"The Marbles"

An opera in two acts and two songs

Book and libretto by Samuel Ross Gilbert

(1) A naked and pale male figure appears at center
stage with the rising sun. As he sings we learn that
he is Dionysus, the pedimental figure from the east
side of the Parthenon. His aria is a paean to a savior
whose imminent coming will liberate him from his 2,200
year imprisonment.

(2) Morning on the Acropolis. A British couple, an
Italian painter, a hunchback, a team of Greek workers.
Huge carved blocks are being wrestled from the
Parthenon frieze. The couple, we learn, are the Earl
of Elgin, ambassador to Constantinople, and his
frivolous wife Mary. While Elgin sings of his plans to
improve British taste through these fifth-century-BC
masterpieces, Mary talks of her health, how sick she
was on the crossing, etc.

(3) Evening in London. Elgin, his health devastated,
is divorcing his faithless wife. He has ruined himself
with the taste-improvement enterprise. His nose has
come off, erased by some Turkish bug. He visits the
temporary hall where his loot is housed, and despite
the praise of ghastly figures--Canova, Visconti,
Hayson, West, Fuseli--he can only hear the lasting
curses of Byron, champion of the modern Greek.

(4) Dionysus reappears, sings a plaintive ode to the
Thames and hints of another savior to come.

Seagulls, Woodpeckers, and a Fox

Yesterday morning I saw a red fox in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Two years ago I'd seen one in Strybing Arboretum. There are all sorts of plants and animals in the park. For example, I saw an orange fish that looked something like a goldfish and must have been over two feet long in Mallard Lake, which lies close to the south edge of the park at Twenty-Eighth Avenue. And in addition to the many Red-eared Sliders in Spreckels Lake, I saw another turtle that looked like a Spiny Softshell (http://tinyurl.com/psuxh). I sat by that lake for an hour, inspecting the seagulls floating on the water and referring frequently to "The Sibley Guide to Birds." Gulls are not easly identified and I've too often postponed the tedious work involved in learning to distinguish a Western Gull from a Herring Gull. Having stared and stared, I am now confident that more staring is needed. Eared Grebes paddled by, Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows skimmed the water. I sauntered through the woods west of the lake, circled Middle Lake, and walked home.

Once home, I learned the following: David Sibley, author of the guide I'd used to study the Western Gulls on Spreckels Lake, has the audacity to dispute the identification of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by the Cornell team. The audacity! Worse still, Kenn Kaufman concurs. It's so damned easy to be a sceptic, isn't it. I choose to believe. Faith is a personal thing.

More answers

• What time did you get up this morning?

7:15 PST. Birds atwitter; starlings in the rosemary. Moved the car. Noted absence of newspaper on front porch. Ate nuts and dried fruit.

• Diamonds or pearls?

Diamonds in my teeth, pearls round my neck.

• What was the last film you saw at the cinema?

"Dave Chapelle's Block Party" Four stars

• What is your favorite TV show?

No TV for me. I have enjoyed "I, Claudius," "Family Feud," and "Bigtime Wrestling."

• What did you have for breakfast?

Chorizo, ham, and a cheese omelette.

• What is your middle name?

Ross Applesauce

• What is your favorite cuisine?

Salad

• What food do you dislike?

Innards, Brussels sprouts, 臭豆腐, Coca Cola, 7 Up, scotch, bottled salad dressing, foie gras

• What is your favorite potato chip?

Kettle brand rippled with salt and pepper in the big bag

• What is your favorite CD at the moment?

Manze & Egarr playing Mozart sonatas; Sinead singing reggae; Salif Keita's "Moffou"

• What kind of car do you drive?

Red Honda Civic

• Favorite sandwich?

BLAT or Reuben

• What characteristics do you despise?

Lack of critical thinking

• What are your favorite clothes?

My Bottes Sauvages, my fox hat, my Tibetan coat, my Glen plaid Peter Tilton suit, my 826 Valencia t-shirt, my OP shorts w/ many velcro closures, socks my mom knitted for me

• If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you
go?

1988 Ubud

• What color is your bathroom?

Off-white and gold chrome

• Favorite brand of clothing?

None

• Where would you want to retire to?

A city inhabited by beloved friends and family

• Favorite time of day?

Sunset

• Where were you born?

Children's Hospital in San Francisco

• Favorite sport to watch?

Tennis

• Coke or Pepsi?

No

• Are you a morning person or night owl?

Not really

• Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone?

My opera proceeds apace.

• What did you want to be when you were little?

A private dick.

• What is a favorite childhood memory?

Roof jumping with Teddy and Michael

• What are the different jobs you have had in your life?

Volunteer aquarist at Steinhart, clerical librarian at Regenstein, espressist at Espresso Yourself, counter guy at Mr. Soup, pasta maker and driver at Auntie Pasta, English teacher, journalist, driver for Super Shuttle, photocopy guy at IBM, research assistant, teaching assistant, editor, writer

• Nicknames?

Mule, Shazam, Shasm, Applesauce, Ginger Lemon Creme

• Any piercings?

No

• Eye color?

Brown

• Ever been to Africa?

No but possibly to the Cape later this year

• Ever been toilet papering?

No

• Been in a car accident?

Once while Mom was driving, twice while I was driving, once while Dave Crane was driving

• Favorite day of the week?

No

• Favorite restaurant?

Pasta Linea

• Favorite flower?

Dutchman's pipe, Eschscholzia californica, peonies, Calypso bulbosa

• Favorite ice cream?

Maggie Mudd asphalt

• Favorite fast food restaurant?

A potsticker place in Yonghe halfway between Jennifer's rooftop apartment and my unfurnished suite

• Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?

Caves Augé

• Bedtime?

Highly variable. Generally before midnight.

• Last person(s) you went to dinner with?

Won Sun and Steffen

• What are you listening to right now?

Sweet silence

• What is your favorite color?

Paisley

• How many tattoos do you have?

None

• Who sent the e-mail message you got before this one?

Colby

Losers

In Elgin's case, his nose. In Nelson's, his eye, his teeth, his arm.

Where would we be?

My friends and I lean very heavily on certain words and turns of phrase. We all use the word "actually" far too much. Second place goes to "essentially," the hot new adverb that Levon and MiJin use as frequently as they draw breath. When I was young it was "obviously," a word many of my friends and all my family members would have paid to have amputated from my glossary. We begin questions with "so" and we try to summon conversational inspiration with the ritual words "but" and "um." Some need five false starts to get through a sentence. Others would be speechless if deprived of certain formulations. I loathe "Be well." It's even worse than "Take care," which I first heard from Don Lindgren (of New York State) in 1981, long before it became current in California. To the next bozo who orders me to "be well" I'm going to reply, "Be swell." Meaning swollen like Augustus Gloop.

Dessert of terrorists

Detainee ate one Hostess Cupcake with interrogation team.

Passing fancy

I'm thinking of becoming a mushroom. Or a toadstool.

San Francisco Ballet-Robbins Program

Dreaming, a young dancer on the sunny floor of a dance salle. He contracts, stretches, rises—the flute has summoned him. While he dances, hips forward, another dancer enters the practice room. She is young, flirtatious, utterly narcissistic. Whenever he catches her aloft she tosses her long black hair and stares into the mirror that lies somewhere between her and us.

Yuan Yuan Tan (譚元元) dances the role of the nymph in San Francisco Ballet's first staging of Jerome Robbins's "Afternoon of a Faun." Who cares who dances the faun's part?

Diet of terrorists

Detainee is offered a fish sandwich, French fries, coke and a yogurt parfait.

(see http://tinyurl.com/q8jl6)