Play Me, I'm Yours

"Street pianos are appearing in cities across the world. Located in skate parks, industrial estates, laundrettes, precincts, bus shelters and train stations, outside pubs and football grounds, the pianos are for any member of the public to enjoy and claim ownership of. Who plays them and how long they remain is up to each community. The pianos act as sculptural, musical, blank canvas's that become a reflection of the communities they are embedded into. Many pianos are personalised and decorated.

"Questioning the ownership and rules of public space 'Play Me I'm Yours' is a provocation, inviting the public to engage with, activate and take ownership of their urban environment.

"‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ provides an interconnected resource, an empty blank canvas, for the public to express themselves and share their creativity.

Website is here - TONS of Quicktime links!

That snap in the air can only mean one thing-

It's Opera Season!

Our lupine femme fatale is respendent in her flaxen plaits...

Oh, yes, opera season is upon us. I am tortured by the offerings for 2009-2010. Placido Domingo mans the helm of Wagner's Ring Cycle in Los Angeles. Also, in Chicago, TWO productions of Faust are offered, one on October/November and the other in the coldest part of winter. (Given that most of Batman Begins was shot in Chicago, is it too much to ask to have Mefistofele come back to the Lyric?) Over at the Met in New York, get this! Engelbert Humperdinck has written an opera about Hansel and Gretel. Plus they have two Mozarts and another Faust. (What is it with Tosca this year, anyway?)

Between the price of tickets, and the meal, and of course a fantastische gown to wear to the opera, and the cloak to wear over said gown, well, I think I'm going to sit out this season.