(no subject)
After I got back from ConCarolinas, I had a pleasant evening the following Monday going to a performance by a group of monks from the Danilovsky Monastery. Harvard was apparently returning to the Monastery a bell that had been removed during the revolutions, and the monks were performing for a couple of nights as part of a big old celebration of the whole thing (which, I assume, also included some bell-playing.)
A couple of weeks later, I went to see Chris Rock do a stand up routine at the Wang Theater in Boston. He was funny, but it didn't hit me as good as some of his earlier routines I've seen on TV. I'm unsure if this is a function of him being less on, the material not being as good, or the fact that, seeing it live in a venue that served up the alcohol, there seemed to be plenty of people who treated it like a sporting event, with loud, boorish behavior. Or a combination therein, of course.
The week after the Chris Rock stand-up, linworth03 came to visit.
The most notable portion of that was a trip to Symphony Hall to see Amanda Palmer. I ordered tickets in advance, and was confused by the Pop's website, which showed seating in circles... as in, a circle would have four, or two, or whatever, seats left.
As we approached Symphony Hall, there were human statues standing outside. Several were very good... until they actively moved, even their breathing was hard to spot.
When we entered Symphony Hall, a memory cascade finally hit me as we sat down. The seating was shown in circles because there were tables. Almost exactly nine years before, I had sat down at almost the exact same spot with rislyn and company on my very first trip to Boston. This was my first trip to see the Pops, my first time in Symphony Hall, since that trip.
The Pops opened (without Amanda Palmer) with several pieces from The Planets, by Holst. "Mars" is my favorite of the suite, and the Pops performed it well. I was less attached to "Venus", "Saturn", or "Uranus", the other movements they chose to play. They accompanied the performance with images of the respective planets provided by NASA, which was a nifty touch. While listening, I noticed that linworth03 and I did not even think of clapping at the end of movements, whereas many in the audience chose to do so. I can't even remember, anymore, who taught me that it was proper to hold one's applause until the end of a piece made up of multiple movements... probably my 7th grade strings teacher, if I had to guess. I wonder, given how much of the modern audience is not familiar with that convention, whether it'll ever fall completely out of etiquette, or whether it will remain as a strange habit of a subculture?
Another interesting facet of watching the performance was noticing how many members of the audience were younger and pretty obviously dressed up as Dresden Doll fans, rather than Pops/classical fans. Considering that my first trip to Symphony Hall was the return of John Williams upon the release of Episode I, I suppose I've only seen the Pops play in relatively fan-boy situations. ;-)
After an intermission, Amanda Palmer entered to "Missed Me" from off stage, with a cute routine where a tambourine player, violinist, and trombonist (and a triangle-player, at the last) each followed her around as she sang. Her manner, her makeup, and her outfit, kept making me think of, basically, what rmoigmeirndbt would be if she had become a rock star. Her slower stuff (mostly from her upcoming solo album) did not move me much, and reminded me of the sort of things Tori Amos might do... but her upbeat stuff was great fun. Keith Lockhart got into the fun on "Coin Operated Boy", complete with a bit of piano playing as Palmer faux-conducted the orchestra. Her encore began with a guy obviously dressed as a washed-up implementation of the Cabaret emcee asking if we really wanted Amanda to come back out. The reference excited me. So, when she came back out, she did a rendition of "Don't Tell Mama", complete with dancers, which pleased me. She even had the other half of the Dresden Dolls, Brian Viglione, come out and join her (in bowler and coat-with-tails, no less) for a duet of "What a Wonderful World" and "Sing". Overall, it was quite a good performance.
After the performance, I didn't feel like fighting the crowds to get outside, so I plopped linworth03 and explained that my stuff was still in there; they looked dubious, but let me through. I told linworth03 we were walking now, and going on a short adventure. Those two pauses almost did me in but, apparently, the person I was trailing (who was with another woman, as well) was getting turned around, because she entered and almost immediately re-exited a room down the hall. At which point, as we passed, I spoke.
"Excuse me. This is probably the strangest question I've ever asked a stranger before, but do you, by any chance, have a green sock for your iPod?"
I got a very funny look from her, and then a response: "That is the strangest question I've ever gotten, mostly because I *do* have a green sock for my iPod."
"Okay, this is going to take some explaination."
At which point I explained to her, the woman from the train the whole story of how I'd pointed out the seat to her, noticed her badge, not gotten her name, not given her mine, etc, etc. It turns out the name tag I saw was for, amusingly, Symphony Hall: she is one of the servers who works the table during the Pops season. We just happened to go to the same performance on her night off (entirely because linworth03 wanted to go), and I just happened to end up in a position to notice her afterward. The volume of coincidence involved is extraordinary, I think.
Just in case you thought this story had a wonderful ending: she's just barely 20, in a long-term relationship, and turned down my offer of lunch earlier this week. But, hey, we're facebook friends now...
Next Time: Origins and One True Party (probably with pictures)