Pirates of the Caribbean

Part four of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, or rather the first part of the second trilogy, is called On Stranger Tides.  Strange they were.  Will and I went to see it last evening (in 3D) at the IMAX theater at Boston Common.  I thought it was pretty good.  Not great -- you don't expect Pirates movies to be great -- but decent and a welcome change from the dreadful third episode.  It has a new director, Rob Marshall, and unceremoniously dumps Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley.  But overall, the quality of acting has improved dramatically with the reigning British Bad Guy: Ian McShane.  Penélope Cruz really was good too although in her case, it's more the mascara than acting skills that prevail.  Much as I love Geoffrey Rush for his excellent acting skills, he is definitely not suited to play the one-legged pirate.  I enjoyed the mermaids, with their wondrous tails and powerful swimming strokes, although of course the movie was careful not to show any other parts of their anatomy!

The plot was definitely ridiculous but it at least held the story together.  Normally I avoid reading the Boston Globe reviews before a movie.  Their reviews are always completely hopeless in my opinion.  Nevertheless, Ty Burr pretty much nailed it this time (I read it after seeing it).  My only complaint is that he only mentioned Ian McShane in passing -- he deserved much more credit.

Spring, Graduations, Concerts, Travels, etc.

So much stuff to catch up on - what an incredibly busy time of year this is!

Kim's lilacs in full bloom

This evening was the first of our Symphony Pro Musica concerts "Spanish Serenade".  And since I wrote that, not only have we had the second concert, but the review of the second concert and the remainder of a week.  One of composers ("The Happy Slaves" overture) was the then 13-yr-old Arriaga from Bilbao, who died when he was still only 19.  I found an excellent book  on the web, which helped me to understand why the eponymous slaves of his opera were happy.  Unfortunately, the book online doesn't allow us to see some critical pages.  All in all, it was a fantastic concert and I personally had a great write-up in the review.

A branch of our dogwood

Now, we are getting ready for Miranda's graduation party and then graduation itself.  We are looking forward to a fine weekend (but I don't think we're going to get it).  The mosquitoes are out in force these days but that's only to be expected.  But what I think has really been different this years is that everything has happened at once.  Magnolias, redbuds, dogwoods, lilacs, apples, cherries, everything out at pretty much the same time.  The toll on us hay-fever sufferers has been heavy.

Redbuds outside the office in Waltham

Meanwhile, we've been doing some hiking, including a hike up Mts. Percival and Morgan just new Squam lake in New Hampshire.  The views were breathtaking.

Did I mention that Jimmy got adopted?  He seems very happy -- we've heard quite a bit from his family.

More on other vernal observations, including my trip to England at a later time.