Handel's Messiah

In regular Thornock Christmas Tradition, Em and I wanted to hear Handel's Messiah. Since we will not be in Arizona for Christmas to sing it at the top of our lungs on Christmas Eve, we chose the next best alternative - go and hear the NY Philharmonic play it! We had such an incredible time. The music was phenomenal!! We really enjoyed ourselves. Although the singers did not bounce up and down during "For Unto Us a Child Is Born" to a blasting record, it was a great experience.

NY Philharmonic

Emily and I went and saw the NY Philharmonic perform Friday December 5th. It was the first time either of us had been to seem them at the Avery Hall at Lincoln Center. They are unbelievable! I was telling Em that we should have our kids play in the Orchestra and they can only quit once they can play Beethoven's 5th symphony.

They performed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major followed by Schumann's Symphony No. 4 in D minor, with Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor as the finale. I could listen to them perform for the rest of my life. I loved it so much - and we really had a good time. The Brandenburg's are so light and fun and Beethoven's 5th was so powerful.

This is the 7th and final year for the conductor Lorin Maazel. He was really entertaining to watch. The music was heavenly and we had a wonderful evening.

Madama Butterfly

Emily and I both really enjoy the opera. We went with her parents to go see Puccini's Madama Butterfly performed by the Metropolitan Opera. It was stunning. It was so well done and the music was so stirring. Although really heavy, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We look forward to going again soon.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

The Christmas Season cannot officially begin until you have seen the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular performance.

First of all, Radio City is absolutely enormous. It was so much fun to be there and to see it inside. Second, I was there with great company, my wonderful wife Emily and her parents Bob/Carol. Good times.
Third, we were sitting on the 6th row. That was cool - I dont think there were better seats in the house.
Fourth, the Rockettes were out of this world. It was so cool to see their precision and performance. I didnt realize how many there were - it was sure impressive.

We had such a fun time! What a cool experience.

All My Sons

OK - so we had probably one of the best experiences here on Broadway last week. Carol, Bob, Em and I went to see the Broadway play "All My Sons". Now, a little background information: I absolutely love plays and dramas. I think they are so fun. Em and I have seen quite a few, and up until this point my favorite was Frost/Nixon with Frank Langella (which by the way is coming out to movie theaters this December with Frank.)

Anyway, the play was written by Arthur Miller and is about a family after WWII. It has Katie Holmes, John Lithgow, Patrick Wilson and Dianne Wiest. The play was phenomenal!! I have never seen such great acting. And to be honest, Katie Holmes was good, but Lithgow and Wiest were out of this world. They were stunning! It was one of the best nights and one of the best things I have seen. Loved it!!

Bob & Carol ... fun times for everyone

So, we have had Bob & Carol here for the past 2 weeks sharing their Thanksgiving with us. We have had to much fun! It was such a riot just hanging out with them and enjoying the holidays. Carol took all the pictures, so I will wait to post them. But it was such a nice holiday with them out here. It was much better than Emily hanging out alone (since I had to work Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving).

Thanks for putting up with us. I am impressed that we made it 2 whole weeks together in a small 1 bedroom apartment without killing each other. It was a great time and we had a blast. Love you guys!!