opera in the outfield

 tonight i went to the st. paul saints baseball stadium and went to see 'opera in the outfield'. my curiosity is what drove me there, as having opera at the ballyard seemed kind of odd. i am thankful i saw not only the main program but also the pre-show, which had cartoons in it as well as clips from black and white movies. the two i recalled were buster keaton playing baseball, and charlie chaplin doing a burlesque version of 'carmen'. the show made me think of 'the simpsons' multiple times. when there was a cartoon that had 'blue danube waltz' in it (as homer once said 'so hungry'), when minnesota opera played a clip from 'the shining' and how homer once played an opera singer in a parody of 'phantom of the opera'. i haven't seen much opera before, aside from seeing 'phantom' at the orpheum in minneapolis many years ago. i liked the passion in the singing, even if it isn't in english. it reminded me of seeing french subtitled movies, something i do every so often. i was pleased that there were some baseball themes in it, such as songs from 'the fix', about the 1919 black sox scandal, and a version of 'take me out to the ballgame' with an opera theme. i was in line to get popcorn when the latter was playing, and i said 'brilliant!' this wasn't the first time i had seen non-baseball games at this venue, CHS field. i have seen the movie 'space jam' as part of a 4th of july fireworks show, a soul asylum concert as part of the all-star game celebration, and a baseball-themed play, 'safe at home', from the mixed blood theater. other notables would be sledding during the winter carnival leading up to the super bowl, and the 'miracle on ice' anniversary. the pre-show also included a youtube video of watching pavarotti sing puccini's 'nessun dorma', when i looked at the lyrics translated it appears to mean 'no one shall sleep'. i panicked a little about the ticketing thing, since it said they were all digital ones and i have a flip phone. but i found out i could have them print a ticket for me upon arrival. the rain meant i spent most of my time there standing. i tried to sit but then the rain came back rather quickly so i went back under the roof. 

it was a day of errand running, and i got my car into the shop as it was running loud. i was told it was a wheel bearing, fixed in 90 minutes, might have been caused when i hit a pothole at a construction site on the way home from work a few weeks ago. i dropped off recycling after it was done. i watched some of the college football on TV, but also fell asleep for a while. it was after getting back from seeing the opera show how i found out the wedding i was invited to still happened, on zoom. i logged onto facebook and saw the invite there, but it was short notice, less than a day. i asked about it a week in advance, since i had a 'save the date' magnet, but got no response to my private message. sounds like i was not alone, on not seeing it in time. during the walk on the way back to the shop i found 70 cents, all pennies. it was mostly in a gas station parking lot.