Tag: 30×30

30x30, Personal Project

30 x 30: #24 – See the Boston Symphony Orchestra again

Geoff W

2014 11-28 BSO Program & PostcardsI’m chipping away, slowly but surely, but really I think this week I’m carving vast swaths into my list! I’ve already visited and gambled at a casino AND visited the rest of the MFA. I’ll hopefully have another post Sunday from a Saturday morning activity and then I’ll have a wrap-up to my NaNoWriMo experience.

For the second item this week I went to see the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) with my friend Patrick, who you’ll hear more from on the next episode of Come Read with Me! I’m not sure why I’ve not gone since the last time I went but shame on me! I got tickets a few weeks ago to see Bartók, Haydn and Mussorgsky featuring Leonidas Kavakos, conductor and violin. It was last-minute and the only performance left before BSO switches over to the Holiday Pops series and I’m beyond priced out of range.

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30x30, Books, Quotes

Book 317: The Two Towers (LOTR #2) – J.R.R. Tolkien

Geoff W

Tolkien, J.R.R. LOTR2 - The Two TowersI’m still reeling at how fast I read The Two Towers and yet excited that it was so much better than I remembered. I hope I haven’t misspoken over the past 10 years and that the next book was the boring one. If I did, I have a long trek before me. Having read The Fellowship of the Ring and now this, I’m 2/3 of the way through another 30×30 list item!

Even though I still find Tolkien’s descriptions incredibly heavy and often times dampening, this time I felt as I read the descriptions increased and bogged you down the further I read. I guess Tolkien is an even greater writer than I ever gave him credit for. (Shocking I know right?) The only time I found it hard to continue reading was as Frodo and Sam began their journey as I was so daunted by my memories of reading the book that before I knew it I was over 300 pages into the book and then I’d finished.

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30x30, Personal Project

30 x 30: #19 – Finish visiting the entire MFA with Caroline

Geoff W

2014 11-23 MFA - MapI’m calling this one. And with that I’m down to eight remaining on my 30×30 list. I told you I’d be moving through quite a few this week! After almost four hours at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Caroline and I were exhausted. I’m pretty sure we’ve seen 99% of it and what we haven’t seen I’m sure we will. Below is just a taste of what we saw today and if you’ve followed this blog for a while you know I’ve been to the MFA many times. You can see some of my related posts by clicking here or on the Museum of Fine Arts tab at the bottom of this post or by using the search bar!

We’ve been quite a few times together, but the last time we went we saw specific exhibits and I knew that there were still large portions of the museum I hadn’t visited and figured I might as well drag her along with me 🙂 Our main goals today were the Art of the Ancient World and Art of Asia, Oceana and Africa wings of the museum, as we’d previously viewed the Art of the Americas, the Contemporary Art and most of the European wings.

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30x30, Personal Project

30 x 30: #27 Visit and gamble at a casino

Geoff W

2014 11-22 Mohegan Sun - So Many PeopleAfter visiting and gambling at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut yesterday I am down to nine items left! And over this next week I will cross most (definitely five) if not all of them off my list.

I added visiting and gambling at a casino as I’ve never been to one. I’ve seen the outside of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in NC, but never been inside and thus, yesterday. I drove down (about two hours in traffic) and spent about two hours there and then turned around and drove back (with a side-trip to Ikea). and honestly, I was underwhelmed after I got over the sheer size of it. The architecture and decor were actually really cool, but the amount of smoke in most of the areas made it difficult to really enjoy it.

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30x30, Books, Quotes

Book 315: The Fellowship of the Ring (LOTR #1) – J.R.R. Tolkien

Geoff W

Tolkien, J.R.R. - LOTR1 - The Fellowship of the RingI can’t believe I let ten years go by before re-reading this. I first read these in high school just before the films were released and I don’t think I truly appreciated how great they were then and still probably don’t. I’ve already re-read The Hobbit twice since then and I’m re-reading these as part of my 30×30 list and am incredibly happy I added it to the list, it might go on my 40×40 too!

As much as I love the films, this re-read reminded me just how much was left out and how much was shifted around for dramatic effects in the films. Things that happened in this first book. i.e. the forging of Andúril, didn’t happen until the third film and it’s like WHOA. I was also sad that Tom Bombadil didn’t make it into the movies, even the extended edition, because he’s such a great character and establishes the youth of the ancient elves which is something you don’t really think about. However, I completely understand why Jackson made many of the decisions he did and mostly I’m glad they made these before it became popular to split the final movie of a book trilogy into two films!

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