A Southern California Institution

Tuesday night Katy and I went to the Hollywood Bowl. It's funny, the first question everybody asked me when I mentioned we were going was some variant of "what's on the program?"

The answer: Who cares? We were at the Bowl for a other reasons. Among them are:

- Sitting outside at dusk and enjoying the cool of the evening without being attacked by insects. I always feel smug about the lack of insects.

- Enjoying a picnic that included wine, cheese, shrimp cocktail, and complete sentences uninterrupted by children. (That one is for you parents out there.)

Sure, the pot is sweetened when you get to hear the L.A. Philharmonic for $5 each. I love walking up to the ticket booth and saying dumb things like "Give me two of your best cheap seats." Anyway, you can't go to a matinee at your local 25plex for that. (To be fair we also paid $6 for the parking shuttle. I will maintain that $16 is a pretty friendly price.)

Other benefits included getting to sing the Star Spangled Banner with the L.A. Philharmonic - we were relatively alone in our section and Katy wasn't exactly belting it out, so I felt like I was singing a solo. I also got a free trip down memory lane when they played Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, a piece I played approximately one million years ago, back when I was still molesting the bassoon in the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra.

Anyway, if you live in L.A. you really ought to go some night. If you're totally stressed out about the program drop me a line and I'll talk you through it.