Sunday – 19 April 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I went to Abravanel Hall to hear Utah Symphony and Jon Kimura Parker perform. The guest conductor was Thomas Wilkins. The performance consisted of:

  • James Beckel ~ Toccata
  • Ludwig van Beethoven ~ Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, op. 60
  • Sergei Rachmaninoff ~ Concerto No. 2 for Piano in C minor, op. 18

The performance was very good. I was especially surprised to enjoy the Beckel piece as much as I did – I’m not usually a fan of modern classical pieces. I’m not sure if Mr. Wilkins is one of the candidates for taking over as conductor of Utah Symphony after Gilderoy Keith Lockhart leaves, but if he is, I’d be more than happy to see him take over that role. After Mr. Parker finished the Concerto, he had two encores, in which he performed:

  1. Rachmaninoff ~ Prelude in G
  2. Billy Joel ~ Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

Today has been a lazy day. I’m good with that.  SaraRules fixed sauteed spaghetti for breakfast. We’ve been watching Doom (yes, that Doom) and Inside the Actor’s Studio, in which Dave Chappelle was interviewing James Lipton. I had forgotten that Karl Urban, soon to be seen as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the upcoming Star Trek movie, was in Doom.

Four-Color Coverage
This week’s haul had a few good items:

  • Action Comics #876 – This was a good Kryptonian vs. Kryptonian issue: Ursa, General Zod’s second-in-command and wife, vs. Lor-Zod (her son/Clark and Lois’ foster son, Christopher) and Thara Ak-Var. This issue showed just how ruthless and cold Ursa could be. And the last panel…? Didn’t see that one coming.
  • Captain America #49 – This was a solid character issue, in which Sharon Carter faces ghosts of the past and the present.
  • Green Lantern Corps #35 – This issue brings us one step closer to the War of Light. Sodam Yat has a… less-than-heartwarming return to Daxam, while Soranik Natu takes a meeting on Korugar with the last person you’d suspect.
  • Haunted Tank #2-5 – How is it that a Confederate General (or his ghost) come to the aid of a Black soldier – whos happens to be his descendant – in Iraq? That question is answered in this series.  And while, it’s not exactly a hugs-and-kisses family reunion, it makes for a good read.
  • Tiny Titans #15 – Pet Club at Wayne Manor redux. Hilarity – and mayhem – ensues. Also, Ravager has to babysit the Tiny Terror Titans. What could possibly go wrong?

Stray Toasters

Namaste.