Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Mahler Symphony No 5

-
Last week I attended the final performance of Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony. I picked my ticket up at the box office and had two hours to kill until the performance. So I went and shopped for a pair of cuff links to complete the buttonless French cuff shirt I had on.  

Come Third Call I was thrilled to find that my seat was front and center -- literally! I was looking up the conductor's (Semyon Bychkov) backside. Front row seats are golden for any other concert but not a symphony orchestra.


The piece opens with the Funeral March and, god, what a long procession it was. My eyelids grew heavy (out of respect for the somber moment) and I respectfully fell asleep before the ending. Judging by the rousing applause that awakened me the musicians did it justice. At intermission I had a cup of chocolate and a sip of whiskey and stayed awake for the second half of the performance.


Thursday's evening concert was generously sponsored by Mr & Mrs Joseph A. Hays through their commitment to the Center Stage Society.

on Michigan Ave near Chicago Art Institute
312.294.3000
www.CSO.org

Read More

JOURNAL: OCTOBER 13, 2009

-

Oct 13

   Am at the airport with hours to spare! My mistake in missing last week's flight was a result of softness. I had a safety net: I had the "extra" money to afford another hotel stay, to say nothing of another flight. Lesson learned. The hard way. I was also wide awake well before the alarm because someone checked into the room in the middle of the night. A while later I re-awoke to her snoring. Jesusfuckingchrist. 
   But am at the airport.
   My four hour layover in Heathrow was not the drag I imagined; far from it. That is the best airport I've been in, and so much changed from my first visit, what, two years ago. Ordered the beef & kidney pudding (with peas and "chips") plus a side of onion rings and ginger beer. Delicious but I did not fancy the taste of kidneys. 

Read More

JOURNAL: OCTOBER 12, 2009

-

Oct 12

   The two Indians have left [to another hostel room]. Nice fellows but that prayer music and sleeping with the lamp lighted was much; and worst of all was the freight train snoring. My sleep will be a good one tonight. No ear plugs.

Read More

H.I. Portland - Northwest (Portland)

-

Absolutely refuses lodgings to non-money card holders. Cash is not accepted. I asked if that also pertained to H.I. members. The man on the phone answered, "Yes. We can't accept you without a credit card. It's our policy."

What good is being a member if you can't enter the lodge?

This is a stupid policy. They should shove it up their asses or, better yet, scrap it. And as for turning away HI members, what good is being a member if you can't enter the lodge? 

It's a pity Portland only offers this and another H.I. hostel. We travellers need more and better options. 


425 NW 18th Ave
503.241.2783
www.nwportlandhostel.com

Read More

JOURNAL: OCTOBER 9, 2009

-

Oct9

   Barack Obama is Nobel Peace Prize winner. Got the news while travelling on the autobahn to Berlin. Once back at the hostel I got online and read the news for myself. Somebody somewhere is cooking this stuff up! First senator, then President, now Nobel Peace Prize....
    I bought a round-trip flight from Berlin to Montreal. Departure next Tuesday. It cost over 400euros which means I essentially lost $500 because I was too cool to get my ass to the airport ahead of time.

Read More

H.I. Portland - Hawthorne (Portland)

-

This hostel is hippy in appearance but corporate in attitude. Like the only other HI hostel in town it is more concerned with credit card holders than travellers (but unlike the HI Portland - Northwest the Portland - Hawthorne does not completely discriminate against cash).


I don't use plastic and it was an hour before I could reserve a bed. I literally had to be thirty minutes away before the bastards would "probably" hold a bed for me. Great backpacker spirit! Just be sure to be in the rucksack with MasterCard and Visa! Once there I was explained a small litany of rules to stay by. My stay was all right and the hostel is clean and eclectic and the beds do include blankets and linens but I could not shake off the corporate-ness of the place. Didn't find it all that welcoming. This is not to imply the staff looked at me cross or were in any way racist or rude. But they are all about "policy".

Minutes after I'd signed in one poor guy with a broken arm was sent back out into the rain because he shared, just as he signed the guest register, that he'd been off and on in Oregon since December looking for steady work. Whoops, too much information! The hostel's policy expressly prohibits "residents" from receiving lodgings. Didn't matter he paid with a credit card either. Broken arm homeboy was sent on his way. I was laughing my ass off (on the inside). Here he is trying to be all familiar and chatted himself right out of a bed...and, man, was he pissed!!

I could not shake off the corporate-ness of the place

I passed through Portland two weeks later but didn't even entertain the thought of staying here again. It's located in Portland's Bohemian District but outside of the eccentric appearances of the furnishings and staff there ain't nothing Bohemian about this hostel.



3031 SE Hawthorne Blvd
503.236.3380
www.portlandhostel.org

Read More

Liberal bullshit in Puerto Vallarta

-

vallartascene.com

Read More