Belshazzar's Feast

Here's a cool review of the concert Catherine participated in last week. We went on Thursday night -- very impressive! And, no...I couldn't pick Catherine's voice out of the crowd....

Stockton Symphony ends its season with a big finish

Rhonelle Runner
Special to The Record
Published Saturday, Apr 8, 2006

At first glance, the final concert of the Stockton Symphony's 2005-06 season appeared short and sweet, with only three pieces on the program.

Appearances can be deceiving, however, and that was certainly the case here. One piece is short, one piece is sweet, but the third is something else entirely. The program will be repeated tonight at Atherton Auditorium.

The concert opened with Aaron Copland's brief "Outdoor Overture" from 1938, featuring solo trumpet passages nicely played by Brian Anderson. The orchestra performed well but without much distinction. Fortunately for the audience, the players seemed to become more engaged as the evening progressed.

Next on the program was Johannes Brahms' tuneful "Variations on a Theme by J. Haydn" which included some wonderful moments for the woodwinds, especially the oboes. The choice to program this particular piece proved timely, as conductor Peter Jaffe announced that Bob and Marcia Davis, two of the symphony's three oboists, were retiring after 25 years with the orchestra.

The focal point of the evening was William Walton's massive oratorio "Belshazzar's Feast," featuring baritone soloist Ralph Cato and the combined voices of the Stockton Chorale, San Joaquin Delta College Concert Choir and choral ensembles from University of the Pacific. The work also featured members of Pacific's Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Concert Band, who were seated in the aisles of the auditorium.

Though first performed in 1931, seven years before Copland's overture, "Belshazzar's Feast" sounds newer and more modern, thanks in part to the use of some very challenging rhythms and harmonies. For the most part, the musicians rose to the challenge and turned in spirited performances.

As the soloist, Cato was ideal. His powerful voice, stage presence and self-assuredness set just the right tone for the work.

Under Jaffe's baton, the instrumentalists did a fine job of supporting the choirs without getting in their way, and the nearly 250-voice choir managed to make most of the lyrics comprehensible. While not perfect, the performance was nuanced and had a real dynamic range, a pleasant surprise for such a large ensemble.

Since "Belshazzar's Feast" employed the talents of well over 300 individuals, it was surprising to find that the performance could have benefited from more sound, especially toward the top of the choirs' dynamic range. Even so, a thoughtful, dynamically shaded performance is always better than an unrelentingly loud one, and this performance is definitely worth hearing.

The joke's on me!

Being as it's only April, and I didn't want to rush things, I decided to go ahead and figure my taxes today. I downloaded a copy of TurboTax, then I went to the shelf where I always put my various tax forms and ... no W-2. No nothing. Zip. Nada.

I think to myself, "Well ... maybe it's in that humongous pile of mail I've been accumulating. Good news is I sorted through the pile of mail, and was able to throw at least 90% of it away. Bad news, no W-2 to be found.

So, on to Plan B. I drove to my office and grabbed my check stubs to do a "rough cut" for now, just in case I owe. Guess I'll be requesting a new W-2 on Monday, and filing for an extension if I don't get it in time. And guess what else. I'm owed a return by both Federal AND State, so now they both get my money, interest-free, for even longer. Sigh.

Happy April Fools' Day to me, I guess!

Climbing to new heights

Here's where I spent much of the afternoon yesterday, inspecting catwalks. Beautiful day for sky walking...

Daffodils

Glad I took this photo of my daffodils (from Daffodil Days) last week. They only lasted a few days, but they were lovely. Carnations last better - those are left from Valentine's day, believe it or not!



And, this must be one of the best locations on earth for rainbows. I caught this one last Thursday or Friday - a strangely non-rainy day. I think Sacramento is about to break a record for the most consecutive days with rain. The news folks were talking about it this morning.

Coco View

Here's another peek. And look...they're having a wedding, just a little while later! The date stamp is off; all this happened Sunday, not Saturday.

High maintenance

I just realized today that I've become high maintenance. Nearly every other day, I'm at the indoor tanning place, working on getting a teeny bit of color before I go to Honduras. Yesterday, I put down money for another month AND bought some more of that special lotion one must use.

Today, I had a cut and weave, which I do every couple of months, now. I keep it my natural color, just with most of the gray gone. Fortunately it's somewhere between wavy and curly, so I can just style it with my fingers. Lots of scrunching.

And then there are the nails -- every three weeks, like clockwork. I'll have the toes done before we go to Honduras, because flip-flops are the standard there. Can't be having raggedy feet!

And make-up. I wear make-up all the time now. Mainly the eyes. I only do foundation and blush for going out. And I'm really bad at remembering lip color. I usually just use a colored gloss for everyday.

Used to just pull my hair back in a braid and go. How times have changed!

Chicago!

We went to see Chicago The Musical on Tuesday night in Sacramento. It was absolutely amazing! The level of dancing, singing and acting was so high - what one expects from a Broadway touring company, I know. And dinner at The Broiler was also incredible. I had the "surf and turf" special: prawns and filet medallions with Concannon potatoes.

What a terrific evening!

Where I want to be...

Coco View! That's Poncho on the deck rail.

View from the window

Isn't this a pretty bit of rainbow? It actually was a double, but only one shows in these images. And, as another bonus, the bushes completely block the "view" of the freeway!

I got a bonus yesterday, but Cat's car found out about it and broke down. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.

And the sun breaks through!

I was out back inspecting fire extinguishers and oil containment and couldn't resist snapping the sky. Isn't it glorious?!

Yesterday was stormy as heck. I drove back from my Accordion Works rehearsal in Berkeley and rather regretted having gone at all. Most people drove conservatively (45-50 mph), but there was that insane minority going 70 or so and throwing up great waves of water on the rest of us. Several times I hit sheets of water and could feel my tires letting go of the pavement. Loads of fun.

Glad I was early!

I just spent eight minutes watching the world's longest and slowest train go by. I was on track for getting to work 15 minutes early; instead I was only about 5 minutes early.

And here's a "Murphy's Law" thing: It seems like whenever I'm early, my boss is late, and whenever I slide in a minute or two late, she's early! What's that about?

Ouch! Doggone it!

I put in some pretty solid workouts Wednesday and Thursday evenings (weights and kick boxing), and I woke up this morning barely able to bend my right arm and with two numb fingers on my left hand. After ice, hot shower, some of that "icy heat" ointment, and a bunch of bending and stretching throughout the day, they're both about 1000 percent better and the numbness is entirely gone. I think it was just a severe case of sore muscles which stiffened up during the night. For a while there, I thought I'd really injured myself. Whew!

Our weather is pretty unpleasant today -- cold, windy and raining. We got so spoiled last week, it's difficult to go back to winter!

I have no big weekend plans. I hate driving on holiday weekends, so my only travels will be over to the bay area for my Accordion Works rehearsal on Sunday. I'm also looking forward to lots of Olympics viewing! And maybe I'll take myself to see Chronicles of Narnia, if it's still playing anywhere near here.

Just another work day...

Two factory workers, a man and a woman, were sitting around talking one day.

"I think I'll take some time off from work." said the man.

"How do you think you'll do that?" said the blonde.

"Wait one minute, and I'll show you!"

He proceeded to climb up to the rafters, and once he got there, started hanging upside down.

The boss walked in, saw the worker hanging from the ceiling, and asked him what on earth he was doing!

"I'm a light bulb" answered the guy.

"I think you need some time off, " said the boss.

The man jumped down and walked out of the factory.

Without a word, the blonde got her stuff and started walking out, too.

Puzzled, the boss stopped her at the door and asked her where was she going.

The blonde answered, "Home! I can't work in the dark..."

Golly, the sun sure is bright...

Maybe I had a little too much wine and champagne last night. Is it naptime, yet?

We had a terrifically wonderful Valentine's Day dinner - prawn cocktail, ribeye with crumbled bleu cheese, pommes frites (or however it is one spells french fries in French!), steamed vegetables, and chocolate souffle.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pretty, pretty flowers!

We're going out to dinner early -- 5:30. I know it's a big "dinner out" evening, so I expect things will be crowded. I got us matching Felix the Cat T-shirts - K's is black; mine is pink. We'll be a big hit in Honduras!

What’s in a name?

I’ve bumped into several really creative business names lately. I think my favorite is "Pick Up Stix" (Chinese takeout). A funny one I saw recently in Sacramento was "The Blind Guy." I noticed a massage place today named "Kneading Relaxation." There are also several hair salons called some variation on "Tangles." And of course, my favorite coffee place: "Jitterz."

Then there are the incredibly prosaic ones like "Main Street Café." Or the ones that once were creative, but are now so familiar we don’t even notice the creativity, like "Footlocker."

Squirrelly

Yes, I did finally get to leave work last night -- around 5:20, or so.

We had a couple of squirrels playing in the front yard this morning -- a grey one and a black one. It was a little strange, because they weren't as afraid of me as I thought they should be. I've seen squirrels out back, but never in the front before. Must be this crazy spring-like weather!

Trapped at work

I'm ready to go home, but I have one more thing that has to be delivered before I go, and the person I need to hand it off to has her door closed and is on the phone. It's not something I can put in her box, so I'm stuck until she's available. Aargh! What a way to start the weekend!

Soon, very soon I hope, it'll be time for me to start my "It's Friday!" happy dance...

Tropical heat wave

We're supposed to hit a new record high today -- 72 degrees! Pretty amazing for February, and it's sunny & clear, too.

I also set another record today. I was stopped by two trains on the way to work. There are four crossings on my route, but this is the first time I've been stopped more than once.

Our next two dive trips are set. We'll be going to Honduras in May and Bonaire in October. So, I'll be out of the country for both Alex's and Jem's birthdays. And Catherine's student-directed play. Oops.

A good day to...

...drive!

I was reminded again today of what a terrifically un-busy day Superbowl Sunday is. My drive to the Bay Area was nearly 30 minutes faster than usual this afternoon, because everyone was at home watching the game. I found myself remembering when the girls were little, and how we'd often go up to the snow at Big Trees on Superbowl Sunday. It was always so cool and peaceful to be among the very few out and about. One year, we were the only customers at a coffee shop, on the way back home.