Big John

How about Jaws 2 updated with the new Intrada release? I've looked and looked but can't seem to find anything that shows a good chronological order for all the available music on the 2-cd release.

I have fixed the links to the pictures in that old Williams on a Stick thread, for those who are interested or may have forgotten: http://www.jwfan.com...384#entry152100

Long overdue, but I've updated the main post so the links to the pictures are current.

Ha! Yes, I've been more of a lurker than an active poster for the last 10 years or so. I see that the links I posted to the pictures in that old thread are long dead. I'll have to fix that.

Didn't see this posted, but thought this was a pretty cool Star Wars music holiday light show. Enjoy! http://cutepuppylove.me/2014/12/18/best-of-star-wars-music-christmas-lights-show-2014/ BigJohn

This was a really wonderful evening. I was giddy the entire time, and was basically bobbing and weaving in time to the music, conducting my own shoes. I might as well have closed my eyes, since I was mostly staring at the back of Maestro's head. I tried to make a point of finding individual soloists, and scanning the orchestra with my binoculars that i had brought. My enthusiasm for the evening was tempered only by the bitter taste left in my mouth after my wife and I had our bicycles stolen while attending the California Academy of Sciences earlier in the day. It definitely put a damper on the evening, unfortunately. I agree that the woodwind arrangement for Nimbus 2000 was...odd. I really didn't care for it. Additionally, I thought the E.T. Adventures on Earth was underwhelming; it seemed that the orchestra just couldn't get into it. Maybe that was just me. Barantschik, the soloist for Schindler's List was very good, I thought. Very passionate. I, for one, thought that Maestro's path to the stage could have been a little wider - it looked like he had little more than his own foot's width of the stage to navigate from the entryway to the podium. A bit dicey for an 81-year old man, to be sure! All in all, though, a marvelous show. The entire crowd was very much into the presentation, and thunderous applause marked 4 separate standing ovations, by my count. Truly a night to remember.

I had the EXACT same thing happen to me. Took about 10 minutes for the site to recover. I ended up getting seats just 4 rows back from what I initially had, but more to the aisle side of center. Frustrating. But still, I cannot wait!!!

Back in the 80s, I think during the first season of America's Funniest Home Videos, one of the videos that was up for best video of the year was a little clip made of a small girl in the water, while you heard the Jaws theme building, building, building, until you saw that it was some fat guy in a wetsuit, standing in the surf playing a bass or a cello or something like that. BigJohn

That's for sure! I was all teary - but I'm not sure if it was from the laughing or from the excitement. It was probably both! BigJohn

Thanks for the tip, but it was a bonafide, screeching, crap-your-pants head crash. I'm fairly well-versed in data recovery, but was completely unable to do anything with this drive. It was under warranty, so they replaced the drive, but not the data. I'm on Macintosh, so my suite of utilities is different. It was my own fault for not backing up the pictures. Bad John. BigJohn

This Christmas, I received a wonderful gift. I had wanted to go see John Williams conduct the Pacific Symphony Orchestra last June. It would have been a double treat - my first concert with Williams, and luckily enough, at an orchestra in which a good family friend plays Viola. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the same day as another friend's wedding, so I gave up on the idea, confident that I would make the Hollywood Bowl concert later in the year. Well, we did make the Hollywood Bowl concert, and it was great fun. Unfortunately, a computer crash took all of my pictures of the event and put them back into the ether whence they came. :cry: Unbeknownst to me, Krista (the Violist) had contacted my wife, asking for a "head shot" of me. Kim (my wife) complied, but had no idea what Krista needed the shot for. Fast forward to Christmas. I'm at our friend's house, and she hands me a very strange shaped object to unwrap. It's a life-size shot of my head! I was confused, but pleased, as I had not yet owned a life-size head shot of myself. However, Krista wasn't done. She had me open the 2nd part of the gift. I could hardly believe my eyes! Krista had told John Williams that her friend was a big fan of his, but couldn't make it to the concert. Would he mind posing with a picture? John Williams said he would, but was a little surprised when Krista showed up with a picture of me on a stick! Ever the good sport, he posed for the picture and I got the best Christmas gift ever. He even signed the back of my head shot, "John, Merry Christmas! John Williams" even though it was June. You can see me giving Krista a hug, everything in one picture, and a close-up of the picture at these links. All photos are availble at this page, with links to the larger images. I couldn't be happier about my gift. I was shaking and near tears! I'd like to blow up the head shot of John Williams, put it on a stick, pose with a picture of it, and then send it to Williams! It's only fair that he have one of me, right? Thanks to Krista's gumption and shamelessness, I have a wonderful treasure, hanging proudly on my office wall! BigJohn

Thanks, Saabster. Like I said - I'm chalking it up to a learning experience. It was our first time at the Bowl, as you surmised. We drove down from Sacramento, and didn't have any frame of reference. Next time I'd like to get those seats they have down front with those tables and the seats that you can reverse. The only thing that was cut off by us sitting on the side was our view of the right-side video screen. At least, I'm assuming there was one there. We couldn't see it at all, so we had to watch the one on the left side, which was farther away. BigJohn

I went to the Hollywood Bowl concert on Saturday. I thought you were supposed to dress up for those type of things, so if anyone saw me, I was the one in the suit, with my wife, in the gown. Man, did we feel stupid. Although, some people thought we were performers. Lovely evening, but who authorizes those damn helicopters to fly by in the middle of the concert? And not just once, but THREE TIMES!! At least one was during the intermission. A very fun evening, and a good learning experience. Next time I'll opt for seats in the center, and farther back, rather than closer but on the side. I'll also bring a bunch of wine and stuff to eat, since everyone else did. BigJohn

I've ordered from Varese a number of times, and they're pretty accurate as far as I remember. This was a holiday weekend, so I'm not sure your order would have been processed over the weekend. I'm expecting to get my new JW cds shipped this week. BigJohn

I was hoping to go to the Pacific Symphony Orchestra; a friend of mine plays in it. Alas, it didn't work out. If I end up going to the Hollywood Bowl, can anyone recommend a good hotel? Last time I was in Hollywood I ended up staying in Little Taiwan and ... well, let's just say it wasn't a memorable time.