SXSWi, anyone?

South by Southwest interactive is drawing near...

The university has requisitioned a gold pass (interactive and film) for our group, and the anticipation is mounting. Austin transforms from a fairly sleepy college town into a beehive of activity during SXSW. We don't get passes for the music portion, but I don't care. I had a grand time last year, and met lots of brilliant, friendly people, and learned oodles about what's happening on the WWW.

I'm looking forward with great excitement to connect with folks I met last year, and meet new friends. And of course learn lots of new tricks.

Are you planning to attend SXSWi this year? Get in touch with me by commenting on this post, and I'll try to arrange a meet-up.

I know Liz Henry will be here, she's leading some sessions. And of course the ubiquitous Bruce Sterling. Dan Rather will give one of the keynote addresses, and His Wakiness, Ze Frank will be in attendance. The Sims daddy is scheduled, and more Web gurus than you can shake a stick at. And it's OK to end a sentence with a preposition. I said so.

The BlogHer ladies are coming, I hope we have a gathering at some point. I'd love to meet Ronni Bennett, and some of the silverback women bloggers. The boomers are hitching up to the 'net, and my new friend from the Boomer Chronicles may grace Austin with her presence.

This has been a phenomenal year of networking and meeting visionary bloggers and communicators. It has certainly enriched my life, and I've only scratched the surface. To think SXSW is growing annually is mind-blowing. As long as I can live in Austin, I plan to attend this event, if I don't do anything else.

One teeny problem is that I have a March 15 deadline for a fairly hefty, in-depth article about the tenth anniversary of our division's Innovative Instructional Technology Awards Program (IITAP) that's presently eating my lunch. The program awards cash prizes to faculty who have developed instructional tech for their classes, and so much is going on at UT that I'm totally inundated with history and descriptions of brilliant Web applications for the classroom. It's totally cool, I'm just a little worried about delivering on time, there's so much to include.

I have a pretty good angle, but the volume of interviews, notes, and putting the pieces together is taking all my time and effort. Would that I had an assistant to take care of the more pedantic chores--scheduling interviews, transcribing notes, doing laundry and dishes.... I need a housewife or househusband!!

This is going to be a dynamo month. A concert on March 31, SXSWi, the article deadline, and a couple of professional development classes just for openers. Then there's the Zona Rosa writers group, side editing gigs, not to mention my day gig--I'll be lucky to get to April in one piece. And I desperately want to visit my daughter in Boston and meet the Boomer Chronicler.

So if you're heading to Austin for SXSWi, let me know--let's get together!

Back to Butterfly

Found the BLO program book from Madama Butterfly nesting in a pile of clothes. You can see the fabulous costuming and stage setting on their Web page. Perusing the bios, I corroborated that my ear did, in fact, pick up that the unevenness of the voices, probably because this was the debut performance of many of the cast. It in no way detracted from the wonderful work of Kelly Kaduce as Cio-Cio San or Honduran mezzo Melina Pineda as Suzuki.

Or the wonderful costumes and sets. The stage director, the venerable Sir Colin Graham, chose the sewamoto, or domestic mode of Kabuki theater, which yields more natural, as well as stylistic movement. Also learned that the Chorus Master, indeed masterful in preparing the difficult choral sections, is also director of choral activities at MIT and on the conducting faculty at the Boston Conservatory. No wonder the "Humming Chorus" was impeccable...

I took a hiatus from singing after AVAE's Oct. 29 performance, and I'm really looking forward to rehearsals beginning next week for our March performance of contemporary American composers and music. Listened to a lot of music over the holidays, and was asked to sing something at a colleague's home, which threw me a bit, since I was a little rusty. Plus most of my singing is in an inner part in languages other than English...I did hasten to reassure the guests that they were in no way to judge AVAE by my singing that day--by concert time, we will all be well-prepared.

Mr. Miles and the Boston Lyric Opera

John Miles is one of my heroes. This is a comment I wrote after reading a great spread in the Daily Texan of Mr. Miles speaking to a group of UT student athletes. They were also impressed. He's the real deal. I need to find the original article and put it up so it makes sense. Mr. Miles was a star player in the National Negro Baseball League during the 40's and 50's, and shares his stories about the times to promote awareness of the league. The Firing Line - Opinion

But not tonight. I spent several hours crafting a piece on the Boston Lyric Opera production of "Madama Butterfly" that my daughter took me to see while I was in Boston. I lost it. Extreme frustration. Doncha hate that? It was such a special event on so many levels I can't let it get away. E and I were involved in the Opera Festival of New Jersey production of Butterfly several years ago so we knew it from top to bottom, including costume changes and the particular Brescia version both companies used. Our enjoyment was heightened by the shared experience and knowledge.

Exquisite production. Costumes were breathtaking, and the singing sublime. The stage director employed a Kabuki Theater style of acting which was perfect for the work. The chorus was magnificent in geisha costume on-stage, and sublimely rendered the fiendishly difficult "Humming Song," sung off-stage. I had a view of the pit monitor that allows the out of sight chorus to watch the conductor for cues. It was a very special evening.

I promise you'll get the details, but don't hold your breath...