My mind, and the places it goes

1. On Tuesday, 1 July, mabfan and I will be going to see A Jihad for Love at 7:15 PM at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline (we plan to get there sometime between 6:30 and 7). Afterwards, the two producers will be speaking briefly on the making of the movie.

2. On Friday, 4 July, we will once again be doing our annual outing to hear the Declaration of Independence read at the Old State House in Boston at 10:00 AM to be followed by a showing at our place of 1776.

Anyone who wishes to join us for either of these, let me know here or e-mail me at my @livejournal address.

On July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read in Boston for the first time from the balcony of the Old State House.

Ever since then, on July 4 of every year, the Declaration has been read anew at the Old State House. mabfan and I have made a tradition of attending when we can, and if anyone wants to join us, you're more than welcome to do so.

The Declaration will be read next Wednesday at 10 AM; we generally try to meet people around 9:30 AM on the sidewalk in front of the Park Street subway entrance. The reading gets very crowded, so it can be hard to find people once the reading begins.

RSVP by replying to either mabfan or me, or by email, or whatever.

Every year, the Annals of Improbable Research runs the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony at Sanders Theatre. According to their website, "The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative -- and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology." Michael and I have been to the ceremony twice, and we've always had a great time.

This year, Michael and I would like to bring a delegation from the Society for the Preservation of Pluto as a Planet. If a group of six or more people purchase a block of tickets and register as a delegation, the delegation is recognized at the beginning of the ceremony, and any delegation deemed "colorful" will be chosen to "parade ostentatiously into the theater." We're hoping that by having an SP3 delegation attend the ceremony, we will continue to bring poor Pluto's plight to the attention of the masses.

The 2006 ceremony will be held on Thursday evening, October 5, at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University. The ceremony begins at 7:30 PM, so the delegation will probably have to be there around 7 PM. Tickets are somewhat expensive, I'm afraid; we're hoping to get a block of the $33 seats (and there may be a surcharge as well). Michael and I can lay out the initial expense of buying the block of tickets, but we're going to need to be paid back as soon as possible. If you email us that you wish to be a part of the delegation, we're going to have to ask you to bring the money for your ticket on the night of the ceremony.

So, if you'd like to attend, and be a part of the delegation, please email us at

igs@mabfan.com

by

Wednesday, September 27, at 3 PM EDT

(We know that's in only two days, but we have to buy the tickets early enough to arrange the delegation.)

Once we have a delegation all set, we'll set up an email list to figure out how to be "colorful" enough for a parade.

If you would like more information on the Ig Nobels and the ceremony, check out the webpages at The Ig Nobel Prizes and About the 2006 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony and Lectures.

A reminder about MooTour II: The Wrath of Kine!

The reviews are in, and the critics all agree -- MooTour 2006 is a hit!

rhysara exults, "Armed only with a digital camera and a map I set forth to brave the the dangers of mad cow disease and bad-cow-puns."

batwrangler raves, "Today, I saw about sixty cows and took almost 800 photos on mabfan and gnomi's MooTour!"

theodosia crows, "I survived the great MooTour of '06, with about a hundred or so new cow pictures..."

And now... From the producers of MooTour 2006 comes...

MooTour II: The Wrath of Kine

Join us on our quest for the occasionally elusive Cow Parade cows!

Date: 20 August 2006

Time: Starting at 11:00 AM

Location: Meet at Park St. Station, by the MBTA Cow. We'll be heading from there to the remaining (approximately 55) cows we did not see on MooTour I.

RSVP to:
MooTour@mabfan.com

Number of cows viewed: 63
Number of miles walked: 3.75
Amount of time taken: 4:45 hours
Number of photos taken: 333

Date of MooTour 2006 Part II: 20 August 2006

Photos to follow soon.

CowParade has finally come to Boston! The Bursteins have decided that we must see and photograph each and every cow before they disappear into the stockyard in the sky.

You are cordially invited to join us for MooTour 2006!

When: Sunday, August 6th, 11 AM until whenever. Rain date Sunday, August 20th.

Where: All over Boston, but starting in Copley Square (SE corner of Boylston and Dartmouth)

What: Join the Bursteins as we pursue our quixotic quest to photograph every single cow in the 2006 Boston CowParade!

Details: Starting in Copley Square, we will use the map of the CowParade to try to see and photograph every cow statue we can. We'll be doing a lot of walking, so wear comfortable shoes. If it's hot and sunny, you might want to wear sunglasses and bring a water bottle. We'll also be jumping onto the T a lot, so if you have a T-pass that will be a big help. (Remember that on Sundays, a T-pass holder is allowed to bring a guest.) And if you want your own pictures of the cows, make sure to bring a camera as well.

Special bonus: In order to fortify ourselves before going on the MooTour, we'll be enjoying brunch at Rubin's Kosher Deli. If you wish to join us for brunch, please let us know when you RSVP, so we can make an appropriate reservation.

RSVP to
MooTour@mabfan.com

Again this year, mabfan and I will be heading down to the Old State House on the morning of July 4th at 10:00 AM to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence. This reading has occurred at the same location on 4 July every year since 1777 (in 1776, it was read in September, when it arrived in Boston), and it has become our tradition to attend.

We will be meeting folks who wish to join us at 9:30 AM upstairs outside the Outbound entrance to the T at Park Street station.

Our 4th of July traditions also include the watching of the movie "1776," which we will do again this year. If people wish to join us for this, however, we will have to find a venue other than our living room, as we do not have significant capacity for visitors at the moment.

If you are interested in joining us (or in providing a location for the viewing of "1776"), please comment here or send me e-mail.

Tonight, MAB, my parents, a family friend, and I went to the Boston Pops to hear Marvin Hamlisch conduct a tribute to Lerner and Loewe. The Boston Pops Orchestra was joined this evening by vocalists Teri Hansen, J. Mark McVey, and Rocky Paterra (12 years old) and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, conducted by John Oliver.

Hamlisch is a very, very funny man, and the playlist below doesn't begin to describe the fun and joyous evening that was had by all.

The Pops performed:

Selections from "Brigadoon"

Selections from "Camelot"

Selections from "Gigi":

-- Thank Heaven for Little Girls (sung by Rocky Paterra)
-- The Night They Invented Champagne (before which Hamlisch introduced the percussionist, who demonstrated his pop gun - a vital instrument for this piece)

After intermission, Hamlisch first gave the ball score (at the time, the Red Sox were ahead, 2-0) and then said that, during intermission, someone passed a note to him in the Green Room, asking him to, from the stage, wish happy birthday to someone in the audience. Hamlisch therefore performed:

Happy Birthday variations as if by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven

Once the laughter died down, the Pops and vocalists performed:

Selections from "My Fair Lady"

after which all the performers were given a standing ovation.

As an encore, Hamlisch led the Pops in "Stars and Stripes Forever." We stood and cheered for the music, the conductor, the vocal performers, and the orchestra.

After the concert, Hansen and McVey were selling autographed copies of their respective CDs, so we purchased one of each. And on our way out of Symphony Hall, MAB spotted Hamlisch signing autographs by the stage door, so we went over, thanked him for a lovely concert, and got his autograph on our program.

It was a lovely, fun evening. But now...sleep. :-)