Then I checked out the results of ballot initiatives in Florida, Arkansas, Arizona, and California ... and it was like 2004 all over again. Had anything really changed?
In Florida and Arizona, where they already had laws on the books stating that marriage could only be between one man and one woman, they voted to ALSO amend their state constitutions to include this definition. The reason? To protect the law from being overturned. It wasn't enough to have a law barring two loving people from joining in a union everyone else has access to, they also had to go and make sure that that law could never be changed. And it passed! In two states!
In Arkansas, they had a law barring unmarried persons from adopting children or becoming foster parents. Someone sued, and the Supreme Court decided that that was indeed unfair (it was a UNANIMOUS decision, btw). Well the people couldn't have that, so they put it to a vote and put the law right back where it had been. This isn't explicitly a law against gay people since it's barring ANY unmarried people from adopting children, but it's obviously aimed at that crowd.
And perhaps most famously, the voters in California decided that they weren't going to accept the ruling of their court either, and told all those loving gay couples, many of whom had waited decades to marry each other, that it was all for naught. Talk about a slap in the face.
In many ways I feel the Arkansas vote is the most disgusting. Though I don't understand it, I'm not too personally offended at people telling me I don't have the right to commit myself to my partner the way that they do. But saying that being gay is something so horrible that it will corrupt future generations if we let allowng them to adopt? They might as well spit on us. Or ship us all out to another state. The cry of "won't somebody please think of the children!" is supposed to be a joke on the Simpsons, not a real plea to make me feel like I'm a corrupting heathen.
I also don't quite understand the ways of this country. One of my friends wrote "We are a country of the people and by the people, and we should remain that way." But we elect our representatives in government to REPRESENT us -- to be educated on the issues and make the decisions that we all don't have the time or expertise to be able to make. These representatives appoint judges who they feel will appropriately defend our rights and freedoms. I don't know about you all, but I think ALL of the judges on all of the supreme courts of all 50 states are WAY smarter than me, and toil over these things before coming to an educated, well-reasoned conclusion. I don't always agree with them, but I agree with the system that put them there, and I respect them.
So why is it that we can just decide that we're not going to accept what they say and do it on our own? Forgive me if I trust the judgment of the Arkansas and California Supreme Courts before I trust the collective judgment of the people of those states. I don't want Bob and Nancy from down the street deciding if they think I should be able to get married or have children. I want someone who's job it is to be an EXPERT on human rights and the laws of our land to make that judgment. People talk about "activist judges," but they only consider a judge an "activist" when they make a ruling that the person doesn't agree with. It's more about ACTIVISTS in general, lobbyists and people in certain positions of power who can gather things together, get a bunch of signatures, and overturn whatever they want.
When I was 18, both of the Twin Cities where I grew up were reviewing laws that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation. This was a HUGE controversy at the time, in 1995. I remember friends from Chicago saying to me, "Are you serious?! How backwards is this town?" Then, eight years later, we had Karl Rove's masterful plan to make everyone fight against gay marriage. And here, four years after that, we're still dealing with it, as I'm sure we will for decades to come.
The saddest part to me is that I was so happy, so proud, so inspired by our country's huge willingness to elect Barack Obama. I thought, wow, people are really turning around, coming to their senses, looking at things more rationally. And now I don't feel that way at all.
I know, it's a sliding scale, so to speak. It will take a looooong time. As a wise friend said, it's now 40 years after MLK jr's assassination, and we're just now getting a black president. But I'm not asking for a gay president yet. I'll wait until 2050 for that. I just want rights. Basic human rights. Not a special classification as a civil union or domestic partnership or something. The same rights you have. I don't get special classification for being gay, so you shouldn't have it for being straight.
And so now I'll try to be patient, and wait for the day, years from now, when this will all seem like such ridiculousness.
- Mood:
excited
Edward Albee's Occupant
Signature Theatre Company at The Peter Norton Space
Off-Broadway
Highly Recommended
"This is my first interview with a dead person."
"Well this is my first interview since being dead."
The interviewee is the great American sculptor Louise Nevelson (though that three-word summation is questionable, at least in her mind), and the interviewer is The Man, a name we would expect to find in almost any Albee character list. Over two hours we hear the fascinating tale of Ms. Nevelson's life, as told by herself to both The Man and the audience. Albee has broken the fourth wall here, having both characters speak to the audience - often asking direct questions (usually met with silence, I'm sad to say, though one man in the front row gamely raised his hand when we were asked if we knew who Sholem Aleichem was) - though not so often as to be distracting to the main story.
Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes Ruehl, who was so phenomenal in Albee's "The Goat" a few seasons back, is almost unrecognizable in this role as she fully envelops herself in Ms. Nevelson's persona. Though I have never seen any footage of Ms. Nevelson myself, I was told by my companion that she had the mannerisms spot-on. Though that may be, it never felt like an impersonation, a feat that can only be attained by a truly gifted actor (such as Helen Mirren in "The Queen"). Dressed in a couple of giant brightly colored robes, with two sets of sable eyelashes attached to each lid, Ms. Ruehl's performance was, to me, most reminiscent of a slightly over-the-top Elaine Stritch: bold and brazen, defiantly confident, but with a tender core. And while a few lines were flubbed or stepped on here and there (in the third week of previews), it almost didn't matter because the entire thing was so comfortably conversational that it all seemed utterly natural.
And that is what I love about Albee at his best. His writing is so clever and so biting, and yet it's never obvious there was a clever writer behind the lines. It is all SO natural and SO fitting in regular conversation patterns, it really was as if we happened to be at Inside the Sculptors Studio or some such in-depth interview. (For this production, directed by Pat McKinnon, Albee "revisited" his 2001 script). Larry Bryggman, as the well-prepared Man, was a perfect questioner, always on point to see through the storytelling and get the heart of what is actually The Truth. And that is what "The Occupant" is truly about, after all. Who is the legend, and who is the real woman? Where does Louise Nevelson - or any of us - end, and the simple occupant of a room begin?
Street art in SoHo - "You" with a mirror
Nelson waiting for the train
Is it wrong to surreptitiously take a picture of a cute guy on the subway? (and is it REALLY wrong to post it online?)
My username is 'kumquatboy.' It's a long a potentially boring story, but here goes. In 1993, Bette Midler played Mama Rose in a TV movie of Gypsy for CBS. This was my first exposure to the musical, and the song "Mr. Goldstone" contains the line, "Have a kumquat, have two." I had never heard of a kumquat before, but it immediately stuck in my head as one of those funny sounding words great for comedy. Later that year, I was in the first meeting of a group I was in, and as a get-to-know-each-other exercise, we were supposed to go around the room and say our first name followed by a food that shared the same first letter with the first letter of our first name. Before it got to me, there was a Brenda Bean and a Brian Banana. At the time, my head could not figure out another 'b' food, so when it got to me, I said "Brian Big Kumquat." It was, of course, met with many laughs, and several of the group members started calling me "The Big Kumquat." About a year later we got our first computer at home and I had to come up with an AOL screenname. I figured it was best to use some sort of nickname, but the only one I could come up with was Big Kumquat. Even though I hadn't really been on the internet much, I knew that was going to carry possible private-parts connotations, so I just focused on the kumquat end. I added my favorite number to the end and was 'kumquat38.' When I moved out of my parents' house and started using a friends' AOL account, I morphed to the rather stupid 'kumquatish.' When I moved again and got my own AOL account, I was 'kumquat19' (half of 38, though it was also my age at the time). Something happened with that account and I had to start yet another one. I was lamenting over the sn decision to one of my roommates when he said, "I don't know why you don't just use 'kumquatboy.'" Duh! So, I did. And have been ever since. For many years I owned kumquatboy.com, and I even once had a license plate that read KQBOY 38.
2. My name is _____ because ______.
My name is Brian James Heck. Why Brian? I have no idea. James was for my maternal grandfather, whom I never met as he lived in Arizona and died when I was a young child. I have no idea where Heck comes from (and answer with an honest ignorance when people ask my nationality/background), though it sounds possibly German, and the word "hecke" means shrubbery, so maybe I come from landscapers.
3. My journal is titled ____ because ____.
My journal is titled "Only the Ones Who Believe." It's a line from the Bette Midler song "Color of Roses," whose refrain is "Only the ones who believe/ever see what they dream/ever dream what comes true." I saw her sing this song at a 2000 benefit concert in Newark before it was ever released on CD and she dedicated it to the woman who ran the charity, adding that extra "oomph" behind the message. I suppose I named my journal that in the hopes that it would remind me to believe and move forward with my dreams, though, of course, I never feel like I'm actually doing that.
4. My friends page is called ____ because ____.
My friends page is called "Friends" because that's what it is.
5. My default userpic is ____ because ____.
My default userpic is a recent shot of myself because I realized that I liked it when I'm reading other people's comments and posts and I get to see what they look like. If I'm only going to see my friends virtually, then I like to actually see THEM from time to time. :)
Let's not even beat around the bush on this one. I saw the trailer for this movie, in which several half naked oily muscle boys beat the living shit out of each other, and I couldn't wait. I didn't expect anything good. I just expected some hot eye candy.
Unfortunately, this movie was more along the lines of The Karate Kid. Sean Faris plays Jake Tyler, a midwestern high school football player (who really does look like he came right off my high school football team) who keeps getting in fights because he blames himself for the death of his father, whom he let drive home drunk one night. Jake, mom and little bro relocate to Orlando so little bro can enroll in a Tennis Academy, and within the first week Jake is "discovered" at school for his fighting ability, which is apparently all over YouTube. They like fighting in Orlando. A lot, apparently. So much so that at parties, they just form a ring and beat the living daylights out of each other.
Cam Gigandet (The O.C.), who has one of the most gorgeous physiques I've ever seen, plays Ryan McCarthy, the city's leading Beatdown-er. And he just can't have some hot head stroll in and steal his thunder. So there's a challenge that goes out, and suddenly Jake finds himself studying mixed martial arts so he stands a chance of ever beating Ryan. When I first saw Djimon Hounsou (In America, Amistad) on screen as Mr. Miyagi ... I mean, Jean Roqua ... I thought, what the hell is he doing in this?! I know the role calls for a large, built imposing yet grounded man, but surely he just needed the paycheck. As the film went on, I was glad he was there, because at least I got to see some good acting (cliched as it was) through that LONG STRETCH WITH NO SHIRTLESS GUYS FIGHTING. You see, the two fighting matches you see in the trailer are almost the only fighting scenes in the film. The rest of the time you get to see Jake deal with his rage and Jean teach him how to be a real man. Blah.
There's also a promising comic turn from Evan Peters (Invasion) as the new best friend who gets Jake into the gym to begin with, and a love story where Ryan's girl decides she wants Jake instead, natch. All in all, it's a poor remake of The Karate Kid that is only made bearable if you enjoy hot guys fighting. I do, but I still wish I had waited for the DVD and just watched those two scenes.
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Here's how it works:
1. Go to www.flickr.com
2. Type in your answer to the question in the "search" box
3. Use only the first page
4. Copy the html and paste for the answer.
1.Whats your first name?
2.What is your favorite food?
3.What school do/did you go to?
5.What is your favorite color?
6.Who is your celebrity crush?
8.Who is your favorite disney prince/princess?
9.Favorite drink?
10.Dream Vacation?
11.What is your favorite dessert?
12.What do you wanna be when you grow up?
13.What do you love most in life?
14.One word to descibe you?
15.What do you dream about?
- Mood:
geeky
Best Picture
Will win: No Country for Old Men
Should win: There Will Be Blood
I guess I just didn't get No Country like everyone else did. It was intriguing and well made, but also crazy confusing, and it sticks in my head more for that than for all of the good things.
Best Actor
Will/Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis
Has he ever not been phenomenal? Just phenomenal!
Best Actress
Will Win: Julie Christie, with a possible upset from...
Should win: Marion Cotillard
Julie was great, but not a blowout. Marion's performance, on the other hand, is one you won't forget.
Best Supporting Actor
Will win: Javier Bardem
Should win: Tom Wilkinson
Tom is like a lower form of Daniel, he's almost always amazing, as he was in Michael Clayton.
Best Supporting Actress
Will/Should win: Cate Blanchett
A really stunning performance in a crazy-ass movie. there could be an Amy Ryan or Tilda Swinton upset, but I'm gonna follow my gut on this one.
Animated Film
Will/Should win: Ratatouille
Though I will see Surf's Up was VERY good, and Persepolis was beautiful, though ultimately a trifle.
Art Direction
Will/Should win: Sweeney Todd
I mean, have you seen it? Duh.
Cinematography
Will win: No Country for Old Men, with a possible upset from ...
Should win: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
I mean, the first half of Diving Bell takes place from the main character's point of view! You even see his eye get sewn up from inside his head! That is not easy stuff to shoot.
Costume Design
Will/Should win: Elizabeth: The Golden Age, with a possible upset from Sweeney Todd
Both were perfect for the films, but Elizabeth's dresses were crrrrrrazy!
Directing
Will win: Joel & Ethan Cohen for No Country
Should win: Julian Schnabel for Diving Bell
A truly unique vision that was daring and paid off.
Documentary Feature
Will/Should win: No End in Sight
Though all of them were good, especially the very uplifting and heartfelt War/Dance.
Documentary Short
Will/Should win: Freeheld
The other three were all kind of week, and this one is about a lesbian dying of cancer. Tears, people!
Editing
Will/Should win: The Bourne Ultimatum, with a possible upset from No Country
Foreign Lanuague Film
Will/Should win: The Counterfeiters, especially since it's the only contender to get a major US release so far. The only other one I saw was Beaufort, which was kind of dull.
Makeup
Will/Should win: La Vie En Rose
Taking a woman from 19 to 47 wins out over fat suits and pirates any day.
Score
Will/Should win: Atonement
Like that typerwriter clacking to the beat didn't stick in your head? Very effective.
Song
Will/Should win: "Falling Slowly" from Once
Watch the film and then tell me that song isn't better and has more of an impact than any of the throwaways from Enchanted.
Animated Short
Will win: I Met the Walrus
Should win: Peter & the Wolf
Peter was a crowd pleaser, so it may be an upset win, but I think people will go with the frentic energy and nostalgia of Walrus.
Live Action Short
Will/Should win: At Night
This is a really hard one to pick because they were all so good. In the end, I have to choose the sad beauty of In Night over the hilarious Mozart of Pickpockets and Tanghi Argentini. But really, this is a tossup.
Sound Editing
Will/Should win: Transformers
I mean, it has the flashiest most inventive sounds, right?
Sound Mixing
Will win: Transformers
Should win: No Country for Old Men
The best thing that sticks with me about No Country is the silence ... and the sound of that tank. It could upset Transformers.
Visual Effects
Will win: Transformers
Should win: I have no earthly idea. I didn't like the CGI on Transformers, but Pirates didn't wow me either and I didn't see Golden Compass.
Adapted Screenplay
Will win: No Country for Old Men
Should win: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Even though it's in French ... stunning!
Original Screenplay
Will/Should win: Juno
Duh.
- Mood: excited
Does all of this mean I haven't been seeing movies? Come on, you know me better than that.
I've seen:
No Country for Old Men
Atonement
Juno
There Will Be Blood
American Gangster
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Sweeney Todd
Away From Her
Eastern Promises
La Vie en Rose
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Hairspray
Enchanted
Ratatouille
And I still need to see:
Michael Clayton
Into the Wild
Charlie Wilson's War
The Kite Runner
I'm Not There
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
A Mighty Heart
Gone Baby Gone
Persepolis
Lars and the Real Girl
3:10 to Yuma
The Savages
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Of course, I'll be able to focus much more once the nominations are announced next Tuesday morning.
But I feel exhausted already.
- Mood:
exhausted
83% Barack Obama
82% Chris Dodd
81% John Edwards
81% Hillary Clinton
79% Bill Richardson
74% Dennis Kucinich
71% Mike Gravel
71% Joe Biden
52% Rudy Giuliani
46% John McCain
37% Mike Huckabee
34% Mitt Romney
27% Tom Tancredo
24% Fred Thompson
22% Ron Paul
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
BOLD means the statement is true.
1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school on scholarship.
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Family vacations involved visiting vacation homes your family owned.
21. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
22. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
23. There was original art in your house when you were a child
24. You and your family lived in a single family house
25. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
26. You had your own room as a child.
27. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
28. Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
29. Had your own TV in your room in High School
30. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
31. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
32. Went on a cruise with your family
33. Went on more than one cruise with your family
34. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
35. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.
- Mood:
confused
Suddenly, it has started buzzing in this low tone whenever there's a certain type of image on the screen. As far as I can tell, it's whenever there is something particularly bright white or blue, and anytime there are kinds of graphics on the screen. It definitely has nothing to do with the sound, it's just coming out of the television.
And yes, this is a tube television, not a flat panel.
So, what does this mean? Why did it suddenly start doing it? Do I have to replace my television now?
Thanks so anyone who can help :)
So what has it all meant? I'm sure I don't know. There were times when I updated every single day and times when I didn't update for months. There have been pointless memes, lengthy discussions about news and politics, reviews galore and, somewhere in there, some actual decent writing. I do it for me and I do it for my friends. I like to keep up with what make my friends tick through their blogs, and I hope some of them want to do the same through mine.
Who knows where technology is going to be in another 10 years, but hopefully I'll be writing a 20th Anniversary post then.
In my journal ...
...one year ago: Basically, I told him that I felt I was very low priority in his life since he always cancels plans with me to work or do other things but never cancels things like volleyball or workouts or haircuts and he admitted that that was correct. We agreed that basically we have a very good friendship where we see shows, have dinner and watch TV and that's about the extent of it. I expressed a desire to feel more loved; for him to do certain things that showed he was thinking of me. He said that he can only do "what comes easy" like paying for things and making dinner reservations, and that he would not be able to (i.e. won't) do anything for me that requires any extra thought and foresight. We agreed that we are happy with what we have now, but that it's not really a relationship, or if it is it's a very mediocre one, and that if I want something more out of a relationship than what I am currently getting, then I should be allowed to find someone who can give me what I need.
...two years ago: I was just interviewed by the New York Times. Why, you ask? Because I'm producing this FABULOUS event next Saturday (the 17th) ... The Wocka Wocka Festival: A Jim Henson Celebration ... a day-long festival of Muppet Movies.
...three years ago: I was not aware that we had a national motto, much less that it was "In God We Trust," or, as this person puts it, "IN GOD WE TRUST." But, I looked it up and apparently it is, replacing E Pluribus Unum. I guess whatever goes on the money is the national motto. I found some very interesting information, btw, on how the motto got changed (religions were campaigning to ADD references to God in the Constitution and other documents in 1861. NOT when our country was founded!). If you're interested, take a look.
...four years ago: Maybe I'm just still on a high from seeing Bette in concert, but I really think this was one of the best bette concerts I have seen in a long long time. She looked SO good, she sounded amazing, and she sang song after song after song that I wasn't expecting. This was truly the tour of "songs I always wished she had sung."
...five years ago: You know what I like about snow? It's the only weather that really forces you to slow down and enjoy it. Unless, of course, you don't enjoy it. But nonetheless, it makes you take notice. With rain you just put up an umbrella and keep it away. Wind just whips in your face. But snow, snow just lightly and silently flutters down. It's so peaceful in the way it shows up. And you can't just run through it. You have to slow down and pay respect. Ahhh, snow. The problem is the day after. Yesterday it was beautiful. Today it's brown disgusting slush. ::sigh::
...six years ago: (abridged)
Brian: (walks up and stands between Hilary and Stella. Bette looks at me.)
Hilary: And this is the shy Brian.
Bette: (shakes hands with me) Nice to meet you.
Brian: Hi. I live in the area, and . . .
Bette: Oh, thank God! Please come back! Come back!
Brian: I will! I definitely plan on it.
Stella: And Brian has a little secret. Every year he runs a little party called Bettefest.
Brian: (panicking) It's just a little thing we do every year right before Hulaween because fans come from all over the country to go to Hulaween . . .
Bette: They do?!
Brian: Oh yeah! It's just a little party we have. It gives us the chance to all get together and visit and we eat and dance and . . .
Stella: We dance to your music all night long.
Bette: I would love to come to that!
Bette: So what do you do? Where do my fans work? (looks at Hilary)
Hilary: (looks shocked) I'm a sales rep . . .
Bette: Oh, okay.
Brian: I work for a performing arts center on the upper west side called Symphony Space.
Bette: Symphony Space . . . is that by the [says something I can't remember]?
Brian: I . . . don't know where that is.
Bette: Oh, no, Symphony Space is where the old Thalia used to be.
Brian: That's right. In fact, we're under renovation right now. We're re-opening the Thalia and adding a new lobby and stuff.
Bette: Oh, that's great. Who's the person who books your films?
Brian: Uhhhhh . . .
Bette: You should give me your card. We're thinking of doing a film festival up here, but we don't know how to do it.
Hilary: Show films in the park?
Bette: Yeah!
Brian: Like they do at Bryant Park in the summer?
Bette: Yes, exactly like they do at Bryant Park. We want to get more people up here.
Brian: (hands her my card) That is a wonderful idea.
Hilary: Well, we have to be going.
(Bette hugs the ladies, shakes the gentlemen's hands and says thank yous)
Bette: (to me) I'll call you. Not tomorrow, but soon.
...seven years ago: "Teach Tolerance" said the return address label on a ticket order we received in the box office the other day. Bullshit, I say. How about we stop teaching tolerance and we start teaching acceptance. Why should anyone be happy that people tolerate them. Tolerance means "sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own" or "the allowable deviation from a standard." I do not need anyone's sympathy for being who I am, and I certainly don't expect them to allow me to be that way. I am who I am, the end. Accept it. Don't just tolerate it, accept it.
...eight years ago: You know who else is cute? Rich from the boyband Five. I mean, I've always thought he was cute, but lately I just can't get his smile and piercing blue eyes out of my mind. He's so yummy. The other night it wasn't Leo or Seth I was thinking about to, um, help me out. It was Rich. ::shudder:: ... Not a lot has been going on. I've been working a lot on the antique gallery website and am just starting to get a lot more work on Inner Triangle done. Paul has agreed to draw a comic strip for us, which I think should be pretty cool. Amber and Paul and I are going to go see Atomsmaher Friday night and then Amber's taking off for Florida on Saturday. Saturday night Angela's coming into town for her birthday and we're going to frolic and see a show and she's going to stay over here. Then I'm all alone for a few weeks. It might be nice for a little while. We'll see.
- Mood:
bouncy
divaboots1. Post a list of seven TV shows you love (current or canceled).
2. Have your friends list guess your favorite character from each show.
3. When guessed, bold the line and write a little bit about why you like that character.
1. The Big Bang Theory -
kymmz - Sheldon, natch. He has the best lines, plus he's a skinny geek. Even though I would pick Johnny Galecki in a hot contest (especially since I know what he's got under those baggy clothes), Sheldon is what makes that show hilarious.2. Ugly Betty
3. Boston Legal -
divaboots - It's so Alan Shore, if only for those closing speeches. I don't for a minute think that real live juries would bring back the verdicts that these juries do since he's mostly arguing the way things should be instead of the letter of the law, but in a morality court, he would win every time. Plus, he loves and embraces Jerry and Clarence ... how can you not love that?4. House -
kymmz - I so didn't want it to be House because he's such a jerk, but who am I kidding? He's why I watch the show week after week. Not really because he's mean, but because he's got that biting wit. I almost feel like it's ok to be a jerk if you're such a hilarious jerk.5. 30 Rock -
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divaboots - Jack, played brilliantly by Alec Baldwin. You love him and hate him at the same time, but mostly he's just a big over-priviledged goof. The clip they showed on the Emmy's says it all ... Liz: Why are you wearing a tuxedo? Jack: It's after 6. What am I, a farmer?6. The Simpsons
7. Lost
Theatre
I would think one of the hardest marketing jobs would be to sell a play "about stamp collecting." Except Mauritius isn't really about stamp collecting. It's about a girl, Jackie (the fabulous Allison Pill from The Lieutenant of Inishmore), whose mother recently passed away, leaving her with her step-grandfather's stamp collection, which is also coveted by the long-lost step-sister, Mary, who was absent all through their mother's illness, but has now turned up to claim inheritance ... especially those stamps, which she claims are rightfully hers. Jackie tries to get the stamps appraised by an uninterested nerdy philatelist, but is unexpectedly pursued by the street smart Dennis (the deeeeelicious Bobby Cannavale, formerly Will's boyfriend on Will & Grace), who reeeally wants to help her sell her stamps to a roughian-philatelist (yeah), played by F. Murray Abraham. Are the precious stamps really as rare and valuable as Dennis says they are? Just how valuable? Will Jackie get royaly ripped off? Is Mary plotting behind their backs? Yup, it's actually a suspense thriller. And while it doesn't quite have you on the edge of your seat, it does certainly keep you guessing about what's going to happen next (unless you're Marlon and you go in tired, promptly fall asleep, and then tell everyone later that it's horrible). Bobby Cannavale and Allison Pill are both excellent in their roles, and while F. Murray Abraham does go a bit over the top, he does have an enchantment with the stamps that you can almost start to feel yourself. Worth seeing if you're looking for a geeky thriller.
Last weekend I saw Margaret Cho's burlesque revue The Sensuous Woman. Yes, you read that correctly. A burlesque revue. A freakish burlesque revue, that is, as we're "treated" to a stripping, um, "little person," Dorothy gone over the rainbow and beyond, a man with a creepy mustache and a leopard-print unitard, and a string of dollar bills that just won't stop. In between there's some comedy, both from Margaret and others, a couple of odd raps and some "singing" (including a live performance of that song that I just don't get, "Shoes"). The evening is capped off with Margaret herself going full monty. I really appreciate what they're trying to do with this, and the audience totally loved it. Some of it was hysterical, but a lot of it also had me mouth agape, just kind of shocked at what I was seeing. I can't say shocked and appalled, but definitely shocked. I have very mixed feelings about this show. It's got a great message, and it's crazy good fun (especially if you're drunk), but ... wow. It kinda made me uncomfortable. Is that a good thing? Maybe. Perhaps it will grow on me.
Last Monday I watched the first "episode" in the Political Cabaret series at the "real job." It was election themed, which are usually the best. But, damn, they just really weren't on their game. When they are on their game, it's very funny for a 50+ (PLUS!) Jewish Upper West Sider, and sometimes, a little amusing for me. But over the past year it hasn't been on it's game for awhile. Amber was about ready to kill me for making her go, and while I laughed here and there, I was certainly ready to flee by the time the 100 minutes were over. The funniest bit was a sketch about tap dancing under a men's room stall and ended with Larry Craig yelling "Entrapment!" which made it end on far less funny note. As for the rest of it, I won't even bore you. I don't know what it would take, but this series really needs some re-energizing. I was sitting there thinking, what would I do with it if I created it? But then I turned and looked at the full crowd of gray hair and realized that if I ran it, I might find it funnier, but those people probably wouldn't, and we'd probably end up losing a ton of money. Oh well. It is what it is.
On Saturday we went to see the new Broadway production of Cyrano de Bergerac, a play that I had heard of and basically knew the premise of (especially since it's been used in other things all over the place), but which I had never seen or read. Basically, as I'm sure you know, Cyrano (deliciously played by Kevin Kline) is a warrior with a great mastery of the english language (or French, as the case originally was) and a giant nose, and he is in love with his cousin(!!), Roxane (Broadway newcomer Jennifer Affleck, nee Garner), who also loves language and a man who can hurl it lovingly at her, but who has fallen in love with the goooooorgeous Christian (played by the goooooorgeous Daniel Sunjata from Rescue Me and The Devil Wears Prada and Tony-nominated for Take Me Out). Cyrano and Christian devise a plan where the former feeds the later all of his lines, and Roxane therefore unknowingly falls in love with Christian's face and Cyrano's words. I think the play really truly hinges on Cyrano's performance (confirmed by a fellow audience member who remarked, "This is boring" to a friend during a Cyrano-less scene in Act II), and Kevin Kline, perhaps the greatest living American classical actor, does not disappoint. The amazing poetry trips lightly off his tongue and he is both remarkably hilarious and desperately tragic. In the brief moment after his final speech before the curtain fell, a single "Bravo!" rang out from the back of the crowd, and the rest of the audience joined in with ecstatic cheers during the curtain call. Daniel Sunjata was good as Christian and Jennifer Garner was slightly more than sufficient as Roxane, but it really doesn't matter. The play is called Cyrano for a reason. If you can take classical works (unlike the woman next to me), this is a must-see.
Movies
30 Days of Night is about a town in Alaska where they get, surprise!, 30 days of night. So, of course, they're overrun by some kind of zombie-vampire mix of crazy people who can't live in the sunlight and eat people. Josh Hartnett is the sheriff, trying to protect a small group of survivors, including his recently separated wife. Blah blah blah, attack, run, attack, run, hide, fight, I'll surrender myself for the cause, run, blah, attack, hide, I'll surrender myself for the cause, the end. There, now you don't have to see it. (For the record, I went because my best friend of the male variety loves the comic books.)
Concerts
Saw a great jazz concert last week at the "real job." I'm not going to say who because I don't want this to get picked up by anybody's Google Alerts, but suffice it to say it was a famous trumpeter and it was a REALLY good time. I just wish we could sell more tickets to concerts like this. Why more people don't like jazz is beyond me. It was tight! :)
Theatre
Jito and I went to see Walmartopia the Musical! the other night. It had played NYMF (Musical Theatre Festival) last year and then came back this year with a commercial Off Broadway run with Equity players. I thought it would be more of an expose on the poor practices of Wal Mart, though I suppose everyone knows all about those anyway. Instead it was a comedy where the corporate heads of Wal Mart were played up to be big evil plan hatching old men, and in a twist a la Jerry Springer The Opera, a mother-daughter hero pair get thrown into an evil scientists marchine where they're sent into a future where everything in the country is run by Wal Mart and Vermont has seceeded and been labeled a terrorist state. I can see the funny, but unfortunately it wasn't quite hitting right. The performances and voices were excellent, and a second act scene where the Wal Arts players put on a production about evil Vermont was hilarious, but overall the show didn't quite hit the top shelf it was aiming for. It was a decent night out, but I wouldn't necessarily reccommend it.
A little over a week ago, Marlon and I saw the new version of Forbidden Broadway, titled Rude Awakening. Usually new versions of FB are made of largely recycled material, as the same shitty long running shows play on and on, but this one used previous material rather sparingly. Instead we were treated hilarious pieces on Company (Raul Esparza singing "Weirdly Intense" to the tune of Being Alive), Grey Gardens ("They used to call me Broadway Belter Ebersole"), Mary Poppins, Legally Blonde, Xanadu and, of course, an extended piece on Spring Awakening that went from "Mama please give me/sex education ... and a maxi pad" to a prophecy about how the national tour of the show will be "Totally Bleeped." As always, FB is only funny to people who go see Broadway shows often enough to get the jokes, but if that's you, you shouldn't miss it. This is one of their best shows in years.
A week before that, Marlon and I saw the revival of Terence McNally's play The Ritz at Roundabout's Studio 54. A heavy-set Italian man with a hit out on him goes to hide in what he thinks is the last place he will be found: a gay bathhouse (is there any other kind?). He's barely in the door when he's spotted by a forceful chubby chaser who pursues him throughout the show. He's befriended by the "wacky" guy with a room upstairs (think Paul Lynde), and the twins who keep the place clean, who also tell the horrendous lounge singer (hysterically played by Rosie Perez) that he's an agent who's come to see her act. Of course, this gets her all over him as well. Is there any deep meaning to this show? Of course not. But who needs it when you have Rosie Perez singing, "The sun'll come out ... manana?" Maybe it's better for gays than for straights, but all of the older Roundabout subscribers around us seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly as well. Marlon claims that he thought it was too over the top, but I have a feeling that a year from now he'll change his mind, like he did on Based on a Totally True Story.
Movies
Amber and I recently went to see The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which is almost as long as the title. A lot of times I get geekily excited about long movies because I think the director just had so much to say he couldn't possibly cut it down. Unfortunately, often the director is just wrong. This movie wasn't horribly boring, but it certainly could have used some more excising. Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt were, not surprisingly, wonderful. And the look and feel of the film was great. But, seriously, considering that there's not a lot of action and it's mostly squinting and worrying, two hours is plenty. Still, see it.
I also saw this awesome documentary called Helvetica that is indeed about the font. Ok, so I was a little bored about an hour into it. It had it's peaks and valleys. But if you are at all interested in design or advertising or typography, you'll surely find it fascinating. It not only looks at the history of the creation of the font and it's usage over the years, but also looks at different theories in typography design through the decades. The screening I was at was almost sold out, though it was in a small auditorium and it was surely the only screening in the city, but still. I wouldn't be surprised if this one gets nominated for an Oscar, though I doubt it will actually win.
Concerts
Many weeks ago, Amber and I went to see the Opera-for-All concert at City Opera where they gave a preview of their upcoming season by presenting songs from several shows concert-style. Our seats were in BFE, but that's to be expected when they're all $25 and I bought them so late. The concert itself (I sense a theme) was good, but seemed a little boring about halfway through. The song from the new opera Margaret Garner (based on Tori Morrison's "Beloved") was wonderful, and I would like to see that production. After the concert there was a party in the, um, big, open space, where the rock band East Village Opera Company played ... and, yes, it rocked. It totally made up for whatever boringness there had been earlier.
Shortly after that I went with my friend Rich to the opening night of the new season for the New York Philharmonic, where they played an all Dvorak program. The overture was rousing, but the cello concerto was a little long in the tooth (See! Theme!). Yo Yo Ma was brilliant, as expected, but Rich was nodding off like crazy. The Symphony, after the intermission and a glass of champagne, kept us much more entertained. It was a nice evening out, but a little dull for an opening night.
A week before that I attended the first concert of the American Symphony Orchestra's Classics Desclassified series at the Symph. This is the series where the maestro spends an hour taking you through the piece, giving you background, telling you what to listen for, showing influences and whatnot. And then after intermission they play the piece in it's entirety and then give the audience a chance to ask questions. It was Dvorak again, but the much more fulfilling New World Symphony. In true gay style, I teared up at the end.
