed potential church-state separation concerns about school chaplains, saying they “represent God, not religion.” And he claimed the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause was meant to protect religion from the government, not vice versa.”
“The claim is popular among adherents of Christian nationalism, which claims that U.S. institutions and laws should favor Christianity because the country’s founding was ordained by God.”
None of our Florida-friends and family has a good word to say about their governor. Makes me wonder who’s supporting him. Same goes for Texas. Who are these people?
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/20/us/mississippi-judge-denies-transgender-high-school-graduation-dress/index.html
“A transgender teen in Mississippi missed her high school graduation after a federal judge denied a motion requesting she be allowed to wear a dress and heels under her robe
The chicken-fried Taliban strikes, again. Isn’t how one dresses covered under the First Amendment? Is that not part of freedom of expression?
I do remember not being allowed to wear long pants in public school, even in winter, unless I wore a dress over it like a tunic.
Nice work, Mr. S 🫡
Sturg – It is gorgeous.
Ok my onions are blooming and my garlic is harvested, one isn’t supposed to let onions go to seed but the flowers are amazing and smell even better so i just grow them as ornamentals
Also, i’m getting hyped for the penultimate episode of “Succession”, i try to avoid discussing TV, but last week’s episode was brilliantly made, and was germane to topics discussed here, so hopefully at least one of you saw it, ok gotta find my Tv watching glasses (the ones that aren’t scratched to fuck) ✌️
Bink – I don’t know if I’ve ever seen onions go to seed, but chive blossoms are delicious.
Exquisite work, Mr. Sturge. I call that a bookcase because my vocabulary is limited but it’s obviously so much more.
Mallory’s a CF nut. He is half right about the establishment clause. It IS meant to protect religion from government BUT it is also intended to protect us from government imposed religion on us. It is designed to keep government out of religion and vice versa. School chaplains in schools? Nope.
NEW THREAD