Midsummer Mozart Festival 2011

July 16, 2011 (Saturday)

This will be our fifth consecutive Mid-summer Mozart Festival at the Gundlach-Bundschu Winery, Napa.

Midsummer Mozart Festival
Midsummer Mozart Festival

Once again we will get our usual stage right front seating in the Gold Circle.  As usual, we’ll bring great snacks and food for a stage front picnic.

Festival Program One
Program One

We’re so lucky we have the Complete Mozart Edition on CD from Philips.  I’ve loaded the Program One from above into our iPad and have started listening to it in advance of the festival.

Our menu this year is:

  • Sliced tri-tip steak, Santa Maria style
  • Wild rice, clam mushrooms and shallots
  • Pelegrino with grenadine and orange juice
  • Strawberries and cream
  • Hot chocolate
  • Popcorn

 

Festival Time

Yaay!
Yaay!
Christina Major, "Ruhe sanft" from "Zaide:, K.344
Christina Major
Cleve and the kids
G. Cleve and the kids
Jon Nakamatsu
Jon Nakamatsu

Ticket Memories

Ticket Memories
Ticket Memories

California’s Great America Park 2011

June 18, 2011 (Saturday)

To celebrate the end of the school year and beginning of summer!

Summer's Here!
Summer's Here!
On The Eagle's Flight
On The Eagle's Flight

Great Barrier Reef

Barrier Reef Wave Pool
Barrier Reef Wave Pool
Water Everywhere
Water Everywhere
At Wave Pool
At Wave Pool

 

The Rides

1. Celebration Swings

2. Vortex

Click for Video

3. Demon

Demon?  Where?
Demon? Where?

4. HMB Endeavor – 4th Best Ride

HMB Endeavor
HMB Endeavor

“I refuse to close my eyes”

Click For Video

5. Flight Deck

Click For Video

6. Drop Tower

Time to go home!

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Tides”, A Movie Review

June 12, 2010 @ 4:20 PM

http://youtu.be/KR_9A-cUEJc

The Story:

Captain Jack Sparrow escapes from a British prison to find his ship the “Black Pearl”.  The “Black Pearl” has been sunk by Captain Blackbeard, another pirate and his arch-enemy.  Sparrow is kidnapped by Blackbeard to serve on his ship, the “Queen Anne’s Revenge”, in his search for the Fountain of Youth.  Only Captain Sparrow knows where it is.  The English, lead by Captain Barbossa, a pirate in the service of the Crown as a privateer, is also looking for the Fountain of Youth (Barbossa actually wants to kill Blackbeard).  It turns out Sparrow’s lady love, Angelica, is Blackbeard’s daughter and has just recently realized it.  Also competing against the British for the Fountain of Youth is the Spanish Crown.  The Spaniards are in possession of a journal that can lead to the Fountain.

All set-off to find the Fountain of Youth at nearly the same time.  They are all driven to find the Fountain at all cost.  The ritual for activating the Fountain’s age-reversing water includes a mermaid’s tear, Ponce de Leon’s two silver chalices, a sacrificial person, and the Fountain’s water.  The searchers converge at the Fountain and have a big battle.

Spoiler Alert: the Spanish want to destroy the Fountain, Blackbeard wants the age-reversing waters, Sparrow wants his ship back, Angelica wants her father (Blackbeard) to be her father and Barbossa wants to kill Blackbeard.

The Spanish destroy most of the Fountain, Barbossa kills Blackbeard, Angelica gets the years of Blackbeard’s life (and gets exiled to an island), and Sparrow gets the “Black Pearl” back.

Like:

The stunts, the costumes, and the humor.  The story was so-so.

Dislike:

Not enough action, there were some unclosed subplots like what happened to the Preacher and the mermaid, Sirena.  I also did not like the constant arguing between Sparrow and Blackbeard.  But the most annoying thing is that Will (the beautiful Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swan were not in the movie.  Boohoo!