In Memoriam: Luciano Alberto Pavarotti, 1935-2007

With thanks to Google News and filkertom for the info: There is less music in the world today—Luciano Pavarotti, operatic tenor as legendary for his girth and love of fine food as for his musicianship, has died at 71 of pancreatic cancer.

There are precious few performers, in this or any musical genre, whose mere surnames can be used as synonyms for the genre, and for supremacy therein; Maria Callas and Enrico Caruso are the only two I can think of offhand, but Pavarotti was definitely in their class. He was serious about music, but never too serious about himself; I seem to recall his doing a guest shot on the syndicated Muppet Show in its heyday (if I'm wrong, please correct me). Whether by himself, in duets with everyone from U2's Bono to Dame Joan Sutherland, or as one of the famous "Three Tenors" with Placido Domingo and José Carreras (who paid tribute to him yesterday; see CNN.com story here), he packed houses, emptied record-store shelves, tingled spines and lumped throats around the world with his soaring voice for decades. He didn't limit himself to opera/classical, either; he sang pop and rock tunes, sacred music, even Christmas carols (both secular and not) with the same élan and gusto.

Any favorite memories of a Pavarotti performance, live, recorded or broadcast, you'd like to share? Post 'em here. Arrivederci e grazie molto, Maestro.

A love note to an early enabler—err, I mean "supporter"

It occurs to me that I have allowed nearly a week to pass since my surprisingly successful joint performance at Dragon*Con 2007 with East Coast filk doyenne Roberta Rogow (buy her new CD, Alive and Filking, like right frakkin' NOW!—ask me how) and not publicly thanked her for the guitar accompaniment, moral support and time-filling between songs she graciously provided for me—not to mention the hilarity she added with her own songs, alternating with mine. Consider yourself hugely thanked, profusely apologized to and much loved, bubeleh. (And thanks also to filkertom for having the smarts to place us next to each other in the schedule; the joint show might never have happened but for his foresight.)

Roberta was one of those who was there for me early on, a quarter of a century ago when I first embarked on an avocation to desecrate the songs of others for amusement (and eventually, to write original ones of my own). When I first published my little half-legal-size filkzine series, Demented, Deranged & Degenerate Filksongs #s 1-3, she carried them on her dealer's room table and even reviewed them favorably in the Filk Foundation's own zine. (My feet barely touched ground for days after.)

She's also quite talented in her own right as a parodist, songwriter and performer (and unlike Your Lazy Correspondent, she's actually learned to play guitar!), with songs such as "Professional Fan," "Pousse-Café" (a filk of "A Toast for Unknown Heroes" about an epic pub crawl at Nolacon II by filk goddess Leslie Fish) and "The Worldcon" to her credit. And in her day job (from which she tells me she's retiring shortly), she's a public librarian in NJ, which makes her a goddess in itself by this little geek-boy's lights. (Cue instafilk...)

Your friendly local librarian changes ev'rything;
Your life and work improve with the knowledge that she brings;
She brings order, she brings meaning --
She helps you find things;
Your friendly local librarian changes ev'rything...
(TTTO chorus from Carla Ulbrich's "The Guy Who Changes The Light Bulbs")

I've had an amazing amount of success in the filk music world for someone who's never put out a tape, a CD or a real songbook in his life; Roberta and a few others like her are a big part of the reason why.

Steverino fires a shot (or two) across NBC's bow

Steve Jobs announces new Apple iPod models, iPhone price slash and new retailer deals
Courtesy of BusinessWeek Online
Jobs tests patience of Apple loyalists, stock market
Courtesy of MSNBC.com

More in the wild, wacky world of Apple Inc. business news (see my post yesterday), this time less focused on the iPhone pricing issue and more on the tug-of-war between El Jobso and frustrated movie studios, broadcast TV networks and cable channels chafing under Apple's $1.99 price limit for individual song downloads, and only slightly more for TV series eps and films. NBC has balked at renewing its contract to offer its shows (and those of its NBC Universal corporate siblings, such as Sci Fi and Bravo) over a desire to price newer (and more costly to produce) shows higher than older ones, or to bundle shows in order to move more units of poor-performing programs.

Basically, the thrust of the article is that no matter how peeved the "content providers" (don't you just love that modern buzzword lingo?) may get, Apple still has them by the short-and-curlies...and eventually, they will come crawling back to the negotiating table, as they need Apple way more than Apple needs them. And pinning their hopes on other device makers to provide them alternative channels for distribution is at best a dicey strategy; none of the other makers have Apple's reputation for coolness (or talent like Jonathan Ive in their product-design departments).

UPDATE, 3:25p: Re MSNBC.com story just added above: See? I'm not the only one who thinks iPhone sales must be either tanking or not living up to Apple's rosy projections...or that early buyers got royally boned.
UPDATE, 8:49p: An open letter to early iPhone buyers from His Nibs is now on Apple's website, acknowledging that "we need to do a better job taking care of" them and offering a $100 credit to any item in their local Apple Store or the online one. Nice try, Steverino; now how about increasing that to the full $200 difference? Until/unless you do that, the early buyers will likely not stop cursing your name.