San Diego Rock 'n' Roll HALF
The Rock 'n' Roll marathon is now a half with 2 half runners for every full.
The results are in for what should be called the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. This event used to be a large Marathon event, this year there were 9,000 running the marathon and 21,000 running the half. The course was …
Summer track and field in San Diego
The Summer Nights Series begins this Wednesday, the 5th of June.
Who’s ready for some track ‘n’ field? Wednesday, the 5th of June at 6:00 pm is the start of the Summer Nights Track and Field Series. Registration is at 5:00 pm and all events cost $5. The location is University …
Summertime impressions
Daphnis et Chloe brings back memories of waking on a summer morning.
As we turn toward summer I always turn toward impressionism. The music that immediately comes to mind is the Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2 by Ravel. There is something about the opening Sunrise that recalls waking up on a …
World Famous Mud Run
Camp Pendleton's famous and filthy race begins this weekend.
The World Famous Mud Run is this weekend up at Camp Pendleton. Registration is closed BUT they will be live-streaming the event this year. The entire world could be watching. There are five dates on which the run will occur. …
Heroic enough: San Diego Symphony (2 of 2)
The symphony that started it all ends it for the symphony this year.
The absolute last piece of music for the San Diego Symphony season was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3: Eroica. This may have been the final piece this year but it is the piece of music that started it all. The Eroica …
Season finale at San Diego Symphony (1 of 2)
The Masterworks Season came to a conclusion last weekend at San Diego Symphony.
The final concert of the Masterworks Series at The San Diego Symphony started with Smetana’s overture to The Bartered Bride. This was the most satisfying piece in the concert. The energy in the orchestra was good and the music itself …
Solana Beach 103-mile bike ride
The San Diego Century is Saturday, June 1. Watch out for the cyclists.
Anyone want to go for a 103 mile bike ride with a ton of uphill riding? Yes? Well you’re in luck because the San Diego Century cycling event is Saturday June 1st. Registration is closed but there are a limited …
More Memorial Day Events
A strawberry festival and Explosive Ordnance Disposal races.
Besides The Patriot Run there are a few other events this holiday weekend. Vista has their Strawberry Festival on Sunday the 26th. The festival is a big event with multiple stages presenting various activities simultaneously. In addition to the pie …
Halfway through 2013
We're halfway through the year, how's your fitness resolution?
Achieving my New Year’s resolution is going to have to wait. My resolution for this year is to finish a marathon in three hours or less. The loose ACL in my right knee has decided I won’t be doing that …
Mary had a little lamb a la Tchaikovsky
The Russian equivalent of Row, row, you're boat gets thrashed by Tchaikovsky.
When I went to the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 a few weeks ago I didn’t realize how famous the theme of the finale movement is Russia. The theme is exactly the tune to In a field a little birch tree …
Memorial Day Review
When did Memorial Day start and can I run a 10K to celebrate?
Memorial Day Weekend--the start of summer--time to get in shape. I’m sure Memorial Day is about something other than the start of summer but sometimes that gets lost. The first Memorial Day was May 30th, 1868 and flowers were placed …
Spanish lovers at San Diego Symphony
A night dedicated to Spain brought all the warmth and flavor of Andalusia.
The San Diego Symphony took us on a trip to the Andalusian Plain of Southern Spain with a concert full of gypsies, flamenco dancers and romantic guitars. The concert opened with Granados’ Tres danzas espanolas. The sweltering Spanish flavor of …
Microbial life vs. multicellular life in opera
What's a theory of the role of Mother Earth without a musical reference?
When I wrote about Gaia versus Medea as models of motherhood I should have mentioned that this distinction was developed as an argument by a scientist named Peter Ward. Ward holds that the Gaia Theory of the Earth as a …
Encinitas festival in Cardiff
There are a series of Encinitas events but they appear to be in Cardiff.
The Encinitas 5K starts at the Seaside Reef Parking lot in Cardiff. These two towns must be friends. As we might guess, this is a coastal course. An overcast morning along the coast? Are there more perfect conditions in which …
UCSD Mito Walk and Roll
Mitochondrial disease research and funding is the motivation for this first annual event.
The UCSD Mitochondrial Fund is holding its first annual Walk and Roll 5K on Saturday the 18th. Mitochondrial disease has no cure to date. The people at UCSD are trying to raise a "substantial" amount of money to fund ongoing …
Happy Mother's Day
Gaia and Medea, they're both mothers.
Gaia has a beautiful yoga practice, she harms not the earth with all of her green tech, and she is vegan to the bone. Gaia is “one of those” mothers--at least that's the modern version. There are a few archetypes …
Mother's day sweat
Two opportunities for mothers to sweat before they wait in line for brunch on Mother's Day.
Sunday is Mother’s Day. It is a day I’ve always thought of as pastoral--a day full of flowers and brunches and sentimental greeting cards. That is all well and good but what about the uber-active mothers who would rather sweat …
Valyrian Steel leads San Diego Symphony
The San Diego Symphony turned in a performance so epic that Game of Thrones should be ashamed of itself for being too trite.
I’ve been trying to come up with a way to express the grandeur of the San Diego Symphony’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. Let me first say that I thought the orchestra sounded better than they ever have during …
Question and answer at San Diego Symphony
Charles Ives has an answer for every question except the last one while the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto is technically brilliant.
On Saturday night, the fourth of May, 2013, the San Diego Symphony stood victorious upon Tchaikovsky’s mountain of pathos. The concert began with Ives’ The Unanswered Question which was structurally unique with a choir of woodwinds being conducted upstage by …
Too much syrup--never: San Diego Symphony
A couple romantic hits and Ives this weekend at SDSO.
The concert I’ve been waiting for all season is finally here this weekend at the San Diego Symphony. Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky are both on the ticket--and Ives. The Rachmaninoff is the Piano Concerto No. 1 and the Tchaikovsky is the …