Anonymity Aside, I Present Random Trivia Definitive to My Personality

In a recent post, I promised to deliver a future post listing several things that I thought my readers might like to know about me, which is to say that I am presenting myself in a way some might consider to be a vulgar disregard for one’s private life, but it is my privacy that I threaten to violate and no one else’s, so I think that the evidence supports my belief that it is within my power to ultimately form my own conviction on the matter regarding myself. Having said as much and formed the aforementioned opinion, I offer this compilation of information, which has no practical employment to the intelectual problems that remain unsolved in our time.

1. I have only recently discovered approximately how long I have listened to Christian music. What is more relevant to this piece of information is that I enjoy Christian music that is about ten years old. I knew my collection of Wow discs would have some use to me someday. Some of the groups and artists from this genre that I like are: Sixpence None The Richer, LaRue, DC Talk, Fernando Ortega, Whitecross, Stryper, Petra, Plus One, Tait, Plumb, Maire Brennan, etc.
2. Though this may not be true today since I have grown older as the years have passed, I have or had, whichever my readers prefer to insert and, therefore, believe, a precocious predilection towards classic literature. In example of this fact, I read Homer’s Odyssey at the age of fourteen without any prompting from anyone and simply due to my own desire to become literate and educated. However, I remain dissatisfied with my pursuit of literature today; I often feel inadequate and bereft of knowledge when I am with other people for the mere reason that they have read something that I feel I ought to read and have not. I can easily say that it is this constant reminder that drives me in addition to my natural human curiosity to persevere in my education. Truly, one’s love and passion for learning and knowledge should never decline, for this is one of God’s most precious gifts to humanity, and I do not wish to waste it.
3. My favorite television shows include: Walker, Texas Ranger, Doc, The Wild, Wild West, Dragnet, Masterpiece Mystery!, Great Performances (of course!), Ancient Almanac, Survivorman, Man vs. Wild, Mantracker, and Steves’ Europe.
4. Should I really include a section about opera singers? I think it would be best if I skip that, for I must retain something for later posts. Instead I shall list some of my favorite operas: La Traviata, Cosi fan tutte, La Boheme, Il Pirata, Rodelinda, Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor, Otello, Le Nozze di Figaro, etc.
5. Favorite movies: The Sound of Music, Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, Vertigo, The Birds, Rear Window, My Fair Lady, Wait Until Dark, Charade, The Great Escape, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, etc.
6. I was home-educated for ten years.
7. I have lived in Oklahoma City for all of my life.
8. I was involved in Royal Rangers.
9. When I was about thirteen years of age, I wanted to become an FBI Special Agent or else a forensic scientist, and I must say that this desire precipitated that vocation’s recent popularity.
10. Some three years after that, it was my desire to attend West Point United States Military Academy and becom a career military officer.
11. I play chess, and I am a rather good player when I have devoted myself to it.
12. When I was 17, the recent translation of James Ussher’s The Anals of the World was at the top of the list of gifts that I hoped to receive for my birthday, and I received it from my loving, generous parents. If I had not been blessed with it, I can say without reservation that it would still possess that position on my list of wants.
13. When I was fourteen or thereabouts, I decided to learn all that I could concerning nuclear energy and the physics relative to it. It was because of this knowledge that I gained that I became interested in Albert Einstien’s Unified Field Theory. To this day I still believe that it is a plausible hypothesis.
14. The mathematical proecess of algebra is difficult for me to grasp, but other facets of higher number theory are constant sources of pleasure for my brain due to an excellent presentation of the science of mathematics by John Hudson Tiner in his book Exploring the World of Mathematics. I would encourage everyone to peruse this volume as well as any other books by this remarkable author.
15. I play piano to a moderate degree, which is to say that I cannot sight read music, which is the enviable talent of reading the music from the page and playing it without delay. I am afraid that my lack of coordination does not allow me to possess this asset at the present.
16. I adore the music of Enya. I would probably list her albums Amarantine and The Celts as my favorite of her offerings. There are many times when I wish that she would return to her Celtic roots more often on her recordings, but I cannot imagine her work without her beautiful piano compositions.
17. In my opinion Phil Keaggy is the best guitarist in the world. There is also an urban legend that Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton also maintained this supposition on live television, but I would not believe it if I were you. Besides this, Phil Keaggy can get by well enough on his own merit without the recommendation of Hendrix or Clapton; anyone who can call their albums The Master and The Musician, which is an allusion to God and not himself, and Phantasmagorical: The Master and The Musician, Volume II fifteen years later must be playing above the average level.
18. I am involved with a local community theatre program, and I hope to expand my horizons into straight plays soon.
19. I have a rather massive CD collection. I have not kept up with technology and embraced the MP3 format yet because I put all of these that I possess onto CD-R. I did buy an MP3 player last year for the sole purpose of recording the Met’s broadcasts, but it simply ceased to operate the very day after I could return it to the retailer if I found that I did not want it.
20. I am the closest thing that comes to a technophile in my immediate family.
21. For at least the past ten years, my family has been renovating both of the houses we have had the privelige of calling our abode. Naturally, I can almost do anything that is required in renovation. One thing I have learned from this experience is that everything takes longer than you think.
22. Even though I graduated from high shcool a year and a half since, I still love school.
23. I recently discovered that my blog is featured on a website listing theatre blogs. I hardly ever write anything about theatre or Broadway.
24. I have only been to two first rate performances in my life, the first being a recital by Sarah Coburn, and the second was a touring production of The Phantom of the Opera. I regularly attend performances given by my local community theatre.
25. I am not a picky eater. Most vegetables taste great to me, but I absolutely will not partake of the traditional German victual of sauer kraut. I had bad experiences with it as a child, and it has scarred me for life.
26. I could eat pasta for the rest of my days.
27. I can cook to a moderate degree.
28. I actually make my bed daily.
29. My part of the bedroom that I share with my 16 year old younger brother stays clean.
30. I wear business class attire when I attend family functions or other events.

Well, there are thirty things that I thought you might like to know about me. My original goal was to put down one hundred minute facts, but it is rather difficult to think of so many things about one’s self that do not seem mundane, and even most of these that I have related seem so to me. For all of those bloggers out there who have populated lists reaching such a high number of interesting things about themselves, I offer my congratualtions to you. Allow me to devote the remainder of this post to videos.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=

Yes, this previous one is a Christian song, and it is clear back from the “old days” of 2000

Now, since you have all indulged me for so long with my sampling of musical interests, let me display some classical operatic gems. In case you have not noticed, I have some predilection towards video posting.

I thank all of you for reading. I hope that I have not bored you too much or usurped too much of your time.

-Tyler.

Soprano Sarah Coburn and some new songs on my playlist

First, I would like to explain some of the recent additions to my playlist. If anyone actually listens to the music beyond the first track, they will notice that I have uploaded quite a few more selections to this playlist of music which says so much about my diverse interests in music. Most of the new material is from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but I have also included two songs I recently discovered by Renee Fleming, which are probably my favorite new additions, and some music from the Christian metal scene by Stryper and Whitecross, two bands who are replete with talent but are sadly dormant, although that may change in the near future. All of these unconventional tracks on an opera aficionado’s playlist may leave room for speculation as to my “true tastes” in music, but I can assure my readers that nothing could be further from the truth. On occasions far and few between my regular listening habits, I sometimes listen to the hard rock and metal of the Christian genre and I give in to urges to hear the classical crossover melodies of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Let it be known that I listen to classical music and opera almost exclusively.

All of that being said, a few notes about the new pieces are in order. I have seen Trans-Siberian Orchestra twice live here in Oklahoma City, and I must say that they sound much better live in concert than on CD. All of the selections that I have provided here for the listening pleasure of my readers are the ones that I like best. Wish Lizst, Wizards In Winter, Christmas Eve In Sarajevo, and Queen of the Winter Night are beyond description live. If anyone ever has the chance to see them on tour, they ought to not miss the opportunity. As I said earlier, the two Renee Fleming songs I found are probably my favorites that I was able to add. The final song, Du bist die Ruh’ from her recording entitled The Schubert Album is among my top-ten favorite songs to hear. This version is exceptionally beautiful. Finally, the songs by Whitecross and Stryper are some of their best known works, and they are memories of an era when the Christian music scene had rather more talent in it than it currently possesses. It can be argued that the passing of the era came in 2005 with the retirement of Christian rock music pioneers Petra. They had been around for thirty-three years, so I can understand why they wanted to retire, but when one hears their live album Farewell and watches the videos on YouTube of drummer Paul Simmons’ drum solos, one cannot help but wonder how their playing would have been on a well-crafted studio recording; they could have done a remix of Jekyll and Hyde with longer guitar solos, more drum solos, and a couple of new songs. I think Bob Hartman, their guitarist, could really have returned to the Wake Up Call and On Fire eras with his playing. It could have been great. As to why my playlist will not allow me to randomize the starting songs and the order in which the rest of them are played, I do not know, so it appears that you will have to scroll through the songs to see what new material I have added.

Enough of that; allow me to speak of opera, the thing you visited to see. Some years ago soprano Sarah Coburn, a coloratura soprano able to sing with the best artists around with equal musicianship, came to a local university to give a recital. I, who was hungry for opera then and unaware that there were different calibers of performers, was allowed to attend the event. I dressed in my best and only suit for the event, and when I arrived, I was not required to pay for my ticket because someone else had purchased too many for their party, and they gave me one. I sat on the front row in the middle of the concert hall, the most ideal of seats really, and I prepared myself for a most enjoyable Sunday afternoon. Ms. Coburn, who has recently risen to quite a level of notoriety within the opera world since, did not disappoint all of us who filled the venue, and I do not belive that there was an empty seat. It is a performance that I vividly remember. One of the selections she sang was Rossini’s Una voce poco fa, and it is to this performance of it that I compare all others who sing it. After the recital, which lasted some three hours or more, Ms. Coburn signed autographs for every audience member who cared to stand in line to get it. Opera News praises her voice as “blissfully sublime,” and be assured, dear, gentle reader, that they do not lie about this fact. I, the young, ignorant person I was then, asked her whether or not she was going to be featured on any upcoming Met broadcasts. She told me regretably no, but that she could not wait to be, so ever since, I have remained hopeful. She has sung at the Met; she was in the first and second runs of Tan Dun’s opera The First Emperor with Placido Domingo. Recently she sang with Placido Domingo at WNO in Handel’s Tamerlano, and she has sung in Rossini’s Tancredi. I cannot wait to hear and see her again.
Not to perk up the hopes of those who might wish me well or to extend my little amount of good luck or providential protection, whichever you prefer, but I may be allowed to go see the recital Renee Fleming is giving in Houston, Texas, but this is only if the tickets for a gala celebration featuring dancing and dinner following the performance do not fill the seats of the concert hall prematurely. If I am so fortunate as to see what promises to be the most fascinating and anticipated piece of entertainment in my life, it would be my first time seeing Renee Fleming live in anything and, hopefully, to meet her. As soon as I learn anything about it one way or another, I will be sure to post about the developments here. May God bless all of you.

-Tyler.