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Sort of went to the Opera

July 4th weekend.  Time to unwind and enjoy the summer.  We did a trip to the city to soak the Vitamin D - a trip to Ocean beach to start (westernmost point of the city of San Francisco) followed by a visit to the Legion of Honor (an art museum occupying the estate of a former sugar baron).
MUNI - a tram car to Ocean Beach

Time for another sweep - sand often chokes up this roadway next to the beach

Dunes at Ocean Beach

Art museum also featured a special exhibit of the dead.  Specifically Egyptian mummies open to all parents and their children.

Holocaust Memorial at the Legion of Honor

Rodin's Thinker


1,000 year old Egyptian priest or what's left of him and his coffin

Skinner Organ - amazing sound fills the museum rotunda at 4 pm when the organist uses his organs to tweak sound from this organ

Then culminated with a visit to a live broadcast at a baseball stadium of the 'Opera Carmen' which was being played at a nearby theater.

Opera for those that are uninitiated are a series of high pitch screaming events with some melodramatic and exaggerated movements that tell a story from yesteryear.  These screams or arias are coupled with people mostly wandering back and forth in costume without much by way of stage action.

This was a story of a femme fatale set in late 19th century in France acted on stage for its current showing in San Francisco.  A tale of lust, murder and some other deadly sins it is sung in French but the video broadcast had the advantage of English translations.

Nonetheless the story told through these arias moves glacially slow with those that appreciate costume, stiff upper lip audiences that are dressed up (if you are at the actual venue) and expensive parking.
Jumbotron at the Park

We lucked out to at least experience this event without doing either.  The crowd at the ballpark was raucous, in shorts and casual wear, mostly aged, drunk, but shivering given the cool SF evening air.  The event was free and since we took public transit we did not have to worry about the parking mess.

Long and tiring and not inclined to see any more operas we headed to a favorite fast food joint for much needed rations.
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