-=- Intense Melody -=-

I received the following strange email a day ago:

Mr. Apostolov

BRAVISSIMO

Your voice is magnificent. You are realy a great and wonderful singer. I´m your fan. and.I would like to get an autographed photo from you and i will be very gratefull if you send me one. My postal adress is:

Ricardo Correia
AV. DO ULTRAMAR
18 – 3º – DT
2780-045 OEIRAS
PORTUGAL

Best wishes

Ricardo

Not only do I not have audio samples on my personal website, but I know for a fact that he had not heard me in person before.

Is this an attempt at stealing my identity? I’m a guy, so it couldn’t possibly be stalking could it? So I consulted Dr. Google to find out what this was all about. Apparently this is a more common phenomenon than I thought. See the following forum link below, on what others that have received versions of this, have to say:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/172913/thread/1042125133/Warning+to+ALL+..possible+stalke

It all started when my Italian girlfriend introduced me to “La Bella Figura – A Field Guide to the Italian Mind” by Beppe Severgnini. A comical book written by an Italian journalist who’s lived outside of Italy long enough to view his own people from an outsider’s perspective, and explain the differences. Such as, why Italians love to break certain laws like red traffic lights, and follow others like non-smoking or wearing biker’s helmets. Also important faux pas were cleared up, like not being an obvious tourist by ordering a cappuccino in the afternoon. As a result, I see more clearly now how they tick.

After being simultaneously entertained and educated on the Italians I went further and further, reading on other peoples I interact with often. I wanted answers. Why are the Austrians obsessed with titles, and cheating the very bureaucratic system they created? Or why are they so inflexible in how they conduct business? After living for over 2 years in Vienna, I finally got my answers in the “Xenophobe’s guide to the Austrians”, and a weight has lifted off my shoulders. Sure the Austrians can still be peculiar, but now I accept them for their meaningful peculiarities. There is a series of Xenophobe’s guides for a number of other countries/peoples I have a fascination for understanding better. The French are definitely on the top of the list.

I have continued this blitzkrieg culture absorption with another book that I am currently reading: “The English” by Jeremy Paxman (interestingly enough also a journalist). I am enjoying so far a number of good points made on the psychology of the Queen’s citizens, such as the geographic significance of a culture created on a large island very separate from Europe. I have yet to find the answer to why every Brit I meet must remind me that I don’t speak Queen’s English. Nonetheless, neither do the Brits I meet.

Perhaps the “Xenophobe’s guide to the Americans” will help me understand my own people better.

Talk about maximizing real estate! Notice the store window at sidewalk level? Stores like these are scattered around Eastern Europe. These two example photos were taken in Sofia, Bulgaria. I have to say it feels a bit odd to crane your neck and bow down to see the salesperson. In fact it is common to have a chair to sit down on when ordering what goods you want after scanning the product display. And you thought the McDonalds’ fast take out window was innovative.

You are in a public bathroom at a restaurant and you reach over to pull thepublic toilet prominently displayed cord to flush the toilet. The toilet doesn’t flush; instead sirens go off in the restaurant! Then you see the real flushing mechanism is not the emergency help cord you just pulled but the small white push button under it. Staff rushes in to see what is wrong.

This could happen to you if you are in Italy, where they require all public bathrooms to have the emergency pull cord.

You have been warned.

Vienna is an amazingly clean city for its size of nearly 2 million people. However, it does have a problem with dog piles. Coming from NYC, I’m used to seeing threatening signs of clean after your dog or else a hefty fine. Here they went a different route. Vienna installed posts recently with the above sign and the free bag dispenser below it throughout the city. The sign says “Nimm ein Sackerl für mein Gackerl” (take a baggie for my crappie). On the bags are written: “Nur für Hundekotentsorgung!” (Only to be used for dog poop removal). I was skeptical at first (no way would this work in New York!), but surprise surprise… my block is looking a little bit cleaner.

I’m crying I can’t stop laughing so hard. Is this for real? How does he hear all those adjectives (e.g. flatulence) in that?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89284569&ft=1&f=10003

Click “Listen Now” on the NPR web page to hear the radio program.

For those of you who know German or are working towards German proficiency, this is a website you will love. It has lots of movies and TV series in German that can be watched for free. You don’t need any special software or to download anything; it is all viewed in your web browser.

http://www.kino.to/

As a traveling singer it can be very frustrating not being able to watch DVD’s you buy or rent in Europe on your American laptop.

The DVD technology is the same regardless what country in the world you are in. What is different is an artificial limitation created by Hollywood. The DVD has a zone number according to where in the world it was produced for, and it must match with the same zone number of your DVD hardware. Because of Hollywood’s fear of consumers not buying at the controlled pricing, we are unable to watch those Opera DVD’s you can only find in Europe… or when abroad that rented Hollywood movie in German as language practice.

Most laptop DVD players give you 3 chances to watch a DVD outside of your American zone. Once used up, the DVD player becomes permanently locked. There are even subcategories of zones that limit not to region but specific country. “European region 2 DVDs may be sub-coded “D1″ to “D4″.” (Wikipedia)

Cheer up! There is a way around this that doesn’t involve opening up your computer, installing any hardware or soldering anything. All you need is a small DVD decrypter program installed.

DVD43

DVD43 is a completely free software that once installed, allows you to watch any DVD from anywhere in the world, as many times as you want.

This small program works as a middle man between your DVD hardware and software, tricking your movie watching software into thinking that you are watching a local not foreign DVD. You don’t have to learn anything to use DVD43, because it starts up automatically whenever you insert a DVD in your drive. A small smiley in your system tray allows you to control it.

DVD43 download site:

http://www.dvd43.com/

AnyDVD & DVD Region Free

Both these 2 other software programs allow you to watch any DVD you want on your computer in much the same way as DVD43. They offer some additional features worth mentioning: play, copy and rip protected audio CDs on your computer, capable of removing unwanted movie features including subtitles and prohibition messages such as copyright and FBI warnings, control the drive speed of your DVD drive allowing you to reduce the noise level when watching movies on your PC. Unlike the free DVD43, AnyDVD & DVD Region Free are offered at a cost, but still rather affordable and can be tried out before paying.

AnyDVD: http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvd.html

DVD Region Free: http://www.dvdidle.com/en/dvd-region-free.htm

Do you know what zones you are allowed to watch? You don’t need to anymore!

As I was preparing for my recent trip to Sofia, Bulgaria, I was reminded unintentionally by my voice teacher how far technology has gone for the traveling singer. He asked me if I was packing a small piano keyboard in which to practice. When I explained that I didn’t own one, he nicely offered that I borrow his for the week abroad.

Today I want to share some free alternatives to that little keyboard, that are not only light on the wallet but in the carry on bag as well.

Like many singers I travel with my laptop in order to stay in touch with friends and family through Skype, email, and Facebook. Since many bars, cafes, and hotels in Europe offer free wireless internet access to their customers; journeying with a laptop is a no brainer.

For shorter trips, I usually choose to leave the laptop behind in favor of my much lighter Palm Pilot (I can manage to not go insane without internet for 2-3 days).

If I’m going to pack my laptop/PDA (Personal Desktop Assistant not Personal Display of Affection) anyway, then I might as well get more from it… Read below about free/cheap software on using your laptop or PDA as a piano.

Electronic Piano 2.5

Notice in the picture how your computer keyboard is set up as a piano keyboard. Press Q and you hear F press 2 and you get F# and so forth. Of course you can also use your mouse. The default settings are perfect for the singer, but if you prefer to hear a harpsichord with a drum beat be my guest. Costs absolutely nothing to download and use.

http://www.pianoeletronico.com.br/index-en.html

Virtual Keyboard

Instead of downloading and installing software, why not use your web browser instead? I’ve enjoyed using this lightweight alternative when staying at a friend’s house… but I would be too nervous to rely on a hotel’s internet access to dictate if I can practice or not. My preference remains with Electronic Piano 2.5.

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/music/piano/index.htm

Palm Piano & Piano Sight Read

Though not as easy to use as playing a laptop’s keys (or as attractive a sound), these Piano Sight Read Palm Pilot programs are a more portable alternative. Who needs a tuning fork or harmonica when you have a PDA? Free to download and try, but both require a small fee to keep.

Download Piano.zip at

http://www.jawer.de

Download PianoSightread at

http://exideas.com/piano/

I would love to hear of some alternatives. Perhaps there’s a better way? Feel free to offer tips and links by clicking Comment now.