Lucky to see a concert version of TURANDOT, which utilized the entire DSO and several huge choirs. It was three hours of gorgeous music. It was sad that Leonard Slatkin had to miss his last few performances due to heart surgery. He has been a real blessing to the DSO and Detroit.
Also saw the best movie I have seen so far this year FIRST REFORMED. Ethan Hawkes gets better with each film and this film is Paul Schrader's masterpiece at age 72. Hope it comes your way. Certainly it is not a happy film but it is a redemptive one.
Reading MRS. FLETCHER by Tom Perotta and essays by Sloane Crossley and short stories by Curtis Sittenfeld.
Finishing up the final three episodes of THE STAIRCASE on Netflix. Seems like I have been watching this saga all my adult life.
14 comments:
So glad you saw/heard such beautiful music. That's enough to lift anyone up!
The weather was perfect in Western NY this week: low 79s during the day, 50s at night. I wish the whole Summer was like this (but I know it will heat up in July).
Enjoyed my 69th Birthday. Diane gave me a funny card and gift cards to AMC and one of my favorite restaurants.
Enjoyed reading about smart women in Michelle Dean's SHARP.: THE WOMEN WHO MADE AN ART OF HAVING AN OPINION.
Looking forward to THE INCREDIBLES 2 later this week!
The Tony Awards, so much better done than the Oscars all the way around. I was glad to see THE BAND's VISIT win 10 awards.
A week of decent weather, at least temperature-wise.
The Yankees continue to roll (other than last night), led by some wonderful rookies. After a 9-9 start, they are 33-10 (after losing last night).
Lots of good short story collections, which have been pushing out most other reading.
We have four concerts scheduled for the next three weeks, starting with Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle & the Dukes, and Dwight Yoakam Wednesday night at the Beacon. We also have tickets (at last) to see THE BOOK OF MORMON next Sunday.
I love this time of year, when the sun rises before 5:30 and sets after 8:30 pm. So much better than December.
We're enjoying TRAVELERS and THE RAIN on Netflix, plus several new shows on various other channels, with more scheduled as we finish the ones we're watching. It is so much better than the regular networks' schedules.
The Stoneman Douglas students at the Tonys also made me very happy, in a weepy sort of way. Also, although I'm not one for public vulgarity, De Niro's bleeped words put a smile on my face.
Christina dropped Jack off at his summer camp and came home to find a humongous snapping turtle in her garage. No idea where it came from; it wasn't there when she left twenty minutes before. That sucker was about three feet long from head to tail! She called Walt at work to let him know and he immediately drove home.although she told him it wasn't necessary. Walt happens to a nature and outdoor freak and he just couldn't pass this up. the man was just giddy. There's video of Walt very carefully picking up the snapper by its tail and placing it in a large container. Walt and Mark then re-homed the turtle to a safe location. Walt later wrote on Facebook, "Best Monday EVER!"
Jessamyn had her second round of chemo this week and it went well. The expected nausua and tiredness showed up two days later. The girls are keeping a close watch on their mother show she doesn't over-exert herself. One more round to go, then to decide where to go from there. The tumor is shrinking.
Living room/dining room area and hallway are now painted. Looks great!
Stephen King and Bill Pronzini helped make for a great week.
Willow, Christina's cat who has been living with us, is recovering nicely from the mysterious gash that had her bleeding all over the place. She was not happy about the medicines that I had to give her, though. I still have to clean up the blood in our guest bathroom. (Or perhaps I'll wait until guests come to give them a shock. I'm evil that way.)
There is nothing like great music, is there? Have a fantastic week!
We saw a great movie I bet you'd like. You've probably seen it. Thee billboards outside ebbing Missouri
Weather was crappy yesterday but looks good this week. 70's to low 80's.
Saw Hereditary yesterday. Great performance from Toni Colette. Plan to see First Reformed this week.
Read a few good books-How It Happened by Michael Koryta and A Single Spy by William Christie. Reading The Shadow Killer by Arnaldur Indridason right now. Up next The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs.
Felt odd watching Anthony Bourdains show last night knowing he just died. I was a big fan and will miss him.
Also have tickets for the Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakum show in August. Also have tickets for David Byrne and Alejandro Escovedo/Joe Ely shows in August.
The above was from me. Hit the wrong key and it came up anonymous.
Steve, we saw Lucinda last year, and have seen Earle with his charity concert for his severely autistic son's school the last two years. first with guest Graham Nash, and last year with Emmylou Harris.
We also have tickets this month for John Fogerty with ZZ Top at Jones Beach, plus a doo wop concert at the Beacon that Bill Crider would have loved, followed by the latest inncarnation of the Happy Together Tour at the ballpark in Coney Island.
The film Hereditary fell into that seemingly vast and endless category of movies that have been absurdly over-rated and over-hyped, i thought it was fair-to-middling but it certainly didn`t 'possess' (pardon the pun) the supposed greatness that i`d been led to believe from reading some of the reveiws beforehand.
Patti, I'm happy when you're happy.
Barbara really enjoyed the Tony Awards last night, and put on the headphones and cranked it up. I was in another room reading, and missed it, but that's okay. I'm reading A KILLING IN QUAIL COUNTY, a book I got at a mystery con in 1996, had it signed, and it's been on the shelf since. I must have seen the author on a panel, but I have no memory of it. I'll probably finish it today, as Barbara will be gone all day at her quilt group.
I read and pretty much enjoyed TRIGGER MORTIS by Anthony Horowitz, a new James Bond novel. I hadn't read any of the "new ones" (anything not written by Fleming) but this wasn't bad.
We had rain Friday, Saturday, which was too bad as the Grand Floral Parade was Saturday, with bands, floats and the whole shebang, but the sun did come out a few times and people seemed to be happy. Then the rain continued steadily all day yesterday and last night, but it has cleared this morning. Should be a good reading day today.
Steve-how scary was HEREDITY?
Yes, Charles I did see THREE BILLBOARDS. I had so mixed feelings about it but liked the performances.
Since I hadn't seen any of the plays this year I passed on the Tonys. I did manage to watch some of it later.
Jerry-Dob't know why they can't find meds for the nausea. That is the biggest problem for Phil. He just had his 17th chemo. What a horror.
My only concerts are classical nowadays.
I don't find any movies scary. Hereditary builds up a lot of tension tho. I would give it a 4 out of 5. Worth seeing for Toni Colettes performance alone.
Glad you liked First Reformed. Ethan Hawke is a much underrated actor.
Not a fan of classical music. Spent years listening to it as background music while working in bookstores and got burned out on it.
Didn't watch the Tonys since I'm not a play goer. Had a girlfriend about 25 years ago who dragged me to a lot of plays-Cats(hated), Phantom of the Opera(hated), Heidi Chronicles(this won a Pulitzer? Not as funny as any one episode of Seinfield), M Butterfly(this one I liked).
Take care of yourselves. The world is a wondrous but horrific place. At least in my stories. Love you all.
I was on vacation through Wednesday. I took the Scout Troop to Potawatomi State Park next to Sturgeon Bay for a camping trip on Monday through mid-day Wednesday. The weather was perfect. Boy #1 came along but I could not convince Boy #2 to go. Boy #2 hates bugs and bug spray.
I've lately been camping on the ground and covered/wrapped in a tarp for morning dew. For the first night this week I brought along my hammock because it has bug netting. The first night I laid it on my sleeping mat on the ground. Since rain was forecast the second night I went ahead and hung the hammock. Sleeping in that thing is not easy for a lot of reasons.
There is a free outdoor concert in Madison, WI tomorrow night that I hope to attend. A local music venue has the street in front of the venue shut down and hosts a series of free concerts.
The children are out of school. Boy #1 should get a job but already has about 3 weeks worth of events scheduled. I don't know how many jobs would take him on with those absences.
Post a Comment