Bring home the bacon!

I just discovered this article
in the Times today. I will soon be heading back to Germany on Tuesday and back to the cuisine that I have missed particularly Bread and cheap good Beer and wine something that is missing here. The prices are much higher here compared to Germany and that includes California Wine. I first discovered German belly bacon (bauchspeck) years ago and have used it especially in dishes such as amatriciana (spelling) a sauce for sphagetti.

blast from the past

I couldn´t resist putting this link in to a review I got back in 1985 at City Opera in Puritani

The next day a wag in the chorus at City Opera said they had dug up Mozart and Beethoven to write a few more lines for me!

Driving Miss Daisy in Houston

Actually there is no Miss Daisy but a Red Dodge Caliber that I have rented for the time that I am in Houston. The picture here is probably I-45 or I-10 going past downtown Houston or I-610 or even route 59 and the assumption is that there is smooth sailing past the famous skyline. This is false as the highways are generally packed, slow moving, and totally frustrating. Worse than the Freeways in California if that could be possible and like LA there is not a moment in the 24/7 without TRAFFIC. The side roads are jam packed with workers, shoppers, and football moms driving mostly pickup trucks. It seems every corner on these streets have traffic lights that are programmed to turn red when vehicles are sensed to be moving in their direction and remain red for at least 15 minutes before an obligatory 3 second green light. Here is a traffic map of central area. If you get on one of the main highways you must be aware that traffic moves along faster on the right hand side when you need move right to get off and when you need to move left to avoid getting on to another highway, vice versa...forget it!!! ! I will be glad to get back to the good ol´Autobahn with its tiny narrow lanes, poorly marked and lighted but the fast flow directed to the left and don´t remain there long as a porsch doing 200 miles an hour will be up your tailpipe...

opera in the heights

I have just sung the first of 3 performances of the role of Belmonte in Mozart´s "Abduction from the Seraglio" on Friday at Opera in Heights in Houston, Texas. It was a stretch for me as I have not sung such a lyrical Mozart role since around 1970 so I had to keep it concentrated and not full blown like I normally would sing. Here is a picture of me shortly before making my first entrance

There was a cover soprano named Veronica Olvera with whom I sang most of my rehearsals and she sang the final dress rehearsal with me. A great talent and I wish her the best of success in the future.



Well I finally made it on to NPR in Houston on the local public radio. This was at the studio KUHF shortly before we went on air. For the family, I will send you a cd of the show and anyone else who wants a copy.