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08/03/2003 Entry: "Tchaikovsky and bunny rabbits"

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BLOG ENTRY 100. I feel proud. :) Congratulations to me ~~~~

Wow, today is my dad's birthday :) So a happy 54 years to my dad. Joy, joy.

For his birthday, actually, my family went to the Hollywood Bowl yesterday for the Tchaikovsky spectacular - with fireworks. We picked up some food and had a picnic there, then sat waaaaaay in the back with our cheap tickets and listened :) They played his one and only violin concerto - which was super long, and I hadn't had that much sleep that day, so I .. accidentally.. fell asleep ^^; only during the second measure, because that one is very soft. But I was well awake during the second half, where they played a very festive song that I don't remember the name of (lots of bugles though), and for the last song, they had The Most Evil Marching Band On Earth come assist.

It was USC's Trojan Marching Band. Come on, what did you expect of me? ^.~ We're a UC family. They were the trombones for the Extremely Loud 1812 Overture, which starts off deceptively soft. (For those of you who don't remember, this is the one with the cannons.) Anyway, it's supposed to be about Napoleon's defeat at the gates of Moscow (I think I sealed this part of my brain off), so during the song - I kid you not - the roofs of Moscow, made out of some sort of wire, rose up above the Hollywood bowl. And then the cannons went off, in lieu of fireworks - lots and lots of fireworks. Very bright :) it was cool, actually, even if I've seen better firework shows.

And for their encore, they performed "Waltz of the Flowers"! ::cackles:: I'm so into this ballet after watching Princess Tutu, so I was thrilled to hear it. So pretty :) I love the finale. I actually like what I've heard of Swan Lake's ballet music better, but Nutcracker is classic.

Last Thursday, I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Don't smirk or make snide comments, because this place is nothing like the zoo. They have a lot of animals in wide enclosures that are *really* cool - several miles square at least - and in those particular enclosures, they keep animals that would normally be together in the wild in that same enclosure. Meaning, they had one big area devoted to North Africa, and there would be animals from North Africa there, all roaming around (that is, the herbivores, NOT the carnivores). :O I saw this one giraffe (17.5 feet tall) pick up its hoof and step on a musk buffalo. O.O Our entire group (to see the plains, you have to take the monorail or a photo caravan) was shocked. Apparently the giraffe was asserting his dominance over the plain.

I also fed a giraffe, although not that particular one, and it sorta drooled on my fingers. That thing has one Long Tongue. I saw a baby giraffe, too, and it was soo cute XD it was a very pale color of tan with darker brown spots.. and very short. Aww :O saw a baby gazelle, four days old (very small lump in the grass) and a baby rhino, two weeks old (*squeals* it was adorable).

I saw some very ugly birds, too, like the turkey vulture? Dear god.

We went to the feral cat areas, but the lions were hiding, the tigers were hiding, and we could see the cheetah's head...

... Right before it went to sleep. Hardy har har. Lions spend at least 20 hours a day sleeping.. aren't they lucky?

I also saw a pack of wildebeasts (wildabeasts?). As we passed them, I whispered to my sister, "They killed Mufasa!"

She did not take it with amusment. I think I still have the bruise from her Elbow of Doom.

Anyway, I would really reccommend going there. They had some nice shows, too - the bird show had some very talented parrots SINGING. "I leeeeeft my heart in San Franciscooo.." it had trouble with the "t" at the end of the words, but it did a pretty good job.

I'm working on the evil AP US History project right now.. er, what was Mr. Thomson THINKING? They're taking forever. I have to finish part I today, then part II tomorrow, then part III on tuesday, thus turning the stupid thing in before ten hundred hours on Wednesday.

Then I get to work on the English project. :O I'm reading a book on geisha, how about everyone else? There's a picture in here of Gerald Ford trying to eat with chopsticks with a geisha sitting on each side of him.

Um, they look a lot prettier than him. o.O

Reading Harry Potter fanfics.. lol, I like reading the Hermione/Draco ones just because they're so BAD. Most of them can't help but do a love-hate syndrome, and I think that while Hermione is quite disgusted with Draco at times and certainly dislikes him, I doubt that she actually hates him ^^; and he's more obsessed about Harry (you can practically hear him muttering unfriendly jinxes about him). Here's a quote from one: "Hermione grinned and squeezed his hand. She surveyed the aisle to see if it was all clear and then pulled Draco to her, "Kiss your witch, Malfoy.""

No further comments.

Back to the damn history project. Question 2: Describe what [John] Winthrop envisioned when he called the Massachusetts Bay Colony settlement "a city upon a hill."

I'm a little wary about this project because I don't know how much to actually write. I mean, with Mr. Barberia, you could write as little as possible as long as you still answered the question (he called me a literal minimalist), and he'd dock off *gasp* five points. Out of maybe 150, and you were supposed to feel the pain? Er, I'd have been in more pain finishing those packets Really Very Thorougly. Also, with my English teacher (She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named), you just wrote 8uLL$h!T and she accepted it with a Very Big Smile. Eeep. [Speaking of 8uLL$h!T, anyone read today's Non Sequiter? Look for Sunday's - it's in color. HAHAHA.) However, I get the idea that these tactics don't exactly work with Thomson.. hmm. (Who is, btw, a very scary Mafia, but we caught him anyway.)

Damn it, back to work.