19 August 2005

Hey, Jersey's nuttin to be ashamed about

Opera queen Alberto Vilar's trajectory: Metropolitan Opera (fanatic, patron, and Savior), Metropolitan Correctional Center (bunked with Bruno a.k.a. The Princess), Metropolitan Transit Authority (no more limos, now it's buses and subways).

But the real shocker is that Alberto Vilar isn't really Alberto Vilar. He's actually Albert Vilar, born not in Cuba but across the Hudson in Jersey. This, according to the British gossip tabloid Opera. He allegedly altered his persona into one Alberto de Cuba (pineapple daquiri in one hand and cigar in the other) in the early 90s as he built his Amerindo empire. Plot thickens: we also learn that on top of his many technical crimes, he may also be guilty of losing a comma. Apparently, Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc and Amerindo Investment Advisors, Inc (get those reading glasses out, girls) are officially two separate entities (one based in California and the other in Panama), all designed to fool comma-challenged investors. Sieglinde was almost fooled too.

Vilar bailed [Opera: click on news in lefthand column]
Sailing to New Jersey [Alex Ross]

In other gossip/news, Aprile Millo is really, truly, absolutely, no kidding (I swear on a stack of Caballe LPs)-- Aprile Millo, not April Miller. However, she was born also in Jersey, not in New York (as per press release). It's a technical issue, really, not a fault of hers at all. The state demarcation line in the Lincoln Tunnel wasn't clarified till 1954, years after she was born under the Hudson on the back of a pickup truck (or, as per press release, 4 years before she was born). Kidding aside (i.e., preceding is all a joke), we adore Aprile on Sieglinde's Diaries, and will not hesitate to lie for her about anything to anyone ever.

Aprile Millo's "biography" [some fan, who says: "I am NOT Aprile Millo! I am just the person who made this page."]
Aprile Millo ends Sieglinde's Met Season [Sieglinde]