on THURSDAY, last...

okay, here's the bowl in all its sparkly glory. and that shiny orb to the right is the moon rising in the south. saweet. i went and heard/saw rachmaninov played- wow. seriously. the hands moved so fast they blurred. it was pretty fantastic to see such saucy piano playing live. it makes you appreciate the actual skill much more. and i looked rachmaninov up on wikepedia and he's another one of those sad russians who had to bail on their country. communism just fucked up that country all over the place. for another sad russian tale i recommend a movie called the "Theremin" which is a killer documentary of the creator of a fantastic (the first) electronic musical instrument. really. you must watch it.

at first i was totally going to bail as going to the bowl 4x in one summer is deemed excessive by most parts of my brain- but i was reminded by my contact that i'd harassed him for comps already so i felt obligated-irrationally to attend- it's just that he's the nicest guy ever and i would liken him to having favorite uncle status- whatever that means- but i know it's significant and why would you disappoint your uncle by not visiting him at work? plus he likes that i like classical music- anyway i was not disappointed. but more importantly it touched on my aversion to sentiment:Main Entry: sen·ti·ment
Pronunciation: 'sen-t&-m&nt
Function: noun
Etymology: French or Medieval Latin; French, from Medieval Latin sentimentum, from Latin sentire
1 a : an attitude, thought, or judgment prompted by feeling : PREDILECTION b : a specific view or notion : OPINION
2 a : EMOTION b : refined feeling : delicate sensibility especially as expressed in a work of art c : emotional idealism d : a romantic or nostalgic feeling verging on sentimentality
3 a : an idea colored by emotion b : the emotional significance of a passage or expression as distinguished from its verbal context
synonym see FEELING, OPINION

WHICH are perfectly normal things to have (right)- i normally race to the bowl late via whatever means necessary- bus or by foot i race the clock. but this time we had like a whole 20 minutes to kill- which explained my surprise that after announcements they opened the bowl up with the 'Star Spangled Banner' and i was like whhaaa? i was immediately jerked into confusion- do i sing, do i put my hand to my chest... where's the one singer- wait whaa? we're all singing... okay, i can do this- i like the star-spangled banner, oh my god, sniff. i love my country. oh my god i love LA. what is wrong with me. pull it together. you're confused. something is in your eye. shake it off. and the home of the brave... oh my god- i want to embrace my fellow man. no. no i don't. sit down. wait impatiently for the music to begin. deep breath. that feeling will go away. cynicism will sweep into replace it- hold on just wait for it. damn it. it's not coming. oh thank god. rachmaninov is starting. ah there it is. i'm distracted. i was beginning to think i was patriotic.