HTML Advance

Check out my web site, why don't you. It's an exercise in intro html. Thrill at the sight of my clip art.

BSO Opening Night: September 24, 2008

My neighbor Rosemary does a heap of volunteer work for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and that's how I happened to get a free ticket for Opening Night. There was a no-flash-photography sign at the entrance, which I complied with most of the time. As a result, very few photos were sharp enough to keep. For really good photos of Symphony Hall, I suggest you use Google Image Search.


My ticket entitled me to one glass of sparkling wine and all the grub I could get my hands on.


At the far left please notice the swiveling stool on the podium. James Levine can't stand up through performances any more, so he swivels on the stool. Weeee!


This is the view from my seat: ORCH 1 NN. See the seating chart for more info.

Oh yeah, the music:
GLINKA
Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila
TCHAIKOVSKY
Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin
MUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL)
Pictures at an Exhibition
James Levine, conductor
Maija Kovalevska, soprano

The Fates are Against Me!

Last night I finally got an image on Flickr to tile into the background of my blog. The next day I find my background tiled with notices that my image is not currently available! Why? ? ????
*******
OK. I moved my background image to Picasa, and now it works.

My Cactus Garden is Growing

Thanks to the plant sale at Philips Brooks House, I have 2 new cacti. The one that is 3rd from the left is actually not very prickly...but it looks mighty weird. I've never seen any of these types of cacti in the wild. Perhaps they are monsters created by genetic engineering.

Watch More TV...

...at hulu.com. I like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but you can also see Fantasy Island, Lost in Space, and a whole lot more for free on your computer. You always wanted to spend more time on your computer, didn't you?

50s Sci-Fi Interpretation

A former co-worker told me, when she noticed I had checked out the video I Married a Monster From Outer Space, "You know, that was about Communism." I had heard that interpretation before. Hostile 50s movie aliens, especially those who assumed human form, were supposed to be a veiled reference to Communists. (They look just like your neighbor, but they are evil and aim to take over.) Of course, there were also wise, nice aliens that the ignorant earthlings, especially belligerent small-town sheriffs, wanted to destroy. I suppose those films could represent the viewpoint of Communist sympathizers, the sheriff character being a veiled portrait of Joseph McCarthy. I've never heard it suggested, but it might appeal to proponents of the first theory.
But the whole theoretical edifice topples when we consider Red Planet Mars (1952). The Martians in this flick are born-again Christians! An American scientist (Peter Graves) gets Bible quotes in messages from Mars. There is an evil Nazi who claims to be sending all the messages--which inspire the Russians to abandon Communism--but it actually turns out that the Martians really are Christians. (Don't worry that I've spoiled the movie for you; it is so bad that it's beyond spoiling.) The Martians destroy Communism. Everybody wants to be Christians, just like the Martians.

We Belatedly Celebrate Lynn's 50th Birthday

Here we are at the Hungry Mother, a southern-style eatery not very far from my place. If you make a reservation for before 6pm, they'll get you Kendall Theater Tickets for $6 a piece. Wow! The food is pretty good too. We saw "Tell No One."

I Just Discovered that My Camera Can Take...

...pictures in sepia, like this one of ye olde-fashioned Harvard Yard. I've been actually reading the camera's instructions, which they gave me in Acrobat form. And there are several things I haven't made it do. I could shoot in extra vivid color or in black & white. I could make the ISO setting higher (with the side effect of noisiness). I could change the shutter speed. I could shoot in Burst mode. What a smart little camera!