Sheldon Brown's Journal
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November-December 2000
Concert: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach.
This fine concert began with Mozart's Piano Concerto #23, with Eschenbach conducting from the piano. I don't recall ever seeing this trick performed, it was neat to watch. While I'm not a Mozart fan, this was pretty enjoyable.The main course was the Mahler Symphony #5, and it was a very fine performance indeed.
I'd never seen Eschenbach before...he reminds me of "Dr. Evil" in the Austin Powers movie, with his zip-up black jacket and bald head.
Went to GMA and saw a dermatologist. got a bunch of skin tags frozen off, and got rid of the blackhead on my left eyelid. Also got a flu shot.
Film (video) The Talented Mr. Ripley by Anthony Minghella, 1999
This was a fascinating story, mostly set in Italy in the late '50s. Matt Damon plays a penniless piano tuner who passes himself off as a member of the elite, and becomes embroiled in a very complicated imposture of a ne'er-do-well playboy. Highly recommended.
With the presidential election looming, I've been foregoing my usual revolving .sig quotes in newsgroup and listserv postings, in favor of a .sig that favors the election of Gore. The latest version is:
This elicited a rather intemperate response from on rec.bicycles.tech under the subject heading: "Be a f***ing "party doll" like Sheldon Brown!". I've refrained from responding, partly because it would be off-topic, and partly because I see no value getting embroiled in such an exchange. It was gratifying to see how many people jumped to my defense. It has become a major thread, though lately it has morphed into a more generalized Gore/vs/Bush/vs/Nader thread. Close to 70 postings so far!+---------------------------------------------------------+ | West Coast Nader fans: Please vote late in the day. | | Your vote may turn out to be crucial, and the early, | | returns from the east should make this clear. | +---------------------------------------------------------+
Film: (video) Titus, by Julie Taymor 1999
This horrible film is based on Shakespeare's horrible play, Titus Andronicus. Set in ancient Roman times, it is so full of cruelty, murder and mayhem that it makes I, Claudius look like a Disney production by comparison.The film is well made, well acted and has interesting costumes and sets, but it's still horrible, horrible, horrible!
As promised, I voted for Nader, in exchange for a woman in Michigan voting for Gore. He carried Michigan, so I guess it was a good thing.
Wow! I'm as freaked out as the rest of the world over the hung election. What a trip! I sure hope Florida comes through for Gore.
Film: (video) 2 Secondes by Manon Briand 1998
This was recommended by somebody on the BOB list as being the best bicycle film since Breaking Away, and I'd have to agree, even if it does involve (yuck!) downhill racing. The protagonist is a 10 year veteran of the women's MTB racing scene, who is forced into retirement after a 2 second hesitation at the start of the Kamikaze downhill costs her a win.She moves back to her brother's apartment in Montréal and becomes a courier. Much of the best part of the film involves her interaction with a crusty Italian bike racer turned bike shop owner.
The film maker clearly knows bicycles. It is neat how the Laurie, having lost her 11 tooth sprocket in transit uses a zip tie to replace it so she can get her cassette to stay in place. Unfortunately, the sub-titlers were less savvy, translating "roue-libre" as "flywheel" and not knowing the difference between a wheel and a tire, but that's a minor enough quibble.
There's a pervading issue of the relativity of time, which is alluded to from many different angles during the course of the film. Highly recommended.
George's band played at Ryles again this afternoon. They did fine, but, unfortunately, I didn't have enough charge in my camcorder battery to get more than the first few minutes. D'oh!
Film (video) Not One Less by Zhang Limou, 1999
This Chinese film features a 13-year-old primary school student from a dirt-poor Chinese village who is hired as a substitute teacher in another village that is too poor to even afford dirt. She's as clueless as you'd expect a 13 year old to be, but does her best.Then the class troublemaker runs away to the Big City, and she sets off to try to find him.
Sometimes this film moves a bit slowly, but it is interesting and inspiring. Recommended.
Harriet's off to Washington DC for a conference, so George and I are batching it for a while.
Tova has decided to quit Cornell, so I drive out to pick her up. Harriet's off in D.C. at a conference, and George has important rehearsals, I go alone, listening to:Book: (audio) The General, by C.S.Forester, 1936
Herbert Curzon is a cavalry subaltern in the Boer war. Lost in the confusion of battle, he blunders his way around the Boer flank with his squadron, and finds himself in perfect position to attack a major Boer position from the rear. His squadron charges at the perfect moment to turn the tide, as British infantry is attacking the front. Curzon is a hero, and his military career is well on its way. He is tireless and energetic, loyal and obedient to his superiors, and never rocks the boat. He is generally regarded as an excellent, despite a total lack of imagination or originality.Then comes "The Great War" and Curzon is ready for it. He is a master of traditional cavalry tactics, and can hardly wait to lead his regiment in glorious sabre charges against the Enemy. While lesser officers whinge that the machine gun and barbed wire have fundamentally changed warfare, he's not buying any of that tommyrot. Even his own regiment's machine-gun officer is assigned that degrading duty only because he's the worst horseman in the regiment.
His superiors appreciate his stolid, uncomplaining willingness to hold his position no matter how many of his men need to die to hold it. Combining his martial qualities with luck, and marriage to the only daughter of a politically active duke, he rises ultimately to the exalted rank of lieutenant general. While he reluctantly makes the transition from cavalry to infantry, he still has no use for modern gadgets like tanks. He knows that there's no substitute for good old frontal attacks, and is comforted by the belief that even more Germans are dying and being maimed than his own troops.
This very dark novel is a warning against the military mindset that tends to always be fighting the last war... Richard Brown reads this Books on Tape production in an appropriately stiff manner, with an appropriate British accent.
Driving back from Ithaca with Tova, we listen to:Book: (audio) Double Star, by Robert A. Heinlein, 1956
Both of us have read this before; in my case, probably half a dozen times, most recently February 1999. I'd have to rate this as one of the top 3 or 4 masterpieces Heinlein ever wrote.The year is 2015. Lorenzo Smythe is a hack actor, a social parasite with delusions of grandeur. Joseph Bonforte is the greatest statesman in the Solar System, head of the loyal opposition while his Expansionist party is out of power. When Bonforte is kidnaped, his loyal staff enlists Smythe to impersonate him for vital political reasons. Through the course of the novel, Smythe is gradually transformed into Bonforte.
Double Star has many points to make about life, truth, duty, politics and the theatre. I first read this, I believe, when I was in junior high school in the late '50s, and it had a very great effect on me. Most of what I know about the workings of a parliamentary democracy I first learned from Double Star. I can't recommend this highly enough, even to readers who don't think they like science fiction.
Lloyd James does a fine job in the Blackstone Audio version.
Concert: Harvestfest, Newton North High School.
This was a good one, lots of good music, mostly pretty well performed. George played baritone with the orchestra, the wind ensemble and the symphonic band.
Operetta: The Sorcerer by Gilbert &Sullivan, M.I.T.
This is far from my favorite of the G &S operettas, but enjoyable none the less. This production was done in modern dress, which I normally don't care for--but in this case it makes sense. A good deal of the humor of the piece comes from the juxtaposition of sorcery with the ordinary workaday world, so the more prosaic modern dress works. J.W. Wells was done as a bit of a take off on Bill Gates, and the big patter number, "My name is J. Wellington Wells" was done as a PowerPoint presentation, to great enjoyment.I took a bunch of photos with the Coolpix, and 90 of them may be seen at:
sheldonbrown.com/org/g-s/sorcerer00
Fly to Ft. Lauderdale for Thanksgiving.Book: Promise of Glory, a novel of Antietam by C.N. Moreau, 2000
A fictional treatment of the Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg. This caught my eye in the library, particularly as my great-great grandfather Oliver Bliss (my only ancestor who fought in the War of the Rebellion) saw his only action there. His younger brother, John Bliss was listed as "missing in action" at the same battle, and was presumably killed there.Since this is a work of fiction, the author is able to ascribe words and thoughts to Lee, Longstreet, Hill, Hooker, Burnside, McClellan and others. The book is very well written, and appears to give a lot of the feel of battle. I can't say I enjoyed it, though.
Flew back home from Florida at the ghastly hour of 8:00 AM.In the evening, Harriet and I drove out to Lowell for my Cambodian foster-nephew's wedding reception. The actual wedding, in the an abbreviated version of the traditional Cambodian style, had been going on for two days. (Back in the Old Country, I'm told, it takes 3 days.)
It was quite a large affair, roughly 400 guests, probably 95% Cambodian. There was a Cambodian rock band playing much too loudly, unfortunately, which made conversation difficult. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all. I took a bunch of photos, which I've put on the Web at:
sheldonbrown.com/org/seng
Book: Down in the Bottomlands by Harry Turtledove, 1999
This is actually a collection of 3 novellas. Down in the Bottomlands envisions an alternate present in which the Mediterranean basin is dry, there is no Strait of Gibraltar...but terrorists have planted a nuke on a fault with a view toward opening up the Pillars of Hercules and letting the Atlantic flood on in. It is largely in the form of a whodunit, but, like other Turtledove, is entertaining and interesting.The second novella is L. Sprague de Camp's 1940 The Wheels of If, an early milestone of the alternate history genre. The protagonist, Allister Park, is a New York assistant DA. He is transported to an alternate 1940 in which Celtified Vikings set up a successful colony in America, but, since they didn't have a huge technological edge, they never subjugated the natives. "Vinland" encompasses the northeastern US and parts of Canada, with its capitol at New Belfast (our New York.) Park wakes up in the body of a Celtic Christian bishop, and uses his sophisticated political skills to rise to an even higher position.
The Pugnacious Prosecutor is Turtledove's sequel to The Wheels of If. It is a worthy addition, with Park serving as a mediator in a religious war between the Inca descendents of Peru and the Muslim rulers of Brazil. Highly recommended for alternate-history fans.
A while back I wrote an article for Adventure Cyclist on the topic of frame materials, but the editor didn't think it was a good fit for the magazine. I've re-worked it into a new Web article on Bicycle Frame Materials.
Film: (video) X-Men by Bryan Singer, 2000
I don't have high expectations for films based on comic books, but good reviews and Patrick Stewart's credibility induced me to rent it. It was all-in-all, fun.The November 27 issue of The New Yorker was an unusually excellent edition. Talk of the Town led off with a report on the Florida election debacle that was an absolute tour de force of fine prose by Louis Menard. There was also a fascinating article on the developments in GPS and likely spin-offs that we may be seeing in the relatively near future.
Our 21st wedding anniversary! The whole family went out to Hardwick, Mass. to sing Christmas songs with Nym Cooke, an annual treat. As usual, we were seated in a square, "Sacred Harp" style, separated by voice range. Harriet sings with the tenors. Tova slides back and forth between the alto and soprano section, George and I are Basses.Both kids had solos in "Miss Hooligan's Christmas Cake." Tova was splendid as usual. At 17 George's voice has matured, this was the first time I've heard him sing a solo in public. He did a quite creditable job, though the part was really written for a tenor, and he couldn't hit the high notes.
In the evening, we went over to Charlestown to see my sister Arlene and her grandchildren, Nicholas and Lucy. Had a yummy ham dinner, played with the kids. Arlene redressed an ancient injustice:
One Christmas, probably when I was 7 or 8, I was given the coolest present, a pump action gun that shot ping-pong balls. I was very much into toy guns as a kid, and this was a spectacularly desirable present. Being the youngest, I had to go to bed earlier than the rest of the family. We had a nifty revolving Christmas tree stand that my father had made, so our big tree would slowly revolve with the lights flashing and all. After I went to bed, my father and my big brother used the tree for target practice with my ping-pong ball gun, breaking several glass ornaments. My mother was furious, and the ping-pong ball gun was caused to disappear, never to be seen again. It was MINE, but I NEVER got a chance to play with it, and was punished for the wrongdoing of my elders!
It's all better now, however, because Arlene gave me a similar ping-pong ball gun as an early Christmas present!
We finally replaced our old 20 inch Toshiba TV, which has had a poor, dark picture for quite a while. Harriet and I got together on a cool 32 inch Trinitron as a combination anniversary/Christmas present to one another.The first thing we watched was The John Lennon Story on NBC. Not a great film, but a great subject. This mostly covered the same ground as Back Beat.
Well, actually, before that we watched The Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle. We've always liked The Simpsons, though we're not as rabid about it as hitherto-fore. Malcolm in the Middle, however, is currently sharing top place in our comedy pantheon with Third Rock from the Sun. The whole family loves these hilarious shows.
The "Party Doll" thread continues, a month later. Someone did a Deja.com search and found some 367 postings! Sheeesh!
Thoughts on the U.S. Constitution
What is it about the number 2 that makes for bad amendments? My 2 least favorite amendments are #2 and #22.Actually, the second amendment wouldn't be so bad if it were interpreted properly. I have no objection to allowing law-abiding citizens to keep and bear black-powder flintlock muskets. The interpretations that would extend the second amendment to apply to 21st century death technology, however make no sense to me. If the second amendment protects the right to own and carry high-tech weaponry, then the first amendment should prohibit all regulation of radio/tv broadcasting, which is, after all, nothing but a technologically augmented form of speech.
The 22nd amendment, restricting the president to two terms, seems as foolish and anti-democratic as other term-limit legislation. Would we really have been better off if Roosevelt had been kicked out in 1940? I don't think so! I'm going to be sorry to see Clinton go, whoever replaces him, and wish this anti-democratic amendment didn't exist to prevent his re-election.
Mini-series: Frank Herbert's Dune, John Harrison, 2000
This was a pretty good adaptation, considering the difficulties involved. The effects were good, and mostly reasonably true to the book. The characters could have used a bit more charisma. Certainly this was better than the previous theatrical version (although that version did have one standout performance...Sting's Feyd-Rautha was absolutely splendid.)This is an old favorite of mine, I've read it 2 or 3 times, as well as most of the sequels. Seeing this film made me want to read it again and bask in the wonderful details and subtleties that couldn't fit onto the screen in a mere 6 hours.
Small Ensemble Concert, Newton North High School
George played baritone with the Wind Ensemble, and very well indeed. This time I remembered to charge the battery to my camcorder, got good video, mostly close-up of George.
Today, my French-idiom-a-day calendar has "se coller," literally, "to glue oneself," as synonym for "flunk." I love this metaphor!The French get a great deal of mileage out of the word "col," meaning "glue." I guess the flunkey is "glued" to the current class, thus preventing advancement.
Stockings are called "collants" because they appear to be glued to the legs. My favorite variation, however is "decoller", to take off, as in an airplane or a rocket launch. The vehicle "unglues" itself from the Earth!
While I'm on the subject of French, here are 3 similar words for similar objects: "parasol," "parapluie," "parachute." The prefix "para" indicates opposition or protection against.
A parasol is to protect you from the sun (sol.) A "parapluie" (which we call by the Italian name "umbrella" = "little shadow") protects you from the rain (pluie.) The French word "chute" means a crash, a fall. Thus, a parachute gets its name from its function to protect you from a crash.
The Christmas Revels, Dress Rehearsal
Great show this year (surprise surprise!) The 2000 version is on an early-American theme, a mixture of Appalachian and African-American stuff. My favorite number was Janice Allen singing "Children Go Where I Send The" While the teenagers acted out the parts.It's interesting that the Revels formerly had a policy of not casting teenagers, for fear they'd be too disruptive. I helped to break this policy a few years ago when Tova had been turned down on those grounds and I remonstrated. Subsequently, they've added a teenage dance group to several recent Christmas shows, and they've been a very big hit.
I had the best seat in the house, because my main reason for going to the dress rehearsal was to take an iPix photo of the show and, particularly of Sanders Theatre. Here it is:
Film: (DVD) Gladiator, by Ridley Scott, 2000
This was a nice exercise in special effects and cool computer graphics, re-creating the second century AD. The story took predictably many liberties with actual history.Watching this film inspired me to search for some more factual information, serendipitously introducing me to a great Web site with bios of most of the important Roman Emperors.
Film: (DVD) The Winslow Boy, by David Mamet 1999
A nicely-done, fact-based period piece, set in England, shortly before The Great War. A 13 year-old naval cadet is cashiered for allegedly stealing 5 shillings. His upper-middle-class family moves heaven and earth to get him cleared, sacrificing most of what they hold dear in the process. It's well-done throughout, and I particularly liked the ending. Nigel Hawthorne as the paterfamilias and Rebecca Pidgeon as the sister were standouts.
Opera: (DVD) Tannhäuser San Carlo Theatre, Naples
I've long been a fan of the Ring cycle and Die Meistersinger, but don't particularly know Wagner's other operas. I didn't much enjoy this one. It's central theme is that sex is evil, but god forgives us for it if we undergo enough pain. Some of the music was enjoyable, but most of it was rather lugubrious for my taste.I was not well impressed with this production, either. The singing was good, but that's about it. The acting was mostly pretty wooden. The costumes were ridiculous (all white except for Venus, who was in red) featuring long diaphanous capes for all hands, with a wind machine to make them billow. Everybody but Heinrich had some sort of goofy headgear; he just had a poor toupée.
The theater was a gorgeous traditional European opera house, all gold leaf and baroque frou-frou--but the stage was as bare as some off-Broadway black box. The minstrels carried ludicrous looking "harps" made out of plumbing pipe with slack wires strung inside them. I realize that stage sets probably got pretty overwrought a few decades ago, and these bare-stage productions were probably a welcome change of pace when the fad started--but, for me, it's getting old. I'm strongly suspicious that, while the directors and producers probably pay lip service to it as a way of "not getting in the way of the music" or whatever, the fact that it is much cheaper to not have a real set probably enters into it. I wonder what Wagner would think to see his operas staged this way.
On a bit of a whim, I've put three of my articles up in .pdb format for download to Palm-compatible PDAs. It's not clear to me if there's actually any demand for this format, so I'll wait to see how the reaction is before I go to the trouble of converting any more.
I got some positive feedback on the PDA versions, so I added my Bicycle Glossary to my list of PDA-compatible articles.
Film: (video) Independence Day, by Roland Emmerich 1996
We actually own a store-bought VHS video of this, bought mainly 'cause Tova used to have a crush on Jeff Goldblum. The film is great fun, lots of good hooks.
A nice, quiet Christmas. Actually got to sleep in 'til 9. Opened presents, added my Vintage Lightweight Price Guide to my list of PDA-compatible articles.Had a nice leg-of-lamb dinner. Went over to the Kittredges for dessert afterward, mmmm...plum pudding! Came home and watched:
Film: (TV) It's A Wonderful Life, by Frank Capra, 1947
It's been a while since I watched a movie on TV in real time, but it seemed like a nice Christmassy thing to do. Unfortunately there was some basketball game that ran over, and, it turned out that they just ran the basketball over the beginning of the film. Lots and lots of commercials. I don't plan on watching any more real-time movie broadcasts again anytime soon.I'd forgotten what a nice film this is, even chopped up on TV.
Christmas Revels
I had already seen the dress rehearsal, but this time I brought the family to an actual performance. It was as good as I remembered.Film (DVD) The Perfect Storm by Wolfgang Petersen, 2000
This was a good one! Emotionally gripping, great special effects, felt real. My respect for the Coast Guard went up several notches, which I wouldn't have thought possible, because this has always been my favorite military branch.
Film (DVD) A Civil Action by Steven Zaillian 1999
This was a pretty good, if gloomy fact-based film, dealing with groundwater pollution in Woburn, Massachusetts and the ensuing cancer cluster. Robert Duval is great as a brahmin lawyer who appears senile--but don't let your guard down! Who would have thought that John "Saturday Night Fever" Travolta would have developed into such a fine actor?
Film (DVD) Love's Labour's Lost by Kenneth Branagh, 2000
I saw this in the theatre back in July, loved it then, and bought the DVD as soon as it became available. It's as wonderful as I had remembered.
Book: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, 1998
My sister gave me this updated version of the Odyssey, set in 1864. Our Wily Odysseus is Inman a wounded rebel veteran who deserts as his neck wound heals, rather than go back to the war. "Penelope" is Ada, over-educated, citified daughter of a preacher, stranded in the deep boondocks of Cold Mountain.This is a very fine and beautiful book indeed, and really has the ring of truth in its descriptions of the hard life of the wartime Confederacy, as Inman tries to make it home to Ada, traveling mostly by night to avoid capture by the Home Guard. Ada, unprepared for country life without servants after the death of her father, struggles to survive with the help of Ruby, an energetic orphan wise in the ways of country life.
This is a wonderful book, full of incident and character, birds, plants, landscapes. It gives a feel for the realities of 19th century country life and the constant struggle to survive in a low-tech world. Very highly recommended.
Well, 2000 has been a pretty good year, all in all. We're all happy and healthy. If 2001 is no worse, we'll have no complaints.
Film (DVD) Love and Death, by Woody Allen 1975
I've seen this hilarious send-up of Russian literature in general and War and Peace in particular before, but I'd forgotten how funny it was. Just for added chuckles (and practice) I turned on the French subtitles. I did catch one error, when the subtitle said "fusil" (rifle) when it should have been "pistolet" (pistol.)
| Books reviewed on this page: | ||
|---|---|---|
| The General | C.S.Forester | 11/14/00 |
| Cold Mountain | Charles Frazier | 12/31/00 |
| Double Star | Robert A. Heinlein | 11/15/00 |
| Promise of Glory | C. X. Moreau | 11/21/00 |
| Down in the Bottomlands | Harry Turtledove &L.Sprague de Camp | 11/26/00 |
| Music reviewed on this page: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| December 27, 2000 | The Christmas Revels, Cambridge | Appalachian/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 Sorcerer | |
| November 16, 2000 | Harvestfest, Newton North High School | ||
| November 2, 2000 | B.S.O., Christoph Eschenbach | Mozart: Piano Concerto #23; Mahler Symphony #5 | |
| 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 F lies |
| November 12, 1998 | Newton North High School | To Kill a Mockingbird |
| Travels: | |
|---|---|
| November 21-24, 2007 | Plantation, Florida |
| September 25-28, 2007 | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| August 18-25, 2007 | Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts |
| November 22-26, 2006 | Plantation, Florida |
| September 25-28, 2006 | Las Vegas (Interbike) |
| June 10-20, 2006 | Santa Cruz, California |
| May 5-7, 2006 | Aurora, Indiana |
| November 23, 2005 | Plantation, Florida |
| September 26-29, 2005 | Interbike, Las Vegas, Nevada |
| August 26-28, 2005 | 'Bentride 2005, Bath, N.Y. |
| July 21-24, 2005 | Family Reunion, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. |
| April 29, 2005 | Cirque de Cyclisme, Greensboro, N.C. |
| February 16, 2005 | Indianapolis |
| November 24, 2004 | Plantation, Florida |
| October 8, 2004 | Santa Cruz, California |
| October 4, 2004 | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| June 8, 2004 | France, England |
| December 22, 2003 | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| November 27, 2003 | Florida |
| 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 |
Last Updated: by Harriet Fell