Hello again.
Things!
Yesterday, Ruby and I went to see Brad Mehldau and Pat Metheney at the Boston Opera House. It was fantastic. The opera house itself was this ornately sculpted old building by Downtown Crossing; inside was all plush red carpets and gilt-work and extremely detailed faux-Greco-Roman sculpture and paintings. We were pretty much just stunned by the building. Our seats were on the floor about nine or ten rows back, but quite a bit off to the side; the opera house is a very wide performance space. Surprisingly, it was a pretty good view, and it sounded phenomenal. They started out with just piano/guitar duo tunes. I was amazed at how seamlessly they transitioned between each of them soloing and accompanying. I never noticed a transition between soloists until after it had happened; and I think that's a pretty huge accomplishment considering that they were only two musicians, playing instruments that sound totally different. They blended so well. Later on in the set, they were joined by the other two thirds of Brad Mehldau's trio; Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums. They didn't get featured very much; I mean, obviously with headliners like Metheney and Mehldau, the expected blue-haired ticket-buyers aren't going to want to listen to the sidemen play for too long, but I'd have liked to hear more of them. The bassist took one solo that was almost completely in quarter notes, and that was all we heard from him; I'd have liked to hear what he could have played that was more than that.
The one totally crappy thing was that we were sitting in front of two guys who talked for almost the entire show. They didn't whisper, oh no, they talked in full voice. And in some foreign language too; I think it was something Eastern European, but really, I don't know. And it doesn't matter; it was terribly rude no matter what language they were being rude in. And they talked through the very quietest parts of songs too! Just when I wanted to close my eyes and let myself just be absorbed into the music, they'd start talking and the moment would be lost. I shot them a number of pointed, derisive glares (my very best!) but those didn't work... I finally told them to stop talking, and I had to do it twice! I swear, the first time I said "Stop talking" they said "No", but my mind really doesn't want to believe that someone could be rude to that level, and I might have just heard them say a different word. At any rate, I had to turn around and tell them to be quiet twice, and they still did not stop talking. I wish someone else would have done it as well; it might have been more effective. But it's things like that that just ruin concerts for me. I can't believe that people would have that much of a lack of respect for the musicians on stage, and the people around them who paid just as much money as they did to see the concert. Seriously, if they wanted to have a conversation, they should not have come to the show. That, and people who go late to concerts are my biggest pet peeves; late comers also show an absolute lack of respect which I have a harder and harder time tolerating each time it happens. But I digress.
We made ham again today, and it was delicious again today. I think it must be some kind of trick of the oven in our house or something; all I do is make sure the meat is cooked to the right temperature inside, and it always comes out great. I've never cooked big meals like ham or turkey in not this oven though... so we'll have to see once I go home for the summer! We also had mashed potatoes, corn, homemade rolls (Kael's doing) and cornbread. 'Twas wonderful.
It's raining SO MUCH right now. It started yesterday, and it hasn't stopped, and it seems like there's going to be severe weather warnings or something, and the storm that's headed our way has wreaked havoc in lots of other places. I'm seriously not looking forward to anything that involves leaving my house in the next couple of days. Unfortunately, that involves almost everything. Oh well. If it could stop being cold, that would be fine with me.
And... I'm out.
Yesterday, Ruby and I went to see Brad Mehldau and Pat Metheney at the Boston Opera House. It was fantastic. The opera house itself was this ornately sculpted old building by Downtown Crossing; inside was all plush red carpets and gilt-work and extremely detailed faux-Greco-Roman sculpture and paintings. We were pretty much just stunned by the building. Our seats were on the floor about nine or ten rows back, but quite a bit off to the side; the opera house is a very wide performance space. Surprisingly, it was a pretty good view, and it sounded phenomenal. They started out with just piano/guitar duo tunes. I was amazed at how seamlessly they transitioned between each of them soloing and accompanying. I never noticed a transition between soloists until after it had happened; and I think that's a pretty huge accomplishment considering that they were only two musicians, playing instruments that sound totally different. They blended so well. Later on in the set, they were joined by the other two thirds of Brad Mehldau's trio; Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums. They didn't get featured very much; I mean, obviously with headliners like Metheney and Mehldau, the expected blue-haired ticket-buyers aren't going to want to listen to the sidemen play for too long, but I'd have liked to hear more of them. The bassist took one solo that was almost completely in quarter notes, and that was all we heard from him; I'd have liked to hear what he could have played that was more than that.
The one totally crappy thing was that we were sitting in front of two guys who talked for almost the entire show. They didn't whisper, oh no, they talked in full voice. And in some foreign language too; I think it was something Eastern European, but really, I don't know. And it doesn't matter; it was terribly rude no matter what language they were being rude in. And they talked through the very quietest parts of songs too! Just when I wanted to close my eyes and let myself just be absorbed into the music, they'd start talking and the moment would be lost. I shot them a number of pointed, derisive glares (my very best!) but those didn't work... I finally told them to stop talking, and I had to do it twice! I swear, the first time I said "Stop talking" they said "No", but my mind really doesn't want to believe that someone could be rude to that level, and I might have just heard them say a different word. At any rate, I had to turn around and tell them to be quiet twice, and they still did not stop talking. I wish someone else would have done it as well; it might have been more effective. But it's things like that that just ruin concerts for me. I can't believe that people would have that much of a lack of respect for the musicians on stage, and the people around them who paid just as much money as they did to see the concert. Seriously, if they wanted to have a conversation, they should not have come to the show. That, and people who go late to concerts are my biggest pet peeves; late comers also show an absolute lack of respect which I have a harder and harder time tolerating each time it happens. But I digress.
We made ham again today, and it was delicious again today. I think it must be some kind of trick of the oven in our house or something; all I do is make sure the meat is cooked to the right temperature inside, and it always comes out great. I've never cooked big meals like ham or turkey in not this oven though... so we'll have to see once I go home for the summer! We also had mashed potatoes, corn, homemade rolls (Kael's doing) and cornbread. 'Twas wonderful.
It's raining SO MUCH right now. It started yesterday, and it hasn't stopped, and it seems like there's going to be severe weather warnings or something, and the storm that's headed our way has wreaked havoc in lots of other places. I'm seriously not looking forward to anything that involves leaving my house in the next couple of days. Unfortunately, that involves almost everything. Oh well. If it could stop being cold, that would be fine with me.
And... I'm out.