Tenor Bocelli says 'contaminated' by temptation of money

[Pat]

oh yeah U too MILI - COME OVER THERE - HAVE FUN!

lots of funny people over there. u might find it a more relaxed atmosphere. course u get the nasty ones there too, but hey thats life.
:O)

[who ever I am]

Pat wrote:

WHO EVER I AM
just in case u do happen to stop by here, Meet me over at "offbeat" or "top stories" - Use the "who ever" name - if i see u there, i'll say hello and i know with ur sense of humor - we'd get along great!
if not, i understand and good luck - its been fun.
:O)
now i really am leaving these ladies alone,
Carry on girls....

Pat, if ever I need some "entertainment", I'll meet you there. Yep, we'd get along well!(ha ha!!) It's been nice meeting you here!
You know, for a "shrink" you'd think Gert could tell a con from a real nut case but evidently she can't!!(I'm rolling over here!!!) I guess I had her fooled pretty good...pretty sad for a "human nature" expert! Now come on, if I could fool her, how on earth can she "analyze" Bocelli and his writings? Gert, you are a JOKE and I feel for your "patients"!!!

Mili, I read Pat's post to you, join us! It would be fun! Yes, time for a more FRIENDLY place...

Gert, you're an "attention whore", who can't live without your Bocelli "discussions". I don't think ANY CELEBRITY deserves that much attention and discussion. Just an observation dear; now where on earth did I put my psychiatric diploma??? Gotta ya good Gert!

See ya!

:-)

[who ever I am]

Gert,

Run for president! Who knows, we couldn't do any worse anyway!! If Clinton got in (she won't), Bill would run the country for her (I hear they don't talk about ANYTHING ELSE but polotics), Obama has screaming matches with his wife and watch the way he and Oprah look at each other..lust in their eyes (wife, fiancee or not), and McCain will always have us at war with his anger issues. HE HAS ANGER ISSUES GERT, not me. I have a short temper and don't tolerate people like you who have their nose in the air all the time. So Gert, we couldn't do worse could we. Maybe I'd even vote for you (but don't count on it!)

:-)

Bye for good! It has been FUN!

Meet ya Pat!

[Katy]

just testing.

[Gert]

Katy wrote:

just testing.

As long as you have a scroll bar, you're fine.

[Simone]

Gert wrote:

<quoted text>
As long as you have a scroll bar, you're fine.

My scrolling finger is still recovering from the overwork of recent weeks.

[Susanna]

What's going on around here?

[Fascinated]

Are they gone? really gone?

[Ciara]

This is definitely strange.....

[Ciara]

Fascinated, you're practically my neighbor, I'm in Orinda.

[Gert]

Ciara wrote:

<quoted text>
Thanks for the info. I know who you're talking about now. It's about the man who has a short time to live and he's giving a lecture on life. He appeared on a talk show recently, I found him extremelt inspiring to say the least.

I have read The Last Lecture because it came highly recommended to me by a friend. I usually have no taste for these types of books - or videos - that follow people in their last months of life - or their considerations when faced with imminent death. The specter of death will add gravitas to whatever anyone has to say. That is for sure! But I gave this a try thinking it would be different and found it was not different. However, I think this is a valuable book for Randy himself because it is what he needs to do at this time of his life; I think it is his way of achieving immortality, to have his say, to make a statement that he has lived - his views, his achievements; his quirky stories will echo endlessly like sound waves, cheating death of it's triumph as John Donne would say - Death be not proud......

The book does make the reader think of how we would like to be remembered and how we hope to achieve an immortality of sorts. I define immortality as being remembered by great-grandchildren for most cannot hope for more than that. Valuable as those sobering thoughts may be - thoughts that rescue us from mindless consumerism and petite complaints of daily life - the older I get the less time I wish to spend contemplating illness, pain and suffering.

I think Randy's children will be grateful that he has written this book, to know how desperate he was that they should know him and his views on
life. He does not appear as a victim nor does he wallow in self-pity but the book is sad nonetheless. How can it not be.

[Fascinated]

Ciara wrote:

Fascinated, you're practically my neighbor, I'm in Orinda.

Unfortunately not, I am in Southern Cal; often get that confusion. Too bad.

[Katy]

My first impression of The Last Lecture was that this man was very lucky. Not only had he achieved MORE than he had dreamt of but he had been given the opportunity to reflect on his life and to put it all into perspective and to leave a comforting account of it all for his children.

My second impression was that all the qualities which had made this man successful were apparent in his words.

I wonder if anyone , feeling fit and well as he did can really accept the fact that death is imminent? Might it not seem to be a dream or as if it were happening to someone else . Virtual reality perhaps?

[Simone]

Ciara wrote:

You should take any opportunity to go to Rome, Paris or anywhere else interests you. Gert & I have our art & photography which beckons us. How lucky it is that you live so close to so many fabulous places.

I used to take any and every opportunity to travel, and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the moment, though, if there are family commitments, they take priority. If it's a choice between Carmen in Rome or the children's school plays (and it is), the latter wins hands down, naturally.

Fortunately, I was able to solve the problem of going to see Andrea by nipping to London for the Classical Brits last week (if one can call being stuck in traffic on the Hammersmith Flyover "nipping").

[Simone]

Gert wrote:

The book does make the reader think of how we would like to be remembered and how we hope to achieve an immortality of sorts. I define immortality as being remembered by great-grandchildren for most cannot hope for more than that.

I was rather hoping that the reams of abysmal poetry I composed as a young woman might be discovered long after I am gone, and hailed as a literary masterpiece. It's a long shot, I grant you. I'm not so sure we can even depend on great-grandchildren these days. Not so long ago, they seemed more or less a given, but I know far more women in their 30s and 40s who are opting out of parenthood than my mother did.

Gert, I take it there is an actual book as well as the transcript of the lecture itself? How does it differ? What is in addition? I must admit, I found the style of the lecture somewhat difficult to wade through.

I read a little book when my elder daughter was a baby, by a journalist, Ruth Picardie, who was dying of breast cancer. It was not so much a memoir as a collection of writings, newspaper columns, email correspondence, and letters to her children. I think I found it particularly poignant because she was around my age, and also had very young children. And the emotional vulnerability which comes with new motherhood no doubt exacerbated the poignancy. I knew her journalistic writing, and enjoyed her somewhat mordant wit, which was very much in evidence in the book. I wonder what her children, now in their early teens, would make of it. I can only imagine being pleased to have a connection with a lost and forgotten parent( forgotten in the sense that they were too young to remember her). But it must be incredibly strange too.

[Katy]

Simone, Do you really think you can just casually mention nipping down to the classical Brits to see Bocelli and leave it at that?

This is supposed to be a Bocelli forum don't forget. I know I do all the time but you don't
have the same excuse of advanced age as I.
Tell the ladies all about it. Well almost all.

[Ciara]

Fascinated wrote:

<quoted text>
Unfortunately not, I am in Southern Cal; often get that confusion. Too bad.

I'm sorry too, but I'm sure I could learn quite a lot about your area as well. My husband's business headquarters is in Lake Forest, are you anywhere near there?

[Ciara]

Gert wrote:

<quoted text>
I have read The Last Lecture because it came highly recommended to me by a friend. I usually have no taste for these types of books - or videos - that follow people in their last months of life - or their considerations when faced with imminent death. The specter of death will add gravitas to whatever anyone has to say. That is for sure! But I gave this a try thinking it would be different and found it was not different. However, I think this is a valuable book for Randy himself because it is what he needs to do at this time of his life; I think it is his way of achieving immortality, to have his say, to make a statement that he has lived - his views, his achievements; his quirky stories will echo endlessly like sound waves, cheating death of it's triumph as John Donne would say - Death be not proud......
The book does make the reader think of how we would like to be remembered and how we hope to achieve an immortality of sorts. I define immortality as being remembered by great-grandchildren for most cannot hope for more than that. Valuable as those sobering thoughts may be - thoughts that rescue us from mindless consumerism and petite complaints of daily life - the older I get the less time I wish to spend contemplating illness, pain and suffering.
I think Randy's children will be grateful that he has written this book, to know how desperate he was that they should know him and his views on
life. He does not appear as a victim nor does he wallow in self-pity but the book is sad nonetheless. How can it not be.

Well said, Gert. I found your opinions insightful. It's funny as we age our priorities change as well as our outlook on life. As we age we can either make it a pleasant journey or a miserable one. My objective is to age as gracefully as possible

[Ciara]

Simone wrote:

<quoted text>
I used to take any and every opportunity to travel, and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the moment, though, if there are family commitments, they take priority. If it's a choice between Carmen in Rome or the children's school plays (and it is), the latter wins hands down, naturally.
Fortunately, I was able to solve the problem of going to see Andrea by nipping to London for the Classical Brits last week (if one can call being stuck in traffic on the Hammersmith Flyover "nipping").

I would probably choose the kid's school play over traveling as well. I've been there and done that so I'm in a different zone right now. Children grow up so fast it's important to savor every moment. There will be a time where you will be free to travel, just enjoy the moment for now. Do tell us about the Bocelli concert, I'd love to hear your opinion.

[Irishharper]

Is it safe to jump back in the water? Simone you better spill the beans on the concert.
I love to travel, I have lived all over the place. My latest thing is I want to go to Italy and attend cooking school in Tuscany, I want to specalize in breads....