Turandot with my friend Ted

Last night I went to see Puccini's last opera, Turandot, which was written between 1921-24. Since Katie is still gone (although she gets back on Friday! Woo woo!) I went with my friend Ted Southern. He was one of the first people I met at UPS when I was on my "Passages" hike. He was also a French horn player (although he doesn't play any more) and a Music Business major. So we shared many classes and ensemble playing experiences. He came to New York about 4 years ago and got work in a prop studio. He has since gone back to school and is working on a Masters of Art at the Pratt Schoot in Brooklyn. I tell you all this because my friend Ted has designed some cool things for the prop studio that have been used in movies, on Broadway, in TV shows, and various other things. Lately, he designed and built the wings that the Victoria's Secret models wear...if you watch the televised fashion show in December, you'll see his handiwork, the most celebrated (risque?) of which was Heidi Klum's electric underwear and illuminated wings, it was in all the papers back here.

Anyway, that was one of the many conversation topics for us last evening, another major one being the opera we had just seen. City Opera is not the Met, but it is a darn good opera company and the production was lavish and the orchestra played the romantic score beautifully! A major drawback was the choreography, which was insipid and silly. Nevertheless, I had never seen the entire opera live (although I myself have played parts of it) and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I am looking forward to Katie's arrival back to New York tomorrow afternoon. We may travel back to Hofstra to listen to the choir concert, or we may just relax and crack open a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau which hits the shelves today! For those of you who are of legal drinking age and have never tried this wine, it is a harvest wine, rapdily fermented and released the first Thursday of Novemeber. It is grapey and young and very tasty. It is like a cross between grape juice and wine; it has a lower alcohol content and does not age well. It is meant for drinking...now. We think it is a great Thanksgiving wine. Yum.

Saturday, we are going out with a group of friends to see the new Harry Potter movie. That should be fun. Stay tuned for the review!