So, what should I wear to Pixar.....

[Standard]

What he said.

Were it me, I'd work out some compromise with my lass involving selling or giving away those tickets, picking an alternative event to replace the symphony, and doin' the Pixar party thang.

*** for me too. The symphony will be back, but the Pixar party will be a one time event in all likelyhood.

[Mickey]

ditto. the symphony will eventually return. being invited to a special Pixar opening....that won't come.around again.

I'm with Dale and Spartan. The symphony has been around a long time. Will continue to be around a long time. A one time thing turned down, is something that you don't get back.

Tough choice under the circumstances I know, though.

[LitTrog]

Alan didn't indicate that his wife was invited to the Pixar shindig. I would guess that they will be going to the symphony together.

Sometimes it's better to be with your loving wife than be a prop for a bunch of strangers. Not always, of course. Like the time I pretended to be an embalmed body at a funeral. Fun, relaxing and lucrative!

[Mickey]

Alan didn't indicate that his wife was invited to the Pixar shindig. I would guess that they will be going to the symphony together. Sometimes it's better to be with your loving wife than be a prop for a bunch of strangers.

Very good point, sir. Another layer of the onion that is Alan.

Not always, of course. Like the time I pretended to be an embalmed body at a funeral. Fun, relaxing and lucrative!

You'll have to explain this over drinks someday. Because I'll need drinks to understand

[Alan H]

Mr.s Alan was not going to be attending the Pixar event. After all, it's all about tartan and plaid and Scottish stuff and, well.....right. Though she will probably make an appearance at the Pleasanton HG again this year, she showed up at Ardenwood for most of the afternoon and in so doing, discharged her yearly Spousal Support thing. Besides, she went to my alternative Burns Night. No way would she go to this, ESPECIALLY if it meant missing Philadelphia.

You all think "oh, it's just the symphony, that will come again". I could flip this on it's head and say .."Oh, it's just a movie, there will be lots of movies".

The program that Philadelphia is putting on is amazing. Program

Hindemith
Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber

Ravel
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5

Whoah. Also, y'all say..."The symphony isn't going anywhere".. well, Gang, I can't tell you the last time that the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra came to San Francisco. It's certainly been at least a decade.

To probably most of you...it's just another orchestra. Doesn't one orchestra sound like all the other orchestras? There's a bunch of violins up there, and trumpets and stuff. And they play music by dead guys, right? Probably a significant number of guys here couldn't differentiate between Mozart and Brahms, or Shoenberg and Stravinsky.... much less something more subtle. That's not a condemnation, OK...I can't tell the difference between ACDC and Aerosmith, OK? --- and of course I'm sure that there are lots of guys here who CAN and do know the difference between those things.

I'm here to tell you that we dropped a WAD of money this season on the "Great Orchestra" series, because there's no way in the world we'll ever get to hear all these symphony's in their own halls. We've heard Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and just two nights ago, the New York Philharmonic. The last concert in the series is Philadelphia, and believe me, there is a *huge* difference, if you know what to listen for, between Boston and Los Angeles. It was a stinkload of money, but as Mrs. Alan put it last night....it was less than what we just paid to rebuild my trucks transmission a few months ago.

Pixar is just a movie company and Brave is just a movie. It's here today and gone in a couple of months. A company cocktail party is just a company cocktail party, though this one would have a mess of kilts at it, and some interesting folks. What's the difference between this company cocktail party and any other cocktail party?

That emphatically is NOT the case for these symphonies, and I choose Shostakovich and Hindemith over a movie production company cocktail party.

And so does Mrs. Alan. Rather strongly. And this time, I agree with her, though I'm still bummed to miss the cocktail party. So saith the onion.

[Alan H]

--deleted--

...as it's all much too much detail, nobodys business anyway, and nobody but myself either gives a rip or really would understand!

So carry on!

Hopefully Bethany and Steve will take some pictures!

[David Thorpe]

...And so does Mrs. Alan. Rather strongly...

That's all you needed to say for me to understand.

[SlackerDrummer]

Alan, you're just like my wife with points and logic and all that. Gosh, I can't stand it.

Have a grand time at the symphony!

[Macman]

Ravel's Piano Concerto for Left Hand? You got me there. Good decision, Alan. Who's the soloist?

[Alan H]

Macman, the pianist is Louis Lortie. I don't know anything about him, though I love that concerto. I'm not a big piano fan, though I can clearly state that my favorite pianists of the past 30 years are Richard Goode and Gabriela Montero, and if there was EVER a wierd pairing of "classical" Western musicians...that's it.