Last night was Los Gatos Schools Art Docent’s annual fund raiser, and our resident artist created an edible head of Frida Kahlo. Maureen and the girls spend a week – on and off – on this project. The Frida’s head was the center of attraction at our 1st stop (The California View Gallery). The evening ended up in California Cafe for another record year. No small thanks to Frida and friends.
On the last Friday of the winter break we visited the San Francisco Zoo. The day itself was sunny and cool. The zoo appears to be in permanent state of reconstructions, with a number of exhibits closed to the public. We got to see a disgruntled zoo keeper pet Boomer the Emu. Before petting Emus & Kangaroos, this zoo keeper was taking care of Lions. But his bosses didn’t appreciate his daily recommendations for yet another way to improve the safety of the keeper when left alone with hungry lions. Eventually they asked him to take care of the Emus and the Kangaroos instead — a demotion of sorts in the pecking order of zoo keepers. The other zoo keeper of note was the mad bird lady instructing us to do something but we were not quite sure if she she wants us to move on or stand still.
I took 150 photos that were then edited down to 40. Here is the final set (as you can see more editing is needed). The photo of the goose is my favorite. 
The petting zoo was a hit for us and our neighbors the Krulevichs that we met by chance at the Zoo.
We got home at 6:00 PM and went out to California Cafe for dinner.
Last night’s La Traviata was quite a performance. The set, the theater, the opera singers and the opera itself was as good as it gets. Caroline and Allen were also there (same row) and that was the added spark that made it a memorable night for all. Next opera is The Magic Flute. Got to start saving…
This week Lily and Eve each prepared a wonderful dinner for all us on two separate evenings. Lily made an amazing vegetarian omelet and Eve made a remarkable Fish in a Sack dish (get a paper bag, add fish, oil, vegetables and place in oven – simple and yummy).
Beautiful people,
Everywhere,
Not the ones with long wavy hair,
Not the ones with a slim, tan body,
Not the ones with a perfect face,
Not the movie stars,
Or the models,
But people,
Who are just themeless,
The people who don”t put on make-up,
The people who love themselves for who they are,
And don”t dislike themselves for what there not,
The people who wear what they want to wear,
And not what everyone else is wearing,
The people who make a difference in this world of sameness,
Those are the beautiful people
And they are everywhere.
I wonder why the sky is gray on this very day, Up all alone in my room with nothing yet to play, I go down stares and peek around and then I see your face and I say Happy Valentines Day and the skies clear with grace.
Happy Valentines Day
Love, Eve
Tonight at dinner we were reminiscing about Dave Ave. and Mrs. Hird (the 2nd grade teacher back then), and Lily asked me if the Rainbow room website that I created for the class still existed. I recalled that I kept a copy of this web site on my .mac account, and when I searched I found it. The web site was generated from a database (the system was way over engineered), I designed it with a view that other classes may want to use the system. I used MySQL and Perl to write the system. In 1999, believe or not there were still a number of families that didn’t have home Internet accounts. I’m not sure if anyone really used the web site (it was hosted at Daves) or not, but it was fun creating it. In case you are wondering what it looked liked, here it is.
In 1999, I also created the 1st draft of Coach Cappon’s site plus an e-mail account on Yahoo for the Coach. I’m glad I kept a copy of these sites. Coach Cappon has since published a book, become famous and continues to live in Toronto where he can enjoy the winter season to its fullest.
Good old Cambria. Here are the photos that we used for our home exchange trip to Spain (2003). We do miss Cambria – fog and all.
I know the paramedic #1. The handsome paramedic #1 is no other than the chief himself: John Cappon. The entire ring of our friends were glued to the TV last night waiting for #1 to fill the screen on the first of the three-episode “Grey’s Anatomy” story arc that will challenge the interns of Seattle Grace — and “Grey’s” fans as well — like never before. You can watch Walk on Water for free on ABC.com or you can buy it on iTunes for $1.99.
The entire family is off for a night at the opera to see San Jose Opera’s La Traviata later on this month at the California Theater. The theater was recently renovated and by all accounts it is sight to see.
Verdi wrote La Traviata in 1853 and it is the 3rd most frequently performed opera in U.S. The La Traviata is Italian literally for The woman who strayed or more appropriately as The lost one.
This four act opera takes place in Paris in the 1700s, but more recent renditions are set in the 1800s. For details of the story click here. It is a love story between Violetta and Alfredo. Alfredo’s father Giorgio is against their union and by deception manages to get Violetta to leave Alfredo. Alfredo finally finds out, but it is too late, Violetta is very sick with tuberculosis, then called “consumption,” the most commonly deadly disease in the 19th century. Violetta dies in Alfredo’s arms as he begs her for forgiveness. Now if this is not going to add a spark to your day, I don’t know what will.
For a behind the scene view of all of the local activities for the preparation of La Traviata see this article.
My favorite arias of La Traviata are: Libiamo ne’lieti calici (Brindisi) and Un Di Felice, Eterea. Brindisi is featured in a number of movies e.g., Peter O’Toole sings this aria in the Ruling Class, and Bugs Bunny is also known to have song this aria.
Today’s Aladdin Jr. premier received a well deserved standing ovation. Three more shows and then its over for another year. Eve perfectly played her role as a member of the Genie Troupe and the Royal Attendants. She was on the stage most of the time dancing and singing. Eve played Jannat (means highest garden). My favorite part was when Eve walked like a professional ballerina on the stage in her white costume carrying a dragon looking umbrella.
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