This afternoon we went to the Natick Collection, which is just a fancy name for the mall. Not too many crazy things happened here, although Jon experienced his first American Girl Store and a family was seen straight out of the North Pole, with the woman/mom? wearing candy cane striped bloopers. Either they were on their way to getting pictures taken or she got lost on her way to Williamsburg.
After a game of Up Words, it was off to Outback for an early dinner before going back into the city for the Boston Pops. On the way we once again listened to (sing it, people) "We're Boston's Favorite Christmas Songs. We're Boston's Favorite Christmas Songs." We learned that apparently these were Boston's Favorite Christmas Songs because they were on the only station that was "Santa-approved." But we also flipped to one of the other continuous Christmas stations, a move which proved fatal when we came across the second-scariest Christmas song ever, "Santa Claus and the Soldier," "The Soldier's Night Before Christmas," "A Soldier's Christmas" or "Soldier Silent Night," depending on which source you believe that comes up on Google. Basically, another scary, disgruntled voice (that Jon thought sounded like Don Imus) tells about Santa coming upon this soldier who is all alone and in the final hour, shouts out, "Carry on, Santa!" It would have been depressing, or at least touching had we not been laughing through the whole thing because of the delivery.
This was Jon's first trip inside Symphony Hall so it was an experience for both of us. It was very cool - low hung ceilings and hallways that wrapped around the side. We were in the first balcony, on a curve looking front, and really, probably any seat was a good seat. I felt like I was back in the 1600s. In terms of the concert, I thought the opening number, "Joy to the World" should have been louder and brassier, but I thought it was improved after that in terms of power and punch. And besides that, it was after that that the guest conductor revealed that that morning he had participated in the Annual Speedo Run, which Jon has already agreed to run in next year. "Sleigh Ride," the second number in the second act, was a close favorite behind the "Waltz of the Flowers" and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," (once Colleen stopped looking at the where's-the-downbeat guest conductor) with the choir's rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" a highlight too. They incorporated other songs into it, like "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" for six geese a laying, and Beethoven's 5th for five golden rings. They also did a narrated reading of "The Polar Express." I haven't read the book or seen the movie so it was a new story to me. At first the narrator sounded like WROR Santa/scary Soldier Santa but those fears were short-lived. The ultimate capper for the night came in the form of Santa telling Sarah Palin jokes. Overall, I give this an A-.
After a random woman seeing me clutch my program at the subway said, "Wasn't that good?" it was back to Jon's, with a pit stop at the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. Cheesecake: A-.
-- POSTED BY COLLEEN
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