Follow Up to the Opera
I didn't mention two odd things about the last opera. One, I had never seen it before but there was a duet that is apparently famous because it was on some random CD I had - a benefit for the children of Bosnia or something like that - with Pavarotti singing with Sheryl Crow ("La Ci Darem la Mano" apparently), and so I'm super-familiar with that little 3-minute segment. It was a shock when they started singing it - like seeing someone I've never seen speak with my mother's voice or something like that.
And two, I thought it was amazing. There are three key female roles, and I was stunned by their performances: subtle, funny, touching, and notes so delicately sung you could hardly believe it. At one point, I was thinking, I can't believe *anyone* can ever sing this, even once, but here they are. So I was impressed. At the end, when we were all as an informal group making our ways to the BART or the MUNI, I found myself walking next to an older gentlemen who seemed rather formal, a bit persnickety. Without preamble - and almost without turning to me - he said, "I thought it was a rather tepid production, didn't you?
"Well...no, actually," I responded. "I'd never seen it before, so I thought it was pretty amazing actually,"
"Oh?" he said. "So you've never seen it before. I see. Well, naturally, you'd think it was wonderful. But really - this production hardly did it justice. I mean, you can hardly imagine what it can be. I saw a Don Giovanni with Kiri Te Kanawa back when she still sang, I tell you, it's was absolutely transforming. It changed my life. Wait until you see a real production. It will transform you."
Well, I'm not so sure about that, but it was wonderful to see him have such enthusiasm for something, because I can't imagine the production I saw leaving anyone cold. Anyway.....opera. Funny.
My Stargazing App
Not to blog about apps too much (I mean, there has to be some limit, some dignity), but I just used my exciting astronomical (is that the right word?) iPhone app for the first time with the "Follow Sky" mode going. Basically, the screen shows you the night sky where YOU are, and will rotate as you move around. You can tap on the stars and planets to get names and info (as well as a direct link to their Wikipedia page: nice), and it outlines the constellations and such. You can zoom in & out, and there's even background sounds to chose from (Crickets, Forest, Frogs, Space - which is just spacey music), should you desire that.
Now, this is something I can *really* use. I have always been fascinated by the stars and the moon, but it's very hard to take a book outside and be able to both read it AND look at the stars. It just doesn't work. But this little lighted screen is PERFECT solution. Should you need even less light, there's a red-light "night vision" option.
I have to say, it was pretty cool. I saw Taurus. I identified Jupiter. I saw where Io and Europe would have been visible if I could see then. I can see that this app would be great fun in combination with a small telescope, or even binoculars. This is an app I will really use.
Now I just need a magical almanac app - or one that tells me the most auspicious days for things, or lets me pick a Tarot card per day, or something like that. Forget about being able to locate a nearby gas station or credit union - I need some iMagic! (Yikes, did I say that?)
Losing Something Twice
Is this familiar to anyone else? It happens to me all the time, usually with small electronics and books and things of that nature: I get one, I lose it, I can't believe I lost it, I wait to see if it will turn up, it doesn't, I replace it, and at that point I either a) find the original as soon as I no longer need it or b) I lose the replacement.
What is up with that? I have TWO camera battery chargers and THREE camera batteries - one of the replacement chargers came with an extra replacement battery (i.e. the lost thing turned up) - but NO tripods and NO Flip camera (the replacements went missing).
What can be done about this? It is part of the same universal law that says if you see a TV show/series (especially a very popular one that you don't watch often or regularly) once, one of the next very few times you watch it, it will be a repeat. Or it rains when you wash your car (which isn't really true). It's like sideways synchronicity. As my friend's Spanish-speaking girlfriend would say, close but not cigar.
I didn't mention two odd things about the last opera. One, I had never seen it before but there was a duet that is apparently famous because it was on some random CD I had - a benefit for the children of Bosnia or something like that - with Pavarotti singing with Sheryl Crow ("La Ci Darem la Mano" apparently), and so I'm super-familiar with that little 3-minute segment. It was a shock when they started singing it - like seeing someone I've never seen speak with my mother's voice or something like that.
And two, I thought it was amazing. There are three key female roles, and I was stunned by their performances: subtle, funny, touching, and notes so delicately sung you could hardly believe it. At one point, I was thinking, I can't believe *anyone* can ever sing this, even once, but here they are. So I was impressed. At the end, when we were all as an informal group making our ways to the BART or the MUNI, I found myself walking next to an older gentlemen who seemed rather formal, a bit persnickety. Without preamble - and almost without turning to me - he said, "I thought it was a rather tepid production, didn't you?
"Well...no, actually," I responded. "I'd never seen it before, so I thought it was pretty amazing actually,"
"Oh?" he said. "So you've never seen it before. I see. Well, naturally, you'd think it was wonderful. But really - this production hardly did it justice. I mean, you can hardly imagine what it can be. I saw a Don Giovanni with Kiri Te Kanawa back when she still sang, I tell you, it's was absolutely transforming. It changed my life. Wait until you see a real production. It will transform you."
Well, I'm not so sure about that, but it was wonderful to see him have such enthusiasm for something, because I can't imagine the production I saw leaving anyone cold. Anyway.....opera. Funny.
My Stargazing App
Not to blog about apps too much (I mean, there has to be some limit, some dignity), but I just used my exciting astronomical (is that the right word?) iPhone app for the first time with the "Follow Sky" mode going. Basically, the screen shows you the night sky where YOU are, and will rotate as you move around. You can tap on the stars and planets to get names and info (as well as a direct link to their Wikipedia page: nice), and it outlines the constellations and such. You can zoom in & out, and there's even background sounds to chose from (Crickets, Forest, Frogs, Space - which is just spacey music), should you desire that.
Now, this is something I can *really* use. I have always been fascinated by the stars and the moon, but it's very hard to take a book outside and be able to both read it AND look at the stars. It just doesn't work. But this little lighted screen is PERFECT solution. Should you need even less light, there's a red-light "night vision" option.
I have to say, it was pretty cool. I saw Taurus. I identified Jupiter. I saw where Io and Europe would have been visible if I could see then. I can see that this app would be great fun in combination with a small telescope, or even binoculars. This is an app I will really use.
Now I just need a magical almanac app - or one that tells me the most auspicious days for things, or lets me pick a Tarot card per day, or something like that. Forget about being able to locate a nearby gas station or credit union - I need some iMagic! (Yikes, did I say that?)
Losing Something Twice
Is this familiar to anyone else? It happens to me all the time, usually with small electronics and books and things of that nature: I get one, I lose it, I can't believe I lost it, I wait to see if it will turn up, it doesn't, I replace it, and at that point I either a) find the original as soon as I no longer need it or b) I lose the replacement.
What is up with that? I have TWO camera battery chargers and THREE camera batteries - one of the replacement chargers came with an extra replacement battery (i.e. the lost thing turned up) - but NO tripods and NO Flip camera (the replacements went missing).
What can be done about this? It is part of the same universal law that says if you see a TV show/series (especially a very popular one that you don't watch often or regularly) once, one of the next very few times you watch it, it will be a repeat. Or it rains when you wash your car (which isn't really true). It's like sideways synchronicity. As my friend's Spanish-speaking girlfriend would say, close but not cigar.
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