I am losing patience with the Republicans' obstructive tactics

The Republican attacks on the Stimulus Bill and related initiatives are motivated by a single thought. If the economy fails, they will have a major advantage in the next Presidential election. Thus, in their usual selfish and unpatriotic way, they block everything that might help the economy.
Their argument that they want to reduce the deficit and contain government spending is destroyed by the manner in which they managed to to destroy the surplus that the Bushbaby inherited, and replace it with an enormous deficit.

Le Sacre du Printemps

We went to the ballet this afternoon to see the Joffrey Ballet production of Le Sacre (Stravinsky's great genre shattering ballet), done so as to reproduce the original Ballet Russe production. It was good, but the orchestra was not as exciting as some recordings I have. Still, very interesting.

Jacob Prepares for his School Concert

Jacob took his own drum to his school concert. He set it up, and now waits for the performance to start.

Jacob Dances

Is his education paying off?

More New Zealand pictures

The drive from Franz Josef to Queenstown


Milford Sound and the Milford Road to Queenstown

Joke - inappropriate :-)

Day 3 in New Zealand - Franz Josef Glacier

Click for more...

Day 2 of our New Zealand visit

I have started posting pics from our side trip from Australia to New Zealand. I have completed complete day 2 - from Christchurch to Franz Josef. (Day 1 we flew into Christchurch and went to bed!)

We are in Australia

More Watercolors

This fall I missed many of my painting classes for a variety of reasons. These few are the best of the bunch:

There is still hope

Peter Sellers: A Hard Day's Night

Maybe the Beatles had something after all!

The Seafarer at Steppenwolf

We saw "The Seafarer" at Steppenwolf Theater tonight. It was the first preview of the play - with John Mahoney playing an old Irish fart. This is funnier.

Parallel Operas - Bess and Lulu?

Last night we went to see "Porgy and Bess" at the Chicago Lyric Opera. We saw Lulu by Alban Berg a couple of weeks ago. The operas share were both written at the same time in the mid-30s, and focus on a women's relationship with several men. I enjoyed Lulu much more than Porgy and Bess - not a common view among my acquaintances in Chicago, several of whom did not stay for the whole work. My view of Porgy may be colored by my memories of the great jazz performances of some of Gershwin's melodies. The Ella Fitzgerald version below gives me goosebumps!



The operatic voices don't stand a chance.

Symphony - Murray Periah - Beethoven Piano Concerto #4

We went to the CSO tonight - overall a very good program:

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Bernard Haitink, conductor
Murray Perahia, piano

Haydn -   Symphony No. 44 (Mourning)
Lutoslawski -   Symphony No. 4
Beethoven -   Piano Concerto No. 4

The pre-concert talk was given by Johann Buis, whose enthusiasm and knowledge always make for an entertaining lecture.
As the Lutoslawski ended, somebody rudely booed - presumably to display his displeasure at any music from the last century, or something.
The video below shows a much younger Murray Perahia playing the end of the Beethoven.

Another video of the whole last movement - better filmed, conducted by Colin Davis.

And finally, further from tonight's actual performance, but very interesting - Ricardo Muti (the next CSO Music Director) and Claudio Arrau rehearsing the Beethoven in mixed English and Italian:

Even in his waning moments, he is scary

I thought I could stop beating a dead horse - but the lunacy of the horse that avoided real military service keeps me coming back.
If a horse wants to be beaten, it shows.

“During this holiday season, we give thanks for those who defend our freedom. America's men and women in uniform deserve our highest respect – and so do the families who love and support them,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “Lately, I have been asked what I will miss about the presidency. And my answer is that I will miss being the Commander-in-Chief of these brave warriors.”

We were outside the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai two years ago...

... and now it is in flames after a terrorist attack!

CSO - Mahler's Symphony #2 - wonderful

Last night we went to the Chicago Symphony and heard Mahler's Symphony #2. Wonderful performance from the full orchestra and chorus - and the organ. A literally ground shaking event. After seeing and hearing the opera Lulu by Alban Berg the night before, I realized how much my taste in music has moved to the more modern - Mahler the bridge from the old and Berg the new.
This morning I heard that the Chicago Symphony has been voted the best symphony orchestra in the USA by the Gramophone Magazine critics - and fifth in the world. I feel privileged to be able to attend so many of their concerts.
The full listing is:

1 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

2 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

3 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

4 London Symphony Orchestra

5 Chicago Symphony Orchestra

6 Bavarian Radio Symphony

7 Cleveland Orchestra

8 Los Angeles Philharmonic

9 Budapest Festival Orchestra

10 Dresden Staatskapelle

11 Boston Symphony Orchestra

12 New York Philharmonic

13 San Francisco Symphony

14 Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra

15 Russian National Orchestra

16 Leningrad Philharmonic

17 Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

18 Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

19 Saito Kinen Symphony Orchestra

20 Czech Philharmonic

Source: Gramophone

Why I shoot

David Pogue of the New York Times wrote an article explaining why he, like me, records everything he sees and does in photographs and videos. He is more into moving images than I, but his overall reasons are the same as mine.

Lulu

We went to the opera "Lulu" by Alban Berg last night. Magnificent!
This was the most integrated work I have ever seen. The music, lyrics, staging, plot, directing and acting combined to create an amazingly effective experience. Marlis Petersen in the title role was outstanding - singing and acting - and visibly aging as the plot progressed.

The director of Lulu...