Comic-Con and Das Rheingold

(Pictured: the Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels team: Foschini, McGuinness, Salicrup, Petranek. Not shown: Nantier)


Comic Con? Wasn't that in July?

Yes, but that's why this is called an occasional blog...Because I only occasionally have time and opportunity to post when I'm not on the road and even only occasionally then, too.

So....I went to Comicon this year--just one day, and my first time at the San Diego mega-event. Although I've been to WonderCon in SF before, Comic-Con is huge in comparison. Actually, it's just huge. Period. While there, I met the wonderful team at Papercutz (Terry Nantier, Jim Salicrup, and Michael Petranek)--the Italian writer behind the Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels, Michele Foschini, and his girlfriend Caterina. Overwhelming, but great fun.

Right after Comic-Con, my Baroque chamber group, the Vinaccesi Ensemble, performed a program of eighteenth century solo cantatas by Benedetto Vinaccesi at Old First Concerts in SF with our new harpsichord player, Susie Fong. We now also have a new Baroque cellist, Hallie Pridham. Welcome, Hallie and Susie!

The Vinaccesi Ensemble will be making our first recording this fall, with a grant from the SF Friends of Chamber Music. We'll be joined by bass Kirk Eichelberger for a CD of Northern Italian solo cantatas from around 1700. We'll be on Centaur Recordings, with Michael Demeyer as the engineer. More news soon...

Somewhat shameless plug: next up for me is the role of Freia in Das Rheingold with Verismo Opera. The first performance will be Oct. 8 in Pacifica, and it runs the rest of the month in Vallejo, ending with a final performance on Nov. 6 at the Hillside Club in Berkeley. Freia is a kick: I'd say "ho-jo-to-ho," except that's the wrong Ring opera. This is my first Wagner opera from the other side of the stage lights, and I'm enjoying it immensely. Do come and see it if you're around.

If you're interested, you can read "The Curse and Glory of the Ring! , Jean Bartlett's article in the Pacifica Tribune for the Pacifica performance.

Happy New Year to those for whom this is the time of the New Year!

Music I'm studying and learning: the roles of Desdemona and Cleopatra for upcoming performances in 2012. I'm also watching videos of Otello (the Verdi), Giulio Cesare, and Othello (the Shakespeare)

What I'm reading: Modern Poems on the Bible, ed. David Curzon; Dragon's Bone by Patricia Briggs (a re-read), and more...

German ERs and Gernonimo Stilton GNs

I'm on the road again, back in Munich--and once more proving myself to be a dreadfully delinquent blogger. (Nothing new there.)

First off, there's the E.R. part of this post, which is mostly a gentle hymn of praise to the German medical system. The day I arrived in Munich I wound up needing to get some stitches. (Nothing major in case you're worried, I'm okay, but it certainly wasn't how I expected my arrival to be. A nice nap after 24+ hours without sleep would have been more my cup of tea.)

Now, I'd never had stitches before--may I never need them again--and ERs are never fun. But after deciding that yes, I had to go in--at 6 p.m., mind you--and finding the right place to get to-somewhat of an adventure in and of itself--I was treated relatively quickly and very well. There was a bit of a line, but perhaps because the wound was still seeping some of the red stuff that gets the latest crop of vampires so excited, they bumped me ahead of others who weren't bleeding ;). To make an excruciating story zoom by, a couple of x-rays, five stitches, 200 euro charged on the spot, and roughly three hours later, I was done...and really ready to sleep at that point. Shall we say, exhausted, hmm?

This was at the University teaching hospital in Munich, and I can't sing my praise highly enough of the ER doctor who I saw. She was thoughtful, careful kind, and very skillful. She had me come back 6 days later to take the stitches out, and, for those who care, it looks like any scarring will be at a minimum, and luckily not particularly visible.

Some enchanted evening...NOT. But had I gone into an ER in the U.S. with foreign insurance that wasn't taken back home.... well, you can a) imagine the bill I'd have incurred and b) the length of time it would have taken me to be seen. Not to wax too politically, but this certainly is enough to make a person think about health care and insurance issues. (I've now experienced dental care, in 2009 and medical care in 2011 in Germany and both have been excellent.)

Moving on to more fun things. You may or may not know that I'm the translator for the Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novel series for middle grade readers for Papercutz. Here's a not-so-subtle plug:

#1: The Discovery of America, 2009 ISBN 9781597071581
#2:The Secret of the Sphinx, 2009 ISBN 9781597071598
#3: The Colseum Con, 2009 ISBN 1597071722
#4: Following the Trail of Marco Polo, 2010 ISBN 1597071889
#5: The Great Ice Age, 2010 ISBN 1597072028
#6: Who Stole the Mona Lisa, 2010 ISBN 1597072028
#7: Dinosaurs in Action, 2011 ISBN 9781597072212
#8: Play it Again Mozart, upcoming, Sept. 2011 ISBN 1597072761

The concept is cute, the art adorable, and the first five are in their fifth pressing already!

The Italian art/ writing team is out in the Bay Area doing their first U.S. signing/ workshop tour, as part of Free Comic Book Day and Children's Book Week. I won't be around, perche sono in Munich (because I'm in Munich), but here's the info.

May 5 – 4:00 to 6:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
119 Colma Boulevard
280 Metro Center
Colma, CA 94014

May 6 – 5:00 to 7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
Hacienda Crossings
4972 Dublin Boulevard
Dublin, CA 94568

May 7 -

11:30 AM to 2:00 PM
Lee’s Comics
1020 N. Rengstorff Avenue, Suite F
Mountain View, CA

4:00 to 7:00 PM
Atlantis Fantasyworld
1020 Cedar Street
Santa Cruz, CA

Definitely worth checking out.