Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sundays in My City - Rufus Wainwright - November 14, 2010


Sundays in My City - Rufus Wainwright - November 14, 2010

I had had a rough week, getting sick the last day of October, being admitted to the
hospital on November 5th and staying at Seton Medical Center until the afternoon
of November 9th.  I had been invited to attend the Rufus Wainright concert at
Davies Symphony Hall on Friday, November 12th, along with my friend, Jo.  Though
I still was 100%, with my ankles and feet about the size of Dumbo's, I wasn't going to
miss such an occasion.  Rufus Wainright, a 37-year-old Canadian American singer
songwriter, was performing five Shakespearean sonnets as the solo vocalist, with
music he had written, accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony.  I knew him
best as the composer of "Sanssouci", a beautiful song which is the title album of a
dear friend and fabulous jazz singer, Sony Holland ( http://www.sonyholland.com/ ).  Our
seats were in the orchestra, only a few rows from the stage and, following his
performance, Rufus met for a question and answer session.  He is quite pleasant
and charming and multi-talented.

Following the concert, we stopped by a famous San Francisco eatery, Tommy's Joint.
I am on a very restricted diet for thirty days so I had to settle for a ham sandwich with
no condiments though I certainly looked longingly at all the other offerings.




















With performances taking place both at Davies Symphony Hall and other venues in the
area, we had to park nearly three blocks away.  It was beautiful, though, seeing city hall
all lit up, complete with the tributes to the San Francisco Giants and their World Series
victory!

San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco's City Hall reopened in 1915, after being completely deystroyed in the
1906 earthquake.  It occupies two full city blocks and has the fifth largest dome in the
world, rising higher than that of the nation's capitol ( info from Wikipedia ).  Mayor
George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assasinated here November 27,
1978.


City hall commerative to the Giant's winning the World Series


The statue of Three Heads and Six Arms


One of the three faces

In May of 2010, in honor of the sister city status between Shanghai, China and San
Francisco, famous Chinese artist, Zhang Huan, created a huge statue which was placed
in the Joseph L. Alioto Performing  Arts Piazza, across the street from City Hall.

I am participating in Unknown Mami's Sundays in my City - join in the fun!

22 comments:

  1. That statue is great.
    I can understand why Shanghai is your sister city...

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  2. Hi Carmen, è grandiosa questa statuta !!!
    Buona domenica :))
    Myriam

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  3. Anonymous4:32 AM

    I am glad you have a little relaxing time, with Jo especially, and were able to take wonderful photos, Carmen.

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  4. Glad to see you up, out, around, and enjoying things, Carmen. Almost your old self. I hope you didn't enjoy your sick self right into a relapse, however, because that would be a shame.
    -- K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  5. Thankfully you were able to go to the concert. I hope you start feeling better real soon. City Hall looks incredible!

    Kristin - The Goat
    via SIMC

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  6. Carmen, you captured his personality so perfectly in these shots. What a great night.

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  7. My goodness..I sure hope you feel better soon! Beautiful photos :)

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  8. beautiful pics
    thanks, close up shot is excellent

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  9. Sending you a big virtual hug and hoping that you are feeling 100% very soon.

    I need to go look at that statue up close.

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  10. My dear Carmen, it's good to know you left the hospital and have enjoyed the concert. My best and healthy wishes for you. Big hug.

    Valery

    [Barcelona Daily Photo]

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  11. Great photos. Thanks for sharing them and hope you are feeling completely better real soon.

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  12. I'm so glad you had such a good time at the concert. Hope you are feeling better.

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  13. So glad you were up for the concert. I'm sure that lifted your spirits. Thanks for taking take to catch so pics to share too. Be well, xo jj

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  14. You have some great friends!

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  15. looks like you had a fun time.

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  16. All the time I lived in SF, I never once seen City Hall all lit up at night....at least I don't remember it! And I love the tribute to the Giants!!!

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    BLOGitse -
    That was my first time to see the Three Heads Six Arms statue. It's fairly new. Have you been to Shanghai? I'd love to see it but I've only been to Hong Kong and Canton.



    Rosadimaggio63 -
    Grazie per la visita! Quando in Italia ci si trovi. Grazie al cielo per Google Translate. Sono stato diversi legami al vostro paese meraviglioso!


    Icy BC -
    Jo and I always have such a good time together. It was just what I needed though a little tiring in my post hospital state.


    Kay L.Davies -
    It sounds like you know me. It would be just like me to over do it! By the way, did you ever get your Visa gift card?


    Kirby3131 -
    Thank you so much for the good wishes. I was really pleased that the city hall picture turned out so well!


    Poetic Shutterbug -
    Did I tell you about the Wikipedia article on Rufus. Very sadly, after he came out when he was fourteen, he was living in London. He met a man in a bar there who robbed him, raped him and nearly killed him. He advocated in CA for same sex marriages because he wants to marry his partner of five years.


    Sonya -
    Except for the swelling in both my feet and lower legs ( apparently common after hospital IVs ), I'm doing better every day.


    Irredento Urbanita
    Valery, you are such a dear. Your good wishes and the big hug are definitely a boost to my feeling better.


    Marla -
    You are very kind...and I'm improving though not
    as fast as I would like.


    secret agent woman -
    My legs look like tree trunks because of all the IV fluids but I'm better!


    Joanna Jenkins -
    Seeing Rufus Wainright was wonderful...he's really something. I'm slowly getting back to normal.


    Sharkbytes -
    Thankfully, I do have some terrific friends. I never did very well in the husband department!

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  18. urban muser -
    It was a nice evening, though I was still a bit under the weather from my hospitalization. Couldn't enjoy our stop for a late dinner at Tommy's Joint as I normally would have because of dietary restrictions for a month!!


    Erin -
    It was a real treat to park on the back side of SF's city hall and to get that great shot. I was in the hospital during the post Series Giants celebration though my 26-year-old made it to the parade and celebration. He said it was unbelievable!

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  19. Unknown Mami -
    I had never seen that statue of Three Heads Six
    Arms before but I think it is relatively new. I wish I had gotten a photo of the two heads in the back but the lighting was so good and we were in a hurry.


    sm -
    I'm glad you liked my photos. It was so nice to be at City Hall when it's deserted in the area!

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  20. So sorry to hear about your illness, but glad that you're home and recovering. Beautiful photos!

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  21. Hi Carmen
    Rufus is a very handsome young man and has a wonderful voice! I can see why you wanted to see him perform. SF City Hall looks so beauitful all lit up at night!

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  22. simply wonderful. thanks for sharing the music of Rufus.

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