Great article in the Kansas City Star on WSU coach Mark Turgeon.

With mom in town for the holidays... played this mind game at the Wired Store in Soho. Today--visiting Ellis Island.

Verdi's Don Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera. This production had an all-star cast, featuring Johan Botha as Don Carlo, Patricia Racette as Elisabeth, Rene Pape as King Philip, Olga Borodina as Princess Eboli and Sam Ramey as the Grand Inquisitor--one of the strongest ensembles I've ever heard at the Met. Rene Pape is without equal and Borodina has one of my favorite voices. The orchestra was expertly conducted by James Levine. If--after five hours of opera--you're left wanting more, they must be doing something right. (Read the NYT review)

This weekend: trip to Syracuse for the Wichita State - Syracuse game. Once again, Shocks win, 64-61. See highlights of the game on YouTube here. On the way to Syracuse, had lunch in Ithaca at the fantastic Moosewood Restaurant, and visited Cornell and one of the famous gorges. Stopped at one of the Finger Lakes wineries for a tasting.

From the LA times: Slide-rule celebrities: economists who author blogs are drawing fans who see nothing dismal about the discipline. About economists who write blogs with more substance than where they went to dinner last weekend...

Now I've heard everything...fat studies as a new field of study in academia.

This weekend: trip to D.C. for the Wichita State - George Mason rematch of their 2006 sweet sixteen game. Shocks win, 72-66, on the night George Mason unfurled its 2006 final four banner. This was the fourth sellout game in GM history.

Afterward: Coppi's on U Street and Mr. Smiths in Georgetown.

See pictures from the game, as well as pictures from Madison (earlier in november) here.

Tonight: Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Met. With one exception, the voices in this performance were a cut above those I've heard in recent Met operas. The German soprano Diana Damrau was spectacular as Rosina, in both voice and character, with the perfect combination of breeziness and technical accuracy. Her voice was so perfectly projected and her diction so crisp that each syllable was heard with perfect precision, as if she was standing five feet away. The way in which she purred each of her spoken (or quasi-spoken) lines was chilling.

The Figaro, too was amazing--Swedish baritone Peter Mattei. He brought incredible energy and personality to the role, not to mention a forceful, solid voice. Performing Figaro with a sly smirk and raised eyebrow, he was non-stop entertainment. My favorite bass, Sam Ramey, was Basilio and the comical, powerful John del Carlo was Dr. Bartolo. The big disappointment was the over-hyped Juan Diego Florez, as Count Almaviva. His voice--strained, pinched, and off-pitch, exactly as the New York Times review noted--was difficult to listen to. The audience gave him an overwhelming ovation for his optional aria at the end of the second act--but I didn't see what the fuss was about. I could have done without both the optional aria (which sounds much better as Non Piu Mesta in La Cenerentola) and Mr. Florez.

This new production was directed by Bartlett Sher and the set design was by Michael Yeargan (A Light in the Piazza). The set--with its fall colors, orange trees, and constantly moving doors was pleasant.

Picture from the NYT (click to enlarge):

Spending the weekend in New Haven visiting Mushfiq and taking in Yale...

This weekend -- I'm in Madison, Wisconsin for the Association for Public Policy and Management fall conference.

Monday and Tuesday: my first and second operas of the season--on Monday, Cav/Pag--Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Not my favorite operas, but these traditional performances (by Met standards--complete with horses and a cast of a hundred) were enjoyable, moving dramas nonetheless. Cavalleria Rusticana featured Maria Guleghina as Sanutzza; Pagliacci starred Salvatore Licitra as Canio and Patricia Racette as Nedda.

On Tuesday the new Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient") production of Madama Butterfly, one of the most visually stunning productions I've ever seen. Minghella's design was minimalist, with lighted swaths of pure color, a mirrored ceiling, and brilliant costumes. Traditional Japanese puppetry was used for the role of Butterfly's young son, and for Butterfly herself in a gorgeous dream sequence. The highlight for me was the love scene, with its backdrop of a rainfall of rose petals. The Butterfly, Cristina Gallardo-Domas, was dramatically powerful but was a bit screechy for my taste--I wondered at several points if she was having vocal problems. Marcello Giordani was the Pinkerton and the brilliant, consistent Dwayne Croft was Sharpless.

Some pictures from Opera News (click to enlarge):

I Am Legend photo from the Gothamist:

Another good I Am Legend vampire picture here

See a few pictures from the set of I Am Legend, being filmed right outside my door on Washington Square Park.

A few other pictures from the web can be found here, here, here, here, and here.

A terrific economics lesson on economic rent from Hal Varian: Why Old Media and Tom Cruise Should Worry About Cheaper Technology

Tonight: saw 76-year old jazz legend Jim Hall at the Village Vanguard.

From Slate: The economic case against charity

A very cool graphic (NYT 10/15)--current party affiliation by current age by political party in office when individual was in their 20s. Notice party affiliation tends to be correlated with party in office while in one's 20s (e.g. Eisenhower, Reagan, Truman, Johnson) with a couple of interesting exceptions (Nixon, Carter, George W).
(click to enlarge)

A few pictures from the Outer Banks

How not to apply for a job in investment banking: the Aleksey Vayner video and resume at Ivygateblog.com

Freakonomics Blog » Did Too Many Smart Women Opt Out of Teaching?

University of Texas Inequality Project (UTIP)

Disco Stu of Bombay? This guy is awesome.

Tuesday night: La Traviata in Central Park. Hei-Kyung Hong sang Violetta, and Wookyung Kim as Adolfo. A handful of pictures here and a short video here (I had to do it--when else can you film an opera performance?)

Sunday: Capoeira across the street in Washington Square Park (see a few pictures here and watch a short video clip here).

Caught a little of the Gregg August (bass) quintet at Fat Cat. This band really moved...

My block, early 1960s (click for larger view). Man with the car is getting a ticket:
Peddling Images of a Lost City - New York Times

Also in the New York Times this weekend another thought-provoking column by David Brooks on the importance of culture for action and behavior.

See Washington Monthly's college rankings, which are based upon colleges' (1) promotion of social mobility, (2) fostering of scientific and humanistic research, and (3) promotion of an ethic of service to country.

Economists' blogs - The invisible hand on the keyboard from the Economist (about economists who aren't using their blogs to post pictures of ducks).

Tommasini's review of The Ring at Bayreuth, and his recommendations for Ring recordings.

See pictures from Mom's visit to New York City, July 2006 (includes photos from the Russell Sage sailing cruise around New York Harbor), and scenes from Sebec Lake.

Tonight: saw the ASSSSCAT 10th anniversary show at Irving Plaza. Featured the Upright Citizens Brigade (Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts) along with Tina Fey, Horatio Sanz, Andy Richter, Kevin Dorff and Janine Garafalo. Brilliant!

A fantastic video: Where the Hell is Matt? and its companion website.

A downside to progressive taxation: increased revenue volatility (Those Wild Budget Swings - NYT)

Today's Paul Krugman is a good one: Left Behind Economics

See pictures of July 4th fireworks and a few from Sarna and Tony's stopover in New York (July 9-10).

Saw Gonzalo Rubalcaba at the Jazz Standard. With Matt Brewer on bass and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums.

A few photos from the RSF "Graduation" at the Water Club. I also captured brief video clips of two "roasts" (one of Gary Fine and another of Barbara Mellers).

Whilst moving... took in a few hours of the 2006 Gay Pride Parade which passed by my corner (8th Street at 5th Avenue). Saw just about everything: Queer Asians Against War, gay men on segways, the Flaggots (the gay and lesbian color guard), the NYC Police Department marching band, and even Hillary Clinton.

Read the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy report State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods 2006. Greenwich Village/Soho ranked #1 in NYC in median monthly rents. Median price per condo unit in 2004-05 was 1.3 million.

Saw Cat Power at the Town Hall. Bizarre yet entrancing. Read the NYT review here.

Saw "Altar Boyz" off-Broadway at the New World Stages. Great concept, but not recommended...

Field trip to Brooklyn. Spent the day at Coney Island and Brighton Beach (see pictures here), and ate chili dogs at the original Nathan's. We explored Brooklyn Heights, ate ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and walked the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. While on the Brooklyn side, 8 white limousines pulled up with 8 Japanese wedding parties, along with an entourage of photographers, cameramen and hangers-on, to take pictures near the bridge.

Today: 45 blocks o' fun. Walked 5th Avenue from 64th to 18th with many detours. Highlights along the way included the Salute to Israel parade, a long coffee in Bryant Park, the Philippine Independence Day street fair (Madison Avenue between 23rd and 47th), Maidson Square, the Flatiron Building, and Chelsea.

Tonight: Kosher Uzbek cuisine at Salute, on 108th Street in Forest Hills, Queens. (Found a photo of the menu and food here.

Everything was delicious, but I especially enjoyed the Cheburekes (some kind of fried pastry with meat and potato), Samsa (another fried pastry with minced lamb and sauteed onion), the pickled cabbage, the chicken kebob, the homemade hummus and Lagman (a beef noodle soup). Tried the sweetbread kabob (pancreas or neck of piglet or calf) but by that time I was too full to fully enjoy. For dessert we ate baklava and (some kind of almond sugar thing?).

See pictures from Dad and Kendas visit. Highlights included the new Apple Store on 5th Avenue, a visit to Washington Square Park, lunch at Vineria con Cucina (MacDougal at Bleecker), and the South Street Seaport. Rode a water taxi from the Seaport to East 34th street. On Sunday afternoon sat behind homeplate at the Yankees vs. Royals game. Yankees won, 5-4.

Henry James' Old Neighborhood (NYT) is my New Neighborhood.

5th Avenue at Washington Square North. "The square in 1903, looking south, with the marble arch and, in the background, the campanile of Judson Memorial Church" (NYT 5/28/06)

David Brooks' column on income inequality and human capital policies

May 18-23: Long Weekend in DC. Pictures.

Apartment pictures. Also found some gorgeous photos taken on my street and vicinity (see all 3 pages). Apparently the photographer found a moving truck interesting enough, but not my building, which is actually tucked behind the townhomes.

the Onion: New 'Anti-Abortion Pill' Kills Mother, Leaves Fetus Alive

NEW YORK—Pro-life advocates celebrated approval of the new anti-abortion drug UR-86 by the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday, calling it a "safe and effective method" for terminating pregnant women while leaving their unborn children unharmed.

Pfizer, manufacturer of UR-86—dubbed the "last-morning-ever pill"—said the drug is intended only for occasions when the mind-set or politics of the mother threaten the life of the fetus...

Pictures from a long city walk near the Queensboro Bridge, Sutton and Beekman Place, and the U.N. (plus some bonus David Blaine pictures from May 7). Click on the aerial photo above (not one of mine) for a macro view of the Queensboro bridge and neighborhoods I visited along the walk.

NYT Economic Scene: Right for the Wrong Reasons: Why Galbraith Never Got the Prize

David Brooks column: Marshmallows and Public Policy

Saw the Harvard Sailing Team at the upright citizens brigade theater... definitely the funniest sketch comedy I've seen in a long time (saturday night live writers should take a few classes from this group).

Graph of mortgage payments as a fraction of income (nyt). I like graphs.

NYT Economic Scene: Red States, Blue States: New Labels for Long-Running Differences (on the Glaeser and Ward paper)

From the Mets to the Met...7 1/2 hours of opera in two days

Wednesday: Lohengrin. Thursday: Rigoletto

Mets vs. Nationals at Shea Stadium, a Russell Sage event in a far left field skybox. Mets win, 2-1.

With Javier and Angie in town... enjoyed Sir Peter Hall's production of The Importance of Being Earnest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Lynn Redgrave starred as Lady Bricknell, and we particularly enjoyed Bianca Amato's portrayal of Gwendolen Fairfax and James Waterson's Jack Worthing. Late dinner in Little Italy.

Saw the premiere of the Matthew Buzzell documentary on Luna's last world tour, "Tell Me Do You Miss Me," at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Watch the Columbia Business School follies' video skit, "Every Breath Bernanke Takes." Hilarious. Well, for economists at least.

(alternate link here).

Morning seminar with Bob Solow ("Environmental Regulation and International Trade"), an evening with the Bill Frisell Quintet at the Village Vanguard, and drinks in between at the Cub Room, Soho.

What else could you possibly want out of a Wednesday?

Saw Olga Borodina in recital at Carnegie Hall with the Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov, accompanied by Dmitri Yefimov (piano).

The first half of the program consisted of Russian art songs (or, "romance") while the latter consisted of arias from some well- and lesser-known Russian operas.

Ms. Borodina's voice remains one of my favorites. Her voice was gigantic (she could have filled 3 Carnegie Halls) and pointed yet delicate and lushly musical. On the three dreamy art songs that opened the program (especially Borodin's "Sea Princess" and Cesar Cui's "I Touched the Bloom Lightly") her voice seemed to almost be one with the accompaniment. Mr. Abdrazakov on the other hand--very young at 29--seemed tentative and disconnected during the art songs, and his dynamics somewhat artificial. After the intermission, however, he seemed much more at home with the raucous opera arias, particularly "Song of the Varangian Trader" from Sadko. Ms. Borodina brought down the house with the "Air des Adieux" from The Maid of Orleans.

With Jeff and Katie in town...

Late Thursday afternon stroll in central park from 60th to 92nd, and vietnamese dinner that night at Vermicelli.

Spent Friday at Fort Tryon Park, the Cloisters and the lovely
Heather Garden. We visited Hamilton Heights in Harlem and saw the victorian used in The Royal Tenenbaums (144th and Convent Ave), as well as Columbia University. Dinner on Friday at Pam's Encore on West 47th (an extension of the kitchen at Pam's Real Thai on 49th), then off to Sarah Jones' one-woman play on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theater, Bridge and Tunnel. Spent the rest of the night in the West Village.

On Saturday, spent a rainy day shopping near Rockefeller Center after brunch at the Barking Dog. The rain postponed our plans to shop in Soho. Had a classic italian dinner at Joe's Pub, where we saw the phenomenal Bjorkestra, a 18-piece jazz orchestra interpretaion of Bjork's music. Nearly every soloist was impressive, but the Bjork-channeling vocalist Becca Stevens gave a stunning performance. Becca if you're reading this, will you marry me?

Late Saturday night at Rue B.

View some pictures from the weekend here.

Taking Inventory: Every Single Apartment for Sale on East 64th Street -- New York Magazine

Enjoyed a very thought-provoking guest lecture by Pamela Barnhouse Walters at Russell Sage: "Protecting Privilege: Race, Competitive Advantage, and the Politics of Separate and Unequal Schooling in the U.S." Hear her recent Sonneborn lecture here.

Dinner tonight at Maya.

See some interesting photos of NYU's Washington Square Village and Silver Towers here.

on Good Friday: saw a brilliant staging of the St. Matthew Passion at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (Harvey Theater). Directed by Sir Jonathan Miller and conducted by Paul Goodwin, the performers (2 small orchestras, 2 choruses and a number of soloists) were dressed in street clothing and performed in a circle on stage. During the duets between solo vocalists and instrumentalists (first an oboe, later a violin and flute), the orchestra soloists would rise from their seats and dramatically "act out" the duet with the singer.

I was 50/50 on the solo voices, but I particularly enjoyed the countertenor (Daniel Taylor), the Evangelist (Richard Clement) and Jesus (the bass Curtis Streetman).

Anthony Tommasini's glowing review can be read here.

Today--spent the afternoon in Central Park (mostly napping on a rock overlooking The Pond). In the evening made a field trip to Astoria Queens, and had pastries at the Omonia Cafe (Greek).

The Soviet statue of Lenin in the East Village (read more about it here).

Scenes from College Park, as told by the Washington Post...
"Police began marching down Route 1 beating their batons on their shields to drive the students off the street and onto campus, witnesses said. Police used a limited amount of what appeared to be a chemical spray, witnesses also said.

"This is my craziest riot," said a woman who identified herself as Shelley Avney. "Trying to knock over a bus, tearing down street signs, burning things -- it's crazy."

Shea Hoxie, 21, a senior majoring in government and politics and criminology, said: "I was disappointed we didn't flip over the bus. We rioted for the women's basketball team, which is out of character for us. We needed something to cheer for.""

The Secret of George Mason By Peter Boettke and Alexander Tabarrok (on the basketball team and economics department).

March 19-29: trips to Boulder, Denver and Kansas City.

Thomas Quasthoff (German baritone) in recital at Carnegie Hall. Quasthoff sang Die schöne Müllerin (the Maid of the Mill), a song cycle by Franz Schubert on poems by Wilhelm Müller. He was accompanied by Justus Zeyen.

Saw one of the best shows of my life in Stereolab at The Town Hall. Surreal. Read the New York Times review here.

A design for the new Washington Nationals stadium is released (take a virtual tour here). I think this stadium would blend in a little too much. Read a commentary on the design by Washington Post sports columnist Thomas Boswell here, or see the photo gallery here.

Enjoy that voice while you have it, kid. (A must-see video).

Saw Luisa Miller at the Met. This was a straight-ahead production designed by Elijah Moshinsky. Veronica Villarroel sang Luisa, Eduardo Villa sang the part of Rodolfo, James Morris was Count Walter and Carlos Alvarez played Miller (Luisa's father). Two of the leads were not the original cast; Veronica Villarroel took over the role a few months ago, and Villa was filling in for a sick Neil Shicoff.

The singing improved as the night went on...Act I was simply dreadful, with Villa seemingly forgetting lines and sounding less than confident, singing at a barely audible level. The prompter (Joan Dornemann) took over in Act II--she was easily heard from the back of the orchestra section.

See the New York Times review here.

Must read: Paul Krugman's column about John McCain's increasingly conservative record in the Senate.

More details from my colleague Howard Rosenthal (co-creator of Voteview): "Krugman cited www.voteview.com to the point that McCain was the third most conservative member of the 109th Senate. Here are some details omitted in the column. In the 108th Senate, McCain was fourth; in the 107th an almost liberal 46th, in between Susan Collins and Gordon Smith. Those rankings were based on Poole’s optimal classification method.

In the Poole and Rosenthal D-W NOMINATE scalings, McCain starts off in the 100th Senate at a conservative 0.403, in between Pete Wilson and Strom Thurmond. He ends at the 108th at a less conservative 0.249, in between John Warner and Dick Lugar. He has one of the largest linear trend terms for contemporary senators.

What is striking about McCain is his inconsistency. He went from conservative to moderate and back to very conservative. Most senators have no presidential ambitions and have temporally stable ideological positions. McCain does have ambitions; in his moderate period he was mentioned as a possible Democratic nominee. (See the 2002 New Republic piece)."

With Dad in town... dinner at Patsy's (Thursday) and an evening with the Wallace Roney Quintet at the Village Vanguard. Friday lunch at the Foundation; spent the afternoon at the Neue Galerie, Museum for German and Austrian Art, at 86th and 5th Avenue. The gallery primarily featured works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, on the 2nd floor (Austrian fine arts) and a special exhibition of Paul Klee, "Klee and America" on the 3rd (German fine arts). On Friday evening, saw The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Circle in the Square theater (50th btw Broadway and 8th Avenue).

A casual Saturday, with breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien and a long walk through the Village and Soho. I was lucky enough to run into an NYU colleague and get a preview of NYU's Washington Square Village apartments...

Bowling does not get any cooler than this. Dinner beforehand at Republic, Union Square.

Opera Orchestra of New York concert performance of Delibes' Lakmé, at Carnegie Hall (with the New York Choral Society). Eglise Gutiérrez, a Cuban-American soprano, sang the role of Lakmé--her voice was breathtaking and lushly musical, even if it seemed to disappear in the lower (earthbound) register. Other standout voices included James Morris (bass-baritone) as Nilakantha, Daniel Mobbs (baritone) as Frédéric and Wanda Brister (mezzo) as Mistress Bentson. The tenor (Gerald), Yeghishe Manucharyan, had a lovely voice that unfortunately did not always find its way to the balcony, and was frequently overpowered by the orchestra (conducted by Eve Queler).

The shining moments, of course, were the flower duet in Act I (coming to a commercial near you) and Act II's Bell Song (and its surrounding drama).

Took a four hour walk through the East Village, Soho, and the Lower East Side... W4, Thompson Street, Prince Street, Broadway, Broome, Mott (stopped for rice pudding--pumpkin rice pudding, that is, with a graham cracker topping--at Rice to Riches), Spring, Bowery, Delancey (to the Williamsburg Bridge), Attorney, Rivington, Clinton, Ave B, East 4th, 2nd Ave, and Houston.

Snapped a few pictures including the two that make up my new blog banner. "Sean" comes from the store of the same name on Thompson Street; "Corcoran" comes from the Corcoran real estate office on Broadway.

Later that night dinner at Cafe Spice on University Place.

Went to the Saint Johns - Seton Hall game at Madison Square Garden. It was a race to the bottom in the first half, but eventually the Red Storm emerged "victoriant" 58-47. St. Johns went into the game with an RPI of 130, while Seton Hall has an RPI of 44 and is 9th in the Big East.

Tonight: dinner at perhaps the best Thai restaurant in New York, Sripraphai in Woodside, Queens. At risk of forgetting something (I wrote most of it down), we had papaya salad with catfish, the tom-yum pork leg with mushrooms in hot and sour soup, a green curry with softshell crab, jungle curry with beef, roasted duck in hot and spicy sauce, and pumpkin custard for dessert. Everything was delicious...

Afterwards, stopped in the nearby Uruguayan/Paraguyan bakery.

See Gary Fine's review (entry #72) of our dining experience.

Today: the annual Russell Sage Foundation trustees luncheon. Had Osso Bucco (Braised Veal Shanks). Yum.

Relive the Rob Corddry report (as VP Firearms Mishap Analyst) on the Cheney shooting

The Metropolitan Opera announces its 2006-07 season

Landsberg article on Slate that argues against keeping the poor on life support because--given the choice earlier in life--a poor person would choose to spend $75 on, say, bread, rather than $75 on ventilator insurance.

And, the reply by Robert Frank in the New York Times.

I'm amazed I hadn't heard of this case before. Under a law signed by Bush as governor of Texas, the plug was pulled on this woman, who actually (as opposed to Terri Schiavo) expressed a desire to remain alive so that she could see her mother before she died. The "sanctity of life?".

Kozol on segregation in New York City Schools, from The Black Commentator--"Segregated Schools: Shame of The City"

Saw Aida at the Met. This was a revival of the Sonja Frisell production, and featured Olga Borodina as Amneris, Andrea Gruber as Aida, and Johan Botha as Radames. Kwangchul Youn's booming bass-baritone voice was also a standout, in the role of Ramfis.

This production makes wonderful use of the Met's elevated stage--at one point the entire set (from stage to top curtain) descends into the stage; a row of Egyptian soldiers standing atop the set rides the entire way down. At the end of the (Act IV) tomb scene, Radames and Aida are enclosed in a tomb below the temple (where Amneris and her slaves stand) that slowly descends into the ground/stage. The highlight, of course, was the triumphant march.

A few scenes from the Blizzard of 2006. Above: Reflections of Snow Foundation.

On the eve of the blizzard... sushi at Ginger in the East Village; drinks and jazz at Rue B.

Attended the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy seminar presentation of Wilbert van der Klaauw (Economics, UNC Chapel Hill), "Breaking the Link Between Poverty and Low Student Achievement: An Evaluation of Title I."

Afterwards, dinner at Butter, 415 Lafayette Street, on the edge of the East Village.

Are you racist? Anti-fat? Anti-Muslim? Try the Implicit Association Tests at Harvard and find out. See the Slate article on this subject here.

Visited bars on the Lower East Side and the East Village: Verlaine (110 Rivington) and Angel's Share (8 Stuyvesant St at 9th St. and Third Ave). Both highly recommended...

Tonight was the 2nd RSF outing of the year: dinner at Compass (70th near Amsterdam Avenue), and Cosi fan tutte at the Metropolitan Opera. This was a standard repertory production designed by Michael Yeargan. James Levine conducted.

Paul Groves appeared as Ferrando and Jeff Mattsey as Guglielmo (filling in for Mariusz Kwiecien); Alexandra Deshorties was Fiordiligi, Magdalena Kozena was Dorabella, and Nuccia Focile played an adorable, mischievious Despina.

Had a spectacular backstage tour of the Metropolitan Opera. Along the way, saw sets for Cosi fan Tutte (which had been rehearsed that afternooon and was being taken down), Rigoletto (being pulled from storage for an upcoming performance), and Die Zauberflote (being set up on stage for a performance that night--see here for the NYT review of this production).

We toured the massive paint and carpentry departments, visited the wig and costume shops (where hundreds, if not thousands, of costumes are stored with the names of their one-time wearers stiched inside each; the wig department had dozens of boxes of wigs each casually tagged "Miss Borodina," "Mr. Heppner," "Miss Netrebko," etc.) We visited the principals' dressing rooms, and the rehearsal rooms for the opera orchestra, ballet, and children's chorus (at least 3 rehearsal rooms were devoted to large opera rehearsals, in addition to the likely dozens of individual practice rooms). Before ending our tour in the house, we spent 15-20 minutes on stage watching the stagehands construct The Magic Flute. Overall, this was nearly a 1 1/2 hour tour (a tour anyone can take, with advance reservations).

By far the highlight of the tour was looking/listening in on a music rehearsal of Rigoletto, where Placido Domingo was conducting Rolando Villazon in a breathtaking aria ("Ella mi fu rapita"). (We also looked in on a separate rehearsal of Cyrano de Bergerac, but did not recognize the singers).

This was an afternoon never to be forgotten...

Bush on Alito, from his speech at Kansas State University:

"And Sam has been one of the picks I made for the Supreme Court, Sam Alito. He's a very, very smart, capable man. When you talk to Sam Alito, you think, smart judge. He's written a lot of opinions."

Also: Bush gets questioned about "Brokeback Mountain"

today's cartoon from Slate...

Midnight show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater: "Cracked Out" comes face-to-face with Crack-a-gedden. As good as it sounds!

Saw the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players performance of HMS Pinafore at the New York City Center (55th Street). Very entertaining...not too many standout voices except, perhaps, one of Sir Joseph Porter's (uncredited) sisters cousins and aunts, in particular.

Pre-theater dinner in the neighborhood at Mon Petit Cafe.

Jan 5-9: Attending the American Economic Association annual meeting in Boston.

Dining Highlights from Boston: ate at Casa Romero on Friday the 6th with friends and Maryland faculty. On Saturday night, went to Piattini Wine Bar on Newbury Street (Italian, tapas-style dishes). Both restaurants were in the Back Bay and were delicious.

Dinner at Ruby Foo's Times Square. Yum...