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  • Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

    Having spent a lot of time in Second Life over the past eleven years, parts of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash are downright quaint: the ways in which he needs to explain avatars, or virtual spaces, or the word “metaverse.” And there are things he describes that have been implemented almost word-for-word in Second Life, which is kind of creepy.

    I enjoyed the story itself (and much more than Neuromancer, with which Snow Crash is often paired as precursors to parts of the internet and virtual reality). I’ve only read a few of Stephenson’s novels, but I rather enjoy the way they meander and take side trips.

  • Huun Huur Tu

    Throat singers from Tuva, who have been touring for several decades now, performed at the Rockwell to a sold-out crowd (produced by World Music/Crash Arts, which added a second concert on the 16th). Quite amazing to watch singers produce these amazing sounds. More than most concerts, I found myself most interested in watching the musicians.

    The Rockwell is a small basement venue in Davis Square with a small stage in an alcove. There are definitely seats with bad sight-lines. It was my third new-to-me venue in three concerts this week.

  • Tyminski

    Advertised as “an evening with Tyminski,” I didn’t know quite what to expect.  Tyminski is fronted by Dan Tyminski, famous for bluegrass band Alison Kraus and Union Station and for the hit “Man of Constant Sorrow” from the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Tyminski performed almost entirely music from his new solo album, Southern Gothic, which was pretty straightforward country rock. They did do “Man of Constant Sorrow” as their penultimate number.

    City Winery is a new venue in Boston (open for two months, a server said), and it’s a nice space. The tables in the back are high-tops, so even there the view would be fine.

  • Neuromancer by William Gibson

    I thought I might have read it a while ago, but absolutely nothing was familiar, so it must have been some other early cyberpunk novel. (I have Snow Crash up next, but its beginning isn’t ringing any bells, either.)

  • Slocan Ramblers and the Last Revel

    Fun, high-energy concert in the Burren Back Room in Davis Square. Seats were at a table right at the stage. It’s fun to be five-six feet away from a musician. It was my first time there, and now I know there aren’t any really bad seats. It was nice to be at a table and have dinner and drinks, though.

  • The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

    Not one of his best, but it was a quick, fun read. (Of his recent work, I most enjoyed The Collapsing Empire and am eager for its sequel.)

  • Emergence by C. J. Cherryh

    Finished it off in a little over a day. A satisfying (though fairly slight) episode in the ongoing science fiction soap opera.

  • Taking a quick look back at 2017

    Well. There was all the regular cultural stuff that everyone was dealing with. But here’s a list of some of what stands out in my life, in no particular order.

    • My father died. That leaves practical things to deal with, but also more emotional stuff than I expected. Somehow the death of my mother just made her absent from my childhood family of four, but my father’s death breaks it.
    • My place of employment went through a protracted (and ongoing) time of struggle and uncertainty around racism and leadership. It was a very, very difficult spring. And then at our annual conference in June, two coworkers were attacked on the street, and one was critically injured.
    • I returned to internet radio with a monthly show on Radio Riel, second Sundays, 12:30–2:00 pm Pacific (or Second Life) time: The Musical Magpie.
    • I sold my estate in Second Life (the second time I have done so)
    • Two trips to Brooklyn to visit Jim Ford. We returned to the Metropolitan Opera to see Norma in December (having seen Aida a year ago).
    • An annual September weekend in Provincetown (near the anniversary of my mother’s death) felt like it made the transition to an event all the participants “own.”
    • I scattered  my portion of my mother’s ashes in an old burial ground in Provincetown.
    • I became a staff chaplain, and while overall quite ambivalent about work (see above!) I felt an increased sense of being a longtime staff member with a particular contribution.
    • I rented a BMW convertible (long a pipe dream). It was worth every penny, although it would have made more sense in a slightly warmer season.
    • I lost 40 pounds (and still losing, after a holiday plateau).
    • By going to happy hour at a local bar nearly every Friday, I’ve made a new group of friends/acquaintances.
    • I went to a LOT of music events.

  • Ken Scholes’s The Psalms of Isaak

    Over the holidays, I reread the first four volumes of Ken Scholes’s The Psalms of Isaak in preparation for the release of the fifth and final volume. I’m glad I did. There were things I had missed or didn’t remember. Hymn, the final volume, provided a satisfying conclusion (albeit with a bit of a deus ex machina—which is a pun, should you read the books) while leaving the door open for future stories in the same world. I hope Scholes does continue creating here.

    The books, in order:

    • Lamentation
    • Canticle
    • Antiphon
    • Requiem
    • Hymn

  • Mozart + Beethoven

    Handel & Haydn Society.

    • Overture to L’amant anonyme by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
    • Symphony No. 40 in G Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    • Concerto in C Major for Violin, Cello, and Piano, by Ludwig van Beethoven

    No conductor. Aisslinn Nosky directed.

    I’ve never heard of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges before, but he certainly led an interesting life. It’s the overture to an opera, and I quite enjoyed it.

    The Mozart I heard just over a week ago, paired with the Requiem, by Boston Baroque. I enjoyed this performance, but the difference between the first row of Jordan Hall and nearly the back row (on the orchestra floor) of Symphony Hall is marked.

    I liked the tune introduced in the first movement of the Beethoven, and the interplay between the soloists was fun, but on the whole I didn’t enjoy this piece.