The Fredösphere

I just found out about Sine Nomine, an early music octet up there in East Lansing.  (For those unfamiliar with Michigan geography, not to mention politics, East Lansing is Michigan State University territory.)  Sine Nomine's web site is not quite ready for prime time, and the page listing their future performances requires some high-tech fiddling for it to display properly, so I'll excerpt the relevant paragraph here:

Sine Nomine, the East Lansing-based semi-professional early music octet under the direction of J. Nixon McMillan, presents a concert of “Music from the Elizabethan Era and Beyond”.  Works will include anthems by Batten, anonymous Gregorian chant, a motet by Marenzio, madrigals by Bennet and Morley, spoken poetry by Queen Elizabeth I, and more recent choral works by renowned East Lansing composer James Niblock.  Saturday, May 21, 2005, at 4 pm at All Saints Episcopal Church, 800 Abbott Road, East Lansing (517-351-7160); Sunday May 22, 2005 at 5 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 101 East Mansion Street, Marshall (616-781-7881).  Free, donations appreciated.

James Niblock is a retired MSU professor.  Here's Niblock's webpage.  Guys, about that website design?  I'd be happy to spiff it up for you.  For an extra $10K, I think I could arrange a celebrity guest appearance by Umie the Umlaut, the artsöshpere's most endearing trash-talking logo.

I watched A Series of Unfortunate Events with the wifeösphere over the weekend.  She dared to judge it even funnier than the book, and I'm inclined to agree.  I strongly commend to you the bonus material on the DVD.  Watching Jim Carrey as Count Olaf in his various disguises is dazzling, exhilarating, and more than a little bit frightening.  You discover his performance as seen in the final cut of the film just scratches the tip of the iceberg, as a friend was wont to say.

I can't exactly recommend the commentary track with director Brad Silberling joined by author Daniel Handler in his Lemony Snicket persona. It starts out quite amusing; "Snicket" is repeatedly shocked to discover the movie -- which he supposedly knows nothing about -- is as grim as its source material. Then it slowly dawns on you that Handler is going to maintain this Snicket schtick relentlessly throughout the entire movie. I had to turn it off after 40 minutes.  On the other hand, you will not want to miss the bonus scene -- completely out of context of the story -- where Count Olaf responds graciously to applause that seems to go on forever -- said applause being produced by his own two hands.