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October 2009 Archives

October 2, 2009

A South American Olympics

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So the 2016 Olympics are heading to Rio de Janiero. It's fitting, I guess, that Brazil will host, as the Games have not yet been to South America. As an American, I am confident that Chicago would have been a terrific choice, too. I've spent time in all four cities that were the final candidates (Madrid and Tokyo being the other two) and the IOC could not have made a bad choice with this bunch.

October 1, 2009

Next Week

Early in the school year, it's something of a cliché in our office to put off a discussion or project until "next week . . . when things settle down to normal." We say this week after week, and I wonder if things ever get to be "normal" around here while school is in session.

October 3, 2009

Can That Be Right?

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I was on the Amazon.com site this morning checking on the status of my Beatles boxed set delivery (ahem . . . still waiting!) and found out I have made 97 orders in the last six months. Holy cow! I know I am an Amazon junkie but I had no idea I gave the site that much business. That number is so high, I think, because I am an Amazon Prime member, which gives me free two-day shipping on virtually anything I order, so I think nothing of placing an order for a single cheap item to save me a trip to the store.

Dallas Bound

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Looks like I am heading to Dallas in the middle of December. Once I realized the annual Groton girls' squash play day was canceled this year, I am now free to attend the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association convention. I leave Friday night and return to Connecticut midday Monday. It will pretty much be an exclusively work-related trip, however: most of my weekend will be spent sitting in banquet halls attending a series of four-hour classes for professional development credit.

The New Ricky Gervais Flick

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Got to the cinema tonight for the first time since the start of the school year. The Invention Of Lying was a disappointment, despite being co-written and co-directed by Ricky Gervais, whose work I generally love. It had a great cast, including some cool cameos--Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe were the leads, with appearances by Tina Fey, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Hodgman, Edward Norton, et al. But the movie just didn't click with me. Some funny bits within but it didn't add up to much.

October 4, 2009

One Day University

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Just finished a slate of lectures as part of the One Day University program. This meant getting up in time to take the 5:45 a.m. train from New Haven so I could be at the New York Hilton before 9:00 for the first lecture on Moby-Dick. Subsequent presentations were on the psychology of art appreciation, Shakespeare, the philosophy of the ancients, and connections between Beethoven and The Beatles. Pretty interesting day overall. Now back to Grand Central for the train to Connecticut.

How Sweet Is This?

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Tonight's new installment of Curb Your Enthusiasm kicked off the arc involving the reunion of the Seinfeld cast. It's a casting stunt, sure, but a brilliant one that can only make an already enjoyable show even better.

October 5, 2009

The Cover Of Rolling Stone

Hello, hello!

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Some good features on the world's best band at the online RS site too.

October 6, 2009

My Ticket To Ride

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The long-awaited Beatles boxed set arrived with the newly remastered albums. I opted for the stereo version, even though I was ridiculed by a ninth-grader in my house for buying the "inauthentic" versions.

October 7, 2009

Yankees Time Machine

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The Bronx Bombers are playing like the New York teams from a decade ago. The 7-2 win over the Twins in the first round of the playoffs tonight was emphatic: this club is aiming for another World Series crown. I was at my parents' house tonight and had to watch the game while listening to my dad complain how "unfair" it was that the Yankees bought all their talent. I did not know he was a communist.

October 8, 2009

Look Who's Back In Action

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Rafael Nadal is playing the China Open in Beijing this week and won a tough match over James Blake today. Apparently he's healthier than he's been in months, which is great for men's tennis.

October 15, 2009

An Intriguing Poster

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Ran across this poster on my way to the theater tonight. Coming to Broadway at the end of the winter: a Spider-Man musical, directed by Julie Taymor (The Lion King) with music by Bono and The Edge. Pretty safe bet I'll be checking this out!

October 16, 2009

Hamlet #3

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Tonight's Broadway production was the third Hamlet I've seen on stage--the first was in June of 2008 in Central Park, and the second in Lenox, Massachusetts this past June. Jude Law played the Danish prince. A pretty effective staging, I thought: solid acting and strong production values. Was it great? Probably not. But pretty good.

October 12, 2009

Seasonal Bug

Yesterday I had a sore throat all day. This morning I woke up feeling very dehydrated and congested. I've been fighting off a headache, too. Not fun.

October 9, 2009

The New Nobel Laureate

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The country awoke this morning to the news that the American president had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. My own take on this? I was surprised; it surely seems a bit premature so early in Obama's presidency. But it hardly justifies the flurry of criticism on the left and (especially) the right. The fact that our leader is perceived by a committee of Scandanavians as a man of diplomacy, values, and great potential is hardly something to be upset about.

October 10, 2009

Trekkin' To The Commonwealth

Already a long day up here in Massachusetts. Choate teams left Wallingford at 1:30 after SAT testing, hit a snarl of traffic on the Mass Pike, and my team didn't start its race until 5:45. We finished in darkness! A pair of close losses was frustrating, especially since we have yet to race with a complete and healthy squad. And now we are boarding the bus for the two-hour-plus trip home.

October 11, 2009

Court Date

Finally got to hit some tennis balls this afternoon--this was my first Sunday at home in weeks--and realized once more how much I miss not being able get some regular tennis into my routine this time of year.

October 14, 2009

Busy Week In The Admissions Office

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As a three-season varsity head coach, I have certain demands I must meet in the school's admissions office--primarily meeting candidates with an interest in the sports I coach. Seems like most of them are coming through Archbold this week!

October 13, 2009

Tracked Down A Rare Book

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I first encountered this Ted Hughes book at the National Theatre bookshop while (or "whilst," as they'd say there) I was in London in August. The wild boar on the cover attracted my attention. The volume has been out of print, but the wonderful Internet enabled me to track down a copy at a reasonable price and it arrived today.

October 17, 2009

Catch A Wave

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I am ready to try Google Wave, which has been billed as a cross between e-mail, instant messaging, and social networking software. Anyone have an invitation to send my way?

October 18, 2009

Wild Things

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Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are is a film with some charm, striking visuals, and a compelling look at the wonders and terrors of childhood. It does tend to drag a bit in the middle, but it's well worth seeing. It was perfectly appropriate for a matinee on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

October 19, 2009

No SuperBowl For Me In 2010

For the past few years, my parents have spent their winters in Florida and I have headed south during the school's winter long weekend break to visit and get a taste of warm weather in the middle of the cold season up here in New England. Because this year's SuperBowl is being played in Miami, it's proven to be very difficult to line up an affordable flight back north on the day following the game--our last day of the break. So I have booked a ticket to fly back to Connecticut during the game time, which will save me about $800!

October 20, 2009

New Toys From Cupertino

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Apple released a new line-up of Mac products, including the new Magic Mouse, with multi-touch capability built into the top of the device. Looks very sleek!

October 21, 2009

The Booker Prize

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This morning my latest Amazon package arrived with Wolf Hall, which recently won the Mann Booker Prize in England as book of the year. It's historical fiction set in the time of Henry VIII, and supposedly quite good.

October 22, 2009

Iberia Awaits

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I've booked myself a trip to Portugal (with a short excursion to Gibraltar and Sevilla, Spain) the week after Christmas, so I will be ringing in the New Year in the Algarve, on the southern coast of Portugal.

October 23, 2009

The Python Documentary

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I've been watching the Monty Python 40th anniversary documentary series on IFC all week. It's a six-part retrospective on the group's TV shows, records, and movies. Very entertaining!

October 25, 2009

Much Ado At The Folger

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I saw my fourth production of Much Ado About Nothing this afternoon, this one at the Folger Shakespeare Library's Elizabethan Theatre. Previous stagings I've seen were set in Spain and in mid-20th century Italy. This one employed Caribbean themes set in a contemporary American city (presumably Washington, DC). A pretty engaging rendition of the play.

A Ben Jonson Play

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Since I was in DC already, I visited the city's other Shakespearean theater, called the Shakespeare Theatre Company, to see the work of one of The Bard's contemporaries, Ben Johnson. The play was The Alchemist, a goofy comedy that was amusing enough.

October 26, 2009

Anchors Aweigh

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I visited Annapolis for the first time today, having awoken in DC and rented a car at Union Station. I toured the U.S. Naval Academy, watched the noon formation, and had a nice lunch with a former cross country captain who is now a midshipman at the Academy. This place is awfully impressive. And the town is lovely.

A Bigger iMac

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Got to check out the new 27" iMacs in the Apple Store here in Annapolis this afternoon. The display, with its higher pixel count and stunning resolution, is gorgeous. If they can throw a Blu-ray drive into one of these, I'm upgrading.

October 27, 2009

The New John Irving Novel

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My favorite modern author, John Irving, has a new novel out today, Last Night In Twisted River. My copy arrived this morning via Amazon. Hope to find time to unwind with this book soon.

An Unforgettable Album

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1984's The Unforgettable Fire is one of my favorite U2 albums, as it was the subsequent tour for this record that first got me engaged with the band. A deluxe remastering was released today and--of course--I had to scoop this up.

Sting's Latest Release

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Also among the goodies in today's Amazon shipment is my friend Sting's new album, If On A WInter's Night...

October 24, 2009

If It's Parents Weekend, It Must Be Raining

Choate Cross Country enjoyed a very successful outing in the rain, though the wet course produced slower times than the boys deserved, given the hard work they've been investing of late.

October 28, 2009

Acela To Philly

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I am traveling to Philadelphia on the Acela this afternoon, though it arrived in New Haven 40 minutes late and was further delayed coming into New York City. This is such a comfortable train! The play I am seeing tonight is at the Annenberg Center, on the Penn campus, just a few blocks from 30th Street Station in the City Of Brotherly Love.

The Last Comedy

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Tonight's performance of Love's Labour's Lost was a touring production staged by the company from London's Shakespeare's Globe Theatre--a venue I have enjoyed numerous times in recent years. This play represents the only one of Shakespeare's comedies I hadn't yet seen. I already completed all the tragedies in the canon, so I have only a handful of rarely-performed histories to go, plus a couple of quasi-canonical works (Two Noble Kinsman and Edward III).

After tonight's show, I connected with a Choate alum from the Class of 2009, who gave me a quick tour of the Penn campus and took me to a Halloween party in frat house for a brief visit before I had to catch my middle-of-the-night train back to New Haven.

October 29, 2009

A Rare Late Start To The Morning

I'm not one to get out of bed late for the most part, but after intermittent sleep on the train from Philadelphia and a 5:15 arrival home, I arose at a sinfully late 10:30 this morning!

The Agassi Revelations

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This week's Sports Illustrated provides excerpts from the forthcoming Andre Agassi autobiography. The sports pages and blog sites have been abuzz with the news of the tennis player's use of crystal meth a dozen years ago. Surprising that Agassi, whose image upon retirement was that of the game's beloved elder statesmen, would have offered these unflattering revelations. It certainly should sell a lot of books, but I can't imagine he needs the money!

October 30, 2009

Update On The Shakespeare Canon

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So some eighteen months after I embarked on my quest to see each of Shakespeare's plays staged, I have worked my way through most of the canon (though at this point it's the rarely staged plays I still have ahead of me):

1. 4/24/08, Macbeth, Broadway
2. 6/20/08, Hamlet, Shakespeare In The Park, The Public Theater, New York City
3. 6/26/08, King Lear, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
4. 6/27/08, Twelfth Night, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
5. 6/28/08, Measure For Measure, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
6. 7/3/08, All's Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare & Co., Lenox, MA
7. 7/18/08, The Comedy Of Errors, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, OR
8. 7/19/08, Othello, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, OR
9. 7/22/08, Romeo And Juliet, Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA
10. 8/8/08, The Merry Wives Of Windsor, Shakespeare's Globe, London
11. 8/9/08, The Taming Of The Shrew, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford, U.K.
12. 8/13/08, Much Ado About Nothing, Oxford Castle, Oxford, U.K.
13. 9/9/08, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hartford Stage Company, Hartford, CT
14. 10/3/08, The Tempest, Classic Stage Company, New York City
15. 5/14/09, The Merchant Of Venice, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City
16. 6/13/09, Julius Caesar, Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON, Canada
17. 6/20/09, Henry V, Richmond Shakespeare Festival, Richmond, VA
18. 7/10/09, Pericles, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Garrison, NY
19. 7/19/09, Titus Andronicus, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
20. 7/26/09, Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Colonial Theater, Westerly, RI
21. 7/28/09, Antony And Cleopatra, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Center Valley, PA
22. 8/1/09, As You Like It, Shakespeare's Globe, London
23. 8/1/09, The Winter's Tale, The Old Vic, London
24. 8/16/09, Troilus And Cressida, Shakespeare's Globe, London
25. 8/22/09, Henry IV, Part I, Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, Philadelphia, PA
26. 8/26/09, Henry VIII, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, OR
27. 8/28/09, Coriolanus, Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA
28. 9/27/09, Richard III, Chicago Shakespeare Festival, Chicago
29. 10/28/09, Love's Labour's Lost, Annenberg Center, Philadelphia, PA

And here's what's left:

30. March 2010, Richard II, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, DC
31. May 2010, Timon Of Athens, Actors' Shakespeare Project, Boston, MA
32. Cymbeline
33. Henry IV, Part II
34. Henry VI, Part I
35. Henry VI, Part II
36. Henry VI, Part III
37. King John

Plus the two plays now attributed, at least in part, to Shakespeare's hand:

38. Edward III
39. The Two Noble Kinsmen

Pretty good progress in just a year and a half!

October 31, 2009

Michael Moore's Latest

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I saw Capitalism: A Love Story tonight, expecting to be underwhelmed, but this turned out to be a pretty thoughtful, well-made movie and relatively free of Moore's sometimes over-the-top screeds.

About October 2009

This page contains all entries posted to As Far As You Know in October 2009. They are listed from oldest to newest.

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