Opera at the Ball Park

Dear Kids,

Last night Dad and I went to the Giants' AT&T Park in San Francisco for the free simulcast of the opera, "Samson and Delilah." I'm sure it was a huge effort for the San Francisco Opera to pull off, and the opera-goers loved it. Before the performance and at each of the 25-minute intermissions they showed backstage interviews plus pre-recorded videos of the set changes. The staff of the classical music station KDFC were there in person, including an on-air personality, Dianne Nicolini, whose voice we have been hearing for years.

The 103-foot LED screen was gorgeous. We opted to sit in the lowest-level stands in chairs with backs, rather than on the grass in the outfield closer to the screen, because we knew we couldn't sit on thegrass for three hours. No lawn chairs were allowed -- only blankets. A lot of the younger opera fans chose the grass. The sound was better than I had expected. It appeared that they had brought in two huge speaker systems, which worked fairly well, except for a slight echo.

The Chronicle newspaper estimates that 15,000 people showed up. The stadium holds 41,503 people, so that sounds about right to me. There were little kids running around on the grass, and some of the teenagers were acting silly. All that wasn't as distracting as I would have thought, but I did sneak a peek at them when my eyes weren't glued to the screen.

Almost everyone had dressed for the weather. They came with blankets, cushions, hats, heavy jackets, and hand-warmer pouches. The clouds cleared, and a full moon rose over the water and up from behind the screen.

Some of the audience had been given flash cards that said, "Go Samson!"on one side, and "Go Delilah!" on the other side.

Back in the San Francisco Opera House everyone was very aware of us as we sat at the baseball stadium. At the curtain call, the principal singers took their bows while carrying baseball bats, or wearing baseball mitts. The little child who leads the blind Samson wore a baseball cap and carried a baseball.

Since we enjoy opera, and hadn't been to AT&T Park before, it seemed like an opportunity not to be missed. The opera was even more beautiful than I had remembered, and the park was even more beautiful than I had expected. The tickets were free, and there was a way to print them on-line. It is ordinarily not a good idea to drive to AT&T Park becausethe parking lot holds only 5,000 cars and the parking fee is $30. Because of that we arrived at 4:30 p.m. for the 8:00 p.m. performance. We were fortunate last night that the parking fee had been reduced to $10 for this event, and that a lot of San Franciscans arrived on public transportation, so there was room for our car in the lot. The opera ended at 11 p.m.

I'm really glad that I decided to go on this adventure, especially since it turned out so well. Would I do it again? We'll see.

Today's San Francisco Chronicle has an article and four pictures about this event on their web site for today only.

~ Mom

The Big Bang Theory

I've been taking a class on the origins of the universe, and our teacherhas been telling us about the idiosyncracies of electrons and photons.

Then, on Monday night, Dad and I watched the first episode of the CBS TV show, "The Big Bang Theory." In the very first scene, when one roommate is talking to another, he says, "If a photon is directed through a plane with two slits in it and either slit is observed, it will not go through both slits. If it's unobserved it will. However, if it's observed after it's left the plane but before it hits its target, it will not have gone through both slits." When the roommate asks his buddy why he brought this up, he says that he thinks that concept would look good on at-shirt.

Those opening lines would have meant nothing to me if I hadn't been in the class! That example was one that our teacher had used only last week.

(You can watch the whole episode on your computer at CBS.com . I think it's pretty funny.)

Love,
Mom

Father's Day at the Opera

We did indeed have a lovely time at the San Francisco Opera today.

It appears that most opera sets are minimalist these days, but always with clever touches. Today's set was painted entirely in blackboard paint. The 16 dancers followed Iphigenie out onto the stage and the next thing you know they had written her name across the back wall in wide, nicely formed chalk letters. It appeared that two dancers worked on eachletter together, and they could write fast ! As Iphigenie sang about her family, they wrote the name of her father, Agamemnon, on the left wall, and the name of her mother, Clytemnestre, on the right wall. Then they threw sponges full of water at her parents' names, obliterating them because they had been killed by family members. Water was used to represent blood, and they wrote the name of her brother, Orestes, on the blackboard floor with water. His name evaporated as the act went on, asher hopes of ever seeing him again evaporated. (She sings that he is"our only hope." Sounded like a line from Star Wars.)

Orestes arrived as a prisoner, but she didn't recognize him because they hadn't seen each other in years. The dancers as a group lifted him up,and helped him walk along the wall as if he did that every day of theweek. (Sort of a Spiderman thing.)

We were sitting in the Dress Circle in the upstairs balcony. At the end of the opera, the Goddess Diana came in through the side door and sang from that very balcony, and not all that far away from us ! Were we ever surprised . . . and pleased!

As the opera came to a happy and optimistic close, the side walls of the set rose up about a foot, letting a bright white light shine in wherethere had been only depressing darkness before.

Iphigenie was sung by Susan Graham, who sang beautifully and continuously. She just sang and sang and sang, filling the room with herlovely voice. She and the dancers were barefoot, and all had long brown wavy hair and wore simple black dresses. They looked identical. The men wore black pants, black shirts, and black shoes. The city officials woreblack coats that made them look a lot like the guys in the Matrix.

We always enjoy dinner at "Indigo." The restaurant is on McAllister between Gough and Franklin. It is a fairly small restaurant, but the food is gourmet. They have chefs in the kitchen, not cooks. Yum!

Love,
Mom

Studio 60 -- January 29, 2007

Uh, oh. "Studio 60" last night was predictable, and that's not what the writers are shooting for. Predictable scene on the building's roof. Predictable outcome when the guy tells a lie to break his date (a lie that was completely unnecessary, in my opinion). The snake wrangler was sort of funny. The two women who complain loudly about the two men who are attracted to them are a little hard to figure out, especially if they like these guys in return.

I can't imagine that the right-wing Christian actress would have any interest in being on this comedy show. She isn't funny, anyway. Dad predicts that there will be an unpleasant surprise about this movie she is making during her off hours. That could be interesting.

The foreign investor's daughter was completely out of character. This isn't the kid we knew from the previous show.

Not their best episode.

Love,
Mom

30 Rock -- January 25, 2007

Last night we watched our TiVo recording of last week's "30 Rock." Nowthat was funny !

I laughed out loud for about half of it. I've never really found the show to be funny before. Alec Baldwin, trying over and over again to record a simple video, washilarious. Finally, he wasn't even able to walk normally, because he was analyzing everything.

I also thought his urging of the "product placement" of the G. E. oildrilling equipment in Liz Lemon's show was really funny, especially since everybody on the show keeps talking up Snapple as a great drink (and there is even a walking Snapple bottle in the studio). Product placement on "30 Rock" and probably on their show, too. She tells us how important the show is, and how she wants to keep it professional, and then approves a silly Abraham Lincoln gag.

I wonder if they'll be able to make the next show as funny. (It's usually just painful.)

Love,Mom

30 Rock

So, we watched "30 Rock" right away last night.

I laughed during the new game show that the Page Kenneth thought up. It
was funny to see the people make the right guess the very first time, because the gold in the suitcase was so heavy.

That was quite the apartment that Liz Lemon's cousin ("The Hair") had.
Pretty fancy !

Love,
Mom

I Thought of a Four

So I've added a "4," another "12," plus "222" and "227."

1 -- Murder One
2 -- Two and a Half Men
3 -- Three's Company
3 -- Numb3rs
3 -- Three Amigos (movie)
4 -- Fantastic Four (tv & movie)
5 -- Party of Five
6 -- Six Degrees
7 -- Seven Up!
8 -- Eight is Enough
9 -- The Nine
10 -- Ten (movie)
11 -- Oceans Eleven (movie)
12 -- Cheaper by the Dozen (movie)
12 -- Twelve Angry Men (movie)
13 -- Apollo 13 (movie)
14 -- 7 Plus Seven (one of the Up series)
16 -- Sixteen Candles (movie)
20 -- 20/20
21 -- 21 Up
24 -- 24
28 -- 28 Up
30 -- 30 Rock
30 -- Thirty Something
35 -- 35 Up
42 -- 42 Up
49 -- 49 Up
60 -- Studio 60
77 -- 77 Sunset Strip
222 -- Room 222
227 -- 227

~ Mom

More Shows with Numbers

I've added a "6" and a "9" to my list, "Six Degrees" and "The Nine,"
plus "Three Amigos." I'd forgotten about "Thirty Something" so I have it down
for "30." I'd use the movie "Sevin" for 7, but it isn't really the number "seven," so it isn't on my list.

I need a "four." There must be something . . .

1 -- Murder One
2 -- Two and a Half Men
3 -- Three's Company
3 -- Numb3rs
3 -- Three Amigos (movie)
5 -- Party of Five
6 -- Six Degrees
7 -- Seven Up!
8 -- Eight is Enough
9 -- The Nine
10 -- Ten (movie)
11 -- Oceans Eleven (movie)
12 -- Cheaper by the Dozen (movie)
13 -- Apollo 13 (movie)
14 -- 7 Plus Seven (one of the Up series)
16 -- Sixteen Candles (movie)
20 -- 20/20
21 -- 21 Up
24 -- 24
28 -- 28 Up
30 -- 30 Rock
30 -- Thirty Something
35 -- 35 Up
42 -- 42 Up
49 -- 49 Up
60 -- Studio 60

~ Mom

Shows With Numbers

So, I've been thinking about TV shows with numbers in the titles. I
especially notice them when I try to enter the show title in the TIVO.
I'd rather stick to current shows, but I've included old ones. I've
added some movies to fill in the list, since they sometimes show on TV.
Maybe you can think of others :

1 -- Murder One
2 -- Two and a Half Men
3 -- Three's Company
3 -- Numb3rs
5 -- Party of Five
8 -- Eight is Enough
10 -- Ten (movie)
11 -- Oceans Eleven (movie)
12 -- Cheaper by the Dozen (movie)
13 -- Apollo 13
16 -- Sixteen Candles
24 -- 24
30 -- 30 Rock
60 -- Studio 60

Any of the "Up" series on PBS, that followed a group of British
children
and interviewed them every seven years -- "7 Up," "14 Up," "21 Up," . . .

~ Mom