I was pleasantly surprised to find out, on a recent trip to the farmer’s market downtown, that one of the little theatres was going to be putting on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s been fun to insert Shakespeare plays into our history education, but the result has been hit or miss. The 1953 movie version [...]
I have to say this year has been exciting, and at times spectacular for me. In February, I got to revisit Germany for the first time in many, many years. I had a great time, but I missed my family much more than I expected to. And one lasting part of the experience is that [...]
When we went downtown to visit Peter and have fun on Friday, Kelly and I got off a different light rail stop to see if it was any different to get to the office. As it turned out, the sidewalks in front of the Tech Museum were being closed off an we had to wander [...]
My favorite radio station is XM Ethel, a satellite station that purports to play current alternative music. And about half the time they do. The other half of the time, they play Nirvana. It puzzles me, because Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1993, effectively ending the band fifteen years ago. And personally, I was already [...]
Last night, Peter and I went to San Francisco to see Stan Ridgway perform at the Great American Music Hall. It was one of the most enjoyable concerts I’ve seen in a long time, and the acoustics at the Great American Music Hall (which I’d never been in before) were great.
I haven’t really been in [...]
When the San Francisco Symphony played at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in October, I thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime treat. So I was incredibly thrilled to find out they were putting on another free concert on Tuesday: and now it’s just foosteps away from our office.
In a way, the outdoor concerts are nicer for [...]
Thanks to James Hudnall for discovering “Gorbachov: The Music Video.” If this isn’t everything I’ve ever wanted in a music video…..
Socialist realist imagery! Zombie Stalins! Super Conan the Barbarian Gorbachov! Russian folk music interlude! Conspicuous consumer glee! Tacky sexual innuendo! It’d be even better if the Russian singers were singing it in Russian, but at [...]
Joel just tagged me to list 7 songs I’m into right now, or actually 7 songs I’m listening to now, whether I like them or not. I haven’t been listening to music as much as I usually do, since a) I’m driving a lot less, and b) I’m busy homeschooling Neil. But I could still [...]
In preparation for my trip to Germany, I’m watching YouTube clips of “Deutschland Sucht ein Superstar,” (DSDS) Germany’s version of “American Idol, and reading Germany’s tabloid newspaper, Das Bild. The two converged recently in a story that puts the nanny into “nanny state.”
Just as context, DSDS is a lot like “American Idol” and the show [...]
The Berlin & Beyond German film festival is going on at the Castro Theatre, and one of the films that caught my eye was one called “The Red Elvis.” Who was that I wondered? I know of several Russian rock icons; maybe this was a film of one of them. But rather, “the red Elvis” [...]
