A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
I have been relatively disappointed with the past few productions at Berkeley Rep, so I had reasonably low expectations coming into seeing "Disgraced" - a play I knew very little about. . . . . . Cast. Isaac: J. Anthony Crane. Abe: Behzad Dabu. Emily: Nisi Sturgis. Amir: Bernard White. Jory: Zakiya Young. . Wikipedia describes it as follows:. . Disgraced is a 2012 play…
Read More: Review: Disgraced at Berkeley Rep
. Today, we saw a musical version of Jane Austen's Emma in the Lucille Packard Theater. The music and lyrics were written by Paul Gordon. The stage was beautifully designed.. . Miss Emma Woodhouse, played by Lianne Marie Dobbs, acted delightfully as the ingenue matchmaker, whose initial success in matchmaking is overshadowed by her later failures. Although obsessed with romance, Emma is clueless about her…
Read More: Review: Emma at Lucille Packard Theater
We have always enjoyed dining at the fabulous Solbar Restaurant in Calistoga, especially when we spent time at the Indian Springs Resort. We have never stayed at the Solage Spa, but Inna wanted to try it, so we booked the "Just the Two of Us" promotion for the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.. . We arrived on Friday afternoon and checked in. The drive from San Jose…
Read More: Relaxing at Solage Spa in Calistoga
Inna purchased two front-row tickets to Riverdance at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts for my birthday.. . I didn't know what to expect, as I had never seen it before and knew Michael Flatley no longer danced in this show.. . We had a great view of the performance from the front row and enjoyed the dancers' energy. It was well-performed and…
Read More: Review: “Riverdance” at San Jose Center for Performing Arts
I usually don't windsurf in November due to the cold weather and lack of wind.. . However, yesterday, I saw a forecast for 25+ knot winds, and I started to get tempted.. The air temperature was 59 degrees Fahrenheit, and I noticed the Pacific water temperature was also about the same (unusually warm).. . I tried it and drove to Coyote Point, my closest windsurfing…
Read More: Windsurfing Coyote Point
As the weather was sunny and mild, I decided to try to mountain bike the Saratoga Gap and Peters Creek trail in Saratoga (starting at the Vista Point parking lot at the intersection of Highway 9 and Skyline Boulevard).. . Initially, I wanted to ride this trail with the South Bay Mountain Bike group on meetup, but there was no space (8 people had already…
Read More: Biking Saratoga Gap and Peters Creek
I have been riding my old 1997 Specialized Ground Control on all sorts of trails for 18 years. It cost me $1,399 back in 1997 when I lived in Sacramento and biked on nearby trails and near Lake Tahoe.. . . . Recently, when it came time to do maintenance, I took it to the nearby Summit Bicycles. The mechanics there told me that my…
Read More: Specialized StumpJumper FSR
Wow, this has been a month of many changes. In short, I sold my lovely 2009 Mini Cooper "S" convertible, affectionately named "Chili," my trusty Canon 5D Mark III camera, my MSI GTX 970 graphics card, and my GoPro Hero 3 Black action cam.. . After a few weeks of trying to sell my 2009 Mini Cooper "S" on Craigslist, I tried the Cars.com website..…
Read More: September of Changes
Having seen Phantom of the Opera multiple times before (the first time in Houston in 1993), I was not initially excited about seeing it again at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. . . However, this new Phantom of the Opera production impressed me, and I was thrilled to see it. It was staged differently from the Phantom productions I've seen in Houston and Las…
Read More: Review: Phantom of the Opera (Orpheum Theater)
"Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty", sings Matilda in her second song. It's one of those memorable lines that are not easily forgotten.. . Inna and I finally got to see Matilda the Musical at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco on July 23, 2015. I frankly wasn't sure that I was going to be able to attend the performance, as I…
Read More: Review: Matilda in Orpheum Theater
A grand opera brings out inherent emotions - overwhelming joy or profound sadness.. . The Marriage of Figaro, based on a French comedy that is set in Spain but sung in Italian, does not bring out either. However, I felt sympathy for its main characters in several instances.. . The Marriage of Figaro tells the story of Count Almaviva, his wife, Countess Almaviva, and his…
Read More: Review: Marriage of Figaro at San Francisco Opera
How much can a 12-year-old kid learn in five days of sailing on a lake?. . I enrolled my son Alex in a five-day Windsurfing and Sailing camp at Shoreline Lake. In the morning, he practiced sailboarding, primarily uphauling (using small, kid-appropriate sails), while learning to tack and jibe on his wide sailboard in the shallow, muddy Shoreline Lake.. . . . . . .…
Read More: Sailing at Shoreline Lake
Can two bored housewives get away with adultery? I was about to find out in TheatreWorks' "Fallen Angels" production. Noel Coward's farce centers around one central idea - that sex is something to be enjoyed, but preferably with someone other than your husband.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .…
Read More: Review: Fallen Angels at TheatreWorks
Since I've been a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy fan for the past twenty years, I've been eager to see them in concert. Every possible problem prevented me from seeing them in concert. They were even in San Jose last year, and I only found out about it on Facebook the next day! Thus, I was delighted when I finally purchased great seats for their show…
Read More: Review: Swinging with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
We started our drive to South Lake Tahoe on Friday evening to get an early start on the activities at Lake Tahoe (which can get rather crowded later in the day). Although there was some traffic on US-50, the drive was uneventful. We arrived at our 968 Park Hotel around 11:45 p.m. (as expected). Overall, the drive took about 3 3/4 hours - long but…
Read More: Fun at South Lake Tahoe
Today, we saw the play "One Man, Two Guvnors" at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. The play was adapted by Richard Bean and was based on Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .…
Read More: Review: One Man, Two Guvnors (Berkeley Rep)
To celebrate Inna's birthday, I've been trying to set up a dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants for the past few weeks. Unfortunately, Alex came down with pneumonia, and we had to reschedule her birthday dinner multiple times.. . We were finally able to enjoy the food and hospitality of The Plumed Horse in Saratoga. The Plumed Horse is a Michelin 1-star restaurant…
Read More: Inna’s Birthday dinner at the Plumed Horse
I got up at around 6:00 a.m. for the long drive to North Lake Tahoe. I took I-680 North to I-80 East. There was little traffic in the morning, and I arrived at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort at around 9:30 a.m.. . I parked at the Village Gondola and changed into my snowboarding outfit. I rode the village gondola to the Village Lodge. It's a…
Read More: Snowboarding Sugar Bowl
After eating at our favorite Laili Restaurant in Santa Cruz, we decided to learn more about the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz. I have often seen bumper stickers on cars with "Mystery Spot" written on them but have never understood the enduring fascination.. . . . The drive to the Mystery Spot is not too hard, though the road is winding and one-way in places.…
Read More: Where is the Mystery Spot?
Today, we saw the 12:00 pm performance of La Boheme for Families at the San Francisco Opera in the War Memorial Opera House.. . We had great seats in the second row and enjoyed sitting close to the orchestra and the stage.. . . . . The production was well presented, and the costumes and sets were exceptional. However, the singers, especially Rodolfo (sung by…
Read More: Review: La Boheme for Families