Wednesday, October 24, 2007

So I have pinkeye, apparently contracted from hanging out in the ER at the VA Hospital on Saturday. Normally this wouldn't have affected me much but I've been using a steroid nasal spray for allergies which lowers resistance to nasty germs. The warning on the nasal spray didn't say anything about not frequenting emergency rooms, however; it just said to avoid children with measles (no, I'm not kidding).

Saturday, October 13, 2007

I finally got to watch the first episode of The Next Iron Chef America, and so disappointed Traci Des Jardins was the first to go. Her beautiful restaurant Jardinere is right next to the Opera House, and I've been wanting to eat there since it opened.

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Isis got her stitches out yesterday so she looks less like I made her myself.

Saw the new Philip Glass/Christopher Hampton opera Appomattox last night but still not entirely sure what I thought of it. Overall it was very good, with some excellent moments, and the staging and direction were stunning (though the rotting horse carcasses really didn't need to spin at the finale). I liked the way they juxtaposed the gentlemanly demeanor of Grant and Lee at Appomattox with the desperation and squalidness of the common people and soldiers, and how the harrowing scenes flashing forward into the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960's underscored the deep divisions Grant and Lee's agreement could never hope to fix.

However, I don't think Glass' music lends itself well to the operatic form. In the first act the music seemed more like a film score, providing a background for the dialog, which came off as ad-libbed lines sung randomly, like when people joke around pretending to sing their normal speech. In the second act, the music took over for the libretto in getting its message across, often drowning out the voices entirely. Some great stuff there, but not entirely successful.

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Friday, October 05, 2007

I'm quite irritated that Hung won Top Chef.

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Wednesday, October 03, 2007

A new Ranch 99 market has just opened in Dublin in the spot where Ralphs used to be. They have all kinds of great stuff, including peeled rambutan in a can, pisang goreng batter mix, chocolate sprinkles to put on bread, giant canisters of Aji no Moto, and more bumbu mixes than you can shake a stick at. Pocky products get their own aisle signage. In the back they have a kind of marine park with massive aquaria and tanks filled with live squishy things like conchs. I guess the point is to take them home and eat them, but I think they're more fun to look at.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Last week I went to the first opera in my mini-sub, Tannhäuser, another Bugs Bunny opera. The overture is a significant section of What's Opera, Doc?, the part where Elmer sings, "Oh Bwunhilde, you're so wuvwey," and Bugs replies, "Yes I know it... I can't help it." Everyone thinks that music is from the Ring Cycle, but no, it's from Tannhäuser. Learn something new everyday. Tannhäuser has fantastic music and nice singing, but the story is hogwash. Next up is the new Philip Glass opera Appomattox in a couple weeks.

I spent most of this weekend trying to get pills down Isis' throat or sitting in my car driving back and forth to Pacifica. Good times.

Current reading: Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin and reviewing GTD. More on that later.

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