This and That

A wonking 734 pages of Harry Potter goodness arrived at our house Saturday in the hands of my younger daughter Rae. She wanted you to know this…

We had a glorious Fourth; Marlow, Rae and I played in America's only all-volunteer pickup marching band. The players range in age from 8 to 85. Like Brigadoon, it only appears once a year (on the Fourth). Marlow played alto sax, Rae played flute and I, as usual, played Tenor Sax. In the evening, Rae and I climbed up the hill and watched the fireworks from Donald Drive...

We also watched the Kenneth Brannagh version of Hamlet on videotape, and I saw the new Ethan Hawke version a second time with Rae, in preparation for Shakespeare Camp, which she is attending for six weeks this summer…

Vicki and I went to SF Sunday and saw Fully Committed a one-man play that started in NYC and is now playing at Theater in the Square in SF. It is very funny, deserving the five stars it got from the Chronicle. Highly recommended…

You probably already saw this as an e-mail, but in case you didn't…

You may recall me saying that because of my appearance on NPR's News Quiz, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" that Karl Kassel, the NPR newscaster, was going to do my answering machine message. The new message went live tonight at 925-254-4923. Call anytime, day or night. The phone doesn't ring, it flashes. If you call during business hours, I'm liable to answer, but that's OK, I'll hang up and you can hear the message