Sheldon Brown's Journal
September-October 2003
Current
| Books | Films | Music | Plays | Travels |
|---|
September-October 2003
| Books | Films | Music | Plays | Travels |
|---|
eBook: A Damsel in Distress P. G. Wodehouse, 1919
No Jeeves in this, but it's still pure Wodehouse, a delightful farce.Film: (DVD) Glengarry Glen Ross James Foley, 1992
David Mamet's gritty look at con-artist real estate salesmen, rather depressing but highly convincing. Jack Lemmon is terrific.
Went to a birthday party for a memeber of the Revels cast at the Cambridge Boat club, the same venue where Harriet and I were married in 1979. A grand time was had by all, with much music. I led the closing song, The Parting Glass, and made them only do the two good verses, not the sappy generic lovesong verse that was added after the fact.
Film: (DVD) Blown Away Stephen Hopkins, 1994
Not a great film, but fun to see the Boston locations. Jeff Bridges works for the Boston Police Bomb Squad, but has a secret past as he had been involved in the IRA. Tommy Lee Jones is an escaped psycho bomber, formerly associated with Bridges's character, and now out to get even for Bridges's desertion of The Cause.This film plays the Boston card very prominently, with bombings in Copley Square, M.I.T. and under the Salt and Pepper Bridge. Bridges's wife is a violinist in the Boston Pops, and the climactic scene, of course, takes place on the 4th of July...
Rode the Hetchins out to the Minute Man Bikeway, then followed the old roadbed for several miles past the end of the pavement. First time I've taken the Hetchins off road. Quite a delightful ride, the old roadbed is hard and fairly smooth, like a tunnel through the trees, nearly deserted. Parts of it are "whoop-de-dos", wavelike features perhaps 8 feet in wavelength and a foot or so in amplitude, causing a sort of rocking-horse effect at speeds in the low teens.Film: (DVD) Glory Edward Zwick, 1989
Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts, the first regiment of African-American volunteers in the Slavery War. A very fine film, well worth seeing again.
Film: (DVD) The House of Mirth Terence Davies, 2000
Not a bad filmic version of the book, though the decision to combine Gerty and (I forget the name) the aunt's companion and later heir into a single character was a bit confusing.Film: (DVD) Miller's Crossing Ethan and Joel Coen
The Coen brothers take prohibition-era gangster films, lots of black sedans and tommmy guns, with the inimitable Coen touch. Recommended for fellow Coen fans.
Film: (DVD) Restoration Michael Hoffman 1994
Set in the London of Samuel Pepys, this follows the career of a playboy physician, as he gains, then loses the favour of King Charles II. A lavish production, very bright and cheerful until The Plague hits...
Went to the Midsummer Revels video party. Mike Kolowich did a great job with the video as usual, and it was good to see the folks again. George came along, he had missed the show 'cause he was out in Duluth when it went up.
Film: (DVD) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Pedro Almodóvar 1988
A Spanish comedy of adultery and general craziness. Enjoyable all in all.
eBook: The Shiva Option David Weber & Steve White 2002
I've generally enjoyed David Weber's books, but this was an exception. It's all interstellar warfare all the time, mostly detailed descriptions of space battles in mind-numbing detail withs of incomprehensible acronyms to describe various weapons systems, and a perfectly evil arachnoid opponent race which in the end must be genocidally exterminated. Not recommended even for David Weber fans.
eBook Daisy Miller Henry James 1879
I hadn't read any Henry James before, always had the idea that it was boring and recondite. On the contrary, it was quite readable. I sort of bumped into this as a result of reading The House of Mirth, as James was noted as one of Wharton's close friends.Actually, both of these books deal with very similar subject matter: a lively, vivacious, beautiful young woman who meets disaster as a result of violating the "virtual purdah" imposed on unmarried young women a century ago. Neither of them actually commits any "sin" or has more than a chaste kiss, but just being seen in public in the wrong place without a chaperone was enough to "ruin" a marriageable young woman in those Bad Old Days.
Film: (DVD) Frequency Gregory Hoblit 2000
I'm always a sucker for a time-travel story. In this one, there are two protagonists, father and son. The father is a firefighter, killed on duty in 1969, the son, aged 6 in 1969 is a police officer in 1999. A mysterious aurora enables them to communicate across the decades via a ham radio set. Much of the film is generic action/adventure genre, but the ending is somewhat surprising and happy. Not a great film, but not a bad one either.
Drove George to Newark Airport, saw him off for his Junior year in Bristol, U.K. Now the nest is definitively empty, we'll miss him a lot, but expect that it will be a great experience for him. He plans to do a lot of maths and Morris dancing, but also brought his trombone.We stopped over in New York at the Hotel Empire, went out with old family friends for dessert, had a nice time catching up with them.
Talk about bad luck, my brother was scheduled to have his first one-man show in Maryland, but hurricane Isabel knocked out the power, causing it to be cancelled. Hope it can be rescheduled, maybe in November, maybe next year.
Harriet and I drove back from New York, stopped in Hartford to tour the Mark Twain house. This was very much worth the trip. Both of us are big Mark Twain fans, and the house was full of his spirit, though the cigar smoke has cleared out. We had a terrific docent, a true Twain scholar with a surprising Aussie or British accent (not sure which.)On the way home, I got a ticket for failing to use my signal while changing lanes. I'm usually quite punctilious about this, but picked the wrong time to slip up.
Well, in some ways it's a good thing that the presidential election is over a year off. Until recently, I had been undecided between Howard Dean and John Kerry. Now, however I'm undecided between Clark, Dean and Kerry. I think my personal politics are more in line with Dean than with either of the others, but factoring in electability, Dean seems to lose points.One of the things that makes me most unhappy with the Bush regime is the arrogant, unilateralist foreign policy that has been in effect since he was appointed. Clark's experience as head of NATO inspires some confidence in his ability to possibly undo the horrific damage Bush has done to the U.S.s place and reputation in the world.
Film: (DVD) The Man From Snowy River George Miller, 1982
An Australian "western" set in 1888, with Kirk Douglas playing estranged brothers. This is a fine example of the genre, with gorgeous mountain scenery (though the cinematography is uneven.) Lots of horsy stuff, including an amazing chase scene with a scary ride down a precipitate slope. Could never make this film now, too many dangerous stunts for the horses.
eBook: Noise Hal Clement, 2003
Hal Clement, a high school science teacher in real life, is among the "hardest" of hard science fiction writers. He's best known for "Mission of Gravity", a story of seagoing life on a very high-gravity planet. Noise is also nautical, set on a planet that is totally covered by ocean 3000 km deep, no land whatsoever. The ocean bottom is directly in contact with the magma of the planet's core, and the resulting interaction causes the ocean to be full of lethally loud noise. The inhabitants are descendents of Polynesians, living in floating cities and traveling in sailcraft of traditional design. I didn't like this quite as well as Mission of Gravity, but did enjoy it all in all.
eBook Wheels of Chance H. G. Wells, 1895
This novel features a draper's assistant on a cycling holiday who comes to the aid of a cycling damsel in distress. The story is a light thing, but this is an interesting peek at the brief period between the development of the pneumatic-tyred safety bicycle and the onset of the automotive age, a time when the bicycle was king of the road. A very interesting period piece for cycling fans, not recommende for general readers though.
Concert: Boston Sympony Orchestra Bernard Haitink, Dubravka Tomsic
First BSO concert of the year, an all-Beethoven program: Consecration of the House overture; Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage cantata (BSO premiere!), the Choral Fantasy, and, after the intermission, the Fifth Symphony. Haitink is good at Beethoven, as is Tomsic, thought I thought the symphony could have had more energy.This was our first concert in our new seats, which are in the front row of the second balcony, in the middle of the curve connecting the center section to the audience-left side. For watching the hands of a pianist, I think these are the absolute best seats in the hall!
Rode the Hetchins out to Berlin, 53 miles--it's probably been 15 years or more since I last broke 50. Busy roads, but a beautiful afternoon and nice scenery. Stiff west wind, plus the general upward trend made the ride out a bit tough, but made the return trip fast and not too hard. Averaged 13.15 mph, not bad for a 59 year old fat guy...I guess it was a particularly fine day for classic cars. I passed some sort of expo where there were a bunch of very similar '70s American cars (don't know what) parked all with their hoods open. Also saw on the road a Morgan 3-wheeler and a 1950 VW beetle (tiny, split rear window)(license plate "1950 VW", that's how I know the year) both all shiny and evidently lovingly restored.
One of the oldest and most highly respected cycling organizations in the world is the 125 year old Cyclists Touring Club. I'm very, very proud that they have voted to issue a Certificate of Commendation to me for my Website and other Internet activities:
Well, the presidential campaign has gotten really nasty: John Kerry has accused John Dean of being...a closet Yankees fan! With the Red Sox/Yankees playoffs to start tonight, this is a terrible thing to accuse him of.But it gets more bizarre! Salon.com says:
With Boston preparing to face archrival New York in the American League Championship Series, Kerry said Tuesday that if New York beats Boston in the best-of-seven series that begins Wednesday, he'll send New England clam chowder to Dean's campaign. He wants Manhattan chowder from Dean if Boston wins.What on earth will Kerry do with the Manhattan "chowder" if Dean accepts the bet? Would he actually eat the noisome pink brew?!
Interbike, Las Vegas
See my separate pages on this.
Gap
I don't always write in this journal right away...I make notes in my PDA, which I later refer to...but I've suffered a crash, with tardy backups, so I've lost a couple of weeks of notes...
Film: (DVD) Barton Fink The Coen Brothers
Weird and wonderful, as one has come to expect from the Coens.Dura-Ace Wheels
While out in Las Vegas for the Interbike show, I won a pair of Dura-Ace wheels as a door prize. They arrived today, and I'm going to put them on my Hetchins. Blasphemy!
Book: Quicksilver Neal Stephenson, 2003
This one snuck up on me...I didn't even know it was in the offing until Amazon.com brought it to my door, a gift from my sister!This is sort of a prequel to Cryptonomicon, part of a projected trilogy of such prequels. The main characters are ancestors of characters in Cryptonomicon.
Quicksilver is mostly set in the later part of the 17th century, roughly 1660-1690, except there are chapters set in 1715 Boston. The main story ranges from England, across Europe to Vienna, with stops in Paris and Germany.
This was a very eventful time, lots of very interesting stuff going on that the history books make to appear less interesting than they were. The struggles between Catholicism and Protestantism, Roundheads and Cavaliers, is still going on quite seriously, though the Thirty Years War and the Cromwellian Revolution have both ended shortly before the period of the action. In addition, the Ottoman Turks are at their appogee, with the siege of Vienna.
Outside the political realm (but overlapping with it) there's a total revolution in science, with real, experimental science on the verge of giving the quietus to alchemy. Newton and Leibnitz both feature prominently in the book, each claiming to have invented the calculus first.
Stephenson brings this whole historical stew to bubbling life, and the only thing I didn't like about the book is that it ended after a paltry 900 pages...very highly recommended.
Down to 220 pounds. It's been just about a year that I've been on the Atkins diet, down from 270.
ipod
eBook: The Gilded Age Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, 1873
One of Twain's earlier novels, not one of his best...but still pretty good. It's a bit ironic that this novel deals with feckless, luckless speculators who keep losing their shirts, keep trying again, and keep failing. It seems like a cautionary tale against speculation...too bad Twain didn't take his own advice!Flew down to Maryland for my brother's art exhibit. I had reserved a "two door midsized" car with Alamo--when I got to the counter, they asked if I wanted to upgrade to an SUV for a mere $5/day extra. I said no thanks. When I got out to the garage, however, there was a Chevy Blazer waiting for me at no extra charge, since they were out of the midsize sedans!
I've never driven an SUV before, can't say as it knocked my socks off...I prefer our Chrysler mininvan. I found the Blazer a bit clunky, and was not happy with the visibility.
I drove to Glen Echo and met my brother there. I helped him hang the show, then went to dinner with him and his wife. It was nice to see them again, and the show looks great.
| Books reviewed on this page: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Noise | Hal Clement | 9/27/03 |
| Daisy Miller | Henry James | 9/20/03 |
| Quicksilver | Neal Stephenson | 10/26/03 |
| The Gilded Age | Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner | 10/31/03 |
| Wheels of Chance | H. G. Wells | 10/1/03 |
| The Shiva Option | David Weber & Steve White | 9/18/03 |
| A Damsel in Distress | P. G. Wodehouse | 9/1/03 |
| Films reviewed on this page: |
|---|
Music: Date Performers Works
October 4, 2003 B.S.O., Bernard Haitink, Dubravka Tomsic Beethoven
March 8, 2003 M.I.T.G.A.S.P Bizet: Carmen
March 8, 2003 B.S.O., Bernard Haitink Beethoven, Harbison
March 7, 2003 Arlo Guthrie Northeastern University
February 21-March 1, 2003 Gilbert & Sullivan: Patience Sudbury Savoyards
January 18, 2003 B.S.O., Ton Koopman, Andreas Scholl Bach, Haydn
December 7, 2002 B.S.O., Marek Janowski Bartok, Strauss
November 29, 2002 New York Philharmonic, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Pierre Laurent-Aimard Janacek: Cappriccio; R.Strauss: Burleske; Brahms: Sym. #2
November 2, 2002 B.S.O., Marek Janowski Bartok, Strauss
September 22, 2002 Boston Folk Festival Barachois, Bill Staines, Cheryl Wheeler, Richard Thompson
July 21, 2002 London Philharmonic, Rostropovich Shostakovich, Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk
July 3, 2002 Stan Rogers Folk Festival Oysterband, Fairport Convention, others.
May 3, 2002 The Australian Opera Wagner, Die Meistersinger
April 18, 2002 B.S.O., Seiji Ozawa Mahler, Sym. # 9
April 13, 2002 M.I.T.G.a.S.P. Gilbert & Sullivan, The Gondoliers
March 7, 2002 B.S.O., Hans Graf, M. Piccinini, A.Häfliger Colgrass, Schubert
February 21, 2002 B.S.O., James Levine Dvorak, Wuoronen, Mozart, Ligeti,Schumann
January 10, 2002 B.S.O., Bernard Haitink Bruckner: Symphony #7
December 9, 2001 Brandeis University Symphony Orchestra Beethoven: Piano Concerto #3; Dvorak: Symphony #6
December 8, 2001 Brandeis University Early Music Society Various works
November 17, 2001 M.I.T.G.a.S.P. Gilbert & Sullivan, H.M.S. Pinafore
November 3, 2001 B.S.O., Federico Cortese Ives: Ragtime Dances, Mozart Pf Conc #9 k271, Kurtäg: Grabstein für Stephan; Schubert, Sym. #4
Novembr 2, 2001 Blue Man Group, Seiji Ozawa Brahms: Symphony #1
October 6, 2001 B.S.O., Seiji Ozawa Brahms: Symphony #1
May 3-6, 2001 M.I.Tl G & S Players Gilbert & Sullivan: The Grand Duke
April 13, 2001 Harvard-Radcliffe G & S Gilbert & Sullivan: Utopia, Limited
March 4, 2001 Newton North High School Chorus
and Orchestra Haydn: Missa in Tempore Belli; Symphony #49 "La Pasione"
March 3, 2001 B.S.O., David Robertson Janácek Sinfonietta,
February 18, 2001 Theatre de Chatelet (DVD) Janácek, The Cunning Little Vixen
February 4, 2001 M.I.T.G.a.S.P. Rowe
& Sullivan, The Zoo
February 3, 2001 B.S.O., James Levine Mahler Symphony #3
February 3, 2001 George and his band at
Harvey Finstein School of Music
December 27, 2000 The Christmas Revels,
Cambridge Appalchian/African-American Revels
December 23, 2000 San Carlo Opera
(DVD) Wagner, Tannhäuser
November 18,
2000 M.I.T.G.a.S.P. Gilbert & Sullivan, The Sorceror
November 16, 2000 Harvestfest, Newton North High
School
November 2, 2000 B.S.O., Christoph Eschenbach Mozart: Piano
Concerto #23; Mahler Symphony #5
October 24, 2000 Leon
Rosselson Johnny D's
October 7, 2000 The
Savoy-Aires Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado
June 18, 2000 George and his band at Harvey Finstein School of Music
May 21, 2000 Small Ensemble
Concert--Newton North
April 29, 2000 Spring Revels
April 22, 2000 B.S.O., André Previn, Pamela
Frank Previn: Diversions; Barber: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Symphony
#39
March 10, 2000 Revels, Inc/Shakespeare & Co. The Mysteries
February 26, 2000 B.S.O.,Seiji Ozawa, Christine Goerke, Ian
Bostridge, Thomas Quasthoff Britten: War Requiem
February 19, 2000 B.S.O., Bernard Haitink Mahler: Symphony
#7
February 12, 2000 George and his band at
Harvey Finstein School of Music
January 29, 2000 B.S.O., Sir Simon Rattle
Peter Donohoe,
PianoDvorák: The Golden Spinning Wheel,
Bartók:
Piano Concerto #1, Brahms: Symphony #2
January 8, 2000 George on
Trombone N.E. Regional Senior District Festival
December 19, 1999 The Christmas Revels,
Cambridge Italian Renaissance Revels
December 12, 1999 Pierre Boulez, Met
Opera (video) Wagner: Siegfried
November 19, 1999 Matapat, Lexington
November 18, 1999 Harvestfest, Newton
North High School St. Sæns Danse Macabre
November 7, 1999 M.I.T.G.a.S.P. Gilbert &
Sullivan, Iolanthe
November 4, 1999 George and his band at
Ryles, Cambridge
October 2, 1999 B.S.O., Seiji Ozawa
Florence Quivar, Mezzo;
Paula Delligatti, Sop.Mahler, Symphony #2
September 29, 1999 B.S.O., Seiji Ozawa,
Hildegarde Behrens,
SopranoWagner: Tannhäuser, Götterdämmerung
excerpts;
Strauss: Electra excerpt.
August 14,
1999 M.I.T.G.a.S.P. Gilbert & Sullivan, Crichton
July 24, 1999 David Mallett
June 19, 1999 The
Publick Theatre Gilbert & Sullivan The Yeomen of the Guard
April 13, 1999 Harvey Finstein School of Music
student groups George and Tova at Watch City
Brewery
March 7, 1999 Newton North High School Chorus
and Orchestra Mozart: Requiem, Symphony #38 ("Prague").
March 5, 1999 Harvey Finstein School of Music student
groups George and Tova in Jazz recital at Newton Congregational Church.
March 4, 1999 Newton North High School various
groups.
February 6, 1999 B.S.O.,Seiji Ozawa,
Jacques Zoon
(flute)Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande "Symphony"
Mozart: Flute
Concerto #1 in G, K.313
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps.
January 30, 1999 B.S.O., Robert Spano,
Andreas Haefliger
(piano)Lindberg: Arena
Beethoven: Piano Concerto #2
Sibelius: The Swan of
Tuonela, Symphony #3
January 16, 1999 B.S.O., Sir Simon Rattle,
Dawn Upshaw
(sop.)Knussen Flourish with Fireworks
Weir Natural History
Mahler Symphony
#4
Schumann Piano Concerto
December 23,
1998 The
Christmas Revels, Sanders Theatre, Cambridge
December 12, 1998 Caroling with Nym
Cooke, Hardwick, Mass.
November 28,
1998 B.S.O., Roberto Abbado,
Lief
Ove Andsnes (piano)Mahler Symphony #1
Schumann Piano Concerto
November 8, 1998 M.I.T.G.a.S.P. Gilbert &
Sullivan, The Mikado
Plays:
November 29, 2002 Lorraine Bracco The Graduate
November 23, 2001 Helen Mirren, Ian McKelln The Dance of Death-August Strindberg
September 30, 2000 Tova/Black Box Theatre, Cornell
University The Maids-Jean Genet
May 30,
2000 Kelsey Grammer/Colonial Theatre Macbeth
May 26, 2000 The Huntington Theatre Co. King
Hedley II
September 3, 1999 The Publick
Theatre Nine
August 21, 1999 Orange
Tree Theatre, Ithaca, N.Y. Sonata
August 13,
1999 Firehouse Theatre, Ithaca, N.Y. Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For
You
May 22-29 Newton South/North High
Schools Richard III
December 18,
1998 Newton North High School The Bone Violin, May Flies
November 12, 1998 Newton North High School To
Kill a Mockingbird
052999
Travels:
October 31, 2003 Potomac, Maryland
October 10, 2003 Las Vegas, Nevada
September 21, 2003 New York, N.Y.
November 27-30, 2002 New York, N.Y.
October 8-13, 2002 Evanston, Illinois
October 4-8, 2002 Las Vegas, Nevada
July 3-9, 2002 Canso, Nova Scotia
May 24-27, 2002 Long Island, New York
November 21-24, 2001 New York City
October 16-19, 2001 Cape Cod, Massachusetts
September 29-October 3, 2001 Las Vegas, Nevada (Interbike Show)
June 16-23, 2001 Nags Head, North Carolina
October 5-14, 2000 Evanston, Illinois
September 30-October 2, 2000 Ithaca, New York
June 22-25, 2000 Urbanna, Virginia
October 7-13, 1999 Chicago/Evanston,
Illinois
August 19-28, 1999 Ithaca, New
York
August 12-13, 1999 Ithaca, New York
July 23-25, 1999 Bridgeton, Maine
November 25-28, 1998 Fort Lauderdale,
Florida
1988-89 France, England
1980 Yucatan, Mexico
1975 England,
Belgium, Yugoslavia, Turkey
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