Elijah, SF Symphony & Chorus

Last night C. and I attended a special dress rehearsal of Mendelssohn's oratorio, "Elijah", performed by the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus. Special, in that only contributors were invited - even our small annual donation qualified. Former SFS director Herbert Blomstedt conducted. The chorus' sound was a little muddy in Part 1, and the dynamic range wasn't strong enough. But Part II was a different story. The chorus sounded much crisper in the energetic choruses, sweet and angelic in the redemtive movements. The highlights of the night were two of the four soloists, Juliane Banse (soprano) and Alan Opie (baritone.) She was captivating to watch - how did such a penetrating sound come from such a slight body? She had ease reaching high notes and put her whole body into phrasing, often rising onto her toes. He had a dramatic voice and face, full of percussive force during Elijah's more dramatic pronouncements. Both were obviously engaged by the whole work, either acknowledging with glances contributions by chorus or instruments, or joining their voices to the choral parts from their seats downstage. To top it all off, the first chair cellist added a vibrant accompaniment to one of Elijah's late arias. We entered the hall drained from a long day and full week, but left full of zip after the close.

Elijah is one of my favorite works, and I think Part II deserves a permanent place on my music player.

Jet Blue

(email to JetBlue customer service)

I saw an AP story (published today in the SF Chronicle) that finished with a sentence from an "industry expert" decrying your new customer bill of rights policy as setting a bad precedent for the industry.

On the contrary, I think your move is a very positive development for the industry. We'd be lucky if it became a precedent. Meanwhile, I have been impressed with the service level and price points offered by JetBlue, notably your service between Oakland and Boston. In addition to the inflight experience, I have been assisted by unusually capable and friendly staff on every occasion where I have phoned your company. While the experience of travelers during the recent storm clearly highlights deficiencies that I hope you will be able to address, I'm proud to place my business with a company that responds the way you have - taking the high road for customer service. Yesterday I booked new travel on Jet Blue.

Unidentified Bicycle Object

I rode my fixed Bike Friday to work today. This is my most minimalist bicycle - front brake only, low bars, no attachments on the braze-ons, no bags or fenders. My route takes me through a wide-open parking lot of a local home supply store. I homeless man was toting four bags of empty aluminum cans; I passed through the parking lot about 20 yards away from him. I guess my setup looked a little unusual - 6 ft guy on a tiny-wheeled bicycle whizzing by. From over my shoulder I heard him exclaim loudly and with enthusiasm: "Hay-ell, well god-DAMN!"

Can we just get along

Car & bike episode. Riding home from work I reach a newly-installed light alongside a railroad crossing. Left turn lane and separate left-turn signal. I wait through one light cycle, then realize that this is not a loop detector light and my presence at the signal won't induce the left signal to go green. As the last light in the sequence passes to yellow, I jump into the intersection and turn left before the cars entering the intersection from the right have a chance to react to their new green light. I cross the tracks and turn right into the next street. I'm coming off a street with a major bike lane and entering a bike boulevard. I don't hold up any car traffic during this maneuver.

Nevertheless, as I make that last right turn, I hear a driver yelling "generally people wait for a green light before proceeding." I instinctively flap my hand in his direction, in a "blah, blah, blah" signal - keep talking, I'm riding.

A few yards later I wish I'd asked him to pull over and talk instead of doing a shoutby. He's peeved because I'm just another law-breaking bicyclist. I want him to appreciate that he wouldn't be so jazzed either about having to wait through endless light cycles without ever getting a green. My maneuver is reasonable and doesn't hurt anyone. Perhaps it was a passing opportunity for some understanding?

....ever the optimist.

Kids on Skis

We're back from a weekend at Lake Tahoe, setting for the cub scouts' Winter Camp. All but the upper third of our state has had a dry winter, so when packing for the trip I even wondered whether there was any sense to packing snow gear. Luckily we did. The pass in Tahoe and the peaks around the lake were only lightly touched by snow - cross country skiing was out - but many of the skiing resorts with snow-making had some snow, and when you start the weekend expecting nothing, this turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Not a bad weekend to be up there, with many staying away because of the poor conditions, and others kept home with Super Bowl plans.


On Saturday H and M were easily talked into trying skiing. The engaging staff at the children's ski school swept them up in the adventure, and soon C and I were leaving them for the morning, on our own way to rent equipment and ski. When we picked them up at lunchtime, they were in good spirits, making snowplows ("pizzas") and ready for an afternoon of skiing with us. To this point they had been on a gentle slope with a carpet lift in the school area.


The afternoon with them was wonderful. They were courageous, adaptable, fast-learners, and having fun. First time onto a chairlift: done. First exit down the ramp at the end of the lift: done. Down a real 1/4 mile slope: done. Down every green trail on the mountain by the time lifts closed: done. I never expected to be skiing with them on the first day. And back on skis myself for the first time in 8 years, I remembered how exhilarating a day on the slopes is, and enjoyed with my kids the opening vista of their own enjoyment of the sport.

Crissy Field to Fort Point

We took our tandems across the Bay via BART, then cycled to Crissy Field to meet the scouts for a short hike to Fort Point. Marvelous weather, good people watching and of course wonderful scenery. More pictures at my Flickr page.

Middle East Peacemaking

Last night in Belmont, MA, I attended the screening of a stimulating documentary film "Encounter Point", an award-winning new film about Palestinians and Israelis who are reaching across the border to engage the other side in dialog about nonviolence. The film focuses heavily on a group that brings together family members who have lost a loved one to the P-I conflict - who are working towards a commitment to nonviolence to prevent others from suffering the same loss in the future. The film will be released as a DVD this spring, and venues are being solicited for more screenings.

Two pieces in particular have stayed in my mind.

One Israeli father, war veteran who lost a daughter to a bombing in Israel, asserts that if the families who have lost that which is most precious to them don't see a place for revenge and violence in the Palestinian/Israeli future, why should others find it to be a good bargain? It has me thinking about how policy, political, military decisions are made. How often do our decision-makers follow their arguments down to the resulting bereavement of families, the killing of individuals, civilians and soldiers alike, and recognize the effect on whole networks of loved ones? How does a leader come to the place where they feel justified to make a decision for others to reach a political goal in exchange for such damage in the face of reaction like the Israeli father's?

Another affected interviewee states that their reaction to the violence affecting them is no longer personal, but is now collective. How do we mobilize others to look beyond their immediate reaction to the effect this reaction has on the continuation of conflict or misunderstanding, how to enable the "what if we all behaved that way" state of mind? Applies not only to violence/peacemaking, personal vs collective applies in so many areas.

Finally, in an Q and A session with the director after the screening, she noted an important point that was not made clear in the film, but could be, that those engaged in the Palestinian/Israeli dialogue of reconciliation and nonviolence often don't agree on solutions, political or otherwise, but still manage to commit to a nonviolent path to explore solutions.

The JustVision website seeks to spotlight organizations and individuals engaged in this work.