Missed my usual Sunday post. No particular reason, except that I was loggy from lying out in the sun, and couldn't rouse myself to do much of anything.
As advertised, things have been slowing down. A lot of the snowbirds leave around now - fewer tables at the bridge games, no cars on the road, no lines at the restaurants, and, of course, fewer activities, cultural or otherwise.
Not totally bereft of activities, though. I had coffee on El Paseo with new friend Nancy. She and I met and chatted on several of the OLLI (for those of you who have already forgotten, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) activities, and decided that we might try rooming together for the Adriatic trip in 2019. Have I mentioned that yet? Anyway, more about it later - it is a long way away yet. Suffice it to say that, as all of you singles out there know, a ship cabin is almost as expensive for one as for two, so it was worth exploring the idea of sharing. After a delightful morning, we have pretty well agreed that we will be able to pull it off. (She has earplugs just in case I snore - David said that I didn't, but then, he would never say anything bad about me, and I have gotten older since then - and she has other friends aboard with whom she can drink the copious amount of wine she alleges she consumes. Well, as I said, more anon.
Tuesday was Jazz at the Rep, the first time I attended. I wouldn't exactly call it a concert. The venue was intimate, very informal; it was more like a jam session, with Peter Sprague on guitar and Leonard Patton on "drums" and vocals. Both were excellent - Peter has worked with the likes of Chick Corea and Pat Metheny - and the audience was enthusiastic. I could have done with less patter and more music, but, overall, a nice evening. I will join them for their concerts next season.
Wednesday was the long-awaited Warner Brothers studio tour. This was organized in conjunction with one of the OLLI movie courses this year. I didn't attend this one, but all were invited on the trip, so we had a busload of 60 for the trip to Burbank. Butch Epps, the instructor, had arranged for a movie about the original Warner brothers to amuse us on the 2 1/2 hour busride, and it was a big success, informative and full of Hollywood gossip as well, and who doesn't like Hollywood gossip. We had lunch at the canteen (no stars, though), and had a three hour guided tour of the back lots and sound stages and sets and prop departments which make up a working studio. Some highlights:
...the infamous Warner Brothers water tower, the original, with logo...
....the more infamous Bugs Bunny and friends.. (also known as the rabbit who made a studio...)
...our intrepid tour guide and jitney driver (we divided up into groups of 15, and each tour, as could be expected, was different. Jessica, here, obviously loves the movies, and it was infectious....
...just one of many outdoor locations....
Warner Brothers also does the Marvel Comics movies.....
......as well as all things Harry Potter.....
...here, a pile of rejected scripts.....
..... and here, Nora holding an Oscar. (They are surprisingly heavy....)
For all you old time movie buffs out there, Warner Brothers also put out the oldies but goodies such as Casablanca, the Maltese Falcon, Blade Runner, and many, many more.
So, after a coffee at Central Perk (Friends, anyone? Yes, they do television too...), we were back on the bus with the 1938 Warner Brothers version of Robin Hood to amuse us on the way home.
Altogether a successful trip. Not only did the tour itself live up to expectations, it is very nice to - slowly, slowly - get to know some of the regulars on these trips, lots of varied backgrounds, but a coming thread of the love of learning.
Speaking of learning, Friday was the last class in the Canadian Voices series, this time about First Nations actors and singers, including Gary Farmer, Adam Beach and Irene Bedard, none of whom I had even heard of, which in and of itself is a statement. In particular, we watched a film called Red Velvet, with Andrea Menard. Not only does she have a voice like an angel, but it was a wonderful telling of the story of someone caught between two worlds.
So, fewer activities, more time for reading. Pretty eclectic pickings at the library this time. First, Wallis in Love, about Wallis Simpson and the future Edward VIII. This was written by Andrew Morton, the royal watcher more famous for his biography of Princess Diana. Pretty trashy, really, but I did learn (and/or confirm) some factoids, including the rampant anti-Semitism of the Royal House of Windsor. Simpson probably saved the world from the rule of a Hitler-loving idiot! Anyway, like most trashy books, I couldn't put it down....
Next was Fools and Mortals, by Bernard Cornwell, a wonderful piece of fluff around Shakespeare's London, the rise of the theater as we know it, and the creation of Midsummer Night's Dream. Fiction, of course, but lots of clever allusions (to things like Equivocation, for example), and Queen Elizabeth's court. Altogether delightful.
Finally, Death in St. Petersburg, by Tasha Alexander. As you know, I am going to Russia this summer, hence the fascination for anything having to do with Russia in the title. This one turned out well, a mystery set in 1900 tzarist Russia, specifically the Marinsky Theater and the Ballet Russe. No great expenditure of little grey cells required, but lots of good descriptions of St. Petersburg and the Hermitage, and a good read.
Two final thoughts:
"A moral monopoly is the antithesis of a marketplace of ideas." Thomas Sowell
and, the final word...
"Worrying won't stop the bad stuff from happening, it just stops you from enjoying the good." Charlie Brown
Which fits right in with my philosophy of not worrying about things I can't do anything about...
As advertised, things have been slowing down. A lot of the snowbirds leave around now - fewer tables at the bridge games, no cars on the road, no lines at the restaurants, and, of course, fewer activities, cultural or otherwise.
Not totally bereft of activities, though. I had coffee on El Paseo with new friend Nancy. She and I met and chatted on several of the OLLI (for those of you who have already forgotten, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) activities, and decided that we might try rooming together for the Adriatic trip in 2019. Have I mentioned that yet? Anyway, more about it later - it is a long way away yet. Suffice it to say that, as all of you singles out there know, a ship cabin is almost as expensive for one as for two, so it was worth exploring the idea of sharing. After a delightful morning, we have pretty well agreed that we will be able to pull it off. (She has earplugs just in case I snore - David said that I didn't, but then, he would never say anything bad about me, and I have gotten older since then - and she has other friends aboard with whom she can drink the copious amount of wine she alleges she consumes. Well, as I said, more anon.
Tuesday was Jazz at the Rep, the first time I attended. I wouldn't exactly call it a concert. The venue was intimate, very informal; it was more like a jam session, with Peter Sprague on guitar and Leonard Patton on "drums" and vocals. Both were excellent - Peter has worked with the likes of Chick Corea and Pat Metheny - and the audience was enthusiastic. I could have done with less patter and more music, but, overall, a nice evening. I will join them for their concerts next season.
Wednesday was the long-awaited Warner Brothers studio tour. This was organized in conjunction with one of the OLLI movie courses this year. I didn't attend this one, but all were invited on the trip, so we had a busload of 60 for the trip to Burbank. Butch Epps, the instructor, had arranged for a movie about the original Warner brothers to amuse us on the 2 1/2 hour busride, and it was a big success, informative and full of Hollywood gossip as well, and who doesn't like Hollywood gossip. We had lunch at the canteen (no stars, though), and had a three hour guided tour of the back lots and sound stages and sets and prop departments which make up a working studio. Some highlights:
...the infamous Warner Brothers water tower, the original, with logo...
....the more infamous Bugs Bunny and friends.. (also known as the rabbit who made a studio...)
...our intrepid tour guide and jitney driver (we divided up into groups of 15, and each tour, as could be expected, was different. Jessica, here, obviously loves the movies, and it was infectious....
...just one of many outdoor locations....
Warner Brothers also does the Marvel Comics movies.....
......as well as all things Harry Potter.....
...here, a pile of rejected scripts.....
..... and here, Nora holding an Oscar. (They are surprisingly heavy....)
So, after a coffee at Central Perk (Friends, anyone? Yes, they do television too...), we were back on the bus with the 1938 Warner Brothers version of Robin Hood to amuse us on the way home.
Altogether a successful trip. Not only did the tour itself live up to expectations, it is very nice to - slowly, slowly - get to know some of the regulars on these trips, lots of varied backgrounds, but a coming thread of the love of learning.
Speaking of learning, Friday was the last class in the Canadian Voices series, this time about First Nations actors and singers, including Gary Farmer, Adam Beach and Irene Bedard, none of whom I had even heard of, which in and of itself is a statement. In particular, we watched a film called Red Velvet, with Andrea Menard. Not only does she have a voice like an angel, but it was a wonderful telling of the story of someone caught between two worlds.
So, fewer activities, more time for reading. Pretty eclectic pickings at the library this time. First, Wallis in Love, about Wallis Simpson and the future Edward VIII. This was written by Andrew Morton, the royal watcher more famous for his biography of Princess Diana. Pretty trashy, really, but I did learn (and/or confirm) some factoids, including the rampant anti-Semitism of the Royal House of Windsor. Simpson probably saved the world from the rule of a Hitler-loving idiot! Anyway, like most trashy books, I couldn't put it down....
Next was Fools and Mortals, by Bernard Cornwell, a wonderful piece of fluff around Shakespeare's London, the rise of the theater as we know it, and the creation of Midsummer Night's Dream. Fiction, of course, but lots of clever allusions (to things like Equivocation, for example), and Queen Elizabeth's court. Altogether delightful.
Finally, Death in St. Petersburg, by Tasha Alexander. As you know, I am going to Russia this summer, hence the fascination for anything having to do with Russia in the title. This one turned out well, a mystery set in 1900 tzarist Russia, specifically the Marinsky Theater and the Ballet Russe. No great expenditure of little grey cells required, but lots of good descriptions of St. Petersburg and the Hermitage, and a good read.
Two final thoughts:
"A moral monopoly is the antithesis of a marketplace of ideas." Thomas Sowell
and, the final word...
"Worrying won't stop the bad stuff from happening, it just stops you from enjoying the good." Charlie Brown
Which fits right in with my philosophy of not worrying about things I can't do anything about...
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