Monday, April 17, 2006
COLUMBUS, OH – Having been charged with a number of activities that actually require me to understand how we operate our business, I’ve been sent to one of our call centers in Columbus, after which I’ll be sent to Charleston to review a report I have yet complete. It’s all quite fun.
It’s amazing what the difference in service is here. They actually appreciate your business at restaurants, fill your glass, and take some time to explain the menu (instead of just expecting you to know the cuisine or chef), etc., etc., etc. And I have to say it is a nice change of pace. New York can be somewhat hardcore.
I’m traveling with my new direct report, Rachel. I thought it would be a nightmare to spend a week with a co-worker. . . if you recall last spring I spent over a week in Connecticut with one of the most disgusting people (who, mind you, wanted to hang out with me all the time.) . . . but she’s actually been, well, almost pleasant. Though there’s a week left of which anything can happen.
Enough about work. . .
Neena was in form Chicago and I decided to introduce a little celebrity into my life by seeing Three Days of Rain starring Julia Roberts. Great actresses, it is said, have a presence. They drift on the stage and command the attention of the audience. The first stars of the big (silent) screen, ironically, were the opera Divas that Hollywood turned to for its first casts.
Nowadays, it’s the other way around. Better known, Hollywood stars are sought out by theaters for its casts, primarily for box office reasons (which there is nothing wrong with, I might add). What the theater-going public has found is that many great screen actors do not make great theater actors and vice-versa: this was certainly the case with Ms. Roberts. Little more than a tall, thin, and good-looking woman, she commanded little attention and provided little insight into her characters. She was, simply, bad. To be fair, the show is still in previews and things could be pulled together by the time things open next week.
But all was not lost: Uptown, there was a action going on.
I had tickets to the Opera to see an all-star case of Le Nozze de Figaro. So after a day of enjoying the warm weather in Central Park, Saturday night we put on our best duds and went out to the Met.
Though the opera took us well into early Sunday morning, we enjoyed every moment of it. This opera is one of the greatest works of art. . . funny, yet profound – and music that just sucks you into the plot like none other. It was also nice going with Judy, who soaked it in with sincere interest.
If the arts just focused on talent, rather then celebrity, the world would be better served.
It’s amazing what the difference in service is here. They actually appreciate your business at restaurants, fill your glass, and take some time to explain the menu (instead of just expecting you to know the cuisine or chef), etc., etc., etc. And I have to say it is a nice change of pace. New York can be somewhat hardcore.
I’m traveling with my new direct report, Rachel. I thought it would be a nightmare to spend a week with a co-worker. . . if you recall last spring I spent over a week in Connecticut with one of the most disgusting people (who, mind you, wanted to hang out with me all the time.) . . . but she’s actually been, well, almost pleasant. Though there’s a week left of which anything can happen.
Enough about work. . .
Neena was in form Chicago and I decided to introduce a little celebrity into my life by seeing Three Days of Rain starring Julia Roberts. Great actresses, it is said, have a presence. They drift on the stage and command the attention of the audience. The first stars of the big (silent) screen, ironically, were the opera Divas that Hollywood turned to for its first casts.
Nowadays, it’s the other way around. Better known, Hollywood stars are sought out by theaters for its casts, primarily for box office reasons (which there is nothing wrong with, I might add). What the theater-going public has found is that many great screen actors do not make great theater actors and vice-versa: this was certainly the case with Ms. Roberts. Little more than a tall, thin, and good-looking woman, she commanded little attention and provided little insight into her characters. She was, simply, bad. To be fair, the show is still in previews and things could be pulled together by the time things open next week.
But all was not lost: Uptown, there was a action going on.
I had tickets to the Opera to see an all-star case of Le Nozze de Figaro. So after a day of enjoying the warm weather in Central Park, Saturday night we put on our best duds and went out to the Met.
Though the opera took us well into early Sunday morning, we enjoyed every moment of it. This opera is one of the greatest works of art. . . funny, yet profound – and music that just sucks you into the plot like none other. It was also nice going with Judy, who soaked it in with sincere interest.
If the arts just focused on talent, rather then celebrity, the world would be better served.
# posted by otas : 7:23 PM
