Book Reviews – I’ve been able to post one book review a week and that seems like a good pace to keep
Movie Reviews – The past three years I’ve been working on a lot of movie projects, averaging about 5 movies per week! So I’m going to scale it back a bit. But, I still have a couple of projects:
90 Movies in 90 Days – I’m going to kick off the year watching and reviewing a movie every day for the first three months of 2023. All the movies will be 90 minutes or less, naturally.
50 Movies, 50 Years – I will be turning 50-years-old this year, so I’m going to watch one movie for each year from 1973 to 2022. The only requirement is that is a movie I haven’t reviewed before. Recommendations welcome!
Music Reviews – I did pretty well at writing a review for a new Album of the Week each week in 2022, but I don’t think I had time to do justice to them (or even listen to them again, in some cases). So I’m going to nix Album of the Week this year.
Song of the Week – I will continue posting one song per week for 2023.
Album of the Month – I’ll still post reviews of 1 to 3 albums per month from February to November, with special highlight posts of albums I missed in June and December.
50 Albums, 50 Years – Just like my movie project, I will review one album per year from 1973 to 2022 that I haven’t previously reviewed. Recommendations appreciated!
Creative Writing – Something I’ve been wanting to do on this blog is to experiment more with fiction writing. I know there are a lot of Flash Fiction challenges around so I’m going to try to start with some of those.
Some other projects for 2023 will include the Blogging A-to-Z Challenge in April, a major Music Discovery, and an ongoing TV series review. So hopefully it will be a good year of blogging!
I started a tradition back in 1996 of making a list of the most memorable events of the year. I always say that memorable does not mean it is necessarily positive, so don’t be surprised to see negative experiences on this list. That first list in 1996 had exactly twenty items, so I’ve made the list a top twenty every year since.
Here is my 26th annual list.
January
…Death in the family – The year began with the sad passing of my father-in-law Charles Lacefield after a long illness. Because of the pandemic, the kids and I hadn’t been able to see him since 2019, but there’s a small blessing in that Susan was able to visit her father a few times in his final days.
February
… Freelance Troupe Performances – This year Kay got involved in a local children’s theater company that produced three excellent shows in February, June, and December. Kay is proving to be an enthusiastic and talented actor with a devilish maniacal laugh.
… Celtics Games – At the end of March, Peter & I saw the Celtics in an exciting game at TD Garden against the Brooklyn Nets where Jayson Tatum scored 54 points! The whole family got into the Celtics last season following the team all the way to the NBA Finals. This December, all four of us went to an exciting game together which, alas, the Celtics lost in overtime.
… Gardner Museum – I spent a day at this unique Boston museum for the first time since before the pandemic.
… Making History on Boston Common– As a history nerd Dad, I was excited to chaperone for Kay’s class visit to the annual history day for Boston Public School students on Boston Common. We petted goats, discovered the harsh penalties of violating the rules in Puritan Massachusetts, trundled hoops, and played baseball with reenactors of the Massachusetts 54th regiment.
… Coach’s Award – Another exciting youth baseball season ended with Kay receiving the Coach’s Award for the most spirited, sporting, and baseball-loving player on the team. Peter received the same award when he was younger and I could not be a prouder dad!
… Cape Cod – The family joined by my mother rented a house in Harwich for a week on the Cape which included Cape Cod League Baseball, beaches, bike rides, go-carts, Pirate’s Cove adventure golf, lots of ice cream, and fun!
… Open Streets Jamaica Plain – For one day, the main streets of Jamaica Plain were closed to motor vehicles and filled with people walking, biking, talking, singing, dancing, and more! I biked along and met several people I know plus Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
… Girls Rock Camp Boston showcase – Kay learned to play bass at a summer camp and then performed an original song along with many other bands at the Brighton Music Hall.
… North Carolina – In late August we visited my mother-in-law in North Carolina for a week which included lots of games, delicious meals, and family togetherness as well as a side-trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg with the kids.
… Learned League – The father of Kay’s classmates invited me to join an online trivia competition and I started playing in August. It is hard but fun, and I even finished first in the most recent contest!
September
… Labor Day in New York – We visited my mother again and this time saw the Mets play very poorly in an otherwise great season, dined on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, and visited the New York Botanical Garden.
… Max – Our 17-year-old cat who lived with us for 13 years went out to sit on the porch one evening in September and never came back. We guess he reached the time where he went off to die in peace but we never found him. He will be missed.
… Thanksgiving in NYC – more family time in New York with my mother which included a delicious dinner, a World Cup soccer match, a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, and a stroll through Central Park.
… Midwinter Revels– I once performed in the chorus of the Revels performance at Sanders Theater in Cambridge. This year’s show featured people of Irish, Eastern European Jewish, and Mexican backgrounds coming together at Ellis Island in 1924 to share songs, dances, and stories.
That’s me about to head the ball in a recreation of the soccer game during the Christmas Truce in 1914.
Panorama of the Mountains was born on December 4, 2006, which means I’ve been blogging for 16 years! Crazily enough, that is close to a third of my life! How did that happen? Aren’t blogs and the internet still new things?
Welp, I guess I’ll see if I can make it to 17. If you feel moved to write something you like about my blog, please let me know in the comments.
The past month I’ve been participating in a TV Draft. It sounds complicated but it’s basically just a bunch of bloggers taking turns writing up a description of their favorite TV series. Take a look at the complete list and see a wide variety of great shows!
I wrote about four different shows as part of this project:
Well, another April has come and gone and hundreds of folks have furiously written a blog post for each letter of the alphabet while visiting other blogs to offer feedback and support. For the 4th, and probably final, time I watched and reviewed documentary movies. This was the first time I scheduled all my posts before April began and thus had a lot of time to visit other blogs, although I tapered off in the final third of the month, alas. I meant to use my “free time” to watch more bonus docs but I found myself not really wanting to watch anything more, and besides baseball season and the NBA playoffs started! The movies I watched this year were uniformly good and I saw a lot of themes running through several of them, including civil rights and social justice issues, LGBTQ concerns and the AIDS crisis, behind the scenes with creators in entertainment, and music.
In my 7th year of the Blogging A-to-Z Challenge, I think I’ve finally figured out how to do this right. This is the first time I had all my A-to-Z posts written and scheduled before April 1st! I also have been doing better to hop to the blogs of other A-to-Z participants to leave comments. I made a goal of visiting 5 new blogs every day, so as of today I’ve commented at least once on 75 different blogs.
But enough about me! Here are some A-to-Z blogs I’m reading and enjoying that you should check out.
I started a tradition back in 1996 of making a list of the most memorable events of the year. I always say that memorable does not mean it is necessarily positive, so don’t be surprised to see negative experiences on this list. That first list in 1996 had exactly twenty items, so I’ve made the list a top twenty every year since.
Here is my 26th annual list.
January
… NEW YEAR IN NEW HAMPSHIRE – We escaped cabin fever at home by kicking off the New Year in an actual cabin in New Hampshire. We played games, there was lots of snow, and went tubing at King Pine Ski Area.
… POLITICAL UPHEAVAL – On January 6, white supremacist insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol and attempted to overthrow our government. Now if Islamic jihadists, Black Lives Matter, or Leftists did this we’d probably be still talking but for some reason it’s all ho-hum now. I guess that’s white privilege at work. In better news, Joe Biden was actually inaugurated on January 20, so at least there’s some hope of preserving democracy.
… BACK TO WORK – I started going to work in person one day per week in January. I have an odd nostalgia for riding the empty subway to the empty library and taking lunch in the empty cafeteria. The kids started going back to school part time in March and full-time in May. Then I started working onsite 2 days per week. Finally, in August, it was back to the new normal with 4 days onsite and 1 day work from home.
… NEW BOSTON MAYORS – President Biden appointed Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (whom I loathe) to the Department of Labor and suddenly Boston had a new mayor. As Acting Mayor until November’s election, Kim Janey became the first woman and first Black person to serve as Mayor of Boston. In the general election, my favored candidate, progressive Michelle Wu, was elected in a landslide and became the first woman and first person of color elected to the office. As an added bonus, we got a great new progressive City Councilor for our district, Kendra Hicks.
… A STROLL IN THE PUBLIC GARDEN – It had been a long time since we’d been downtown, so we actually drove down there for a nice walk through the Public Garden on a pleasant spring day just as the flowers were starting to bloom.
… NOT THROWING AWAY MY SHOT – Susan and I got our first COVID vaccine shots in April. Peter got his shots in May and Kay was finally eligible in November. Here’s to hope for a healthful and less topsy-turvy future.
MAY
… TO THE END OF THE WORLD – We enjoyed another outing on a spring day to World’s End Reservation in Hingham.
… FLYING SQUIRRELS – My daughter’s youth baseball team was sponsored by the neighborhood Facebook group and named “Flying Squirrels.” They had a great season where they all got better at hitting and fielding, plus there were mid-inning sing-a-longs and costumed adults cheering them on. She also was selected to the All-Star Game. If that wasn’t enough baseball, my son played on like three teams in the spring, summer, and fall.
… BEFORE BOSTON – I researched and wrote a new tour for Boston By Foot that focused on Boston before 1630. It’s probably the first walking tour to focus extensively on Native American peoples in Boston. We finally got to debut the tour in June after a COVID delay.
… UP THE CAPE – We spent a week at a rental cottage in Wellfleet with my Mom. We went to beaches, took long bike rides, strolled around Provincetown, and got a seafood dinner takeout!
… RETURN TO OLD HAUNTS – In June, when it seemed like COVID might actually go away I took great delight in doing things I hadn’t done in a long time like seeing a movie in a theater and drinking a beer at a pub.
… THE WILDS OF NEW YORK – We paid a visit to my Mom in New York and a spent a day apiece at the Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium, enjoying the animals.
… ¡WEPA! – There’s a new ballclub in Massachusetts, the Worcester Red Sox (a.k.a. WooSox, a.k.a. Los Wepas), and we visited Polar Park for the first time, enjoying a double header against the Syracuse Mets followed by fireworks.
… UNIVERSAL – Our end of summer vacation took us to Universal Orlando for the first time, where we enjoyed the rides and attractions of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure for three days with almost no one else there.
… 13th INNING WALKOFF – I expected the Red Sox to have a better season than last year, but even I was surprised by how they exceeded expectations. We visited Fenway for a game for the first time in a long time in June, and even saw the Red Sox on the road in Tampa Bay. But the absolute highlight was seeing their Game 3 of the ALDS win over the Rays with a dramatic walkoff home run by Christian Vazquez in the 13th inning! Sadly, the dream came to an end against the Astros in the 6th game of the ALCS.
… SUPPORTERS SHIELD – We didn’t make it to Foxborough for any New England Revolution games this year but I enjoyed watching their historic season. The Revs not only won the Supporters Shield for the best regular season record in Major League Soccer but also set a record for the most points in a MLS season. Unfortunately, like the Red Sox, the Revs dream season came crashing down in the playoffs with a loss in a penalty shootout to NYCFC.
… THE THANKSGIVING OLYMPIC GAMES – Kay came up with a series of games for all of the family and our friend Anthony to compete in on Thanksgiving. These include Flickin’ Chicken, Head Hoop Basketball, and our own unique sport of Anthony Funball. I won three silver medals of which I’m inordinately proud.
… INTERRUPTED REVELRY – I participated as a member of the chorus in the annual Christmas Revels show at Sanders Theater in Cambridge. Despite COVID protocols changing a lot of the traditions, the show was an absolute joy. Unfortunately, due to the omicron outbreak, the last 6 shows were canceled, but I’m glad we got to perform ten shows, plus all of the fun and camaraderie of the rehearsals. Also, you can still stream the virtual Revels performance until January 9th!
I have officially watched and reviewed every movie on the AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Movies List (2007 Edition)! Here are the movies with my links to the reviews.
On Thursday night, I took my daughter to see Hamilton at the Providence Performing Arts Center (there’s a nice review from The Providence Journal). We’d watched the filmed version of Hamiltonon Disney+ and listened to the cast recording countless times but this was the first time we attended a live performance. It was nice to get the wide view from the First Dress Circle where we could see the intricate choreography of the ensemble cast. I was also impressed with the lighting design. And it was interesting to see the different takes the actors had on the characters from the original cast. Not related to the show, the Providence Performing Arts Center is a lovely theater although a bit short on leg room.
Anyhow, it got be thinking of what other theatrical productions I’d seen in my life. So I brainstormed a list with the help of some old ticket stubs I’ve collected.
Broadway
Annie (early 1980s) at the Alvin Theatre – I remember getting autographs from the young cast members outside the theater although those weren’t saved. Sarah Jessica Parker might’ve been in the cast at the time.
Barnum (early 1980s) at the St. James Theatre – A musical about the life of P.T. Barnum long before The Greatest Showman. I remember being impressed by a woman purportedly supposed to be George Washington’s nurse singing a bluesy tune. Also, jugglers and acrobats performed in the audience before the show.
Peter Pan (early 1980s) – A revival of the 1954 musical starring Sandy Duncan. She flew out over the audience at the end of the show.
Lost in Yonkers (December 29, 1992) at Richard Rogers Theatre – A nostalgic comedy-drama by Neil Simon. Didi Conn played the main role replacing Mercedes Ruehl, much to the disgruntlement of my sister.
Jelly Roll (January 10, 1995) at 47th Street Theatre – A biographical musical about jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton. I remember that it was performed by the second cast much to the disgruntlement of the guy behind me.
A Funny Thing Happened on Way to the Forum (March 19, 1997) at St. James Theatre – Whoopi Goldberg starred in the lead role that previously had been reserved for a man.
Once Upon a Mattress (March 19, 1997) at Broadhurst Theater -Sarah Jessica Parker was definitely in this show.
The Lion King (January 22, 2000) at New Amsterdam Theatre – Some friends convinced me to get SRO tickets for this show although I was resistant to Disney musicals at that point in my life. I ended up liking it.
Monty Python’s Spamalot (November 19, 2005) at Shubert Theatre – As a long time fan of Monty Python and Tim Curry, I was eager to so this show and was severely disappointed. Maybe because the cast felt like they were phoning it in the whole time?
Off-Broadway
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (early 1980s) at Radio City Music Hall – This production was made long before Disney movies were routinely adapted into Broadway musicals. My dad took us to this show because he felt we needed to see something at the great Radio City Music Hall.
The Fantasticks (January 1995) at Sullivan Street Playhouse – Saw world’s longest-running musical when it was in the 35th year of its 42-year run. It was great.
West End
The Mousetrap (February 28, 1998) at St Martin’s Theatre – Since I’d seen the world’s longest-running musical in New York I had to see the world’s longest-running play of any kind in London. This is a famous Agatha Christie murder mystery.
An Inspector Calls (February 28, 1998) at the Royal Theatre – The second show I saw on the same night that featured people impersonating police officers. This one was a satire of Edwardian society.
Touring Productions
Les Miserables (August 2, 1990) at National Theatre – The summer I went to a high school program at Georgetown University, I learned that big, bold, Broadway musicals are good actually.
42nd Street (February 7, 1993) at Chrysler Hall – Part of a series of shows my Mom and I went to see when I was in college.
Last of the Red Hot Lovers (May 9, 1993) at Chrysler Hall – This production starred Don Knotts and Barbara Eden!
Camelot (October 24, 1993) at Chrysler Hall – I’ve loved Camelot since watching the filmed version of the 1982 revival so I was eager to see a live performance. Robert Goulet, who played Lancelot in the original production, starred is King Arthur. This was a bit of a waste of his big voice since Arthur’s part was written for a lesser singer, but it was still fun and inspiring.
Rent (August 26, 1997) at National Theatre – The musical that brought a 1990s sensibility to Broadway. I saw this with some friends in Washington and then listened to the cast recording for the next year.
Repertory, Community, and College Theaters, etc.
Fiddler on the Roof (late 1980s) – My childhood parish had a community theater called the St. Catherine Players, although the performers weren’t generally members of the congregation. Anyhow, I first saw this terrific musical about Jewish people in Russia in the basement of a Roman Catholic church.
Broadway Bound (August 1990) at Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse – This is the third in a trilogy of Neil Simon’s plays after Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues (which I only saw as movies).
Antigone (August 1990) at Tisbury Amphitheater – This was a modernized take of the Sophocles’ play performed in a lovely wooded setting on Martha’s Vineyard.
All the King’s Men (Autumn 1991) at William and Mary Theatre – Robert Penn Warren’s fictionalized story of Huey Long was set to music by Randy Newman.
Once Upon a Mattress (October 16, 1992) at William and Mary Theatre – I saw this on a bad date.
Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat at Matthew Whaley School – Sometime, I some group perform this at a public school in Williamsburg. It was good, I recall.
Godspell (April 1993) at St. Bede’s Catholic Church Parish Hall – The Catholic/Episcopal Covenant Players performed this at William & Mary.
Night Sky (November 19, 1993) at William and Mary Theatre – A play in which the protagonist suffers from aphasia after an accident. This was part of a much better date to celebrate my birthday.
Working (April 1994?) at The Fellowship Hall at the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church – Another Covenant Players production of a musical by Studs Terkel.
Into the Woods (January 20, 1994) at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall – The Sinfonicron Light Opera Company performed this Stephen Sondheim musical. I remember feeling it was mean-spirited and feeling very depressed after watching it. I’d probably like it better if I was in a better mind.
Helene (April 14, 1995) at William and Mary Theatre – I know this has something to do with Greek mythology, but I have no recollection what it was about.
Junebug/Jack (September 9, 1995) at The Arts Center Theatre – Another show I don’t clearly remember but it looks like something I would like.
Jim Crow Gotta Go (April 13, 1996) at William and Mary Theatre – I think that this was a touring production based on oral history experiences of people in a Southern town during the Civil Rights Movement.
Walk Together Children (1996) – This was a production that took its inspiration from Jim Crow Gotta Go to specifically focus on the stories of people in Williamsburg. My good friend and housemate worked on producing this show.
Crazy For You (October 17, 1997) at William and Mary Theatre – A romantic comedy musical with Gershwin brothers songs that I thought was funnier than my date did. But it was still a good date.
Angels in America: Part One (April 18, 1998) at William and Mary Theatre – A production of Tony Kushner’s groundbreaking drama about the AIDS crisis in the gay community was still controversial in Williamsburg 23 years ago
Jesus Christ Superstar (May 11, 2000) at Turtle Lane Playhouse – The main thing I remember about this production is that they made Mary Magdalene look like Monica Lewinski.
Blue Man Group – “Tubes” (September 8, 2000) at The Charles Playhouse – Got to see this show free-of-charge for participants of the Boston -> New York AIDSRide. A Blue Man spat a piece of chewed-up Toblerone in my hand. It was gross.
Miss Folk America (May 19, 2001) at Somerville Theatre – A comedy about the Boston area folk scene starring some of our favorite singer/songwriters at the time as fictional versions of themselves. Extremely niche.
Nixon’s Nixon (March 2002) at Huntington Theatre – I volunteered as an usher and got to watch this comic drama of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger on the last night of Nixon’s presidency.
Blithe Spirit (February 19, 2004) at Walpole Footlighters – A colleague of Susan’s was involved in this production of the Noël Coward comedy.
The Birthday Party (March 2004) at American Repertory Theatre – A very strange and very uncomfortable Harold Pinter play with the set’s furniture slowly being pushed into the center of the stage.
The Sweetest Swing in Baseball (2006?) at Cyclorama – A woman artist adopts the persona of Darryl Strawberry and becomes a success painting pictures of chickens. Surprisingly it works.
Pippin(September 21, 2018) at Footlight Club -I’d long loved the music from this show but it wasn’t quite expected.
The Haunted Life (March 23, 2019) at Merrimack Repertory Theatre – An adaptation of a autobiographical Jack Kerouac novel about growing up in Lowell.
Shakespeare
Macbeth (Summer 1992) at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall – This was part of the Virginia Shakespeare Festival. The star of the show also taught a theater course I took at William & Mary that summer.
Twelfth Night (February 25, 1993) at William and Mary Theatre – I played Sir Toby Belch in a high school production of Twelfth Night, so I love this comedy, but I don’t remember this William & Mary production at all.
Richard III (July 22, 1995) at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall – Another Virginia Shakespeare Festival production.
Measure for Measure (July 28, 1998) at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall – The main thing I remember about this Virginia Shakespeare Festival production is that they emphasized style over substance and I really hated it. Also, music by the Gipsy Kings.
Twelfth Night (Summer 2001) at Boston Common – The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s production of Shakespeare on the Common set Twelfth Night in the early-60s JFK/Camelot era.
Macbeth (2003) at Boston Common – Another Commonwealth Shakespeare Company production that moved the Scottish tragedy to Juan Perón’s Argentina. Memorably, the three witches remained on stage for the entire show, pulling strings in the background.
Hamlet (2005) at Boston Common – In this production, the Danish prince had a swimming pool, I think?
Opera, Light Opera, Ballet, etc.
Romeo and Juliet (October 20, 1991) at Chrysler Hall – This was the first ballet I ever saw performed by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. However, the main thing I remember about this performance is that my sister mistook a Navy officer in his dress uniform for an usher. Welcome to Norfolk!
Patience (January 19, 1995) at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall – Another Sinfonicron Light Opera Company performance. This made me realize that I really don’t like Gilbert & Sullivan
La Boheme (January 21, 1997) at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall – Having seen Rent, I saw the original with my Mom. Mimi has a strong voice for someone with consumption.
The Magic Flute (1997?) at Harrison Opera House – My first opera, also in Norfolk.
The Nutcracker (December 30, 2005) at The Opera House – Amazingly, I’ve only seen this ballet once, performed by Boston Ballet. Maybe next Christmas?
Semele (September 28, 2006) at New York State Theatre – This was an adaptation of an oratorio by Handel that made the main character in Marilyn Monroe.
Urban Nutcracker(December 16, 2006) at John Hancock Hall – Another Christmas classic I need to see again.
Madama Butterfly (April 22, 2007) at New York State Theatre – A treat from my mother that I saw with Susan in the last months before we became parents.
Così fan tutte (March 24, 2018) at Metropolitan Opera House – My first show at the Met set the Mozart opera in a Coney Island-style beach resort. Broadway star Kelli O’Hara made a nice transition to opera.
On December 4, 2006, I posted for the first time on Panorama of the Mountains. Blogs were a relatively new things at the time although perhaps already on the way to being old hat. I thought it would be fun to write online regularly about – something – and fifteen years later I still haven’t found a theme. These days I mostly post movie reviews, but I’m sure in the future it will be something else. And that’s fine. Not too many people read this blog and only a very few comment on it, for which I’m always appreciative. Mostly though, this blog has always been an outlet for writing about what I’m thinking about, and a good resource to look back at when I’m trying to remember how I was thinking about something back then. So, I’ve been blogging for 15 years, which is close to being a third of my life so far, and it looks like I will continue blogging for some time to come.
Panorama of the Mountains 