It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings

“It ain’t over ‘till the fat lady sings” is a low brow's rule of thumb for second guessing an opera’s culmination. Some attribute this to Richard Wagner's 15 hour opera (Der Ring des Nibelungen) where an aria is sung by a fat woman in the finale.

This cliché is also alluded to Kate Smith, an American singer well known for singing Irving Berlin’s "God Bless America” in 1938. Her weight of 235 pounds was not obvious to her radio listeners until television came to the scene.


Whatever its origins, it has been used to mean that one shouldn’t assume the outcome until it has come about. This may as well refer to Susan Boyle who was an overnight celebrity when she sang “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables at Britain’s Got Talent. The judges (Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Ananda Holden) and the audience were skeptical, even sarcastic during the interview but Susan took the banter with a great sense of humor. When she sang, everyone was awed and gave her a standing ovation.

Susan took care of her ageing mother until her death in 2007 at the age of 91. Her devotion to caring for her mother was such that she did not have any time for herself. She was unemployed but an active volunteer at the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Blackburn.

It's not over for this lady. No sir, it ain't over.

Caravaggio

In the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox and certain Eastern Catholic churches, the first Sunday after Easter) is known as Thomas Sunday, after the Gospel passage read that day (John 20:19-31) which recounts the story of Christ appearing to the Apostle Thomas in order to dispel his doubt about the Resurrection. It should be noted that among Eastern Christians the Apostle Thomas is not so much remembered as "doubting Thomas," but is rather remembered for his confession of faith: "My Lord and my God," thus being the first to publicly proclaim the two natures of Christ: human and divine.

This is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday, the culmination of the novena to the Divine Mercy of Jesus, a devotion given to St. Faustina (Mary Faustina Kowalska) and is based upon an entry in her diary stating that anyone who participates in the Mass and receives the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist on this day is assured by Jesus of full remission of their sins. The devotion was actively promoted by Pope John Paul II, who officially set its commemoration on this Sunday in 2000.

I learned about "The Doubting of St. Thomas" by Michelangelo Merisi, aka Caravaggio, from my daughter. Since then, I have grown fond and sentimental of the portrayal of the artist; it well depicts how curious and childish men respond to extraordinary occurrences.

Caravaggio used models from the lower classes of society in his early secular works and later religious compositions which appealed to the Counter Reformation taste for realism, simplicity, and piety in art. Many thanks to Karsten Thygesen who hosts CGFA-A Virtual art Museum for the image.

Painting: The Doubting of St. Thomas by Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi); Neues Palais, Potsdam

San Mig Light

My beer is San Miguel Pale Pilsen which has been the mainstay as far as the Philippine market for beer is concerned. Aside from Heineken which costs much more, I have been a loyal customer of the beer which is now referred to as "pilsen", that is to differentiate it from the other beer lines that the marketing people of San Miguel have been experimenting with. Of all these "Johnny come latelys," I still have to figure out what marketing strategy lies behind the success of the "San Mig Light" line. I have asked many people drinking San Mig Light why they prefer that from pilsen and I have not gotten an acceptable answer. That was until I met this elderly Australian who gave me a very good reason for driniking San Mig Light.

Eugene Harm is a Draglline Operator in one of the coal mines in Australia. Married to a Filipina from the Mountain Province with whom she has three daughters, Eugene visits the Philippines regularly and everytime, we get to meet each other and we enjoy the chat. Having worked with heavy equipment myself, tractors and mining is a likely topic. He loves to talk about his family and proud of his marriage to a Filipina which he says is his first and only marriage. He is a Catholic and brags that he was an altar boy. The last time I saw him, we discussed age and health (I am older by a few months) as most people my age do.

Every time we meet Eugene takes San Mig Light while I stick to myPale Pilsen in the familiar amber bottle. No matter what we talk about, there is always one dialogue we love to do and it goes this way:

"Eugene, why do you drink San Mig Lights instead of Pale Pilsen?"

"Because of the clear bottle. I can see what I am drinking."