Music and Comedy - Two Shows in One Day

I got to watch two ladies in my life perform yesterday. One was my nearly three-year-old granddaughter, who made her stage debut in a production of Alice in Wonderland as a singing flower. Always a free spirit, she left the stage for a while, but returned to complete the number with a flourish.

The company featured some entertaining performances by older children and some teenagers, who kept the story and music flowing. I hadn't seen children's theatre in as long as I could remember, so it was a little nostalgic and the unevennesses were just part of the experience.

Any time spent with a grandchild is a treat. She had her parents and two of her three sets of grandparents there to witness it, so it was a real family event, too.

After this, my wife and I headed back to our neighborhood and took in a comedy show at the Englander in San Leandro that included my very funny friend Barbara Garber. She has been generating laughs since I met her many years ago, and has a way of taking her experiences and transforming them into hilarity. Her own laugh is funny in itself and helps set the mood.

Barbara has been working seriously on spending more time onstage--which I encourage for anyone who has been around awhile and wants to pursue their passion. I think she has what it takes to really make something of this.

As for my granddaughter, there's no way to know if she will develop an interest in musical theatre, but she has made the first step.

Gordon Lightfoot Day

I read yesterday about a movement in Canada to have an official Gordon Lightfoot Day. Dave Bidini, a Canadian musician, author, journalist, music aficionado and hockey fanatic, has posted an online petition you can even sign to propose it to the Canadian government. I'm not sure that American signatures will count (officially) but I did it anyway.

Having a Gordon Lightfoot Day makes a lot of sense to me, even as an American. Gordon, while not a number-one-on-the-survey hit generator for decades, has been a continuing--and touring--musician who embodies folk music in Canada.

His "If You Could Read My Mind" was the first big hit in America, and there were others, notably "Sundown" and "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Since then--lots of albums (fewer in the 20th century)--but a continuing presence on the airwaves and in intimate convert venues.

I've been a fan since 1975, accumulating stacks of vinyl LPs, which are now replaced by CDs--which are then loaded into my iPod. I don't carry the complete works in my iPod, but I have all four of the first 1960's albums, when he was at his folkiest and Don Quixote, when he was in his prime.

One song that had a huge impact on Canadians was "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," which was a song of national celebration that came out in 1967--when Canada was celebrating its centennial. That in itself has put Lightfoot in a special place with Canadians. And--he was a native son, on the radio, someone who wasn't American or British.

Bidini has a book on Lightfoot coming out in October. Looking forward to reading that--and to hearing Gordon Lightfoot on my iPod periodically, too. And--maybe Gordon Lightfoot Day someday.

See my blog post of January 27th.

Captain America Kicks Booty - in 3D

Last night, my wife and I shared the 7:40 p.m. show with about a dozen other folks to see Captain America - the latest movie based on a Marvel Comics character. And, like the other Marvel movies, it did a great job of presenting the hero as complex, troubled, and, well, heroic.

Taking place nearly entirely during World War II, the story shows how skinny, sickly Steve Rogers wants only to serve and, thanks to amazing technology, ends up a superman. He fights an evil enemy who, ironically, owes his super powers to the same genius who created the Captain's. It's just one of the twists that keep you watching, despite what feels like a long run.

Of course, in the theaters today there are not only trailers for upcoming movies (I like these) but numerous promotions of TV shows (not a favorite, but makes some of them seem worth watching) and just plain ads too. It's like giant-screen TV. A trailer for the new, redone Spider-Man teases but then shows the date it will debut--July 3, 2012. That's a long lead time.

In any case, without giving away any of the plot, Steve Rogers survives the trials and personal tragedies that every Marvel character endures, but shows that he is truly heroic, and makes the sacrifices he must to save the day. His evil counterpart, the Red Skull, is the opposite. Remember, this is based on comic books. However, you can't help cheering the good guys and hissing the bad guys--but this shows once again that despite all the muscle, it's what's inside that counts.

Many comic moments relieve the intense action, including scenes with Tony Stark's (Iron Man) grandfather, who owns the high tech gadget market in 1940's America. Naturally, the devices explode and dials get turned up too high and fry their wiring. We laugh, but it gets the job done.

This was the 3D version, and I feel that this is both an amazing and an unnecessary technology. However, I also believe that it will become standard for all movies before too long.

We get to see Captain America next May as part of the Avengers. Can't wait.

Pick a Pair! Time for New Glasses

I've worn glasses since the first grade, so I've had a variety of pairs over the years. I've worn my most recent ones for quite a while now--rectangular semi-rimless models. That's about to change.

Glasses are an unusually personal accessory, in that if you need them, you need them all the time and they become part of your personality. While the wealthy and style conscious (Elton John comes to mind) can have a closet full to pick from, I normally select a set and have them for at least a few years before updating my look.

When I was a kid, there were few choices, and I didn't really care--as long as I could see. But, when John Lennon donned his famous little specs in 1967, suddenly I wanted those--and thought I'd be a much cooler guy when I had them. Well--I liked the look, for sure, but I'm not sure how much cooler I actually got with them on my face.

In the 1970's glasses got bigger. I remember my first big plastic pair, with glass lenses, weighing me down. Later, I went back to metal frames--and you can see them in photos I took for the Saturn brochure in summer of 1993.

Well, now that I have VPN to pay for part of the cost and my friend Gary Osias has opened his beautiful new Primary Eyecare facility, I went in last night to see what's cooking in the optical world.

For me, choosing frames is as much about how they fit on my face as it is dealing with my multiple layers of feelings about what a certain look means. The dark plastic frames that are popular (again) today tend to remind me of being a nerdy 12-year-old. As Evelyn, my skilled optician, told me, "Nerdy is cool now." How nice to know...

In any case, we started with a return to the John Lennon look--and I was surprised to see that those frames don't work for me anymore. The memories are great, but now they simply make me look old. Don't forget that those wire frames were Glenn Miller glasses too, and Harry Truman as well. We decide what makes something cool--the designs live on to become popular during their next revival.

After I dismissed returning to the little round metal kind, I was more open to suggestion. Evelyn brought out a dark plastic Gucci pair that I slipped on and was shocked--they actually looked good (although I had visions of my dad wearing them--or Phil Silvers. She took me over to the other optical folks for a second opinion. They liked them. Well, I go in for more measurements on Friday and I'll probably place the order then. I wanted something different--and it looks like I'm going to get it.

Kia Optima Hybrid--Beautiful but How Green?

I just finished up a very pleasant week with the new Kia Optima Hybrid. I'm impressed with it's overall quality, smoothness of operation, striking styling and roominess. I'm not sure I'm as excited about the fuel economy.

I earned 27.5 miles per gallon in about 400 miles of driving--much of it freeway at 65-70 mph. In my in-town driving, I did note some electric-only motoring (nice) but overall the car drives just like any other modern vehicle--nearly silent, ready to roll, neutral handling, and so on. You do feel a little of the switch from electric to gas under some circumstances, but it's not bothersome.

So what this mileage? The Optima Hybrid is comparable to the Toyota Camry Hybrid or Nissan Altima Hybrid--not the high mileage Prius. The EPA rates the Optima Hybrid at 35 City, 40 Highway. The Camry Hybrid is rated 31/35 (I got 31.5 mpg in a 2009 test car) and the Altima rates 33/33 (no real world numbers on that one yet). None of these cars claims the 50 mpg of a Prius so the Optima is sort of in the ballpark. I'd be interested to see how the numbers stack up over a longer test period.

The Greenhouse Gas scores from the EPA are all quite high--a good reason to drive a hybrid. The Optima gets 8 on both Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas (out of 10). The other two both get a virtually equivalent 9/8.

Meanwhile, Kias continue to amaze overall. I just with this one did a little better at the gas pump.

Loving Learning Languages

My mind turns to language learning now that I have an opportunity at work to dust off my old Hebrew. I spent 10 months of 1974 in Israel, studying Hebrew half the day in a classroom and working on the kibbutz the rest of the day. After my six-month program, I stayed four more months as a volunteer, using the Hebrew I'd learned to run a granary and get to know the kibbutzniks (residents).

My foreign language study actually started with Hebrew--something that Jewish kids learn at least a little bit at home. But that Hebrew was prayers over bread and wine or Chanukah candles. In Israel, the language is alive. When I arrived I saw it splashed all over signs on buildings, on every newsrack, phone booth, and you heard it all around you. I absorbed the language by osmosis, supported by the classroom work.

I studied foreign languages in school: French in 7th grade, Spanish in 8th through 11th grade, and German in the 10th. I may have been the only kid at Concord High taking (and passing) two foreign languages in the same year!

In college I took a year of Japanese to fulfill my language requirement, along with a calligraphy class. I had dabbled in martial arts briefly and was fond of sushi, so it seemed like a good idea. I also hoped to meet a nice Asian girl (but never did). Interestingly, I did take the young woman who became my first wife to a Japanese Club party on our first date, so I guess it did help.

Since college, I've studied American Sign Language (ASL) for a few years through my job. I really enjoyed it, but the classes and tutoring I was taking were getting harder to manage, and, like every other language, it takes a long time to get enough proficiency to really enjoy speaking.

Except Hebrew--because of the immersion, I did have times when it felt natural. I can still hear some phrases in my head. But, I've forgotten a lot (I can hear the Hebrew words for this phrase in my head right now). With some Israelis at work now, I am going to dive back in.

My Copper Seeking Adventure

You may not know it, but the official "modern" material for the 22nd wedding anniversary is copper. So, I decided to go out in search of something appropriate for my wife--while she's out of town. It turned out to be more difficult than I expected--but also amusing.

I started at the big mall not too far from home, at Nordstrom. Earrings perhaps? None, but I chatted with two saleswomen for awhile. Then, off to Williams Sonoma. Would they have a little copper tool or cooking item? They did--but I decided against the $255 pasta-cooking pot. My wife doesn't really need or want it (I think). It was a bit over what I was seeking.

On through the mall, to Macy's. Nothing there in the jewelry department either, and there were no little jewelry merchants in the center courtyards offering anything cute. The Hawaiian jewelers had red gold items (they told me the red came from containing some copper). Nah--not quite. Hot Topic had lots of metal jewelry, but it was all piercing supplies--not copper there.

I decided to try Cost Plus World Market--they should have SOMETHING from some exotic place, right? Well, I enjoyed my time with the three young sales clerks who took me to the wind chimes section, where I found one items that looked like copper but was really copper-colored tin. I even scanned the wine department there for a winemaker with "copper" in their name. Zilch.

Undaunted, I headed over to Pier One Imports. The friendly clerk showed me metal items here and there, but we found nothing of copper there either. I began joking with people as this search got more difficult about buying some copper wire at the hardware store or perhaps some plumbing supplies.

I went to Barnes and Noble, and with the help of a willing clerk found a book called, "Easy and Elegant Beaded Copper Jewelry." Well, I guess I could buy it and make her something. Where would I get the copper wire for this project? The person at Pier One had referred me to Bed, Bath and Beyond, where I hit paydirt--sort of. Lela, the friendly sales associate (seeing a pattern here?) went online and found lots of vases, pots, etc. available to order. We did find three copper tea kettles available in another BB&B store 20 miles away and I considered going there. But I wasn't sure I really wanted to buy a tea kettle when we already have an electric one that works fine.

I considered visiting some street craftsmen on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.

I tried going online. http://www.ilovecopper.com/ has a huge selection of great earrings. But where could I find these in person? Now? I found a bunch on etsy.com, too, so I decided I'd offer that to my wife when she returns. That--and the 1972 penny I got in my change at Starbucks. That's the only copper I brought home, but I did think about my wife all day--a good thing.