Last night, we went to see John Williams at the Hollywood Bowl. We took the train, which I always love, and met Dale and Robert at our seats in N2. After a delightful picnic of cucumber sandwiches and fresh tomatoes from Dale's garden, the lights dimmed and the music began. The first part meandered through a selection of William's most famous pieces, starting with the Olympic themes then themes from Hook, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Close Encounters. The crowd of an equal mix of old and young was enthusiastic. During the intermission, the four of us indulged ourselves with Dale's amazing berry cobbler, most of which was dropped on my flip flop. The gooey berries made a squishy noise that I substituted for foot taps through the second half of the concert. The beginning of the second half started with the introduction of Stanley Donan who choreographed many of the classic Hollywood dance numbers including Fred Astair's floor to wall to ceiling dance in Royal Wedding and Gene Kelley's splish splashy Singin' in the Rain. We watched the clips as the LA Phil played along, which is no small feat. Mr Donan related the story of filming Singin' In the Rain in which the classic dance sequence was filmed during the day, because it was cheaper. A large tarp was used to diffuse the sunlight. But since it was on the MGM backlot, in summer, when it was hot, they had to film in the morning since most Culver City residents chose to water their lawns in the afternoon leaving no water pressure for the deluge needed for film. The evening ended with an emotional medley of E.T., Jaws, Superman and of course Star Wars. At that point, over 200 people in the audience pulled out light sabers. During the Emporer's March, the Darth Vader song as I call it, every light saber bounced along with the music. It was comical to be at a performance of an orchestra and see multi-color lights performing essentially the head banger bounce to the most famous villain's theme song. On the way out, I noticed how many were in costume. And John Williams got a standing ovation.

getting really lazy. cheap, mindless, unconstructive snap shot. ah. it's cold and grey out there, EVERYDAY. not really a conducive environment for human flourishing...but to be able to wear mid-cut footwear makes it slightly more bearable.