It’s true, last week was quite a week at USC — which makes me feel a little better about how much money I’m spending to be here.
Ira Glass is glowing!
One of my favorite parts was when Glass compared USC’s campus to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Season 3.”
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Larry Harvey
It’s always interesting for me to hear Larry Harvey talk. I’m so intertwined with Burning Man that, I suppose, it’s almost frightening to hear what the founder has to say — that perhaps he’ll burst *my* vision of what Burning Man is.
And then each time I do hear Larry, I instead reach a deeper understanding about what this whole crazy thing — that has become such an important part of my life the past nine years — is all about.
Last week, when he was here as part of a joint conversation with Lee Gilmore, author of “Theater in a Crowded Fire: Ritual and Spirituality at Burning Man,” Larry told the story about how in the early Baker Beach days of Burning Man, he and his “bohemian carpenter” buddies were building The Man in someone’s garage.
While not the 80-foot structure it is today, the project still spilled out onto the street. An elderly man stopped to watch for some time before asking: “Is that a gazebo?”
“No,” said Larry.
The man watched again for some time, then asked: “Are you sure it’s not a gazebo?”
“A lot of things,” summed up Larry, “get projected on that figure.”
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I wrapped up the week with yet another cultural offering from USC, a free ticket (plus bus ride and lunch) to see the LA Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. (Ok, ok, going to a fancy private school does have its perks.)
The concert was Messiaen’s “Turangalîla-symphonie,” a beautiful 10-movement, 80-minute “love song” about the Tristan and Isolde story.
Our seats were actually behind the orchestra, which is something I’ve never experienced. It didn’t matter, though, because in the Frank Gehry-designed building the sound is just as good there. Plus, and perhaps best of all, we got to face maestro Gustavo Dudamel. Half the fun of the concert was watching him conduct and then get a goofy grin of satisfaction and pride after each flawless movement.
It is a whole different perspective to sit behind the orchestra.
He really is larger than life.
The performance was perfect and it was hard not to burst out clapping after the rousing fifth movement — and some people did clap after the touching sixth movement.
In the end, the orchestra received a standing ovation and three curtain calls for Dudamel, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Cynthia Millar, who played the electronic ondes martenot.
Bravo.
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And now this week — Obama.
