Sunday, February 11, 2007

on Sting


One of the times I didn't get to see Sting.

I could go for a Police reunion tour, but you know that for me it would be all about Sting.

Yes, I caught the Police opening the Grammys tonight. I didn't know what I would think. And then Sting started to sing and it was good. I didn't care much who was playing the other instruments, it was all about Sting.

You see, once upon a time, a long time ago, when I was 14 or so, my cousin came to visit, and she had a copy of Dream of the Blue Turtles. We hung out and I had a listen, and late that night, long after she had gone to bed, I was still listening. The lyrics were profound: they spoke to my greatest fears, appealed to my growing sense of social justice, and enchanted me with their poetry and with descriptions of places I hadn't yet imagined. The music and the voice were rough and smooth and played tricks I wasn't expecting. I greeted Sting's pursuant albums with the same mix of awe and adoration. Hours have been spent just listening. Tears have fallen. Ultimate Sting mix tapes have been made. I spent years waiting for the chance to see Sting on tour - but whenever he came near I was elsewhere. When I finally got to see Sting perform live, my heart just about burst. I could not stop the tears that welled over the whole time he was on stage. OK, so I mist up easily, but that was extreme.

Hearing him sing the earlier Police stuff is fantastic. (Hearing him sing the ABC song would be fantastic.) Do I care about the Police reuniting? Only as a vehicle for another tour with Sting, another chance to have all of that live emotion and greatness blow me off my feet again.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

It's an architecture kind of day

I'm vibing with buildings. Found a couple of cool things. I was reading about the current soccer moratorium in Italy (national crisis!) and the article referred to "Palazzo Chigi" as an entity - Ha! *Click* went my brain and off I went to find a picture of seat of Italian government. Here is Wikipedia's version:



I also came across an article on Time.com referring to the top 150 examples of American architecture as picked by the American public. The list is here. Hmmm. The Empire State Building is definitely not my favorite (for old skyscrapers, the Chrystler building is cooler), and the White House is not nearly as cool as the Capitol. But what a fun list to go over and look at. I haven't decided yet which is my favorite. I'll let you know when I do.