Went to an old village pub in Hampshire last night to meet our friends the Blakeleys and Elphicks for an opera night. A handsome talented singer entertained us during the six-course meal, and my husband said later how amused he was by how the older women there swooned. I think he included me in this comment.
Here is Karen Blakeley making friends with the singer Humphrey Berney. He's going to NYC and LA soon to audition for things and hopes to become the English Josh Groban in the US. I'll bet he could do it too, as he's a lot cuter than Josh G and has a wonderful voice. 
I wish I could think of interesting or amusing anecdotes from last night to entertain you with, but I had too many Bellinis and pink champagne so probably my short-term memory is gone.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Opera night
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18 comments:
OMG he was soooo handsome and charming! You really wowed him with your comparison to Josh Groban - I reckon you could have got him to hire you as his agent in NY - well, maybe Mississippi.
Terrible photo of me:( looking my age. You know I don't remember that and I have woken up this morning with a hell of a hangover. How did that happen????
Interestingly, Kaz and I were talking last night about double standards and how men get a raw deal. I hope she remembers that???
Anyway, I can just imagine the same women's reactions if the men were to behave similarly towards a cute 28-year old woman! Next time I meet one, I'll feel free to ask for her phone number, give her money etc...
Kaz, I had a hangover too. I couldn't believe it-- that never happens to me. I think your picture is good -- but will take it down if you don't want it up there. It's the only pic I had of the singer, that's why I used it. x
PS -- Mel, I was only giving him a tip for the evening's efforts. I wasn't giving him money to get his phone number. I have his CD of music anyway & that has all his details.
re: Mel being amused "by how the older women there swooned", a bit like the way he would probably react if a lovely young barmaid lavished him with attention :-)
Opera in a pub? Never heard of such a thing. Which pub was it?
1) Who is Josh Groban?
2) ...I don't really have a second question...
Is this the pub in Sherborne St. John? I got RO there one time...
I feel a bit like a traitor to my sex here, Mel, but I have to say you have a point.
I wasn't the slightest bit concerned when I read the post that anything remotely improper had happened, but if E had posted that you had been swooning over a young attractive woman and (as you say)tipping her and asking for her phone number (whatever the reason) I would have had a least a tinge of the requisite moral outrage.
And so I am not writing this in order to levy any criticism, but rather to think about the double standard point that you brought up with your friend.
Why don't we blink when women do things like this, but when men do them they are pigs? When women do them we know that it is all in fun and nothing serious, when men do it they are all sleazy or cheaters?
It doesn't seem possible that we think there is something intrinsically different about men and women in these sorts of instances. But I have no idea why one situation raises no questions and the other is horrid.
>Opera in a pub? Never heard of such a thing. Which >pub was it?
It was The Cricketers at Stratfield Turgis.
To call it "opera" is a bit of a stretch. It was mostly songs in Italian or associated with Italy.
For example: "That's Amore", "O Sole Mio", "Ave Maria". Ok, so he did "Libiamo ne'lieti calici", but that's the only opera I remember. Probably the only reason we didn't get "Nessun Dorma" is because he couldn't get the B4.
It was more like an evening with a young Dean Martin, really.
Having said that, yes, he did have a damn good voice and the food was great, even if the portion sizes were, shall we say, over-dainty.
Lisa, that's a good point you made there and one for me to think about it. You're raising my consciousness, so need time to digest that one. I would be the first one to yell about a man swooning over a female singer, you're right.
This singer just made a record with Hayley Westernara (spelling?) so maybe he'll hit the big time.
BWJ, how could you forget Josh Groban whose song, You Raise Me Up, was played constantly on US radio a few years ago. he didn't get a hit with it here, and lately some boy band recorded it and had a hit, but wasn't as good as Josh.
Never heard that song!
About the double standard for ogling, gee, don't know. I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary that we demand that both genders behave exactly the same in given situations---part of the fun of the whole man-woman game is...well, *vive la difference.* I mean, go back to our caveman ancestors (not a very long trip for some men:):)
NEANDERTHAL MAN: (grunt) Me see big tits. Me like. Me go get 'em.
NEANDERTHAL WOMAN: (snort) Me see cute guy. Me wonder how many rocks he earn per annum. Wonder if he know how fix car. Bet he snore.
Are we allowed to say "tits" in a family blog?
I bet I wouldn't be allowed to...
No, you wouldn't be allowed to because you are a guy. Women get away with a lot more!:):) That's what always put me off my feed about feminism...looked like waaay too much work to me! (Just kidding---rabid feminists back off!)
I don't think that the problem is that men and women have to lead identical lives.
It's why do women get to control men's behaviour in a particular way, and then say that men don't have any say over theirs in a similar way?
By this argument there is nothing wrong with a man flirting in a bar, picking up other women and sleeping with them whilst forbidding his wife to even glance at another man - vive la difference? Should we have fairness in relationships, or is it just a power game where anyone should get away with whatever they can manage?
I hate the word 'tits' but I'm not bovvered if other people say it. Are there youngsters here who would be corrupted by 'tits'?? ;-)
A couple of weeks ago I used the f-word (now suddenly I am too shy to say it, even though this time it would be mentioning it, and last time I was using it) and was not chided. I think all the posting I have done here is the longest I have ever gone without using it.
All the breast euphemisms sound silly to me.
Lisa, you are so cute! I love reading your posts because you and I have such different *Weltanschauungen* (I was gonna say "worldviews" but then figgered I'd better smarten it up a bit...:):)
Of course both genders "get up to whatever they can manage"! Historically, though, men had an easier time of that because they couldn't get pregnant...women kind of produced evidence of their misadventures nine months later, hence part of that double standard.
Euphemisms for breasts? What about the far-sillier nicknames for MISTER YOU KNOW WHAT down there between Adonis' legs? Women tend to dislike funny names for their mammary glands, but men seem to adore having their wing-wangs called a million things.
What a fun topic.
I've missed this whole discussion because I was in meetings yesterday then didn't check my email in the evening as had to check on the latest Sarah Palin/American election news as I'm totally obsessed with that.
I don't really like euphemisms anyway -- would rather say someone is 'dead' rather than 'passed' or is 'with Jesus.' would rather say breasts than tits. Don't like the word tits at all.
and Lisa, you can certainly say fuck in this blog as it would be odd to write 'sexual intercourse' instead and still maintain the meaning you wanted to convey.
When I was about ten years old, there was a really prissy girl in my class. One day on the playground several of us were huddled around talking about "getting bosoms" and wondering what it would be like, etc. Miss Priss shrieked and said, "I HATE THAT WORD! DON'T SAY IT!" So of course we all started chanting BOSOMS! BOSOMS! BOSOMS! BUUUUUUUZZZZZZUMS! as loudly as we could, and the whole rest of the year, we'd pass her notes that said "bosoms" in tiny letters. We'd turn around and face her in class, during arithmetic or geography, and mouth "bosoms," with exaggerated lip motions. I think she transferred to the Catholic school after that year...
Amen sister about Death Euphemisms! People simply never DIE down here in the sunny Southland...but they do everything else:
Went to be with the Lord
Had his/her Heaven Date
Entered into Glory
Went to Rest in the Bosom (oops, that word) of the Lord
and my all-time favorite:
Went to that Great Deer Camp in the Sky (deceased was obviously a hunter.)
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