One of the nice things about going to visit friends is a temporary reprieve from the
mundane --no grocery shopping, housecleaning and the like, just enjoyment of good friends,
good meals, and high (and low) culture.

The focal point of the visit was the performance of "Daughter of the Regiment" at the Opera with two
remarkable stars: Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flores with the nine high C's and Diana Damrau, a superb singing comic
actress in the role her predecessor Beverly Sills described as "Lucille Ball with High Notes."
Indeed, she could sing elaborate coloratura whilst being carried sideways offstage. It was also good see
big people given due respect for their talents in the roles of the Marquise and Sulpice, both played and sung
with vigor.

After the opera, I walked over to a hot tub party at Marty's in the Mission, and was edified by some of the playful
activities.

The next day, I went to see the SF Symphony present a Day of the Dead concert guest conducted by
another Peruvian Alondra de la Parra, founder of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas. The works
were all recent works from Latin America, unfamiliar to me, but first rate compositions. The familiar "Carnival of the Animals" featured original poetry by Mexican poet Laura Esquivel, who wrote and narrated in the tradition of "calaveritas" about how your living friends will meet their ends. Laura also had a wonderful hat for the occasion!

Adding to the festivities, my host Ben has recorded a previous Symphony special by Michael Tilson Thomas called "Keeping Score," this one being a brilliant musical and political exploration of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 with a lot of rare footage, and a
cool animation of the modern art movements of revolutionary Russia before the rise of Stalin and the imposition
of socialist realism. Another show was Gustavo Dudamel's debut as director of the LA Philharmonic (which is maybe why SF Symphony did the Latin concert. The piece in th first half was a showpiece for very large orchestra by the conservative modernist John Adams. It
didn't move me much, with a lot of virtuoso playing that seemed more like acrobatics, except for the sax solo which owed a lot to Charlie Parker. The other half, which I didn't see, was Mahler 1.

To their credit, the SF Mus of Modern art was open on Monday, so I got to soak up an expo of postwar Japanese photogrtaphy, and some sculptures in the roofgarden. My favorite was "Lilith" by Kiki Smith, which captures and acrobat in full somersault.

Sunday evening, I had dinner with Joey in the Haight, and talked about his work on Edward Carpenter, a British socialist
of the 1870s and 80s who was 90 years too early to be a homo hippie.

Also did some random shopping, completeing the annual buying for three friends,
and discovering a stash of porno DVDs at $2 a pop at Different Light in the Castro.

The weather cooperated beautifully, and even on the way home, there were not the usual waits for buses!

I'm flying to SF tonight, staying with my friend Ben who is 88 this year, going to
see Juan Diego Flores sing his 9 High C's on Saturday night, a party or two
following, meals with friends, symphony, holiday shopping, and dirty bookstores!

Q. What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?

A. One is a flaming Nazi gas bag. The other is a dirigible.

Q. What's the difference between an investment banker and a Mafia capo?

A. The Mafia capo is a man of honor.

Now amazon.com in their display ads thinks I am interested in the backwoods of
North Carolina, basketball, and belly dancing.

Where are the naked men?

My dream last night would indicate
(1)locating a boyfriend via skype in an uncharted area of the Western Desert
(2) receiving some little purple pills from a Japanese ,edical bureaucracy after my sugar pills
spilled over the floor
(3) ghosts visiting my motel room.

Oh no! Now that I mentioned it, I get a Belly Dance instructional DVD ad: 9 signature styles (all ladies?)

Is it because tribe still keeps my profile in argentina.tribe.net? Or thinks that I'm the governor
in the Carolinas

... increase in sightings of the Brown-shirted Dittohead <it> dodo palinensis</it>
sharing some features of the cockeyed nuthatch.