21. June 2007 · Comments Off on Allen & Opera · Categories: imported, News

Allen said today: “I have no idea what I am doing. But incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.”

You can read that too, right here. (And many, other places, so I’ve found, although I haven’t read it on Opera Today yet.)

He’ll be directing Gianni Schicchi and movie director William Friedkin will do the other two one-acts.
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21. June 2007 · Comments Off on Old History · Categories: imported, Ramble

I ran across a funny picture today, as I was looking up old reviews I’ve saved.

Old History: From the Mercury News, September 9, 1992 The caption read: Patricia Mitchell toots her horn to get some honks. Not terribly creative ....

Heh … yeah, that’s me with those bangs and leggings and all. This was in September of 1992. The picture isn’t very clear (the paper is old and I didn’t do any touching up at all).

I’m glad styles have changed. Not that I’m in style right now (jeans and a shirt or sweater are fine by me).

This was the one and only strike I’ve been involved in. It was also one of the shortest strikes in history. But it did mean the weekends concerts were canceled if I remember correctly. Trouble was, the day before this happened there was a huge ad in the Merc saying, “The Symphony WILL play this weekend,” because there had been rumours of negotiation problems. I was on staff as music librarian at the time, and I was in the office when the press person brought in that ad to show all of us. I had to hold my tongue, when I really wanted to yell out, “You have got to be kidding! We very well might go on strike and this will make everyone look awful.”

The strike was short, but not sweet. Those in the office were furious. I had to go in to quickly pick up some music work, and they didn’t want to speak to me. Musicians were also a bit leary of me. I cried. Management sent flowers. Musicians didn’t. Hmmm.

I originally held a sign that said something about management getting raises while musicians didn’t. Then I realized what I was holding; I sure hadn’t ever gotten a raise, and all I knew was that everyone in the office had had a wage freeze, so I quickly put that sign down and picked up this one.

Old history, to be sure.
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So AFI has put out their top 100 American movies 2007 list. Below is the list. Movies that are bold are the ones I’ve seen. I guess someday I’ll try to get to some of the others … not all, though; I can’t handle certain kinds of movies (too violent or scary and I’m outa there).

The American Film Institute’s 2007 list of the top-100 American movies:

1. “Citizen Kane,” 1941.

2. “The Godfather,” 1972.

3. “Casablanca,” 1942.

4. “Raging Bull,” 1980.

5. “Singin’ in the Rain,” 1952.

6. “Gone With the Wind,” 1939.

7. “Lawrence of Arabia,” 1962.

8. “Schindler’s List,” 1993.

9. “Vertigo,” 1958.

10. “The Wizard of Oz,” 1939.

11. “City Lights,” 1931.

12. “The Searchers,” 1956.

13. “Star Wars,” 1977.

14. “Psycho,” 1960.

15. “2001: A Space Odyssey,” 1968.

16. “Sunset Blvd.“, 1950.

17. “The Graduate,” 1967.

18. “The General,” 1927.

19. “On the Waterfront,” 1954.

20. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 1946.

21. “Chinatown,” 1974.

22. “Some Like It Hot,” 1959.

23. “The Grapes of Wrath,” 1940. (I did read the book.)

24. “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” 1982.

25. “To Kill a Mockingbird,” 1962. (I did read the book.)

26. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” 1939.

27. “High Noon,” 1952.

28. “All About Eve,” 1950.

29. “Double Indemnity,” 1944.

30. “Apocalypse Now,” 1979.

31. “The Maltese Falcon,” 1941. (And I also read the book.)

32. “The Godfather Part II,” 1974.

33. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” 1975. (I read the book and saw the play back in the 70’s.)

34. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” 1937.

35. “Annie Hall,” 1977.

36. “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” 1957.

37. “The Best Years of Our Lives,” 1946.

38. “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” 1948.

39. “Dr. Strangelove,” 1964.

40. “The Sound of Music,” 1965.

41. “King Kong,” 1933.

42. “Bonnie and Clyde,” 1967.

43. “Midnight Cowboy,” 1969.

44. “The Philadelphia Story,” 1940.

45. “Shane,” 1953.

46. “It Happened One Night,” 1934.

47. “A Streetcar Named Desire,” 1951.

48. “Rear Window,” 1954.

49. “Intolerance,” 1916.

50. “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” 2001.

51. “West Side Story,” 1961. (I also saw the musical on stage.)

52. “Taxi Driver,” 1976. (Saw it for the first time just this week.)

53. “The Deer Hunter,” 1978.

54. “M-A-S-H,” 1970.

55. “North by Northwest,” 1959.

56. “Jaws,” 1975.

57. “Rocky,” 1976.

58. “The Gold Rush,” 1925.

59. “Nashville,” 1975.

60. “Duck Soup,” 1933.

61. “Sullivan’s Travels,” 1941.

62. “American Graffiti,” 1973.

63. “Cabaret,” 1972.

64. “Network,” 1976.

65. “The African Queen,” 1951.

66. “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” 1981.

67. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, 1966.

68. “Unforgiven,” 1992.

69. “Tootsie,” 1982.

70. “A Clockwork Orange,” 1971. (I read the book.)

71. “Saving Private Ryan,” 1998.

72. “The Shawshank Redemption,” 1994.

73. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” 1969.

74. “The Silence of the Lambs,” 1991. (I read the book.)

75. “In the Heat of the Night,” 1967.

76. “Forrest Gump,” 1994.

77. “All the President’s Men,” 1976.

78. “Modern Times,” 1936.

79. “The Wild Bunch,” 1969.

80. “The Apartment, 1960.

81. “Spartacus,” 1960.

82. “Sunrise,” 1927.

83. “Titanic,” 1997.

84. “Easy Rider,” 1969.

85. “A Night at the Opera,” 1935.

86. “Platoon,” 1986.

87. “12 Angry Men,” 1957.

88. “Bringing Up Baby,” 1938.

89. “The Sixth Sense,” 1999.

90. “Swing Time,” 1936.

91. “Sophie’s Choice,” 1982.

92. “Goodfellas,” 1990.

93. “The French Connection,” 1971.

94. “Pulp Fiction,” 1994.

95. “The Last Picture Show,” 1971.

96. “Do the Right Thing,” 1989.

97. “Blade Runner,” 1982.

98. “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” 1942.

99. “Toy Story,” 1995.

100. “Ben-Hur,” 1959.

I’m guessing most readers will have seen more than I. Anyone?

21. June 2007 · Comments Off on To: Guy Who Screamed Obscenities at the Ballet the Other Night · Categories: imported, Other People's Words

You can read the thing here. (Warning; a bit ‘o “language” in this one, so if you have delicate ears/eyes, maybe you want to skip it.)
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21. June 2007 · Comments Off on MQOD · Categories: imported, Quotes

Two years of close association with some of the best (as well as some of the worst) tunes in the world was a better musical education than any amount of sonatas and fugues.

-Ralph Vaughan Williams, on editing The English Hymnal

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