Conundrum

Now, I bet that got the attention of some people. My problem seems to be similar to that of Mark Morford who can't decide whether or not it is worth living in San Francisco anymore. It seems to be one of economics vs. the quality of life. Anyway, it is a condundrum.

As for the SF Muni, I saw an opened condom on a seat yesterday but was not close enough to see if the unwrapped item was new or used. Ha! I suppose that is slightly better than being attacked by cockroaches on the Muni although I must admit it has been a few years since seeing any of those critters scurrying around.

Now here is a good thought for the day from a Chronicle reader: "Evolution is "intelligent design." God knows how to delegate responsibility and development."

Our weather is finally obeying the calender and acting like November and December. No more sunny days in the seventies. Now we have temperatures in the fifties with rain storms passing through now and then. This also makes for a nice gooey ice rink at Justin Hermann Plaza.

Still have not begun my Christmas shopping (all one gift) as I still do not know what to buy. Maybe it will be back to the gift card routine this year plus an assortment of other items in my "care package".

Oh, I almost forgot. My pending projects are still pending. That is cleaning out my closets and computer desk plus other assorted "bankers boxes" surrounding the computer desk as well as a drawer in a nightstand and other assorted junk from under the bed and behind the sofa. Perhaps it is time for a yard sale but I don't have a yard. How about a garage sale? I don't have a garage. How about a sidewalk sale? Well, that would be fine if I had anything that other people would want. Can't see foisting off some of this stuff on other poor unsuspecting souls however.

Black Friday?

That sounds like the day the stock market crashed. So why is it suddenly being used to describe the day after Thanksgiving when so many people go out Christmas shopping? This is a new wrinkle on the fabric of our crazy society which I had never heard of until this year. Friends, however, tell me that the term applies to the fact that although stores are very busy, sales are not that great until prices drop later in the season. So it appears that since the bottom line for retailers is not big enough, it is "Black Friday". As usual, it's all about money...money...money.

Enough is enough

This new dog & poney show of Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer at CNN has got to stop. A little of them is OK but not all the time. And their voices are somewhat irritating as well. The saddest thing about CNN recently is the fact that they cancelled Aaron Brown's NewsNight show. He was the closest thing to Walter Cronkite in my book. I would enjoy visiting him but I sure can't say the same for Cooper and Blitzer. One of the main reasons I have cable is for CNN News but now it has almost become irrelevant.

Turkey Day

This country is blessed with many good things as well as some not so good things such as the turkeys in Washington D.C. who do not seem to care what they do or how they do it. Why does power corrupt so many people anyway?

Here in San Francisco on a the coldest day of the season, it seems rather bleak outside with gray skies and a storm threatening to arrive later tonight...probably about the time I come home from dinner. It is so quiet today even in this apartment building. You would think that everyone had left town. Well, not quite. The guy who lives next door and plays his stereo rather loudy has been in and out. When in my walls vibrate with the thumping bass of whatever he is listening to. Strange neighbor he is as sometimes I hear moans or loud cries and such exclamatins as "Stop that. That hurts." Those will be followed by "aarrghhh". One warm day not too long ago when everyone had their windows open I discovered the sound of another voice coming from the aparment, another male voice. Hmm...does he and his friend practice some sort of ritualistic S&M? The first time I heard it I was ready to call 911 but then I realized that the screams were rather "controlled" and did not seem to be a cry for help.

Anyway, I just took a walk to the ATM (four blocks) and despite wearing my heavy winter jacket I still felt cold. It was the wind as usual. The temperature on my patio is now 53F which is about ten degrees colder than yesterday and 20 degrees colder than the previous day. No wonder it feels so cold now. Well, I hope the hot tea I just prepared helps out a bit.

This Saturday I will have my last opera of the current run. The 05/06 season concludes with three more productions in May and June 2006 however and I will still have a few symphony concerts scattered out during the next seven months.

This day may be quiet but it will be complete chaos tomorrow in Union Square and other areas of downtown as the Christmas madness begins so get set to "shop till you drop". Well, not I, not I. I will try to avoid the crowds by doing what little shopping I have to do as early in the day as possible. Then one month from tomorrow I will join my friends in Oakland on Christmas Day for dinner there. A couple of weeks after that I am off to Thailand once again. It will be so good to get out of town during the coldest month of the year. Now, having said that, a friend who knows I have been entertaining the thought of moving to New York City might wonder what I would do there when it REALLY gets cold. The wimpy weather here is nothing in comparison. Well, I know, I know, it seems paradoxical to want to go to warm Thailand in January and also want to move to cold NYC. Well, there are reasons for both desires but since my budget will probably not permit a move to either location, it is probably a moot point. In either case, I should have done it earlier in my life. My friends who have moved to Thailand did so when they were 40-something. Well, those days are sure behind me now and while my health is good, I do not know how much longer it will be. That could be a concern in the future for reasons which are too numerous and personal to go into here. Medical care in Bangkok and a few other places is good so that is not a reason for any hesitation on my part however.

I guess I should just be thankful for what I have now and enjoy my life here until such time that I can see my way clear to make any sort of change to any new locale of interest. Should the Republican re-take the White House in 2008 however, all bets are off, and I will bail out come hell or high water.

Listen and pull-out

If President Bush will not listen to the people of America, perhaps he should listen to the political and religious leaders in Iraq who want our troops out of the country. I doubt that he will do that either as he seems to have his own agenda and the rest of the world can go to hell in the meantime.

On another matter, the Catholic Church continues to dig its own grave. A new document soon to be released will bar gay men from the priesthood. At the same time, it is estimated that 25 to 50% on the men in seminaries in the U.S. are gay while at the same time, the officials in Rome will not allow married priests. I wonder what they will do for priests when all the old straight (?) men now in the priesthood die and there are no more candidates for the priesthood?

Bad Act(s)

The Patriot Act is a bad act and one which should be greatly modified or deleted but will congress have the guts to do it?

Of course not: Birds and dominoes don't mix.

Learn Greek

With this season of unending hurricanes and tropical storms I guess it is time to learn the Greek alphabet as Gamma churns through the Caribbean. Can Delta be far behind?

Dumb ideas

For one, tearing down the O'Shaughnessy Dam in order to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley to it original pristine condition is a typical San Francisco pie-in-the-sky attitude, another pipe dream cooked up by people who want to turn back the clock fifty or a hundred years or more and go live with the long dead John Muir. They are so out of touch with reality it is really pathetic to say the least.

Then on a different matter, I have news for Eleanor Traeg of Los Gatos: Our troops are not in Iraq to protect this country. They were sent there to topple Saddam Huseein, which they did, but now there is no exit strategy. So sad.

As for the controvery over the new de Young Museum, just wait a few years and the copper siding will oxidise as it corrodes and will turn to a light green color (patina) and blend in with the trees. Maybe then critics will not be so unforgiving.

As for buildings in general in San Francisco, they are so boring. People should take a look at the new and exciting buildings put up in other cities around the world. No, I am not saying they are all good. The biggest failure of all that I know of is the Pompidou Centre in Paris but atrocities like that are rare. This city, has no imagination and is too conservative in those matters.

And yet another dumb ideas for dummies: "intelligent design". No, I am not saying there is no god, just not the one as portrayed in Christian mythology. There may be an intelligent design however it is laughable that some people are saying that the "universe is so complex, that is must have been created by a higher power". Of course it was. The human race is not the most intelligent thing going in this or any other universe but other powers are simply unknown or unknowable at this time in the evolution of the human race and/or the universe itself. Science studies these things, religion does not. It simply buries its head in the sand and says "God created it" so why look any further. At least there is one person at the Vatican willing to research the history of the universe.

Big, bad, and ugly

That is what the U.S. Congress is. They are full of it and seldom do what is necessary. Now the latest fiasco is a bill to protect U.S. consumers from identity theft which is full of more holes than Swiss Cheese. Don't the member of congress have an scruples? I wonder how much money they are being paid to do the wrong thing.

Say what?

Am I the only one who thinks "root canal" when I read about Sony incorporating "root kit DRM" technology in some of its new CDs as a copy protection scheme? I can't read a single story about it and not automatically change the term to root canal. Perhaps both are painful to the recipient as well.

Say, who is that woman who robs banks while talking on her cell phone.? Is there anyone home on either end of the call?

Problems and boredom?

Why do I feel that things are so boring? It is not because I do not have anything to do. In fact, my plate is almost too full at times. Why do I get bored so easily? That is a very good question. I know that should it become possible to suddenly move to NYC and live there for a few years in a nice apartment, that my boredom would be gone for awhile as I learned my way around the city as a local and not as a tourist but then at some point I am certain that "been there - done that" would take over. Hmm...how to keep life interesting. That is the problem these days.

As for upcoming events there is the San Francisco Symphony tomorrow night for Carl Orff's Carmina Burana but unfortunately it is their new Friday night series at an early time (6:30 PM) which features talks from the stage. I think I should have selected the Wednesday or Thursday concert in this series as I fear there will be an entirely different audience there at 6:30 PM tomorrow, one which, well, doesn't know much about classical music and need to be led by the hand in trying to enjoy this piece.

Then on Saturday evening it will be back to the Opera House for Beethoven's Fidelio. I enjoyed that in rehearsal last week and it will be good to see the finished product and hear Christine Brewer again.

I have a lot of reading to do...so many magazines plus several books. It seems that I can't sit still for too long these days for any of those for some reason. Even with TV programs I have to stand up and walk around during commercial breaks. I wonder now how I make through an hour or more at the Opera House or symphony? Oh, and there is my upcoming 13 hour flight to Taipei followed by another 3 hours to Bangkok. Ouch! Oh, I could put myself to sleep with a lot of wine but then tends to dry out my system, especially my sinuses which in turn causes problems with my ears. Sure could use the transporter from the Enterprise for this. Ha!

Depressing News

The news these days seems to be more and more depressing. Today, for example, over 50 people killed in Jordan by suicide bombers. When and where will the next attack occur? Apparently the authorities in Australia have thwarted some attacks there which is good.

On the home front, the looney "intelligent creation" supporters won and lost this week so that has balanced out for now. Actually, I have no problem with a "power that we know nothing about creating the universe and setting up its laws" but what I do object to is the whole Christian tradition that has turned that power into an "old man" up there somewhere whose son, well, you know the story. I don't see anything "supernatural" about it. It is just that we haven't been around long enough to study the universe(s) and really learn something about their workings.

Currently I am reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and it the most interesting thing I have ever read. I have always been interested in astronomy but quantum physics and related matters have really opened my eyes to some things. The chapter entitled "The Origin and Fate of the Universe" is the most interesting one in this book so far. I am almost speechless with enthusiasm concerning these matters. (OK Scotty, you can beam me up anytime. Mr. Sulu, are you there? Is anyone there?) No seriously folks, sci-fi is nice but the real thing is even more interesting. The study of the origin of all things, of black holes, where the universe(s) has been and where it/they are going are much more interesting than a work of fiction.

As for intelligent aliens visiting this planet, well, I think the possibility exists it is not probable given the considerable distance to other planets but you never know. If someone has found a way to travel faster than the speed of light, perhaps it would be possible. Or, if there are parallel universes or worm holes that distort space and time, perhaps it would be possible.

"Glory be to the originator, its laws, and to the spirit of all beings. As it was at the big bang, so it is now, and will be forever."

Why?

Why has CNN dumped Aaron Brown who used to have the Newsnight program at 7 PM PT? Why has Anderson Cooper suddenly been elevated to the main man?

Well, I have those a few hundred other questions I would like to ask but for which there is probably no answer. The networks don't care what the viewers think. The only thing they care about is the bottom line and as long as CNN is not in the red, they aren't about to listen to us peons. (Is that the right word?)

On a different subject: For those who dislike affirmative action in this country, they should take a look at France where there is no such protection for minorities in job hiring. Do Americans really want to risk that in this country? No, there is no excuse for violence and I do not condone it however those who feel helpless and have no hope are apt to do anything to make a point. Do we want to tear this country apart with such a situation. There is already too much prejudice in a peaceful U.S. What would happen in a violent U.S.?

They're Rioting in France

A number of years ago the Kingston Trio recorded The Merry Minuet whose words began:

They’re rioting in Africa
They’re starving in Spain
There’s hurricanes in Flo-ri-da
And Texas needs rain the whole world is festering with unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch
AND I DON’T LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH!!

Well, it seems like the more things change, the more they remain the same. Perhaps they are not starving in Spain but many people in Afghanistan and Iraq are hungry and now the rioting is in France and not Africa although some people of African ancestry are apparently involved.

When will people ever learn? When will the human race grow up? No matter what the grievances of people in slum areas of France, violence is NOT the answer. This will only serve to destabilize the country and possibly create conditions worse than what exist now. The youth of today, be it France or the U.S., has a large segment of mental midgets in it anyway. Sometimes I think some sort of genetic engineering should be done but that won't happen of course. (Think pre-frontal labotomies here.)

I had planned to return to France in 2006 or 2007 as I have not been there since 2001 and wanted to re-visit some of my favorite places in and around Paris. The present situation might force me to put that decision on hold but I am most concerned about the people of France. This is a small band of thugs now but what will happen tomorrow or next week or next month? What will this mean for French politics? Will martial law be invoked? What will happen next?

Glued to toilet seat!

When you gotta go you gotta go but what happens when you gotta leave? Well, one man at Home Depot had quite a problem.

Idiots

I wonder why anti-war protesters and vandals don't conduct some of their events in Concord, or Walnut Creek, or Antioch, or Stockton or similar places. Isn't protesting on the streets of San Francisco something akin to preaching to the choir?

Well, Ms. Rosenberg, General Director of the San Francisco Opera, and her minions have done it again as they have unleashed an atrocity on the boards of the War Memorial with this new production of La Forza del Destino. Verdi must be turning in his grave.

Goodbye Pamela Rosenberg

Every opera lover should read Robert Commanday's excellent piece in this week's San Francisco Classical Voice Newsletter. Mr. Commanday hits the nail on the head and I for one will warmly welcome Pamela's replacement next year.

Don't panic

Because of the way some people in the American press are handling the situation, some people are panicking over the prospect of the Avian flu hitting this country. Relax! It is not just around the corner. It may be down the street but we have been warned and if everyone does his or her part, we can be prepared. Even the Bush wants to allot money for vaccines now but people should not act as if we are all about to be wiped out by this disease. In fact, to date, it is very difficult to contract in a bird to human or human to human scenario and as the experts say, these things mutate slowly, so don't panic.