pop culture

Saturday evening i went to the symphony's John Williams tribute night with scarlettina. they played all the hits (Superman, Raiders, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Close Encounters, Star Wars of course) but also tossed in some outliers like Devil's Dance. kicking myself that i didn't bring binoculars* - the percussion is brilliant in that one (i love watching that section because most of them are constantly switching instruments).

then today C and i got in just under the wire to see the Hokusai exhibition at SAM. it was traveling from Boston, and it's huge - Hokusai, his teachers, his students, and a selection of pieces inspired by his works placed together. it's wonderfully curated, and it's A Lot. i especially liked the pieces by his daughters (and the stories of the eldest's shithead son), the Western ceramics and glass, and the corner dedicated to The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife** and modern pieces in conversation with it. and of course the actual Hokusai prints and paintings were wonderful.

I knew that his woodcuts were popular art and highly commercial, but i wasn't as aware of the business of doing collectible sets of kabuki actors. one of them on display was straight-up fan art - a fan casting in a role the actor hadn't played yet.
[snapshot of a framed pair of prints of kabuki actors and the museum placard describing it as "a fantasy production"]

our brains were very full, so we grabbed lunch at the museum's restaurant which was reworked since we had been last, and was quite good. GF fried chicken for C, all-the-gluten chowder in a bread bowl for me.


*i had promised myself that I would after the last time - the sound is excellent from the balcony but i love watching the musicians work
**it's wee, in a slim book that would fit in my hand