Sometimes the right two people come along at the right time in each other's lives, and a story for the ages is born. But it's rare that we get to see such stories captured in real-time. This time we're lucky. In a silent saga befitting a Pixar short film—complete with soundtrack—a TikToker and his mystery neighbor have taken us all on a beautiful journey of music, love, longing, and loss.Giorgio Lo Porto is an Italian living in London, and on February 6, he shared a video of his new neighbor playing piano. The music is muffled behind their shared wall, but clear enough to hear. Lo Porto wrote that he left a note for the mystery neighbor, telling them he loved their music and asking if they could play "My Heart Will Go On." And so they did. @giorgio_lp_ ##fyp ##foryou ##piano ##uk ##love ##neighbour ##talent ##foryoupage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto Lo Porto left another note suggesting that they play something together, each in their own apartments. A call-and-response duet of sorts. He didn't know if they'd do it, or if they'd forget when the time came. He also said he himself hadn't played in months. But he started playing at 2pm, and as soon as he stopped, the neighbor began. @giorgio_lp_ It was really fun ##fyp ##foryou ##music ##piano ##neighbour ##duet ##love ##foryoupage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto Their duets became a weekend "meet up," playing back and forth through their shared wall. You can watch a compilation of the performance below but keep reading because there is so much more to this beautiful story: Two neighbours playing piano between a wall - Giorgio and Emil www.youtube.com Seems like a perfect meet-cute in a romantic comedy, doesn't it? @giorgio_lp_ Lockdown weekends hit different now ? ##fyp ##foryou ##music ##love ##lockdown ##piano ##neighbour ##duet ##foryoupage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto On Valentine's Day, they played a duet and Lo Porto wrote "It's Valentine's Day. We're in lockdown. This was our way of saying, I don't know who you are but I'm here. You're not alone."Then it came time for them to meet. @giorgio_lp_ ? ##fyp ##foryou ##valentinesday ##love ##music ##neighbour ##piano ##foryoupage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto "Well, today I have met my neighbor," Lo Porto wrote in a video shared on February 21. "It was better than expected.""His name is Emil..." @giorgio_lp_ I wasn't surprised - I knew there was a special soul behind that wall ##fyp ##foryou ##music ##neighbour ##love ##piano ##foryoupage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto "He is 78 years old, originally from Poland. This is his temporary accommodation while he waits for his house to be sold." "He lost his wife in December due to COVID," Lo Porto shared. "And all he has left is the piano. And the reason why he plays at 2pm every weekend is because his wife loved it.""He thanked me for keeping him motivated and less lonely. And I promised that I'll play with him until he moves out.""He is camera shy," he added. "But I'll try again when he's ready." @giorgio_lp_ We feel the love from all of you ##fyp ##foryou ##piano ##music ##neighbour ##uk ##foryoypage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto Lo Porto shared that Emil is "a special soul" and that "he is fine now, healing." And his piano playing is just gorgeous.Playing with Emil inspired Lo Porto to write his own song. "I woke up with 3 notes in my head," he wrote on February 27. @giorgio_lp_ ##fyp ##foryou ##piano ##neighbours ##love ##music ##motivation ##foryoupage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto He added some string orchestration to it and called it "Dear Emil." It's the first song he's ever written. "When I wrote this piece I started picturing Emil's life," he wrote. "A 78 y.o. widower who lost his wife due to this stupid virus. Spending days at home alone due to lockdown. Looking forward to play her favourite piano songs at 2pm every weekend, until a note appeared on his door. A letter showing he was heard and not alone. And a new friendship started. Two pianos between a wall, not knowing who was playing. But it didn't matter." "You can be the light of somebody else's darkness. So keep shining." @giorgio_lp_ Dear Emil ##fyp ##foryou ##piano ##music ##original ##neighbour ##love ##foryoupa ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto On February 26, Lo Porto announced that Emil was moving out the following week, and shared their last weekend duet—the much requested "Moonlight Sonata."He said Emil still didn't want to be on camera, but said he was much happier and thanked everyone who had been watching their duets. Lo Porto promised he would keep playing for him on the weekends. @giorgio_lp_ It's been a great journey ##fyp ##foryou ##piano ##music ##neighbour ##love ##foryoupage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto It would be lovely if the story ended there, but it doesn't. (May need a tissue now if you haven't already grabbed one.)Lo Porto shared on March 14th that he'd received word that Emil had passed away in his sleep: "And now he is reunited with his wife." "Dear Emil," he wrote. "I knew very little about you, but you changed my life. You gave me back my passion, and we shared that with the world. You'll be in my heart. I'll keep playing, thinking of how powerful music can be. You said I was your light, but you've been mine too. Bye, Emil." @giorgio_lp_ Bye Emil ? ##fyp ##foryou ##music ##neighbours ##piano ##love ##foryoupage ♬ original sound - Giorgio Lo Porto If you needed a good cry today, hope that helped. And if you needed a reminder that humans can be wonderful and life can connect us in beautiful and mysterious ways, now you've got one. Lo Porto says he will have a full version of "Dear Emil" up on YouTube soon. You can listen to it on Spotify as well. This article originally appeared four years ago.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler handed the power of Jewish cultural life in Nazi Germany to his chief propagandist, Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels established a team of of regulators that would oversee the works of Jewish artists in film, theater, music, fine arts, literature, broadcasting, and the press.Goebbels' new regulations essentially eliminated Jewish people from participating in mainstream German cultural activities by requiring them to have a license to do so.This attempt by the Nazis to purge Germany of any culture that wasn't Aryan in origin led to the questioning of artists from outside the country. Nazi book burning via Wikimedia CommonsIn 1938, English author J. R. R. Tolkien and his British publisher, Stanley Unwin, opened talks with Rütten & Loening, a Berlin-based publishing house, about a German translation of his recently-published hit novel, "The Hobbit."Privately, according to "1937 The Hobbit or There and Back Again," Tolkien told Unwin he hated Nazi "race-doctrine" as "wholly pernicious and unscientific." He added he had many Jewish friends and was considering abandoning the idea of a German translation altogether.The Berlin-based publishing house sent Tolkien a letter asking for proof of his Aryan descent. Tolkien was incensed by the request and gave his publisher two responses, one in which he sidestepped the question, another in which he clapped back '30s-style with pure class.His publisher sent the classy clap-back.In the letter sent to Rütten & Loening, Tolkien notes that Aryans are of Indo-Iranian "extraction," correcting the incorrect Nazi aumption that Aryans come from northern Europe. He cuts to the chase by saying that he is not Jewish but holds them in high regard. "I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people," Tolkien wrote.Tolkien also takes a shot at the race policies of Nazi Germany by saying he's beginning to regret his German surname. "The time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride," he writes.Here's the letter sent to Rütten & Loening:25 July 1938 20 Northmoor Road, OxfordDear Sirs,Thank you for your letter. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject — which should be sufficient. I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride.Your enquiry is doubtless made in order to comply with the laws of your own country, but that this should be held to apply to the subjects of another state would be improper, even if it had (as it has not) any bearing whatsoever on the merits of my work or its sustainability for publication, of which you appear to have satisfied yourselves without reference to my Abstammung.I trust you will find this reply satisfactory, andremain yours faithfully,J. R. R. TolkienThis article originally appeared three years ago.

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Jimmy Carter, former president of the United States, died at the age of 100 last week. Today was his funeral. At this blessed D.C. event conducted at the National Cathedral, former presidents and vice presidents and their spouses congregated. As the VIPs, they sat on the front rows in the sanctuary with cameras pointed at them. It was quite the human spectacle. Good politicians demonstrate the ability to pretend to like people they hate. It’s a job requirement since they’re surrounded by slavering, poisonous, back-stabbing enemies 24/7. Left or right, politicians have “friends” and foes alike who want to see them fail in ignominious glory so that they may jump to the rescue of the people they’re serving. In this eat-or-be-eaten environment, projecting magnanimity and wearing a pleasant expression is de rigueur except when it isn’t. The amount of gall on display at Carter’s funeral would be humorous if it weren’t so revealing. There were two clubs: the Donald and Melania club and everyone else. LOTS OF MATERIAL SO FAR AT JIMMY CARTER’S FUNERAL: – Trump shakes hands with Mike Pence. – Obama does not shake Trump or Melania’s hand – but shakes everyone else’s hands. – Bush walks right past the Trump’s, then slaps Obama in the stomach and shakes hands with everyone else. -… pic.twitter.com/Nx5vZ77Hqb — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 9, 2025 The slights toward the Trumps were egregious and shameful. Perhaps the worst example came from Mike Pence’s pouty wife Karen who refused to acknowledge or shake the hand of Melania Trump. Mike Pence, a pro at presenting a good face while concealing daggers, stood as Al Gore did too, to shake the returning president’s hand. Hillary and Bill Clinton sat at the other end of the row and pretended the Trumps didn’t exist. Kamala Harris and her husband sat in the front row. At one point, hearing Barack Obama chitchatting behind her, Kamala turned with a hopeful look — seeming to want to interact with the former president. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Barack was kibitzing with Trump and sharing an apparently pleasant conversation as they sat next to one another on the second row. When G.W. Bush came into the row, he breezed past both Melania and Donald and then bopped Obama in the belly, frat-boy style, and kept rolling. When, at last, the Bidens entered the arena, Jill, who was to sit next to Kamala, exhibited stony indifference bordering on hostility. The women sat next to one another, looking straight ahead boring holes into the air. This is in stark contrast to the chumminess between Jill and President Trump at the Notre Dame reopening in Paris. What was clear in all these displays of aggression, dominance, and deference, is that these people loathe Donald Trump and they couldn’t hide it. The years in public service did little to help them disguise their contempt. In short, they’re really not very good politicians even though they’re great politicians, having reached the pinnacle of world power, at least once and in many cases, twice. Donald Trump, and his stunningly gorgeous wife, Melania, represent a total triumph against their uniparty worldview. The uniparty is not taking it well. Why isn’t there distance between Bush, the Clintons, and the Obamas? Ostensibly, they hold opposing political views. But there’s the rub. They really don’t. When it comes to worldview, philosophy, and political actions, they’re actually more alike than different. Who they unite to oppose is you the American voter. In that, they’re united. They bow down to the same special interests. They ultimately have similar priorities. They’re possessed of the same arrogance. Donald Trump’s politics repudiates all of them. Trump also knows all the ways each of these couples tried to destroy him, and they all tried to destroy him. Hillary Clinton created her made-up Russian dossier and used the CIA, FBI, and even laundered intelligence through MI6. Bush had his Cheney and the sham J6 committee. Kamala met with state-level prosecutors to bring suits against Trump. Obama’s Department of Justice and third-term administration, in the name of Biden, hounding Trump, including the Mar-a-Lago raid, spying on the Trump campaign in Trump Tower, and on and on. Then there’s Mike Pence’s destruction from within. The people against Trump, viewing themselves as the saviors of democracy destroyed trust in nearly every government institution. They brought America and the world to the edge of collapse with cultural Marxism and warmongering insanity. They’ve been participants in the destruction of the American economy and life in the West. And they had the temerity to be angry at Trump and are so shameless they can’t even conceal it. Obama had the good sense to know that the camera was upon him and was aware that he and Trump would likely be “meme’d” together, which they immediately were. “How about the McDonald’s and garbage truck events? So good, right?” pic.twitter.com/F1Z7Xidwm4 — Deebs (@DeebsFLA) January 9, 2025 What a disgusting spectacle. What horrible people. Are any of them given to self-reflection? Do they feel any shame for participating in the downfall of modern civilization? Do they even understand what they’ve done? Or are they content with their choices so long as they’re personally enriched? Being president of the United States is a difficult job, to say the least. Heavy is the crown and all that. However, it is easier when the only calculus is this: is it good for the American people? And here’s the thing with this simple equation: So goes America, so goes the world. Make America great again, and the rest will take care of itself. These former leaders forgot their central job is to serve America’s interests. They hate Donald Trump because his priorities reveal their shame. It might seem unfair, Donald Trump v. the Uniparty. As it turns out, vanquishing these people was as simple as putting the American people first. READ MORE from Melissa Mackenzie: Elon Musk and Rape Gangs Elon Musk v. MAGA: H-1B Visas, Foreign Workers, Big Tech, and America First Matt Gaetz: Ditching Justice in Service to Petty Hatreds The post The Uniparty v. Trump at Jimmy Carter’s Funeral appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

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from The National Pulse: The six largest banks in the United States have abandoned a climate change “alliance” just ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump. In early December, JP Morgan joined Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs in distancing themselves from the United Nations-supported Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Paddy McCully from Reclaim Finance described […]