Fun_People Archive
16 Feb
QOTD - The Fat Lady Sings, 2/12/99

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 99 15:46:21 -0800
To: Fun_People
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Subject: QOTD - The Fat Lady Sings, 2/12/99

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Forwarded-by: david mankins
From: Barry Perlman

"As a mom, especially with a daughter close in age to Monica, I would hope
some other mom would do for my daughter what I did for Monica, despite the
fact that it looks horrible, that it looks like a betrayal."
		- Linda Tripp.

Yeah, it was all for Monica's sake.  Right.

Note:   The other fat lady sang today.  Neither count won a majority and the
	comic opera is finally over.  A few years ago I learned the origin
	of the phrase, and I thought I'd share it with you now:

- -- May, 1994:

Last Friday I learned the true origin of the phrase "It isn't over until
the fat lady sings."

Friday evening the BSO presented Act III of Gotterdammerung, the conclusion
of Wagner's epic 12-hour "Ring" opera series.

Throughout the entire performance, there was a HUGE female singer who sat
demurely and silently, with her hands folded in her lap, waiting for her
turn to sing.

When her turn finally came she rose, bigger than an Olsdmobile, stepped
forward, and belted out her aria.

Now Wagner has all the subtlety of a pneumatic jackhammer, and this lady,
whose lungs are bigger than my car, filled the symphony hall with her voice,
above the sound of a large orchestra blasting full bore.

For a solid 40 minutes this Aryan workhorse of Wagnerian opera inundated
the audience with all the angst and grief of Brunnhilde's tragedy.

And then it was all over.

The whole thing.

The end of the hero, the end of the gods, the end of the world's longest
opera.

The fat lady sang and it was over.

She did not, however, wear a horned helmet.

© 1999 Peter Langston