In our absence from doing anything remotely fun outdoors thanks to this city's attempts to break some 1953 record, we've retreated into full-blown science geekery. After Jared Diamond's Science Series lecture last night left us wanting in the science geek department, we're now on the edge of our seats as NASA's Stardust mission--a collector of dust and ice from the tails of comets--is scheduled to touch down Sunday at a military post outside Salt Lake City, UT. We're still trying to bribe members of our family in SLC to get as close as possible and snap some pictures. more ›

Well, we’ve done it. Seattlest is finally done with the Ring Cycle. And despite ourselves, we enjoyed it. more ›

Wednesday night saw us back at McCaw Hall for the third installment of the Ring Cycle, Siegfried. It was not as completely enthralling as Die Walküre was, but it was still impressive. You can read a synopsis of the plot here (or, in twenty words or less: greed, fearless hero, huge dragon, death, magic ring, death, powerless gods, woman teaches fearless hero meaning of fear, incest, love). more ›

We’ve been won over. What once made us grumpy now makes us happy. On Monday night, we were thoroughly taken in by the second installment in Wagner’s Ring Cycle: Die Walküre. more ›

Last night Seattlest sat through two and three-quarter hours of opera. In a row. That is, without intermission. (And we enjoyed ourselves, but we’re just, you know, trying to gear up for more.) Last night’s opera, Das Rheingold, sets the scene for the rest of the cycle, and introduces opera-goers to about half the cast. Read a synopsis here (or, in 20 words or less: renounced love, stolen gold, magical ring, angry giants, dying gods, re-stolen gold, curses, death, dire warnings, Valhalla). more ›

Seattlest was a bit grumpy earlier this week when we realized we had tickets for Seattle Opera’s Ring cycle over the coming week. Did we really want to spend a good 18 hours over four days ingesting a steady diet of Wagner, Wagner and more Wagner? No, we did not! Especially when the performances conflicted with a few really good social events we would otherwise have gone to. But after cursing ourselves for not putting the dates in our calendar when we got the tickets months and months ago, we reconciled ourselves to the Ring. more ›