Lookin' for a fix

• Any guys looking to get married soon had better make sure that their future wives know how to repair small electric gadgets in the kitchen. I am trying to get the on/off switch on a small electric grill/rotisserie repaired. I’ve spent more than a few hours of valuable time on the phone trying to locate anyone who repairs such items, and I’ve come away with the idea that I may have to buy a new stove, or even a new house, to solve the conundrum!

• The other day I reached the age of 90, an age I never thought I’d see. My beloved wife threw a shindig for me at home, and some 70 friends were there to gaze at a superannuated opera-singer who is still somehow perking. The joy of my life is called Joy and she has provided plenty of that commodity during our 31 years.

• We received the Freeline Media Orlando poll in an e-mail, asking us to help select the outstanding citizen of 2010. Lo and behold, the first name on the list is Winter Park’s super-Commissioner Beth Dillaha, who was at my birthday party! We have known Beth for a long time, and esteem her highly. We are grateful for all she has done for Central Florida.

• “Progressives” trace their political heritage back to Teddy Roosevelt. In Teddy’s day, “benevolent despotism” was a popular term. Many renowned philosopher/politicians have championed the concept of benevolent despotism, which has been described as the very best kind of government — depending, of course, on who the despot is, and how benevolent he, in fact, is! Lord Acton warned, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Who but Jesus could have absolute power and remain absolutely uncorrupted?

• I recently had a long phone conversation with my friend Claudette LeBlanc. I remember her as the finest Canadian soprano I ever sang with. In 1984, we sang a concert version of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” under Ward Woodbury with the Bach Festival Orchestra and Chorus at Rollins College. Claudette has made many CDs of songs by Debussy, Koechlin, Ravel, etc., that are the very best I have heard. Since Claudette was here, my dear friend Dr. Woodbury has died, and Winter Park for me has never been quite the same. Eastman School of Music-trained Ward had a special affinity for singers, and soon after Joy and I had settled in Winter Park, he invited me to perform a condensed version of Wagner’s “Tannhauser” with the Bach Festival Orchestra and Chorus and then a Verdi Requiem. Later I did a second Verdi Requiem, Massenet’s “Marie-Magdeleine,” and Beethoven’s “Christ on the Mount of Olives.” In my phone conversation with Claudette, she told me of many things she has done in Canada and Europe since our “Fidelio.” It amazes me how two little vocal chords can propel a person to several continents and many countries. Artists who sing well remain in demand everywhere, and a singer’s life brings him into contact with the same big performing family all over the world.

• Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday reminds us how much we miss the “gipper.”

• Chinese proverb: Question: “Is swimming good for your shape?” Answer: “If so, explain whale.”