Traviata and other stuff

La Traviata in Anchorage

Frank and I saw La Traviata on Sunday at the Anchorage Performing Arts Center. We were cautiously optimistic after the Philip Glass debacle.

La Traviata is typical Italian opera -- very dramatic. Here is a synopsis:

Lead female is a party girl, has consumption, meets a great guy at a party. Moves in with great guy, but dad of great guy tells her that the only way another great guy (#2) will marry his own daughter is if party girl high-tails it out of great guy's (#1) life. As usual, in opera there is always no other way to resolve the situation, and lead female returns to Paris to continue her party days, very sad of course due to the fact that she misses Alfredo, the great guy. Great guy finds her, gets mad that she is hanging out with another guy and insults her in public. She passes out (consumption) and great guy is challenged to a duel. In a very Greek play sort of way, the duel takes place off stage, and great guy retreats to another country (after victory of course). Party girl gets really sick and somehow at the same time, Dad of great guy feels bad and tells the truth to great guy. When party girl (in bed coughing, kind of like when I get my winter cough episodes, although I did not see enough cough drops) has only a few hours left, great guy and dad come by to make amends. Everything is happy, party girl stands up, says "I feel great" then dies.

Despite the cheezy plot, it was really good. We were almost in the orchestra pit, so we could see extremely well. I can't wait for the next one...The Flying Dutchman (not Italian).

Thursday Weather Report
Yesterday it snowed (maybe an inch accumulation). If it had not been cloudy, we might have been able to see the aurora, which was active. Today, the clouds started to part in a zig-zag, and just like the weathermen tell you, when the warm air and cold air collide it gets windy. The pine tree outside my window bent at about a 10 degree angle in the winds so far. But it is sunny, so that's a positive.

The long awaited Christmas List...
I have commandeered Frank's Christmas list. Here are the items for Frank:
1) New Electric Shaver
2) Sweaters (Large)
3) Sweatpants
4) Soft undershirts
5) Soft cotton turtlenecks: charcoal, black, brown. Frank does not like itchy things, seamless shirts are preferable.
6) Waterproof Hiking Boots
7) Chef's Knife
8) Two Pr 33/32 Levis

Strangely, Frank has also put down these things for me. Apparently I will be cooking next year:
1) Food Processor
2) Blender
3) Rice cooker/holder
4) Canon Digital Rebel SLR

Other things I need are listed on REI still. This includes things like knee socks and long underwear that is not cotton.

About the concern about space in suitcases...we will be bringing a suitcase with presents ourselves and therefore should have space. Things that are rather big, you can either ship up here and just tell us, or we can ship up ourselves.

Although Thanksgiving is not upon us yet, we are certainly excited to see everyone.

And what about you???

Using the "power of blog", feel free to add in a comment what you want for Christmas. I figure many people who are reading would be interested :).

This weekend...
...Frank and I will be going to the Wisconsin/UAA hockey game on Friday. We have lost another UAA hockey player to rough practices, who was slammed into the boards "at a funny angle" and separated his shoulder. Shea Hamilton, one of the stars of the Nye Classic, is out with a broken wrist. At this point, the Seawolves have 10 injured players (one for every game played this season). Can anyone say karma? Perhaps letting "Captain Jawbreaker" back on the team did not do a lot for the team, eh?