Classical Music Club

I have a visitor this week, Vinny, from Austin. He's on Spring Break hanging out. The first night he got here we (Jennifer joined us) went to what was advertised as a Classical Music Club at one of the neighborhood town halls (Shoreditch Town Hall). When I first heard about it, I was excited because I thought it was a real club that did classical music. It wasn't until we actually looked into going that I realized it was at a town hall and this made think it wouldn't be as interesting. It turns out it was interesting but maybe a bit too pricey (£15) for 1 hour of live music. The event is called This Isn't For You and occurs once a month. There are about 10 different pieces played by a few different groups. There was a rather eiry video collage playing up on the big wall while the music played. There were no seats so for a person who doesn't like to stand, this isn't good. By the end, some people had taken to sitting on the floor...including me and Vinny. There was quite a diverse crowd, all ages and walks of life...though mostly white. The performances were good, both from the selection and execution. I liked that it was a mix of composers. So unlike going to a symphony or orchestra where you only here one or two composers, here you can hear 4-6 different composers. For this fact and that I like the pieces, I recommend this show. You can buy beer, wine, water, and soft drinks. Oh, it takes place in a grand room in the town hall...very ballroom-ish. Despite recommending it, I don't know if I'll go back because of the value (£15 for 1 hour of live music). Oh I should say that a "dj" plays classical music before and after but with everyone talking, you can't really hear it until there is a dramatic bit in the song.

Frankfurt and neighboring towns

I spent the 2nd half of last week in Frankfurt and Pfungstadt. The work week was nothing, but I spent the weekend with my friend from high school Adrian and his new (to me) wife Amber. We had a lovely time catching up and getting to know Amber, who by the way is an utterly sweet person! I got to see my first old school German town, Heidelberg. There is an old castle there that we toured around in. Oh and there is a winery nearby which they sale the wine at this castle and there is a wine barrell about 30 feet tall!! Unfortunately, I lost my camera my first night there (sniff sniff) and so couldn't take a picture. Hopefully Adrian will send me some pictures and I can update this entry with some. Heidelberg was a really neat old town and I'd recommend checking it out.

Copenhagen

After a lovely evening at a party with Bernard where the guest played chamber music and sang, I had to run off to Copenhagen for the weekend before having to head to Aarhus, Denmark for work this week. I visited a friend I met back in September when I first went to Copenhagen to work. We met a an excellent jazz club. Anyway, we hung out this weekend. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant where I finally got to eat some soft spring rolls with peanut sauce...YUM!! Getting our table was quite weird. The couple in front of us was told there was a 30-40 minute wait for a table. I think they left. We came up next and we got seated immediately. Elton thinks it was because they were Muslim that they got told the wait time. After that dinner, we returned to the jazz club, La Fontaine, where we first met. The singer that night was was having her 40th birthday party! The band was really good. She could do that skit-skat stuff quite well. It was a fun show! Elton's friend Christian eventually joined us and we headed to a late night joint to grab some food. We all walked back to my hotel where Elton played the piano and sang us one of his songs. Oh, he's a musician...you can check out some of his music on mysapce.com...The Sohio Project Sunday, after a bit of recovering from a little too much to drink the previous night, Elton took me to a place where there was an excellent brunch as picture. Isn't it verly lovely looking as well? After that we went and listened to some of his music and see his music video. On top of simply liking his music, his music is actually what most of my friends would say is the type I like to listen to now. So, I think his music rocks and you guys should all check it out! His video was very creative. After the quick, fun weekend, I had to dash off to Aarhus where now it's work time. Although, it's quite nice bcause they only work 36 hours/week and leave the office by 4 or 4:30pm. If only the rest of the world would work like that! So, I recommend checking out Copenhagen, thought you might want to avoid the winter...it's freakin' cold!

Nambu-tei (Japanese)

My downstairs neighbor Joy and I went out for dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant, Nambu-tei. The place was full of Asians so that is always a good sign to me of authentic food. Of course, I got sushi and it was very fresh and tasty. If I wasn't so tired, I'd rave more. This is definitely a place worth going back to. We had a glass of wine before, during, and after dinner so we had plenty of time for good conversation. She might have found an organization, Dan's Fund for Burns, that I could do some volunteer with and start to get more experience in the non-profit arena. It was started by a survivor of the Bali bombing 2 years ago. She was burned over most of her body and 10 of her closest friends and family were killed (including new husband). They were having their wedding reception! So she has started a foundation to provide financial and emotional help for those that have been through such traumatic experiences but can't find a group that will help them. So, we had fun conversation discussing how the world has deteriorated and how we want to change that! Joy is helping this lady find a way to keep the foundation going. She is retired (though still does a lot of work with non-profits) so I sort of feel like it was the meeting of the generations and that the torch will continue on!

Nothing big, lots of little things

Not much fun stuff to report, but a few little things. I now have my wireless going so now I can sit in bed and work(speaking of, I should be writing this from there and not my desk...now I'm in bed...that was a good idea). I had burnt out the American power supply that came with it and today bought a new one. I also bought a step ladder so I can more easily get out onto my patio and enjoy the weather when it becomes nice. And also so my guest won't almost kill or hurt themselves. Yes, you have to climb through the window but the whole thing opens like a door. It will also be handy for cleaning those hard to reach places. (I'm rambling about a step ladder...you can see how slow things have been for me, though not from a work perspective.)

Lastly, I tried to be adventurous and have some Thai food at the local pub, Duke of Kendal. Might I suggest that if you want good Thai food, you don't go to an Enligh pub? Basically, I experienced what I thought I would so no surprise. It might do in a pinch. In actuality, I'm quite pysched that there is a "Thai" place so close and am tempted to try other dishes to see if I can find something more acceptable. I will say that it seems to be a friendly place as far as pubs go.

Oh and it snowed for about 10 minutes today but it was too warm for it to stick.