Got the chance to visit my sister and her family in Boston. They treated me to the sites and great restaurants (Legal Seafood and such). To pay them back, I got tickets for us to the Boston Pops. I was excited because John Williams was conducting the Boston Symphony in a selection of his famous soundtracks (Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Jaws, ET, Superman and etc.).
That day was busy, for lunch we stopped at local joint for pizza. My autistic nephew loves cheese pizza. In his twenties, he can eat a huge amount of pizza (if only we saw this coming).
When we got there, the symphony hall was old but stately. The acoustics was great; no need to amplify anything because everyone could hear everything (unfortunately). We sat in the narrow balcony on the left where we could see everything and everyone could see us.
The performance began. I could see that John Williams was not only a brilliant composer but also an impeccable and commanding conductor. In starting each song, he held the audience with baited breath and utter silence as everyone awaited the queue of his stick to begin his next brilliant piece.
I dont think I shall ever remember which song it was (its still all a haze), but as he queued the orchestra, he once again held the entire place in utter silence and anticipation. The moment seemed like eternity. The instant before he queued his stick, my nephew ripped out the biggest and longest fart Ive ever heard. It was unmistakable. In that moment with all that background silence, you could measure the reverb time of the hall (my audiophile background). It resonated. I seem to remember his sister turning to him and saying in slow motion, "Nooooooooooo....!"
I saw John Williams cock his head to one side (as if he heard and recognized it). The whole family was frozen in shock. Williams, an utter professional, reset his head, extended the moment and then initiated the piece. Everyone looked right at us (instead of the orchestra). My autistic nephew is very sweet and has a good heart but tends to speak loudly when excited. When his father looked at him with disgust, he looked back and loudly shouted, No more fart! No more fart! No more fart! (stating that he won't do it again). Everyone thought he was telling his father not to fart any more. My whole family laughed until the wave of odor sobered us. The rest of the moment was a haze.
At intermission, everyone around us quickly left their seats. I think the evening ended with the playing of the Stars and Stripes.
My whole family, including my nephew, to this day still find it utterly amusing. We refer to this incident as The Boston Pop.
Note: I have not been to Boston since.
