I've forgotten how I first heard of it, but I put Following Sean on my Netflix queue months ago. It showed up this week and I just finished watching it.
Following Sean is a documentary by filmmaker Ralph Arlyck. In 1969, while a film student at San Francisco State, he made a short film, Sean, about a four-year old boy who lived upstairs from Arlyck in an apartment house in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district.
He was an engaging little boy, living in an apartment with his parents, siblings, and a shifting cast of characters who drifted in and out of his home in the middle of the San Francisco hippie scene. He claimed to hate the police and to have smoked pot. There were charming scenes of the barefoot charmer running through the streets of the Haight.
27 years later, the filmmaker returned to California and found Sean and his parents, and in the film we learn what happened to Sean since 1969. Sean and his parents, grandparents and one sibling made themselves available for the film. It is a fascinating exploration of one family over several generations of bankers and communists, hippies and suburbanites, free spirits and hard workers. Arlyck explores some of the parallels between Sean's family and his own in the process, and we watch his own sons grow up as we watch Sean's little boy, Alex, become as endearing a four-year old as was his father.
Put it on your list of films to watch. It's a keeper.
29 February 2008
24 February 2008
Wow
I'm still energized by last night's concert with the Cincinnati Symphony. John Adams is an astounding human being, conductor, and composer. We got to see all three of those facets of his personality this past week.
He was a delightful man - charming, easygoing, yet demanding in a gently tactful way. The difficulty of the music demanded complete attention from the singers, and he got it. The piece itself was inspiring, soothing and something I'm proud to have been a part of.
His conducting was clear and clean, unlike that of many of the other conductors we work with. His direction was straightforward, letting the music speak for itself.
When he blew kisses to the choruses at the end of the performance, it was more than ample reward. I can't wait for him to come back again with another piece. It's been too long since his last visit, when we performed Harmonium under his baton -- perhaps 10 years ago.
The final piece on the program, which I watched from the Gallery, was The Dharma at Big Sur. I could not sit still. Jocefiwicz' electric playing of her electric violin was electrifying, and the insistent rhythms of the second half had me rocking in my seat. I will order a recording today.
He was a delightful man - charming, easygoing, yet demanding in a gently tactful way. The difficulty of the music demanded complete attention from the singers, and he got it. The piece itself was inspiring, soothing and something I'm proud to have been a part of.
His conducting was clear and clean, unlike that of many of the other conductors we work with. His direction was straightforward, letting the music speak for itself.
When he blew kisses to the choruses at the end of the performance, it was more than ample reward. I can't wait for him to come back again with another piece. It's been too long since his last visit, when we performed Harmonium under his baton -- perhaps 10 years ago.
The final piece on the program, which I watched from the Gallery, was The Dharma at Big Sur. I could not sit still. Jocefiwicz' electric playing of her electric violin was electrifying, and the insistent rhythms of the second half had me rocking in my seat. I will order a recording today.
22 February 2008
Ice, snow and electric violins
Cincinnati is having a bad weather day. Last night's commute was hell, from all indications. I had only to drive 11 blocks to Music Hall, and that took over 20 minutes. When I left there before nine, after the salt trucks and plows had had time to do their magic, it still took 40 minutes to drive the 12 miles home in no traffic. It was slushy, slippery, and dangerous.
Rehearsal with John Adams went well, despite the missing singers. Singers were still drifting in around 8 PM, when rehearsal had been scheduled for 6:15. He's a delightful conductor, very clear in his direction. His personality is upbeat and fun, and he uses tact to get the results he wants.
His music is extremely difficult to sing, primarily because of its rhythmic complexity, so I'm sure he has to deal with choirs that don't do it well. We're better than most but we're still having a hard time. He handles it all with aplomb. He told us last night about how On the Transmigration of Souls was a flop in London because the British chorus didn't understand how to sing the ordinary language of the piece.
The texts were taken from missing posters on the streets of NY after 9/11 and from remembrances of the victims that were published in the NY Times.
"He was extremely good looking. Girls never talked to me when he was around."
"He called me every day. I'm still waiting."
"I wanted to dig him out. I know just where he is."
"It's been three months, but it feels like yesterday since I saw your beautiful face, saying 'I love you to the moon and back.'"
It's hard to sing those lines without tearing up. You have to suck it up and concentrate on the performance, not the emotion.
The second half of the concert will feature Leila Josefowicz playing the electric violin in Adams' The Dharma at Big Sur. I'm looking forward to hearing it. The array of percussion at the back of the stage is a hint that it's going to have big sonic impact.
Rehearsal with John Adams went well, despite the missing singers. Singers were still drifting in around 8 PM, when rehearsal had been scheduled for 6:15. He's a delightful conductor, very clear in his direction. His personality is upbeat and fun, and he uses tact to get the results he wants.
His music is extremely difficult to sing, primarily because of its rhythmic complexity, so I'm sure he has to deal with choirs that don't do it well. We're better than most but we're still having a hard time. He handles it all with aplomb. He told us last night about how On the Transmigration of Souls was a flop in London because the British chorus didn't understand how to sing the ordinary language of the piece.
The texts were taken from missing posters on the streets of NY after 9/11 and from remembrances of the victims that were published in the NY Times.
"He was extremely good looking. Girls never talked to me when he was around."
"He called me every day. I'm still waiting."
"I wanted to dig him out. I know just where he is."
"It's been three months, but it feels like yesterday since I saw your beautiful face, saying 'I love you to the moon and back.'"
It's hard to sing those lines without tearing up. You have to suck it up and concentrate on the performance, not the emotion.
The second half of the concert will feature Leila Josefowicz playing the electric violin in Adams' The Dharma at Big Sur. I'm looking forward to hearing it. The array of percussion at the back of the stage is a hint that it's going to have big sonic impact.
16 February 2008
Great new toy
Perhaps "toy" is not the right word. "Tool" would be the better term. The ASUS eee PC can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMjIW5qyq3s&NR=1
I have only one complaint, and that is whenever I want to connect to my home wireless network, I have to type in the 32 digit WEP password. My Windows computers will store and remember the password.Otherwise, I'm very impressed. The small keyboard means that I won't be writing my version of War and Peace on it, but otherwise, it's got all the features I need when on the road.
My music notation software doesn't work on it, but I think I can make use of my genealogy database while on the road, which will be nice to have at the anniversary party next month. I'll work on getting that organized this afternoon.
Battery life has been about three hours after the first charge, which is much better than my laptop. The attached speakers are pretty tinny, but the headphone port should circumvent that issue. It supposedly recognizes iPods, too. I'll try that a little bit later on.
More to follow.
15 February 2008
New Toy
I gave in yesterday and ordered an eee PC from Asus. It came today, and it's pretty slick.
Cheaper than my last Palm Pilot, it's a fully-functional laptop that has a 7" screen, a full keyboard (although small), a complete complement of useful software (word processor, presentation software, spreadsheet, music, video, photo, anti-virus, you name it), wi-fi, webcam, ethernet port, 3 USB ports and so forth.
It has 512 MB of RAM, and comes with a 4 GB flash drive for storage. It runs on Linux. I added an 8 Gb SD card, tripling the storage. $400 plus the cost of the SD card.
It's about the size of a trade paperback book and weighs less than two pounds. I anticipate that it will be useful for travel, enabling me to keep in touch, store photos, access the Internet, and so forth. It fits in my purse -- which my 17" HP laptop certainly won't.
It's certainly no substitute for the power of that HP laptop, but unless I have a major music project or video editing to do, it'll do the job.
Cheaper than my last Palm Pilot, it's a fully-functional laptop that has a 7" screen, a full keyboard (although small), a complete complement of useful software (word processor, presentation software, spreadsheet, music, video, photo, anti-virus, you name it), wi-fi, webcam, ethernet port, 3 USB ports and so forth.
It has 512 MB of RAM, and comes with a 4 GB flash drive for storage. It runs on Linux. I added an 8 Gb SD card, tripling the storage. $400 plus the cost of the SD card.
It's about the size of a trade paperback book and weighs less than two pounds. I anticipate that it will be useful for travel, enabling me to keep in touch, store photos, access the Internet, and so forth. It fits in my purse -- which my 17" HP laptop certainly won't.
It's certainly no substitute for the power of that HP laptop, but unless I have a major music project or video editing to do, it'll do the job.
14 February 2008
Always Comparison Shop!
This is especially important when dealing with the Flamingo Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa, California.
The hotel's website says the room I wanted was $99 a night, higher on weekends. I called the hotel directly because the wedding party had reserved a block of rooms for out of town guests. Same price.
Hotels.com: $69.99 a night, $75.99 on weekends. Savings of over $150 for my five night stay, just by trolling the internet.
Why would a hotel charge more when they deal directly with customers instead of paying a commission to a web site? And wouldn't they charge less when a customer books a block of rooms -- in effect guaranteeing them that a bunch of rooms wouldn't go empty?
And this in the off season, for crying out loud.
I called the wedding party hosts today and suggested that they tell the rest of the out-of-town guests to book through hotels.com to save some big money.
Jeesh.
The hotel's website says the room I wanted was $99 a night, higher on weekends. I called the hotel directly because the wedding party had reserved a block of rooms for out of town guests. Same price.
Hotels.com: $69.99 a night, $75.99 on weekends. Savings of over $150 for my five night stay, just by trolling the internet.
Why would a hotel charge more when they deal directly with customers instead of paying a commission to a web site? And wouldn't they charge less when a customer books a block of rooms -- in effect guaranteeing them that a bunch of rooms wouldn't go empty?
And this in the off season, for crying out loud.
I called the wedding party hosts today and suggested that they tell the rest of the out-of-town guests to book through hotels.com to save some big money.
Jeesh.
13 February 2008
California, Here I Come
March 26 is the day. I'll be flying out of Dayton to Oakland with a stopover in Denver, and will return on the 31st. The goal is to attend a 50th wedding anniversary party for my cousin Charlie and his wife Phyllis in Santa Rosa.
I have to make the trip alone, since my partner in crime can't get the time off from his job, but it will still be a good trip. I hadn't seen Charlie and Phyllis for about 40 years when we got together in San Francisco a year ago, and the last time I saw his younger brother Don was at my mother's memorial service 17 years ago. It will be good to see them again, and to see all of their grown up children -- and the grandchildren, too.
Seems funny to have cousins who are grandparents of teenagers, when my only child is just 22.
There will not be many of us at the anniversary celebration who were actually present at the wedding, but I'll be one of them.
Some wine country touring is also in order. It would have been more fun to do it with a traveling companion, but it will still be worth doing.
I have to make the trip alone, since my partner in crime can't get the time off from his job, but it will still be a good trip. I hadn't seen Charlie and Phyllis for about 40 years when we got together in San Francisco a year ago, and the last time I saw his younger brother Don was at my mother's memorial service 17 years ago. It will be good to see them again, and to see all of their grown up children -- and the grandchildren, too.
Seems funny to have cousins who are grandparents of teenagers, when my only child is just 22.
There will not be many of us at the anniversary celebration who were actually present at the wedding, but I'll be one of them.
Some wine country touring is also in order. It would have been more fun to do it with a traveling companion, but it will still be worth doing.
12 February 2008
Freeze
Cincinnati has succumbed to another episode of freezing rain, exactly 363 days since the last time the city shut down for ice. Most of my office is working from home today.
The past weekend featured the Fine Arts Fund sampler, a weekend of over 100 performances/exhibitions by the many arts groups that benefit from the largesse of the city's citizens who contribute millions to the fund each year.
On Saturday, I was privileged to attend "Origami Meets the Price is Right," Jonathan Heart's delightful show for children, at the Cincinnati Art Museum, which was followed by "Long Lost Stories," a production of the Madcap Puppets. A quick tour of the Cincinnati Wing of the museum followed, as my companion had not yet been there. The Rookwood pottery collection, as well as the marvelous furniture hand-carved by 19th Century Cincinnati women were the highlights of the visit.
Sunday's performane of the Cincinnati May Festival Youth Chorus and the May Festival Chamber Choir went well. We (the Chamber Choir) sang 8 of the 15 pieces of Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil.
Tonight the full May Festival Chorus will rehearse John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls, for which Adams won the Pulitzer prize. It is a reminiscence of those lost in the devastation of New York's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Adams will conduct the chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the work on February 22 and 23 at Cincinnati's Music Hall.
The piece is moving and will be devastating for the audience. The text is taken from memories of the lost, printed in the New York Times, and from posters seen on the street in the weeks following the tragedy.
It will be especially poignant for many members of the Chorus and Orchestra, who performed Benjamin Britten's War Requiem at Carnegie Hall 3 weeks after September 11. That performance, planned months in advance of the concert, left the hall in near silence upon its completion. Some of the audience members could be heard crying. It had been only two days since American forces had invaded Afghanistan.
This just in: the word has arrived that tonight's rehearsal has been cancelled due to the weather, and our director, Robert Porco, halfway here from Cleveland, is turning around and heading home. Next week will be a busy one, with extra rehearsals so that we can work with the Cincinnati Children's Choir before Mr. Adams arrives.
The past weekend featured the Fine Arts Fund sampler, a weekend of over 100 performances/exhibitions by the many arts groups that benefit from the largesse of the city's citizens who contribute millions to the fund each year.
On Saturday, I was privileged to attend "Origami Meets the Price is Right," Jonathan Heart's delightful show for children, at the Cincinnati Art Museum, which was followed by "Long Lost Stories," a production of the Madcap Puppets. A quick tour of the Cincinnati Wing of the museum followed, as my companion had not yet been there. The Rookwood pottery collection, as well as the marvelous furniture hand-carved by 19th Century Cincinnati women were the highlights of the visit.
Sunday's performane of the Cincinnati May Festival Youth Chorus and the May Festival Chamber Choir went well. We (the Chamber Choir) sang 8 of the 15 pieces of Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil.
Tonight the full May Festival Chorus will rehearse John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls, for which Adams won the Pulitzer prize. It is a reminiscence of those lost in the devastation of New York's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Adams will conduct the chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the work on February 22 and 23 at Cincinnati's Music Hall.
The piece is moving and will be devastating for the audience. The text is taken from memories of the lost, printed in the New York Times, and from posters seen on the street in the weeks following the tragedy.
It will be especially poignant for many members of the Chorus and Orchestra, who performed Benjamin Britten's War Requiem at Carnegie Hall 3 weeks after September 11. That performance, planned months in advance of the concert, left the hall in near silence upon its completion. Some of the audience members could be heard crying. It had been only two days since American forces had invaded Afghanistan.
This just in: the word has arrived that tonight's rehearsal has been cancelled due to the weather, and our director, Robert Porco, halfway here from Cleveland, is turning around and heading home. Next week will be a busy one, with extra rehearsals so that we can work with the Cincinnati Children's Choir before Mr. Adams arrives.
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