Even if you were going to live three thousand years, and even ten thousand times that, still remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses. The longest and shortest are thus brought to the same. For the present is the same to all, through that which perishes is not the same; and so what is lost appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot lose either the past or the future: for what a man has not, how can anyone take this from him? These two things then you must bear in mind: the one, that all things from eternity are of like forms and come round in a circle, and that it makes no difference whether a man hall see the same things during a hundred years or two hundred, or an infinite time; and the second, that he who lives longest and he who will die soonest lose just the same. For the present is the only thing of which a man can be deprived, if it is true that this is the only thing which he has, and that a man cannot lose something he does not already possess.
- from Meditations by Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Our Favorite Tumbrel Remark
Lady Diana Cooper was waiting under her umbrella outside the Dorchester hotel tapping her foot impatiently waiting for her Rolls Royce when a beggar approached her and announced that he had been without food for three days. Her response? "Foolish man that you are. You must try to eat. If need be, you must force yourself."
Monday, June 11, 2012
A list of my favorite brindisis (Opera drinking songs)
So let's raise our goblets and sing....
- "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" - from Verdi's La traviata. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWECvv4wcIQ
- "Viva, il vino spumeggiante" - from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OlbwdEnrdc
- "Si colmi il calice" from Verdi's Macbeth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WRyz3P6_Xw
- "Inaffia l'ugola" from Verdi's Otello. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6qKmAQ8klQ
- "Vin ou Bière" from Gounod's Faust. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXw8UQnRRo0
- "Il segreto per esser felici" from Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNssdwEAQl4
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Hunter. A poem by Christopher Mavrikis
THE HUNTER
Dawn breaks over a frost covered fen
An Osprey glides above its prey
Emulating passions once defined by men
On a crisp lovely November day.
A lone hunter watches near
An idle dream or a quenchless desire
Cedar swamps harboring white-tailed deer
Blood forged iron tempered by fire.
Memories of a father's love
Sublime guidance a nutured past
Watching the hunter from above
Ka Boom goes the mightly muzzle blast
As the hunter cares for his provision loneliness makes him sad
He whispers to heaven a little prayer and says I love you dad.
- Christopher Mavrikis
Dawn breaks over a frost covered fen
An Osprey glides above its prey
Emulating passions once defined by men
On a crisp lovely November day.
A lone hunter watches near
An idle dream or a quenchless desire
Cedar swamps harboring white-tailed deer
Blood forged iron tempered by fire.
Memories of a father's love
Sublime guidance a nutured past
Watching the hunter from above
Ka Boom goes the mightly muzzle blast
As the hunter cares for his provision loneliness makes him sad
He whispers to heaven a little prayer and says I love you dad.
- Christopher Mavrikis
Friday, January 13, 2012
Must Read Books Detailing Vital Epochs in American History
Lincoln; by Gore Vidal - This amazing historical narrative gives readers a look into the inner workings of the Lincoln administration during the Civil War. Not only does it give the portrait of Lincoln a human touch but also shows us how fragile the Union was during the whole of that conflict.
1776; by David McCullough - Mr. McCullough takes his readers to the through the first two years of the American Revolution from the siege of Boston and the American response that usurped the British from that city to the battle for New York where Washington is forced to surrender the island of Manhattan. This book shows us how perilous our cause was during those first two years.
1942: The Year That Tried Men's Souls; by Winston Groom - The Japanese empire was conquering China, Hong Kong, Singapore; capture McArthur's 140,000 man army in the Philippines. Pearl Harbor, the German war machine had complete dominion over continental Europe. This was the terrifying year that the world was on the precipice of global totalitarianism and how the American forces tiled the scales of destiny.
1776; by David McCullough - Mr. McCullough takes his readers to the through the first two years of the American Revolution from the siege of Boston and the American response that usurped the British from that city to the battle for New York where Washington is forced to surrender the island of Manhattan. This book shows us how perilous our cause was during those first two years.
1942: The Year That Tried Men's Souls; by Winston Groom - The Japanese empire was conquering China, Hong Kong, Singapore; capture McArthur's 140,000 man army in the Philippines. Pearl Harbor, the German war machine had complete dominion over continental Europe. This was the terrifying year that the world was on the precipice of global totalitarianism and how the American forces tiled the scales of destiny.
Friday, December 16, 2011
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