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December 24, 2005

First Christmas Eve Dinner at Skyview

We celebrated our first Christmas Eve Dinner at Skyview with my parents and Dave, as has become our tradition, and Ania made the delicious traditional Polish Christmast Eve dinner we've all started to look forward to at this time every year.
PHOTO SUMMARY: Christmas Eve Dinner 2005

 

December 21, 2005

Cat in Window


This cat was checking out the passers-by on College Ave. in Rockridge.

December 19, 2005

Night View from Davies Symphony Hall


I took this picture last night from the balcony at Davies Symphony Hall, where we went with my parents to see  the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers of Los Angeles perform A Gospel Christmas.

I took the pic with my Audiovox SMT5600 smartphone (I left the camera's "Ambience" setting on auto).  I know it's not very good quality, but I really like the way it turned out, especially the colors.

December 18, 2005

A Chanticleer Christmas


Last night we went with Colin, Sarah, Taylor, and Rossy to see Chanticleer, an all-male choral ensemble, perform A Chanticleer Christmas.  Ania and I have been going for five years now, and it's become a holiday tradition we look forward to each year.  It's a somewhat different take on typical Christmas music, and as nice as it is to hear the recordings, the power and emotion they bring to the live performance is amazing! 

There are still a few more performances left this year, but we specifically go to the one at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco, because its beauty and grandeur, along with amazing acoustics, complement and enhance the music so well.  I'm sure the other performances are equally good, but I can't imagine a more fitting atmosphere than St. Ignatius to hear such lovely, moving music.

Going to see Chanticleer really gets us into the spirit of the season, and we look forward to continuing to share this holiday tradition with our friends and family, who add warmth and richness to a very pleasant evening of song and celebration of Christmas.