Our friends Adam and Tim arrived on Friday for their long-weekend visit, and we've been busy as bees. (And speaking of bees, I saw my first bee of the season in our garden yesterday, browsing for pollen among the blue borage flowers -- another sign of spring!)
I took Olga on a long neighborhood walk and then had French class yesterday morning, bien sûr. Adam and Tim, meanwhile, went to Camden Market to check out the eccentric local characters. (Even though the place is more full of tourists than eccentric local characters, there are at least always a few.) We reconvened in the afternoon with plans to go to Royal Albert Hall last night -- but then Adam came down with a migraine, so they wound up staying home.
Dave and I went, however. We saw "Raiders of the Lost Ark" accompanied by a live orchestra providing the musical track. It was fascinating. There's so much music in movies that you don't even really notice -- rattling percussion in quiet tense moments, or clarinets adding mystery, or horn blasts at the high points of the action. And, of course, the proverbial romantic violins. I had to remind myself to watch the orchestra as well as the film!
(Photo: Cricklewood, last weekend.)
when I was in private school they had a field trip every year to the symphony. It was voluntary but I always went until the year I begged my parents to send me to public school. I don't think I've been to the symphony since. that might be fun, to see a movie with live music. I think most American films are too noisy though. It's OK to have silence on screen. there doesn't have to be noise all the time.
ReplyDeleteSo Adam wakes you up with a text message in the middle of the night and then he gets a migraine to spoil your Albert Hall plan... I'm just saying. If a woman offered him a forbidden apple he'd probably take that too!
ReplyDeleteMuch can be said and emphasized with music.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like something I would have enjoyed, and Red is right about the music!
ReplyDeleteSo in Great Britain, do they pronounce it "meegraine?" I've heard that on some audio books and I really need to know for my own curiosity.
ReplyDeleteEllen: I like the symphony now and then. But yeah, having the movie to focus on was nice! The noise didn't drown out the music at all -- I wonder if they toned down those audio tracks so the music could be better heard, or maybe older films aren't as noisy as modern ones! (I agree with you about noise at modern movies -- sheesh!)
ReplyDeleteYork: I know, right? And then he had indigestion yesterday. The poor guy is cursed.
Red: Definitely! And it's amazing how you don't even notice it in many films, but it's a critical part of the experience.
E: It was fun! You would have liked it! Remember how Tampa Theater used to have an organist who played from the stage before every film?
Ms Moon: They DO say "meegraine," but Adam's never got branded with that pronunciation because the only people who knew about it were we four Americans. :)