Sheldon Brown's Journal
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May-June 2005
Cirque de Cyclisme Continued
There was a ride scheduled for 8:30, so I set my alarm for 7:30, but when I woke and looked out the window, a rainstorm had just ended and the streets were soaking wet. I went back to bed.I arose again at a more civilized hour, and went over to the rec center for the flea market and bike exposition. I didn't buy anything (no room in my suitcase, and the prices were too high for me anyway.)
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eBook: The Dante Club Matthew Pearl, 2002
A historical whodunit, set in 1865 Boston, featuring the literary and academic élite: Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell. Longfellow is engaged in translating Dante's Devina Commedia, with the assistance of Holmes, Lowell and others. The administration of Harvard University is very opposed to this endeavor, partly because of nativist opposition to any emphasis on living foreign languages at the expense fo Greek and Latin, and partly because of the books Papist theology.There is also a serial killer at work, knocking off prominent Bostonians in especially gruesome ways, which turn out to be an attempt to impose the various punishments that Dante describes as the tortures of the damned. Much of this gets extremely icky, and if it weren't for the Boston Brahmin connection, I would not have enjoyed this book at all.
Film: (DVD) Hell's Angels Howard Hughes 1930
Howard Hughes's WWI aviation film, hugely expensive to make in its time. The print was tinted to give an approximation of color. Doesn't really hold up too well.
Revels Pub Sing: Doyles in Jamaica Plain
Took George to the Revels Pub Sing, and this time he brought his trombone. It was the only instrument present, and he did a fantastic job of creating bass lines to a number of the songs. Everybody was very impressed with his performance, and I'm still glowing with pride.
Film: (DVD) How the Irish Saved Civilization Thomas Cahill, 1996
Fairly interesting book, mainly about St. Patrick. Somewhat marred by "trendy" pop-culture analogies.
eBook: Roundabout to Boston William Dean Howells
A short piece, probably more an essay than a book, describing Howells's early days as consul in Venice during the Slavery War, and the chain of events that eventually led him to move to Boston and to editorship of the Atlantic Monthly.
Concert: Ye Mariners All Watertown, Massachusetts
I've had the pleasure of performing with two of the members of this wonderful nautical trio. They gave a very nice performance, sponsored by the FSSGB.
Lilac Sunday
No Morris Dance groupie can stay away from Lilac Sunday!Doyles
After the Morris Dancing, many of the folks repaired to Doyles for beer and song. There was a sizable Canadian contingent present, who seemed to appreciate my rendition of "Barrett's Privateers."
eBook Imperium Keith Laumer 1962
A classic.
George Graduates from Brandeis
With honors in Mathematics and Music
Film: (DVD) Men With Brooms
Sort of a knockoff of "Breaking Away" only the sport is curling instead of cycling. As silly as the sport itself.
Film: (DVD) The Aviator Martin Scorsese 2004
Wonderful film bio of Howard Hughes. Not to be missed!
eBook The Rivers of War Eric Flint, 2005
An alternate history of the War of 1812. It is to be hoped that this will be the start of another series, one in which the Cherokees get a better deal than they did in our timeline, as they make themselves useful allies against the British. The central character is a young lieutenant named Sam Houston...
Film: (DVD) Slaughterhouse 5 George Roy Hill, 1972
Based on Kurt Vonnegut's novel, one of the best science fiction films ever.
Went to Harriet's M.I.T. reunion at the Kennedy Library. Had a good time, first time I've been to the library.
Took a ride on the Brown out to Hopkinton, 46 miles, which is a long one for me these days. Very nice ride, listening to Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko on the iPod.eBook: Candide Voltaire, 1759
I used to believe this was the funniest book ever written, but that was before Douglas Adams. I first read it in translation when I was in high school, but this is the first time I've read it in the original French. Still a hoot!Tova arrived from California in the evening.
Off to Ithaca
Tova's doing a summer math program at Cornell, so we drove out to visit her. 354 miles, 5 hours 44 minutes.
Film: (DVD) Kinsey
Excellent film about Dr. Kinsey and his first scientific studies of sexuality, at a time when the world wasn't ready to learn the facts...
Hot muggy day, but I didn't ride yesterday (even hotter then) so I headed out on the IRO to Dover. I was eager to try out my new MUSA shorts to see how well they'd serve as a bathing suit, so I stopped along Claybrook Road for a dip in the Charles.
It was a very welcome respite from the heat, and the MUSA shorts worked great as a bathing suit, drying in a very reasonable time despite the high humidity.
This is the first time I've gone swimming at this spot. I had feared it might be too shallow, but it turns out to be quite deep, with only the gentlest of currents. I greatly prefer swimming at unofficial swimming places, and I'll be back to this one. It has large rocks reinforcing the bank, making access easy enough.
Instead of music, I was listening to an audiobook reading of Sense and Sensibility for most of this ride.
Considering the oppressive weather, it was a pretty nice ride.
Film: (DVD) 50 First Dates Peter Segal, 2004
I may have to revise my very low opinion of Adam Sandler. He was so bad on SNL, but he's pretty good in this film about a guy who falls in love with a woman who suffers from a memory disfunction, and forgets everything when she goes to sleep each night.
The following entries are written in June 2006, after I noticed that there was just an outline of the later entries for this page.Film: (DVD) Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith George Lucas, 2005
I'm getting tired of these, and fell asleep for a while in this one...
Summer Revels-All Day Rehearsal
eBook: The Way to Glory David Drake, 2005
I'm afraid I don't recall this one, writing a year later after noticing a "stub" reference to it. It's one of the "Lt. Leary" series, military science fiction.
Summer Revels-Rehearsal
I fell going down the stairs, got a nasty cut on my forehead and busted my glasses. David Coffin was great administering first aid. In retrospect, a year later, this was an early sign of my health issues.Cycling home afterwards, I was stopped by a police blockade at the corner of Linwood and Crafts...but then the officer recognized me and sent me on my way. There have been some recent housebreaks in our usually quite safe neighborhood, and they had established a temporary cordon. Don't know that they actually caught anybody though.
Summer Revels Performance
Boffo performance, well received despite brutal heat. I did have a fall on stage, but I was in the back and I don't think anybody in the audience noticed.
Summer Revels Performance
Not as hot as yesterday, but this time we had a rain delay.George is also in the show, operating a huge puppet. During a break, he got to try Penpa's Tibetan horn, a wild and crazy instrument.
Film: (DVD) Shogun Jerry London, 1980
I really enjoyed the book when I read it back in the '70s, and this 1980 TV miniseries was excellent by the standards of the time. It still holds up pretty well.
| Books reviewed on this page: | ||
|---|---|---|
| How the Irish Saved Civilization | Thomas Cahill | 5/7/05 |
| The Way to Glory | David Drake | 6/18/05 |
| The Rivers of War | Eric Flint | 5/29/05 |
| Roundabout to Boston | William Dean Howells | 5/8/05 |
| Imperium | Keith Laumer | 5/21/05 |
| The Dante Club | Matthew Pearl | 5/1/05 |
| Candide | Voltaire | 6/4/05 |
| Films reviewed on this page: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 50 First Dates | June 12, 2005 | |
| The Aviator | May 26, 2005 | |
| Hell's Angels | May 3, 2005 | |
| Men With Brooms | May 23, 2005 | |
| Shogun | June 28, 2005 | |
| Slaughterhouse 5 | May 31, 2005 | |
| 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
