Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
Editor’s note: Amy Gahran writes about mobile tech for CNN.com. She is a San Francisco Bay Area writer and media consultant whose blog, Contentious.com, explores how people communicate in the online age.
So says new research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which states that about one-fifth of U.S. adults have read an e-book in the past year.
And if you expand that to include Americans over 16 who have used an e-reader device or app to read news articles or magazine-style features, the figure jumps to 43%.
E-book users tend to read more often than people who read only print material, Pew found. In particular, they read more books. A typical e-book user read 24 books in the past year, compared with the 15 books reported by typical non-e-book users.
Also, a third of people who read e-content say they now spend more time reading than they did before e-books. This is especially true for people who own tablets and e-book readers.
This might be good for the economy. According to Pew, e-book users are “also more likely than others to have bought their most recent book, rather than borrowed it, and they are more likely than others to say they prefer to purchase books in general.”
E-readers and tablets (including Amazon’s Kindle Fire e-reader, which is a modified Android tablet) were a popular holiday gift item last year. Currently 28% of Americans age 18 and older own at least one tablet or an e-book reader. And that’s not even counting the people who read books on a smartphone or iPod Touch app.
Then again, Pew also noted that e-book users often start searching for books online — which isn’t great news for people who run brick-and-mortar bookstores.
For now, print reading material still rules the consumer market, however. Pew found that nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults read a printed book in 2011, and 11% listened to an audiobook. Print books are especially popular when people read to children.
Print books are also the most popular choice when people want to borrow or lend a book. That’s not surprising — recently author Dave Taylor explained step-by-step how to borrow a Kindle book from a public library. It’s not too difficult, but is still considerably more complicated than walking into the library and pulling a book off the shelf.
The survey also found that just slightly more people prefer e-books over print for reading in bed.
On the flip side, Pew noted that nearly 20% of U.S. adults said they had not read a single book in the past year. In general, people who don’t own electronic reading devices are more likely not to read much at all.
In addition, nearly 20% of Americans 16 and older said they had “physical or health conditions that made reading difficult or challenging.” Most of these people are older (25% of those over age 50), unemployed or low-income. But an interesting aspect of e-book and audiobook technology is its potential to improve the accessibility of written content.
Most e-reading devices allow the reader to adjust the font, font size, contrast, column width, and other factors to compensate for impaired vision. Plus, they often include text-to-speech technology that can read books or articles aloud — maybe not with thrilling delivery, but still a useful option. This can also be helpful to people with limited literacy.
The cost of e-reading devices keeps dropping, and it’s likely that in the next year or two companies like Amazon may be giving away basic e-readers for free (on the principle that you can make more money selling “blades” than “razors”).
As the price of e-readers approaches zero, it opens up more opportunities for people who have been left on the wrong side of the digital divide to access the same wealth of information, entertainment and education as people with normal vision and average-or-better income.
Since the invention of writing, the written word has always disrupted the balance of power in societies. While e-books might have started out as a high-tech novelty for early adopters, they may ultimately prove to be a great equalizer across boundaries of ability, resources and education.
The opinions expressed in this post are solely those of Amy Gahran.
May 18 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Some people say the art of making great small cars is all but lost, but that just isn’t true. Here’s a little Skoda that proves the point. To celebrate 100 years of the Monte Carlo rally Skoda has come up with the Fabia Monte Carlo,a trim level based on the mid-range SE, with five doors by default and pepped up with some very nice extras.
It looks the business thanks to optional black 17in alloy wheels, black wing mirror housings, matching black side sills, wheel arch extensions and bumper skirts, a black roof and, of course, Monte Carlo badges.
You don’t get masses of equipment as standard but there’s air conditioning, electric front windows, sports seats, electric heated wing mirrors and a rather lovely red-stitched leather steering wheel, handbrake and gear knob set.
The options list is comprehensive and most things on there are fairly priced. There’s a touchscreen display to replace the retro standard LCD display, cruise control, climate control and more. There’s also a no-cost option to have the seats finished in red cloth instead of the more subtle black and white fleck.
Article continues below
May 18 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Story By: by Will Shortz
On-Air Challenge: Every answer today is a familiar three-word phrase in which the second word is “and” and the first word starts with the letter L. You’ll be given the last word of the phrase, and you must identify the first word, starting with “L.” For example, given “master,” the answer would be “lord,” as in “lord and master.”
Last Week’s Challenge from listener Jim Waters of Bellingham, Wash.: Think of a common man’s name in four letters, one syllable. Move each letter exactly halfway around the alphabet. For example, A would become N, N would become A, and B would become O. The result will be a common woman’s name in two syllables. What names are these?
Answer: “Glen” and “Tyra”
Winner: Matt Pallai of Denver, Colo.
Next Week’s Challenge: Name the capital of a country that, when said out loud, sounds like a three-word phrase. This phrase might describe the reason why the police did not catch a barefoot thief. What is the capital, and what is the reason?
Submit Your Answer
If you know the answer to next week’s challenge, submit it here. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern.
May 17 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
“We are in the process of conferring with him regarding the next steps, which he may wish to take,” Allred said.
The original federal suit against Travolta is still pending, but it involves just one male therapist who says the actor groped him during a massage at an Atlanta hotel.
Attorney Okorie Okorocha, who filed the lawsuit last week, dropped John Doe #1, who made the Beverly Hills allegation, from the complaint Tuesday because of the Texas man’s confusion over the date of the alleged incident.
Travolta lawyer Martin Singer called the charges from both men “ridiculous” and said the dismissal of John Doe #1 “completely vindicated” the actor on that allegation.
“We fully expect that my client will similarly be vindicated with respect to Doe #2, as well as with respect to any other person who makes meritless claims against John Travolta,” Singer said.
That dismissal was “without prejudice, which means that he is still legally entitled to file a lawsuit against John Travolta if he chooses,” Allred said Wednesday.
Okorocha apologized last Friday for putting the wrong date of the John Doe #1 incident in the lawsuit, saying his first client initially told him it was January 16, 2012. Singer produced a restaurant receipt and a time-stamped photograph that showed the actor was in New York, not Los Angeles, on that date.
Instead of just changing the date on the filing to January 15 — the day John Doe #1 later decided was when it happened — Okorocha decided to withdraw the allegation from the lawsuit. Otherwise, it would have hampered the chances of John Doe #2′s case, he said.
Okorocha also said he had “personality conflicts” with John Doe #1 that contributed to his decision.
The lawyer insisted in a CNN interview Tuesday that he would “mop up” in the courtroom with the allegations made by John Doe #2.
“I can guarantee that John Doe #2 has a truckload of witnesses to back up what he’s saying,” he said.
His case is also bolstered by a series of e-mails in which the Atlanta plaintiff complains to his supervisor about Travolta’s advances, Okorocha said.
Singer attacked one e-mail published in some online reports that purportedly supports the Doe #2 claims.
“Various media outlets are reporting on an e-mail that Doe #2 allegedly sent to his bosses, which significantly does not refer to my client at all, nor does it make any mention whatsoever of any of the things outrageously alleged in Doe #2′s lawsuit,” Singer said. “Instead, Doe #2 voiced complaints about his co-workers gossiping and being insubordinate.”
The e-mail’s lack of Travolta’s name “says it all,” Singer said. “Nothing that is alleged in Doe #2′s lawsuit was mentioned in the e-mail he sent to his bosses, making his claims even more unbelievable.”
“The allegations in ‘Doe #2′s’ lawsuit are unraveling, just like ‘Doe #1′s’ ridiculous allegations, which were proven false and impossible,” he said.
Okorocha disagreed.
“I think I can show a custom, habit and practice,” Okorocha said, referring to his allegation that the actor has sexually assaulted dozens of other massage therapists over the years.
“If I bring in 100 people that don’t have an ax to grind, don’t want any money, they’re in 50 different states, they don’t know each other, they’re all massage therapists, they all have dates, they’re at different spa resorts and they say this exact same thing happened, it’s pretty hard to refute,” Okorocha said.
His client “ain’t going nowhere,” and is looking forward to a trial, he said.
“He means business, and he is absolutely determined and he’s as solid as they come as when it comes to character, history, reputation,” Okorocha said. “He’s everything you would want in a client.”
The second plaintiff was a staff massage therapist at the Atlanta hotel where he claims he was assaulted by Travolta on January 25, the amended lawsuit said.
Travolta, 58, has been married to actress Kelly Preston for 20 years. The oldest of their three children, Jett, was 16 when he died of a seizure while the family was vacationing in the Bahamas in January 2009.
CNN’s Kareen Wynter contributed to this report.
May 17 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
“I admit there are some who are very specific and will not try anything other than what they want,” Charles says, “Those I really have to work harder with and I’ll try and find something to please them.”
But Charles says many of the girls that come to her are so excited to just get a prom dress that they put away any preconceived notions.
“The majority of my young ladies that come in are open. They trust me, they trust my opinion and they’re able to find something that they really like.”
As was the case with 19-year-old high school student Zyna Williams, who came to Charles to find a dress a week before her prom.
Zyna is getting her dress for free because of the work of Operation Prom, a nonprofit organization that helps teens in financial need, or who are sick or disabled, get formal wear for no cost.
After selecting a few bright colors from her collection in her equally brightly colored private studio, Charles gently encourages Zyna to try on strapless dresses, a style she wouldn’t normally choose.
“Again I always advise the young ladies that come in just to try on a dress because some things don’t have great hanger appeal,” Charles tells Zyna, “but once you put it on you will probably fall in love with it, so let’s just try.”
Zyna ended up choosing a short, white, strapless dress that day to attend the Alpharetta High School prom, with Charles throwing in accessories and a free hair and makeup session.
For Zyna’s family, it couldn’t have come at a better time. Zyna’s adoptive mother, Yasaland King, says an expensive prom dress was just out of reach for her. She’s a single mom with two other children and adopted Zyna, who has cerebral palsy, 2½ years ago.
They came to the Atlanta Chapter of Operation Prom last year, and this year are again amazed by the outreach of the organization. King says Charles and Operation Prom are doing a phenomenal job of helping parents who are not fortunate enough to spend thousands of dollars on the whole prom experience for their children.
Not having thousands of dollars for prom is something that Charles can certainly relate to. There was a time when Charles herself had to face starting over with very little.
In August 2005, Charles thought what many in New Orleans did at the time. That Katrina was just another storm so she’s take a break for a while and visit friends and family in Atlanta.
It turned out to be anything but just another storm.
Because they left everything back home in Louisiana, Charles and her family had to make a new life in a new city.
“Coming (to Atlanta) and having to start over, it was a tedious experience for my family, but I’ve grown up with some very strong women so there’s nothing that we can’t tackle.”
After Katrina hit and Charles finally got back on her feet, the economy dealt her a second blow.
Charles lost her job working as a corporate trainer, and says after those experiences she decided that she never wanted to feel like she was backed up against a wall with nothing to fall back on.
“I think with Katrina and moving here to Atlanta I always said to myself, I don’t want to ever not have a second option.”
Now styling girls like Zyna is just one part of Charles’ busy schedule. She has a full-time job as the owner of Fashion Envy, a formal dress boutique in Atlanta. She is also a personal stylist and shopper.
The styling goes hand in hand with her job as the Atlanta chapter director for Operation Prom. Charles does “wardrobe audits” with her clients and encourages them to donate dresses that are sitting in their closets. She also rents dresses to clients for formal occasions and donates those, as well.
Charles says she got involved with Operation Prom so she could reach out to young women in the community and use her talent in the fashion industry to help people.
As a business owner and a “promologist,” Charles is one of many chapter directors making a difference for Operation Prom.
Formed in New York in 2005, Operation Prom was born when founder Noel D’Allacco saw a need in her own community in Yonkers.
“I was an event planner and I was meeting with brides and bridesmaids who had these gorgeous bridesmaid dresses that they spent a lot of money on that they were never going to wear again,” D’Allacco says.
This discovery inspired her to start collecting those unused dresses and donating them her alma mater, Saunders High School.
Now Operation Prom has several chapters across the country, each one with their own “promologist,” a term D’Allacco says she came up with to describe the chapter directors because “they know everything there is to know about prom.”
And Operation Prom’s reach goes far beyond just dresses. This year they paired with the Men’s Wearhouse to offer free tuxedo rentals for guys.
It’s just another way D’Allacco and her promologists try to think of every angle that may be an added expense for teens.
“We want them to have the entire prom experience so it’s not just the tuxedo, it’s not just the dress. If we can purchase their ticket for them, we’ll do that as well,” D’Allacco says. “If they need transportation we’ll try to seek out local limousine companies or taxi services.”
Everything that Operation Prom gives to students is free, but it does come at a price. Operation Prom requires that teens who receive their services fill out an application showing that they’re in good academic standing and are eligible to graduate.
D’Allacco adds that the organization does require that students demonstrate financial need, but she says she also realizes that with today’s economy, many families are facing tough times.
“As long as they complete an application they can come to one of the dress giveaway events,” D’Allacco says.
Preparing thousands of dresses across the country is a tall order for Operation Prom, so they hold fundraisers, work with retailers and rely on personal donations and a huge army of volunteers to keep afloat.
A night of glitz and glamour isn’t reserved just for students struggling financially. Operation Prom also reaches out to a hospital in the Bronx, where each year they transform the cafeteria in to a dance hall. They give the 13- to 18-year-olds patients the total prom experience for one night including, dresses, tuxes, hair, makeup and dancing.
“Some of the patients there have told their nurses that they completely forgot they were in the hospital, completely forgot they were sick for that night they had so much fun.”
D’Allacco says her all her chapters also work with their local Departments of Social Services. Through the social workers, Operation Prom is paired with students who are in foster care or are wards of the state to provide them with formal wear, as well.
Beyond just dresses and tuxedos for a high school rite of passage, D’Allacco says Operation Prom has always been meant for much more. When she created the organization, she decided PROM would stand for Providing Resources, Opportunity and Mentoring. To fulfill that goal, Operation Prom grants one $1,000 leadership scholarship per year and also holds school-supply drives.
For Zyna Williams and Keren Charles, the simple thrill of matching the right dress with the right girl is something they both leave feeling good about.
“It definitely made me feel really good because this is what our mission is,” says Charles. “We want to make young ladies have a dream prom.”
May 17 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Story By: by Tom Gjelten
Cybersecurity analysts work in the watch and warning center during the first tour of the government’s secretive cyberdefense lab intended to protect the nation’s power, water and chemical plants, electrical grid and other facilities on Sept. 29, 2011, in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
For the CEOs of companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, talk of cyberweapons and cyberwar could have been abstract. But at a classified security briefing in spring 2010, it suddenly became quite real.
“We can turn your computer into a brick,” U.S. officials told the startled executives, according to a participant in the meeting.
The warning came during a discussion of emerging cyberthreats at a secret session hosted by the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, along with Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the U.S. military’s Cyber Command.
The meeting was part of a public-private partnership dubbed the “Enduring Security Framework” that was launched at the end of 2008. The initiative brings chief executives from top technology and defense companies to Washington, D.C., two or three times a year for classified briefings. The purpose is to share information about the latest developments in cyberwarfare capabilities, highlighting the cyberweapons that could be used against the executives’ own companies.
“We scare the bejeezus out of them,” says one U.S. government participant.
The hope is that the executives, who are given a special one-day, top-secret security clearance, will go back to their companies and order steps to deal with the vulnerabilities that have been pointed out.
“I personally know of one CEO for whom it was a life-changing experience,” says Richard Bejtlich, chief security officer for Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm. “Gen. Alexander sat him down and told him what was going on. This particular CEO, in my opinion, should have known [about the cyberthreats] but did not, and now it has colored everything about the way he thinks about this problem.”
The Virtual Tools Of War
Among the computer attack tools discussed during the briefings are some of the cyberweapons developed by the National Security Agency and the Cyber Command for use against U.S. adversaries. Military and intelligence officials are normally loath to discuss U.S. offensive cybercapabilities, but the CEOs have been cleared for some information out of a concern that they need to know what’s possible in the fast-evolving world of cyberwarfare.
Alexander himself hinted at the rationale for the briefings during testimony in March, before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“When we see what our folks are capable of doing, we need to look back and say, ‘There are other smart people out there that can do things to this country,’ ” Alexander said. “We need to look at that and say, ‘How are we going to defend [against them]?’ “
The fear is that cyberweapons developed by the U.S. military could at some point fall into enemy hands and be turned against a U.S. target.
“There are nation-states, to include the United States, who are building cybertools to prevail in a … disagreement,” Mike McConnell, the former U.S. director of national intelligence, said during a recent cybersecurity conference hosted by Bloomberg. “The worry is, what happens when some of those tools, and there are thousands of them, get released inadvertently, or somebody steals [them] to sell to a terrorist group?”
The 2010 revelation that U.S. cyberwarriors could turn a computer into a “brick” stemmed from research into a design flaw in U.S. computers, according to several sources. It was determined that an adversary could conceivably update computer firmware â the low-level software that dictates how the hardware works â to make the machine useless.
Computer manufacturers had known about the firmware design issue previously, but they had not realized it would be possible for an adversary to exploit the flaw by actually getting into the machine and destroying it.
The manufacturers subsequently ordered a reconfiguration of their computers to fix the flaw, and no damage was done. But two participants in the 2010 meeting say the CEOs were sobered by what they learned there.
Need To Work Together
To government and industry officials alike, such incidents underscore the importance of public-private partnership in the effort to address cyberthreats. But the Enduring Security Framework collaboration remains limited to a select few executives, and much threat information remains secret.
“That’s the policy dilemma,” McConnell said during the Bloomberg cybersecurity conference. “How do we establish a regime where that information can be shared with corporate America at the unclassified level in real time?”
Proposals to promote greater information sharing between government and industry are a key part of new cybersecurity legislation being considered on Capitol Hill.
May 17 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
GNTB/Andreas Kaster
Autumnal vines in Germany’s Ahr Valley.
Such has been the expansion of the world’s wine map in the past 15 years that amidst the whirligig of new styles, grape varieties and flavors, we often overlook some of the more exciting developments happening in the world’s oldest wine-producing regions.
Take Pinot Noir, for example. Tomes have been written about the success of this grape variety, planted in California and Oregon in the U.S., as well as in Australia, Chile and New Zealand. But outside its spiritual home on the Côte d’Or in France’s Burgundy region, it is in the valleys of southwest Germany where some of the most interesting examples are emerging.
That the hillsides and vineyards of the Rheingau, Nahe, Pfalz and Ahr produce world-class wine will come as no surprise to those familiar with German wine. As recently as 40 years ago, Germany was widely credited with producing the best white wine of all: Riesling, which was regarded as even more desirable than Chardonnay from Burgundy. Those estates in the Mosel were the pinnacle of this style. But time moves on, fashions change and what was once the tipple of choice for one generation falls out of vogue as a younger demographic makes its own discoveries. Today, German Pinot Noir, or Spätburgunder, as it is known locally, is the rising star.
Drinking Now
From everyday drinking to a treat from the cellar, three German wines ripe for
tasting today
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Traditionally, the grape variety was grown in the Rheingau, but in recent years this has been joined by the Ahr, Baden, Pfalz, Franken and Rheinhessen, which have enjoyed a swathe of new plantings. According to the German Wine Institute, the total area under vine for Pinot Noir in Germany is now 11,756 hectares, up from 1,839 hectares in 1964, making it the third-largest producer in the world, behind France and the U.S.
In part, this growth has been spurred by a new wave of winemakers entering the industry, bringing with them fresh ideas, honed from a more outward-looking approach. What is possible, for instance, in Central Otago on New Zealand’s South Island—where in the past couple of decades, they have earned a reputation for world-class Pinot Noir—is possible on the slopes of Central Europe.
This trend has undoubtedly coincided with documented climate change in the region. Winemakers in Germany will tell you that they have data from federal state institute Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum showing that average temperatures have risen and blooming is occurring earlier. This has led to a change in style, with wines now possessing more sugar and alcohol, and less acidity.
All this has helped the country establish a compelling red-wine industry. For those who haven’t yet tasted German Pinot, its style is difficult to generalize. The best examples have an appealing sweetness on the nose, with a touch of red currant and spice, while the palate is more robust—slightly meaty with a pleasant richness. At the other end, they can display an herbaceous character, with notes of cherry and even soft tannins. For my own part, I have been surprised, given their relatively northern climate, at just how forward and full-bodied these wines can be.
“It is still quite hard to pin down a style,” says Hamish Anderson, head sommelier of Tate galleries in the U.K., who last year organized a blind-tasting competition, with the top Pinot Noirs in Germany pitted against those from the rest of the world. “Each region [in Germany] is very much producer-led. There are lighter, more delicate styles that you might find in Burgundy, and there are those who are leaving their grapes on the vine and getting a bit of new oak.”
This adds a little density and more complexity to the final wine. It also means an addition to the bottom line, as buying new oak barrels can be pricey. This, coupled with the fickle nature of Pinot Noir (from a viticultural perspective it is a difficult grape variety to manage, as it has a thin skin and is vulnerable to disease) means it is seldom an inexpensive proposition.
In Germany, much as in Oregon, it seems the wines with the most character and appeal tend to retail for more than £15 a bottle. In that sense, they will probably remain a niche product or, one could say, the insider’s choice.
Write to Will Lyons at william.lyons@wsj.com
May 16 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Dean Soto of Buena Park, Calif., was working in the aerospace field as an IT security specialist when his wife became pregnant with their second child and decided to stop working. The family experienced a significant loss of income. Mr. Soto, 29, decided to look for a better-paying job.
“At first I thought I could get another job in my field,” he says. “But after interviewing, it was clear that there wasn’t enough market demand, and my skill set was too specialized to justify the salary that I was seeking.”
While still employed, Mr. Soto launched his own IT consulting company, called Pro Sulum, so that he would have more control over his income. But after several months, his income from the business was only $350. Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to complete his transition if he didn’t make more money soon, Mr. Soto started investing in courses on launching a small business.
One such course was Earn$1K (earn1k.com), an online class featuring a step-by-step process for turning skills into side income, determining pricing, marketing your services, and integrating a new business into your life. Earn$1K aims to provide “an understanding of the skills that can earn you money, and the skills that will never make you a dime,” says Ramit Sethi, the creator of Earn $1K and the author of the blog and book “I Will Teach You to Be Rich.”
Many people are convinced they can’t afford to make a career change, but there are several strategies to make it a financial reality. Testing a new job on the side and following Mr. Sethi’s advice to become more profitable are two.
Creating a cushion of savings is another. “When you change careers, you may be out of work for a while, your income may drop, or you may encounter unexpected expenses,” says J.D. Roth, author of “Your Money: The Missing Manual.” “An emergency fund that covers six months to a year of expenses will smooth the transition.”
Obviously, creating such a reserve will require reducing your household expenses. If you’ve never created an inventory of what you’re currently spending, now’s the time. Build a spreadsheet on your computer to keep track of where your money is going on a daily basis. You’ll see patterns of unnecessary spending (your morning Starbucks run, sushi takeout, etc.) and areas where you can tighten your belt. “These changes don’t have to be permanent,” says Mr. Roth. “They just have to last as you prepare to switch careers.”
Also, keep an eye on your debt. Don’t finance anything, save just one credit card for emergencies and cut up the rest, and halt any recurring payments such as a gym membership or an online gaming account. Call each financial institution where you have debt and try to negotiate a lower interest rate.
Finally, consider enlisting the services of a financial planner who can help you manage your money and plan for your career change. You can search for advisers by specialty or geography at the Financial Planning Association’s Web site (fpanet.org), and then verify their credentials with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (cfp.net).
Write to Alexandra Levit at reinvent@wsj.com
May 16 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
New York
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Remaining performances this season:
Siegfried May 9; Götterdämmerung May 12
The Metropolitan Opera
The stakes are always high for Richard Wagner’s “Ring.” There’s so much time commitment (18-odd hours) and so much history bound up in this four-opera odyssey toward apocalypse. It’s no wonder that fans debate every production with the passion of religious zealots.
Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
A scene from Robert Lepage’s production of ‘Das Rheingold.’
The Metropolitan Opera’s $16 million Robert Lepage production, launched with “Das Rheingold” in September 2010 and now running as a cycle for the third and final time this season, has received its share of brickbats. The core of the production and the controversy is the 45-ton set, dubbed “The Machine.” Its 24 planks rotate and, with the help of sophisticated video imagery and lighting, morph into the cycle’s many scene locations and attempt to create its magic effects, like underwater swimming, a rainbow bridge, flying horses, a fiery mountain, and the world consumed in flood. Any attempt to match the music’s depiction of those things on stage is almost doomed to fall short, but Mr. Lepage accomplishes many of them quite successfully.
I revisited the four operas for the second cycle, which ended on Thursday. The Met has ironed out kinks in the set’s operation, quieted some of its noise, and changed a few staging elements (though the puppet horse and self-destructing statues of the gods at the end still look ridiculous). I appreciated the physical transformations and their close correspondence to the music. This show’s architectural and sculptural look does relate to the director’s smaller, water-and-puppetry-based production of Stravinsky’s “The Nightingale,” yet the pure sensuality of the Stravinsky production made it far more magical than the giant “Ring.” Mr. Lepage’s “Ring” has hard edges; it is a work of metal rather than earth, a grand expression of machismo. At times in the cycle, this is perfectly apt. But more often, its cold, bleak sensibility is at odds with this most Romantic of scores.
The machine’s dynamic capabilities can be stunning. In “Rheingold,” it rears up as a giant blue wall with the Rhinemaidens suspended in front of it. In “Götterdämmerung,” individual planks, which have been holding the Norns’ ropes taut, suddenly drop and spin uncontrollably, visually marking the end of the Norns’ fate-weaving power. Video and lighting enhance its potency. Silver trees loom coldly in “Die Walküre.” In “Siegfried,” 3-D images of worms and bugs seem to hang down from the set as it flips over; as the murdered Siegfried expires in “Götterdämmerung” and the first notes of his funeral music are heard, the orange sun fades out and all color disappears, except for the river, running red with blood.
However, for the most part, the set is a very elaborate and expensive backdrop. When the singers interact with it, which happens infrequently, they do so cautiously. Most of the human activity happens on the stationary apron in front of the machine, and when singers are involved with the creation of dramatic scenic effects, there are awkward moments. The final image in “Die Walküre” is of Brünnhilde—actually a stunt double—high above the stage, hanging upside down on her rock as fire leaps around her. But first, Wotan, having sung his heartbreaking farewell, has to tow the singer Brünnhilde offstage, her sleeping body held upright on their two horizontal spears. Watching Bryn Terfel look anxiously over his shoulder to make sure he was on course for the wing exit killed the mood.
Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
A scene from Mr. Lepage’s ‘Die Walküre.’
And Mr. Lepage still seems to have left the singers largely to their own devices, thereby failing to create the key element of “Ring” magic—its human story. Mr. Terfel, a splendid Wotan with every vocal and theatrical resource at his command, overacted to such extremes in “Walküre” that the pathos of this complex and frustrated character disappeared in a fury of scenery chewing. Katarina Dalayman is a more sedate, dignified Brünnhilde than Deborah Voigt, who sang the premieres, but she didn’t have much presence or fire. She is vocally inconsistent, her middle voice is often inaudible, and she tends to yelp her high notes. She sounded best in “Götterdämmerung,” when the sheer power of her delivery benefited her Act II fury and the “Immolation” scene.
A few of the singers were able to create creditable characters despite directorial neglect. Jay Hunter Morris, a relative novice in the punishing role of Siegfried, carried off its vocal rigors with a focused, ringing tone, and even beauty. Siegfried the bumptious adolescent can be an obnoxious cipher; Mr. Morris made him appealing throughout, and his death a touching flash of maturity and clarity. Hans-Peter König made Hunding, Fafner and especially Hagen into ominous presences through the sheer weight and projection of his bass voice. Eric Owens’s furious Alberich remains a highlight of the production; unfortunately, he was ill for “Götterdämmerung” and was replaced by a generic Richard Paul Fink.
Other vocal standouts of the cycle included Eva-Maria Westbroek, a radiant Sieglinde; Stephanie Blythe, a dominating Fricka; and Adam Klein, who stepped in as Loge and not only sang brightly but scampered fearlessly up and down the set. Another substitution, Frank van Aken, was less happy. Married to Ms. Westbroek and in town for her performance, he was “drafted” to replace the ailing Jonas Kaufmann as Siegmund, but his tenor lacked volume and cracked under pressure.
The conductor, Fabio Luisi, a sensitive accompanist of singers and sculptor of orchestral sound, brings a brighter, tauter sensibility to the “Ring” than did James Levine, now indefinitely sidelined. While Mr. Levine’s “Ring” often overpowered with its slow tempi and the mass of sound that emanated from the pit, his interpretation supplied more of the emotional weight, as well as the sense of catharsis and redemption that one expects from the “Ring.” Mr. Luisi got the job done—but with the human theatrical element on stage so often missing, and the set carrying the weight of the storytelling, it wasn’t enough.
Ms. Waleson writes about opera for the Journal.
A version of this article appeared May 8, 2012, on page D5 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: The Machine at the End of the World.
May 16 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Release Date: 05/09/2012Contact Information: Dave Bary or Jennah Durant at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov
(DALLAS – May 9, 2012) The Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project is training 70 out-of-school youths to collect and recycle used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel. Operation REACH, Inc. is receiving $50,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Education Grants program to introduce students to opportunities in the Green Collar workforce.
The participants will learn about diesel engines and the process of converting used cooking oil and raw feedstock into biodiesel fuel. Operation Reach has commitments from Zeon Global Energy and the Goshen Energy Initiatives to employ graduates, and is partnering with several local restaurants and industrial kitchens across Jefferson and Orleans parishes to collect used cooking oil.
More information on the EPA’s environmental education grant program is available at http://www.epa.gov/education/grants.html
More about activities in EPA Region 6 is available at http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html
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May 15 2012 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
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