Week 6: September 29

Ok, picture-heavy post this week, folks.

 Hey, I’m not hearing any cheers……

 Oh…..right. Well anyways, mid-week I went to see City Hall with friend B. She was really excited to go because so many movies have been filmed there, and wanted me to take some pictures of her in various cool spots. 

The Grand Staircase

Big Head Kid

Ceiling

For some reason I find this funny. So official, so overly obvious.

Several floors down

On Thursday was Ian’s chamber recital with Paul Katz and Pei-Shan Lee. All of us in his studio were really excited about it, and it was even better than I expected. First they played Beethoven trio, op . 1 no. 1, then Ian and Pei-Shan played Enescu sonata no. 3. After intermission the three of them played Mendelssohn c minor trio. I especially enjoyed the Enescu sonata. Ian made it really gipsy-sounding and fun, and I was interested and absorbed the whole way through. It was almost like he was a real Romanian (ha).

Side story connected with Ian’s recital: before they started the second half, Ian said “I want to thank Paul and Pei-Shan for coming and playing with me. Paul is one of my oldest and most favourite teachers”. To which Paul Katz responded “Oldest??” This brought down the house, and Ian said that maybe he had better stop there, and he sat down and they played, and that was that.

Another side story connected with Ian’s recital: he was rehearsing all afternoon, so we (his students) held studio class on our own. Six people played including me, and everyone made comments, and we finished class a whole hour early. I thought this was funny because when Ian’s there we always run late.

This weekend was the first set of SFCM orchestra concerts. We did a Saturday night concert and a Sunday matinee, both of which went really well, although Sunday was more cohesive. Our program was Ravel “Mother Goose Suite”, Justin Ralls’ “Tree Ride” and Brahms’ second symphony. You may remember that I met Justin in the first week, when we went to Off the Grid for Steph’s birthday. He was quite happy with our rendition of Tree Ride, and I got to like the piece quite a bit myself, and I was so happy with the way the orchestra performed, and that Ravel is just drop-dead gorgeous, and Brahms is magnificent, and it was just a wonderful weekend overall. 

Today before the concert I went to Fort Mason with B and my roommate. We wanted to check out the $1 book sale, which was slightly disappointing, and I didn’t end up buying anything. But here are some pictures of the glorious views.

"The more of us who walk, the more of us survive"

See, told you it looked like Currie Barracks.

Book sale in that warehouse on the right

Palace of Fine Arts in the distance

Obligatory picture of the GGB

The first time I was here, one kid commented “That looks like Benjamin Britten” and another kid said “Oh, I thought it was Walt Disney”. It’s actually some obscure American politician who probably isn’t nearly as deserving of a statue as Britten or Disney.

He looks like he's checking a cellphone. "Seriously?? No new noties??"

I also found a very special geocache, one of the oldest in California – it was placed in 2001. It was in a beautiful, quaint community garden, very peaceful. I could have spent all day sitting in there with the sunshine and flowers. Unfortunately I had to go play the violin (kidding). 

Legendary geocache in plot 6

Pretty

I really like rustic gates like this.

Now we get a week off from orchestra before the next program, which I'm also playing in. But looks like we're off to a great start.

- Antisocial Violinist

Week 5: September 22

First and foremost: Triple birthday today! Two legendary Hobbits and my Armenian friend E all have their birthdays on Sep 22. Many happy returns of the day to all!

Earlier this week I went to Telegraph Hill, but unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I cannot share the spectacular views with you. The streets on this hill are so steep, especially Filbert, that they are actually stepped streets and cars can’t drive on them. So it’s still public property, but very quiet, with lots of trees and gardens. I also heard the famous parrots squawking away, although I wasn’t able to catch a glimpse of them. 

On Wednesday I put my Crock-Pot to use again so I can have food for another week.

College kid's roast beef dinner.

Also on Wednesday night I went to the SF Symphony, who were doing Mahler 9 with MTT conducting. I have really missed going to symphony concerts, and it felt so good to be back. I got a same-day rush ticket and ended up sitting pretty close to the front. Interesting note: the SF symphony strings sit in the old “Haydn-era” quartet formation, with firsts and seconds facing each other, and celli where the seconds would normally be. Any thoughts on this? Do you like sitting this way in orchestra/quartet? I liked it a lot when my quartet tried it, but maybe that’s only because I (the violist) didn’t have to sit on the outside. 

At any rate, the music was sublime. If you don’t know this piece, I strongly encourage you to have a listen.

Yesterday I went out to Bernal Hill, one of the highest points in SF. Behold the entire city, spread out at your feet.

Due North (why is it so SLANTED?? >:(

West towards Twin Peaks and the setting sun

East (the prettiest due to sun being behind)

Because this week’s post was pretty short on pictures, I’ll throw this in (it’s just too funny NOT to be shared). Apparently, I picked the wrong instrument. Oh well. I’d love to see everyone’s comments with their results. 

Should have been a Mandolinist. Close enough.

Anything I'm missing that you want to know about, just write me. I love getting news from home.

- Antisocial Violinist

Week 4: September 15

Edit: This week's post is in two parts, because something's gone funny with the HTML.

Second week of school and classes are finally in full swing. I started my new job on the orchestra set-up crew, which (this week) involved hauling chairs and stands all around the school to the various sectional rooms. This required us to use the freight elevator, which made me feel pro. One of my crew-mates remarked the elevator’s resemblance to a James Bond set.

On Monday I went out with my new caching buddies to beautiful Glen Canyon, a little wild space in the heart of the city. This trip was conceived when M messaged me to say she had solved a puzzle cache and would I go with her to find it. Upon receiving the text, this is how I looked on the outside:

And this is how I felt on the inside:

The canyon was choked with classic San Francisco fog. We trekked down one side of the canyon and up the other, finding paths through the wilderness. A real treasure hunt.

I'm on top of the world!

 

Houses on stilts!

Canyon

Across the canyon

It was up there!

Gotcha

Happy Cachers!!

Week 4, second edition

Then on Friday was my first ever viola da gamba class. Yes, you can learn to play gamba at this school (be very jealous, attendees of every other school in the world). There are four of us in the class: two cellists playing bass viols, another violinist playing treble viol and me, the voluntary tenor viol player (the music is in alto clef). All the viols are played upright, with an upside-down bow hold, and because the neck is fretted, every note resonates just like an open string. I am in love already. My tenor is gorgeous to look at and listen to.

Isn't it gorgeous?? Isn't it just absolutely stunningly beautiful?!

Closeup of the neck, w/ my hand for scale

This afternoon I went to Family Day at the Yerba Buena Gardens. There was a huge crowd, lots of kids running around and generally a good time being had by all. Several museums were offering free entry, including the Contemporary Jewish Museum, so I went in and spent a couple hours looking at the exhibits. There was a wide variety of art, from intricate to minimalist, and graphic to extremely abstract. A nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Packed Yerba Buena gardens, with St Patrick's in the background

CJI

I’ll close the week with a shot of school, which I feel is long overdue. Now you can all see where I slave away.

Pretty, pretty school....

 - Antisocial Violinist