Saturday, November 25, 2006

2006.11.24-25. Winter Camping, first time in my life. Leftover Thanksgiving meal cooked in snow made a perfect warming stew. Wine and candles (crazy idea to have brought them up), flying snow flakes, blissfully calm.
Woke up with ceiling dripping with condensation, and the interior volume reduced to half, as the snow has piled up on the top of the tent. Serene, pristine, blindingly bright. Trails were almost completely obliviated by the overnight snowfall. On the way out, met a few cross country skiers, despite the snow. Maybe lured by the sunshine in Bellevue?

Friday, November 17, 2006

2006.11.16. Seattle Symphony
    Arild Remmereit, conductor
    Seth Krimsky, bassoon
    Grieg: Selections from Peer Gynt
    John Williams: The Five Sacred Trees, Bassoon Concerto
    Schumann: Symphony No. 1, "Spring"
The conductor is energetic. Memorized the entire Peer Gynt. John Williams' piece sounds so dissonant, complete changed my perception of him, which was mostly based on his melodic soundtracks.
2006.11.15. Bravo Club event at Columbia Tower's 76th floor. Three "young artist"s performed a funny operetta in English (only two sang). Fabulous view. Awfully windy. Fun to watch the clouds swift by. This is the second event I went during my two years' membership. I was utterly bored the first time. Much better this time.

Monday, November 13, 2006

2006.11.10. Anton in Show Business by Jane Martin directed by R. Hamilton Wright staged at UW Meany Theater. Winner of the 2000 American Theater Critics/Steinberg New Play Award. Pretty funny. A backstage comedy about an ill fated cast in producing Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

2006.11.8. UW's opera performance. Kurt Weill’s Die sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins, conducted by Julia Tai, directed by Claudia Zahn) and Giacomo Puccini’s Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica, conducted by Peter Eros, directed by Andrew Seifert).
I forgot the tickets after arriving at U. District. Couldn't even remember whether I left them in office or home!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

2006.11.6. Seattle Repertory Theatre stages Simon Levy's adaptation of F. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Efficient and mobile stage sets. Enjoyable.

Monday, November 06, 2006

2006.11.5. Dead Sea Scroll exhibition at Pacific Science Center. Well organized. Audio guide. Background and research methods also presented. Each of the dozen of so original fragments is displayed in a climate controlled glass box with lights switches on and off automatically, accompanied by enlarged copy, its translation and description. A brief lecture precedes the timed exhibit. Arrived too late for the reception (actually good food).
Stopped by the butterfly dome after the tour, where the butterflies can easily land on your shoulder.