it might best be described as the sound of a strangled cat...

Today at school I was reminded of one of the great - if a bit tragic - bits of musical humor in this world. You see, this weekend I didn't catch "Wait Wait" on Saturday. That would be because I slept in. Until, oh, a little after 11. Whoops. And so I was listening to it online during my planning hour as I was doing some desk work.

Now, for those of you who aren't familiar with "Wait Wait," it's basically a humorous quiz show that's a roundup of the week's news. In one of the segments, they talk to some sort of famous person and then ask them a series of questions on a topic about which they have absolutely zero knowledge. So this week they interviewed Brian Williams and, since the show was taped at Carnegie Hall this week, they asked him questions about one of the hall's great stars.

That's right, folks.

None other than Florence Foster Jenkins.

If you are scratching your head in befuddlement, don't worry. You are not alone. I had no idea of this woman's particular gift for singing until Dr. Lewis, my esteemed organ teacher, first made her known to a group of us students. And let me tell you - our first experience of her singing elicited a most enthusiastic response. Check out this sample for yourself, and you'll understand why we reacted to strongly:

Quite something, isn't it? And to think you've been missing this all these years.

While it does seem wrong to gain pleasure from such tragedy, there is no denying the... um.... inimitable character of her performance.

Or something like that.

PS: Here's the scoop on Florence Foster, and here's the segment from "Wait Wait":