mysterious glowing object(s) #3

"Now you can build futuristic cities... with LIGHT." Astrolite® was a set of clear plastic shapes and connectors that could be constructed over a multicolored glowing base. With it you could build self-illuminated Jetsons-like structures, glowing robots, space stations, etc. Astrolite pushed beyond the boundaries of "child's toys" in terms of its visual sophistication. Manufactured by Hasbro in 1969, these can frequently found on Ebay; since the only electrical element was a 40 watt lightbulb, most of them are still in fine working order.

Immortal Heart

Immortal Heart by Amy Tan
directed by Delia MacDougall
TWO NIGHTS ONLY
Monday, March 13 & Tuesday, March 14 - 8 pm
Join Amy Tan at the March 14th performance!
PROJECT ARTAUD THEATER
450 Florida Street, San Francisco
TICKETS: (415) 437-6775
http://www.zspace.org/immortalhearttour.jsp#bonvoyage
I did the score and sound design for this show and think it came out very well. Musical excerpts:
Immortal Heart

personal travel tips

1. The most valuable tools for travelling are: a flashlight, a Swiss Army knife, stickers for little kids, and a small bag of dried apricots.
2. When renewing a passport, the US Govt. website says you will have your new document within 6 weeks. This is a lie: it's more like 8+ weeks. You will have to call and upgrade to an expedited passport which costs about another $50. On the average, you will spend 45 minutes on hold anytime you want to speak to a human. For "hold" music you will be forced to listen to interminable loops of Vivaldi's The Seasons, it never varies. (If the money was going to help fund something like malaria eradication I wouldn't resent it quite so much, but we all know where the money is really going.)
3. Trying to use Umberto Eco as vacation reading will make you want never to read fiction again. Agatha Christie wrote the same novel 100 times.
4. Unless you were raised with it, you will not like durian. Try it.

mysterious glowing object #2

This is the Aurora Clock, a design icon of the 70's, inducted into the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The infinitely changing colors are the result of birefractive/ polarizing films. The original incandescent bulbs have here been replaced by low heat producing LEDs. This clock sits in my bedroom where (I like to think) it helps to soothe my insomnia. My Aurora was restored and renovated by ChronoArt Inc. of Cotati, CA (www.chronoart.com).

upcoming performances

ROME
March 25, 9pm at Sala Petrassi in the Parco della Musica
March 26, 5pm Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
San Ignacio de Loyola, an opera by Domenico Zipoli (and others).
A Jesuit opera written for the Paraguayan Indians in the mid 18th century
http://www.operasantignazio.com
This is one of those musical exhumations that turned out to be a lovely work. I'll be singing the role of the titular saint- it's a long way from my Berkeley atheistic roots. Hope to see you there.

mysterious glowing object #1

This promotional item was to advertise Cymbalta®, an antipressant drug from Eli Lilly & Co. It glows and pulses in the dark, illustrating the pain centers of the body. It's almost worth the price of being clinically depressed to get cool, mysterious glowing objects like this. It makes a very comforting (if slightly spooky) night light.

a friend of mine