PWM

...Which, of course, stands for "Pretty Woman Moment" - you remember that scene when Julia Roberts goes to the opera with Richard Gere and it's her first time and she's completely entranced and overwhelmed? (You know you do - she even does Julia Roberts Face No. 2 - the one where she doesn't show all her teeth). Well, although it's very far from being my first time at the opera, dear reader, last night I found myself having just such a moment (minus the diamonds). I was at the Opera Bastille (with my friend Signor G) watching Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore" and in the the third act, the main character, Nemorino, sings an aria called "Una furtiva lagrima". It marks the moment when he's finally sure that Adina, who has always spurned his advances, really loves him because he saw her shed a single tear. It's a beautiful tune, a tenor standard, and one I know by heart, as my singing teacher used to make me plough through it every week. But in this (wonderful) production, just as the intro started, suddenly all these stars descended from the ceiling, taking me completely by surprise. And I was a goner. Lump in the throat, tear in the eye. Naked rhino75 emotion. You couldn't bottle it, lemme tell ya. And talking of emotion, I spent the afternoon at the inauguration of the new Musée du Quai Branly, designed by Jean Nouvel. Kofi Annan was there too, tho' I don't think that, strictly speaking, he qualifies as *showbiz* - must have slipped in through the back door. My opinion: fantastic building, wonderful space, but the exhibits appeared to have been lit by someone who had cataracts and the curating was breathakingly pretentious. Hopefully, given how much the thing cost, they'll be able to fix that part, as architecturally it's a stunning piece of work. P.S. By the way, it's now official, I have a NEW job!!! Thanks for all those good vibes at the start of the month. Mwah!!