Systems Upgrade On The Way!

I have been talking some time about upgrading our computer systems here at the house.  Well the idea has come to fruition as the concept and the funding achieved critical mass on Monday.  The original plan was to upgrade Nichevo somewhat while Will saved for the latest and greatest for Xanatos.  With the influx of income from my side job, our savings have grown rapidly the idea begetting an even more grandiose plan.  Will and I decided to combine our savings which will result in a dramatic new computing platforms for our daily use.  

Our combined funds allowed will to replace his current AMD FX6350 3.9 6 core processor on a Asus 999FX Chip Set with 16 GB of DDR3 RAM with a state of the art Intel Gaming platform.  He is getting the Core I7 6700k 'Skylake' processor on an Asus Z170 Chip Set with 16 GB of DDR4 RAM.  He will upgrade his case later on.  His current platform is light years ahead of my set up as far as capability and performance is concerned, so it was decided that instead of procuring a lesser Motherboard and Processor, I would instead replace my tower and power supply as well as getting a new monitor, installing Xanatos' current chipset, processor and RAM into the new case. 

Will chose a  Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl Silent ATX Mid Tower Case with a SILVERSTONE Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W ATX 12V v2.3 & EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply.  I really like Will's monitor so I decided to get one just like it, its an ASUS VS Series VS238H-P Black 23" 2ms HDMI LED Backlit Widescreen LCD Monitor which will be like going from sketches with colored pencils to museum quality oil paintings in one fell swoop.  I will then transfer all my peripherals to the new case, ending up with a a zippy wow new sports car to replace my clunky old economy coupe.  

We spent a healthy chunk of change but we both feel the investment would be so very worth it considering the enhancements it will bring to us on a daily basis.  The packages should be arriving fairly quickly and by this time next week both Xanatos 2.0 and Nichevo 2.0 will be speeding down the electronic pathways of the Internet to gaming glory and blogging heaven.  

Now with all this furious activity swirling around me, I did not really have time to prepare a proper New Adventures in Good Music for this week.  However, I did get a little adventurouse with the Music portion of this post nonetheless.  I decided to go with some Contemporary Classical Compositions from Welsh Composer Karl Jenkins, who is still alive and making Music today.  Posted down below is his Requiem album.  Released in 2005, Requiem is an  includes two works by Jenkins: his Requiem and In These Stones Horizons Sing.  That performance is by the West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra Conducted by the Composer and it is definitely not what you typically think when you think Requiem.  .  Over on my tumblr I have Jenkins' remastered Adiemus ( Songs of Sanctuary) album with that performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Robert St John Wright.  

Then for Hump Day to get you all worked up and horny is a simmeringly sultry edition of Wet Wednesday posted down below.  Over on my tumblr, the Hottie of the Day! is a veritable 'Sun God in the Sea'.  Thanks for the visit, see you again on Friday!! Until next time as always, Enjoy! 

Monday With Mozart

Don Giovanni (K. 527; complete title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga (now called the Estates Theatre) on October 29, 1787.  The work was rapturously received, as was often true of Mozart's work in Prague.  One particular piece of music within the opera's first act was a duet between Don Giovanni and Donna Zerlina, "la ci darem la mano".  This brief duet is light, whimsical, romantic, extremely popular in its day and endures with that popularity today.  Here is "la ci darem la mano" performed by Conductor Michael Halasz leading the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia with Soloists Baritone Bo Skovhus and Soprano Regina Schorg.

The underlying tune was extremely popular in the public houses as the operatic production was on stage.  This little ditty penned by Mozart went on to inspire other composers to produce works based on Master's Music.  When Beethoven modeled works on those of Mozart, he never did so slavishly, even in his earliest works like the C and E Flat Major Piano Quartets.  In his variations written in 1795 for 2 Oboes and English Horn on 'la mano', he exploits the tune's popularity as much as revealing his stylistic debt to Mozart.  With these Variations, Beethoven made a contribution of his own to the arrangements of operatic melodies for wind ensembles that were so popular at the time.  Herewith are Beethoven's Variations in C Major on La Ci Darem La Mano brilliantly performed by Heinz Holliger and Hans Elhorst on Oboe and Maurice Bourgue on English Horn.

Frédéric Chopin's Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" for piano and orchestra, Op. 2, was written in 1827, when he was aged only 17.  It was one of the earliest manifestations of Chopin's incipient genius. It inspired Robert Schumann's famous exclamation, Hats off, gentlemen! A genius!  The work was premiered on 11 August 1829 at the Vienna Kärntnertortheater, with Chopin as the soloist.  It received very positive audience and critical acclaim.  The work is in B-flat major throughout, except for the Adagio of Variation 5, which is in the minor key.  Here it is performed beautifully by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Eliahu Inbal with Claudio Arrau at the Piano.

More melodic Mozart may be heard over on my tumblr with his String Quintet in C Major, KV515 featuring a live performance from the Delft Music Festival in the Netherlands by  Liza Ferschtman, Alina Ibragimova, Amihai Grosz, Jakob Koranyi, and Gijs Kramers.

Finally on this Monday, be sure to check out my indulgence in my obsession with my man Marlon Teixeira down below and the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Tuesday's Music and Men

Your Musical Moment for Tuesday features the Violin Concerto Number 5 by Nicolo Paganini with a performance by Salvatore Accardo as your Violin Soloist accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the Baton of  Charles Dutoit.  You may join Signori Accardo, the LPO and M Dutoit on my tumblr for Paganini's Violin Concerto Number 4.  Be sure to cruise by the Random Hotness posted below and the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for stopping in, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Muddling On

It has been a fairly strange day.  I slept fitfully and while I did develop some hunger, I could not find anything food wise that appealed to me.  I did manage to get half a bowl of pasta down, but could not eat the whole thing.  I got hungry a little later, but could not discover any meal options that appealed to me, even after a tour of the local establishments failed to inspire any desire.  When I do eat, nothing tastes like it should and I get turned off after just a few bites.  It bothers me that my once bountiful appetite has not returned nor the fact that even my own cooking tastes bland and unappealing.  This is despite the fact that others who have eaten the same meals found them to be delicious.  This is of course a direct cause of my aforementioned adventures in hypoglycemia.  

I am glad that I have my check up on Tuesday so I can discuss this with my doctor.  I have also developed a lump on my shoulder blade that does not cause any pain, yet it does not go away.  I have also been stressed out and irritable as hell.   Poor Will has suffered the brunt of this and I am really lucky he has not just whopped me up side the head and told me to 'get over myself'.  I suspect that most of this has got something to do with the grieving process, however I am not sure what can be done about it except to muddle on through until it works itself out.  So I will continue to muddle until it does.  

All that being said, I still have the Music and the Men with which to entertain us all.  Your Musical Moment for this Thursday features the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Andrew Skeet.  The LPO has recorded two albums of what is termed the "Greatest Video Game Music Ever".  I have posted the first album video down below and the second album can be heard over on my tumblr.  The complete play list for album 1 is here and the one for album 2 is here.  If you are a gamer in addition to a classical music fan, then these recordings should be just your cup of tea.  

Since this is Thursday, it is once again time for some denim dynamite and I have just the collection of sultry studs strutting their stuff in this week's edition of Men In Jeans.  There is also some Lickable Licorice in Denim as the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for stopping in, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Building Vicory on Victory

As we as a nation prepare to celebrate our Independence on Friday, our Freedoms that are commensurate with that Independence were enhanced this week by more court victories.  With the exception of the Hobby Lobby BS, all the news from the courts swung in our favor.  California's ban on reparative therapy for minors was upheld on Monday by SCOTUS.  Then just yesterday U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II ruled in favor of the freedom to marry, striking down a constitutional amendment in the state of Kentucky that restricts marriage to different-sex couples. The ruling is stayed pending further action from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.  Also yesterday six same-sex couples from across Colorado filed a federal lawsuit challenging Colorado’s ban on the freedom to marry. The plaintiffs, represented by a Denver lawfirm of Killmer, Lane and Newman, name Attorney General Suthers, Governor Hickenlooper and two county clerks as defendants in the lawsuit.  The case quotes last week's decision in favor of marriage from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit:

[T]he Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental right to marry, establish a family, raise children, and enjoy the full protection of a state’s marital laws. A state may not deny the issuance of a marriage license to two persons, or refuse to recognize their marriage, based solely upon the sex of the persons in the marriage union.

This case joins another case heard on June 12th seeking the Freedom to Marry in Colorado where a judge is expected to announce a decision soon.  With the Kentucky decision in our favor, Marriage Equality has left the field victorious 23 times since the SCOTUS ruling in the Windsor case.  This is what is called building Victory on Victory.  I expect the dominoes to continue to fall until SCOTUS inevitably rules in favor of the rights LGBT people to Marriage Equality nationwide.  Let's Hope it is Sooner rather than Later and work to make it so.

Your Midweek Musical Moment features a sublime rendition of Beethoven's Concerto in D Major, Op. 61, for Violin and Orchestra, recorded in 1936 by The London Philharmonic Orchestra. Sir John Barbirolli conducted and the great Fritz Kreisler was the featured Violinist. A faithful yet passionate interpretation of one of Beethoven's most evocative violin works.  You may also hear Beethoven's Piano Concerto Number 5 in E Flat Major "Emperor" by this same orchestra this time under the baton of George Szell over on my tumblr. 

Then the midweek hump brings with it Splash Day and a collection of lively lads frolicking about the pools, beaches and baths of the world in this week's edition of Wet Wednesday.  If you need even more beachin' portraiture, check out the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for stopping in to say "Hey", see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!