Naebody in Particular

They're not on a shortbread tin, but the dead live on so long as we keep telling their stories. Scots, Yanks, Canucks and the Auld Enemy. Newest posts are the ancestors, but scroll for the living.

eugene onegin @ the kennedy center

June 16, 2008

Kennedy Center Foyer, originally uploaded by Andy961.

being a russian studies major with a theatrical design minor, i am a sucker for russian opera. being a reasonably well-off white metrosexual male, i am a sucker for the kennedy center.

so, when the n.s.o. had to discount tickets to their production because they weren’t selling — trouble selling a russian opera, who’s heard of such a thing?!? — we grabbed us some $25 tickets like the materialistic capitalist scum that we are.

the production was sublime. eugene onegin — or ??????? ?????? for those people who took six semesters of russian that they don’t use and feel the need to show off to justify the time, pain and expense — is a tchaikovsky adaptation (the nutcracker guy did some opera, too) of a pushkin poetry classic.

unlike the awful sanitized version of tchaikovsky’s swan lake — the one where the swan lives — eugene does bad things he actually pays for it. (the swan lives?!? really people, are we so devoid of vertebrae that every story has to have a happy ending?)

actually, onegin’s demise is the story of russia itself: men behave like twits, women get royally screwed, men realize their error, women quickly marry the next guy they find (ie. before he can be a twit and, thereby, restart the opera).

of course, this story arch serves as a stark contrast the classic story of america, where man screws up for 10 minutes, covers it up for 10 minutes, and then apologizes for 10 minutes.

with this as background, it’s not hard to believe that russia has created great opera, while all we’ve managed to pull off has been “mad about you” and bill clinton’s life story.
our long national nightmare is over

June 8, 2008

Day 55 – Barack Obama Mural in Houston Texas (Houston Graffiti Art), originally uploaded by Marco From Houston.

well, i don’t even know where to begin on this one…

now, we weren’t exacty backing hillary in this horse race (tho admittedly we’d have voted for her as the nominee) but, as late april turned to mid may turned to early june, our patience with hillary’s mathematical chances to secure the nomination started to wear a bit thin.

once it became clear that the her only chance for nomination rested on convincing superdelagates to vote against their constituencies, i (for one) started to flip out … ’cause overruling the populace isn’t something *we* do, that’s something the opposition does.

now, i’ll give hillary mad props for toning down her rhetoric as this dragged on … but the notion that her supporters would threaten to boycott the general election (bad form) or vote for McCain (worse) because of how “poorly” they/hillary were treated?!?

ick.

the view from here was that hillary was giving just as much as she was getting … and not necessarily in that order. actually, our “insider” circles were *rife* with tales of hillary supporters linguistically kneecapping fellow party members with threats of reprisals if they took the “wrong” side and she pulled off the win in extr innings.

it is the very peak of sad that, at the time we should all be celebrating *whichever* pioneering nominee came out on top, we are instead debating recriminations and writing bitter blog posts.

sigh.
food, food, food, and baseball

June 7, 2008

Nationals Park from Left Field, originally uploaded by BostonCityWalk.

the va parkers came to town, and we used the occasion to make our inaugural pilgrimage to the new washington nationals baseball stadium.

the stadium is very, well, washington dc … it’s beautiful, but concrete, but monumental, but sort of industrial. as far as i can tell, there is not a bad seat in the house, and everything feels close to the field.

but all of this misses the point … which, oddly enough, is the food.

the nats signed contracts with 10+ local independent businesses, including ben’s chili bowl, giffords’ ice cream, five guys hamburgers, red hot and blue barbecue, mayorga coffee, capitol city brew, and hard times chili. that’s a season full of grub, without going back to the same trough twice.

oh, for what it’s worth, the nats lost. again. they kept it close though, albeit 0-0, until san francisco’s seven hitter whacked a grand slam in the eighth. after that, it as business as usual.
wall photos: wedding

June 6, 2008
photos: membership retreat, annapolis, maryland

June 4, 2008

ECPA20080604_1491, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

Explore the Photo Set:
membership retreat, annapolis, maryland
too much free time. more playoffs, please.

June 3, 2008
Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics, originally uploaded by Paul Keleher.
so, my father is a lockdown celtics fan.

now, i often say that i don’t remember anything before 7th grade (which is sad, yet still true) but, due to my father’s Boston brand of religion, some of my best childhood memories involve the celtics, including:
1. my father sneaking us into the old Garden, and then sweet-talking the staff after we got caught. the parquet playing floor wasn’t down because of a Boston Bruins game, but those Championship banners were sure up in those rafters.
2. watching the Celtics win Game 7 of the ’84 finals against Los Angeles, giving them Championship #15. To this day, I still hate that whole squad of Lakers, especially Kurt Rambis. (sorry, Nadav…)
3. “havlicek stole the ball!” actually, that wasn’t a childhoold memory (because I was born almost 20 years, to the day, later) but CBS used to play it over and over anytime the Celtics made the playoffs … to the theme from “Terms of Endearment,” no less.
of course, with said favorite memories, came some of my least-favorite childhood memories, too:
1. waking up after the ’88 division series loss to the Pistons, realizing that the Celtics just weren’t the “Celtics” anymore. (which would have been revealed a year earlier if not for a last second gaff by the Pistons.)
2. len bias.
i was seventeen when Larry Bird retired, and the Celtics launched a 15-year “forgettable” streak. over that span, they had only three winning seasons, three playoff series, and just two players named to an All-Star team. last year, they lost 58 games and won just 24.

but, everything change this summer, when Celtic GM danny ainge — who was in contention for “worst GM ever” until that point, which is saying something considering recent Celtic history — pulled of the steal of a lifetime by snagging Kevin Garnett from Minnesota.

now, i watched the Celtic’s new “big three” during the regular season, but i knew they were going to choke … so didn’t get too attached. in fact, i was more optimistic about the Red Sox’ chances in 2004 … and they were facing down 86 years of history, not a pedestrian 20.

however, once the Celtics made the playoffs, we started watching. and watching. and watching.

and yes, that was “we” — as in the lady sparkler’s been watching, too. and she’s been screaming at the television when Ray Allen bricks another three. and she’s been twitching non-stop during every road game waiting for the choke to come. and she’s been wondering how Paul Pierce became the team hero when Kevin Garnett has him beat in every major stat category except assists.

at this point, the lady sparkler and I are guessing that we have seen 15 of the 20 playoff games so far, for 50+ hours of basketball. there has been a game just about every other day since the end of April. which brings us to why I am blogging about this today … there hasn’t been a game for four days. and won’t be one until the finals start this Thursday.

basically, we are in withdrawal.

All day Sunday, i felt like i was missing something … and it didn’t go away until I realized that I would have been watching Game 7 had they not clinched two days earlier. today, i felt like i needed to do something when i got home. but no. it was just an even number of days since the last game.

and so we wait.

and it sucks. and i can’t imagine what it’s like for someone (like my father) who’s been around for all the rest of the 16 championships, 20 conference titles and 26 divisional titles, and has had to wait 20 years for the next glimmer of hope … because the anticipation is just *killing* me.
regina spektor @ the national mall

June 1, 2008

the whole show was a little “off.”

it was part of the Israel@60 celebration on the mall, so it was a limited set to an age-diverse audience where no one over the age of 35 knew any of the songs … so, even through they were extremely appreciative in between songs, it wasn’t really a “participatory” crowd.

we also felt a little unsettled from being (seemingly) the only people there who didn’t have a strong religious/ideological reason to attend, compounded by the fact that i’m pretty sure that i was the only one there who had spent any extended amount time in Syria.

oh, and the panel truck continually circling the mall while plastered with pro-palestinian propaganda didn’t helping us feel very comfy, either.

anyway, two songs in regina forgot the lyrics to the song she was singing … which (fortunately for her) was the song making the Adult Alternative radio rounds at the moment, so the crowd just sang parts of it without her. (later, she blamed the dual pressure of performing for an event for Israel while in the shadow of the Capitol building.)

she plowed through the rest of the show without incident, but it wasn’t quite the intimate, personal concert that she’s known for … so, i’m going to chalk this one up to being a missed opportunity and try and see her live in a more conventional setting.

SET LIST: Bobbin’ for Apples, On the Radio, That Time, One More Time with Feeling, Ghost of Corporate Future, Apres Moi, Better, The Flowers, Poor Little Rich Boy, Ain’t No Cover, Fidelity, Us, Summer in the City, Samson, Hotel Song
flexday: pedaling to great falls

May 30, 2008

lock house, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

it’s officially the start of summer, because i start “flexing” every other friday. the deal at work is this: we still have to put in our 10 days worth of hours, but if we can do it in 9 days, we get every other friday off.

now, about 90% of me wanted to stay home, sleep, eat, play wii, etc … but with 72 degree weather, and working for an organization with “nature” in the title, it seemed like the slacking could wait until those 102 degree days in July.

so, i hopped on my bicycle, and headed up the C&O Canal Towpath that runs along the Potomac towards West Virginia. The trail head is four hilly miles from our place but, once on the path, it’s mercifully flat for the rest of the 35 mile round trip.

there really are about ten days out of the year where D.C. is the most beautiful place on earth, and i just got lucky with one of them.

Explore the Photo Set:
Cycling to Great Falls, Maryland (and back)
found the water heater, finally

May 26, 2008

found the water heater, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

after a week of searching, we found the water heater … and i snagged these never-before-seen pictures through a three inch hole in a cabinet only findable after removing the refrigerator.

if you look at this picture from when we moved in, the water heater is to the right of the refrigerator, under the marble counter top.

it’s startlingly hard to believe who would think it was a good idea to completely enclose the water heater with cabinets, marble, and 2 exterior walls (less the 3 inch hole blocked by the fridge, of course) … but at least we found it and it doesn’t look too, too ancient.
Sports Night at the “Juice Box”

May 25, 2008

ECPA20080524_1332, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

We’re in Houston for Memorial Day/the lady sparkler’s Birthday, and spent last night with Nadine and Nadav at Minute Maid Park. (the lady sparkler’s parents had a prior engagement to see Pink Martini.) Great park, great game … which Houston won 4-3 by gunning down the tying run at home plate, with the bases loaded, for the final out.

Speaking of sports, i just read a story out of Washington State where a senior softball player in her final game blew her ACL after hitting a home run, and was carried around the bases by the opposing team. Incredible. I cried like a baby.

Speaking of crying like a baby, the only other time i’ve gotten misty during SportsCenter was a segment about an autistic teen who scored 20 points off the bench in the first and only basketball game of his high school career. (turns out that segment was nominated for an Emmy, so i wasn’t the only one bawling, fwiw.)

(p.s. insert your “evan/girl” or “the lady sparkler/pants” jokes in the comments.)

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Astros v Phillies, Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas