Our “Christmas Cactus” has decided to bloom this week. Um, Happy Father’s Day, Dad.
Our “Christmas Cactus” has decided to bloom this week. Um, Happy Father’s Day, Dad.
The June 18 performance of the Requiem by Hector Berlioz was perhaps the best performance I have seen at Verizon Hall. The music is powerful, and has great variety that flows from soft moments to all-out rapture.
The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) by Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837 to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830 (French Revolution of 1830, not the big, famous French Revolution of 1789-99 with the storming of the Bastille, etc.). As a Requiem Mass it places religious themes into context of grieving and honoring the dead, uplifting both the memorialized and the music.
As for this performance, somehow the sound sounded better than usual, the Philadelphia Singers seemed at their best, and despite some early relestness, the audience was particularly well-behaved. It was nice that the piece was performed straight through without intermission, because the flow and progression added to the enjoyment. Tenor solist Paul Groveswas enchanting. The “Tuba mirum,” portraying the Day of Judgment, was performed with the brass sound literally enciricling the audience and it was clear it gave everyone present pleasure and captured the essence of the intention of the composer.
This was a special night, because music choice, sound quality and general focus seemed to be off a lot this season; I cannot put my finger on it, but it seemed overall this season’s concerts were as a whole weaker than previous years. Naturally I speak only as layperson who enjoys the music, but I hope for the Orchestra’s sake and for my own enjoyment that they are able to make a decision on a permanent artistic director who will help give the Philadelphia Orchestra a consistency and point of view they are currently lacking. Tonight, though, the Orchestra left me looking forward to next year.
The cover article of the June 15, 2009 issue of Time magazine by Steven Johnson discusses “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live” (http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604,00.html), and it got me thinking more about Twitter. One of Johnson’s more interesting points is how users of Twitter have created their own ways to use the site. An extension is a discussion of add-on applications on sites like twitter, google, the iPhone, etc.
A Few Things I Find Fascinating about the Idea of Twitter:
I’m writerbat on twitter. Maybe I’ll try posting a few tweets and finding some people to follow. If you have a twitter account and want me to follow you, let me know.
Budman, Mark, (2008). My Life at First Try: a Novel. Washington: Counterpoint.
At first it was the structure that stood out to me. Short sections that break the story up into trim, well-crafted sections. Virtually any of the sections could be enjoyed as a stand-alone work. This is Mark Budman’s best achievement here: muscular sentences that tell a compelling story about the power of the American dream/myth.
The main character and narrator, Alex, tells a series of entertaining stories about his life growing up in the Soviet Union and later his reactions to the reality of contemporary America as they differ from the dreams foreigners have.
This structure at first does not seem to allow much depth, especially emotional depth, and thus the characters seem somehow distant. It could be argued this is a nice reflection of the communist society that is the setting, and yet there is a fresh beauty to the language that makes you want to read on, to finish the book and to find out how it ends. The juxtapositions are both entertaining an thought provoking, and an admirable way to build a story, as in :
“In the conference hall, I climb the podium, armed with a collapsible pointer. It could also be used as a weapon to strike an attacking dog. It’s ninety degrees outside, but indoors it’s chilly like a morgue” (p.146).
In all this novel gave me hope that novels can still be beautiful and relevant and that the genre has a future that is more than academic.
My dog Elton died last year on June 13. We honor the anniversaries of people’s deaths, but it feels a little strange saying publicly, ” my dog died one year ago today.” But the thing is, for so many of us, our pets really are part of the family. Except dogs are more forgiving than family members. In eight years we fought twice: the first time when he picked up a dead bird in his mouth in the park and wanted to carry it home. The second, when I put reindeer antlers on his head for a Christmas photo; then he actually snapped at me and bit my hand, but not enough to break the skin. Both times he forgave soon after the incident was over, ready for more joy. Can we possibly learn to be like that?
I have begun posting some of my favorite photos on this site. The first page is called St.Louis and features 14 of my favorite photos I took when I lived in St. Louis.
