I am very sad that the 49ers lost yesterday. When we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, they were (and I confess still are) my team.
We were there during the Joe Montana and Steve Young years, a few of the coach Bill Walsh years, all of the coach George Seifert years, watched the greats like Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig, and Dwight Clark. We watched, as fans, (on TV) four of their five Superbowl games. They won every Superbowl game they were in. It was amazing. Their Superbowls were in 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, and 1994.
So yes, it's just a game, but yesterday it was so exciting, nail-biting, and such a heartbreaker.
I tend to favor teams with great quarterbacks. Both Eli Manning and Tom Brady fall into that category. So may the best team win.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The Enchanted Island
Today we did something we have done in MN - went to The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD. We saw The Enchanted Island.
This is a new work - a Baroque opera and a story drawn from Shakespeare. In The Enchanted Island, the lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are shipwrecked on his fantasy island of The Tempest.
This is a musical pastiche which is, as we learned, an artistic work consisting of motifs or parts of other works. This was anything but hodgepodge, however!
This work features arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, and others, beautifully woven together, with a new libretto written by Jeremy Sams. The cast includes David Daniels, a wonderful contra tenor who played Prospero, Joyce DiDonato who played Sycorax - the jilted lover of Prospero, Plácido Domingo as Neptune, the fabulous Danielle de Niese as the sprite Ariel, and Luca Pisaroni as the ugly son of Sycorax - Caliban. The cast includes several other outstanding singers who play four shipwrecked lovers who find themselves caught in the middle of the tensions, schemes and battles of the island.
The costumes and set designs were absolutely wonderful as was the libretto and the story. This opera is going to have a good life, we thought. A very fun way to spend a cloudy morning!
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This is a new work - a Baroque opera and a story drawn from Shakespeare. In The Enchanted Island, the lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are shipwrecked on his fantasy island of The Tempest.
This is a musical pastiche which is, as we learned, an artistic work consisting of motifs or parts of other works. This was anything but hodgepodge, however!
This work features arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, and others, beautifully woven together, with a new libretto written by Jeremy Sams. The cast includes David Daniels, a wonderful contra tenor who played Prospero, Joyce DiDonato who played Sycorax - the jilted lover of Prospero, Plácido Domingo as Neptune, the fabulous Danielle de Niese as the sprite Ariel, and Luca Pisaroni as the ugly son of Sycorax - Caliban. The cast includes several other outstanding singers who play four shipwrecked lovers who find themselves caught in the middle of the tensions, schemes and battles of the island.
The costumes and set designs were absolutely wonderful as was the libretto and the story. This opera is going to have a good life, we thought. A very fun way to spend a cloudy morning!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, January 20, 2012
Bird Notes
Ran at the Riparian Preserve again today. Not sure why, but there were many more birds there.
The hummingbirds have made a much stronger, noisier appearance. I have definitely seen Costa's and Anna's.
Other birds in abundance:
"Mexican" Mallard
Eurasian Collared Dove
American Avocet
Gambel's Quail
Albert's Towhee
Cattle Egret
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Curve Billed Thrasher
Green Winged Teal
American Coot
Cactus Wren
Great tailed Grackle
Sandpipers of some kind
Plovers of some kind
Lots of Canadian Geese
White crowned Sparrow
Lots of Chipping sparrows
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Cardinal
There are quite a few large white geese and I have no idea what it is. It has an orange "thing" on top of its beak. I am thinking this is a domestic goose of some kind. I can't find it in my bird app.
It's really nice here.
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The hummingbirds have made a much stronger, noisier appearance. I have definitely seen Costa's and Anna's.
Other birds in abundance:
"Mexican" Mallard
Eurasian Collared Dove
American Avocet
Gambel's Quail
Albert's Towhee
Cattle Egret
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Curve Billed Thrasher
Green Winged Teal
American Coot
Cactus Wren
Great tailed Grackle
Sandpipers of some kind
Plovers of some kind
Lots of Canadian Geese
White crowned Sparrow
Lots of Chipping sparrows
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Cardinal
There are quite a few large white geese and I have no idea what it is. It has an orange "thing" on top of its beak. I am thinking this is a domestic goose of some kind. I can't find it in my bird app.
It's really nice here.
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Location:Gilbert, AZ
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Musical Instruments Museum
Today we toured the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM). This very new museum is located in north Scottsdale, and is a destination in and of itself.
At the front of the building are listed the principals of the museum's development. Foremost is Robert Ulrich, Founder and Board Chairman of MIM, Retired CEO of Target Corporation, and Past Chairman of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA). MIA is a Curatorial Advisor (many other major museums are also on that Council), and at the main entrance is a list of major contributors which includes Target, MIA, and 3M.
I'll get my sadness out of the way - I wish this museum had been located in Minneapolis. One could make a strong case for that, given who the founder is, and the contributors.
But, be that as it may, this is a wonderful thing that has been created here, and it is a nice warm place to come visit!
The building is beautiful, and the collection is beyond description. It is organized to show instruments from every corner of the world. Instruments are organized by country and there are many countries covered. Each display has a flat panel TV to show videos of each country's people playing their instruments. Visitors who wear special receivers and headphones can hear the music as they stand in front of each collection and the TV, while at the same time viewing the wonderful instruments.
Who knew how many ways there are to play stringed instruments, how many different forms there are of reed instruments, percussion instruments, gongs, horns, bagpipes (bagpipes are found in MANY areas of the world), keyboards, the list goes on.
The museum does a little to show the development of instruments through the ages, but doesn't do much to show the inter-relatedness of cultures and their music. It is mostly a country by country display. But the collection is astonishing, varied and enlightening, and well worth a special trip.
I was too busy to take many photos. Got a couple in the Mechanical Music Room, one of the Apollonia, a 25 foot long mechanical orchestra used in dance halls, a violano virtuoso (a mechanical piano/ violin player), and I made a special trip back to the second floor to get a photo of
The Clavicytherium, a replica of the oldest extant keyboard instrument, southern Germany, c. 1480. The real one is shown in the video and is so old and deteriorated that it can't be played, but the replica is played. Really cool.
Apollonia
Replica Clavicytherium
Violano Virtuoso
There is a performance hall attached to the museum. We have tickets for a chamber ensemble concert in March. Looking forward to that.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
At the front of the building are listed the principals of the museum's development. Foremost is Robert Ulrich, Founder and Board Chairman of MIM, Retired CEO of Target Corporation, and Past Chairman of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA). MIA is a Curatorial Advisor (many other major museums are also on that Council), and at the main entrance is a list of major contributors which includes Target, MIA, and 3M.
I'll get my sadness out of the way - I wish this museum had been located in Minneapolis. One could make a strong case for that, given who the founder is, and the contributors.
But, be that as it may, this is a wonderful thing that has been created here, and it is a nice warm place to come visit!
The building is beautiful, and the collection is beyond description. It is organized to show instruments from every corner of the world. Instruments are organized by country and there are many countries covered. Each display has a flat panel TV to show videos of each country's people playing their instruments. Visitors who wear special receivers and headphones can hear the music as they stand in front of each collection and the TV, while at the same time viewing the wonderful instruments.
Who knew how many ways there are to play stringed instruments, how many different forms there are of reed instruments, percussion instruments, gongs, horns, bagpipes (bagpipes are found in MANY areas of the world), keyboards, the list goes on.
The museum does a little to show the development of instruments through the ages, but doesn't do much to show the inter-relatedness of cultures and their music. It is mostly a country by country display. But the collection is astonishing, varied and enlightening, and well worth a special trip.
I was too busy to take many photos. Got a couple in the Mechanical Music Room, one of the Apollonia, a 25 foot long mechanical orchestra used in dance halls, a violano virtuoso (a mechanical piano/ violin player), and I made a special trip back to the second floor to get a photo of
The Clavicytherium, a replica of the oldest extant keyboard instrument, southern Germany, c. 1480. The real one is shown in the video and is so old and deteriorated that it can't be played, but the replica is played. Really cool.
Apollonia
Replica Clavicytherium
Violano Virtuoso
There is a performance hall attached to the museum. We have tickets for a chamber ensemble concert in March. Looking forward to that.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Scottsdale, AZ
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Barrett- Jackson Reflections
As noted on Facebook, Gary and I went to the Barrett-Jackson Collectors Car Auction today. This was a fun and amazing experience. Not only were there close to an estimated 1000 cars being auctioned this week by a cadre of supreme auctioneers from around the US, but the many acres of pavilion tents were filled with an array of other items for sale that exceeded any state fair we have ever been to.
From children's pedal cars to restored neon signs to restored historic lighted gasoline pumps to antique Coke dispensers to bling bling jewelry and clothes to personal mausoleums to kitschy home decor to auto care products to new motor homes to motorcycles to mattresses to airplanes to houseboats, not to mention the very eclectic collection of collector cars as old as 1910 to as new as 2003 or 2004.
We were astonished at the prices that some of these vehicles went for. Some seeming real deals ($5,000 - $8 or 9K) to what will, I am sure, be cars that go for $100's of thousands later in the week. When we were there earlier today we saw some cars going for $3,000 - $15,000. As we watch on TV tonight, we are seeing $40K and up. (This is day 1). That is nothing to what will happen on Saturday and Sunday.
Oh, by the way, if you have a "rust bucket" of some sort, fear not. It will be described as "patina", and may actually be valued.
We saw Paul Teutul of Orange County Choppers there today. But we did not see Jay Leno. That would not have been surprising.
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From children's pedal cars to restored neon signs to restored historic lighted gasoline pumps to antique Coke dispensers to bling bling jewelry and clothes to personal mausoleums to kitschy home decor to auto care products to new motor homes to motorcycles to mattresses to airplanes to houseboats, not to mention the very eclectic collection of collector cars as old as 1910 to as new as 2003 or 2004.
We were astonished at the prices that some of these vehicles went for. Some seeming real deals ($5,000 - $8 or 9K) to what will, I am sure, be cars that go for $100's of thousands later in the week. When we were there earlier today we saw some cars going for $3,000 - $15,000. As we watch on TV tonight, we are seeing $40K and up. (This is day 1). That is nothing to what will happen on Saturday and Sunday.
Oh, by the way, if you have a "rust bucket" of some sort, fear not. It will be described as "patina", and may actually be valued.
We saw Paul Teutul of Orange County Choppers there today. But we did not see Jay Leno. That would not have been surprising.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, January 16, 2012
Iron Lady
Last night we went to see Iron Lady with Gary's brother and sister and their spouses who live in Scottsdale. Just like the general population, the movie got mixed reviews from our group. I thought it was very good. My personal conclusion, after our discussion, is: If you want to see a documentary on the life and times of Margaret Thatcher, this is not your movie. If you would like to see a movie that explores aloneness, both in the life of a very public person and at the end of life after the loss of a spouse, a view into the life of an aging and increasingly, but not always, demented person who mostly knows what is happening to her, and see a really superb actress (Meryl Streep) who literally becomes Margaret Thatcher, then this is a good movie.
I thought most of the acting was excellent and exactly what was needed. And I really liked the constant juxtaposition and interplay of the early days, the years in power and the later years of this extraordinary woman. Streep's portrayal of, especially, the old Margaret was heartbreaking and very reminiscent of my own aging mother and mother-in-law. And the movie does sweep through some key events of her years as Leader of the Opposition and as Prime Minister in the 70's and 80's. A movie like this can't possibly cover all the events and issues of the day. It was very selective in its focus, but, in my view, presents enough to make one want to go back and look again at the events that played out in Great Britain in those years.
I give it two thumbs up!
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I thought most of the acting was excellent and exactly what was needed. And I really liked the constant juxtaposition and interplay of the early days, the years in power and the later years of this extraordinary woman. Streep's portrayal of, especially, the old Margaret was heartbreaking and very reminiscent of my own aging mother and mother-in-law. And the movie does sweep through some key events of her years as Leader of the Opposition and as Prime Minister in the 70's and 80's. A movie like this can't possibly cover all the events and issues of the day. It was very selective in its focus, but, in my view, presents enough to make one want to go back and look again at the events that played out in Great Britain in those years.
I give it two thumbs up!
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Friday, January 13, 2012
In Mesa, AZ
We flew to Mesa last Monday. Upon arrival we found the RV, which we had driven down in December, to be basically fine except for a little sinking of the jacks into soft gravel, which causes the RV to be un-level. So we spent some of Tuesday buying boards to put under wheels and jacks, and then re-leveling.
Another day we had a large propane tank delivered and connected. Mesa does not allow filling RV internal propane tanks on site, only delivery of full tanks. It was pretty clear we were going to run out of propane, and we certainly did not want to lose our leveling work by driving somewhere to get fuel. So this is a good solution. It gets chilly here at night - mid 30's last night, so fuel for heat is required!
Otherwise we have been hanging out, running, Gary a little biking, a little shopping, and some minor RV fixes. This weekend we will see Gary's brother and sister and their spouses for dinner and a movie.
It is nice here, not really warm yet, but nice. This time of year, Florida gets the award for weather, I think.
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Another day we had a large propane tank delivered and connected. Mesa does not allow filling RV internal propane tanks on site, only delivery of full tanks. It was pretty clear we were going to run out of propane, and we certainly did not want to lose our leveling work by driving somewhere to get fuel. So this is a good solution. It gets chilly here at night - mid 30's last night, so fuel for heat is required!
Otherwise we have been hanging out, running, Gary a little biking, a little shopping, and some minor RV fixes. This weekend we will see Gary's brother and sister and their spouses for dinner and a movie.
It is nice here, not really warm yet, but nice. This time of year, Florida gets the award for weather, I think.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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