Friday 11 April: research and music

I did some more work at AAR this morning, and also received my reader’s card. The photo is average for me; that is to say, it sucks. It’s still better than my passport! I’m on the trail of reliefs, coins, and other images that portray Gaius and Lucius, Augustus’ grandsons (both of whom died young) with the implements associated with the major priesthoods, especially the colleges of pontiffs and augurs.

In the afternoon, I wrote up some notes, ate lunch, then made off to Piazza Navona. This spring there is a concert series in the Borromini Sacristy of Sant’Agnese in Agone on the piazza. The recital this evening was the Borromini Trio, playing string trios by Mozart and Schubert. The performance was excellent; the players had a remarkable sense of ensemble, and were able to intuit each others’ nuances in a way that only comes from playing together a lot, for a long time. Either that, or they read each others’ minds. The great music in such a spectacular setting was fantastic. I arrived back at my apartment about 10 pm (that’s twenty-two o’clock here), and was not the least bit tired, so I decided to go out and hear more music in the neighborhood. Since it was 10 pm on Friday, the evening was just barely starting. There is lots of music here. One bar about thirty feet away is open from about 10 am until 3 am, and tries to attract American college students with their rotation of three albums: Abba’s Great Hits, the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction, and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. However, there is also a good variety of live music too, mostly jazz and blues. I got a gelato (ice cream, like liquor, is sold everywhere at all hours) and just walked around, stopping here and there to listen. My own musical tastes usually tend more toward Couperin, Bach, and the Ramones, but I do appreciate good R&B when I hear it, and I did. I got back to my place about 3 am, and hit the hay to prepare myself for the inevitable and long-delayed visit to the laundry.

At the request of many, I am going to start photographing food. I’ve started new sets on Flickr for food and for views of my neighborhood. Take a look at www.flickr.com/danielcmack, sets “La cucina italiana” and “Trastevere, my home away from home.”