Monday, February 29, 2016

Leap Day

Today reminded me that Frank and I attended a local performance of the Pirates of Penzance last month, on January 16th. Most folks are familiar to some extent with the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera. A young man, Frederic, reaches the age of 21 and wants to be released from his indentured term to a group of pirates. His obligation to their service was initiated when he was a young boy due to a mistake by his nanny who was supposed to indenture him in training to a pilot. See her error?  Pi-lot versus Pi-rot? Two thirds of a pun – PU. I know. Just go with it.


But why post about this on Leap Day? Because the pirate in the play poster is leaping? No. Because of the paradox, the paradox, a most ingenious paradox. I cannot get that song out of my head today. The irony of Leap Day catches up with Frederic and thwarts his noble desires to break free of the pirates. I looked up the lyrics to that catchy tune and posted some of them below. You can listen to the amusing ditty in its entirety on YouTube.

Chorus
A paradox, a paradox,
A most ingenious paradox.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
This paradox.

Pirate King Verse (intoning like you would hear at a church service)
For some ridiculous reason, to which, however, I’ve no desire to be disloyal,
Some person in authority, I don’t know who, very likely the Astronomer Royal,
Has decided that, although for such a beastly month as February,
twenty-eight days as a rule are plenty,
One year in every four his days shall be reckoned as nine and twenty.
Through some singular coincidence – I shouldn’t be surprised if it were owing to the agency of an ill-natured fairy –
You are the victim of this clumsy arrangement, having been born in leap-year, on the twenty-ninth of February;
And so, by a simple arithmetical process, you’ll easily discover,
That though you’ve lived twenty-one years, yet, if we go by birthdays,
you’re only five, and a little bit over!

The comic opera is a friendly romp and the clever lyrics make the show. A lot of ribald physical comedy was there, too. Like the majority of the audience, Frank and I were quite engaged by the fast paced tongue twister lyrics of the major general song. In case you were always going to look those words up – some day – and perhaps even memorize them – some day – well, here they are. At least the first third or so. Wikipedia has the full lyrics.

Major-General
I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.




The show entertained. Some of the sopranos had high beautiful voices, crystal clear and as melodious as a bell. One or two however, although succeeding in attaining notes in the high operatic octave, had voices that could shatter crystal or at least pierce a few eardrums. Even that was cause for a bit of merry consternation. The performers, too, seemed to be enjoying the show and did not take themselves too seriously. It was a fun night out, close to home, reasonable priced, at a light comical opera where one could suspend disbelief. That's not a bad experience. We aim to repeat it oftener than once every four years.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Frozen - Disney on Ice

Sunday February 21st, Frank and I took Alex to see the Disney On Ice show Frozen. Alex loves going on these outings. As can be seen by all the empty seats around us, I like to get there early and get settled in.


We usually get Alex a program to look at before the show. If we wait too late, he insists on trying to peruse it once the show has started, even in the dark. Alex was quite intent on flipping through the pages of his huge, glossy program.


After my several attempts at a selfie of us all, every shot pretty awful looking, we asked a friendly usher to take our picture. This photo turned out much better, even if Alex's mouth is full of french fries!


We had a good vantage point of the ice from our seats, up high enough to get a good overview of the full cast extravaganza numbers. From here, without craning our necks, we could also enjoy the full effects of the lighting and swirling snow. The guard rail before us was over a stairwell entry and so no one was in front of us.


Alex stayed engaged throughout the entire performance and we all really enjoyed the show. Unlike some Disney On Ice shows that try to weave a story out of seemingly unconnected scenes, this one followed the storyline of Frozen very faithfully. The special effects and vocal music during Elsa skating to the Let it Go musical number were awesome. The song and staging start out very serenely with soft music, snow gently drifting down, and an arena dimly lit with calm blue lighting.

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I'm the queen.

By the climax of the song, the powerful voice is quite chilling and a spectacular ice bridge appears. Skating jumps, spins, and spirals abound in the choreography. I felt like I was truly engulfed in a raging blizzard.

My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back,
The past is in the past!
LET IT GO!


Staging of supporting characters was quite creative, also. The lovable snowman Olaf, with his sporadic loss or rearrangement of body parts was very cleverly done. During the wry song Fixer Upper, the childhood troll friends of Kristoff make their appearance as rolling stones careening chaotically across the ice. I still am not sure if they were automated or contained small or crouching skaters. I love the verse from the song.

So he's a bit of a fixer upper
But we know what to do
The way to fix this fixer upper
Is to fix him up with you


It was a great outing. We were grinning like the trolls in the above photo. From left to right just nickname them Frank, Alex, and Diane. I am so glad we set aside the time to have fun and truly LET IT GO!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Renewed Reading

My last post about a book was way back in November 9, 2015. It is true we had the holidays in there that kept me busy, but it is more than that. I was stuck reading a book that really did not excite me but I hung in there thinking it would get better. It did not, and I never really picked up an alternative because I was already in the middle of a book. I was trying to get through Wishful Thinking. It is the story of a single working mom of two young boys who gets at app on her cell that allows her to be two places at once. I found her job and her kids' recital both yawn-worthy and the book was weighed down with stereotypes. I had higher hopes because it was recommended by Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project author and I generally like her writing. I guess I like what Gretchen writes but not necessarily what she reads. I did not finish Wishful Thinking and so did not enter it on my 2015  book list. I wish I had set it aside sooner and I wish I had picked other books to read.


One source of book recommendations for me comes from my daughter-in-law, Carrie. Annually she sends her book club's picks for the next twelve months of the year. I like to try to read what she does, but I do not always share the taste of her club members, so I pick and choose what appeals. This year Carrie sent me a second list as well, from another source. It was thirteen books about to be made into movies so if I wanted to read them beforehand, I'd been given fair warning. This list inspired me.

One of those soon-to-be-a-movie books was The BFG. When my daughter Robin was in third grade, her teacher read that story aloud to the class, a little bit each day. The kids lapped it up, so I was curious. It is by Roald Dahl and he writes really strange stuff. The book is a lighthearted romp across the countryside involving a Big Friendly Giant (BFG) and a littler orphan girl. The language is very creative; e.g., the giant does not want to be put in the zoo with "the jiggyraffes and cattypiddlers". And, even though it is a children's book, the tongue in cheek references can be enjoyed by an adult. For example, giants eat human beans but the Greeks from Greece are very greasy and the ones from Panama taste very strongly of hats. Did I like this book? It was off-the-wall, cute, clever, humorous, and satisfied my curiosity as one of those books I've heard of but never pursued reading. It was not stellar but I am glad I read it. Since it can almost be devoured in one sitting, my time investment was minimal and I no longer need to wonder about it.


Curious about the author who writes such macabre and inventive books, I checked out the Wikipedia article on Roald Dahl. I have a lot more respect for this author after having read of his experiences. His life was far from mundane. He was an ace fighter pilot. He coped with several children and a wife each who suffered various challenging health issues. He was a co-inventor of a valve to alleviate hydrocephalus. The article was very fascinating, reporting that even after death, "He was buried with his snooker cues, some very good burgundy, chocolates, HB pencils and a power saw. Today, children continue to leave toys and flowers by his grave."

Referring back to that list of thirteen books-soon-to-be-movies that Carrie sent me, I have read three of them now, currently have two of them checked out of the library, and we own two. I now have a reading goal and guidance for 2016!
  1. Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them by Newt Scamander
  2. Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
  3. The BFG by Roald Dahl (this post)
  4. Let It Snow by John Green
  5. I Take You by Eliza Kennedy
  6. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
  7. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (my post for 6/28/15)
  8. Inferno by Dan Brown
  9. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children' by Ransom Riggs
  10. The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
  11. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
  12. Allegiant by Veronica Rot
  13. The Girl On The Train' by Paula Hawkins (my post for 5/16/15)
The link that describes these books in more detail is
https://www.romper.com/p/13-books-to-read-before-they-become-movies-in-2016-2721
In 2015, I read twenty-nine books, the first four in January. I am off to a very slow and shaky start in 2016. Oh, well – it is a leap year and I will have an extra day...