17 July 2012

I tried to find the name of the second composer who died with Mozart's name on his lips, but I can't find it. Perhaps there was just Mahler. But I'm sure I read that there was one other. Maybe what I read was in error...

Still, I did come across some interesting famous last words. Walt Disney's was "Kurt Russell," written on a slip of paper. No one knows why, including Russell himself, who was fifteen in 1966 when Disney died. And Stan Laurel's was interesting: "I'd like to go skiing." (Nurse: "Oh, do you ski, Mister Laurel?") "No, but doing that is better than what I'm doing." Ha!

Video: Face Time session with Gibson Clark (7/15/12). I encouraged my son to put his iPhone in the crib with the baby and shoot some creative videos which he can title, "In the Crib with Gib." Also:  Little sleeping guy and Ready for fun. I adore that baby! And I feel the intense sense of displeasure every grandparent feels who has to live far away from his grandchildren. This is Unsat.

I finished watching Mozart's Sister (2010), a fanciful movie. The actress Marie Feret, who plays the title character, barely emotes at all in this film. She's pretty... but about as interesting to watch as paint drying on a wall. The film moves at a glacial pace and is also historically flawed. Is there any evidence that, as the film suggests, Amadeus' older sister Nannerl was a colossal compositional talent like her brother? No, not really. Did she fall in love with the Dauphin and he with her? No, not at all. The whole business about her immense talents being stifled is, I think, more a case of feminist revisionism than historical fact.

My home air conditioning system keeps shutting down. The problem is some condensation that appears on the floor near the system. It triggers the wet switch, which is designed to shut down the system in case of, say, a basement flood. I have to then take a hair dryer and dry the wet switch (which I sit on a dry 2" x 4"), and re-start things. So... why the moisture on the floor? I don't know. I tested all the fittings for pipes and hoses, and they're all snug. No water from there. I guess I'll have to do some "watchful waiting." Tomorrow's supposed to be 100 degrees... isn't that always the way of it?

I am now watching a "Behind the Scenes" special about Walt Disney World. Did you know that when you're at the Magic Kingdom park you're actually standing fourteen feet above ground level? There are all sorts of passages and maintenance spaces underneath.

Hurricane Meredith (that's my youngest daughter) touches down in the area tomorrow. We have no plans... but some will develop.

I have mandatory management training all day tomorrow at work. I have read that you're not supposed to comment about workplace things on a personal blog, but GROAN. We're probably going to "break into little groups" and develop "toolkits." It's gonna be a LONG day. Can I please retire now? My belief gland is badly frayed.