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Showing results for tags '1855'.
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I just heard the word "Donnybrook" used for the first time (that I remember) to describe a chaotic event. I looked it up, and it turns out that the Donnybrook Fair was a multi-day, public drinking-fest held in Dublin, Ireland beginning in the year 1204, when King John (*) of England granted permission for the event - it lasted up until 1855, when it was purchased by The Committee for the Abolition of Donnybrook Fair. I tell you, those people in the Middle Ages - they might not have had cell phones, but they sure knew how to have a good time. This fair sounds a lot like the Maryland Renaissance Festival, except it was the real thing. (*) An interesting sidebar about King John: He was also known as "John Lackland," and in Norman French, there's a literal translation of that name - he was called Johann sanz Terre ("John without earth"). That's probably only interesting to about five people in the world, but I'm one of them. -
I'm probably not alone in having dis-favorite musical compositions, i.e., pieces of music that regardless of their quality I'd really rather never hear again. Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Ravel's Bolero. Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman". The Canon in D by the fellow whose name reminds me of Taco Bell. Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Smetana's Moldau. In fact, I used to think of Smetana as "the Moldau guy". Then one day, about three years ago, I stumbled across Smetana's piano trio, and was so stunned by it I quickly bought four or five different performances on CD, and for a while there I was listening to it at least once a day. One of the key characteristics of dis-favorite pieces is over-exposure, and yet after hearing Smetana's piano trio more than a hundred times (I figure), I find it as thoroughly ravishing and emotionally satisfying as I did after two or three hearings. As I've mentioned before, I love Romantic chamber music, and this piece is perhaps as extravagantly Romantic as anything ever written. The late, lamented Beaux Arts Trio: 1st movement: 2nd movement: 3rd movement:-
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- Bedřich Smetana
- Litomyšl Habsburg Empire
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Any baseball fan knows the Louisville Slugger is part of the sport's historical foundation. Hillerich & Bradsby, the independent company that used to equip all major leaguers, has seen their market share shrink in recent years (to about 60% now) as domestic and overseas brands like Marucci and Mizuno have signed star players to use competing bats. Other challenges have included lawsuits and supply chain issues. They've tried to respond. The Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, Kentucky is a must-see for any avid baseball fan, right up there with Cooperstown. I've been a few times and spent a couple of hours there as recently as two years ago. Today, a CEO with the same last name as the founder has thrown in the towel...or bat. Very sad news as the company is being sold to Wilson Sporting Goods, part of a $2.5 Billion Finnish Company. Per the norm, all parties proclaim it good for all with few changes for now. Sigh.
