8.05.2004
moving, postage, and shakespeare
My brother just moved down to New Jersey: he's off to medical school, which starts tomorrow. He's got 'net access, cable TV, and a landline as of this afternoon, which is nice. He does not, however, have a dishwasher, which is causing him some concern. It's mainly that he's lazy, I think, but he's been living at home this past year and isn't really used to, y'know, washing dishes by hand. I did it for three years: I think he'll survive, but my mom is also a bit worried that he has to wash his dishes by himself... poor kid...
He did, unfortunately, pull something in his back while he was loading up the truck. I feel really bad for him, since it's tough to move when your back is out. He woke up on Monday morning (after a late night which included the Ozawa Hall concert) and found that he just couldn't move. Thankfully, one of our friends in New York City (whose wife and daughter were up at the Ozawa Hall concert the night before) is a specialist in chronic pain, in addition to being on faculty at Cornell Med. School. So Dr. N. was able to prescribe something for Andrew and he was on his way in a few hours. Thankfully, he's moved in now and all seems to be well. But I really do hope that he doesn't strain himself any more. I hurt myself playing ultimate frisbee with a group of 8th graders a few years ago jumping up to catch a pass (I landed wrong). There have been times that I couldn't stand, and times that it took a lot of advil to get to school. On more than one occasion, I have taught from a desk and chair because I couldn't write on the board. Chronic pain sucks.
So the Swiss government is pouring its resources into manufacturing a wooden postage stamp. First the knives, now the stamps.
Went to New York City on Tuesday to try to see Much Ado About Nothing, this year's Public Theater in the Park selection. It got great reviews and I was intrigued by the prospect of seeing Jimmy Smits and Sam Watterston playing Shakespearean characters. Plus, Much Ado is one of my favorite plays (it's just so silly and vibrant). But alas, 'twas not to be. So if one wishes to see the play, one must line up to get a ticket. Tickets are free of charge and are handed out at the Delacorte Theater at 1pm. The trick, of course, is to get in line before 1pm to ensure that you get a ticket before they run out. I arrived at the Delacorte at 10:30 to find a line almost a mile long. That is, there were enough beach blankets and such to make the line a mile long, since no one wants to be as close to each other for three or so hours as they are when standing in line. So I trudged myself to the end of the line and watched it continue to grow for the next two hours. To make a long story short, the last person to get a ticket got in line at 9:15, a full 75 minutes before I arrived. The first person to get a ticket (the first person in line, naturally), had been there since 5:30 am. This is ridiculous, but at the very least, I am heartened by the fact that so many people care so much so as to wait in line for Shakespeare tickets.
On a related note, the parks police were eyeing the line with some concern, and the managing director from the theater came out to let us know that, from our position halfway back in the line (yes, HALFWAY!), chances for tickets were slim and that the parks police were worried about the possibility of a riot. Who's going to riot? We were in line for Shakespeare tickets. Oh well.
So I had dinner with these friends from NYC. We went out to Flushing with my Dad who was in New York on business. It was nice to have dinner with them; they've come up to Tanglewood, like, four times this past month. We went to an excellent restaurant in Flushing: East Manor, which serves excellent Cantonese fare. We were all remarking that we could almost forget we were in the US for the entire dinner. Speaking of which, I haven't been back to Hong Kong in ages. Perhaps that should be on my list of things to do in the next few years.
On our way through Queens, I saw a billboard for One.6, a low-carb wine from the makers of Jack Daniels. So what we have is low-carb wine from Tennessee. My friend Russell was quoted as saying "i'm tempted to call it "wrong"". As I wrote back to him, I have no qualms giving in to said temptation. LOW CARB WINE IS GOING TOO FAR.
He did, unfortunately, pull something in his back while he was loading up the truck. I feel really bad for him, since it's tough to move when your back is out. He woke up on Monday morning (after a late night which included the Ozawa Hall concert) and found that he just couldn't move. Thankfully, one of our friends in New York City (whose wife and daughter were up at the Ozawa Hall concert the night before) is a specialist in chronic pain, in addition to being on faculty at Cornell Med. School. So Dr. N. was able to prescribe something for Andrew and he was on his way in a few hours. Thankfully, he's moved in now and all seems to be well. But I really do hope that he doesn't strain himself any more. I hurt myself playing ultimate frisbee with a group of 8th graders a few years ago jumping up to catch a pass (I landed wrong). There have been times that I couldn't stand, and times that it took a lot of advil to get to school. On more than one occasion, I have taught from a desk and chair because I couldn't write on the board. Chronic pain sucks.
So the Swiss government is pouring its resources into manufacturing a wooden postage stamp. First the knives, now the stamps.
Went to New York City on Tuesday to try to see Much Ado About Nothing, this year's Public Theater in the Park selection. It got great reviews and I was intrigued by the prospect of seeing Jimmy Smits and Sam Watterston playing Shakespearean characters. Plus, Much Ado is one of my favorite plays (it's just so silly and vibrant). But alas, 'twas not to be. So if one wishes to see the play, one must line up to get a ticket. Tickets are free of charge and are handed out at the Delacorte Theater at 1pm. The trick, of course, is to get in line before 1pm to ensure that you get a ticket before they run out. I arrived at the Delacorte at 10:30 to find a line almost a mile long. That is, there were enough beach blankets and such to make the line a mile long, since no one wants to be as close to each other for three or so hours as they are when standing in line. So I trudged myself to the end of the line and watched it continue to grow for the next two hours. To make a long story short, the last person to get a ticket got in line at 9:15, a full 75 minutes before I arrived. The first person to get a ticket (the first person in line, naturally), had been there since 5:30 am. This is ridiculous, but at the very least, I am heartened by the fact that so many people care so much so as to wait in line for Shakespeare tickets.
On a related note, the parks police were eyeing the line with some concern, and the managing director from the theater came out to let us know that, from our position halfway back in the line (yes, HALFWAY!), chances for tickets were slim and that the parks police were worried about the possibility of a riot. Who's going to riot? We were in line for Shakespeare tickets. Oh well.
So I had dinner with these friends from NYC. We went out to Flushing with my Dad who was in New York on business. It was nice to have dinner with them; they've come up to Tanglewood, like, four times this past month. We went to an excellent restaurant in Flushing: East Manor, which serves excellent Cantonese fare. We were all remarking that we could almost forget we were in the US for the entire dinner. Speaking of which, I haven't been back to Hong Kong in ages. Perhaps that should be on my list of things to do in the next few years.
On our way through Queens, I saw a billboard for One.6, a low-carb wine from the makers of Jack Daniels. So what we have is low-carb wine from Tennessee. My friend Russell was quoted as saying "i'm tempted to call it "wrong"". As I wrote back to him, I have no qualms giving in to said temptation. LOW CARB WINE IS GOING TOO FAR.
