Confederacy of Dunces

As a long-time proponent of alternate schooling, I was stirred to read Gatto's essay Confederacy of Dunces. It's a little on the long side, but worth the read.

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomand
Originally uploaded by carpal.

A breathtaking image. I'm wishing I was there.

Doune Castle

Doune Castle
Originally uploaded by carpal.

Our UK correspondent tells us that Doune Castle (pictured here) was used in the filming of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Click on the photo to go to his Flickr page, and view some stunning images of fog-shrouded Scotland.

If it's grey, then it's the UK

PICT0021.JPG
Originally uploaded by carpal.

Alex has posted some snapshots from his UK travels on flickr.com. If you click on the photo, it should take you to his photo page. These photos take me back to my own first visit to the UK, which was another January some 30+ years ago - rainy, cold, damp, COLD, but still very exciting. I've spoken with Alex, who reports he's having a great time. Check back for more photos in the coming days.

Statue in front of Philadelphia City Hall

Statue in front of Philadelphia City Hall
Originally uploaded by raypp2.

With a little time on my hand, I was exploring Flickr's random selections of "interesting" photos and came upon this gorgeous shot taken in front of City Hall. As you see, this was taken just a couple days ago. The photographer says: "As heavy fog decends upon Philadelphia, the beautiful gothic city hall almost looks haunted by the statues of Gettysburg mounted soldiers around it."

Three Youngsters in Landenberg

Three Youngsters in Landenberg
Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

While I was abroad, my mom sent me copies of several photos she'd just scanned, including this shot of me (with mouse ears!), my sister Cindi and my cousin Chuck. Happy times!

Self Portrait in HK

Self Portrait in HK 3
Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

Back from Hong Kong for a few days now, and I've got a new PowerBook to edit the video I shot there. This image is a frame from some video I shot on the waterfront of Victoria Harbour on my last night, just before watching the Symphony of Lights (see previous blog entry). In the background, the International Financial Center and other buildings of the Central District.

Symphony of Lights

Symphony of Lights
Originally uploaded by mgleaves.

Well, first I must fess up and acknowledge that this is not my photo. I do have about 10 minutes of video of the Symphony of Lights, however, which was a splendid finale to my stay in HK. The crowd gathered at the harbour's edge in front of the Convention Center a little before 8, and then the whole skyline went crazy with a synchronized music and light extravaganza. I was curious how they did it and looked up the site of the company that created it. In Philly they tried to make a honk and toot out of lights on one side of City Hall. Fugeddaboutit! This is the real deal! Once the show was over, I slipped into the Grand Hyatt - close by - for something in a snifter and some loungey jazz stylings. The hotel lounge is grand and the sofas extra comfy. Life in HK has been good. Now for the long long ride back to home - reality awaits in the City of Brotherly Love at the end of a 20+ hour journey.

Lions Observation Tower

Lions Observation Tower
Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

This one's for Mom and Chuck - the Hong Kong Lions are the sponsors of this location on Victoria Peak. When you pass through the round portal, you walk out onto a balcony with a killer view of the city.

The Peak tram

The Peak tram
Originally uploaded by angus mcdiarmid.

One more photo I didn't take, though I was in this tram car and saw this view. Angus' photo is better than mine, though - you can sense the tilty tram car and the dazzling view below.

Tak Hing Street

Tak Hing Street
Originally uploaded by angus mcdiarmid.

The side streets in Kowloon are all festooned with signs like these. I was there in the daytime, but I prefer this dramatic nighttime shot.

Flower Market

Flower Market
Originally uploaded by angus mcdiarmid.

Wish I'd taken this, but someone else did. I was on Nathan Road in Kowloon today and saw plenty of shops like this. I felt shy about snapping people's pictures on a busy street, though. Thanks, Angus!

The Hong Kong Academy

HKAPA2
Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

I took this photo in the garden outside the administrative offices at HKAPA (which are behind the windows at the bottom of the photo). The dramatic gridwork above is the exterior of the main building, which has seven floors of theaters, studios and support facilities, arranged around an inner atrium. It's an impressive, memorable facility which you can take a virtual tour of if you visit the school's site and click on the link for "Virtual Tour."

HK tappers work on their shim-sham

HK tappers
Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

It was a busy day for the Musical Theatre Programme Review team at HKAPA. Our day began with a roundtable discussion with current students and alumni. We observed three classes, including this tap class taught by an alum of the program. After a lunch of Singapore noodles at a nearby Malaysian restaurant, we returned for meetings with the musical theater faculty and the deans of dance, music and drama, followed by a "command performance" of songs and dances given by the 3rd and 4th year students. Keith Hawley's choreography for their "Tribute to Frank Sinatra" was absolutely smashing, and the students executed it with brio (or whatever the Asian equivalent of brio is). After a final executive summary with the Director of the Academy, I adjourned to a nearby restaurant for a couple of pints of Foster's Lager and some well-deserved chill-out time. The asssessors assessed, and it was good! Tomorrow - Victoria Peak, the Star Ferry and assorted sightseeing.

Singing actors warm up at HKAPA

Warmup
Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

These young dance students were coached by their voice teacher to be physically expressive as they warmed up - shades of SAVI!

Morning T'ai Chi

Morning T'ai Chi
Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

From my window at the Harbour View International House, I watched these Hong Kong residents in their morning ritual.

The view at the end of the journey

The Harbour view.JPG
Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

I walked out of my house in South Philly at 5:15 am on Saturday morning, and 26 hours later, I was looking at this view from the window of a Hong Kong hotel room. The journey was, for the most part, tedious beyond endurance, especially the flight from Chicago to HK, 14 hours on a flight where every seat was filled and the legroom in economy class was a little shorter than my leg. Read, write, doze, writhe, eat, repeat ad lib. But the airport in HK is brand spankin' new and really gorgeous, and the city itself, even at first glance, is breathtaking. Much to remind one of London at first - driving on the left hand side, road signs and roundabouts in UK style. My hotel and the school are located in a district that's recently seen some major high-end development, so everything is grand and pretty much spotless. But you don't have to walk far - just a block or two - before it starts to feel like Chinatown - garish neon signs for restaurants and clubs with little old ladies out front beckoning me to check out the sexy girls. Odd reminders of home - 7-Eleven convenience stores, McDonalds (of course), Starbucks (of course - first thing you spot as you ascend the airport escalator in the main concourse). Click on the photo to go to Flickr and look at today's other pix - only few but I bet there'll be more tomorrow!

Stritch - A Role Model for Singers?

Surfing the web, I found some comments by Anthony Tommasini in The New York Times to be of particular interest to students of singing. Praising the cabaret act that Elaine Stritch is currently presenting at the Cafe Carlyle, he tells an amusing anecdote about conductor James Levine's admiration for La Stritch and then goes on to explain that what makes her performance so remarkable

"has little to do with the quality of her vocalism. Her sound may be raw and patchy, her pitch may be approximate, but her cabaret show is a vivid reminder that, in essence, song is musicalized speech. Words come first in her artistry. She knows how to put lyrics across, how to deliver a song. In the ruminative "I Think I Like You" (music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse), you sense Ms. Stritch pondering her feelings with each new phrase, as if searching for the words to express them at that moment.

Her silences between phrases - when she holds a thought and hardly moves - are riveting. They reminded me of the way Maria Callas used to sing stretches of dramatic recitative as Bellini's Norma, making the silences as gripping as the arrestingly sung phrases. Of course, Ms. Stritch could not have taken such interpretive liberties were it not for the attentive playing of her excellent six-piece band, directed by the stylish pianist Rob Bowman.

Opera singers, who can become obsessed with technique, should read the letters of Mozart, who was always directing singers in his operas to 'think carefully of the meaning and force of the words.'"

The idle brain...

Day by Night
Originally uploaded by Shek Graham.

...is the devil's playground, or so sez Professor Harold Hill. Meanwhile, idleness seems to be the ideal condition for blogging, so if it provides me with a little diversion, I figure a little squandered bandwidth is a small price to pay. All of which has little to do with the adjoining picture, which makes my current destination look cool as all-get-out.

On the way to HK

Market Lights
Originally uploaded by Shek Graham.

Sitting in Chicago O'Hare airport, I'm browsing other flickr photos of my destination. The excitement and the anticipation is almost sufficient to offset the boredom of a 3-hour layover followed by 14 hours of imprisonment in a steel tube. Hope to have some photos of my own to post here soon!