Category Archives: Events

Events

Want to see Ligia and I on TV?

A few months ago, both Ligia and I got taped for a new show on HGTV called “I Want That! Tech Toys“, the kid brother, so to speak, of “I Want That!”, which is a wildly popular show. By the look of it, this new show is going to make it big as well.

At any rate, Ligia got invited to demo a portable keyboard called the Yamano Hand-Roll Piano (a bit of a misnomer, since it’s not a piano, it’s a keyboard). At any rate, what makes it an interesting product is that it’s truly portable: it rolls up into a tight little package, which you can carry virtually anywhere. It’s also powered by batteries. The keys are made of rubber with touch sensors underneath, so if you spill something on it, you don’t have to worry. It’s even got a MIDI-out port, in case you’re interested in that sort of a thing. The only thing that’s missing is the tactile feel of a real keyboard, which, I have to say, is a fairly important thing for the more serious piano or keyboard players. But this keyboard is great for beginners. So… to make a long story short, Ligia and one of her students, Peter, got taped for the show, and the episode just aired on HGTV. I uploaded the particular segment of the show where Ligia is featured to YouTube, and you can view it below.

What about me? Well, I got invited to demo a cool product called the Nabaztag Smart Bunny for the show a month after Ligia got taped. I demoed it, and also wrote a nice lengthy review here at ComeAcross for your enjoyment. The show in which I appeared aired after Ligia, and it’s still on the air, as a matter of fact. The segment where I talk about the bunny is also uploaded to YouTube, and you can view it below.

Hope you enjoy them! I know we enjoyed getting taped, it was a fun little experience, and we are grateful for the opportunity! You wouldn’t believe it, but just to get that 1:25 minutes of live TV, it took over three hours for each of us. It’s the setups for the different shots and the re-takes that take so long. You’ve got to make sure the lighting’s just right, that the angles are correct, that stray objects aren’t in the shot, so on and so forth. Hey, and did you know that one of those Beta video cameras they use to film you for TV costs over $60,000? Better not drop them!

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Events

The World Bank’s First Opera Gala

Ligia and I attended the World Bank’s first Opera Gala today. The singers who participated in the program were an eclectic mix: previous and existing bank employees, students enrolled in opera programs at local universities, and professionals. The Gala Program and the Artist Bios can be accessed by clicking on each of their respective links.

The music selections were best hits (well known arias from well known operas). Since most in the audience were already familiar with the music, this gave us all a chance to see how each singer interpreted it. In other words, we were able to compare their performances with the standards we’ve come to expect. Overall, Ligia and I found the program good, with several standout performances.

By far, my favorite performance was that of Helen Toni, when she sang “Vedrai, carino” from Don Giovanni. She’s a retired Bank employee, and was a member of the WB-IMF Chorus for 20 years. She sang that aria just right. Her voice was soft and sweet, not loud, and right on the notes. Ligia and I were both smiling through her performance. It was very, very good.

Another standout performance was given by Cara and Patricia Rogers (daughter and mother, respectively) in “Sull’ aria”, from Le Nozze di Figaro. It was evident they did their homework by practicing it properly. The timing was right on, the voices matched – it was a joy to hear it! Cara then gave another great performance in “Quando men vo”, from La Boheme.

Kimiko Shimada has a great voice and showed its range in “Ebben?… Ne andro lontana” from La Wally. Her powerful voice has a pronounced tremolo.

Last but not least, Yoshinori Hosaka played exquisitely on those pieces where he accompanied the singers. Clearly he is a very good and dedicated piano player. He did not seek the public’s attention, but fulfilled his role as an accompanist perfectly by allowing the singers to shine.

In the end, we were happy to attend. Even though the auditorium where the gala took place wasn’t built for opera, and the voices couldn’t travel properly, it was still a promising start to what I hope will be a regular, annual event at the World Bank. Perhaps a new hall could be found for next year?

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Events

I-95 is to be closed for days in Florida

A wildfire which has been burning since April 21 has now managed to close down I-95 for several days down in Florida, in the Daytona Beach area, from Port Orange to Edgewater. According to the FL Division of Forestry, 84 fires were still burning throughout the state on more than 36,800 acres. The fires are to be blamed for several deaths and multiple car accidents as well.

I lived in South Florida from many years. Could it be that the effects of over-development are starting to make themselves felt? The draining and covering up of large portions of the Everglades has been blamed for recent droughts, and as we know, droughts are at the root of wildfires.

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Events

Yesterday in 2003, iTunes Music Store passed 1 million download mark

Chris Seibold of Apple Matters has a great series of posts going on at his site — to which one can subscribe — called “This Day in Apple History”. For May 5, he had a post about the iTunes Music Store, which on 5/5/03, less than one week after its launch, announced it had passed the 1 million download mark for songs. I hadn’t known about this, and the information shocked me. If something bespeaks of popularity through sheer numbers, THAT does. I say this because when it launched, the Music Store was only for Apple computers, and its collection was approximately 200,000 songs – a mere fraction of today’s collection.

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Events

Apple Introduces 17-inch MacBook Pro

Hot diggety! Today Apple unveiled its 17-inch MacBook Pro, and boy, is it a beauty! Check it out!

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