2011.1.21. The Barber of Seville

Seattle Opera presents Barber of Seville. A wonderful production. Excellent acting, beautiful melody. Great (retouched old) stage set, creative lighting design (the storm scene is hilarious).
I arrived at the box office 1 minute before the show time, with 2 people ahead of me! The opera started later. As always, the after show Q&A is interesting. According to Speight Jenkins, Lawrence Brownlee (the count) of the other cast sings an extra 8 minute aria, which only ~3 tenors in the world do.

Rosina:            Kate Lindsey
Count Almaviva:    Nicholas Phan
Figaro:            David Adam Moore
Dr. Bartolo:       Patrick Carfizzi
Don Basilio:       Burak Bilgili
Conductor:         Dean Williamson
Stage Director:    Peter Kazaras
Set Designer:      John Stoddart
Costume Designer:  John Ponelle
Lighting Designer: Duane Schuler
Sets:              Canadian Opera Company 

2011.1.1-2. Mt Rainier snowshoe

Start the new year on Mt Rainier. Surprising number of people in Paradise sliding area. Beautiful stars at night.

Christine Falls and Narada Falls are still running, but mostly icicles. Different and pretty. Reflection Lake (less than 2 miles away from Narada Falls) is completely iced over with maybe 1/2 foot snow on top. Can safely walk on the lake. Lots of birds, stealing my lunch. Mazama Ridge gets higher than Paradise, great views. Possible to loop with Paradise Valley route (~6 miles) or Skyline route (>3 miles more). Trails and snow camping info in Paradise area (~5400') are found here.

Longmire (2757') area has a number of trails, but mostly woods. The shortest: Trail of the Shadow is quite interesting. Panels present the history of James Longmire. In the snowy landscape, thermal springs are apparent. Did Rampart Ridge - Wonderland trail loop (~4.3 miles). View is limited.

2010.12.28. Grant Narrows Regional Park

South end of Pitt Lake. Blueberry farms full of red branches on the way in. Very wet area, almost a swamp. Quite a lot of people (~20 cars) visiting on this cold and overcast afternoon. Many dykes and birds. Probably even better during the spring and fall migration time. 2 peaks of Golden Ears to the east, more mountains to the north. Sunset is rather pretty. As the air cools down, a layer of fog hangs in the middle of surrounding green hills. Possible to walk a triangle loop on the dykes, ~2Km the longest edge.

Direction: east of Vancouver, Pitt Meadow area. Lougheed Hwy -> Dewdney Trunk Rd -> Neaves -> Rannie Rd (same road, different name, rough surface), until the end.

2010.12.19. North Vancouver

Went with my parents to check out Seymour Ski area, since the weather trued out to be nice. Not terribly busy. But still a long wait for the 2 lifts at the parking level (one more lift further up). A shuttle bus runs from Lonsdale Quay (in North Vancouver town center) 3 times a day.

Stopped by Lynn Canyon Park on the way back. Took Lillooet Rd to the end. The road closes at 5pm. We only had time to walk to the unimpressive Rice Lake (very small). Saw one person fishing. It was getting quite dark going down to the Lynn Creek, so we decided to quit and return some later time.

12/22. Despite the on and off drizzle, we set out to Lynn Canyon Park again. This time, we first visited Deep Cove at east end of North Vancouver. Then took Mountain Parkway -> Lynn Valley Rd west of Lynn Creek to the park. The suspension bridge is very nice, sturdy. One tall waterfalls to the south, and one lower but wider falls as the creek tumbles downstream. Muddy.

Direction via bus: #228 or #229 from Lonsdale Quay. Or #229 from Phibbs Exchange (#130 via Metro Town, #28 via Joyce Station, #210 via Downtown Vancouver).

2010.12.9. A Christmas Story - a musical

A Christmas Story opened at the 5th Ave Theatre. A brand new musical scored by two young talents. Excellent stage set and costume. The story line is banal. Lots of kids on stage, too high pitched.