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sound and fury

Went to see our favorite Ren Faire players on Saturday - Sound and Fury. We heard they were doing some improve shows in Atwater and Gary arranged for us to go. It was a really small and intimate group, about 25 in the audience. They took suggestions from the audience and did different improv skits. They also made up a fake Shakespearian play. It was cool to see them outside of Ren Faire having fun.

New Bike shoes

Over the weekend I bit the bullet and bought fancy bike shoes. I have been using regular running shoes on pedals with cages to ride my bike. But most "real" cyclist wear shoes that clip into the pedal so you can pull up and push down as you ride.

I was afraid to buy them, partly because they are expensive and partly because it can be hard to learn to clip in and out and this leads to embarrassing falls. But I was encouraged after posting my dilemma on a great triathlon forum. You can see my thread. The great thing about web forums is that you can find people online who share you interest in some bizarre and obscure subject and they are happy to give you advice. Ah the beauty of the web, uniting esoteric interests.

BCC site launch

I would like to annouce the launch of Beth Chaim Chadashim's new website. I have been working on this project for my synagogue for several months now and I am glad to see it finally get the green light.

Mallory to visit

Yeah, I'm so happy that my cousin Mallory is coming to visit this weekend. :)

Oh, yah ... and my brother Ari too.

Personal Best distances

Over the weekend I hit two personal bests in terms of distances. On saturday I ran 10.5 miles. Sunday I rode my bike 41 miles. Today, I am taking a rest.

Youth Concert

Gary and I went to see a symphony performance at the new Disney Concert Hall yesterday. I was mainly interested to see the new structure - I had heard the architecture was funky. The hall is nontraditional on the inside too - the seats are placed all around the stage, not just in front of the orchestra. It even has a "stadium seating" style to the rows.

Though performance was well done, I was more disappointed by the audience than the musicians. Symphony orchestra concert ettiquette is different from Rock concert ettiquette.

I will try to explain. People mainly did not know when to clap. For example - one does not clap after a particular performer does a good solo, you don't applaud after every piece - only when the whole movement is finished, and only when the conductor has put down his baton. There were several times when the audience would start applauding - but it was just a pause in the music - or worse - when the soloist was just holding a note or resting between notes. When the orchestra continued playing - you couldn't hear because they were clapping. I guess people just aren't familiar with how classical music goes, hopefully if they go again the will have figured these things out.