First LOLnews?

First came the LOLcats. Then the LOLdogs. Then all manner of captioned picture, including political ones. Recently, the oldest LOLcat was found (and she also no can has cheezburger).

The Folger Library is currently running an exhibition on the first newspapers. And, among the exhibits, there was a paper that reproduced a woodcut. Said woodcut was of the Pope, being menaced by a Spaniard (I think - pointy beard and morion) grabbing his beard and pointing a pistol at him! (Because the English liked nothing better than to lament Papish plots to seize their throne, influence their rulers, or return England to Rome's influence.)

And there was a blank word bubble coming out of the Spaniard's mouth. The exhibit text helpfully clarified that this was so that readers could add their own unflattering words.

Oldest LOLnews generator: Circa 1590!
Edit: LOLnews is PERIOD!

Holiday concerts

It's an indulgence, but money well-spent, I feel.

Last weekend, Moe and I caught The DC Christmas Revels, a celebration of traditional folkways and community art. giddysinger had a role that had pretty girls flirting with him and let him declaim some impressively dramatic lines, so I'm betting he had a blast. :) I liked it - I always like the Revels - and the Quebecois step-dancing was superb, and I loved the Flight of the Canoe - but... there was a lot of French. Which is totally reasonable, given the French-Canadian theme. But I felt more disconnected from it than usual.

Last night, I changed it up to something more 'high art.' I went to the Folger Consort's "Spanish Christmas" concert. First, the entire process of "going out" was actually fun to do. We saw the Revels at matinee, so while I dressed up, we're talking skirt and blouse. For an evening performance in the city, I pulled out the little black dress, the fancy feathered hat, and the major gold jewelry. Look, y'all, just like a real grown-up lady! The hat was a huge hit; I got many compliments. One woman wanted to know where I got it and couldn't believe me when I told her it was just Burlington Coat Factory.

The instrumentals were very fine, and I felt like I earned my early music geek cred when I recognized one of the pieces. Not, alas, by name, but I'm pretty sure I know which CD I have that it's on.

I'm finding that I'm just not a big fan of polyphony. The motets were well-done and the singers had excellent voices, but my attention wandered quickly.

The highlight of the concert was, for me, the villancicos, or Christmas songs. They tend to have that jaunty complex meter of Spanish music and a lot of vigor and good-humor. One featured word-play revolving around a conceit of a cave making echoes; another is the only Christmas song I've heard that features onomatopoeia of artillery and muskets. Chu! Chu! Chu! Tira, tira, tira la musqueteria!