It's a slow day at work, ok?

While reading the NYT classical music blog, I came across this really bizarre bit of info about Blur frontman, Damon Albarn. He evidently has written an opera, titled Monkey: Journey to the West.

“Monkey,” which has been called a “circus opera,” had its premiere at the Manchester International Festival in England a year ago. Based on a traditional Chinese story, it features martial arts, acrobatics, singing, music and video projections. The composer is Damon Albarn, a leading light of 1990s Britpop who was in the band Blur and also a creator of Gorillaz, a confection of video characters, drum machines and synthesizers.

It sounds kind of amazing. I really wish I lived somewhere other than a city whose classical audience considers The Rite of Spring to be too radical to perform.