Eccentric Flower:199807/wine and fireworks
From Eccentric Flower
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five july ninety eight one a m wine and fireworks Back from the patriotic events of the evening. A friend of a friend has a balcony overlooking the Charles River, right where they put the fireworks barge. Every year, of course, the Boston Pops has a nationally televised concert for the holiday, and they perform it in the Hatch Shell on the Charles. Crowds down both sides of the river. We couldn't see the Hatch Shell from where we were - a little too far upriver - but that wasn't a problem. On the side of the river where the concert was, they'd set up a series of gigantic TV screens, facing the river - and one was directly across from us. Of course you can hear the music about halfway across Boston from anywhere, and we also had the television in the apartment on, just for good measure. The TV was actually a nice touch - it allowed us to see occasional closeups and also provided a curious echo effect, where we'd hear something on the TV and hear it a moment later over the river. Keith Lockhart, the conductor, plays to the camera something fierce, but he's so cute, charming, and talented that he can get away with it. I also met someone I hope to be making a business deal with in the near future (it was his apartment), and drank three glasses of nice Shiraz, a glass of Portugese vinho verde, and two glasses of a so-so Merlot. (They weren't full-sized wine glasses, thank heavens, or I'd be asleep on the apartment rug now.) Oh, and I learned three things about fireworks: 1. I get bored with watching them after about fifteen minutes. Actually, I think I already knew that, but I see fireworks so seldom that I forgot. 2. Fireworks have an optimal angle for viewing. I thought they were kinda omnidirectional, but the TV showed that the fireworks were clearly being aimed to provide the best view for the folks at the Hatch Shell - from where we sat upriver, at the source, they were pretty, but some weren't even the same shape as what was on TV. 3. People are dumb about cameras. I saw a lot of flashbulbs on the far side of the river during the fireworks. Fireworks are really tricky to photograph properly anyway, and those little flashes illuminate, what, ten feet in front of you? On the other hand, as was pointed out when I said this at the party, the fireworks are bright enough that they're likely to get something on film no matter how they do it. Anyway, that's my moment of patriotism for the year. I don't indulge in it much. It's worse for me than the alcohol. And sometimes leaves a bigger hangover. © columbine |
