Thuirsday Special Edition: Catching Up with Myself!

You have probably noticed by now that I have not been around these pages much this week.  There are a couple of good reasons for that, but suffice it to say the struggle to fit things in this week was real but ultimately successful.  The real high light of the week came this morning at 8:30 when two nice young men arrived with my new bed and proceeded to professionally assemble and place the bed where I wanted it.  They  also left me the necessary tools to disassemble it should the occasion to move occur.  Down below is what I now proudly have in my front room and it has been sleep tested and approved by me already!

As you can see I was pretty spot on with my bedding selections as it is gorgeous and matches up with the framing wood and iron perfectly.  I dressed the bed then snuggled in for a nap and for the first time in I don't know how long, I dropped right off with no 'outside help' and slept soundly and peacefully.  Uncle is a very happy camper today!

I have made another significant improvement in my life this week with the purchase and delivery of my new mouse.  I was having horrific tracking issues with my old mouse, and improving the mouse pad with gaming one from Corsair did not greatly improve matters.  So Will ran the configurator over on the Razer site and came up with what should be the perfect mouse for me, The Death Adder Classic, which comes with its own custom mouse pad.  As you can see below it is a dynamihe presentation and it tracks like a dream!

So my online experience is bound to be enhanced by a mouse that actually does what it is designed to do every time.  It came with a bonus virtual surround sound program for my headset which makes all my classical music sound that much better which is a definite win for me!  Seaking of great classical music, I have some good stuff lined up for you today.

Like I told you on Monday, I have performances from the 2015  Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competetion in Brussels to share with you .  I have 3 performances today and 2 for tomorrow so we will be rocking out to some of the world's great violin concerti.  Down below, I have two performances from the Final Round of the Competition, recorded live with the National Orchestra of Belgium under conductor Marin Alsop.  First is 26 year old Ukranian violinist Oleksii Semenenko performing Jean Sibelius’ ‘Violin Concerto in D Minor Op. 42’ followed by 23 year old German violinist Thomas Reif performing Tchaikovsky’s ‘Concerto in D Major, Op. 35’.  Over on my tumblr, I have 20 year old Taiwanese violinist William Ching-Yi Wei performing Shostakovich’s ‘Concerto No. 1 in A Minor Op. 77’, also from the Final Round with the National Orchestra of Belgium and Marin Alsop.  

Then to add special-ness to this special edition, I have managed to put together 3 collections with the intention of posting each day, but you see where that got me, lol.  Anyway, down below is a Triple Treat Thursday post with all the eye candy I have gathered for your visual appreciation this week.  Over on my tumblr there is also a trip treat of Hotties of the Day! for your drooling pleasure.  Thanks for still being here when I showed up at last.  I promise I will see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Catching Up

I am making a sincere effort to catch up on all my little stuff that crops up from time to time along with the big things like rent and car repair.  That includes making note of a couple of things that were in the news over the Weekend on which I have not yet had a chance to comment.  Do not think for a moment that I failed to notice the Supreme Court action affirming the right to Marriage Equality for All Nationwide on Friday.  Especially in light of the post I wrote on Friday in eager anticipation of just such an event.  I was giddy with glee and emotionally overwhelmed all at the same time.  It has taken me a bit to assimilate the fact that for the first time in the 64 years and some odd days of my life, I am a fully recognized citizen of these United States with Civil Rights and all.  Pretty heady stuff for one who has had the official US Government stamp of disapproval on his head for most of his life.  This action coupled with The Letter granting my appeal to upgrade my discharge means it has been a pretty fucking awesome year so far for me.  Yeah, I have hit a few bumps in the road, but I am on a generally upward trend as a whole.  This is a very good thing and makes the bumps in the road seem less severe even if they really aren't.  Ain't that a kick in the ass for an old fart?  

The other big event of the Weekend was the Final Round of the inaugural Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival held at TCU's Ed Landreth Auditorium and their PepsiCo Hall.  The competition began  on Wednesday with 24 young Pianists ages 13-17 invited to participate.  Jon Nakamatsu, chairman of the jury for the First Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival (June 21-28, 2015), at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, announced the winners on Sunday night from the Ed Landreth Auditorium stage.  The winner, Alim Beisembayev, 17, of Kazakhstan, daringly performed Van Cliburn's own signature performance piece, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mei-Ann Chen during the final round.  He gave this well known staple of the Piano repertoire a new life with his infusion of passion and power.  You can read who won what by clicking here. 

Now as long as we are on the subject of Classical Music, we may as well move into your featured performances for today.  You guys know I listen to a lot of Venice Classic Radio, more so now that I have the technology to carry it with me everywhere.  Listening to VCR exposes me to so much more Music than I have been familiar with in the past.  This morning I heard some works by today's featured composer, Gaetano Donizetti that I thought you all could appreciate also. Donizetti, along with Rossini and Bellini, was a leading composer of the bel canto style of Opera in the first half of the 19th century.  However he also composed some lesser know chamber works which is what I wish to share with you today.  Posted down below is a compilation of some of Doniazetti's Chamber works recorded by the Orchestra da Camera di Santa Cecilia and Conductor Alessio Vlad.  Performers on the recording include Vincenzo Bolognese, Mario Gangi, Rodolfo Bonucci, Alexandra Stefanato, Dino Asciolla, Arturo Bonucci, Massimo Taddei, and Pietro Spada.  The play list is diverse and features many works for solo or small ensemble performances.  That list includes;

01. Introduzione for string orchestra in D minor ( 07:49 )
02. Nocturne for winds & strings in E flat major ( 03:22 )
03. Nocturne for winds & strings in F minor ( 03:49 )
04. Nocturne for winds & strings in A flat major ( 02:13 )
05. Nocturne for winds & strings in F major ( 03:58 )
06. Amusement pathetique (from Anna Bolena), for violin & strings ( 12:28 )
07. String Quintet in C major (1st mvt. only) ( 06:10 )
08. Quintet for guitar & strings in C major ( 22:41 )
09. Sinfonia for winds in D major ( 05:28 )
10. Largetto for winds in F major ( 03:55 )
11. Moderato (untitled) for wind instruments & organ in B flat major ( 04:15 )
12. March for orchestra ( dedicated to Francesco Donizetti ) ( 03:05 )

Over on my tumblr you may indulge yourselves with Donizetti's String Quartets №3 in C minor & №5 in E minor with a performance by the Philharmonia Slavonica.  

One further note on Classical Music, you know how on You Tube and even VCR, the titles of the various pieces of music are written in different languages.  I found handy dandy little chart listing the French, German, Spanish and Italian equivalents to the English "do re mi fa so la ti do' of the Octave Scale to help me figure out the key in which the various works are written.  For example, F Sharp Major is fa dièse majuer in French and fa sostenido mayor in Spanish.  Where it gets tricky is German where the key of B Major is represented by H Dur and B Flat is represented by just plain B.  You can find and bookmark this nifty little chart here.

Finally for today comes the visual accoutrement to all the beautiful Music.  This Weekend is the Fourth of July, so to help get you in the proper mind set for Water Sports, Cookouts and other Festivities, I have this super sultry edition of Sexy Studs in Swimwear posted down below.  Meanwhile Your  Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr invites you to 'Share A Coke'.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

My, how time flies...

It seems that the catching up I thought I was gonna do just did not happen as planned.  I still have not processed a feed from my reader in 2 days now.  I just know it is crammed full of all sorts of interesting things which I will eventually get to.  However not just yet...he he...My schedule remains pretty full at the moment.  I have some place I need to be first thing this morning so I am trying to get this up for you guys before I have to go.  I did not want you to have to wait on me like you did yesterday (but I do Thank You for waiting, it is much appreciated).  I still need to schedule in some sleep somewhere along the way before I have to go back to work.  Good thing I have some great music and sensuous, sexy lads to keep you all entertained while I am off taking care of business.  

I know I featured the Music of Johannes Brahms in Friday's post.  However I had already planned to bring you some Brahms for your Saturday at the Symphony after finishing up with Beethoven last weekend.  Today's selections both here and on my tumblr feature live performances by Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra recorded in the early 1980's.  First up here at Nichevo is a 1981 recording of Symphony Number 1 by Johannes Brahms while over on my tumblr is the 1982 recording of Brahms' Symphony Number 2. 

Then as window dressing (or undressing as the case may be) for this post is the gathering of the aforementioned sensuous, sexy lads who are totally Naked or Nearly So to delight your senses and fuel your fantasies.  Then for additional inspiration check out the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for sharing a part of your weekend with me here at Nichevo.  Have a Fabulous rest of the weekend and we will see you again on Monday for another week of Music, Men & More!  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Catching Up With Myself and Other Things

I am feeling a little more refreshed this morning, having caught up on my rest a bit on my day off.  I also managed to clear the back log in my feed demon.  I still have to catch up my tumblr, however, as I have not processed any photos there since before we moved.  This week has really been a blur as it has rushed on by at breakneck speed.  Hopefully I will be able to catch up with myself between yesterday, today and tomorrow as I have 2 of the 3 days off from work.  Today of course is payday with all its inherent chores and errands in addition to having to work tonight.  I have major stocking to do as I let the supplies and groceries dwindle a bit before the move so I would not have to tote them over here.  Now I have to replace them to bring my inventories back up to snuff.  Seems like there is always something I have to take care of, dammit.  

I did manage to get my application in on line for my Social Security retirement benefits.  I am going to see if I can semi-retire with the SS benefits allowing me to cut back on my work schedule without the budget having to suffer.  In fact, if I get the amount the government estimator figured, then I could cut back to 3 days a week of work and still end up with more income than I have now.  Not a bad deal for me at all.  This may take a little time as the government has never been known to be too quick about getting anything started, but at least I have completed the beginning stages.  Now comes the hard part, waiting for the government to take some action!

I have lists to make and things to do so I had better get to the music and the men so that I can get on with getting things done.  Your Musical Moment for today features 2 String Quintets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Numbers 1 in B Flat Major, KV174 and 6 in E Flat Major, KV614.  Today's performance is by the Kuijken String Quartet plus Ryo Terakado on Violin.  Then for your viewing pleasure and mine, there is a mucho macho collection of muscular menfolk in varying degrees of denim in this edition of Men in Jeans.  Thanks for spending part of your day here at Nichevo.  Join me tomorrow for another sizzling edition of Naked or Nearly So as well as anything else that pops into my head between now and then.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!