First, the movie Sixth Sense … Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is watching a play put on by Cole Sear’s (Haley Joel Osment) class. Subtle hints of the movie’s ending were in that scene, Crowe sitting in the crowd but someone directly behind him filming the kids, with Crowe obviously blocking his view. Cole asked him as they walk out what he thought of the performance. Says Dr. Crowe, “I liked it better than Cats.”
David Letterman had just started his CBS Late Night show, and was doing his monologue when Paul Newman stands up in the audience and interrupts him. Dave introduces him to applause and then asks what the problem is. “Where the hell are those singing cats?” asks Newman. Dave explains to him that Cats, the musical, is playing at a different theater. Newman pulls a ticket stub out of his shirt pocket, looks at it, apologizes and leaves.
And, Dennis Miller, here quoted from frail memory, speaking of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s music, saying it is like fine wines, sweet, rich, aromatic, and yet, all tasting somewhat alike.
People love to mock Weber and his lyricist, Tim Rice, and I can see why, kind of. The music and lyrics are rich, and it seems that women are more likely to enjoy it … rephrase … more likely to admit enjoying it than men. I did sit through a performance of Cats at the MSU field house in Bozeman years ago. It’s a large auditorium, we were seated far in the back, the sound quality was poor, and we were seated on benches. I could not wait for it to end. Perhaps in a more comfortable venue, I would have liked it more.
This post is probably of limited interest, but I want to write it nonetheless. I want to get it out of my mind. It concerns one person of two identities, María Eva Duarte, or Eva Peron, better known as Evita, 5/19/1919-7/26/1952. She was a world-wide celebrity in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She was the First Lady of Argentina married to President Juan Peron. She was thought of as the spiritual leader of her country, and was widely admired by Argentine citizens.
I think of Eva Peron as the Princess Diana of her age. She was a worldwide sensation and went on a world tour in 1947, was received by the Pope, but in France had her windshield broken by rocks and tomatoes thrown at her, staining her dress. She cancelled the next leg of the tour, Great Britain, and returned to Argentina. She was adored by the masses of Argentina, and I think I am choosing the right word there. She died of cervical cancer in 1952 at age 33.
The second person is Madonna Louise Fortin, married name Madonna Ciccone. She was born on July 11, 1933, in Bay City, Michigan. She died on December 1, 1963, at the age of 30. She was married to Silvio Ciccone in 1955, and the two of them gave birth to six children, Anthony, Martin, Madonna, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie. We know the third child, Madonna Ciccone, as the world-famous pop singer Madonna.
I offer here another time line for Madonna Fortin, formerly Eva Peron, actually born in 1919, and who apparently died at least twice, perhaps three times. The first death was 1952, at age 33; the second 1963, at age 44, and the third in perhaps 1989, at age 70. That last death I am speculating about, as Madonna Fortin’s second death in 1963 at age 30 is the official one. However, Madonna, the singer, did a video called Promise to Try, released in 1989.
She strikes me as in mourning, which is why I speculate that this video is in tribute of her third, and final death. I could be wrong. She could have died in 1963 for real, at age 44. It would have been very hard for her to lose her mother at any age, but terribly hard for a five-year-old, so she would be showing real emotions here.
Every now and then in our mornings after coffee and breakfast, I will break out the Beats Pill and put on some music, and recently, because I think every now and then of Eva Peron/Madonna Fortin, I think of the Broadway musical Evita, music by Andrew Lloyd Weber, lyrics by Tim Rice, and the song Don’t Cry For me Argentina. I’m not going to play it here, but will print the lyrics below.
It won’t be easy
You’ll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love
After all that I’ve done
You won’t believe me
All you will see
Is a girl you once knew
Although she’s dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you
I had to let it happen
I had to change
Couldn’t stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window
Staying out of the sun
So I chose freedom
Running around trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it too
Don’t cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don’t keep your distance
And as for fortune and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world
They were all I desired
They are illusions
They’re not the solutions
They promise to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me
Don’t cry for me Argentina
Don’t cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don’t keep your distance
Have I said too much?
There’s nothing more I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do
Is look at me to know
That every word is true
That, to me, very much sounds like a genuine lament and sincere goodbye by Eva Peron to the people of Argentina after her fake death and move to Bay City, Michigan. I would not venture this opinion were it not that I know, in my heart of hearts, that among royal families pretending to be regular people that there is not widespread inside common knowledge. Below is the genealogy of Tim Rice, lyricist:
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon (Tim) Rice |
|
| Birthdate: | |
| Immediate Family: | Son of Private and Private Husband of Private Ex-partner of Laura-Jane Foley and Private Father of Private; Private; Private and Private Brother of Jo Rice |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | Lyricist, Writer, Author, Actor, Film Producer |
| Managed by: | Private User |
| Last Updated: | |
There are more “privates” there than on an episode of Gomer Pyle. Below is Andrew Lloyd Weber’s pedigree, from Wikipedia:
Lloyd Webber was born on 22 March 1948, at Westminster Hospital in London,[11][12] the elder son of William Lloyd Webber (1914–1982), a composer and organist, and Jean Hermione Johnstone (1921–1993), a violinist and pianist.[13] His younger brother, Julian Lloyd Webber, is a world-renowned solo cellist.[14] On the BBC’s genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?, he learned that his mother’s great-great-uncle was the soldier Sir Peregrine Maitland who in 1815 served as a major general at the Battle of Waterloo.[15]
My point here is that both Rice and Weber are of the British Peerage, and so would be insiders. The musical Evita began in London in 1976 and was brought to Broadway in 1996. As I read the lyrics of Don’t Cry for Me …, I imagine I am reading the real sentiments of the real Eva Peron, to the manor born, and thrust into the world spotlight. She grew tired of fame and fortune, and wanted out, so that her death was arranged in 1950 and carried out in 1952, at the appropriate age of 33. Read the lyrics for yourself, and judge, as I have, whether Weber/Rice had access to the real living Evita in 1976, assuming her 1963 death was fake as well. They would have written the musical as a tribute to a living breathing woman. They would not have known, of course, that the Broadway musical would be made into a movie in 1996, and would star Evita’s daughter, Madonna. Not by coincidence, of course.
I’ve written quite a bit about Evita and Madonna here, ever since our 2018 trip to Buenos Aires, where out of boredom as we awaited our return home we visited a cemetery in the downtown area. In it were crypts of famous people, among them Eva Peron, whose death was mysteriously listed in error as at age 32. It took but a little searching to find her true age at the time of her (first?) fake death, 33. Search the blog if you wish, as I’ve no inclination to link to all that work again. I wanted to write here a piece more respectful of both Eva Peron, and her daughter Madonna, who played her in the movie and did a credible job. Yes, there were better singers available for that role, but none who could bring the true emotional depth of a daughter paying tribute to her mother.
_______________
By the way, I discovered way back then, in 2018, that Eva Peron had a sister, Isabel, who also married Juan Peron after Eva’s death, and both of whom had rags-to-riches fake backgrounds. The photo below is of Silvio, Madonna, and their six children.
That family photo is loaded with irregularities in skin tone, focus, lighting, and relative head sizes. The young boy in the back looks like he is five feet away. Silvio has a blackened ear. What I suspect is that it is of two families blended as one, that of Madonna Fortin, and that of Isabel Peron, pictured to the left, and now living in Spain, now age 95. It would not be the first time that children of famous relatives were portrayed to us as one family, right Bobby?
Piece of Mindful 
Zombie by the cranberries about the bs in Ireland and how the war is just in their heads is one of my favourite revelation songs. It’s a little more subtle than Don’t cry for me….. But not much
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Thanks! I am aware of the Cranberries but you know, only that one delightful song. Here’s a link to Zombie lyrics.
https://genius.com/The-cranberries-zombie-lyrics
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Unrelated…..Ever look into cancer Mark? You might find the toxic sequestration theory of cancer by Patrick Coles interesting. As might anyone on this sight. Finally came across someone explaining how cancer actually sequesters and processes toxins. Obviously I know in the end everyone is controlled opposition (we all at the very least censor what we are willing to say.). I suspect here pushing the carnivore diet with the theory will suffice and prevent 99 percent of people ever looking at it.
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Can’t get the Like button to work.
Alex, you may like Joachim Bartoll, available here: https://bartoll.se/
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Thanks. Some of the studies at the bottom of that article are priceless. I think it’s exactly what I needed to read.
I find it interesting how difficult it is for me to admit that eating vegetables and grains etc has serious negative health effects. I’m constantly looking for any evidence that they are healthy in moderation. It’s no different to the thinking behind vaccines from a normal person. ‘Its only some of too many that are harmful. It’s only the new ones or its just bad genetics that caused the problem. All real science says otherwise and I fear it might be the same with the damage to our bodies from sugars
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This Bartoll character pushes extreme levels of vitamin a , which is a toxin and a lot of other very toxic stuff. Personally I would stay away from most of his advice. Like so many some of his work is very good but he manages to ignore some things I simply can’t ignore.
The trouble with being an author and trainer is you have to appear certain before you are certain. And then it’s hard to change. Especially when you have already made a big pivot.
Anywsy thanks for the link. If I ever takeup writing on the topic there are a pit of studies there for me to examine (mostly paid sadly)
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I did notice the heavy-handed recommendations on some supplements.
I was stressing, if anything, the thrust being meat protein and fats… which is pretty much all you need.
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i suspect you are correct that muscle meat and fat are probably all anyone needs. The trouble is there is no easy money to be made there.
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Can’t get the Like button to work.
Alex, you may like Joachim Bartoll, available here: https://bartoll.se/
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I’m just tried it and cannot get it so work either. It’s too late in the game to switch to a better carrier. All my work since 2006 is contained by WordPress. One or two posts are actually pretty good.
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Thanks … more to learn than time available. Taubes, whom I regard as a solid scientific researcher (science journalism is his chosen profession), just published a long piece (he does not do short pieces) on the difficulty our women have in childbirth, and relates it to modern carb/sugar intense diets.
https://uncertaintyprinciples.substack.com/p/shouldnt-giving-birth-be-reasonably?publication_id=3079975&post_id=205632855&isFreemail=false&r=22vw2v&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
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the name Taube has an interesting ring to me – my rivals in school growing up. They were #1-2 in my class, went to Harvard, want to see what happened to the Taubes? Beware the Taube
Seth Taube Inflated Medley’s Assets by $1B and Paid $2M to SEC – Hannah Howell
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And i didn’t mean to impugn your author Taubes Mark, just a funny coincidence.
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looks like that is a paid article Mark. It sounds like it might be interesting but….
I have my own theory on births, I suspect it may well have to do with the cross between 2 different species. Where it was mostly larger males with smaller females. If it only happened a few hundred to few thousand generations ago….
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like the aquatic ape theory? Thats one i find appealing since it describes why humans are such good swimmers/divers, and we only have hair on the top of our head.Losing all your fur is a big disadvantage for mothers where babies need to hold on to their mothers.
The problem, if i understand it since the article is paywalled, is that he says sugar is the reason modern women have trouble with birth. However hasn’t it always been risky for women to give birth, with higher death rates in the past, when sugar consumption was practically zero?
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i like the pig chimp theory more. But for this I’m going Neanderthal like man with human like woman. With back breeding and child rearing through the female line I think that could explain a lot including mental and emotional differences. But it’s just a hunch and there is no way to test it. Having said all of that women prefer bigger men and men prefer smaller women, that might be enough on its own.
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First, I know nothing about it, and was surprised to read Taubes on what appeared to be a new subject. I have read two of his books. He does not give diet advice, but following his exposition of the benefits of a diet of protein, saturated fats, and limited carbohydrate intake in Good Calories Bad Calories (2012) lost over 20 pounds and have kept it off over the years. I rarely do physicals, but if I must I find my signs, BP, RHR, respiration and all that are not just good, but excellent. therefore, seeing his scientific output tested personally and successfully, I choose to read what he writes.
In this article he got my curiosity, and only maybe halfway through does he tie it into diet. His evidence is that other primate species have difficult births, but our knowledge is limited to those in captivity and who are fed high carb food. He uses the Inuit population as an example of a people who, while adapting, eat mostly fat and protein, and who do not differ difficult childbirth and have very few complications.
That’s all I know, and all new to me.
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Sounds like a reasonable hypothesis I guess. I would in my theory put it down to the more similar size between their men and women. With their men being very small and both being broad for their height. I wonder which other native peoples have less issue with child birth and who has the most. With my guess being the more similar the genetics (size being most important) the easier the birth). Or perhaps even the larger the female compared to the male. Who knows really but I find it more interesting than who won the football or what Trump said this week
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I should be clear. I believe higher carb load will make the baby bigger and cause more issues. I believe this is well studied with diabetes and child birth.
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Again, all new to me. I do recall that death of the mother and/or child in childbirth was much more common in days gone by, and that high carb diets, obesity and diabetes are more a modern phenomenon, whereas Taubes mentions the change from hunter/gatherer to agriculture as a possible explanation. It does not necessarily compute.
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First, I know nothing about it, and was surprised to read Taubes on what appeared to be a new subject. I have read two of his books. He does not give diet advice, but following his exposition of the benefits of a diet of protein, saturated fats, and limited carbohydrate intake in Good Calories Bad Calories (2012) lost over 20 pounds and have kept it off over the years. I rarely do physicals, but if I must I find my signs, BP, RHR, respiration and all that are not just good, but excellent. therefore, seeing his scientific output tested personally and successfully, I choose to read what he writes.
In this article he got my curiosity, and only maybe halfway through does he tie it into diet. His evidence is that other primate species have difficult births, but our knowledge is limited to those in captivity and who are fed high carb food. He uses the Inuit population as an example of a people who, while adapting, eat mostly fat and protein, and who do not differ difficult childbirth and have very few complications.
That’s all I know, and all new to me.
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I don’t know anything or comment to give any more insight but your Madonna/Eva Peron information is fascinating. Born in a time that I was mid to late teens while Madonna was hitting big in the early to mid 80’s she was all the rage. I enjoyed her music but was never over the top with the whole thing. She definitely had a latin flare in some of her videos which is telling….but the way she carried herself and the way others treated her almost royalty status seemed interesting to me even back then. I do remember way back her speaking with Jean Paul Gaultier (a french designer) and hearing her perfect french?? I thought wow she is really smart and worldly. Even now while going back and searching for videos of her interviews and french speaking–she is understanding a french interviewer speaking french to her perfectly and videos where she blurts out a few sentences in french. So, is it possible that she was raised in France and not Spain….and you’d think there would be a few people that went to school with her overseas but maybe this was all private schooling? And then popped her over to Michigan for a few years in highschool? Anyway, my scattered thoughts…
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I would imagine she had voice training, probably dance too, as is common in aristocratic families. With the voice, she learned to carry a tune, but as I remember her, did not project, and her singing was close-to-the mic, but good enough for a rock star. Projection is a requirement for Broadway. So, when it came time for Evita, the movie, since she was given the part (for nepotistic reasons, fair enough), she had to learn to use her upper register, and required training to perform for the movie. Even so, any Broadway singer would have done better, but then, it was a daughter singing about her mother, so leeway is granted. She had the inside track for the part.
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Mark, did you see who performed at halftime at the World Cup? The Princess of Argentina, Madonna herself. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that Argentina was in the final and she was singing.
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Did not see that!
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