Month: December 2007

Happy New Year!

This was the view from my terrace tonight. A fantastic, colorful sunset to close out the year:

NYE Sunset

A friend is coming over a little later, and we’ll have snacks, some champagne, maybe play some Wii or watch a movie. A nice quiet New Year’s with all the important things: good friends, good food, family, and some fun.

2007 was an up-and-down, “two steps forward one step back” kind of year in some ways, but on the other hand, I have my health, my family, my friends, and the great good fortune to live in a place and time where my destiny is changeable and under my own control. When I start thinking too much about the bad things, I need to remember that.

Thanks to all my readers for stopping by and sharing a part of your life, however small, with me. I hope you’ll be back in 2008. I’m looking forward to what happens next.

Netscape end-of-lifed

Those of us who’ve been around long enough to remember Netscape’s birth will feel a little sad to hear that it’s finally reached the end of the line:

AOL’s focus on transitioning to an ad-supported web business leaves little room for the size of investment needed to get the Netscape browser to a point many of its fans expect it to be. Given AOL’s current business focus and the success the Mozilla Foundation has had in developing critically-acclaimed products, we feel it’s the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reigns fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox.

I first downloaded a copy of Netscape some time in 1995. What a long, strange trip it’s been since then.

At least we still have Firefox.

Things You Miss By Living Outside NY

Wow, this sounds like it’s going to be fantastic … unfortunately I’m on the wrong side of the country to really enjoy it:

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony have been asked to open a major celebration of the life and career of Leonard Bernstein next fall.

The festival, sponsored by the New York Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall, will open on Sept. 24 with Thomas conducting the San Francisco Symphony in an all-Bernstein concert at Carnegie Hall. The concert not only launches “Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds” but also kicks off Carnegie Hall’s 2008 season.

The gala concert will feature cellist Yo-Yo Ma and singers Dawn Upshaw and Thomas Hampson. The program will include the “Fancy Free” Suite, Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story,” as well as selections from “Mass,” “Songfest,” “A Quiet Place,” “Wonderful Town,” “On the Town” and “Candide.”

The two New York organizations are teaming up to honor Bernstein to commemorate the 90th anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of his appointment as music director of the New York Philharmonic.

*sigh*