Holy Carp it's February 16th!

I can't believe February is more than halfway over. Where does the time go? This year is flying by. I haven't even used any vacation days yet. I could really use a small weekend getaway, but I just have been too busy at work. Plus I haven't really wanted to spend too much money, since I've been spending a lot on things for my apartment lately. I did get a snow day this week (on Wednesday) which was nice, except I got a little bored after spending the whole day in my apartment. I baked some Valentine's Day cupcakes to amuse myself, and I did have Keith around for half the day. I started a new video game - BTVS, Chaos Bleeds. It's ok, just a hack and slash basically, but it's kind of fun to hear the characters talking. They weren't able to secure all the actors to be voice talent for the game. Xander is definitely himself, but Buffy and Willow are sound-alikes (if there is such a thing). Giles I think might be himself too, and Spike definitely is done by James Marsters. What's weird is that the game combines plot elements from like the first 5 seasons, at least. Kakistos (Faith's vamp from Season 3 ep 3) makes an appearance, but so does the Magic Box. And Anya and Tara both exist, but Dawn doesn't. It's wacky. It's fun to turn on now and again though. I also finally started Chibi Robo (which Keith gave me for Hanukkah.) It's fun, but man, the sounds the characters make are SO annoying, and they won't let you advance the dialogue faster, or skip cut scenes. Arg. But I love Chibi - he's the cutest. And it's fun to explore. However, I'm stuck at the moment. I can't figure out how to get upstairs. I got down to the basement with no problem, but upstairs seems to be missing a step. Grr. Keith says I should just give in and go to gamefaq.com, but I insist that it's cheating to check that site. He disagrees. Se la vie. But back to vacation, there is one that I'm thinking about. Besides hopefully going up to Beantown the third weekend of March, Keith and I just got an intriguing idea from Shaun the other day. We're now considering going to Ultra 9 in Miami. We went to the first Ultra NYC and had a great time, but the lineup of the NY show doesn't compare to what they've got going in Miami. It's just so much more established down there, plus it coincides with Winter Music Conference - gear and tunes at the same time, you know. Anyway, I'm trying to convince him that we should go down. The lineup is literally insane. They've only released 2/3 of the lineup and it goes something like this: Tiesto, PVD, Morillo, Sasha, Digweed, Ferry Corsten, Deep Dish, Sander Kleinenberg, Fat Boy Slim, Carl Cox, Danny Tenaglia, Richie Hawtin, Mauro Picotto, Timo Maas, BT, and so so many more. There are a bunch of Drum and Bass people that Keith likes too (most of whom I've never heard of.) It's two days of electronic music heaven. Way way better than DEMF. The only problem is that trying to fly to Miami in March is really expensive, and it's hard to find flights that aren't at 6am or 11pm. And hotels - foggedaboudit. Very very expensive. So I dunno what we'll do. If only I knew someone who lived down there that we could stay with. Or if other people who we liked were going that we could shack up with for rooming. Like 4 people in 1 hotel room or something. We'd be too tired from dancing all night to want to do anything but sleep, so I don’t see privacy being an issue. I'm sure Keith won't want to stay with Whippany guys if they're going down, though. Anyway, food for thought. I have a crazy weekend ahead of me. Party tonight at my sister's friend (and my old Piano teacher) Peter's house. I've gotta bake cupcakes and put the finishing touches on his stenciled shirt when I get home from work tonight, and then head to Montville to pick up Keith and go down there. I'll put up a pic of the shirt later (and maybe the cupcakes too!) For now, I should get back to work. Since it's crazy busy.

NJSO - Shoes all shined up

Wow. Keith and I went to an NJSO (New Jersey Symphony Orchestra) concert tonight at NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center), and boy have they shaped up! Not only are the renovations to the theater absolutely beautiful, but the orchestra itself is blooming under their new conductor, a personal favorite of mine, Neeme Jarvi.

Let me start at the beginning. First of all, the NJSO has a great student program with regard to ticketing. Keith and I were able to purchase what's known as a "Class Pass." Costing $32 per person, a class pass is 4 vouchers to future concerts that can be redeemed as tickets are available. So Keith and I redeemed our first set of tickets to this past Saturday's concert - "Russia's Mighty Five." We were seated (for our $8 each) in row T of the orchestra section. Now most people would probably be impressed with the quality of seating given to student ticket holders, but true aficionados of the symphony know the best acoustics are actually in the balcony. In row T we had a wall just 2 rows behind us, off of which the percussion section's sound was bouncing all night, causing an abundance of beat for Keith and I. But that was okay because we knew it was the fault of the acoustics and not the orchestra.

The lineup of the concert was based on a group of composers credited with developing what we think of as "Russian sound," and known as "Russia's Mighty Five" or "The Big Five." These composers are (in decreasing order of fame, to most): Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky, Mili Balakirev, Alexander Borodin, and Cesar Cui. A lot of pieces with which I'm very familiar, but have never heard live, were on the lineup. The first portion of the concert was a solo pianist (who I've never heard) Jie Chen, performing works by Mussorgsky, Cui, and Balakirev. After the first intermission, the orchestra came on stage and performed the same Balakirev piece Chen had just finished, "Islamey," as it was orchestrated after his death by one of his students, Liapounov. Neeme OWNED this piece. He was a sprite, a pogo stick, a ringleader on the podium. He really made you know just what you were supposed to feel from the piece, and he interacted so dynamically with his musicians you could practically see wires connecting them to each other. He was like a puppeteer. And "Islamey," what a piece! The next piece, was the posthumously well known "Night on Bald Mountain," given more widespread exposure through Disney's "Fantasia." I thought that Neeme missed the mark on this piece. He seemed, in the most climactic parts, to be blunt - too eager to "blow his load" as it were. And he lost touch with the orchestra, in my opinion, because of this eagerness. They weren't as clearly with him as they had been in the last piece. Also, he over dramatized the contrast between the climax sections and the slow interludes, and build-up sections. I dunno, it just wasn't doing it for me. Leopold Stokowsky pretty much takes the cake on that piece. After Mussorgsky was Borodin's appearance with the "Polovtzian Dances" from Prince Igor. I was pretty pleased with these, though I thought the second dance (more of a pavane than a dance) was a little (again) rushed. Mostly, quite beautiful though. There was a second intermission at this point, followed by the epic (42 minute) Scheherazade of Rimsky-Korsakov. Though the two main themes of this piece are clear and quite dominant throughout, it is still captivating for all 42 minutes, changing tone and feeling quite often. For me, at least.

So overall, I'd say a stellar concert. Also, I forgot to mention that before the concert they now do "concert talks" where they discuss some aspects of note in at least one of the works they intend to perform. Very cool, and very much in the spirit (which I appreciate) of make classical music "more accessible." So in short (or long) I can't wait for my next NJSO concert!