Empire State Building 2009

The family (and Chinchilla) played tourist today as we finally got around to going to the top of the Empire State Building. Express tickets are *the* way to go. We bypassed three *long* lines and didn't have wait at all on our way to the top. Definitely worth the extra $$!

Christmas in Hoboken 2009

Here's an album of our quiet but enjoyable Christmas. Unfortunately a persistent cold virus kept us away from our usual Christmas Eve children's service at the charming 150 year old St. Matthew's Lutheran Church and visits with friends. Click on the title below the photo to see the album and enjoy it virus free!

From X-mas'09

Happy Holidays from the Wall-Bonds!

Click on the image to enlarge. And if you are interested in how the card was created, here's an overview.

Hoboken Dance Academy presents the Nutcracker

Despite an impending snowstorm (that has yet to materialize and I expect will not boo hoo) we headed out to see some of our friend's children (and some of our friends too) perform in the Nutcracker at the Hoboken High School. It was a great show and turnout was very good which is great as the performance was a benefit for the Hoboken Homeless Shelter. A very pleasant afternoon. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Building a Ginger Bread House with Pierce and Deirdre

Pierce and Deirdre build a Christmas ginger bread house - very quickly!

More Music - A Christmas Choral Concert

More music! This evening we attended a concert by the perplexingly named "The Young New Yorkers' Chorus." I was expecting a children's chorus but the chorus members are singers between 20 and 40 years old. I guess 40 is the new 20! The concert was held in Hoboken's own Our Lady of Grace Church (Karl Malden's church in On the Waterfront) a huge old church with perfect acoustics for choral music. The other treat for the evening was the unveiling of the church's newly renovated organ which the organist and conductor Andrew Cyr enthusatically demonstrated for throngs of admirers during the intermission.

Music and Color at the Lincoln Center

Today's Young People's Concert at the Lincoln Center was more polished than the previous one that opened the new season. This concert deconstructed Debussy's beautiful La Mer highlighting Debussy's innovative use of timbre and harmony. There was also an interesting on-stage interview with composer Michael Torke discussing how his synesthesia affects his work. While he sees colors when he hears music he lamented that, for him, the opposite is not true otherwise he could visit the Metropolitan Museum and simply take dictation! The orchestra also played two of Torke's pieces including Bright Blue Music a piece in D major which the composer "sees" as the color blue.