Alexandria Children's Chorus - Ten Years in Harmony

 

 We attended a very special concert today.  Will sings in the Alexandria Choral Society's Children's Chorus.  Today the Children's Chorus presented their 10th Anniversary Concert, "Ten Years in Harmony".  This year, the Chorus introduced a new program, a composition contest for young composers.  For the contest, Eva submitted a short song she made up for our family to sing as a grace before meals.  Eva's song won the composition contest, so she was honored at the concert, and the Chorus performed her song.  

 

I enjoyed the selection of songs performed, and I thought the Chorus Director, Mr. Carr, did a wonderful job conducting (I really enjoy watching conductors).  This video was a quick edit job, trying to condense an hour+ concert.  I reduced it to about six minutes, but that is still long by internet standard.  This is an HD video, so if you play it full size (or full screen) it should look good.  I have taken still photos of many of Will's concerts over the last three years, and this is a situation where video is MUCH BETTER.    

You will see (and unfortunately hear) electric fans in almost every video clip. It was 90 degrees in Alexandria yesterday, and the air conditioning in the church where the concert was held had not yet been turned on for the season. It was very hot and sticky.

The video is also posted at Vimeo here which in my experience provides higher quality HD video streaming than FaceBook.

Enjoy!

 

 

The Collapse of Complex Business Models - Clay Shirky

This is a great blog post from Clay Shirky on instability of complex systems.  It derives from writing on the collapse of complex societies like the Maya, but is very applicable to big tech companies like MSFT, and the media industry that he directly addresses.

 

http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2010/04/the-collapse-of-complex-business-models/

Triangle Rock Club SCS Comp

Eva competed in her third 2010 Sport Climbing Series competition today at Triangle Rock Club in Raleigh, NC.  SCS is a top roping competition where competitors are tied into a safety rope in case of a fall, in contrast to bouldering where competitors climb lower walls, but are not roped in and just depend on pads to cushion any falls.  Eva much prefers bouldering, and would rather fall onto a pad than fall and be caught in her harness by a rope.  In spite of top roping not being her favorite type of climbing competition, Eva did well.  She placed 2nd in Youth D, and we think the girl in first place was a year older (Eva has one more year in this her current age group).  Triangle Rock Club is smaller than our home gym, but was very nice, and the competition was run well.  There were 80 competitors, but the belayers/judges were efficient and waits for each climb were pretty short.  Eva made her required five climbs in the first 2 1/2 hours, and was pretty much exhausted after that.  She really needs to learn to eat better on competition days -  a  breakfast of fruit loops and a Belgian waffle doesn't create sustainable energy for competition. 

First Trip to Bangalore: Photos and Impressions (Updated)

I arrived in Bangalore at 1:30am Monday and left and 3:30am Friday, normal flight schedule given the time zone in India and flight schedules from North America and Europe.  My itinerary left Washington Dulles Saturday afternoon and stopped over in Frankfurt.

There have been books written about the Indian IT services explosion, and four days in Bangalore is not enough to add much to that story.  Suffice is to say that Accenture has more employees in India than any other country and its largest single office building is in Bangalore.  Accenture is in fact typical, I lost track of the Fortune 500 logos on usually very large buildings.  For the size of the IT services business in India, I was still surprised to learn that it is a relatively small portion of the Indian economy.  Indian GDP is about $1.2 Trillion, and only $50B of that is IT services.  

Economic development in Bangalore, and all of India, is occurring much faster that the development of underlying infrastructure.  I would love to be selling diesel electric generators there, because every office building has its own.   Traffic is congested and chaotic (but I actually don't think it takes longer to get around than it does in LA).   The mix of vehicles is fascinating.  Swarms of scooters and motorcycles, small cars, trucks, buses and ubiquitous yellow 'auto rickshaws' (little three wheel taxis with what sound like 125cc motorcycle engines).  There are also still cows roaming the city, and I could not figure out what they were eating.  Dairy products are an important part of the local diet (cheese and yoghurt) and all the cows I saw appeared to be for milk.  The cows roam the roads, and create their own traffic challenges.

I had a driver named Anbu during my visit, and he was excellent and endless source of information about Bangalore and what we saw driving around.  It turned out that Anbu collects scooters, and he was excited about the yellow vespa-ish scooter in the photos.  He said it was a 1976 and considered a classic.  We also saw an old Lee Enfield motorcycle that Anbu said was made in India and also an old classic (it had a lovingly restored look).  

I loved pretty much all the food I had in Bangalore, mostly Indian except one evening Thai at the excellent Thai restaurant at the Oberoi Hotel.  There were generally two Indian food choices, North Indian and South Indian.  North Indian is usually what one sees in Indian restaurants in the US (chicken tikka masala etc).  Southern Indian is more rice and bean oriented.  In addition, the majority of people at least in Bangalore are vegetarian.  The tray of food in the photo is typical of the lunches I ate every day.  This one was from the food court across the street from the Accenture Bang4 office.  All of the food I had was good, and I was surprised that even cafeteria food tasted freshly cooked and well spiced.  My Indian colleagues kept asking if the food was too spicy for me, but it was no hotter than most Thai or Indian food in the US (though I am told by friends that some specific dishes are scorching hot).    

Bangalore is currently 9.5hrs ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.  Because of the time difference days were long (awake early to check the prior afternoon's US email, work all day followed by dinner with colleagues, then back to the hotel to get morning email from the US).  I did take a two hour break Thursday afternoon, and Anbu drove me by the Karnataka Parliament House and Law Courts, as well as to a couple of good gift shops.  Both gift shops had stacks of business cards from prior Accenture customers and told me how many of my co-workers bought rugs that they shipped back to the US.  I was much more modest.  

There are a lot of festivals in India, and an important one Rama Navami which occurred this year on 24 March.  I saw many of the floats from the celebration on the way to the office Wednesday, but the photos do not do them justice.  Anbu explained that people stayed up all night partying and dancing to celebrate, and I wondered what this did to productivity the next day. 

I stayed at the Leela Palace on Airport Road, which seems to be centrally located, though not actually close to anything.  Bangalore is a very spread out city with an occasional denser spot, often where the city has encroached on a preexisting village as it grows.  The Leela is very popular with expats coming to Bangalore, and there are not that many choices for good business hotels.  I actually think I saw half the business class cabin from my flight checking in with me when I arrived at the hotel.  The service at the hotel was excellent, and as I was leaving early Friday morning the man working the front entrance to the Leela offered to have his picture taken with me.  He and everyone else I met went out of there way to be helpful.  I asked about his uniform and he said it was in a 

Rajasthani style, though I think interpreted by the British.

Professionally this was an extremely productive trip, and I have no doubt I will be going back.  When I do I will build in a little more sightseeing time.  

Video - Junior Indoor Bouldering Series #JIBS

http://www.deadpointmag.com/videos/watch/junior-bouldering-invitationals-2010

Eva does not appear in this short video (link above), but she she did
compete in the JIBS competition at the Philly Rock Gym (PRG) last
Saturday where the video was taken. We did not stay for finals (it
would have been a very long day and overnight stay in Philly) but from
the video it looks like they were great. If you have never seen
indoor rock climbing, the video provides a quick sense of the sport.

Eva Upside Down in the Gravitron During the JIBS Comp at Philly Rock Gym

Eva competed in the Junior Indoor Bouldering Series (JIBS) event at
the Philadelphia Rock Gym (PRG) today. They have an interesting
climbing feature they call the gravitron, which I would call a cave.
Many of the gravitron routes, including the one Eva is on in this
photo, start inside climbing upside down on the ceiling, then you exit
and navigate climbing up onto the roof to finish the climb. Not easy
and not something I could do. Eva also tried to make a very difficult
climb on the outside of the gravitron with a very slippery hold, but
just could not make it.

Eva climbed very well today. She made a couple of the hardest climbs
I have seen her make, and had a personal best in her overall score.
Unfortunately the competition was tough and Eva placed fourth in her
age group. The top four places, especially 2 - 4, were very close so
the competition was very strong. It was good to see Eva climbing so
confidently and she is psyched for her next comp.

The Cove

I first saw the movie The Cove in May at a private screening where director Louie Psihoyos discussed the making of the movie and brainstormed ideas about how to shut down the Japanese dolphin slaughter depicted in the movie.  I am not surprised The Cove won this year's Oscar for Best Documentary, and I truly hope the associated publicity helps achieve Louie and Ric O'Barry's goals of protecting and preserving marine mammals. 

 

The Cove is a great movie.  If you like action/adventure movies go see it.  If you like amazing film making go see it.  If you are interested in the plight of marine mammals, and the role of a very small number of countries in perpetuating their slaughter, go see it. 

 

It is great to see Louie continuing his mission in the US with this sting operation on a Santa Monica sushi restaurant described in today's NYT.  I can't wait for this story to become a documentary as well. 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/us/09sushi.html?hp

Sweeney Todd at Signature

We took Will to see Sweeney Todd at the Signature Theatre in Arlington on Sunday (info).  It demonstrated that horror presented live on stage is much scarier than horror on screen (or video game).  Will is 11, and at intermission decided he wanted no part of the second half of the play.

 

We *love* Signature Theatre and based on the first half we saw, Sweeney Todd was typically well sung and acted.  I especially liked Mrs. Lovett.  However, this is the second time I have seen Sweeney, and it has not grown on me.  As well done as it was, it was still relentlessly dark. 

 

I struggled to find a character to like.  Sweeney is psychotic.  The Judge and Beadle are indescribably vile and evil, the more so as representatives of societies values.  Mrs Lovett is a callow opportunist.  Anthony is naive and clueless.  Who's to like?  What's the attraction in seeing Sweeney kill his beloved wife who he believes long dead? I take issue with Signature's web site calling this a 'thriller musical comedy' - I would call is a 'relentlessly dark and depressing musical comedy". 

 

I would like to go back and see the second half of the play at Signature for the sheer quality of the performance, but this is not a play I will seek out.  I find it amusing that Sweeney Todd is considered a great piece of art while parents fret about violent video games.  Maybe if the video games had better music they would be more easily accepted. 

 

If you are interested in the play, I found a very good synopsis here. 

Lyra's First Ski Lesson

Both of our older kids learned to ski starting around the age of four, and both learned at Wisp Resort in Maryland.  Lyra knew she was old enough this year, and has been lobbying for her turn.  With the older kids' activities, things are hectic, but Lyra deserved her time at the slopes (and if all of the kids ski, Dad will have someone to ski with while Mom is at the beach).  

The snow was fantastic.  I usually need to get on a plane to see these conditions.  Wisp has had 44" of powder this week, and 20 FEET of snow this year.  This is in Maryland, not California or Colorado!

Lyra spent most of her day at Willy Wisp (little kids ski school) but I took her to the top for one run.  She has had enough of a taste of skiing to know she wants more next year. Personally I wish we had gone for the whole weekend, not just a day.

Alexandria National Cemetery in the Snow

Alexandria National Cemetery is only a few blocks from our house, and diagonally across the street from our local Whole Foods Market.  These photos were taken on Sunday February 14th, a few days after our big blizzard.  The snow was still almost two feet deep and nearly covered the tombstones.  I thought the mostly covered stones looked beautiful just poking above the top of the snow.  The white snow and blue sky set off the red, white and blue of the flag in both of these shots.  

HISTORICAL INFORMATION (from http://www.cem.va.gov/CEMs/nchp/alexandriava.asp)

Alexandria National Cemetery is located near the Old Town section of Alexandria, Va., amid several other community cemeteries. The original cemetery consisted of approximately four acres known as Spring Garden Farm. Most of this land was acquired by the United States in the 1860s, and by November 1870 the cemetery had reached its current size of a little over five acres.

Alexandria was one of the principal campsites for Union soldiers sent to defend Washington, D.C., at the outbreak of the Civil War. These troops, composed primarily of “three-month volunteers,” were unprepared for the demands of war. When they tried to turn the Southern advance at Bull Run, they were decisively defeated and hastily retreated back to Washington. At one point in the war, General Robert E. Lee and his Southern troops rode the outskirts of Alexandria where they were close enough to view the Capital dome. As the tide of the war turned, especially after Gettysburg, the frontlines of the war moved west and away from Washington, D.C. The fortress area at Alexandria, however, continued to serve as a major supply and replacement center throughout the remainder of the war.

Alexandria National Cemetery is one of the original 14 national cemeteries established in 1862. The first burials made in the cemetery were soldiers who died during training or from disease in the numerous hospitals around Alexandria. By 1864, the cemetery was nearly filled to capacity, which eventually led to the planning, development and construction of Arlington National Cemetery.