last night was not only earth hour night, but it was also when jonesy took her first big jump from the floor onto the kitchen counter. she had previously needed to jump 3 things: sean's couch or chair, shelf unit and fish tank before getting herself onto the counter. jonesy went the LONG way around since she was a wee little kitty.
but no more.
she made her first jump and sean and i found ourselves happily clapping and cheering her on. we are such dorks. i think we may have freaked jonesy out with our "parental" exuberance. course, wanting her to get used to jumping from the floor, sean and i baited her to jump onto the counter a couple more times. and each time we gleefully responded with the clapping and hollering. we are so going to be "those kind of parents."
no pictures of the jump, but i did snap some pics of jonesy 'wrastling with her buddy, the gorilla.
gorilla lives on the top of jonesy's jungle gym. sometimes a girl just doesn't want to share her space. that's when gorilla finds himself chucked to the floor
although...a cuddle buddy is nice too
course, if gorilla gets too fresh, jonesy will show him what's what
some things get better with age. like paul weller. growing up in the 80s, i got to know of paul weller first through the style council. it wasn't until i was about 15 that i would discover the jam. that's when my love of mod/beat culture developed. and it's wonderful to see that paul weller is still a mainstay on the uk music scene today.
one of my biggest concert regrets was not being able to score tickets to any of paul weller's 3 night invasion of new york in january 2007. all 3 nights were sold out at irving plaza, natch. it was pretty much a weller fan's dream performance. one night for each of his musical styles: the first night he played hits from the jam, the second night emphasized hits from the style council and the last night paul weller played his solo stuff as well as recaps from the prior 2 nights.
but alas, an intimate venue and tons of paul weller fans, all unwilling to give up their tickets at any price. and rightly so, i wouldn't have either.
on the last day of my 2007 trip to london, i was checking out the south bank, around more london and city hall. i had my luggage with me, passing the time until i had to make my way to the airport, when i came upon the gibson guitartown art display. pure happenstance! i found myself in the middle of 30 hand-painted 10ft high free-standing les paul guitars, designed and endorsed by uk music artists, such as oasis, robert plant, keane, stereophonics, paul mccartney and paul weller.
the guitars were eventually auctioned off to raise money for the prince's trust, nordoff-robbins and teenage cancer trust.
paul weller's latest offering is pure bliss. no tears to cry is reminiscent of the walker brother's the sun ain't gonna shine anymore, which i very much like.
no tears to cry is from the new album, waking up the nation, out on april 19. of course there is a tour to support the album. and of course, dates look to be only in europe. even if the tour comes to north america, i'd hardly think it'll make its way here. (i think the last time paul weller played vancouver was in 1993)
a double shot of paul weller is what's needed today. i love this 2007 collaboration with andy lewis, the man behind amy winehouse and candie payne's sound. are you trying to be lonely? had paul weller re-visit his northern soul roots. and i love northern soul music.
paul weller has been on the scene for 30+ years, out-doing himself with every record and single released. all the while looking as sharp as ever. it is by no coincidence that he was my first choice for my sunday morning lazes.
instructor chris mathiesen showing us his bloody knife
things i learned in blood spatter class:
**blood contracts when it hit a surface due to its cohesiveness
**blood drops are spherical and not tearshaped
**the diameter of bloodstains increases with height
measuring length and width of a droplet will tell you angle of impact: angle formed between the direction of the blood drop and the plane of the surface it strikes
**cast-off is when blood is flicked from a blood-bearing object
**spatter is divided into 3 categories: 1. low velocity spatter such as dripping blood from a stab wound 2. medium velocity spatter caused by blunt force trauma. can result in projected blood as the heart continues to pump 3. high velocity spatter usually due to being shot. blood will spray like a fine mist
medium velocity: hammering on the coconut/brain
the coconut acting as the brain on mannequin betty was filled with fake blood
course, this was just 1 hour class (with a lot of playtime), so we were far from being blood spatter analysts, but it gave us a taste of channeling the dexter morgans inside us all.
life is fragile and can turn on a dime. what is here today may be gone tomorrow. make it your mission in life to spend as much time as you can with your loved ones and always make sure they know that you love them.
a warm thanks to everyone who came out to the canadian premiere of nixon in china!
VO has been overwhelmed by all the support and enthusiasm for our production of john adams's contemporary opera. we're pleased to have brought it to vancouver audiences and thrilled that everyone was open to giving modern opera a chance. just wait to you see what we're cooking up for the world premiere of lillian alling!
here at vancouver opera, we've been sleeping, breathing and living nixon in china since the beginning of this year. it'll be hard to put this production behind us.
but we have photos and many nice comments to help us remember it all: the beautiful people (that means you!) who came out, and the hard work and talent it took to design a brand-spankin' new production (one that will make its way to other opera houses around the world). remember, you saw it here first!
fashion at the opera
behind the scenes
eventually, all the catchy nixon in china numbers that developed into earworms will be but fond memories.
queen elizabeth park has always occupied a special place in my heart. not only is it a beautiful park full of my favourite blooms of bluebells, daffodils and cherry blossoms, but it was also the place of many happy childhood memories.
and a year ago, more happy memories were made at QE park. for this is where sean and i had one of our first dates.
so it was only fitting we should find ourselves at the place that mean so much to us this anniversary weekend.
for everywhere i turned, there were so many things that brought out my lop-sided smile.
it was one thing right after another, right after another.
on what was the worst day at work ever, like so bad that i wished i had the ability to smite people down, if not by lightning bolts then maybe by hellfire, peggy went and bought me these happy bunny socks to cheer me up.
i'll be able to putter around in these and feel completely justified and unapologetic for those infrequent times when i should be revelling in the 'me, me, me'. these socks are literally giving me permission to be selfish sometimes. something i don't often permit myself to be mainly because if i get "too big for my britches", life always finds a way to feed me a big ole' slice of humble pie.
thank you peggy for being there and talking me down that ledge. i'm so lucky to have a best friend like you. luv ya.
vancouver opera's wardrobe department has got pat nixon's look down to a "T".
referencing actual photos of the nixons' visit to china in 1972, parvin mirhardy, head of costumes, and her staff re-created the exact wardrobe for pat nixon.
so why did pat nixon wear red for the most important and most photographed events?
for chinese people, red is the colour of good luck. this bold colour is also associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune and happiness.
according to historian carl sferrazza anthony, the visit to china was significant for pat nixon. it was her "moment" - the point at which she became an acclaimed first lady for the united states.
when the world is watching, what better way to show off your power, potential and esteem than through the colour of your wardrobe?
fan night is this thursday! and we're going to treat you right!
check out the pre-show talk, where assistant stage director stephen drover will divulge the secrets of the nixon in china set. 6:30pm in the VIP lounge!
during intermission, come back to the uber-exclusive VIP lounge for coffee and desserts. this is also a great opportunity to mingle with other nixon in china fans. oh, and did i mention the VIP lounge has its very own bathrooms?
we will also give you swag.
so how do you get in on this? easy! if you already have your tickets for the thursday, march 18 performance, just email lchan@vancouveropera.ca to be put on the exclusive twitter/facebok fan night guestlist.
but do it quick, because the guestlist is LIMITED.
fabulous. electrifying and unbelievable. fantastic. authentic.
these are some of the adjectives our audience used to describe their experiences at nixon in china. but that's not all. you really let us have it and you didn't hold back.
the staging was absolutely wonderful.
incredible theatrically, vocally, everything. it was just amazing.
the orchestra was incredible with all the different changes.
the combination of ballet, of movement within the opera, i thought that was really quite intriguing and very well done.
great to see the singers characterize the roles. i really saw Richard Nixon!
the lighting really did a wonderful job of high-lighting all of the sets, especially the rain effect. that was awesome.
the sets and costume are incredible.
it's nice to see Vancouver doing something alittle different. innovative and modern. i highly recommend it.
i hope that vancouver opera will do some more pieces like this.
Video by Bombshelter Productions
and to quote one of our audience members, "everybody's got to experience some modern opera."
get your tickets now! only 3 performances left! call 604-683-0222 to speak to our box office.
the david and dorothy lam foundation along with the vancouver cherry blossom festival are offering up for sale 3,000 cherry blossom trees, to go with the 37,000 already beautifying vancouver streets.
VCBF are offering a choice of 3 flowering cherry trees:
when the peeps are in the house watching the opera, we're out hanging in the lobby, re-charging until the masses come spilling out during intermission.
and we do our best to entertain ourselves.
can we look anymore asian in this picture?
seems i got my 'i love you' hand sign flipped the wrong way. that or rock on.
i suppose my camera is super-sensitive and you have to have a steady hand...which this person obviously did. not. but i kinda like 'em anyways.
this picture is rad in that acid-trippy psychedelic kinda way. i like it cuz it makes me look like i have pachyderm ears
alot of double fisting victory sign action going on here. channeling nixon
and of course, the requisite subdued, slightly normal looking picture.
this weekend has kicked my ass with a pair of frozen mukluks. add a 40 hour work week, additional work hours at night, opening night of nixon in china yesterday and springing ahead one hour. can i just stay in bed for say, the next week or so?
i just need a spring in my step.
this ash koley song is boppy and happy and listening to it is a good attempt at upping my energy levels.
first time i heard this song was when it was used for the faux red mitten "flash mob" at robson square during the olympics. it's not a flash mob when it obviously screams marketing ploy. still it's fun to look at and it did garner smiles, so mission accomplished.
nixon in china is watching you. from the pillars, to the backdrop, to the portraits and the scrim, there will be a profusion of faces staring out into the audience nightly.
you're being watched. look your best.
here are some pictures from dress rehearsal last night:
ever wonder what the schedule of a busy man like richard nixon looks like?
with only days to go before the canadian premiere of nixon in china, he continues to take vancouver by storm! word must be getting out about his public appearances because there were nothing but victory signs and shouts of "it's tricky dick!" as nixon made his rounds.
here's how nixon's day went:
reading the morning paper
hanging out at robson square post-olympics style. too bad the zipline wasn't open. i would've been down with that.
window shopping, taking in some art, checking out the library
remembering to stop and smell the roses
i'm a little bit country, you're a little bit rock n' roll
checking out HMV and what do I find? my movie and CD!
and my poster!
an unexpected surprise! someone at HMV had recommended me! note to secretary: hire will at once.
wrap up meeting with general director of vancouver opera, james w. wright
nixon will make an appearance at the vancouver opera offices tomorrow to draw the winner of the 'where's nixon?' contest. make sure you've entered by 1:00pm wednesday for your chance to win 2 tickets to nixon in china and $150 gift certificate to chambar restaurant.
for more pictures of nixon in the city, click here.
