I don't know what got into me last night but I spontaneously decided to chicken fry our veal cutlets. At least I think they were chicken fried. And I used a wok instead of a skillet. And the wok was treated instead of cast iron. Anyway.
I got home. Started heating up the oil. Mixed some spices into some flour. Cracked an egg. Dredged the cutlets through the egg and flour and then dropped everything into the boiling hot oil. I've never been good at frying. Last night's dish was acceptable but not great. It was more like veal cutlet tempura than chicken fried veal. Maybe olive oil isn't the best for deep frying.
Why would I do this at 11:00 at night? I don't know. I just don't know.
April 28, 2007
April 27, 2007
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Jon and I recently purchased a refurbished, Sandisk MP3 player from Woot. It was only $30.00 and with this purchase, we have landed feet first in the 21st century of technology. Between our recent purchase of cell phones with cameras, our upgrade from digital cable service to DVR and this recent purchase, we are finally the techno savvy Gen X'ers we were always meant to be. Some friends showed us how to convert our CD's into MP3's. They came over on Monday night. We ate pizza and drank beer (I think we still owe money for pizza come to think of it). And had a great time. We got some good advice and in the process, Jon and I have discovered a new hobby that we can enjoy together. We only purchased one to see how we liked it and now I'm sorry we didn't buy two. It's not that it's a problem sharing it, except that when we're sharing it, only one of us can use it at a time.Last night, Jon added the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou. When he brought it to bed and sharing the earphones, we listened to my favorite song from the soundtrack, Big Rock Candy Mountain by Harry McClintock. I'm sure I'm not the first one to discover the joy of this song. The lyrics speak of a hobo paradise where everything a hobo could dream of exists in abundance.
The reason I love this song so much is it exemplifies how people dream who they are. For example, if you are school teacher, you might dream of having your own school where all the teachers work with a curriculum that you've designed; where all the supplies grow with the apples on the trees in back of the school house; where all the children behave like angels and all the parents agree with your teachings and the school's paradigm. If you're a fire fighter you might dream of a machine that can be lowered over a fire to snuff it out immediately without causing further damage to the people within or the structure without.
At Big Rock Candy Mountain, the hobos dream of empty trains where they can ride alone; where bulldogs are rendered harmless by their rubber teeth and where every barn is full of hay for their comfort. Here are the lyrics, if you don't already know them. Read them, and you'll see what I mean. It's charming.
Big Rock Candy Mountain
One evening as the sun went down and the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hiking and he said boys I'm not turning
I'm headin for a land that's far away beside the crystal fountains
So come with me we'll go and see the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains there's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes and you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars are all empty and the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
Where the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled eggs
The farmer's trees are full of fruit and the barns are full of hay
Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains the jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in
There ain't no short handled shovels, no axes saws or picks
I'm a goin to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
I'll see you all this coming fall in the Big Rock Candy Mountains
April 26, 2007
American Idol Results Show
I recorded the show because I was working and then later fast forwarded through most of it. Especially, the part with Bono.
Nobody was sent home. Which of course they didn't tell you until the last possible moment of the program because they were fund raising.
Honestly, is it necessary? Between News Corporation, Coca Cola and Ford - those three alone could wipe out hunger in most of the regions they were raising money for. Isn't it enough that we buy and read publications put out by News Corp, drink Coke and drive Mustangs? Those companies wouldn't exist without the buying American public.
You get my meaning, right?
Just let the show be the entertaining show it is without trying to extract duckets (derived from ducats) from its adoring audience. If we want to give to charity, we'll do it on our own.
Nobody was sent home. Which of course they didn't tell you until the last possible moment of the program because they were fund raising.
Honestly, is it necessary? Between News Corporation, Coca Cola and Ford - those three alone could wipe out hunger in most of the regions they were raising money for. Isn't it enough that we buy and read publications put out by News Corp, drink Coke and drive Mustangs? Those companies wouldn't exist without the buying American public.
You get my meaning, right?
Just let the show be the entertaining show it is without trying to extract duckets (derived from ducats) from its adoring audience. If we want to give to charity, we'll do it on our own.
Libretto by Sir Mix-A-Lot
Over at Addled Writer, I found this video of Baby Got Back done in the style of Gilbert & Sullivan. If you are old enough, you'll recognize the footage from a popular 80's movie.
April 25, 2007
American Idol - Six Give Back
Because American Idol is "giving back" the contestants were required to sing inspirational songs. All six constestants chose songs meant to inspire people to want to change the world in which we live from a place of misery and despair to one of happiness and charity. And in between we were shown footage of Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest touring slums in Africa. Later we were shown footage of Randy Jackson touring the distaster stricken areas of Louisiana. All of the footage was very depressing - particularly the fly covered, starving orphans in Africa.
And somehow, in spite of all that sadness, everyone was somehow able to put on a show.
Chris Richardson sang a ho-hum version of Change the World by Eric Clapton. However, I couldn't tell if Chris's blah performance was because of who he is, how he sang or if the song itself was bland.
Melinda sang a real pretty song that I never heard before but it was real pretty and she sang it real well. In my opinion it was the best performance of the evening.
Blake Lewis sang Imagine. And I tried to imagine that the song was more exciting than it was. I kept waiting for him to break out into his beatbox routine and to make the song more exciting that it was. But I guess that he would have been blaspheming John Lennon somehow had he done that.
I didn't believe that Lakisha believed in her ability to belt out "I Believe". She was accused by judges of screaming through most of the song. There's that pesky technique thing again. I believe in her ability to improve. I just wish she had a better coach because I'm afraid she is going to blow out her voice before American Idol is over.
Phil Stacey was so boring it was like watching paint dry or water boil when he sang a really dull Garth Brooks ballad. He was able to work some kind of magic on the judges though because they thought he sounded good and that he's finally coming into his own. I still can't believe that Gina Glocksen went home before this guy.
Jordin Sparks closed the show with "You'll Never Walk Alone". Yes. I agree that she was emotionally connected to the song and that she's entertaining to watch but it sounded to me like she was shouting even more than Lakisha was, an observation NOT made by the judges. The judges thought it was the best American Idol performance ever. I have to disagree. She was shouting. But sometimes I get the feeling that the judges really, really, really, really want America to pick Jordin as the A-number-one Idol.
I predict that Blake, Lakisha and Phil will be in the bottom three tonight and sadly, I predict that either Blake or Lakisha will be going home. Phil has at least one more week in him. If he doesn't go home tonight, which I doubt will happen, he'll be going home next week.
And somehow, in spite of all that sadness, everyone was somehow able to put on a show.
Chris Richardson sang a ho-hum version of Change the World by Eric Clapton. However, I couldn't tell if Chris's blah performance was because of who he is, how he sang or if the song itself was bland.
Melinda sang a real pretty song that I never heard before but it was real pretty and she sang it real well. In my opinion it was the best performance of the evening.
Blake Lewis sang Imagine. And I tried to imagine that the song was more exciting than it was. I kept waiting for him to break out into his beatbox routine and to make the song more exciting that it was. But I guess that he would have been blaspheming John Lennon somehow had he done that.
I didn't believe that Lakisha believed in her ability to belt out "I Believe". She was accused by judges of screaming through most of the song. There's that pesky technique thing again. I believe in her ability to improve. I just wish she had a better coach because I'm afraid she is going to blow out her voice before American Idol is over.
Phil Stacey was so boring it was like watching paint dry or water boil when he sang a really dull Garth Brooks ballad. He was able to work some kind of magic on the judges though because they thought he sounded good and that he's finally coming into his own. I still can't believe that Gina Glocksen went home before this guy.
Jordin Sparks closed the show with "You'll Never Walk Alone". Yes. I agree that she was emotionally connected to the song and that she's entertaining to watch but it sounded to me like she was shouting even more than Lakisha was, an observation NOT made by the judges. The judges thought it was the best American Idol performance ever. I have to disagree. She was shouting. But sometimes I get the feeling that the judges really, really, really, really want America to pick Jordin as the A-number-one Idol.
I predict that Blake, Lakisha and Phil will be in the bottom three tonight and sadly, I predict that either Blake or Lakisha will be going home. Phil has at least one more week in him. If he doesn't go home tonight, which I doubt will happen, he'll be going home next week.
Grey Gardens - Again
I'm working at Grey Gardens again this week. It's still just as good as ever. Actually, I think it might be a little better. I've noticed subtle changes in the various performers since the last time I worked the show which was about a month ago. Tony voters are out and about, getting their last looks at new shows and revivials that will make up the Tony nominees in a couple of weeks or so. Lots of shows have been tweeked or fine tuned for the occassion. The dramatic pauses are a 1/2 second longers. The knowing glances are a little bit more knowing. You get the idea.It's been a while since I've spotted any celebrities. Today, I spotted Bruce Vilanch watching the show from fourth orchestra. I found out from a random patron that he recently performed in Hairspray as Edna Turnblatt. That random patron also mentioned that he was very funny in the part. But I don't know. I saw Harvey Fierstein do it and he was great. I can't imagine anyone else doing the part better (with the exception fo Divine of course, who didn't have to sing and dance in the John Waters movie, I might add). It's a shame they tapped John Travolta for the movie version of the musical version of Hairspray. Fierstein would have been just fine and I'm sure Travolta won't be as funny.
Yesterday, walking down the street, passed by Roger Rees, who has been in a lot of plays and movies. I only know him from Men In Tights. He played the Sheriff of Rotingham. He looks amazingly sexy for someone born in 1944. Amazingly. Very handsome man.
April 21, 2007
What a Day
Today's matinee was challenging. Well, there were two challenges that I met. This week, I'm working near Times Square so gettting through the crowd alone was challenging.
When you come up that first staircase from the subway at the Times Square station you are instantly confronted with thousands of people - New Yorkers, tourists, Martians - walking past and through each other to get to the street. When I exit Times Square, I walk toward the Lichtenstein and hang a left for the escalators. Usually there is either a group or an individual performing there, making noise and causing people stand in useless clumps. More often than not the performers aren't worth the trouble: a guy playing garbage cans like they were drums; a man dancing with a doll as his fake partner; kids dancing, doing flips and jumping around; a woman playing a saw. Every now and then the gathering crowd is treated to an actual jazz quintet or a classical violinist earning money while attending Juilliard. But that's only occassionally. Usually, it's just dreck.
But that wasn't the first challenge. That's just a normal commute through Times Square station. The first challenge, after fighting my way through the crowds on Broadway, was the surprise of having to fight a crowd where I didn't expect there to be a crowd. Right in the middle of the street and not far from the theater, Project Dance had set up a platform flanked by enormous speakers, so their dancers could perform for New York City. I have no idea at all why they were doing this. But their music was extremely, extremely loud with the thumping bass that always accompanies bad and loud music. So while I was pushing my way through the mesmerized crowd that at that moment was watching teenagers in ridiculous costumes performing a routine to Puttin' On The Ritz, my first thought was whether or not my patrons were going to hear this loud music while they were watching (and listening to) the play. I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough headsets.
Once I entered the main auditorium I met my second challenge. Down by the stage, in front of orchestra right, the theater's electrician was setting up a closed captioning board for a special group that was coming in for the matinee. Panic set in. Between the loud music coming from the street and the 70 or so partially to totally deaf people that were coming to the show, I was very concerned I wasn't going to have enough headsets. Add that there is usualy a high volume of distribution on matinees and that today was the first truly nice day we've seen in a while, I was genuinely concerned my demand was going to exceed the 100 or so headsets I had in my booth.
Quick but separate conversations with the house manager and the person in charge of the closed captioning group soon put me at ease. The house manager said that the performance would be halted for the duration of the show. The person in charge of the special event for the hearing impaired assured me that everyone in her group probably would NOT be taking a headset, just one out of every four or so.
In the end, I only handed out 50 headsets. Normally, that would be considered high volume, but I was happy with that number because that means I had enough for everyone. Whew!
When you come up that first staircase from the subway at the Times Square station you are instantly confronted with thousands of people - New Yorkers, tourists, Martians - walking past and through each other to get to the street. When I exit Times Square, I walk toward the Lichtenstein and hang a left for the escalators. Usually there is either a group or an individual performing there, making noise and causing people stand in useless clumps. More often than not the performers aren't worth the trouble: a guy playing garbage cans like they were drums; a man dancing with a doll as his fake partner; kids dancing, doing flips and jumping around; a woman playing a saw. Every now and then the gathering crowd is treated to an actual jazz quintet or a classical violinist earning money while attending Juilliard. But that's only occassionally. Usually, it's just dreck.But that wasn't the first challenge. That's just a normal commute through Times Square station. The first challenge, after fighting my way through the crowds on Broadway, was the surprise of having to fight a crowd where I didn't expect there to be a crowd. Right in the middle of the street and not far from the theater, Project Dance had set up a platform flanked by enormous speakers, so their dancers could perform for New York City. I have no idea at all why they were doing this. But their music was extremely, extremely loud with the thumping bass that always accompanies bad and loud music. So while I was pushing my way through the mesmerized crowd that at that moment was watching teenagers in ridiculous costumes performing a routine to Puttin' On The Ritz, my first thought was whether or not my patrons were going to hear this loud music while they were watching (and listening to) the play. I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough headsets.
Once I entered the main auditorium I met my second challenge. Down by the stage, in front of orchestra right, the theater's electrician was setting up a closed captioning board for a special group that was coming in for the matinee. Panic set in. Between the loud music coming from the street and the 70 or so partially to totally deaf people that were coming to the show, I was very concerned I wasn't going to have enough headsets. Add that there is usualy a high volume of distribution on matinees and that today was the first truly nice day we've seen in a while, I was genuinely concerned my demand was going to exceed the 100 or so headsets I had in my booth.
Quick but separate conversations with the house manager and the person in charge of the closed captioning group soon put me at ease. The house manager said that the performance would be halted for the duration of the show. The person in charge of the special event for the hearing impaired assured me that everyone in her group probably would NOT be taking a headset, just one out of every four or so.
In the end, I only handed out 50 headsets. Normally, that would be considered high volume, but I was happy with that number because that means I had enough for everyone. Whew!
Cute Puppy Playing
I was looking for something cute on YouTube that I could use on my site by searching for "puppies playing". I found a lot of really sweet home videos, but this one was my favorite. It's really, really cute. This puppy is named Gizmo. Did I mention it was cute?
April 19, 2007
American Idol - Sanjaya Went Home
Even Vote For The Worst couldn't help Sanjaya Malakar after his dismal performance on Wednesday night's show.
So for all you Sanjaya haters out there, congratulations.
So for all you Sanjaya haters out there, congratulations.
April 18, 2007
American Idol - 7- Country Music
Nothing slows down the momentum of well-liked and well performing contestants like Country Music week on American Idol. With the exception of Melinda and Jordin who could sing the contents of their dresser drawers with meaning, everyone did poorly last night. One might argue that Phil Stacey did well last night, but as I've mentioned time and time again, I don't like him.
Country music is always challenging for the contestants because usually the songs are boring unless they are sung by the incredible personalities for whom they were written. Martina McBride was the guest mentor and she'll perform on tonight's show. Like Jennifer Lopez, she took a break from her busy touring schedule to work with the contestants. It must have been a real hardship. She was lovely with the contestants like all the mentors. I'd be amazed if any of the mentors actually said what they thought truly about anybody they have helped.
Phil Stacey sang "Where the Blacktop Ends" by Keith Urban. I'm not a country music fan and as a result, unless the song is exceptional, all the songs sound the same to me. I couldn't tell you one thing about that song except that the lyrics were . . . oh no, I can't tell you anything about those either. Never mind. Apparently, the judges felt he was in his element, that he's most comfortable singing country music. I have to admit, his performance last night had more personality than previous performances combined but I still don't like him as a solo performer, maybe as part of a Naval singing group or something. Oh yeah. That is what he does when he's not on American Idol. I almost forgot. I still can't believe Gina Glocksen went home before this guy.
Jordin Sparks sang Broken Wing by Martina McBride. In her little segment with Martina McBride, McBride was blown away by Jordin Sparks. And after she performed the song, the audience and the judges were very impressed. Simon even told her that with that song, he finally sees Jordin as the American Idol. Again, I couldn't tell you what the song is about. But I can tell you that Jordin is more enjoyable to watch than most of the remaining contestants. And listening to her sing is an absolute joy.
Sanjaya really disappointed me last night. He picked the absolute worst song anyone could have picked for a singing competition. Bonnie Raitt wrote Something To Talk About and sings it like no one else can because she wrote it for herself. I've already explained my theory that when a song writer writes a song for him or herself, only that artist can perform it well. You know already that I am a fan of Sanjaya and before last night I believed him to be a fairly decent singer. If I'd only seen last night's performance, I wouldn't have understood at all why he was on the show. He didn't do anything to make the song his own. He moved around awkwardly in a bad outfit which made him hard to watch. And he forgot to apply any technique or music theory he's learned over the years to anything he was singing, which made him hard to listen to. Add the fact that he repeated "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About" about 50 times in two minutes and you've got an equation for the most boring performance of the evening.
Lakisha sang the corniest song of the evening, Jesus Takes the Wheel by Carrie Underwood. Lakisha was really out of her element on this one. She was connected to the song emotionally but her voice was not a good match for the arrangement. But I can't blame her for having trouble. Country music isn't that interesting and it's very, very hard to make it interesting. Especially if you have no real technique or music theory to lean on which is what I suspect is the contributing to factor to all of Lakisha's weak performances. If only she had more technique to rely on maybe she could have made that incredibly corny song work.
Chris Richardson proved last night how much he truly does suck. He's been hiding behind pop songs which don't require much from singers in terms of range and personality. Last night, he sang out of key and entirely through his nose. He chose the song Mayberry by Rascal Flatts, a sentimental song about how simple life used to be for the singer when he lived in Mayberry. This was a bad choice for Chris, not just because he couldn't sing the song, but because he's too young to sing a song a like this. This is a good song for someone 40 and older to sing, someone whose lived a little bit. He's too young to make any connections at all with a song like this.
Melinda Doolittle chose a great song. Up until Melinda all the song choices were ballads or as boring as ballads. "Trouble is a Woman" by Julie Reeves was upbeat and fun - more like a square dancing song than a corny ballad. The song allowed Melinda yet another opportunity to show off all of her fantastic singing qualities - including phrasing, lyric interpretation and good technique. (And by technique I mean tools in her singing arsenal that contribute to how she sounds when she sings.) It was the best performance of the evening.
Blake Lewis sang "When the Stars Go Blue" by Tim McGraw. Boring. It was boring. To me it sounded like he was singing out of key for the whole song. He looked uncomfortable to me. There wasn't much he could do to that song to make it his own and I don't really know why he chose it.
That's my round up. Who do I think will be going home tonight? I have no idea. I just hope it's not Melinda or Jordin.
April 17, 2007
Sadness on Virginia Tech Campus
Yesterday's tragedy at Virginia Tech makes me feel sad for the people who lost members of their family and beyond. People who were present while their friends and teachers were being wounded and murdered now have to live with the trauma caused by the acts of one highly disturbed individual. Not that I don't feel bad for the families. Of course I do. But it's not just the families that suffer. Every time something terrible like this happens, any innocence associated with an institutution where a tragedy of this nature occurs is irrevocably lost.
People who thought that Virginia Tech was a safe place to work or attend classes or send their children to school will never think that again.
Jon and I first of heard about the shooting driving home from a weekend in South Jersey and I turned on 1010 WINS for a traffic report. It reminded me of when I was listening to a news report on NPR about a plane crashing into one of the towers at the World Trade Center. When I heard that news it didn't quite make sense. I understood the words the newscaster was speaking in his well modulated voice but didn't comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy until much, much later. And innocence was lost. Before that happened, it never occurred to many of us that anyone would hijack a plane and kill thousands of people in order to honor some suicide pact made in the name of God.
After watching the news last night and listening to the convocation this afternoon on the radio; after watching interviews with survivors of the gunman's rampage and hearing the speeches given by President Bush and religious leaders at the memorial service on the Virginia Tech campus it is only now that I comprehend the full extent of this tragedy. I'm sure no one expected the academic and hopeful environment of a place like a college campus to be disturbed by the actions of one destructive and suicidal individual.
To the people who lost those 32 family members, you have my deepest sympathy.
People who thought that Virginia Tech was a safe place to work or attend classes or send their children to school will never think that again.
Jon and I first of heard about the shooting driving home from a weekend in South Jersey and I turned on 1010 WINS for a traffic report. It reminded me of when I was listening to a news report on NPR about a plane crashing into one of the towers at the World Trade Center. When I heard that news it didn't quite make sense. I understood the words the newscaster was speaking in his well modulated voice but didn't comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy until much, much later. And innocence was lost. Before that happened, it never occurred to many of us that anyone would hijack a plane and kill thousands of people in order to honor some suicide pact made in the name of God.
After watching the news last night and listening to the convocation this afternoon on the radio; after watching interviews with survivors of the gunman's rampage and hearing the speeches given by President Bush and religious leaders at the memorial service on the Virginia Tech campus it is only now that I comprehend the full extent of this tragedy. I'm sure no one expected the academic and hopeful environment of a place like a college campus to be disturbed by the actions of one destructive and suicidal individual.
To the people who lost those 32 family members, you have my deepest sympathy.
April 13, 2007
Curtains for Onion Breath
This week I've been handing out headsets hand over fists to the patrons at Curtains currently playing at the Hirshfeld Theater. My headset console is located in a former closet, a situation which invites intimacy apparently. The patrons, very often, stand inches from my face when they make their requests for headsets "that work".
I'm not sure what's happening but onions seem to be popular with my older lady customers. More than half the women I've helped have expressed more than their need for a device to help them hear better. The sulfuric, acidic smell of onions has passed through many of their dentures and into my sweet unassuming face.
Of course, I can't say anything to them. A lot of the ladies are really sweet, and I've made at least $20 in tips this week.
But lordy loo. It takes a lot of energy to stand there smiling in the face of so much bad breath.
I just want to offer them all breath mints.
I'm not sure what's happening but onions seem to be popular with my older lady customers. More than half the women I've helped have expressed more than their need for a device to help them hear better. The sulfuric, acidic smell of onions has passed through many of their dentures and into my sweet unassuming face.
Of course, I can't say anything to them. A lot of the ladies are really sweet, and I've made at least $20 in tips this week.
But lordy loo. It takes a lot of energy to stand there smiling in the face of so much bad breath.
I just want to offer them all breath mints.
April 12, 2007
April Showers Bring Aches and Pains
This damp weather is a good sign that Spring is here and that the weather will soon be warming up. But the damp weather is making me stiff and achy from head to toe. I'll probably end up taking some ALEVE to aleviate my symptoms.
April 09, 2007
The Sopranos - Episode 78 - Home Movies
The Sopranos finale started with a subtle episode that was designed to feel like a dream. A big chunk of the show was spent up in the Adirondacks where Bobby Bacala and his lovely wife Janice (Tony's sister) have a summer home. The show's title comes from Janet's gift of home movies Janice converted to DVD for her brother's birthday. It also suggests that the past somehow played a part in the storyline. The past haunted Tony and Janice throughout the episode.
===========
Last night's episode started with a flashback to the day Johnny Sac got arrested. But something was added to the flashback. If you recall, Tony was meeting with Johnny that day, but ran away when he saw the Feds coming over a hill. He ran home for miles through the snow. In this flashback, we see Tony dropped his gun. And we were shown a young boy watching from a window in Johnny Sac's house. I'm still not clear who the young boy was and I'm actually not sure he was watching from Johnny's house.
After this scene, Tony and Carmella were awoken by pounding on the front door, the kind of pounding that policemen do early in the morning when they're hot for an arrest. Carmella jumped out of bed and asked "is this it?" I was wondering the same thing. Was this it? Was Tony going to be arrested? He was.
The Essex County police department arrested him because his gun was used in crimes committed by the young man who had found the gun in the flashback. The charge may have been that Tony Soprano owned a gun? I'm not sure how that works, but it doesn't matter because the charges were dropped so the Feds could pick up the charges later in the episode. We briefly saw Tony in jail. And just to keep the show feeling real, the scene came complete with a guy using the toilet for all the world to see. Tony made bail and was welcomed home by his family and crew with the exception Christopher whose absence was not explained. In a parallel scene we see the Brooklyn crew welcoming back Phil from his stay in the hospital. In those few minutes, we caught a glimpse of most of the people who will most likely be making up the drama for the upcoming season.
Well. None of the above really matters much for the episode at hand except that it caught up the viewers with the what's been happening since the last season. When the Sopranos is on hiatus, the characters lives advance - they do not stop. So, we get the feeling that we are really following their story lines in some kind of real time, well, real for television anyway if that makes sense.
So. While Tony was dealing with his arrest, Janice was hassling Carmela about coming up to the Adirondacks for Tony's birthday. Carmela was hesitant but Janice was a total dick about it. After Tony's lawyer told him the gun charges have been dropped, Tony decided to make the trip after all -Most likely because Bobby was working out some kind of shady dealings with some Canadians. I don't think he really cared about seeing his sister.
The scenery up in the Adirondacks was breathtaking. And Tony spent a lot of time staring out at the big lake much like he stares out at his pool. While Tony and Bobby were bonding over automatic weapons in the woods and speed boats on the lake, Bobby revealed a weakness to Tony. He told Tony that he never killed anyone, that his father never wanted him to be a killer. We see Tony filing that one away in his mental cabinet under "things to use against people later on."
And while the men were out playing, Janice was filling in Carmela on the work she'd been doing with her therapist. Her therapist explained to Janice that their mother was a splitter - that she wasn't happy unless everyone was at odds with each other. And that once Livia's children started talking, she stopped loving them because she didn't like her family to express opinions.
Chase, the show's writer, always manages to keep Tony's mother involved in the story line.
The birthday dinner was surprisingly tension free, except for when Janice told Tony he's changed. Tension started building right there because we could see Tony filing that one away under "grudges to hold against my sister." Tony received two very nice gifts. One was a set of golf clubs from Carmela and the other were the home movies mentioned earlier on.
Dinner blended into a Monopoly game which started out nice enough. But as the liquor bottles emptied tensions started rising. I was nervous watching the game because Tony can't stand seeing his sister have a good time and he always has to ruin it and I knew this was some kind of quiet before some kind of storm. The first indication that there was going to be a problem came when Bobby objected to the Free Parking rule, which is an accepted home rule that everyone plays with - except Bobby Bacala. And when he started saying how it's wrong for people to make up rules in a game which has printed rules, I got the feeling he was referring to something else, perhaps about his life as a mobster, perhaps about how the rules of being promoted to Capo don't quite apply to him because Tony never moves him ahead.
As the bottles emptied, the game grew more intense and Janice decided it would be fun to tell a frightening story about when Tony and Janice's father shot a bullet through a woman's beehive hairdo. Tony objected to Janice telling this story because it paints their father in a bad light, and he can't accept the fact that his father had any thing to do with the bad parenting he recievedd. So, Tony started to make cutting remarks about his sister in retalliation. Eventually, Bobby stood up for his wife and asked Tony to stop dogging her. But Tony didn't stop and Bobby slugged him and they had a big fight and Bobby won. Bobby beat the tar out of Tony. After the fight Bobby ran out to his car and Carmela helped Tony off the floor. Tony had gotten a monopoly piece stuck to his face (some thankful humor to dissipate the scaryfeeling and give the viwer a brake from the tension - a perfect example of good directing/writing whatever) and Carmela flicked it off.
The next day Bobby and Tony went to their meeting with the Canadians while Janice and Carmela were left to wonder what's going to happen next. Janice told Carmela a story about how she blew up at ex-boyfriend once for hitting her (which was actually a sanitized version of the incident where she shot and killed Richie Abril) to illustrate how Janice is actually like the Soprano father and then explained that Tony is actually more like Livia, their mother. Their father would react to things immediately while their mother would let things simmer. This angered Carmela because she thought Janice was implying that Tony was simmering about the previous evening's fight and she shouted at Janice that Tony was not a vindictive man.
At the meeting with the Canadians, Tony offered to kill someone for them in order to get a lower price on expired Fosamex. And guess who he wants to do the kill. Yes. That's right. He wants Bobby to do the kill. Tony proved that even though he said there were no hard feelings regarding the fight, it was actually going to cost Bobby something. In the end, Bobby committed the murder because he knew it was a mistake to punch out the head of his crime family. He took his lumps. He paid the price.
In the end, Tony was watching the DVD his sister made for him. He was watching in that tired, amused way he always seems to watch TV. Who knows what he was thinking?
This episode laid out the groundwork for what's coming up in this final season. It was a good episode and completely in keeping with Chase's style of layering and building and taking his time with a good story.
===========
Last night's episode started with a flashback to the day Johnny Sac got arrested. But something was added to the flashback. If you recall, Tony was meeting with Johnny that day, but ran away when he saw the Feds coming over a hill. He ran home for miles through the snow. In this flashback, we see Tony dropped his gun. And we were shown a young boy watching from a window in Johnny Sac's house. I'm still not clear who the young boy was and I'm actually not sure he was watching from Johnny's house.
After this scene, Tony and Carmella were awoken by pounding on the front door, the kind of pounding that policemen do early in the morning when they're hot for an arrest. Carmella jumped out of bed and asked "is this it?" I was wondering the same thing. Was this it? Was Tony going to be arrested? He was.
The Essex County police department arrested him because his gun was used in crimes committed by the young man who had found the gun in the flashback. The charge may have been that Tony Soprano owned a gun? I'm not sure how that works, but it doesn't matter because the charges were dropped so the Feds could pick up the charges later in the episode. We briefly saw Tony in jail. And just to keep the show feeling real, the scene came complete with a guy using the toilet for all the world to see. Tony made bail and was welcomed home by his family and crew with the exception Christopher whose absence was not explained. In a parallel scene we see the Brooklyn crew welcoming back Phil from his stay in the hospital. In those few minutes, we caught a glimpse of most of the people who will most likely be making up the drama for the upcoming season.
Well. None of the above really matters much for the episode at hand except that it caught up the viewers with the what's been happening since the last season. When the Sopranos is on hiatus, the characters lives advance - they do not stop. So, we get the feeling that we are really following their story lines in some kind of real time, well, real for television anyway if that makes sense.
So. While Tony was dealing with his arrest, Janice was hassling Carmela about coming up to the Adirondacks for Tony's birthday. Carmela was hesitant but Janice was a total dick about it. After Tony's lawyer told him the gun charges have been dropped, Tony decided to make the trip after all -Most likely because Bobby was working out some kind of shady dealings with some Canadians. I don't think he really cared about seeing his sister.
The scenery up in the Adirondacks was breathtaking. And Tony spent a lot of time staring out at the big lake much like he stares out at his pool. While Tony and Bobby were bonding over automatic weapons in the woods and speed boats on the lake, Bobby revealed a weakness to Tony. He told Tony that he never killed anyone, that his father never wanted him to be a killer. We see Tony filing that one away in his mental cabinet under "things to use against people later on."
And while the men were out playing, Janice was filling in Carmela on the work she'd been doing with her therapist. Her therapist explained to Janice that their mother was a splitter - that she wasn't happy unless everyone was at odds with each other. And that once Livia's children started talking, she stopped loving them because she didn't like her family to express opinions.
Chase, the show's writer, always manages to keep Tony's mother involved in the story line.
The birthday dinner was surprisingly tension free, except for when Janice told Tony he's changed. Tension started building right there because we could see Tony filing that one away under "grudges to hold against my sister." Tony received two very nice gifts. One was a set of golf clubs from Carmela and the other were the home movies mentioned earlier on.
Dinner blended into a Monopoly game which started out nice enough. But as the liquor bottles emptied tensions started rising. I was nervous watching the game because Tony can't stand seeing his sister have a good time and he always has to ruin it and I knew this was some kind of quiet before some kind of storm. The first indication that there was going to be a problem came when Bobby objected to the Free Parking rule, which is an accepted home rule that everyone plays with - except Bobby Bacala. And when he started saying how it's wrong for people to make up rules in a game which has printed rules, I got the feeling he was referring to something else, perhaps about his life as a mobster, perhaps about how the rules of being promoted to Capo don't quite apply to him because Tony never moves him ahead.
As the bottles emptied, the game grew more intense and Janice decided it would be fun to tell a frightening story about when Tony and Janice's father shot a bullet through a woman's beehive hairdo. Tony objected to Janice telling this story because it paints their father in a bad light, and he can't accept the fact that his father had any thing to do with the bad parenting he recievedd. So, Tony started to make cutting remarks about his sister in retalliation. Eventually, Bobby stood up for his wife and asked Tony to stop dogging her. But Tony didn't stop and Bobby slugged him and they had a big fight and Bobby won. Bobby beat the tar out of Tony. After the fight Bobby ran out to his car and Carmela helped Tony off the floor. Tony had gotten a monopoly piece stuck to his face (some thankful humor to dissipate the scaryfeeling and give the viwer a brake from the tension - a perfect example of good directing/writing whatever) and Carmela flicked it off.
The next day Bobby and Tony went to their meeting with the Canadians while Janice and Carmela were left to wonder what's going to happen next. Janice told Carmela a story about how she blew up at ex-boyfriend once for hitting her (which was actually a sanitized version of the incident where she shot and killed Richie Abril) to illustrate how Janice is actually like the Soprano father and then explained that Tony is actually more like Livia, their mother. Their father would react to things immediately while their mother would let things simmer. This angered Carmela because she thought Janice was implying that Tony was simmering about the previous evening's fight and she shouted at Janice that Tony was not a vindictive man.
At the meeting with the Canadians, Tony offered to kill someone for them in order to get a lower price on expired Fosamex. And guess who he wants to do the kill. Yes. That's right. He wants Bobby to do the kill. Tony proved that even though he said there were no hard feelings regarding the fight, it was actually going to cost Bobby something. In the end, Bobby committed the murder because he knew it was a mistake to punch out the head of his crime family. He took his lumps. He paid the price.
In the end, Tony was watching the DVD his sister made for him. He was watching in that tired, amused way he always seems to watch TV. Who knows what he was thinking?
This episode laid out the groundwork for what's coming up in this final season. It was a good episode and completely in keeping with Chase's style of layering and building and taking his time with a good story.
April 08, 2007
Easter Sunday
It's cold outside which is why I am inside. I slept late this morning, snuggling up with my husband under our warm blanket but I had to get up eventually, right? Because at some point every morning, the bacterial growth in my mouth compels me to rise from the comfort of my marital bed and journey to the bathroom for my ritual morning oral ablution. In other words, my morning breath tasted so bad I had to get up and brush my teeth.
Today was a good old fashioned do nothing kind of day, meaning I did nothing. Then I took a nap for a couple of hours and I've been tooling around on the computer, messing around with some old photos from some old trips.
I spent some time tweeking my panoramic shot from Thingvellir, Iceland.
I know it looks like a small picture but it's something like 120 inches long. I've been trying to upload the image to my Shutterfly account so I can get a printout and maybe get it framed but Shutterfly isn't accepting the image. I guess I'll have to tweek it a little more.
I just finished the last of some garlicky, peppery chicken soup I made to combat this latest viral onslaught Jon and I are undergoing at the moment. And I'm drinking a Tom Collins with actual vodka. And it's good. I broke down and bought some mixers at the supermarket. This is the first time in my life, I've ever made a drink like this.
It's tasty. Yum. Tonight I'll be watching the beginning of the end of The Sopranos.
Tony Soprano has risen again. God bless HBO.
Today was a good old fashioned do nothing kind of day, meaning I did nothing. Then I took a nap for a couple of hours and I've been tooling around on the computer, messing around with some old photos from some old trips.
I spent some time tweeking my panoramic shot from Thingvellir, Iceland.
I know it looks like a small picture but it's something like 120 inches long. I've been trying to upload the image to my Shutterfly account so I can get a printout and maybe get it framed but Shutterfly isn't accepting the image. I guess I'll have to tweek it a little more.
I just finished the last of some garlicky, peppery chicken soup I made to combat this latest viral onslaught Jon and I are undergoing at the moment. And I'm drinking a Tom Collins with actual vodka. And it's good. I broke down and bought some mixers at the supermarket. This is the first time in my life, I've ever made a drink like this.
It's tasty. Yum. Tonight I'll be watching the beginning of the end of The Sopranos.
Tony Soprano has risen again. God bless HBO.
April 07, 2007
Kitchen Confidential
This was a great book. Bourdain provides a candid look at the culinary industry. If you have romantic notions of what chef's life is like, forget about it. It's hard, never ending, relationship straining work that imagine only very specific personality types are cut out for.
I entertained the idea of becoming a chef up until about 10 years ago when I met a women named Sharon who worked as a sous-chef before becoming an administrative assistant. She said it was awful. Really awful. She described most of her work environments as hostile and mysoginistic. Coincidentally so did Bourdain.
Before becoming a chef you should read his book.
I entertained the idea of becoming a chef up until about 10 years ago when I met a women named Sharon who worked as a sous-chef before becoming an administrative assistant. She said it was awful. Really awful. She described most of her work environments as hostile and mysoginistic. Coincidentally so did Bourdain.
Before becoming a chef you should read his book.
David Zayas
I was just sitting in the internet cafe minding my own business when all of a sudden David Zayas sat down next to me use a computer. Who is David Zayas? He is a really good character actor that I really enjoyed on the show Oz. I've seen him pop up here and there on different shows but most memorably for me, I remember he played a small part in the movie Wit.
How cool is that? He was right next to me. Of course, I didn't want to bother him. So. I didn't.
Here is his picture.
He played a really, really bad guy on Oz.
How cool is that? He was right next to me. Of course, I didn't want to bother him. So. I didn't.
Here is his picture.
He played a really, really bad guy on Oz.
April 05, 2007
American Idol Surprise
I was surprised and disappointed last night when Gina Glocksen was told to go home. Haley Scarnato might have better boobs but she certainly is not a better singer. And I know I write about how much I like Sanjaya but he wasn't better than Gina either. Chris Richardson and Phil Stacey are two other people I would have predicted to go home before Gina but alas I was wrong.
I hope Gina gets signed by someone. I can't wait to see what she does next.
I hope Gina gets signed by someone. I can't wait to see what she does next.
April 04, 2007
American Idol - Nine Singers Left
Last night's hour of competition passed by quickly not only because it was good but because Jon and I had saved the show on our DVR. We were able to fast forward through the miles and miles of commercials that pay the salaries of everyone working on the American Idol assembly line and most likely half the executives at FOX.
Guest mentor Tony Bennett provided the contestants with solid and practical advice. Some of them listened and some of them didn't. He was very nice and said something nice to everybody which you could tell gave them all a boost.
Blake Lewis opened the show with his mostly on key rendition of Mac The Knife. Although his wasn't the best performance of the whole evening, I thought he did a good job. At this point he is my favorite male contestant. It is a weird song. It wasn't until a night of karaoke at a bar in Jamaica, when Jon and I were on our honeymoon, that I learned that Mac The Knife is about a hit man. The lyrics are a dark contrast to the jazzy hip music. And it's a weird song. He wriggled a little too much for my taste. I often think that contestants would do better if they would just stand still and sing, but they often insist on moving around.
If you missed Phil Stacy's performance last night, don't feel bad, because you didn't miss much. He put me to sleep with his Frank Sinatra imitation style rendition of Night and Day. I was surprised when Tony Bennett said that Phil Stacy was a good singer. He may be. But I just don't like him. I still think he looks creepy like that nice boy, serial killer who might be living next door to you. And I hate his cocky swagger. I just dislike him in general. With that said, I can hear his training when he sings and would agree that, technically, he MAY be a good singer. He just doesn't have a good voice, in spite of his training.
Melinda Doolittle gave the most polished performance of the evening with her interpretation of I've Got Rhythm. I like listening to her sing and I like watching her perform. With the perfect combination of talent and training, she does everything right. A naturally good voice added to training and practice creates get great singers like Melinda Doolittle. Phil Stacy may have the same training but he just doesn't have the same talent. And he'll never be the American Idol. If this competition is really about talent, then Melinda Doolittle will definitely win.
Chris Richardson butchered Night and Day while simultaneously hypnotizing the judges into believing that he was good. His performance was mediocre at best. He's another one who looks creepy enough to have buried his neighbor's dogs in his mother's backyard, yet every week, he manages to convince the viewing public that he's worthy of their votes. I can only hope that we don't have to endure his smug face and limited vocal range for much longer.
Jordin Sparks delivered the second most polished performance with On A Clear Day. She sang with joy and lit up the stage with her youthful enthusiasm. She's just good. She's got talent and she has clearly had some training and did some practicing. See the above description of Melinda Doolittle's performance. I don't want to repeat myself. If American Idol is about choosing the youngest person with the most potential for a singing career then Jordin Sparks will be the next American Idol.
Gina Glocksen almost brought me to tears with Smile by Charlie Chaplin. I thought it was a great performance - sweet, sensitive, modest - and she connected with the lyrics. I hope she's makes it to the final four. I'm not sure she will but I really hope she does. She's gets better every week.
Sanjaya Malakar represented himself well with his version of Dancing Cheek to Cheek. His was my second favorite male performance of the evening. He definitely sounded better than Chris Richardson yet the judges wouldn't even comment on his vocals. Why are they so hard on Sanjaya? I guess being an awkward teen is too much of a reminder of what adolescence was like for most of us. And Sanjaya is displaying an in your face kind of awkwardness that makes everyone uncomfortable. If only he would just stand still and sing. I think his voice is lovely but he's not ready for this competition. He needs a couple more years to percolate.
Haley Scarnato looked pretty.
Lakisha sang Stormy Weather. She is an example of someone with a lot of talent but not enough training. You can hear the missing technique from time to time like in last night's performance. The opening was all over the place when it came to pitch, but she found her key again during the middle and end of her performance. She's got the confidence but I really hope she'll benefit from the coaching I imagine the contestants receive on a weekly basis. I like her but I think she'll be a third place finish in the end.
Okay. That's my weekly wrap up of the American Idol.
I have to go back over to the August Wilson theater for another performance of Jersey Boys. Don't be envious. It's not my favorite show and I don't have anything to read.
Guest mentor Tony Bennett provided the contestants with solid and practical advice. Some of them listened and some of them didn't. He was very nice and said something nice to everybody which you could tell gave them all a boost.
Blake Lewis opened the show with his mostly on key rendition of Mac The Knife. Although his wasn't the best performance of the whole evening, I thought he did a good job. At this point he is my favorite male contestant. It is a weird song. It wasn't until a night of karaoke at a bar in Jamaica, when Jon and I were on our honeymoon, that I learned that Mac The Knife is about a hit man. The lyrics are a dark contrast to the jazzy hip music. And it's a weird song. He wriggled a little too much for my taste. I often think that contestants would do better if they would just stand still and sing, but they often insist on moving around.
If you missed Phil Stacy's performance last night, don't feel bad, because you didn't miss much. He put me to sleep with his Frank Sinatra imitation style rendition of Night and Day. I was surprised when Tony Bennett said that Phil Stacy was a good singer. He may be. But I just don't like him. I still think he looks creepy like that nice boy, serial killer who might be living next door to you. And I hate his cocky swagger. I just dislike him in general. With that said, I can hear his training when he sings and would agree that, technically, he MAY be a good singer. He just doesn't have a good voice, in spite of his training.
Melinda Doolittle gave the most polished performance of the evening with her interpretation of I've Got Rhythm. I like listening to her sing and I like watching her perform. With the perfect combination of talent and training, she does everything right. A naturally good voice added to training and practice creates get great singers like Melinda Doolittle. Phil Stacy may have the same training but he just doesn't have the same talent. And he'll never be the American Idol. If this competition is really about talent, then Melinda Doolittle will definitely win.
Chris Richardson butchered Night and Day while simultaneously hypnotizing the judges into believing that he was good. His performance was mediocre at best. He's another one who looks creepy enough to have buried his neighbor's dogs in his mother's backyard, yet every week, he manages to convince the viewing public that he's worthy of their votes. I can only hope that we don't have to endure his smug face and limited vocal range for much longer.
Jordin Sparks delivered the second most polished performance with On A Clear Day. She sang with joy and lit up the stage with her youthful enthusiasm. She's just good. She's got talent and she has clearly had some training and did some practicing. See the above description of Melinda Doolittle's performance. I don't want to repeat myself. If American Idol is about choosing the youngest person with the most potential for a singing career then Jordin Sparks will be the next American Idol.
Gina Glocksen almost brought me to tears with Smile by Charlie Chaplin. I thought it was a great performance - sweet, sensitive, modest - and she connected with the lyrics. I hope she's makes it to the final four. I'm not sure she will but I really hope she does. She's gets better every week.
Sanjaya Malakar represented himself well with his version of Dancing Cheek to Cheek. His was my second favorite male performance of the evening. He definitely sounded better than Chris Richardson yet the judges wouldn't even comment on his vocals. Why are they so hard on Sanjaya? I guess being an awkward teen is too much of a reminder of what adolescence was like for most of us. And Sanjaya is displaying an in your face kind of awkwardness that makes everyone uncomfortable. If only he would just stand still and sing. I think his voice is lovely but he's not ready for this competition. He needs a couple more years to percolate.
Haley Scarnato looked pretty.
Lakisha sang Stormy Weather. She is an example of someone with a lot of talent but not enough training. You can hear the missing technique from time to time like in last night's performance. The opening was all over the place when it came to pitch, but she found her key again during the middle and end of her performance. She's got the confidence but I really hope she'll benefit from the coaching I imagine the contestants receive on a weekly basis. I like her but I think she'll be a third place finish in the end.
Okay. That's my weekly wrap up of the American Idol.
I have to go back over to the August Wilson theater for another performance of Jersey Boys. Don't be envious. It's not my favorite show and I don't have anything to read.
I Am Anonymous
Last night, I saw someone from high school that I haven't seen since she graduated in 1984. I never really spoke to her when we were growing up and vice versa so it was a strange moment of non-vocal recognition. I was standing by my headset booth next to the bar when I saw her. She was wearing one of those "pay-attention-to-me-I'm-important" blue tooth devices on her ear. (No offense to anyone who uses them but you really aren't be going to use it in the theater so you might as well take it off before you come in because unless you're the president or the parent of a sick child, no one needs to get in touch with you that badly. )
And she looked her age - about 40, maybe even a little older and that made me feel good. I actually took joy in the fact that she looked her age or older than me. (Well, I like to think I look younger than I am, maybe I don't, but if you don't agree, I don't want to hear it.) I felt good until I got home and googled her. Turns out she's a tremendously successful lawyer and president of the lawyer's association where I grew up. And she's on several of those watch lists that quantify people of a certain age in a certain profession. And for the first time in a long time I felt less important than I am and embarrassed that this girl I competed with in grade school, middle school and high school is so much more professionally successful than me. I guess most people are more successful than me.
Anyway, that prompted me to conduct a google search for my maiden name to see what came up. I figured if I could google her then she might do the same (although that is ultimately egotistical to think that after seeing me people just go on and on, wondering who I am and what I'm up to). The google search turned up 35 pages of results with my maiden name. There are so many people that have my old name, that the one entry that did come up for me is lost in a sea of VG's. That's really great. I don't have to worry about people holding my blog against me.
Not that I'm going to ever write how I truly feel about anything that is really important to me.
I have secret personal blogs that you'll never find no matter how hard you search.
But I am anonymous unless you know where to look.
And she looked her age - about 40, maybe even a little older and that made me feel good. I actually took joy in the fact that she looked her age or older than me. (Well, I like to think I look younger than I am, maybe I don't, but if you don't agree, I don't want to hear it.) I felt good until I got home and googled her. Turns out she's a tremendously successful lawyer and president of the lawyer's association where I grew up. And she's on several of those watch lists that quantify people of a certain age in a certain profession. And for the first time in a long time I felt less important than I am and embarrassed that this girl I competed with in grade school, middle school and high school is so much more professionally successful than me. I guess most people are more successful than me.
Anyway, that prompted me to conduct a google search for my maiden name to see what came up. I figured if I could google her then she might do the same (although that is ultimately egotistical to think that after seeing me people just go on and on, wondering who I am and what I'm up to). The google search turned up 35 pages of results with my maiden name. There are so many people that have my old name, that the one entry that did come up for me is lost in a sea of VG's. That's really great. I don't have to worry about people holding my blog against me.
Not that I'm going to ever write how I truly feel about anything that is really important to me.
I have secret personal blogs that you'll never find no matter how hard you search.
But I am anonymous unless you know where to look.
March 30, 2007
A Full Night Of Sleep
As the title of this post implies, I finally got a full night of sleep.
This week, I've been suffereing the ill effects of a bad cold. It started on Saturday with a mild sore throat and by Monday night, my cold had turned my sinuses into a mucus factory. To say I've been uncomfortable would be putting it mildly. I've had headaches all week and per usual when I have cold, sleep has been elusive. Why is it that when you need the most sleep that it's hardest get?
But last night, I was finally able to get some sleep. 8 hours.
What a relief. I still have my cold. It's been demoted to a mild annoyance that brings on sneezing every 30 minutes or so. And there is still pressure behind my left eye.
But I think my cold is on it's way out.
Wahoo!!!
This week, I've been suffereing the ill effects of a bad cold. It started on Saturday with a mild sore throat and by Monday night, my cold had turned my sinuses into a mucus factory. To say I've been uncomfortable would be putting it mildly. I've had headaches all week and per usual when I have cold, sleep has been elusive. Why is it that when you need the most sleep that it's hardest get?
But last night, I was finally able to get some sleep. 8 hours.
What a relief. I still have my cold. It's been demoted to a mild annoyance that brings on sneezing every 30 minutes or so. And there is still pressure behind my left eye.
But I think my cold is on it's way out.
Wahoo!!!
March 29, 2007
Good Bye Chris Sligh
The most clever contestant in American Idol's history, according to Ryan Seacrest, was sent home last night. Chris Sligh did a crappy job singing Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by the Police and was punished for it. He was sent home last night.
The results show was almost interesting. Gwen Stefani performed that strange Sweet Escape song with special guest singer Akon and 6 Japanese dancers. Akon sang "ooh" and "aah" in a way that I guess only Akon can sing. Since I first heard the song, I haven't understood why it had to be Akon singing the oohs and aahs. It seems like anyone could have sung that party. No. Really. I'm not kidding. Listen to the song. Here's his part: "Whohoe, whihooWhohoe, whihooWhohoe, whihooWhohoe, whihoo"
She could have gotten school kids to sing it. Two nuns in an elevator. A policeman on horseback.
I was sorry to see Chris go. Especially since Phil Stacy is staying. Chris has way more personality than Phil, he just picked a really bad song for vocalizing last night. Why would anyone pick a Police song. There's no way anyone could sing better than Sting. Singers sing best when they sing the music they write for themselves. Sting sings Police songs well because they are written for him. Chris is a song writer. It's too bad we couldn't hear him singing one of his own songs. We probably would have heard him at his best if we could have.
I'm pretty sure Phil Stacy doesn't write music.
Hopefully this will give a boost to Chris Sligh's songwriting career.
The results show was almost interesting. Gwen Stefani performed that strange Sweet Escape song with special guest singer Akon and 6 Japanese dancers. Akon sang "ooh" and "aah" in a way that I guess only Akon can sing. Since I first heard the song, I haven't understood why it had to be Akon singing the oohs and aahs. It seems like anyone could have sung that party. No. Really. I'm not kidding. Listen to the song. Here's his part: "Whohoe, whihooWhohoe, whihooWhohoe, whihooWhohoe, whihoo"
She could have gotten school kids to sing it. Two nuns in an elevator. A policeman on horseback.
I was sorry to see Chris go. Especially since Phil Stacy is staying. Chris has way more personality than Phil, he just picked a really bad song for vocalizing last night. Why would anyone pick a Police song. There's no way anyone could sing better than Sting. Singers sing best when they sing the music they write for themselves. Sting sings Police songs well because they are written for him. Chris is a song writer. It's too bad we couldn't hear him singing one of his own songs. We probably would have heard him at his best if we could have.
I'm pretty sure Phil Stacy doesn't write music.
Hopefully this will give a boost to Chris Sligh's songwriting career.
March 28, 2007
The Latest in Scam Spamming
This is copied from the spam folder in my old email address. Notice that the sender didn't even bother to put in a name. What a lazy spammer. He could have at least inserted the name on my old email in the salutation line. Honestly Sam Samo. You've got to get it together if you're going to succeed in swindling suckers.
==========================
From: Sam Samo..Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire.
Attn: .
Dear,
I am Sam Samo,son of late Mr and Mrs Paul Samo. My father was a very wealthy GOLD and COCOA manchant who based in ACCRA GHANA andABIDJAN respectively, The economic capital of cote D’Ivoire.
He was poisoned to death by his business associate on one of their business outings. When my mother died on the 21ST october 1994 , My father took me so special because I am motherless.
Before the death of my father on the 25th November 2004. He sincerely called me on his bed side and told me that he had a sum of 15.000,000 US DOLLARS (fiften MILLION USA DOLLARS)He kept in one of the Security Company Here in Abidjan. He also used my name to Deposit the consignment as his only Son for next of kin. He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his business associates, That I should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where I will transfer this money and use it for investment purposes, I want you to assist me in clearing this fund into your account overseas as a beneficiary of the fund, and also use it for an Investment purpose.
I am honourably seeking for your assistance in the following ways.
(1)To help me retreive the consignment from the Security company where the consignment was deposited
(2)To assist me to transfer the money to your account successfully.
(3) To provide a bank account into which this moneywould be transfer to.
(4)To serve as the guardian of this fund sinceI am a Boy of (19)yrs .
(5) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my Education and to secure a residential permit in your country. Moreover, I am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation for your effort /input after the successful transfer of this fund to your nominated account.
Furthermore, you can indicate your option towardsassisting me.
Thanks and God bless you for your anticipatedcoperation.
Best Regards,
Sam Samo.
==========================
From: Sam Samo..Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire.
Attn: .
Dear,
I am Sam Samo,son of late Mr and Mrs Paul Samo. My father was a very wealthy GOLD and COCOA manchant who based in ACCRA GHANA andABIDJAN respectively, The economic capital of cote D’Ivoire.
He was poisoned to death by his business associate on one of their business outings. When my mother died on the 21ST october 1994 , My father took me so special because I am motherless.
Before the death of my father on the 25th November 2004. He sincerely called me on his bed side and told me that he had a sum of 15.000,000 US DOLLARS (fiften MILLION USA DOLLARS)He kept in one of the Security Company Here in Abidjan. He also used my name to Deposit the consignment as his only Son for next of kin. He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his business associates, That I should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where I will transfer this money and use it for investment purposes, I want you to assist me in clearing this fund into your account overseas as a beneficiary of the fund, and also use it for an Investment purpose.
I am honourably seeking for your assistance in the following ways.
(1)To help me retreive the consignment from the Security company where the consignment was deposited
(2)To assist me to transfer the money to your account successfully.
(3) To provide a bank account into which this moneywould be transfer to.
(4)To serve as the guardian of this fund sinceI am a Boy of (19)yrs .
(5) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my Education and to secure a residential permit in your country. Moreover, I am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation for your effort /input after the successful transfer of this fund to your nominated account.
Furthermore, you can indicate your option towardsassisting me.
Thanks and God bless you for your anticipatedcoperation.
Best Regards,
Sam Samo.
Grey Gardens - Again
I wrote that I had problems with a patron at the theater where I was working last night. What I failed to mention was the name of the theater. I am at the Walter Kerr Theater again, working Grey Gardens again. I told you that there was a very small crowd last night, no doubt because of the absence of Christine Ebersole. Her understudy was up to the task. She was certainly talented enough but when you see an understudy take over for a big star you start to appreciate why that bigger star they are replacing is so enjoyable to watch.
The biggest problem I had was the physical difference between the two performers. The understudy, (whose name forgive me, I can't remember) is at least one foot shorter than Ms. Ebersole. That was very distracting for me because the person they play is very tall. And then there's the fact that the understudy just doesn't have the same presence as Christine Ebersole. Also, she's not as connected to the part which I imagine she will improve as she gets more opportunities to work on it.
But Christine Ebersole was back in today and she was brilliant, really brilliant. Maybe it's because I've been feeling emotional lately, but from the middle of Act II to the end of the show, I was weeping. When she's singing Around the World, about her life of fear, missed opportunities and psychological abuse at the hands of her parents, she makes me cry every time. It's the kind of performance that makes you want to go out and live because you don't want to end up as crazy shut-ins with 50 cats like her and her mother. That song touches me.
There's another song called Choose to Be Happy that has one meaning but the actors playing out their parts on stage make it ironic because they are not happy. I cry during that one sometimes as well.
The show ends with a reprise of a song we heard at the top of the Act I but before that, the two Edies sing a beautiful duet about Another Winter in a Summer Town. Today, for that number, I needed one tissue and a half to get me through.
If you're feeling sad before you go to see Grey Gardens, this show will really help you express some tears and you may feel sadder. Personally, I like to have a good cry when watching sad movies or plays. It makes me feel like I'm understanding the story the way it was intended by the creators and performers. But if you're looking for a feel good experience, I would definitely recommend something else entirely. Hairspray, Curtains, The Drowsy Chaperone, Chicago. Those shows leave you with that good feeling. Those shows will pick you up.
I don't know though. Maybe you'll feel better after you see Grey Gardens just because the performances are so good. But maybe not.
Consider yourself warned.
The biggest problem I had was the physical difference between the two performers. The understudy, (whose name forgive me, I can't remember) is at least one foot shorter than Ms. Ebersole. That was very distracting for me because the person they play is very tall. And then there's the fact that the understudy just doesn't have the same presence as Christine Ebersole. Also, she's not as connected to the part which I imagine she will improve as she gets more opportunities to work on it.
But Christine Ebersole was back in today and she was brilliant, really brilliant. Maybe it's because I've been feeling emotional lately, but from the middle of Act II to the end of the show, I was weeping. When she's singing Around the World, about her life of fear, missed opportunities and psychological abuse at the hands of her parents, she makes me cry every time. It's the kind of performance that makes you want to go out and live because you don't want to end up as crazy shut-ins with 50 cats like her and her mother. That song touches me.
There's another song called Choose to Be Happy that has one meaning but the actors playing out their parts on stage make it ironic because they are not happy. I cry during that one sometimes as well.
The show ends with a reprise of a song we heard at the top of the Act I but before that, the two Edies sing a beautiful duet about Another Winter in a Summer Town. Today, for that number, I needed one tissue and a half to get me through.
If you're feeling sad before you go to see Grey Gardens, this show will really help you express some tears and you may feel sadder. Personally, I like to have a good cry when watching sad movies or plays. It makes me feel like I'm understanding the story the way it was intended by the creators and performers. But if you're looking for a feel good experience, I would definitely recommend something else entirely. Hairspray, Curtains, The Drowsy Chaperone, Chicago. Those shows leave you with that good feeling. Those shows will pick you up.
I don't know though. Maybe you'll feel better after you see Grey Gardens just because the performances are so good. But maybe not.
Consider yourself warned.
American Idol - Top 10 Finalists
Gwen Stefani was the guest this week on American Idol. When she was announced as the guest last week I was concerned that the contestants were going to have a limited choice of No Doubt songs for the show. But the producers expanded the contestant's choices by letting them sing songs from artists that influenced Gwen Stefani as well as Stefani's songs themselves.
Everyone did better with the exception of Chris Richardson who creeps me out. Phil Stacy was still creepy but even I have to admit he did a better job than the week before.
Gwen Stefani gave surprisingly helpful and intelligent advice. She spoke to the contestants plainly and honestly and in terms they understood. Her advice was concise and useful.
She told the contestants to respect the melodies of their chosen songs, advice which they all followed.
The weakest performances came from Haley, Phil, Chris Richardson, Chris Sligh, and as much as I hate to admit it, Sanjaya. Gina Glocksen sounded better than she ever has singing a great Pretender's song. Lakisha, Melinda and Jordin did the best.
Everyone did better with the exception of Chris Richardson who creeps me out. Phil Stacy was still creepy but even I have to admit he did a better job than the week before.
Gwen Stefani gave surprisingly helpful and intelligent advice. She spoke to the contestants plainly and honestly and in terms they understood. Her advice was concise and useful.
She told the contestants to respect the melodies of their chosen songs, advice which they all followed.
The weakest performances came from Haley, Phil, Chris Richardson, Chris Sligh, and as much as I hate to admit it, Sanjaya. Gina Glocksen sounded better than she ever has singing a great Pretender's song. Lakisha, Melinda and Jordin did the best.
Dealing With People
So last night I had an unhappy customer. The headset I gave her before Act I died somewhere in the middle of the act. She yelled at me at intermission telling me I hadn't done my job properly and scolded me for not testing the headset before I gave it to her. But I did and she saw me test it and she tested it herself before she sat down. She complained that she missed the first act and that she was going to complain to the manager.
She was sitting in the third row and last night's show was even louder because there was a smaller than usual number of people in the audience (less people absorb less sound making things louder). So while I felt bad I knew her claims were exaggerated. An usher who witnessed this public chastising told me the patron had been difficult right from the outset of the show, complaining about her very good seats in the third row, about bathroom location, etc.
So, I gave her a second set. And wondered for most of Act II if I should or shouldn't have given her a second pair in case the pair I gave her conked out. But I ended up relaxing somewhere in the middle of Act II and tried to enjoy the show.
After the show, she handed back the headset without making eye contact and she was completely sullen. She didn't say a word as she headed back into the auditorium to meet her husband. It wasn't over. She waited until she was one of the last patrons in the theater and on her way out, she gave me one more parting shot. "NEXT TIME, DO YOUR JOB THE RIGHT WAY!" I was so upset, I kept dropping things.
To make matters worst, I'm in the midst of a big fat cold. Last night, my big fat cold was responsible for my baby migraine headache.
She was sitting in the third row and last night's show was even louder because there was a smaller than usual number of people in the audience (less people absorb less sound making things louder). So while I felt bad I knew her claims were exaggerated. An usher who witnessed this public chastising told me the patron had been difficult right from the outset of the show, complaining about her very good seats in the third row, about bathroom location, etc.
So, I gave her a second set. And wondered for most of Act II if I should or shouldn't have given her a second pair in case the pair I gave her conked out. But I ended up relaxing somewhere in the middle of Act II and tried to enjoy the show.
After the show, she handed back the headset without making eye contact and she was completely sullen. She didn't say a word as she headed back into the auditorium to meet her husband. It wasn't over. She waited until she was one of the last patrons in the theater and on her way out, she gave me one more parting shot. "NEXT TIME, DO YOUR JOB THE RIGHT WAY!" I was so upset, I kept dropping things.
To make matters worst, I'm in the midst of a big fat cold. Last night, my big fat cold was responsible for my baby migraine headache.
March 27, 2007
Weather Wassup
What is up with this bizarre weather? It's too warm for early spring. Why can't we just have some normal spring weather in the 50's and 60's? Why can't we get some early spring thunderstorms? I am not happy about this. My brow is moist with humidity. Yes. I'm sweaty and I haven't even walked outside yet, well, not in the last three hours or so.
I hope it cools down. I hate when we skip through spring and go directly to summer. I like my fall and spring weather and I WANT IT NOW!!!
I hope it cools down. I hate when we skip through spring and go directly to summer. I like my fall and spring weather and I WANT IT NOW!!!
March 24, 2007
Theater Theatrics
There was a lot of drama at tonight's production of [insert name of show here]. First, there were three substitute ushers who didn't know what they were doing, working house right mezzanine. The situation was so bad that the patrons had to wait in lines to be seated. This could have been resolved earlier on in the evening had one of the several people in charge of the ushers bothered to explain the goings on of the [insert name of theater here].
Then a patron insisted on being seated after the overture started. The ushers have specific instructions to wait until after the second song of Act I before they can seat latecomers, yet this patron started screaming that she wanted to be seated immediately. She had to be ushered into the lobby where not only one, but two house managers tried to calm her down. Eventually she was calmed down and joined the rest of her party.
But the drama didn't stop there. During intermission a patron came up to me in a panic asking me if I was an usher because someone needed a medic. I pointed her in the direction of one of the more experienced ushers so she could get the house manager. Turns out the woman had fallen up the stairs on the way back from the ladies' room and hit her head. It was bleeding but she was a trooper. The house manager was very diligent and made sure the woman was okay. She kept asking the woman if she wanted an ambulance and the woman declined each offer of medical attention. The house manager gave her an ice pack for the swelling and some Bacitracin and band aids for the bleeding. Then she gave special instructions to two different people to watch the woman from the distance to monitor her condition.
Very exciting evening. And I didn't even watch the show.
Then a patron insisted on being seated after the overture started. The ushers have specific instructions to wait until after the second song of Act I before they can seat latecomers, yet this patron started screaming that she wanted to be seated immediately. She had to be ushered into the lobby where not only one, but two house managers tried to calm her down. Eventually she was calmed down and joined the rest of her party.
But the drama didn't stop there. During intermission a patron came up to me in a panic asking me if I was an usher because someone needed a medic. I pointed her in the direction of one of the more experienced ushers so she could get the house manager. Turns out the woman had fallen up the stairs on the way back from the ladies' room and hit her head. It was bleeding but she was a trooper. The house manager was very diligent and made sure the woman was okay. She kept asking the woman if she wanted an ambulance and the woman declined each offer of medical attention. The house manager gave her an ice pack for the swelling and some Bacitracin and band aids for the bleeding. Then she gave special instructions to two different people to watch the woman from the distance to monitor her condition.Very exciting evening. And I didn't even watch the show.
March 22, 2007
American Idol Results Show
A good chunk of the 1/2 hour results show was dedicated to everything except paying attention to the contestants. Most of the time was given to Lulu and Noone (looks like no one doesn't it?)
But hey isn't this show about those poor people making fools of themselves every week for our entertainment.
Peter Noone performed "A Kind Of Hush". If he were contestant the judges would have told him he made a poor song choice because that song is just boring. Lulu performed "To Sir With Love" and looked and sounded great. I was impressed that they sang the songs they're known for rather than some new lame projects they're promoting.
30 seconds went to that stupid Ford commercial video spot.
Ryan Seacrest spent precious moments promoting the big American Idol charity project.
30 seconds were spent telling Stephanie Edwards and Chris Richardson were in the bottom two.
And Ryan spent about 10 seconds telling Stephanie that she had to leave the show.
She didn't even get a goodbye montage.
But hey isn't this show about those poor people making fools of themselves every week for our entertainment.
Peter Noone performed "A Kind Of Hush". If he were contestant the judges would have told him he made a poor song choice because that song is just boring. Lulu performed "To Sir With Love" and looked and sounded great. I was impressed that they sang the songs they're known for rather than some new lame projects they're promoting.
30 seconds went to that stupid Ford commercial video spot.
Ryan Seacrest spent precious moments promoting the big American Idol charity project.
30 seconds were spent telling Stephanie Edwards and Chris Richardson were in the bottom two.
And Ryan spent about 10 seconds telling Stephanie that she had to leave the show.
She didn't even get a goodbye montage.
March 21, 2007
Curtains: A New Musical
Something exciting is happening to musical theater this Broadway season. Producers are actually putting on good shows. First it was was the original and poignant Grey Gardens.Then it was the thought provoking rock musical Spring Awakening. Add Curtains to that list and you get an amazing triptych of ingenuity and entertainment.
Curtains opens officially on March 22, 2007 at the Al Hirshfeld theater. Currently in previews I've had the opportunity to work both the first and last weeks before it opens on Thursday night. Curtains is a good old fashioned musical with catchy songs, feel good production numbers and an all-star cast.
The show opens with the final act of Robbin' Hood where we meet Jessica Crenshaw, the show's talentless leading lady who literally dies on stage - after final bows. Finding out who killed her is the main storyline of the show. In the secondary storyline, the cast tries to save Robbin' Hood so they can take it to Broadway. This first scene sets up the show within the show. In the second scene, we meet the people behind the scenes of the show within the show. We meet Aaron and Georgia Fox, song writer and lyricist of the show played by Jason Danieley and Karen Ziemba; Carmen Bernstein, the show's brassy, buxom and bellicose producer, played with aplomb by Debra Monk; Christopher Belling the show's urbane and slightly effete director, played by Edward Hibbert; sugary sweet ingenue Niki Harris played effusively by Jill Paice. But most importantly we meet police Lt. Frank Cioffi who will solve the crime and ultimately save the show. He is played by the very talented David Hyde Pierce.
There is a lot of character development and exposition throughout Act I but you don't really mind so much because the jokes are funny and the numbers are great. The genius of the show is the intermarriage between the main plot and the secondary plot. For example, at the close of Act I the cast is rehearsing the end of Act I for Robbin' Hood. When Lt. Cioffe jumps out from stage left and exclaims that number was so good "it will leave the audience chompin' at the bit for Act II", he's also relaying back to the audience how they most likely feel having just seen the number.
Throughout the show there are a lot of references to a Broadway that doesn't exist anymore. And you get the feeling that the producers really miss the way Broadway used to be. I don't want to give anything away. There are a lot of great surprises resulting from the exceptionally large amount of misdirection.
But I can share with you the best part of the show without giving anything away. The performances are top-notch. It's worth the full ticket price if you can afford it and if not, I saw it on the TKTS board at 50% off last night. Try to see the show while it's still fresh and all these great people are in it.
Curtains opens officially on March 22, 2007 at the Al Hirshfeld theater. Currently in previews I've had the opportunity to work both the first and last weeks before it opens on Thursday night. Curtains is a good old fashioned musical with catchy songs, feel good production numbers and an all-star cast.
The show opens with the final act of Robbin' Hood where we meet Jessica Crenshaw, the show's talentless leading lady who literally dies on stage - after final bows. Finding out who killed her is the main storyline of the show. In the secondary storyline, the cast tries to save Robbin' Hood so they can take it to Broadway. This first scene sets up the show within the show. In the second scene, we meet the people behind the scenes of the show within the show. We meet Aaron and Georgia Fox, song writer and lyricist of the show played by Jason Danieley and Karen Ziemba; Carmen Bernstein, the show's brassy, buxom and bellicose producer, played with aplomb by Debra Monk; Christopher Belling the show's urbane and slightly effete director, played by Edward Hibbert; sugary sweet ingenue Niki Harris played effusively by Jill Paice. But most importantly we meet police Lt. Frank Cioffi who will solve the crime and ultimately save the show. He is played by the very talented David Hyde Pierce.
There is a lot of character development and exposition throughout Act I but you don't really mind so much because the jokes are funny and the numbers are great. The genius of the show is the intermarriage between the main plot and the secondary plot. For example, at the close of Act I the cast is rehearsing the end of Act I for Robbin' Hood. When Lt. Cioffe jumps out from stage left and exclaims that number was so good "it will leave the audience chompin' at the bit for Act II", he's also relaying back to the audience how they most likely feel having just seen the number.
Throughout the show there are a lot of references to a Broadway that doesn't exist anymore. And you get the feeling that the producers really miss the way Broadway used to be. I don't want to give anything away. There are a lot of great surprises resulting from the exceptionally large amount of misdirection.
But I can share with you the best part of the show without giving anything away. The performances are top-notch. It's worth the full ticket price if you can afford it and if not, I saw it on the TKTS board at 50% off last night. Try to see the show while it's still fresh and all these great people are in it.
American Idol - 11 Left
British Invasion
With 11 American Idol contestants left, the producers went with a British Invasion theme show to help the singers show off their voices. This was a much better theme than the Diana Ross theme show because of the variety of songs that made up the choices for the participants. The special guest mentors were Lulu and Peter Noone. Lulu worked with the women and Peter worked with the men. In the filmed segments shown before each performance you could tell that Lulu really knew how to help the contestants by the advice that she gave. On the other hand Peter Noone seemed happy just to be hanging out with the contestants. His advice was for the most part incomprehensible.
Padded Judging
From the beginning of the judging I could tell something was going on. The judges seemed to be praising performances that were mediocre at best. I think it was to build up the contestants to make sure they received more votes than Sanjaya in the end.
Contestants
Haley Scarnato came out wearing a skimpy outfit with incredibly high heeled shoes - four inches at least. She showed a lot of shoulder, leg and dexterity by keeping her shirt from falling off while using her legs to bounce around the stage in those incredibly high heels. When I stopped paying attention to her overexposed flesh, I noticed she was singing "Tell Him", a song known by everyone. I had to laugh when Lulu advised her to sing in a more staccato style which was excellent and practical. That's how the song is sung and if you've heard that song as many times as I have, you know that's how it's sung. Anyway, the judges praised Haley for being more aggressive and flirty and didn't seem to care that half of what she sang was out of tune or "pitchy" as the judges like to say.
Chris Richardson was next. He chose to sing "Don't Let The Sun Get You Cryin". This is the first film clip in which we see Peter Noone giving less than practical advice. He basically told Chris to find the melody and sing it. Obviously Chris thinks he found the melody otherwise he wouldn't have been able to practice with Peter Noone. Duh. Anyone, Noone gave Chris a less than ringing endorsement in his one on one interview, saying that he didn't hear much in Chris's voice which he thought was quite breathy. Of course I agree with him. I'm not a fan of Chris Richardson. He looks creepy and I think his voice is consistently weak and thready. Here is my note from Chris's performance. "As I write this, Chris is singing his song and I'm so bored that I'm filling these lines with words just to keep busy. Yawn." The judges talked this dull performance up as well. This is the moment when I realize the judges might be giving false praise to help get Sanjaya off the show.
Stephanie Edwards sang "You Don't Have to Love Me" but not before answering a ridiculous FAN QUESTION for the time wasting FAN QUESTION SEGMENT. On behalf of a fan from somewhere in this great land, Ryan Seacrest asked Stephanie "What is the hardest part of getting ready for the show each week?" Stephanie answered the question earnestly but I felt bad for her because she was moments away from singing for her life. It was a good song for her but her performance was dulled. She seems to be losing her "it" factor. The judges were booed when they told her that but I could see on her face that she agreed. If she makes it to next week, we'll see a much stronger performance from her. At this point, I started thinking I was wrong about the judges padding their compliments. Side note: Lulu told Stephanie she sounds like Beyonce.
Blake Lewis beat boxed his way through "Time of the Season". Peter Noone told Blake he liked that he's trying to modernize the song but he wouldn't want to be in the front row for all the spitting. "Let the girls sit in the front row." I thought he had a lot of trouble singing in his upper register and in some parts he sang completely out of tune. To my surprise, the judges loved him and said it was his best performance EVER. Yeah. Right. If you saw the show, you know what I mean.
Lakisha Jones sang "Diamonds Are Forever". She was wearing $1 million worth of diamonds and still managed to deliver a mediocre performance. I only wrote two words on my notepad to describe her performance. "Pitchy" and "eh". Simon told her he had flash forward of her to 40 years from now.
Phil Stacy was really strange last night. He sang a rocking song called "Tobacco Road" which seemed more country rock than British Invasion. He sounded okay but he looked so odd running around the stage in his button down shirt and blue jeans. His image was more milk toast than rocker and the combination was strange. He should have focused more on standing still and singing the song well than running around like a chicken without a head. But I've always found him creepy which goes all the way back to the original auditions. He's not my favorite.
Jordin Sparks nailed "I Who Have Nothing" one of the most depressing songs from the British Invasion song book. She did a great job. Of course, Lulu loved her and who wouldn't. She's a bubbly, happy, talented, well-adjusted teenager who can really belt out a song. Simon thought she sang beautifully but he was so depressed that he wanted to jump off a bridge.
Sanjaya Malakar sang "Girl You Got Me". He nailed it. He sang every note in tune. I will concede that he doesn't have the confidence to really sell the songs he sings. But last night, he broke out of his shell and did the best a little boy that lacks confidence can do. What was his funny about his segment, were the constant cutaways to a little girl crying in the audience. They showed her momentarily during Blake's performance but for Sanjaya's - I think she got as much camera time as he did. She was really cute. After his performance, Ryan Seacrest called Sanjaya out of the audience to give her a hug which he did and it was a very sweet moment. The crying preteen made me think that perhaps British Rock music was laced with secret notes that induce tears in young girls on a subliminal level.
The judges held back on saying anything negative about Sanjaya's performance, which I think was done intentionally to fight the wave of calls from VOTE FOR THE WORST readers, because we know that they hate him. Simon came closest to saying something negative with his commentt that "that little girl's tears said it all". Anyway, the website encourages people to vote for the worst singer in order to keep him or her on the show for reasons understood only by the wizards behind that website. But if they knew anything at all about music they would back Phil Stacy or Chris Richardson because Sanjaya is not the worst singer.
Gina Glocksen chose Paint It Black. Lulu gave her seemingly good advice when she told her to sing in a higher key. But that was not good advice. Throughout the song, Gina struggled with her pitch and then she did something really odd. She just started screaming random notes at the end of the song, completely screwing up the melody. Now I am a Gina fan and I don't think that performance hurt her last night. After all, she will get all the votes that were meant for Sundance Head (Southern white rocker) but I didn't like her singing last night. I mean she was fun to watch. She sure did look a lot more naturally running around that stage than Phil Stacy. But she needs to stand still and sing well just like Phil. They can worry about their choreography later.
Chris Sligh did a good job singing "She's Not There". When he sings, he likes to start on the downbeat or half of the down beat which makes him stand out. I like that he does that because I'm always interested in hearing how he makes it all fit even though he's a little bit off the beat but the judges haven't picked up on that yet. They consistently tell him that he's ahead of his music. Eventually they'll realize it. There's something so likable about Chris Sligh. I hope he does well and that this show is a launching pad for his music writing career. There were two funny signs in the audience. "BRINGING CHUBBY BACK" and "FRO PATRO". While Ryan was wrapping up Chris's performance, Chris starting chanting "FRO PATRO!" which of course was a parody of Taylor Hicks and how he kept screaming "Soul Patrol" after every performance. Chris is funny.
Melinda Doolittle chose a song from the musical Oliver called "As Long As He Needs Me." I never realized this song was considered part of the British Invasion but no matter. Her performance was perfect. It was so beautiful it made little 11 year old Ashley cry yet again in the audience. Melinda Doolittle will win American Idol - no doubt.
In the End
At the end of the show when they ran through everyone's clips and phone numbers you could really hear how everyone with the exception of Lakisha and Jordin suck in comparison to Melinda.
Also, Ryan called Ashley up to the stage so she could cry on every contestant. She made me cry to. Sweet kid. I hope in her life that's all she has to cry about. I predict that Sanjaya and Phil will be in the bottom three again but I don't know who the third will be.
With 11 American Idol contestants left, the producers went with a British Invasion theme show to help the singers show off their voices. This was a much better theme than the Diana Ross theme show because of the variety of songs that made up the choices for the participants. The special guest mentors were Lulu and Peter Noone. Lulu worked with the women and Peter worked with the men. In the filmed segments shown before each performance you could tell that Lulu really knew how to help the contestants by the advice that she gave. On the other hand Peter Noone seemed happy just to be hanging out with the contestants. His advice was for the most part incomprehensible.
Padded Judging
From the beginning of the judging I could tell something was going on. The judges seemed to be praising performances that were mediocre at best. I think it was to build up the contestants to make sure they received more votes than Sanjaya in the end.
Contestants
Haley Scarnato came out wearing a skimpy outfit with incredibly high heeled shoes - four inches at least. She showed a lot of shoulder, leg and dexterity by keeping her shirt from falling off while using her legs to bounce around the stage in those incredibly high heels. When I stopped paying attention to her overexposed flesh, I noticed she was singing "Tell Him", a song known by everyone. I had to laugh when Lulu advised her to sing in a more staccato style which was excellent and practical. That's how the song is sung and if you've heard that song as many times as I have, you know that's how it's sung. Anyway, the judges praised Haley for being more aggressive and flirty and didn't seem to care that half of what she sang was out of tune or "pitchy" as the judges like to say.
Chris Richardson was next. He chose to sing "Don't Let The Sun Get You Cryin". This is the first film clip in which we see Peter Noone giving less than practical advice. He basically told Chris to find the melody and sing it. Obviously Chris thinks he found the melody otherwise he wouldn't have been able to practice with Peter Noone. Duh. Anyone, Noone gave Chris a less than ringing endorsement in his one on one interview, saying that he didn't hear much in Chris's voice which he thought was quite breathy. Of course I agree with him. I'm not a fan of Chris Richardson. He looks creepy and I think his voice is consistently weak and thready. Here is my note from Chris's performance. "As I write this, Chris is singing his song and I'm so bored that I'm filling these lines with words just to keep busy. Yawn." The judges talked this dull performance up as well. This is the moment when I realize the judges might be giving false praise to help get Sanjaya off the show.
Stephanie Edwards sang "You Don't Have to Love Me" but not before answering a ridiculous FAN QUESTION for the time wasting FAN QUESTION SEGMENT. On behalf of a fan from somewhere in this great land, Ryan Seacrest asked Stephanie "What is the hardest part of getting ready for the show each week?" Stephanie answered the question earnestly but I felt bad for her because she was moments away from singing for her life. It was a good song for her but her performance was dulled. She seems to be losing her "it" factor. The judges were booed when they told her that but I could see on her face that she agreed. If she makes it to next week, we'll see a much stronger performance from her. At this point, I started thinking I was wrong about the judges padding their compliments. Side note: Lulu told Stephanie she sounds like Beyonce.
Blake Lewis beat boxed his way through "Time of the Season". Peter Noone told Blake he liked that he's trying to modernize the song but he wouldn't want to be in the front row for all the spitting. "Let the girls sit in the front row." I thought he had a lot of trouble singing in his upper register and in some parts he sang completely out of tune. To my surprise, the judges loved him and said it was his best performance EVER. Yeah. Right. If you saw the show, you know what I mean.
Lakisha Jones sang "Diamonds Are Forever". She was wearing $1 million worth of diamonds and still managed to deliver a mediocre performance. I only wrote two words on my notepad to describe her performance. "Pitchy" and "eh". Simon told her he had flash forward of her to 40 years from now.
Phil Stacy was really strange last night. He sang a rocking song called "Tobacco Road" which seemed more country rock than British Invasion. He sounded okay but he looked so odd running around the stage in his button down shirt and blue jeans. His image was more milk toast than rocker and the combination was strange. He should have focused more on standing still and singing the song well than running around like a chicken without a head. But I've always found him creepy which goes all the way back to the original auditions. He's not my favorite.
Jordin Sparks nailed "I Who Have Nothing" one of the most depressing songs from the British Invasion song book. She did a great job. Of course, Lulu loved her and who wouldn't. She's a bubbly, happy, talented, well-adjusted teenager who can really belt out a song. Simon thought she sang beautifully but he was so depressed that he wanted to jump off a bridge.
Sanjaya Malakar sang "Girl You Got Me". He nailed it. He sang every note in tune. I will concede that he doesn't have the confidence to really sell the songs he sings. But last night, he broke out of his shell and did the best a little boy that lacks confidence can do. What was his funny about his segment, were the constant cutaways to a little girl crying in the audience. They showed her momentarily during Blake's performance but for Sanjaya's - I think she got as much camera time as he did. She was really cute. After his performance, Ryan Seacrest called Sanjaya out of the audience to give her a hug which he did and it was a very sweet moment. The crying preteen made me think that perhaps British Rock music was laced with secret notes that induce tears in young girls on a subliminal level.
The judges held back on saying anything negative about Sanjaya's performance, which I think was done intentionally to fight the wave of calls from VOTE FOR THE WORST readers, because we know that they hate him. Simon came closest to saying something negative with his commentt that "that little girl's tears said it all". Anyway, the website encourages people to vote for the worst singer in order to keep him or her on the show for reasons understood only by the wizards behind that website. But if they knew anything at all about music they would back Phil Stacy or Chris Richardson because Sanjaya is not the worst singer.
Gina Glocksen chose Paint It Black. Lulu gave her seemingly good advice when she told her to sing in a higher key. But that was not good advice. Throughout the song, Gina struggled with her pitch and then she did something really odd. She just started screaming random notes at the end of the song, completely screwing up the melody. Now I am a Gina fan and I don't think that performance hurt her last night. After all, she will get all the votes that were meant for Sundance Head (Southern white rocker) but I didn't like her singing last night. I mean she was fun to watch. She sure did look a lot more naturally running around that stage than Phil Stacy. But she needs to stand still and sing well just like Phil. They can worry about their choreography later.
Chris Sligh did a good job singing "She's Not There". When he sings, he likes to start on the downbeat or half of the down beat which makes him stand out. I like that he does that because I'm always interested in hearing how he makes it all fit even though he's a little bit off the beat but the judges haven't picked up on that yet. They consistently tell him that he's ahead of his music. Eventually they'll realize it. There's something so likable about Chris Sligh. I hope he does well and that this show is a launching pad for his music writing career. There were two funny signs in the audience. "BRINGING CHUBBY BACK" and "FRO PATRO". While Ryan was wrapping up Chris's performance, Chris starting chanting "FRO PATRO!" which of course was a parody of Taylor Hicks and how he kept screaming "Soul Patrol" after every performance. Chris is funny.
Melinda Doolittle chose a song from the musical Oliver called "As Long As He Needs Me." I never realized this song was considered part of the British Invasion but no matter. Her performance was perfect. It was so beautiful it made little 11 year old Ashley cry yet again in the audience. Melinda Doolittle will win American Idol - no doubt.
In the End
At the end of the show when they ran through everyone's clips and phone numbers you could really hear how everyone with the exception of Lakisha and Jordin suck in comparison to Melinda.
Also, Ryan called Ashley up to the stage so she could cry on every contestant. She made me cry to. Sweet kid. I hope in her life that's all she has to cry about. I predict that Sanjaya and Phil will be in the bottom three again but I don't know who the third will be.
March 19, 2007
Hillary Equals Big Brother?
So before I went to sleep last night, I listened to the last 10 minutes of Matt Drudge's radio program. He said that his link to the "Obama 1984" ad would probably recieve a lot of hits. At five minutes to midnight I made a mental note to check out the Drudge Report to see what he was talking about.
Matt Drudge is not the biggest Hillary Clinton fan. And you know what? Neither am I. I've strongly disliked her since she bought a house in New York for the sole purpose of establishing residency so she could be our senator. What a phony. And I can't trust a woman who would let her husband cheat on her. She obviously has no respect for the institute of marriage. If you don't want to be married, don't be married. Get a divorce. I can respect that. But don't insult me. Don't be so obvious about using your husband for political gain. Bill and Hllary are hardly ever seen together in public anymore, except when fund raising for her campaign.
And I never understand what her opinion is about anything. She is a chameleon when it comes to expressing her views. She makes up her mind based on whatever opinion poll her aides happened to hand her that day.
Anyway, I got a big kick out of this campaign and to answer your question - Yes. I am an Obama fan. I'm not exactly sure what this short film is trying to say, but I do agree with the effort to reveal Senator Clinton as something she is not.
Matt Drudge is not the biggest Hillary Clinton fan. And you know what? Neither am I. I've strongly disliked her since she bought a house in New York for the sole purpose of establishing residency so she could be our senator. What a phony. And I can't trust a woman who would let her husband cheat on her. She obviously has no respect for the institute of marriage. If you don't want to be married, don't be married. Get a divorce. I can respect that. But don't insult me. Don't be so obvious about using your husband for political gain. Bill and Hllary are hardly ever seen together in public anymore, except when fund raising for her campaign.
And I never understand what her opinion is about anything. She is a chameleon when it comes to expressing her views. She makes up her mind based on whatever opinion poll her aides happened to hand her that day.
Anyway, I got a big kick out of this campaign and to answer your question - Yes. I am an Obama fan. I'm not exactly sure what this short film is trying to say, but I do agree with the effort to reveal Senator Clinton as something she is not.
March 14, 2007
American Idol - Results
I'm glad that the Diana Ross theme song was dealt with early on. Why? Because I don't really like her songs for competition. The contestants performed two songs from the Supremes at the top of the Results Show - Baby Love and Stop In The Name of Love. The group performance was lame because those songs are lame when performed out of context. Those songs had their day. Written specifically for the Supremes, their songs don't work when performed by other artists. Overall the group number suffered.
The lameness continued when after the commercial break, we had to watch the FORD musical video segment. The contestants sang a song called Float On while engaging in antics involving Ford cars. Finally after that, Ryan Seacrest starting calling out the contestants one by one announcing which one were safe and which were in the bottom three. He called out Brandon Rogers and Phil Stacy who had to wait while Diana Ross sang a lame arrangement of one of the worst songs ever written "More Today Than Yesterday". When I was a kid and would hear that song on the radio, it would stick in my head for days on end and not because it was so good. Every time I heard that song, I would get a sick feeling in my stomach because I knew it would stay with me, distracting me from my math homework and spelling tests.
After Diana Ross's mediocre performance, Sanjaya Malakar was called out to complete the triad of troubled troubadours. Seacrest informed Phil Stacy that he was safe and told him to sit down leaving Brandon Rogers and Sanjaya Malakar. If you guessed that Brandon Rogers was the contestant that received the least amount of votes, then you would have been correct.
Good Bye Brandon
He didn't seem surprised. He knew he did bad job by forgetting the words the night before. We didn't get to hear him sing his good bye performance because the show ran long and the FOX cut him off before he could sing a note. That was fine by me. He isn't that much fun to watch. Why would we want to see him do the same crap job again that got him kicked off the show.
The lameness continued when after the commercial break, we had to watch the FORD musical video segment. The contestants sang a song called Float On while engaging in antics involving Ford cars. Finally after that, Ryan Seacrest starting calling out the contestants one by one announcing which one were safe and which were in the bottom three. He called out Brandon Rogers and Phil Stacy who had to wait while Diana Ross sang a lame arrangement of one of the worst songs ever written "More Today Than Yesterday". When I was a kid and would hear that song on the radio, it would stick in my head for days on end and not because it was so good. Every time I heard that song, I would get a sick feeling in my stomach because I knew it would stay with me, distracting me from my math homework and spelling tests.
After Diana Ross's mediocre performance, Sanjaya Malakar was called out to complete the triad of troubled troubadours. Seacrest informed Phil Stacy that he was safe and told him to sit down leaving Brandon Rogers and Sanjaya Malakar. If you guessed that Brandon Rogers was the contestant that received the least amount of votes, then you would have been correct.
Good Bye Brandon
He didn't seem surprised. He knew he did bad job by forgetting the words the night before. We didn't get to hear him sing his good bye performance because the show ran long and the FOX cut him off before he could sing a note. That was fine by me. He isn't that much fun to watch. Why would we want to see him do the same crap job again that got him kicked off the show.
Pronunciate
American Idol's guest was Motown maven, Diana Ross. This meant that all of the contestants had to perform something from her repertoire. When there is a celebrity on the show, we usually get to see footage of the contestants training with whatever INDUSTRY ICON they've brought in that week. We get to see the star struck with their heros. For the most part, Diana Ross seemed pretty normal and actually gave good advice. But she did make me laugh when she told Gina Glocksen that she had to PRONUNCIATE the words to Love Child. Poor Gina. As if she didn't have enough to worry about.
The only two contestants that really shined were Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones. Melinda did a great job singing the only good song from The Wiz, Home. And Lakisha Jones showed how good she can be when she sang God Bless the Child which Diana Ross performed when she starred as Billy Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. Jordan Sparks gave the third best performance singing one of the more obscure songs from Ross's song book - If We Hold On Together. And Gina Glocksen finished my top four with her rendition of Love Child.
I wish everyone else luck. Anybody could be going home. Chris Sligh butchered Endless Love when he changed the arrangement. He had the right instinct. That song sucks. He just couldn't do anything to save that song which leads me to question his judgement in choosing it. Sanjaya, who I 've been supporting up until now, totally picked the wrong song when he chose Ain't No Mountain High Enough. That song was too big for him. To tell you the truth it doesn't matter what that poor boy sings or how well he does it - the judges just don't like him.
Brandon Rogers, Chris Richardson, Phil Stacy and even Stephanie Edwards didn't really cut the mustard either. And what the heck happened to fan favorite Blake Lewis? All of sudden his ear was made out of tin. I don't think he hit a single note.
Any one of them could be going home.
The only two contestants that really shined were Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones. Melinda did a great job singing the only good song from The Wiz, Home. And Lakisha Jones showed how good she can be when she sang God Bless the Child which Diana Ross performed when she starred as Billy Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. Jordan Sparks gave the third best performance singing one of the more obscure songs from Ross's song book - If We Hold On Together. And Gina Glocksen finished my top four with her rendition of Love Child.
I wish everyone else luck. Anybody could be going home. Chris Sligh butchered Endless Love when he changed the arrangement. He had the right instinct. That song sucks. He just couldn't do anything to save that song which leads me to question his judgement in choosing it. Sanjaya, who I 've been supporting up until now, totally picked the wrong song when he chose Ain't No Mountain High Enough. That song was too big for him. To tell you the truth it doesn't matter what that poor boy sings or how well he does it - the judges just don't like him.
Brandon Rogers, Chris Richardson, Phil Stacy and even Stephanie Edwards didn't really cut the mustard either. And what the heck happened to fan favorite Blake Lewis? All of sudden his ear was made out of tin. I don't think he hit a single note.
Any one of them could be going home.
March 10, 2007
The Longest Day
It's another long Saturday. I'm still at the Belasco Theater and working Journey's End is becoming quite the traumatic experience. I'm glad tonight's performance will be the last time I see this play for a while. It's not that the play isn't good. Actually, it's the opposite. It's so good that I feel a sense of loss at the end of every show. And then there are the sound effects. Throughout the show you hear both gentle and exciting explosions in order to give you a sense of living conditions in the trenches. The show ends with a harrowing aural display of frightening whirs, bangs and blasts so loud the theater shakes. And when it does shake, the mold and must from 100 years of the Belasco being open, come loose. It smells quite bad, actually. Jon made a joke last night that I'm SMELL SHOCKED. Get it?
Anyway, I get some R&R this week when I work over at the Walter Kerr and then the Music Box. Thursday night I'm working Grey Gardens which is a really delightful play based on the kooky antics of Edith and Edith Beale, relatives of Jaqueline Kennedy O'Nassis. But the rest of the week, I'm working at The Vertical Hour - which is a play about war. But the play only discusses war, it doesn't actually show war, so that's not so bad. It might be war trying to please my half deaf patrons because of Julianne Moore's low speaking voice but that's another story.
To tell you the truth, I'd rather work back over at Curtains. It's the least depressing thing I've seen on Broadway in a long time.
Anyway, I get some R&R this week when I work over at the Walter Kerr and then the Music Box. Thursday night I'm working Grey Gardens which is a really delightful play based on the kooky antics of Edith and Edith Beale, relatives of Jaqueline Kennedy O'Nassis. But the rest of the week, I'm working at The Vertical Hour - which is a play about war. But the play only discusses war, it doesn't actually show war, so that's not so bad. It might be war trying to please my half deaf patrons because of Julianne Moore's low speaking voice but that's another story.
To tell you the truth, I'd rather work back over at Curtains. It's the least depressing thing I've seen on Broadway in a long time.
March 09, 2007
American Idol Results - Surprising
The American Idol results show had two really big suprises.
Sabrina Sloane was sent home instead of Haley Scarnatto.
Sundance Head was sent home instead of Sanjaya Malakar.
Sabrina Sloane was sent home instead of Haley Scarnatto.
Sundance Head was sent home instead of Sanjaya Malakar.
March 07, 2007
Journey's End
Journey's End is quite a remarkable play. It's playing at the Belasco Theater and you need to see it. I provide a link to the Wikipedia entry but be warned that the description contains spoilers.
I don't want to ruin anything by explaining too much but I will tell you this.
It takes place in a trench in France during WWI. Occupying that trench is a squadron of English soldiers. The play explores the relationships between the officers. The playwright also tries to show us the many sides of valor and what bravery and friendship mean to men in times of duress.
It's good. It's Tony nomination good.
Try to see it.
I don't want to ruin anything by explaining too much but I will tell you this.
It takes place in a trench in France during WWI. Occupying that trench is a squadron of English soldiers. The play explores the relationships between the officers. The playwright also tries to show us the many sides of valor and what bravery and friendship mean to men in times of duress.
It's good. It's Tony nomination good.
Try to see it.
American Idol - Then There Were 8 - Boys
One good thing I can say about last night's episode of American Idol - it was only one hour long. Five of the eight remaining contestants picked songs that were either boring or too hard for them to sing. For me, the best performances came from Blake Lewis and Chris Sligh. After them, I thought Sanjaya did well by picking a more upbeat song that let him show off the smokey quality he's capable of giving his voice when he sings. Of course, I am the cheese that stands alone in my belief that Sanjaya is a good singer. I hope he makes it to the final 12. I have faith in him.
Jared Cotter and Phil Stacy are my choices for the two men who should go home on Thursday night. They both continue to creep me out with every performance. Phil Stacy was particularly creepy. Simon was right when he told Phil that he did somethine weird with his eyes. He looks crazy - in a good looking way. If he were to be cast in a crime drama, he would be cast as the handsome but scary looking criminal. And Jared Cotter is just funny looking. Add in that neither one of them are very good singers and you've got a recipe for receiving the least amount of votes.
Brandon Rogers tried to woo us with a funky song and while he did perform better this week, he was still boring. It's nice to see that he energy. He's the contestant I'm really rooting for but he makes it so difficult when he puts in mediocre performances every week. Sundance Head gave an equally mediocre performance as did Chris Richardson.
Jared Cotter and Phil Stacy are my choices for the two men who should go home on Thursday night. They both continue to creep me out with every performance. Phil Stacy was particularly creepy. Simon was right when he told Phil that he did somethine weird with his eyes. He looks crazy - in a good looking way. If he were to be cast in a crime drama, he would be cast as the handsome but scary looking criminal. And Jared Cotter is just funny looking. Add in that neither one of them are very good singers and you've got a recipe for receiving the least amount of votes.
March 06, 2007
16 Degrees of Separation
It wouldn't be the beginning of March if Lady Weather wasn't messing with our heads. After a strong beginning, with the first days of March providing us with mild weather, cold weather proves to us yet again that it is not ready to leave the tri-state area.
16 degrees separates me from the outside world. 16 degrees is enough to make me believe that I never want to leave this house again, yet leave I must. For later today I start a week long cycle of working at the Bellasco theater. The play is Journey's End and fun frolick through a World War I trench where soldiers contemplate the mysteries of life.
The production is being put on by the same group that staged History Boys. History Boys is famous in the assisted hearing community for having the worst sound of any show in the history of Broadway. Hopefully the powers that be have solved these problems and my job will not be that demanding this week.
16 degrees separates me from the outside world. 16 degrees is enough to make me believe that I never want to leave this house again, yet leave I must. For later today I start a week long cycle of working at the Bellasco theater. The play is Journey's End and fun frolick through a World War I trench where soldiers contemplate the mysteries of life.
The production is being put on by the same group that staged History Boys. History Boys is famous in the assisted hearing community for having the worst sound of any show in the history of Broadway. Hopefully the powers that be have solved these problems and my job will not be that demanding this week.
March 03, 2007
Late Night Torture
Saturdays are long, long work days when I work them. I leave the house at 12:15 in the morning and I return home about 11:15 at night. Today was long, long, long.
One of the highlights of my long day was going home. I ran out of the theater, located at 45th and 8th, at 10:45, walked briskly to 47th and Bway. The train was just about to pull out when I ran through the turnstile and jumped in. I was so grateful that I made that train because after 11pm the N trains runs less frequently. "Ahhhh. Perfect", I thought. But life is seldom perfect when you're riding the New York City subway. There's always something happening to keep riders from getting too comfortable.
I got so absorbed in my book about the Judas Gospel, that it took about three stops, that's Lexington Avenue, for me to notice the annoying family sitting at the other end of the train. This mother was teaching her two daughters the poem Fuzzy Wuzzy Wuz A Bear which they then repeated over and over and over again. After repeating it about for what seemed like 1 billion times, the girls starting taking turns reciting variations on Fuzzy Wuzzy. They were still doing it when I was finally able to exit the train.
One of the highlights of my long day was going home. I ran out of the theater, located at 45th and 8th, at 10:45, walked briskly to 47th and Bway. The train was just about to pull out when I ran through the turnstile and jumped in. I was so grateful that I made that train because after 11pm the N trains runs less frequently. "Ahhhh. Perfect", I thought. But life is seldom perfect when you're riding the New York City subway. There's always something happening to keep riders from getting too comfortable.
I got so absorbed in my book about the Judas Gospel, that it took about three stops, that's Lexington Avenue, for me to notice the annoying family sitting at the other end of the train. This mother was teaching her two daughters the poem Fuzzy Wuzzy Wuz A Bear which they then repeated over and over and over again. After repeating it about for what seemed like 1 billion times, the girls starting taking turns reciting variations on Fuzzy Wuzzy. They were still doing it when I was finally able to exit the train.
March 02, 2007
American Idol - Four More Gone
Nick Pedro and AJ Tabaldo performed their final verses in one of the corniest American Idol results shows I've seen in a while. And by a while I mean since last week. The show opened with the final 20 performing Joy To The World, possibly the corniest rock song ever written. The show also featured an corny but sweet performance from American Idol alum Kellie Pickler.
I always liked Kellie Pickler's personality but never thought she was that great a singer. They did her a favor by letting Ryan interview her because that really is what she does best - being adorable. She hasn't lost the small town charm that gives her the "it" quality sadly lacking in so many of the contestants this season. The song she sang seemed tailor made - about a father living apart from his daughter. She was in tears by the end of her performance, as was I. If you recall, she was raised by her grandfather because her mother abondoned her at the age of two and her father has been in and out of prison her whole life. Her life is basically the country song she was singing last night. And even though she sang most of it out of tune, it was still nice to watch her. Am I alone in believing that she had a boob job?
The other two contestants that went home certainly deserved to go. Leslie Hunt and Alaina Alexander both turned out mediocre performances in Wednesday's show. The biggest surprise was that Antonella Barba wasn't sent home but her demise is iminent. If she does make it past next week, I'll just have to assume that there is a national conspiracy to screw around with the American Idol formula.
SIDE NOTE
When Sanjaya was told that he was safe and that AJ Tabaldo was going home, he looked utterly surprised. Then when the judges were asked if the right people were going home, they claimed that they weren't and that this was a singing contest and implied the votes didn't reflect that.
For the record, AJ Tabaldo does not sing as well as Sanjaya Malaker. AJ Tabaldo deserves to go home as does Nick Pedro. Sanjaya is a trained singer with a beautiful natural voice. He's just lacking experience. I hope he pulls it together next week and chooses a really good song so everyone else can see what I see which is a shit load of hardwork and talent that deserve recognition. I would love to hear him sing some really cool contemporary Indian music or some cool Qawwali music.
I always liked Kellie Pickler's personality but never thought she was that great a singer. They did her a favor by letting Ryan interview her because that really is what she does best - being adorable. She hasn't lost the small town charm that gives her the "it" quality sadly lacking in so many of the contestants this season. The song she sang seemed tailor made - about a father living apart from his daughter. She was in tears by the end of her performance, as was I. If you recall, she was raised by her grandfather because her mother abondoned her at the age of two and her father has been in and out of prison her whole life. Her life is basically the country song she was singing last night. And even though she sang most of it out of tune, it was still nice to watch her. Am I alone in believing that she had a boob job?
The other two contestants that went home certainly deserved to go. Leslie Hunt and Alaina Alexander both turned out mediocre performances in Wednesday's show. The biggest surprise was that Antonella Barba wasn't sent home but her demise is iminent. If she does make it past next week, I'll just have to assume that there is a national conspiracy to screw around with the American Idol formula.
SIDE NOTE
When Sanjaya was told that he was safe and that AJ Tabaldo was going home, he looked utterly surprised. Then when the judges were asked if the right people were going home, they claimed that they weren't and that this was a singing contest and implied the votes didn't reflect that.
For the record, AJ Tabaldo does not sing as well as Sanjaya Malaker. AJ Tabaldo deserves to go home as does Nick Pedro. Sanjaya is a trained singer with a beautiful natural voice. He's just lacking experience. I hope he pulls it together next week and chooses a really good song so everyone else can see what I see which is a shit load of hardwork and talent that deserve recognition. I would love to hear him sing some really cool contemporary Indian music or some cool Qawwali music.
March 01, 2007
American Idol - Girls' Night
American Idol continued showing the contestants' dedications in short films before the women's performances.
Top 6
Anyway, after all the dedications and all the performances, these are my top 6 in the order that I liked them. These are also the six women I hope end up in the Final 12 grouping.
1. Melinda Doolittle - She dedicated her song to her two closes friends. One of those friends is a stylist who helps her with her fashion because she hates to shop just like me. Melinda sang My Funny Valentine and this was a perfect performance. She took her time and laid the song out for the audience like a comfortable blanket. And she stayed in tune for the whole song. And I really like her personality. She's really a singer, not just someone who wants to be a singer and you want her to do well because of it.
2. Lakisha Jones dedicated her song to her grandmother, Ruth Morris from Flint, Michigan. She chose Midnight Train to Georgia and she sang it really, really well. I thought she sang this song as perfectly as Melinda Doolittle sang hers. As a matter of fact I think these two will be in the final 4 and one of them will possibly be the winner of American Idol. Anyway, Midnight Train to Georgia was the perfect choice for Lakisha because the song requires somebody with a big soulful voice which is what Lakisha has.
3. Stephanie Edwards dedicated her song to her incredibly supportive parents who made her audition for American Idol because they believe in her that much. She sang a song called Dangerously In Love which I'd never heard before last night. If this had been an Olympic gymastics performance the song would have had a very high rating of difficulty. Every phrase started on a down beat and her performance consisted of well timed syncopated moments. She sounded great.
4. Jordin Sparks cried through her dedication to her younger brother. Reflections, originally recorded by Christina Aguilera had a strange tempo. She didn't sing as well as last week but she still sang well. And it's one of those songs that's perfect for a teenager to sing because the song is about self-awareness and self discovery.
5. Sabrina Sloan dedicated her song to her grandmother. She picked a Whitney Houston song, All the Man That I Need. She sang it well and didn't embarrass herself by taking on a big song like some of the other contestants. As a matter of fact, she really sold her performance but there is something off about her. You hear people talk about the "it factor". She just doesn't have "it" whatever "it" is.
6. Gina Glocksen dedicated her song to her boyfriend. She sang Alone by Heart which was a good choice for her because she represents the white rocker chick demographic. I personally didn't like her slinky, spaghetti strap red dress. Red is too aggressive. I find it off putting when people wear bright red while trying to invite people into their worlds. Second in importance to singing, contestants have to be likable, accessible. Wearing that F you shade of red will possibly work against her. She also needs to work on singing in tune. Her ear was off last night.
Bottom 4
Here are my bottom 4 with Antonella Barba at the bottom of the list.
7. Leslie Hunt was almost good singing Feeling Good for her grandfather but then she ruined her song by scatting which was a big mistake because she's not very good at it. And on top of that it's hard to watch her spasmodic movements. I just don't buy her as a professional singer. And to do a song that was recorded by Nina Simone and hope to do it as well, she should know that she's even in the same league as Nina Simone.
8. Haley Scarnato dedicated her song to fiance Bobby. She sang Queen of the Night. Eh. At least she had energy.
9. Alaina Alexander sang Not Ready to Make Nice for her mother and proved yet again that she has a completely tin ear. I don't what it is about her but everytime she sings, I can't wait for her to be finished. There's something hungry about her, too desperate - like she'll kill herself if America doesn't vote for her. And that's not fun to watch.
10. Antonella Barba - she just stinks. She keeps asking the judges what she can do to be better and the answer is so obvious. She simply needs to sing better and how if she plans on staying in the competition. But if what she did last night is the best she can do, then she needs to go home. She sang Because You Loved Me in a dedication to her brother. It was a stupid choice because this song was recorded by Celine Dion and just about nobody sings better than Celine Dion. Then on top of that, she just didn't sing it well.
Well there you have it. My top 6 and my bottom 4. I predict that at least two people in my bottom four will be going home tonight.
Top 6
Anyway, after all the dedications and all the performances, these are my top 6 in the order that I liked them. These are also the six women I hope end up in the Final 12 grouping.
1. Melinda Doolittle - She dedicated her song to her two closes friends. One of those friends is a stylist who helps her with her fashion because she hates to shop just like me. Melinda sang My Funny Valentine and this was a perfect performance. She took her time and laid the song out for the audience like a comfortable blanket. And she stayed in tune for the whole song. And I really like her personality. She's really a singer, not just someone who wants to be a singer and you want her to do well because of it.
2. Lakisha Jones dedicated her song to her grandmother, Ruth Morris from Flint, Michigan. She chose Midnight Train to Georgia and she sang it really, really well. I thought she sang this song as perfectly as Melinda Doolittle sang hers. As a matter of fact I think these two will be in the final 4 and one of them will possibly be the winner of American Idol. Anyway, Midnight Train to Georgia was the perfect choice for Lakisha because the song requires somebody with a big soulful voice which is what Lakisha has.
3. Stephanie Edwards dedicated her song to her incredibly supportive parents who made her audition for American Idol because they believe in her that much. She sang a song called Dangerously In Love which I'd never heard before last night. If this had been an Olympic gymastics performance the song would have had a very high rating of difficulty. Every phrase started on a down beat and her performance consisted of well timed syncopated moments. She sounded great.
4. Jordin Sparks cried through her dedication to her younger brother. Reflections, originally recorded by Christina Aguilera had a strange tempo. She didn't sing as well as last week but she still sang well. And it's one of those songs that's perfect for a teenager to sing because the song is about self-awareness and self discovery.
5. Sabrina Sloan dedicated her song to her grandmother. She picked a Whitney Houston song, All the Man That I Need. She sang it well and didn't embarrass herself by taking on a big song like some of the other contestants. As a matter of fact, she really sold her performance but there is something off about her. You hear people talk about the "it factor". She just doesn't have "it" whatever "it" is.
6. Gina Glocksen dedicated her song to her boyfriend. She sang Alone by Heart which was a good choice for her because she represents the white rocker chick demographic. I personally didn't like her slinky, spaghetti strap red dress. Red is too aggressive. I find it off putting when people wear bright red while trying to invite people into their worlds. Second in importance to singing, contestants have to be likable, accessible. Wearing that F you shade of red will possibly work against her. She also needs to work on singing in tune. Her ear was off last night.
Bottom 4
Here are my bottom 4 with Antonella Barba at the bottom of the list.
7. Leslie Hunt was almost good singing Feeling Good for her grandfather but then she ruined her song by scatting which was a big mistake because she's not very good at it. And on top of that it's hard to watch her spasmodic movements. I just don't buy her as a professional singer. And to do a song that was recorded by Nina Simone and hope to do it as well, she should know that she's even in the same league as Nina Simone.
8. Haley Scarnato dedicated her song to fiance Bobby. She sang Queen of the Night. Eh. At least she had energy.
9. Alaina Alexander sang Not Ready to Make Nice for her mother and proved yet again that she has a completely tin ear. I don't what it is about her but everytime she sings, I can't wait for her to be finished. There's something hungry about her, too desperate - like she'll kill herself if America doesn't vote for her. And that's not fun to watch.
10. Antonella Barba - she just stinks. She keeps asking the judges what she can do to be better and the answer is so obvious. She simply needs to sing better and how if she plans on staying in the competition. But if what she did last night is the best she can do, then she needs to go home. She sang Because You Loved Me in a dedication to her brother. It was a stupid choice because this song was recorded by Celine Dion and just about nobody sings better than Celine Dion. Then on top of that, she just didn't sing it well.
Well there you have it. My top 6 and my bottom 4. I predict that at least two people in my bottom four will be going home tonight.
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