Handel: Organ Concertos Op.4 (Simon Preston/Pinnock/The English Concert)

韓德爾當時被公認為最優秀的風琴家之一，和同輩巴哈在風琴上的技巧和即興能力可說是不分軒輊。一個有名的小故事，是年輕的韓德爾1709年的時候，遇到同歲的Domenico Scarlatti(小史卡拉第)。他們在主教Ottoboni(為愛樂者，贊助了許多音樂家，包括之前提到的Corelli)的宮殿裡較量起鍵盤樂器的功力。在大鍵琴上，二人平分秋色，不過Scarlatti專攻大鍵琴，因此還可能佔了點上風。但是到了風琴，則明顯不敵韓德爾。這次的音樂比劃，沒有讓二人產生任何心結。反而使二人成為一輩子的好朋友。Scarlatti更是這次交手後，才了解風琴上音樂表現的潛力。

Austria Trip Part 2 : 9/1 Vienna Day 1 - Schönbrunn Palace (Chinese)

在維也納第一天只有半天，因此將剩餘的體力集中在一個大景點。 Westbahnhof火車站在維也納市中心的西南邊，要進市區還需轉幾趟地鐵。恰好，Schönbrunn Palace(麗泉宮)也在市中心外，而且在Westbahnhof火車站的西邊。更重要，坐58路街車一直坐就到了。(地鐵的U4也會到，不過從Westbahnhof要先坐U6線往南再轉。)

Austria Trip Part 1 : Departure 8/31 - 9/1 (Chinese)

之前一直期待回到奧地利這一趟開會兼遊玩之旅，終於盼到出發的這一天。出發前，其實心裡有滿多不同的感受。這是睽違十年之後再度踏上歐洲，到一個不說自己語言的國家。

我大學修過一些德文，去過德國一個暑假當交換學生，不過當初回到美國之後，就沒有認真再碰過德文了。奧地利是說德文的，因此這是一種既陌生又一點點熟悉的感覺。真的到了奧地利，我的德文溝通能力和理解能力還有多少？ 到時在那兒行動，會不會因此受限？

種種的不確定，事後看來都是多餘的，不過行前的不安是必然的。原本要使用高科技，將一部電子德文字典存放到女友的Iphone上，不過最後還是用傳統方法，將十年前在德國時隨身攜帶的德英字典隨時放在左邊口袋裡。

Movie: Daybreakers

Daybreakers is a science fiction horror film, that of the vampire genre.  There are no werewolves this time, only vampires and humans.  The movie is set in a future where vampires are the majority population in the world, while the few remaining humans are under hideout.  Humans captured by vampires are put in labs, where their blood is taken up as the food source for the vampires, much like in The Matrix.

Farnaby: Complete Fantasias (Glen Wilson)

Giles Farnaby (1562-1640) 是英國文藝復興晚期與巴洛克早期的英國鍵盤作曲家。和他爸爸一樣，他的職業其實是木工接合者，但他於1592年，從牛津大學取得了音樂的學士學位。當時的大學很嚴荷，除了要念七年以外，還必須熟讀拉丁文。另一位英國的鍵盤大師John Bull，在同一年在牛津取得了博士學位。

Movie: The Messenger

The Messenger is a grim and serious drama about two people in the Casualty Notification Office of the military, bringing the news that their loved ones have died in combat.  Ben Foster plays Will Montgomery, a staff sergeant who has been injured in combat in Iraq.  After his recovery, he is assigned to Casualty Notification, much to his dismay.  He is to be paired up with Captain Stone, played by Woody Harrelson.    Captain Stone has the tough guy image, but later on we find out he has a past drinking problem.  The partnership is uneasy at first, but they soon bond to form an unlikely friendship.

In Austria 09/01/2010 - 09/15/2010

Traveling in Austria now, and I am literally midway through my trip.  As a serious classical music lover, my stay in Vienna was very mixed.  In Vienna, endless number of people dressed up in period costumes try to sell you tickets to these concerts happening EVERY NIGHT.  

Mozart and Haydn and Johann Strauss are being marketed to the extreme (understandably) that they seem almost cheap.  This was not what I expected and certainly not what I wanted.  My most emotional experience must have been visiting the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery), where Mozart's monument and Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Johann Strauss's graves were side by side in the "grave of musicians" area.   Here lay the classical giants that have come to shape Western music as it is, and the composers have I literally grew up listening countless number of times.  I was at a loss for words and wept tears of emotions that I'm not entirely sure are of. 

I suppose I will blog my Austria travels in detail in the future.

Pandolfi: Complete Violin Sontas (Andrew Manze + Richard Egarr)

Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli (ca 1630 - ca 1669) 是義大利的巴洛克早期/中期的作曲家。他的生平不詳，但只知道他是奧地利皇太子Charles Ferdinand宮廷裡的音樂家。Charles Ferdinand是一位極權的統治者，但他同時也熱愛音樂，重用四處各地的音樂家。

Movie: Leap Year

Leap Year is a nice sweet romantic comedy of Anna (Amy Adams) wishing to follow an Irish tradition and propose to her boyfriend on leap day (2/29) while he is at a business trip in Dublin.  Things go wrong when bad weather kicks in and she is forced to land somewhere else.   She manages to make her way to the Dingle Pennisula, where she asks a cynical local innkeeper Declan (Mathew Goode) to drive her from the countryside to Dublin, who initially refuses and constantly ridicules her on her idiotic behave.  What happens next is easy to guess.