OK so today we had a date night. We went to get rush tickets at Symphony Hall to see the Boston Symphony Orchestra preform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2 & Stauss’ An Alpine Symphony. Rush tickets go on sale at 5pm for an 8pm show at symphony hall. There are 100 rush tickets available every night. Unfortunately the rush tickets that we lined up for were sold out ($9 each for good seats) and we had to buy $14 regular “obstructed” seats. Well at least we were together.

After buying the tickets we picked up a copy of the boston phoenix to do the crossword. Sharon is quite the cruciverbalist. We went to betty’s wok and noodle, which if you haven’t been there is a fun place to go on a date or just to go eat dinner.

After dinner we went to Our House East and I had a Wild Turkey’s “American Honey” liquer (cant find a good site for that one). Any way i really liked it and I think I will pick up a bottle next time I have a chance. Sharon had some sort of watermelon drink and I think she wants me to get Smirnoff watermelon twist vodka. We (she) finished the puzzle, had another drink, went to Dunkin Donuts, then headed off to our 8pm show. Over dinner Sharon had said that she thought our seats were pretty good because they were low numbers row C sec 2BR. When we arrived at symphony we found out that 2 BR stands for 2nd balcony right side. The location was bad but what was worse was that these seats (of which there were exactly 2 per door because they were definitely an afterthought) had no more than 5.5 inches space between the edge of the seat and the row infront of us. All of the other rows had mere FEET but we had a luxurious 5.5 inches of legroom. On top of that, the seat back felt though there were daggers ripping at my spine. I dont think sharon was comfortable either, but she didnt want to complain because she knew that I would suggest that we return another night when we could get better cheap tickets.

On to the culture. I am not a very cultured person, or at least that is what I am led to believe. The piano concerto’s onset was nice and deep as well as sort of dark, but after the first few minutes, the first movement became rather airy and I found it dull. I thought that there were too many strings and that the horns for the most part were underused or drowned out. The second movement (which sharon thinks is like cream puffs and light ice cream) i found mundane and more like white bread. the third movement I found sort of interesting, and apparently it is the most famous part (i guess i can identify with those early 20th centurians).

The Strauss piece bored me to tears. This needs no more elaboration, except to say that I think that over the intermission someone may have actually made our chairs even less comfortable. I dont know how they did it, but my spine felt as though the music was chewing on it with metal teeth.

so here is my last few weeks wrap up of high art:

Isabella Stewart Museum- hated it

Guggenheim: Richard Prince exhibit- hated it

MFA: napoleon exhibit- hated it

BSO- hated it

i guess i’ll have to stick to becoming an oenophile.

oh but I did like most of the regular art (I like John Singer Sargent) at the MFA and the rodin and some of the impressionists at the Guggenheim. and we did go to improv theatre… that I like

oh and for sharons account of this evening go here 

-Mike

so today we went to the MFA in boston to see the napolean exhibit.  I was underwhelmed.  There were 2  pictures of napolean, and a whole lot of pieces of furniture, china, clothing that Napolean probably never saw or used.  On the plus side we got to go to a factory afterwards where they made nothing but cheesecakes… yummy-delicious.

Welcome, As-salaam Alaikum, Shlama lekhon, Здравей, 哈佬 , 你好 , Čau, Hej, Hallo,안녕하세요 , Γεια, Aloha, and שלום

I doubt very much that I will be able to maintain this very regularly, but I will try.

Here are some things that are going on in my life:

1. everyone should check out sharon’s blog @ http://sharon.jaffin.us

not only is sharon extremely interesting and awesome, but also she updates frequenly.

2. MMORPGs are evil and/or extremely addictive.

currently I have been playing FLYFF , a free mmorpg. Its a little repetitive, but very fun.

3. if you havent seen the movie Charlie Wilson’s War, or American Gangster, then get the to a theatre with utmost haste.

both movies are fantastic, but if you generally dont like Aaron Sorkin’s work, then skip charlie wilson. Personally I thought that it was really well done and had a great current message.

4. BACN (no that’s not a typo) is really annoying.

enough already.. I get it I have facebook myspace and freindster… no matter how many e-mails you send me, chances are that I will stop using your service.

5. the guggenheim in NY, is an interesting building but the current exhibit doesnt really do it for me (richard prince has very few themes).

He seems to have an obsession with money (checks), stencilled one liners, nurses, pomography, cowboys, car hoods, advertisements, and celebrities. It gets old real fast.

well that is about it for the first blog .. next one to come soon.

-Mike